Peak early 80s funk for your disco. I can't be 100% sure this made it to the footy club and Blue Light discos in the Victorian bush in the 80s. It sounds very familiar though and it isn't on any of my old disco-funk-boogie compilations so maybe...I mean you used to hear things at discos that were never on the radio or Countdown. I'd guess tracks such as these were club favourites in Melbourne and Sydney imported straight from America's R&B charts and roller rink playlists that would then filter through to the disco djs in regional towns.
A quick search reveals this choice piece of Motown wax only got to #97 on the Australian charts and yes it was an American R&B chart topper.
Anyway, loving this right now. All the right vibes: New wave synth funk with strong 80s R&B flavour. A hell of a squelchy synth bass line amongst mucho 80s goodness and hooks galore. The sorta tune that would perfectly slide in next to GAP Band, Cameo, Prince or Zapp on your dj's turntables Good times.
Totally forgot this top 10 smash existed. If you're from the Antipodes you know. Actually I'm surprised it wasn't a hit in Canada. It was big in South Africa though. An 80s Sydney band consisting of Leon Berger a Russian bloke and a lady from New Zealand Tina Cross. She was a sex symbol for a moment. Anyway this is some 80s synth pop lost treasure. It still sounds good to me...teenage nostalgia, maybe, I don't care. Peak hair in your eyes, gotta love that.
Once you get past the fact that these tracks ain't gonna be no 60s jazz or 70s jazz-funk-fusion you can free your mind to enjoy this handful of sweet delights that Hancock recorded amongst some absolute dross in the second half of the 70s and early 80s.
On Doin' It look out as this is one hell of an insidious groove. At the start you may think "Oh this is just ok" but by the end you will be in a funky trance that you won't want to end. As far as intergalactic disco-funk jamz go it doesn't get better. Infectious.
I Thought It Was You - Herbie Hancock (1978)
Vocoderized vocals over mellow grooves progress to driving funk then into a robotic vocal workout on this futuristic toe tapper. It was either Kraftwerk or Herbie who were the first to use Sennheiser VSM 201 treated vocals on recordings in 1978 but Man Machine was released before Sunlight, I think.
Stars In Your Eyes - Herbie Hancock (1980)
Oh boy the magic happens on this one. For a start the glorious groove is laid down by legends Freddie Washington and Alphonse Mouzon amongst a bed of exquisite Hancock keys. The strings are just splendid, then Ray Parker Jr's sublime guitar hook enters at 2:22 and you know greatness is upon you. Not to mention the wonderful vocal from Gavin Christopher. Impeccable from all angles. Undeniablestone cold R&B classic. 11 minutes just isn't quite enough.
Satisfied With Love - Herbie Hancock (1981)
Another top slow jam with Gavin Christopher on vocals. Washington & Mouzon lay down the groove once again, I mean that is some funky shit emanating from the fingertips of Freddie Washington innit. Deluxe.
Obsessed with this track this year. The fact that Carla Vaughn's vocals don't infuriate me is a testament to the restrained approach on the production of this record. Producers Ayers & Vaughn reign this shit in to a flawless degree.
That synth/guitar/whatever break at 2:54 is in that perfect controlled zone, what could have gone berserk is reeled in, just. Again this tune is all about balance.
Years ago (pre-youtube/streaming) I decided to investigate the Roy Ayers oeuvre but I entered his catalogue in an incorrect place and got the wrong end of the stick. So I thought he was not for me but ten years ago I discovered this sweet spot which is the You Send Me LP from 1978. It wasn't a consensus record back then but it might be a bit more on people's radar today. You Send Me might not be the 60s jazzers or early 70s jazz-funkateers choice but these grooves are just fine by me. The soul jazz is heading further toward what would become known as R&B. Smooth, sensuous and melodically spacious, it's got the subtle luxurious vibes.
Was this the inspiration for Spirit Of Radio by Rush? I feel like I can hear bits of it in here. Both songs were recorded around the same time so...who knows? Anyhow this is peak Loggins. Peak FM pop really. You either love it or hate it
Kenny is a surprisingly interesting cat. He was in a 60s garage group, The Second Helping, who were later included on Greg Shaw's seminal compilation series Highs In The Mid 60s. Kenny was even in The Electric Prunes for like a minute prior to forming a duo with Jim Messina of Buffalo Springfield and Poco fame. Loggins & Messina had a very successful run of six LPs from 1971 to 1976, selling over sixteen million records.
Anyway fast forward to 1979 and the release of his third solo LP of which Keep The Fire is the title track. Amazingly this single only just cracked the top US top 40 reaching number 36.
The Second Helping - Let Me In (1966)
Before becoming yacht rock royalty and the king of Hollywood in the 70s and 80s Kenny was in The Second Helping. They released three singles. Let Me In is ramshackle diy garage pop, that's almost proto-indie, with girl/boy vocals. Wait for psych lead break at 1:55. Good fun 60s stuff.
