Get Off Your Ass and JAM with The Rolling ILX Funk Listening Club: New Selections Weekly! Updated Mondays and Fridays! All ILXors and Lurkers Welcome!

I've heard the Zapp and Rick James albums countless times - Brand New Player and Funky Bounce are the other keepers from the Zapp album besides More Bounce. Honestly don't remember much about the non-hits/singles stuff from the RJ album tbh. Dunno the Many Facets of Roger, will have to find that one.

I liked the get off your ass and jam bit of the thread title forks added before, forks please put it back!

shakey you wont be disappointed with the roger album

cheers, forks!

Betty Davis is my thing, many thanks to whoever put it up. It really benefits from the strong vocal and fairly limited arrangements, makes it hang together as an album much better than some of the other ones we've had. It also shows again that Funk is a broad church - I'm pretty sure this'll be where Zeppelin were trying to get to with the likes of 'Trampled Underfoot'.

Aahhhh So Ruff, So Tuff - haven't heard this in a loooong time. sweet.

told you that you would dig it.

bonus album coming tomorrow but i hope there will be more discussion today on tannenbaums choices

Updated Spotify Playlist

I've always thought Thriller was a ripoff of Give It To Me Baby

Friday Funk Bonus!
Funkadelic - Uncle Jam Wants You (1979)
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/f/funkadelic~_unclejamw_101b.jpg
Not A Spotify Link

My favourite late period funkadelic album.

How do you define late period? You prefer this to ONUAG?

I listen to it more, ONUAG is the start of the late period

what stops Uncle Jam from being the 10/10 album is the horrendous ballad Holly Wants To Go To California. The worst song in pfunk history. (yes worse than the excesses on america eats its young)

Shakey disagrees though.

I know it's a classic and all, but "Knee Deep" is far too long

no it isnt

Yes it is. It's boring.

"Never Buy Texas From a Cowboy" is even longer and isn't boring!

knee deep is too short if you ask me

the scatting on Knee Deep kinda goes on a bit more than I need it to

and yeah I like Holly

crazy talk

Tuomas you prefer this era of Funkadelic?

24/5 - Ismael Klata the funkateer from polomint city, lanarkshire
31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!

ismael you ready?

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/211aada11d45f2fdb4d89095a7b9bd6a/113371.jpg

1. Rose Royce - Rose Royce III: Strikes Again! (1978)

Rose Royce's third album contains two killer ballads: "I'm in Love (And I Love the Feeling)," and the much recorded "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" which Gwen Dickey works like Mary J. Blige wishes she could. Norman Whitfield's productions often included doses of classical elements and this album is no exception, the sampling and borrowing occur frequently. "Angel in Disguise," another sweet ballad, sounds a bit contrived. As effective on upbeat tunes "That's What's Wrong with Me," "Do It, Do It," and "First Come First Serve," are first-class movers and shakers. A carnival barker on the intro mars the opening cut "Get Up Off Your Fat."

Spotify link

For some reason Rose Royce don't register nowadays, except when 'Car Wash' gets wheeled out for yet another cover - barely a mention on ILM, no proper thread of their own, nothing written about this album other than the AMG quote above (which is really starting to annoy me, not least because I think a carnival barker is a fine way to begin any album). This is my way of redeeming them.

I got into it when I heard 'First Come, First Serve' on my funk guru's radio podcast. It's still my favourite of the funky cuts, but pretty much blown away by the following track 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore', which I can't believe I didn't know and love to death already.

The whole album's excellent, though - good songs, tight playing, great singing. They deserve your love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdjedUIilT0

2. Walter 'Junie' Morrison - Junie 5 (1981)

Junie 5 is a 1981 solo album recorded by singer/multi-instrumentalist Walter "Junie" Morrison. It was the second and last album that he would record for Columbia Records. As with the previous album Bread Alone, all of the instruments used on the album would be played by Morrison himself. The album also features involvement from the Ohio Players.

Junie 5 was reissued by Sony Records in Japan on 5/21/94, but has since been deleted.

