FUNK-A-VISION

Monday, August 10, 2009

La Toya Jackson - If You Feel The Funk (1980)

Oh for the simple days of the Jackson family -- before everyone started fighting, and were just working on making good music! Here, LaToya Jackson gets production help from Ollie E. Brown -- and comes up with a clubby modern soul track that are probably as great as anything she ever recorded!

Booker Newberry III - Love Town (1984)

Booker Newberry III (born January 19, 1956) was a member of the mid 1970s groups Sweet Thunder ("Baby I Need Your Love Today.
Newberry signed Casablanca Records in 1983, and his single 'Love Town'originally released on the Boardwalk label, was a UK Top 10 hit.

Zapp - I Can Make You Dance (1982)

This one comes from Zapp's 3rd album, and one that shows them still very much on top of their game! The mix of tight bass, keyboards, and occasional vocoder bits is firmly in place from their first two albums - a stunning legacy of ensemble funk that pushes the older P-Funk ethos into hip new territory for the 80s! Roger and crew are superb throughout - fusing all rhythmic elements together beautifully, and electrifying the whole album with some great voice box vocals - almost making you feel like the instruments themselves are running the show!

Rose Royce - Is It Love You're After (1979)

A big one for the Producer Norman Whitfield - who found in Rose Royce what he'd been lacking for years: a hit group ready to handle a number of styles, all well, and all with an adventurous style that would break them past the legions of lackluster funky soul groups of the late 70s.

Tom Browne - Funkin' For Jamaica (1980)

"Funkin For Jamaica" is one of those old school jams we never tire of, with lots of nice choppy rhythms, and some great horn work by Tom Browne.

B.T. Express - Give It What You Got (1975)

B.T. Express - LP: Non-Stop (1975) are speeding it up a bit from the first album -- hitting more of a disco vein, as would be their due, since they were one of the key groups in inventing the genre! The core ensemble funk sound is still firmly in place, with loads of great horns arranged by the enigmatic Carlos Ward, a jazzy talent who always brought a nice edge to the group's albums.