When you hear this you immediately think of hip-hop from the late 80s/early 90s. That's how ubiquitous James Brown samples were then. This tune was famously sampled by Ice-T and Marley Marl along with literally hundreds of others.
Anyway who cares right because this tune is better than anything it was sampled in. I can't stand how the only way to discuss legendary artists is through who they influenced.
This is another jam that was only ever released on one of those three great James Brown Polydor comps from 1996: Make It Funky (The Big Payback: 1971-1975).
I don't recall anything much about the way JB approached his music in this peak period but I assume it's similar to the way Miles Davis and Can operated. Doing long jams then editing them later. Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Make It Funky were all edited down to singles. Parts 3 & 4 were included on the classic double LP Get On The Good Foot (1972). I gather this raw twelve minute jam is where all the material for the Make It Funky releases comes from. However I don't think he was so much into the splicing or overdubs in the way Teo Macero and Holger Czukay were, I may be wrong...
The exalted musicianship makes me smile and laugh out loud at the sheer ease of their audacity. In particular the bit where everything turns on a dime at 1:48 and Fred Thomas's world famous bass line drops. Glorious.
It makes me think these jams are somewhat composed if not completely...
James Brown begins a list of soul food at 2:49.
Fred Wesley barges in with his trombone at 8:33 for a bit of dick joke banter. They continue with Brown getting Wesley to imitate what he's doing vocally on his trombone which is just brilliant. All the while Jabo Starks and Fred Thomas are holding down a mother of a fucking groove, that is a stone cold hard funk rhythm like no other.
At 11:16 Brown yells out to guitarist Robert Coleman to give him a bit of BB King and he proceeds to lay down some blues licks.
Down and dirty and base this all is.
The JBs line-up for this session on July 13, 1971, Rodel Studios, Washington, D.C. was
Organ, Arrangement - James Brown
Alto Saxophone, Vocals - Jimmy Parker
Bass, Vocals - Fred Thomas Drums, Vocals - Jabo Starks Guitar, Vocals - Cheese Martin
Guitar, Vocals - Robert Coleman Tenor Saxophone, Vocals – St Claire Pickney Trombone, Vocals - Fred Wesley Trumpet, Vocals - Jasaan Sanford
Trumpet, Vocals - Russel Crimes Vocals - Bobby Byrd
Vocals - Danny Ray
Vocals - Martha Harvin
Vocals - Vicki Anderson
*So we've got the aforementioned Robert Lee Coleman on guitar here. He was a fellow Georgian who put in a good couple of seasons for The JBs in 1970 and & 1971. He'd previously done a six year stint with Percy Sledge. He played on and possibly co-wrote Hot Pants (1971) and played on Think (About It) (1972) by Lyn Collins...er that makes you a legend.
Some minimal cosmic funk right here and it's glorious. A bass masterclass. It makes me wish I knew all about the musician-y stuff so I could appreciate what is going on here even more. That groove, oh my. All of the musicality moves...yes sir!
When you hear stuff like this it's hard not to think the perceived achievements by rock critics of things like Remain In Light or My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts as dubious and way overrated.
Also that guitar is just outrageously splendid. It could be Michael but it's probably one of these two legendary guitarists who have a credit on the LP: Bruce Nazarian or Ralphe Armstrong.
I really should just go through Miles Davis's 70s bands and make sure I've checked out each members other projects and solo releases to make sure I've not missed more great stuff like Solid. All I knew for 30 years was that Michael Henderson was a fucking cool bass player because he was on all those amazing 70s Miles albums. When I say that I mean he played wicked bass on ten of the best LPs ever made! I think I had some years where pretty much all I listened to was Big Fun, In Concert, Live-Evil, Get Up With It, Agharta, Dark Magus etc. So Michael's bass has been rolling around in my head for eternity but my awareness of Solid is brand new.
This cover. Yes.
All of it.
That font. Recently a restaurant nearby took down its old signage which was in this exact font and from the same era, that was a depressing day.
...but wait also check out those glasses. He's giving his old mate Miles, on the cover of Get Up With It, a run for his money.
Insane jazz/funk/fusion eyewear is probably a much under-explored subject. Then again there might just be an entire website devoted to it.
That's what I had written down as notes for this tune. Need I say more?
This tune and parts of this tune had been recorded and released previously on several high profile James Brown records between 67-70 including as part of a medley, a single, an album cut and several live versions.
This version however is somewhat mysterious. It appears to be a studio jam recorded in 1970 but as I no longer have the 96 compilation cd Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang I can't really find any concrete information on it apart from the fact that this version was previously unreleased.