Being relatively new to the funk, I'm not really up with what's well-known and what isn't. I suspect this is one of the obscurer ones though.

I first heard 'Jarr The Ground' on the same podcast as Rose Royce (you really should check it out), thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard, but had a couple of horrible weeks with no way of finding out what it was - shazam was no help, googling the lyrics was useless (not helped by my thinking they were actually singing "Charlie Brown"), and I was convinced in any case that it was really a Stevie Wonder obscurity and I was going to have to get his whole back catalogue before I'd get fulfilment.

But eventually all became clear. In truth the album drags a bit early on and the intro is a textbook example of moodkilling, but the last three tracks are fantastic ('Last One To Know', 'Jarr The Ground' and 'Taste Of Love'). It's not spotifiable, and I can't find a handy link or even any youtubes other than the one above to help you out. Will see what I can do, but in the meantime use your imaginations, or pay a visit to Junie's own store.

Do listen to 'Jarr The Ground' at least, if you do nothing else - I love it!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yCW4Ntg9bPY/SkDEfrBLQrI/AAAAAAAAAAM/-b6nhrUBLdI/s320/Small+Club+(Thunderball).jpg

3. Prince - Small Club (1988)

I wanted to check out some live funk. I can't remember how I heard about this, but it seems to be the best quality boot available and obviously Prince is an awesome performer, so I gave it a turn and yeah, it's good. It's strangely difficult to find out much about it - the definitive version, at least certainly the one I have, is eleven tracks and just shy of 110 mins (see cover), recorded in The Hague - but there do appear to be at least two other boots going by the same name.

It's quite a lot to take in so I don't have much to say about it myself right now, but the sound quality is excellent and the playing is fine. What I will say is that these are really long songs (loads are over ten minutes) that I mostly hadn't heard before, but none of them drag.

Obviously not on Spotify either, however there are other means and I don't think it's too naughty to give a pointer seeing as it's special circumstances. I gather that Prince stuff doesn't stay up for long, but these guys have a link that works right now.

Bread Alone or the Westbound albums are the best Junie, but iirc this is still pretty good.

and im glad that the eventual prince pick isnt one of his well known albums (theyre all well known obviously) so kudos for avoiding them.

looking forward to hearing it as i dont know it at all

I forgot to say - 'Last One To Know' on the Junie album got me all excited 'cos I thought I'd discovered where Daft Punk got 'Digital Love' from. But I looked that up this evening, and it turns out they borrowed from a different record entirely. The Junie one still sounds just as much like it though!

have you heard the junie albums i mentioned?

No, this stuff's all new to me and I'm just picking things up at random rather than trying to get all methodical about it. If I did that I'd never have got near Junie - the Parliament/Funkadelic links box on wikipedia is gargantuan, and his stuff isn't even in it.

http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/pfunk.html

try the motherpage

these are all new to me, altho I'm familiar with each of the artists' other work. Didn't even know Junie had another solo album after Bread Alone tbh

I think my mate has it on cd

I just cant get into the rose royce at all.

Junie album was pretty good, been a while since I heard it.

Just saw this week's listing - I was planning on doing Rose Royce III, I love that album!

FRIDAY P-FUNK SPIN-OFF BONUS 3

#1
Sweat Band- Sweat Band
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/s/sweatband~~_sweatband_101b.jpg

Comments:

TK: This was the first release on the Uncle Jam label.

RC: This was a fantastic project, mostly masterminded by Bootsy, that involved a number of P.Funkers. It was like a Bootsy album with almost no vocals from Bootsy; a Parliament album with two instrumentals; a Funkadelic album that was light in theme; a Brides or Parlet album that emphasized the musicians. In other words, it was a whole lot of good things rolled up into one.

