Sir Bootsy Collins

What it is, funkaholics!? Hope that jam got you goin', flowin' and left you glowin'! Next on this jam train is the home town of the wonderful, talented, groovy funk machine that is Bootsy Collins: Cincinnati, Ohio. Now Bootsy is basically a god damn vital organ in the voluptuous body of Funk music. Starting his career as a bass player in the 1960's, Collins went on to play with some of the most notable acts of all time. Seriously, almost every act listed on this blog, Bootsy has been involved in. To start off, Bootsy and his brother Catfish's band the pacemakers took over as James Brown's backing band in March of 1970. Though short lived, the band recorded the backing tracks such hits as "...Sex Machine", "Super Bad", and "The Grunt" (just to name a few). After the Brown stint, Bootsy and his brother moved to Detroit where they were introduced to the legendary George Clinton (some one soon to be featured on this blog) by Mallia Franklin. From that, Bootsy went on to play on most of the Funkadelic records, and all of the Parliament records. Once that was said and done, Bootsy and Catfish (along with many others) formed Bootsy's Rubber Band, seperate unit of Clintons P-Funk. They recorded 5 albums which are considered to be quintessential to the P-Funk collection. Clinton's label published Bootsy's first two solo albums "Ultra-Wave" and "Sweat Band". Around the same time he was also given credit for producing Zapp and Rodger. In 88 Bootsy joined forces with Bill Laswell after a 5 year hiatus, and the team released "What's Bootsy Doin?". From there, Laswell introduced Collins to Herbie Hancock, and the duo utilized the vibed out vocals of legendary SugarFoot from the Ohio Players (R.I.P) on the Electro Funk classic "Perfect Machine". Now this just brings us to the end of the 80's and Bootsy has been doing plenty more ever since, and he's stayed just as wacky. Now just to give you a taste, here's Bootsy and his Rubber Band's funk groove Another Point of View. Enjoy, and keep it funky! Right on, right on.

Some Oogie AND some Boogie!

What up with your bad selves ya'll!? I'm back to bestow upon you, blessed child, some sacred funky funky! First stop on this boogie train is Washington DC, land of corruption, crime, and sweet Go-Go Funk! Go-Go is a local brew of the funk we know and love and one of its first pushers was a damn groovy group known as Trouble Funk. Trouble Funk was born in 1978 and remains active to this day, playing shows and holding residencies in the DC area. Now this band had a huge influence on hip hop in the 80's and you will certainly be able to hear their similarities with Grand Master Flash, and other acts that share the same style. So with out any further ado, coming at you fast is Trouble Funk, with Get Down With Your Get Down

Next up, we got a cool funky soul act coming in. His name: Dexter Wansel. He has been blending genres and inspiring new born genres births since the 70's. Dexter is a cool cat from Philly, and has been behind the scenes of the Funk, Soul, RnB, and Disco for a long time. This man has many fingers in many cookie jars, and also occasionally uses those fingers set the keys on fire with ferocious musicianship. As a fellow old school sci-fi fan, I have much respect for his incorporation of Sci-Fi culture from the 70's and 80's. His studio albums include Life On Mars, Whats the World Coming To, Voyager, Time is Slipping Away, and Digital Groove World. Some notable acts he produced and wrote for were The Jackson's and Patti LaBell. So here's Wansel's funky Disco track: I'll Never Forget. 

Paradin' All Day

Hey ya'll! I apologize for the brief break, Doobie Brother's were throwin candy and I had to drop it all an get me some! Now here we got strollin' down the street is the hot and sticky The Flick by the man and his band Earl Van Dyke.

Dancin on down the line we have The Bar-Keys. Their a Memphis act that really knows how to get up and boogie down. Now these guys started back in the 1960's and today they're still going strong (Plus or Minus a few original members). 

Closing out this glorious parade of what was non and still is non-stop hits for the evening is a little group from unsspecting Gary, Indiana, The Jackson 5 with Blame It on the Boogie. And of course, RIP to the King. 

The Funk Parade

Welcome back ya'll and how do you do? Tonight a funk parade's in store for you!

The front end of this groove train is Breaksestra with Need a Little Love. Breakestra is actually a new project that is killin' the old school. It is the project of Miles "Music Man" Tackett and was born in Los Angeles in one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven. 

 

Next in line is the 8th wonder of the world, THE Stevie Wonder. This legend is coming at us hard with I Wish, Now I gotta love the Wonder because he's cool cat from the mitten and I gotta digg that. 

