A.P.A. Album Discography
A.P.A. was a TK
subsidiary established to showcase "world disco music", but ended up (almost) entirely dedicated to Celi
Bee's latin disco music. "Celi Bee" was a female singer originally from Puerto Rico, born Celida Ines
Camacho. She contracted her first two names to "Celines," and with Pepe Luis Soto, an artist whom she
eventually married, recorded Spanish-language versions of big hits in the 1960s. One album title was
translated "Psychedelic Hits", for example, featuring the two on duets such as "I'm a Believer" (?!). By
1972, she had a hit in Puerto Rico with "Yo Quiero Un Pincel." The song also won first place in the
Festival De La Voz y La Cancion. By then, the slim and lithe Celines was also an accomplished dancer,
and was often fronting uptempo latin dance numbers with other dancers and an orchestra. The Sotos
moved to the U.S. mainland, and then to England by the mid-1970s. There, still going by the single
name "Celines," she released her first album in the UK, from which came the single "Half a Love," which
was a hit in Puerto Rico but not elsewhere. The couple moved back to Florida around 1976.
By 1977, Celines' singing and Pepe's work with writing and producing for Celines and his own disco band, the Rice and Beans Orchestra, had caught the attention of Henry Stone, who signed them and put them on his new A.P.A. Records subsidiary. Celines, now with close-cropped hair and billed as "Celi Bee," was backed by "the Buzzy Bunch," a five-member male latin disco band, all produced by Pepe Soto. Their six-track eponymous first album contained their only Hot 100 and R&B hit, "Superman" [A.P.A. 17001], which made #41 pop and #86 R&B after its release in May. The song was written by Herbie Mann, who charted higher with it himself when it was released about 18 months later.
But the Sotos (i.e., both Celi Bee and Pepe's Rice and Beans Orchestra) were primarily disco artists, and fared much better on the national Dance charts, and in fact, sold internationally on dance charts throughout Central and South America and Europe. Henry Stone chose to release their 12" disco singles here on the T.K. Disco label. The 12" single of Celi Bee and the Buzzy Bunch's "Superman"/"One Love" [T.K. Disco 37] was issued to clubs in March, 1977, and went to #3 on the dance charts. Pepe's Rice and Beans Orchestra reached #11 on the dance charts with "You've Got Magic" [T.K. Disco 56] in the fall of 1977. The next spring, "Macho (A Real, Real One)"/"Alternating Currents" by Celi Bee & the Buzzy Bunch [T.K. Disco 77] made #23 on the dance charts.
By January, 1979, Celi Bee had shed the Buzzy Bunch and reached #18 on the dance charts with "Fly
Me on the Wings of Love" [T.K. Disco 126]. In December that year, Celi Bee came back at #29 with
"Blow My Mind" [A.P.A. 802]. After T.K. went belly up in 1981, the Sotos went to other labels, and Celi
Bee had two more dance chart records between 1983 and 1987.
Although a great majority of the releases on the A.P.A. label were by Celi Bee, with or without the Buzzy Bunch, there actually were a few other artists on the label. None of the others had more than one single. A.P.A. 17005 was "Give Me Your Love, Parts 1 & 2" by Phil Trim, formerly the lead singer for Los Pop Tops. There were also singles by Clay Carillon [A.P.A. 17009] and the Rhythm Sneakers [A.P.A. 17010]. The last single and last album issued on the label, in 1980, were both by an outfit called Hot Bush, whose single, "Rock Steady" [A.P.A. 17017] didn't go very far. The album cover of their self-named album [A.P.A. 77007] was probably a new low for TK albums in taste, with an exploding volcano superimposed over a woman's crotch. Really subtle.
77004 - Love Drops -
Celi Bee [unreleased?] Although the disco 12" single of "Love Drops" (on T.K. Disco) says the
song is from the album APA 77004, Love Drops, we have been unable to verify that this album
actually exists. Since the song appeared on the next album, Blow My Mind, it is possible 77004
was scheduled but went unreleased.
