Category Archives: Funk
GWEN MCCRAE-MELODY OF LIFE.
GWEN MCCRAE-MELODY OF LIFE. By 1979, Gwen McCrae’s career and private life were going through tough times. Her marriage to George McCrae was over. As for her music career, well, it seemed a long time since her number one US R&B single Rockin’ Chair. It was only four years. A lot had happened since then. …
ALMUNIA-PULSAR.
ALMUNIA-PULSAR. Often when I’m looking for new music, it’s an album cover that grabs my attention. That was the case with Almunia’s new album Pulsar. It was released on Paul Murphy’s Claremont 56 label, on 27th May 2013. Released without publicity or fanfare, Almunia’s sophomore album Pulsar was a low key release to say the …
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK SUNRISE.
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK SUNRISE. By far, one of the best compilations of 2012 was Leng Records’ Psychemagik Presents Magic Circles. Released in October 2012, it’s best described as a compelling and captivating collection of music. Not only that, but it brought new meaning to the word eclectic. Fusing cosmic disco, Balearica, psychedelic funk, ambient, soul, …
CORNELL CAMPBELL MEETS THE SOOTHSAYERS-NOTHING CAN STOP US NOW.
CORNELL CAMPBELL MEETS THE SOOTHSAYERS-NOTHING CAN STOP US NOW. When it comes to musical collaborations, they often, bring out the best in musicians. Especially, when you bring together musicians from diverse musical backgrounds. Often, they drive each other to greater heights. This was the case with previous installments of Strut Records Inspiration Information series. Sly …
PAAAARTY TIME-SERIOUS FUNK FROM THE 70S.
PAAAARTY TIME-SERIOUS FUNK FROM THE 70S. After its birth in the mid to late sixties, funk’s popularity quickly grew. With its fusion of soul, R&B and jazz, funk’s heyday was the seventies. While the peak of funk’s popularity was during the seventies, it was during the seventies that some of the greatest funk music was …
BACKBEATS: DIGGERS DELIGHT-MORE RARE-GROOVE GEMS.
BACKBEATS: DIGGERS DELIGHT-MORE RARE-GROOVE GEMS. For many DJs and music-lovers, crate-digging for hidden rare-groove gems is the musical equivalent of an Olympic sport. Whether its record shops, thrift stores, dusty warehouses or junk shops, there’s nowhere that the determined crate-digger won’t head. Nowhere is off-limits in their search for rare of obscure vinyl. A crate-digger …
BACKBEATS: IN THE POCKET-70S JAZZ FUNK.
BACKBEATS: IN THE POCKET-70S JAZZ FUNK. Ever since the birth of jazz, the music has never stood still. Instead, it’s been constantly evolving. That was the case in the early seventies. By the early seventies, jazz had to evolve to survive. Jazz’s popularity had been surpassed by soul music. Even soul jazz which had proved …
SWEAT BAND-SWEAT BAND.
SWEAT BAND-SWEAT BAND. After George Clinton and his manager Archie Ivy formed Uncle Jam Records, the nascent label’s first release was the debut album from Bootsy Collins newly formed P-Funk supergroup Sweat Band. Formed out of the ashes of Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Sweat Band was a short-lived P-Funk group, who released just one album in 1980. …
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VII.
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VII. For The Gap Band, commercial success didn’t come overnight. Quite the opposite. Instead, it took three albums. Neither 1974s Magician’s Holiday nor 1977s The Gap Band charted. Then when The Gap Band signed to Mercury Records, their third album The Gap Band reached number seventy-seven in the US Billboard …
SKYY-SKYY LINE.
SKYY-SKYY LINE. By the time Skyy released their fourth album for Salsoul Records, Skyy Line, which was recently rereleased by BBR Records, Salsoul, and indeed music, had changed dramatically. Between 1975 and 1979, Salsoul Records had established a reputation as disco’s premier label. Salsoul Records gained a reputation as an innovative and influential label, who …
JOHN MORALES PRESENTS THE M&M MIXES VOLUME 3 INSTRUMENTALS.
JOHN MORALES PRESENTS THE M&M MIXES VOLUME 3 INSTRUMENTALS. Compilations of John Morales’ remixes are a bit like London buses, you wait ages for one, then two come along at once. After releasing the critically acclaimed and commercially successful The M&M Mixes Volume 2 in March 2011, John Morales spent the next years working not just …
DISCO RECHARGE: EVELYN THOMAS-I WANNA MAKE IT ON MY OWN AND HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME.
DISCO RECHARGE: EVELYN THOMAS-I WANNA MAKE IT ON MY OWN AND HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME. On 1975, DJ and producer Ian Levine headed to America is search of artists he could record for his newly founded production company Voltafine. Ian’s idea was to record American soul singers, then lease the recordings to major …
DISCO RECHARGE: GRAND TOUR ON SUCH A WINTER’S DAY AND SOUTHERN EXPOSURE HEADIN’ SOUTH-SPECIAL EDITION.
DISCO RECHARGE: GRAND TOUR ON SUCH A WINTER’S DAY AND SOUTHERN EXPOSURE HEADIN’ SOUTH-SPECIAL EDITION. Back in 1976, in Toronto, Canada, a musical partnership that resuled in some of the most innovative music of the disco era was formed. This partnership was made up of Willi Morrison, who was born in Scotland, but moved to …
GIORGIO MORODER-ON THE GROOVE TRAIN VOLUME 2 1974-1985.
GIORGIO MORODER-ON THE GROOVE TRAIN VOLUME 2 1974-1985. One of the founding fathers of Euro Disco was the Italian born producer Giorgio Moroder. His career started back in 1966, when he released several singles as Giorgio. It wasn’t until 1969 when Giorgio Moroder first enjoyed commercial success. His 1969 single Looky, Looky, which was released …
OVERDOSE OF THE HOLY GHOST-COMPILED BY DAVID HILL.
OVERDOSE OF THE HOLY GHOST-COMPILED BY DAVID HILL Sometimes, compilations can be anodyne affairs, with record labels and compilers scared to release compilations of innovative, leftfield music. This results in labels playing it safe and releasing compilations that although not innovative, will pay the bills. Thankfully, there are some labels out their willing to release …
SALSOUL PRESENTS: DISCO DIVAS AND SOULFUL SISTA FLAVAS.
SALSOUL PRESENTS: DISCO DIVAS AND SOULFUL SISTA FLAVAS. when you look back at the history of Salsoul Records, you realize they weren’t short of some stunning female vocalists. Loleatta Holloway, First Choice, Charo, Carol Williams, Jocelyn Brown from Inner Life, The Sweethearts of Sigma, Brenda Gooch and Claudja Barry. Each of these divas feature on …
GARY CRISS-RIO DE JANEIRO.
GARY CRISS-RIO DE JANEIRO. Recently when I was reviewing a new Salsoul Records compilation, The Salsoul Records Story, which was recently released by Gold Legion, I was pleased to discover that the compilers had included Gary Criss’ Rio De Janeiro. This was the title-track to the only album Gary Criss released on Salsoul Records. Rio …
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