19 Apr 2023
Ohio Players ‎- 1974 – Skin Tight

Skin Tight was a major turning point for the Ohio Players, who had enjoyed several hits on black radio (including “Pain,” “Funky Worm,” “Varee Is Love,” and “I Wanna Hear From You”) but hadn’t been huge. Switching from Westbound to Mercury, the Dayton funksters became exactly that...
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11 Feb 2023
Con Funk Shun – 1976 – Con Funk Shun

Con Funk Shun is an American R&B and funk band whose popularity began in the mid-1970s and ran through the 1980s. They were influenced by funk legend James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Signed to Mercury Records in 1976, Con Funk Shun enjoyed a decade of successful national and overseas...
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06 Aug 2021
DeBarge – 1982 – All This Love

Clearly, DeBarge—Eldra (“El”), Bunny, Mark, and Randy—knew they would become an enduring musical force once they set their sights on California in 1979. Several of them already performed with various bands in their native Detroit, while their older siblings, the late Bobby DeBarge and Tommy...
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12 Jun 2021
Bobby Lyle – 1978 – New Warrior

 Bobby Lyle was the pianist with Young Holt Unlimited and played with Jimi Hendricks, booked to go on the road with him just ahead of the untimely death. In 1974 he moved to Los Angeles and went on the road with Sly & the Family...
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03 May 2021
Karen Pree ‎- 1977 – Karen Pree

I picked up the Karen Pree album a few years ago and, I must confess, shelved it until recently. Happens sometimes, I guess. Karen is a very under-estimated vocalist . This set came out in 1977 on MCA. There are a few cover versions of...
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11 Jun 2020
Edwin Birdsong – 1971 – What It Is

What It Is – a total fookin’ monster, that’s what it is. One time Roy Ayers keyboards/vocalist Edwin Birdsong has created a truly sublime tripped out righteous funk classic here; it sways between social-message gospel-soul to wild spaced-out deep jams, and never lets up for...
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25 Feb 2020
The Bar-Kays – 1974 – Cold Blooded

A slept-on jewel of funk rock and greasy, laid back politically minded soul…  Come 1974, Stax Records was in trouble financially, but as far as the Bar-Kays were concerned, this didn’t really change anything much. The label had struggled with the band’s drive towards hard...
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30 Nov 2019
Solomon Burke ‎- 1971 – Electronic Magnetism

Despite its futuristic title, ‘Electronic Magnetism’ is a decidedly downhome affair, with more of Solomon’s trademark blending of gospel, soul and country. Pop sensibilities run especially strong on his first MGM waxing as well: Burke dips in the songbooks of such diverse artists as Sly...
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