"Hyper Space" is an excellent instrumental that spotlights Razor and Michael Hampton. "Freak To Freak" is an outstanding dance tune that is driven by great percussion, a fine guitar riff, a heavy bottom, and let-it-all-hang-loose singing. "Love Munch" is an amazing spotlight for Maceo, with the background of a light, Latin-sounding beat. He just goes off in solo after solo, then joins in with the rest of the band. The percussion here is also extremely sharp. "We Do It All Day Long" is interesting, with the short intro that emphasizes lyrics and the beat, and then later the longer version that gives each musician a turn. Great singing from the Brides/Parlet, too. "Jamaica" has Bootsy doing some very funky thangs with the space bass, interesting grooves from Razor, great drumming, weird chants and outbursts, and finally some singing from Bootsy. "Body Shop" is a more standard funk number that features good backup vocals from Garry Shider. The highlight is an incredible guitar solo.

The album is out of print, but is available as an import on CD. It'll cost you something like $25-35 to get it, but it's certainly worth it to any fan of Bootsy or Maceo. The cover shows a man's head getting water splashed on it. Lyrics are included with the CD version.

Not A Spotify

#2
Quazar - Quazar
http://www.thefunkstore.com/CurrentCDs/StartUp/LP-QuazarQuazar.jpg

Comments:

RC: This was to be Glenn Goins' first major project away from the P.Funk Mob after he quit, but he passed on before he was able to complete it. But his brother Kevin went on to finish it, and many of Glenn's original vocal and musical parts were left on. Glenn also wrote and produced many of the songs, along with Jerome Brailey, who had also quit by this point. We'll never know how good it might have been had he lived, but what we have is a brilliant, unique funk album. Glenn's abilities as a vocalist, musician, producer and arranger were only hinted at in his brief-but-potent stay with the Funk Mob; but the classics he left behind with Parliament ("Bop Gun" and "Mothership Connection" being only two examples) and his role as lead singer in live performances show how important he really was.

His only real weakness was as a concept artist, which made him a perfect fit with Clinton but limit the ideas on this album. While everything is perfectly sung and played, the lyrics are very basic and the musical ideas not exactly being revolutionary. Given that, the album is excellent: there's a side of kick-ass, shake-booty funkers that would make Sir Nose dance. Then there's a side of skillfully produced ballads carefully designed for a romantic evening. It's a commercial album with perfect integrity, with a sound somewhere between Bootsy's Rubber Band and Mutiny. It's a cross between funk and rock influences that also acknowledges a heavy debt to 60's soul.

The quality of the music is excellent, led by Kevin on guitar, with Greg Fitz (now of Bootsy's New Rubber Band) also coming up with some creative keyboard melodies. The drumming and bass playing are also superb across the board.

"Funk With A Big Foot" is super heavy and funky, with excellent use of pauses and stops, making it very danceable. Jerome Brailey is excellent here, and the keyboards provide the proper flavor. The chant, "Stop! Get down! That's what it's all about" is infectious. "Funk With A Capital G" is another hot funk tune that commands you to wiggle, with doubled up bass and guitar. "Funk N Roll" has a hot guitar riff, deep rolling bass and effective, funky handclaps. It recalls other P.Funk, making "Cholly" references and having band members doing Bootsy impersonations. This song sounds a lot like Mutiny later would. "Working On The Building" is a brilliant fast funker with torrid bass playing and scorching sax (from Daryl Dixon, who did the sax solo on "Flash Light"). More doubled up guitar/bass arrangements, with hot wah-wah guitar and slap bass stylings make me agree: 'And Quazar make you dance'. "Your Lovin' Is Easy" is a Bootsy-ish ballad, also recalling Rick James a bit. The guitar and bass recall some Ike Hayes songs. "Love Me Baby" features the excellent voice of Lady Peachena; the music is pretty commercial, as though this was calculated to be a crossover hit. "Savin' My Love..." is a discoish/ Barry White fast ballad, and as such, it's very corny. Good bass playing, though. "Starlight Circus" is a dreamy, ethereal soul tune. "Shades Of Quaze" is a mellow instrumental, dominated by horns and then wah-wah guitar.

The album is out of print, and very rare. A CD version is available, though only as an import. You may expect to pay a lot of money for this one, but it's worth it. The album is a black and white design with the word 'Quazar' exploding like the Big Bang. Photos of all band members are included.