Cruising on in we have Chic. Their some New York cats that took the funk genre through change of the decades 70's and 80's. Here's their first single "Dance, Dance, Dance"

Swooping on in on the purity that is his voice is the almighty Al Green. Today he's a reverend, but Green has delivered the gospel of funky soul since long before his new holier endeavors. Let him take you back with Lets Stay Together.

Pullin up next in your roadside view is the equally legendary and eaqually unique acts: The Doobie Brothers. Now although most would first shy from a funk classification on this group, after checking them out at even a glance will hear the sweet, sweet rhythms of funk strutting on your eardrums. Here's a little taste with their hit Long Train Running.

Stay In Your Homes (Air Raid cont.)

Alrighty ya'll so glad you could join me for part two of my funkadelic air raid. Now this second part is going to be in a more blitzkrieg style. GO!

Now -just starting- to go into the electro funk genre here's Brick - Dazz from 1976.

Up next we got a Harlem cat swoopin down and infiltrating our eardrums with sweet sweet soul. The song: No Trouble on the Mountain. The man: Richard Groove Holmes. Jealous? So am I. 

And here is one that if you ain't heard or seen the movie for which it was created for, then you need to call your secretary and cancel your gigs, ya dig? The song is Pusher Man, the movie is Superfly, the man is the demigod Curtis Mayfield. If you don't know then you best get to knowin...

Whats that? Where's the disco bomb? Well it's right here. This is sure to be a groove in the disc that never saw any dust. The track: Supernature. The artist: Cerrone. Now I went ahead a gave you the official music video, and to your brain from Cerrone: You're welcome. 

This entry is in the loving memory of the late and great Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner of the Ohio Players who but very recently passed away. Now this is jam, ya dig? Skin Tight.

To wrap up our funk onslaught, I saved yet another legend for last. The man is Herbie Hancock, and if your momma taught you any manners then you can take a second and thank the man for his existence and its effect on the music you love. Just to leave things in the funk nastiest mess I possibly could, here is Ready or Not, the track that drives you mad with lovin'. 

Seek Shelter Immediately

Alrighty ya'll. I'm about to drop the god damn air raid of funk bombs on you unsuspecting cats, ya dig? Alright so check it out:

Rasputin Stash! They're some cool Chicago cats from back in the 70's. They were formed by then session musician Martin Dumas Jr. On their first album they consisted of eight members and then after that they fell slowly down to four by the time they did their second album, which was under a subsidiary of Curtis Mayfield's Curtom: Gemigo. Here's a stash of hot as heat tracks from the Chicago funkadlians. Booty March is a classic, but not in the sense of age. Here are a couple of older tracks. Mr. Cool and Hit it and Pass it

Next on the itinerary is the legend himself, the great grand wizard godfather master sensei of all funkadelic organ time, THE Dr. Lonnie Smith. Now The Doctor is one of the most prolific jazz/funk organist of all time, and not even arguably. He just is. Funk organ would be double nowhere if it wasn't for this killer on the keys. Now I just wanna give ya'll a taste of what this guy can do, and let ya'll realize that his prestigious notoriety is not in vein. Here's an example of just a live solo of his. And then, here is a couple examples of his studio work: Spinning Wheel's got some of the tastiest licks that have ever graced my eardrums. And just for good measure here is Paper Tiger, another great.

Electro Boogie

This week I'd like to shine our funky search light into the eighties so that we can take a stroll though the genre of electro-funk. The track we're going to highlight today is one that is a well kept secret that has a significance that echos even into today's music. The track we are going to look at is none other than Ronnie Hudson and the Street People - West Coast Poplock. Now Ronnie Hudson wasn't really a famous cat outside of the recording studios of his day. He was a session bassist and played for folks like Marvin Gay. Now Ronnie only ever released one song, and boy was it funky! The track came out in 1982, and at the time  was damn near the funkiest and newest thing on the the market. Now this track went on to "inspire" the lyrics to the chorus of Tupac's arguably most famous song "California Love". Now this is just another example of Funk really being the foundation of so much of the sampling done in early hip hop. Now it is a shame that poor Ronnie Hudson made this song and gets virtually no recognition for it. That is one of the reasons I wanted to spread the love to you guys! Another whistle blower to this songs amazingness waws Rockstar Games when they featured the song on a radio station in GTA: San Andreas. Anyways that is all for this week, please post a comment and I hope this track shakes your tail feather!