Category Archives: Funk
GREG WILSON CREDIT TO THE EDIT VOLUME ONE.
GREG WILSON CREDIT TO THE EDIT VOLUME ONE. For someone that loves music as much as I do, one of the worst things that could happen is having your music collection stolen. After all, how can you replace albums that are either long out of print, were released on small labels or are imports that …
MELLOW MELLOW-15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.
MELLOW MELLOW-15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. One of my favorite independent record labels over the past seventeen years is Harmless Records, who were founded in 1995. Since then, they’ve been releasing quality music on a regular basis. They’ve released a number of hugely successful compilation series including Pulp Fusion, Disco Discharge and of course thirty editions of …
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME ONE COMPILED BY DJ RED GREG.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME ONE COMPILED BY DJ RED GREG. With so much good music being released, sometimes I don’t get the opportunity to write about an album when it’s released. One such album is a compilation of rare soul and disco entitled Under the Influence Volume One Compiled By DJ Red Greg. Released in …
DEEP DISCO AND BOOGIE VOLUME 1.
DEEP DISCO AND BOOGIE VOLUME 1. For over thirty years I’ve been a fanatical collector of music in all forms. When I first started collecting, vinyl was still king, with tapes, mini discs and compact discs all still to come. Since then, I’ve been unable to resist crate digging, with anywhere where there might be …
CHIC-TAKE IT OFF.
CHIC-TAKE IT OFF. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a group or artists’ star can wane. In some cases, this is because the quality of their music is no longer as good as it once was, or it can be because their music is no longer fashionable. With Chic, the demise in popularity …
SMOKEY ROBINSON-SMOKEY’S FAMILY ROBINSON.
SMOKEY ROBINSON-SMOKEY’S FAMILY ROBINSON. In a previous review, I reviewed one of Smokey Robinson’s solo albums, Quiet Storm, which released in 1975. This a critically acclaimed and landmark album, one that spawned its own musical genre Quiet Storm. The music on Quiet Storm was very different to most of the music being released in 1975. …
STEVIE WONDER-MUSIC OF MY MIND.
STEVIE WONDER-MUSIC OF MY MIND. When Stevie Wonder was recording Music of My Mind, he neither knew nor realized that this was the first album in a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. Between 1972, when Music of My Mind was released, until Songs In the Key In Life in 1976. These two …
CHOCOLATE MILK-ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.
CHOCOLATE MILK-ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS. During their career, Chocolate Milk recorded with both Allen Toussaint and Paul McCartney and released eight albums. Of these eight albums, their debut album Action Speaks Louder Than Words is probably the best known. Released in 1975, Action Speaks Louder Than Words is a mixture of funk and soul. …
THE ISLEY BROTHERS-HARVEST FOR THE WORLD.
THE ISLEY BROTHERS-HARVEST FOR THE WORLD. What people forget about when they talk about The Isley Brothers career is both the longevity of their career and how successful a career they had. In a career that saw them release their first album Shout in 1959 and their last album Baby Makin’ Music in 2006, they …
AL KENT-THE BEST OF DISCO DEMANDS.
AL KENT-THE BEST OF DISCO DEMANDS. Now previously, I’ve written about quite a few disco compilations, but never one like this. This is something quite different and very special. The other disco compilations I’ve reviewed were good, very good, but this takes disco compilations to a new level. Whereas the other compilations had either one …
L.T.D.-SOMETHING TO LOVE.
L.T.D.-SOMETHING TO LOVE. I’ve always been one of these people who studies sleeve notes on albums carefully, to see which musicians played on an album, or even who arranged or produced the album. Sometimes this pays off, because you end up finding some great music. Often, I buy an album blind, having never heard it …
SHATTERED DREAMS-FUNKY BLUES 1967-1978.
SHATTERED DREAMS-FUNKY BLUES 1967-1978. Over the many years I’ve been collecting first vinyl, even tapes and now CDs, I’ve lost count of the number of compilation albums I’ve bought. I won’t admit to what the total must be, all I’ll say is that it’s into four figures, so you can speculate to your hearts content. …
SHUGGIE OTIS-FREEDOM FLIGHT.
SHUGGIE OTIS-FREEDOM FLIGHT. What’s the best way to describe Shuggie Otis? Prodigious, musical virtuoso and vastly underrated is a good start. Certainly Shuggie was something of a child prodigy, first playing the guitar aged two, and playing with his father Johnny’s band from the age of twelve. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Shuggie released …
BOBBY WOMACK-COMMUNICATION.
BOBBY WOMACK-COMMUNICATION. Recently, I was reading an article about Bobby Womack collaborating with Damon Albarn for Bobby’s forthcoming album The Bravest Man In the Universe. Bobby had chosen Damon to produce his new album, which will be his first secular album since 1994s Soul Seduction Supreme, a stunning live set. Since then, Bobby hasn’t produced …
THE DRAMATICS-A DRAMATIC EXPERIENCE.
THE DRAMATICS-A DRAMATIC EXPERIENCE. Some time ago, I reviewed The Dramatics debut album Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get, which had recently been rereleased and remastered. What many people didn’t realize was that included on the album was their second album A Dramatic Experience. Their first album Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get had been a huge …
JAMES BROWN-BLACK CAESAR.
JAMES BROWN-BLACK CAESAR. Recently, I was listening to Isaac Hayes who recorded one of my favorite Blaxploitation albums Shaft, made me revisit some of my favorite Blaxploitation albums, including Black Caesar, written and performed by James Brown. This was a 1973 Blaxploitation film written and directed by Larry Cohen, which starred Fred Williamson and Gloria …
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL.
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL. As someone who is a huge fan of the Stax record label, I’ve always loved the music of Isaac Hayes. He was one of the creative forces behind Stax, writing many of the songs for many artists on the label, many with David Porter, one of his songwriting partners. Not only …
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER.
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER. I’ve always thought that O.V. Wright was one of the most underrated Southern Soul singers of his generation. In some ways, his music was overshadowed by the success of Al Green, who was on the same label as O.V. Hi Records. Whereas, Al Green had numerous critically acclaimed albums, O.V. only …
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