*Rhythm Heritage - Disco-fied. 1976 ABC (LP). For their breakout single 'Theme from S.W.A.T.' (1975) I wrote the following almost exactly 2 years ago: "It all started here for me. Yep, this is the first vinyl I ever bought. My aunt stuck a couple of bucks in my pocket to buy a record and to subsequently piss off my parents. It worked (aunt's are good that way). By 1976 I had accumulated a couple of handfuls of 45s such as this, and then got tired of it (sold in a garage sale), and went back to collecting the more familiar ball cards. No more music for me I said! Yea, there's a grand proclamation that held... for about a year. In any case, how screwed up of a 10 year old was I to get this anyway? What kid runs out to buy 'Theme from S.W.A.T.'? I didn't even like the show! 45 years later, as I was buying a pile of records, I saw this for $1. Had to have it. Honestly I had forgotten all about what it sounded like. You know what though? This is a really great mid 70s heavy instrumental funk track! And the flip side is good too, with some cool Moog soloing. I'm keeping it this time." That flip side is not on this album though. For disco music, this is a good title throughout. The arrangements are excellent, great analog instrumentation, and plenty of good musicianship. I can only imagine that they simplified from here, though I'll have to try one out if I see it, which I'm sure I will. I don't have high hopes for Disco Derby, but would you believe it's quite scarce and expensive, despite being on MCA? Huh. (Dec)
*Andrea True Connection - More, More, More. 1976 Buddah (LP). I remember the hit single from when I first started collecting 45s at the tender age of 10 and 11. Amazing what they allowed on AM radio back then for young ears. Of course it's well known now that Andrea True was a porn star - and continued in that industry afterward. At that age I would have had no idea what that meant, though I don't think the general populace was tapped into that knowledge either. No more than Marilyn Chambers was the 99.44% pure girl for Ivory Snow. The album titles are filled with sexual innuendo. But why is it any good in the first place? She's a reasonably good singer but didn't really have strong stage presence or even a Donna Summers like voice. Gregg Diamond. He was the mastermind behind the project. Anyway, easy listening background music that brings back the mid 70s for me. (Dec)
Big Apple Brass - Opus de Metropolis. 1978 Royal Flush white label promo (LP). Thrift shop find (Dec). This one looked obscure and the first two titles read very intriguing: 'West Side Rock' and 'Funk Latino'. Followed by 'Big Apple Boogie' and 'Finger Lickin Disco' so I guess there was that to consider too. In any case, the Big Apple Brass were one of those large horn bands that decided to hop onto the disco bandwagon. There's some nicely performed horn charts and some rock elements - though guitar is strangely missing from 'West Side Rock', one of the more overt disco tracks here. Ah well, fairly harmless stuff. Not bad, but not the best the genre has to offer.
Mazarati. 1986 Paisley Press (LP). From the Denver Record show (Oct). No idea what it was but it looked intriguing. And it's certainly going for more than the $1 they charged for it. Beautiful copy too. Ten seconds in and I proclaim "this sounds like Prince!" Well yea, duh. I'm always on top of things, eh? A closer look makes this incredibly obvious. First of all they look like Prince. Well - except the white guys, who look like A Flock of Seagulls rejects. The album is on Prince's label and they're from Minneapolis. This is pretty much copycat music - but that means there's some fine guitar. Good on the whole, but no room in the collection for this title I'm afraid.
*Funkadelic. 2000 Westbound (1970) (CD). Collection revisit (Jun). In recent years, funk has become one of my favorite styles. So I was very much looking forward to revisiting this title in the collection. It's an interesting debut - not particularly funky at all. It does have psychedelic aspects, mostly found in the production and with Eddie Hazel's guitar. The latter is not near as focused or as intense as their 3rd album Maggot Brain. A lot of loose jamming can be heard here - many compare to Jimi Hendrix's albums from the same era, but I would suggest this is more laid back than that might imply. One of those albums I'm sure I'd appreciate more as an original LP, but those are extremely hard to find at any kind of a reasonable price. CDs like this oftentimes find themselves out the door, but I can make an exception for a debut by a legend like Funkadelic. I can't say I have too much that sounds like this album.
Ozone - Walk On. 1980 Motown (LP). Found this at a thrift shop (May). It looks like your everyday worthless disco album. But I'd never seen it before so I look them all up anyway as a matter of course. And sure enough, this isn't disco but rather what is known as boogie - or boogie funk. There are some really inventive and complex horn charts here. But for the most part it's still too smooth for my liking. I like my funk raw and dirty, and this is more radio friendly, which the cover indicated all along.
*Sylvia - Pillow Talk. 1973 Vibration (LP). This is not a cover you're likely to miss. To find this cheap ($4) at a local store is also surprising. This album just oozes sex. It's soul/funk, about 50/50 on that scale, but her sultry vocals make the soul music more interesting. I have a rare single from her as well, that I found for a quarter in Cheyenne, Wyoming (?!) just before the pandemic. This album is probably borderline exploitation, but Ms. Robinson puts in an authentic performance. Well worth keeping. Unique at the very least. (Apr)
*Budos Band. 2005 Daptone (CD). Thrift shop find (Apr). Not the kind of thing one finds at the thrifts, and unfortunately there were no other CDs like it in this collection. Interestingly enough I have all the Budos Band CDs except this first album. I figured it would be similar to the others, since they all have the same kind of music (allowing for hard rock guitar later in the career). And I was right. This has their patented instrumental horn funk sound that they continued to perfect. Still, as a debut, this lays the foundation quite well. A definitely keeper, especially considering the cool retro volcano digipak cover.
*Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information. 2001 Luaka Bop (1974) (CD). Thrift shop find (Apr). Otis' name came up last year on the review for The Brothers Johnson cover of 'Strawberry Letter #23', as he was the author of the piece. A piece I might add that is extraordinary in its strangeness. While it's not on the album proper, it is included on this CD. In some ways Otis' album is like Timmy Thomas' Why Can't We Live Together. That is to say, it's almost entirely a solo album and the music is unusually composed. Today this album has an enormous reputation for its groundbreaking ideas. And while it was hardly alone, sometimes it takes the right source to notice and promote. It's soul music by design, but it sits alone in its creativity. Great CD as well, loaded with historical details and four bonus tracks (all taken from Freedom Flight which I have yet to hear but hope to eventually).
The Jimmy Castor Bunch - E-Man Groovin'. 1976 Atlantic (LP). I've got a review of The Jimmy Castor Bunch's first two albums buried in this site. It's Just Begun is an absolute killer whereas Phase Two is pretty silly. Five albums later and not much has changed from Phase Two. At this point, Castor could be considered P-Funk even if we wasn't a member. Similar irreverence with a bit too much soul thrown in the mix. Too bad as it features an eye catching album cover. I'll pick these up as I go, but I suspect I'll end up just keeping that 2 for 1 CD, and the first LP if I find it. (Mar)
The Blackbyrds - Action. 1977 Fantasy (LP). Pulled this out of a 50 cent binner in October. This is my second go round with The Blackbyrds, having already commented on their debut. Only three years later, this would be the prolific band's 6th album. Really not that much different from the Faze-O I spoke of a couple of days ago. Not quite as much soul (though some), and it does stay with the funk for the most part. But it's of the stringsy variety, hovering around disco, but not quite committing to it. Nice gatefold cover - but gotta let this one go too. Though the beautiful closer 'Dreaming About You' had me a bit weak-kneed. Had to hang tough. (Jan)
* - Keeping for the collection
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