Category Archives: Funk
THE FIFTY BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2014-PART 5.
THE FIFTY BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2014-PART 5. STRANGE BREAKS AND MR. THING III. One of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed compilation series made a welcome return in May 2014. That’s Strange Breaks and Mr. Thing III. It’s been a long time coming. Five years in fact. So, after a five year back, Mr. …
THE GRITS-MAKE A SOUND.
THE GRITS-MAKE A SOUND. Five long years have passed since The Grits released their debut eponymous debut album. Recently, however, The Grits have released their long awaited sophomore album, Make A Sound. It essentially, is The Grits’ comeback album. As comeback albums go, Make A Sound which was recently released on BBE Music, is like …
CRYSTAL WINGS-FIRST FLIGHT.
CRYSTAL WINGS-FIRST FLIGHT. For many people, their introduction to the music of Crystal Wings was on BBE Music’s 2011 compilation, The Real Sound Of Chicago and Beyond: Underground Disco and Boogie. It featured It Ain’t Easy, a track from Crystal Wings one and only album, First Flight, which was a private pressing released back in …
CRAIG PEYTON GROUP-PYRAMID LOVE.
CRAIG PEYTON GROUP-PYRAMID LOVE. For Craig Peyton, the founder member of Band X, 1976 was the most important year of his nascent musical career. It was the year Band X released their debut album The Best Of Band X. However, The Best Of Band X a private pressing, wasn’t a commercial success. Instead, this innovative, …
BAND X-THE BEST OF BAND X.
BAND X-THE BEST OF BAND X. Back in 1976, musical maverick, Craig Peyton, was an up-and-coming musician, songwriter, arranger and producer. His latest musical vehicle was Band X, which he founded with Alan Grzyb, Victor Preston and Joey Bellomo. However, originally, Craig was a jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Then when synths started making inroads into …
VERCKYS ET L’ORCHESTRE VEVE-CONGOLESE FUNK, AFROBEAT AND PSYCHEDELIC RUMBA 1969-1978.
VERCKYS ET L’ORCHESTRE VEVE-CONGOLESE FUNK, AFROBEAT AND PSYCHEDELIC RUMBA 1969-1978. There’s a very good reason Georges Mateta Kiamuangana a.k.a Verckys, can remember the 5th of April 1969. It was the exact date he founded Orchestre Vévé. He’d just returned from Paris, where he suffered a life-threatening illness. At the time, Georges was a member of …
BOMBAY DISCO VOLUME 2.
BOMBAY DISCO VOLUME 2. 1979 was a landmark year in the history of disco. Suddenly, after being the musical flavour of the month for several years, disco sucked. In the space of a year, disco went from hero to zero. Disco’s downfall started on Christmas Eve 1978, That’s when Steve Dahl was fired by Chicago …
FUNKADELIC-MAGGOT BRAIN.
FUNKADELIC-MAGGOT BRAIN. Rumour has it, that when Funkadelic recorded their career defining album, Maggot Brain, they were on one long acid trip. Members of Funkadelic had dropped some Yellow Sunshine Acid before producer George Clinton pressed the record button. Ironically, Maggot Brain which was recently reissued on vinyl by Ace Records, was Funkadelic’s finest hour. Sadly, …
EDDY GILES-SOUTHERN SOUL BROTHER-THE MURCO RECORDINGS 1967-1969.
EDDY GILES-SOUTHERN SOUL BROTHER-THE MURCO RECORDINGS 1967-1969. For the last sixty years, Eddy Giles has been a regular on KOKA, a Shreveport based radio station. Originally, Eddy was a guitarist in various local groups. Then between 1967 and 1969, Eddy Giles was signed to Murco Records. His singles, which feature on Southern Soul Brother-The Murco …
GOOD ALL OVER-RARE SOUL FROM THE WESTBOUND RECORDS VAULTS 1969-1975.
GOOD ALL OVER-RARE SOUL FROM THE WESTBOUND RECORDS VAULTS 1969-1975. It was in late 1968, that music veteran Armen Boladian founded Westbound Records, in Detroit. This was a boost for Detroit’s ailing independent music scene. During the previous years, Motown had put most of Detroit’s independent labels to the sword. Gradually, Detroit’s independent labels fell …
HARD TO EXPLAIN-MORE SHATTERED BLUES-FUNKY BLUES 1968-1984.
HARD TO EXPLAIN-MORE SHATTERED BLUES-FUNKY BLUES 1968-1984. Nearly three years have passed, since BGP Records, a subsidiary of Ace Records, released Funky Blues and Shattered Dreams 1967-1978. It was released to widespread critical acclaim in early 2012. No wonder. Funky Blues and Shattered Dreams 1967-1978 featured blues greats like Lowell Fulson, Albert King, Buddy Guy …
WILLIAM ONYEAEBOR 2.
WILLIAM ONYEAEBOR 2. Enigmatic. That’s the perfect word to describe synth funk pioneer, William Onyeabor. He is, without doubt, one of the most mysterious and elusive musicians. There’s a good reason for this, Much of William Onyeabor’s life is shrouded in mystery. After releasing eight albums between 1978 and 1985, which will feature in Luaka Bop’s …
I’M JUST LIKE YOU:SLY STONE’S FLOWER 1969-1970.
I’M JUST LIKE YOU:SLY STONE’S FLOWER 1969-1970. Having just released their fourth album Stand, Sly and The Family Stone took Woodstock by storm. Their early morning set on 17th August 1969, was one of the highlights of Woodstock. This further cemented their huge popularity. After Woodstock, CBS, their record company were desperate for a new …
ESTHER PHILLIPS-BABY I’M FOR REAL!
ESTHER PHILLIPS-BABY I’M FOR REAL! Despite releasing eighteen albums during a career that lasted thirty-five years, most people haven’t heard Esther Phillips. That’s a great shame, because they’re as yet, unaware of one of the most talented, versatile and underrated singers of her generation. She possessed a totally unique, voice. During her career, Esther sang blues, country, …
1970s ALGERIAN PROTO-RAI UNDERGROUND.
1970s ALGERIAN PROTO-RAI UNDERGROUND. As the seventies dawned, Algerian music was changing. For the next ten years, Algerian music, was constantly evolving. This included Rai music. It was a controversial style of music, that originally came to prominence at the start of the twentieth century. Rai music Rai music was first heard in Oran, an …
PERU BRAVO-FUNK, SOUL AND PSYCH FROM PERU’S RADICAL DECADE.
PERU BRAVO-FUNK, SOUL AND PSYCH FROM PERU’S RADICAL DECADE. By 1965, it wasn’t just America and Britain that were in the throes of a musical revolution. No. This was musical revolution whose tentacles reached much further afield. Word spread as far afield as Africa, Australasia, Europe and Latin America. That had been the case since …
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