Fantastic 1970s funk from one of the all time greats.
Posted tonight for no other reason than the bassline sounds like the inspiration for Beastie Boys “Egg Man” which was posted a few minutes ago …. would have been worth posting this anytime.
A key part of the soundtrack to the classic “Blaxploitation” movie “Super Fly” … as Wikipedia notes, Super Fly was one of the few films that was outgrossed by its soundtrack release!
The orignal LP version then a live cut from a few years later.
Fantastic record, very big on my “corridor” at the University in Manchester …..
At the time, I was smitten with The Smiths’ first John Peel Session and, in particular, the elemental first outing of “Reel Around The Fountain” with less piano and more bass than the inferior version that made it onto the first Smiths LP proper.
But, despite the allure of Morrissey’s quiff, this record was always there.
Pounding bass that sounds like the blueprint for much of the epoch defining Trax and DJ International material that made up the canon of classic Chicago House two or three years later.
Wonderful vocals and chorus and the sort of clunky drum machine and synth that stretched the technology of the day to its limits. It’s all too easy today and, consequently, so much harder to separate the wheat from the chaff ….
NME track of the year 1984!
Top of the Pops version then the extended 12″ mix.
This is probably the best track from possibly the greatest live LP of all time – James Brown’s “Live at the Apollo Volume II”, recorded in 1967 and released in 1968.
The, ahem, “many” followers of this blog will know that I can never get enough of a well played funk guitar and this performance is right up there with my all-time favourites. Incredibly influential; large chunks of the dance music scene of the 1970s are laid down in this blueprint.
One of the greatest voices in the history of soul music – namechecked as “that wicked Wilson Pickett” in Arthur Conley’s epoch defining “Sweet Soul Music”.
This track was written by Bobby Womack.
Massively influential in the early days of Paul Weller.
There is no better time than Valentine’s Day to post this …..
Unbelievable live recording with a guitar line to kill for. The studio version follows for trainspotting completists like myself and then a wonderful guitar tutorial ….
I’ve always found Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” LP to be a tad on the woolly side. Lovely stuff, but effectively 35 minutes of rather gorgeous handwringing.
However, following the events of recent nights, I’ve started to appreciate the merits of headscratching.
What’s going on?
Great live version then the original cut from the LP.
There can be few finer things in life than “cruising” the 2 miles to the local railway station at 6:50am in my X Reg Renault Clio and stumbling upon a lost pop classic on the dodgy CD player.
Apart, that is, from perhaps cruising the same journey in a brand spanking new, open top sports car or, alternatively, stumbling upon the same track while lying on a beach in Barbados.
No matter; no caveats needed here.
I had a double take when I spotted who recorded this song. I’ve always liked Frankie Valli’s stuff but this is an absolute Northern Soul classic. Originally released on Chameleon, the only LP that the Four Seasons ever recorded for Motown and released in 1972. The LP seems to have sunk without trace in the USA and this track with it. However, “The Night” was released in the UK three years later and made number 7 in the “hit parade” (as I believe the young folk of today now call the charts).
Fantastic driving bass and minor key chorus – in a different world this would be a stone cold classic. Really turn this up!
My eldest daughter (second oldest over all) posted this on Facebook last night and reminded me what a work of genius this track is. Killer bassline, fantastic lyrics.
I like to think she got all her musical taste from me but I fear this might not be the case.
No matter, she was clearly trying to convey the fact that I (that is, “Papa”) reminded her of Mick Jagger and/or Keith Richards (i.e., that I was a Rolling Stone). So, simply, that I reminded her of the aristocracy of the rock’n'roll establishment and not the tedious, strait-laced civil servant that others have caricatured me as … Admittedly, I haven’t checked this interpretation but it seems pretty clear to me. Frankly.
Really sad news this morning about the death of Gil Scott-Heron. Will post his most famous song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” next but wanted to start with this soul/funk classic from the Winter in America LP released in 1974.
A meditation on the perils of alcohol and drug addiction to an incessant groove. Subsequently sampled by De La Soul and The Jungle Brothers amongst others.
Recent Comments