Throwback Thursday: Listen to Smoke’s rare ’70s disco funk, unearthed at 7th Heaven’s Vinyl Underground

The dangerous part of following the Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven’s Facebook page is the near-constant barrage of vinyl treasures threatening to drain your wallet. The upside is the simultaenously near-constant stream of intriguing local releases. The shop’s really good at cluing customers into vintage local stuff, and last week, this gem popped up.

Smoke’s Risin’ was released on Kansas City’s J.Bridge Records in 1976, and is evidently one of those private press records that crate-diggers the world over try to track down. As the sleeve notes, “Move over OJ’s, Spinners and Temps. The fire may be comin’, but ‘Smoke’ is here.” If you want some funky dancefloor jams of a certain vintage, track this sucker down.

Risin’ saw a 1996 CD reissue on the Japanese P-Vine label, but it goes for nearly $100. Given that price, you’d almost do better to track down an original vinyl press online.