Not A Spotify Link

#3
Mutiny - Mutiny On The Mamaship
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9f5c8lXo1U0/SH7Pr-jjp4I/AAAAAAAAAS8/9SGmVEEGeU4/s400/Mutiny%2B-%2B09.%2BFrontcover.jpg

Comment:

RC: This was the first album from the Jerome Brailey-led group. The name of the band was a reaction how Brailey perceived the George Clinton-run P.Funk camp, and he slams him throughout the album. He had hoped to recruit more members from P.Funk for this album (especially Bernie Worrell, who had less and less input at that time), but the only former player he got was sax man Darryl Dixon. Despite that, Jerome and Co. produced three excellent funk albums. His rock influence is apparent here, with the album having a heavy sound. But he also understands the use of the 'one', with the dance songs being super funky in the mold of Bootsy. The album's only weakness is lyrical, but there are enough interesting concepts to hold up the album. But the lyrics aren't the focus here, the excellent music is. Any fan of Jerome (who was onboard the P.Funk train from 1975-77, producing many classics, including his signature "Give Up The Funk") or super heavy funk in general should seek out these albums. The most remarkable thing about this album is how good Jerome Brailey's vocals are and how funky his arrangements. Despite the barrage of insults, Clinton said in later years that he would have been happy to have this album on his own Uncle Jam label!

"Go Away From Here" is a mid-tempo song that is immediately noticable for its funky bass and distorted vocals. There's a nice dramatic buildup with the addition of a clever horn arrangement and a muted but wailing guitar. The song talks about faking the funk and such. "What More Can I Say" is another mid-tempo song in much the same mold, with the same muted guitar, great singing and another excellent horn arrangement. "Lump" is a hot dance-funk song. Jerome uses his funny, higher-pitched voice to dis Clinton ('Lump, lump can you cut the funk?' and 'Thinking you did something, realizing you ain't done a lot') and the Brides in a humorous fashion. The great slap bass keeps things moving. "Funk N Bop" is another fast funker, also amusing in the same vein. This one has a lot of great lyrical hooks, like 'The longer the stroke, the deeper the fill' and 'Sworn to fun, loyal to none'. The band absolutely locks in on this one, it's just a rock-hard funker. "Burning Up" is a mid-tempo funk ballad with more good vocal arrangements. "Voyage To..." is a more guitar-oriented song with whispered lyrics and crisp drumming. "Everytime You..." is a straightforward ballad with a strong guitar presence that highlights Jerome's singing. "Romeo" is a weird mid-tempo song with a funny chant and a more subdued lead vocal. The synth is the focus here, creating a strange tension. The beat is steady and holds the whole thing together.

This album is out of print and somewhat rare, but it's available as an import from P-Vine. The cover shows Jerome on a beach, dressed as a pirate, recovering a treasure chest. An inside sleeve illustration has Jerome making Clinton (whom he calls 'Lump') walk the plank. The whole thing is pretty funny. Ace Records also apparently plans to reissue this album soon as well.

Not A Spotify Link

3 of the best spin-off albums from the pfunk mob. Please all listen and enjoy, you will NOT be disappointed!

Aha, good stuff. What's this bonus stuff all about, is that just an excuse for you stick a few more of your albums in?

aye

Can we all do bonuses then?

Maybe, i traded a week with tannenbaum so i could get a jazz bonus. what can you trade? ;)

31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!

Some World Cup 82 Panini stickers

You needed 3 months to give you time to select albums!

Not here I didn't

You can have a bonus album next week if you give us your thoughts on the 3 i just posted

Haven't I done that before?

FunKlata will join the back of the queue and take a week in August, please. Just need to decide which three Jamiroquai albums to pick first.

Any thoughts yet on Small Club?

31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!
16/8 - Polomint City FunKlata
23/8 - pfunkboy

Tom do you have these albums?

You shared them with us before, Watercooler, don't you remember?