1996 was a fantastic year for for JB fans because three of his best ever cd compilations were released by Polydor: Foundations Of Funk: A Brand New Bag 64-69, Funk Power 1970 and Make It Funky: The Big Payback 71-75. In fact if you're a funky JB neophyte this is exactly where to start. It's got all his soulful-proto-funk to his funky funk to just plain funk and stops just short of where he starts integrating disco elements into his sound. These were meticulously put together collections. So this is THE primo James Brown goodness. Then if you need more there's an endless amount of releases to explore. These three stellar compilations have never been reissued though but they can be found across blogs, youtube, spotify etc.
Going back to the band...I mean how smokin' was his band? This is quite possibly the best band of the 20th century...These guys:
Vocals: James Brown
Organ: Bobby Byrd
Bass Guitar: Bootsy Collins
Guitar: Phelps "Catfish" Collins
Drums: John "Jabo" Starks
Conga: Johnny Griggs
Tenor Saxophone: Robert "Chopper" McCollough
Trumpet: Clayton Gunnels
Trumpet: Darryl Jamison
Engineer: Ronald Lenhoff
We've got just the one drummer here as Clyde Stubblefield left the group sometime in 1970. Sometimes they would have three drummers and a conga player on one tune. Here we've got Griggs on congas and the man behind the "Think" break Jabo Starks on drums. There's no Fred Wesley who sat out most of 1970 but then came back in 71. You could spend your life tracking and tracing the fabulous personal on each phonkay JB cut. They're like an elite footy team. They should have their own footy cards.
Oh almost forgot fuzzy lead break alert at 4:17. Thank you Catfish Collins, you are a legend!
Was gonna go on a rant about what D would have thought about Russia-gate, fake leftists now being shills for the CIA & war and so on, but I'm just sick to death of the mindless conformity. It continues on though with Biden's war on establishment dissent today with the indictment of four old school African American black power dudes. They are being accused of being Kremlin agents which just sounds like the latest iteration of Russia-gate bullshit.
......plus political terms are pretty bloody redundant nowadays. When is someone gonna come up with some relevant ones to improve political discourse?
I was totally disappointed when Four-Calendar Cafe came out in 1993. What happened to the sublime? Why were they sad instead of ecstatic? Why were they trying to sound like they wanted to be on American radio? Why were there so many more recognisable words than usual? Why did they release such a pissweak album? Less than seven listens in I gave the cd away. I tried to wipe it from my memory. I mean the recent-one-two punch of Blue Bell Knoll (88) then Heaven Or Las Vegas (90) was so glorious. I just wanted to live that vibe. And the Sugar Hiccup (83) to Love's Easy Tears (87) run of 45s vibe and the other one two album punch of Head Over Heals (83) and Treasure (84). I would forever just hold on to them as the 4AD group. Whatever they did after that on another label we'll just ignore. Just try to quietly forget the fact that they'd fallen from grace and faded away into artistic inconsequence.
I was forgetting something though. The Cocteau Twins had slumped before, you know with Victorialand (86). An LP I've listened to many times but couldn't tell you the name of one track. This was an easy album to overlook though as they released so much good music between 1983 and 1990 there was enough great stuff, you could forget a record and it didn't matter.
By 1993 though we had been waiting for three years for a record. In the mean time a bunch of kids had stolen their sounds and made them less good in their shoegaze groups Slowdive, Lush etc. So you know you don't wanna release an album so inferior that a band of b-grade imitators are going to outdo you. Some might say Slowdive's Souvlaki is better than Four Calendar Cafe and historical consensus does seem to favour that narrative. By late 93 I couldn't have cared less though as I didn't like either. Recently though I've come round to Souvlaki so I know in all fairness I need to reassess Four-Calendar Cafe.
Evangeline keeps popping its head up in my world and yeah guess what? I've become somewhat enamoured by it. I've had to compartmentalise the Cocteau Twins into their two distinctive record company stints though. So you've got the supreme golden era of the 4AD years 1982 -1990. Then you've got the less incandescent Fontana twilight years 1993 - 1998.
In the 90s I did end up getting the final LP Milk & Kisses (1995) and those Fontana EPs probably twelve or eighteen months after release when they were cheap and in the 2nd hand bin. I recall liking some of the material, the more dubby out there type of stuff. When a seminally influential band becomes a chaser of a sound though, it seems a bit sad. Even if the sound they're following was influenced by them in the first place. Anywhoo I could'n't name or hum a tune from Twilights or Violaine. Perhaps I've underestimated the twilight years era. I hope that I've been absolutely wrong for thirty years. We'll see...
Anyway back to Evangeline the 1993 single. This is like an answer song to the dream pop they helped create (Julee Cruise, Lush etc.) except it's better, more emotional and in a class of its own. It's like they're saying yeah thanks that's flattering and all but we've got real emotional depth beneath the pop sheen. Plus they just up the ante don't they? with a preposterous key change that before you have time to throw your hands up in exasperation you realise it works just perfectly. BAM the masters have nailed it, goosebumps jackpot and the acolytes should be sheepish. Can't deny thirty years later Evangeline is one of the great Cocteaus moments.
