This is digging back into the crates for a music highlight. I was in the car flipping through stations and stopped on the local ‘old school R&B’ station when I heard a song I haven’t heard in a very very long time …. Schoolboy Crush by the Average White Band.
<awesome song with some nifty chord progressions and timing shifts>
For you younger folk Average White Band is a Scottish funk and R&B band <yes … I just typed ‘Scottish’ and funk/r&b in the same sentence> that had a bunch of hit songs in the late 70’s.
Most people would recognize their instrumental track “Pick Up the Pieces.”
There is no reason for this post today … no real point to make <other than maybe a bunch of white guys from Scotland can actually create and play some good funk R&B> … other than this song is excellent.
And it has aged well.
And it sounded frickin’ good coming through even the crappy speakers in my car.
— an additional song from a band who is actually the 15th most sampled act in history <sampled by the Beastie Boys, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development> ———
Apparently this is a Fall 2015 song … but I just heard it on the radio on the local R&B station.
I will net it down for you … awful lyrics and awesome groove. But … what a groove.
As the first commenter under the video on YouTube says:
aarismom191 month ago
How the fuck am I a year late ?
Well.
I agree. I am just another late comer to this song.
What helps me out a little <after a bit of research> is that “Keep” entered on the Nov. 28, 2015 chart and then steadily climbed over 29 … yes … 29 weeks … to reach #1 on the R&B charts in June 2016.
We should note Banks’ journey to the top of the chart is the longest since January 2014 when Robin Thicke’s “For the Rest of My Life” reached No. 1 in its 31st charting week. The longest trip to No. 1 came in 2003 when R. Kelly’s “Step in the Name of Love” <another song I was late to find but did write about> peaked in its 34th week.
This is definitely a “windows down cruising along the street” song.
And I will admit. What I kept coming back to was the underlying synth beat which reminded me of SOS band <who I also liked>. He just casually sings over a light 80’s groove mix … but that smooth groove underneath?
Whew.
That is what makes you turn up the volume in the car just a little more.
By the way.
The song was remade/remixed by Chris Brown in October 2016 <which may also be the reason the original is getting a little more airplay> but don’t waste your time on the remix version … the original is awesome as is.
Then a song came on and good memories hit me on note number one.
The opening “there is no other who can compare to you” <Joyce Kennedy> blasts out of the speakers and Mother’s Finest singing “Baby Love” begins.
Whew.
Mother’s Finest. What a band.
Baby Love. What a song.
I assume every region has “a band.” They crank out great songs but never seem to hit the national level. Mother’s Finest was one of those in the Southeast in the USA.
Mother’s Finest came out of Atlanta in the 1970’s with a kick ass soul jazz funk sound with a dose of rock mixed in.
But it was in 1977 they put out an album called “another Mother Further.” Now. I didn’t get my hands on this album until maybe the early 80’s.
<note: if you want to hear how frickin’ good they were live … here is Baby love Live which showcases Joyce Kennedy’s kick ass voice>
I really could never figure out why they never made it as big as some other bands and I dug up his review just to share:
A post-Sly race- and gender-integrated funk-rock band, Mother’s Finest is stylistically somewhere between Rufus and Funkadelic, though they never achieved anywhere near the cultural impact of either. To a certain extent, Mother’s Finest fell into the “Apartheid-Oriented Radio” trap, in which any African-American rocker between Jimi Hendrix and Vernon Reid – leaving Prince out of the discussion for now – was unable to get mainstream media attention. So despite touring success (including an opening stint for The Who) and decent sales for their first two CBS albums, they veered into radio-ready R&B in 1978 and seemed unsteady about their direction for the next decade or two before refocusing on hard rock. They’ve kept the band together, more or less, and their 2003 record is among their best yet.
It’s not exactly unfair that fellow outcasts Funkadelic have achieved latter-day veneration as psychedelic funk/rock pioneers while the Finest haven’t – Funkadelic was far more innovative, unpredictable and influential, plus they flat-out wrote better songs – but taken on their own terms Mother’s Finest has pleasures to offer.
Lead vocals are traded between Joyce Kennedy (who recalls Tina Turner’s mix of roughness and control) and Glenn Murdock, original rhythm section “Wyzard” and “B.B. Queen” kept an enviable pocket, and the band has written most of its own material.
“I had a vision, and music was playing in my head that I wanted to bring through. What I had in mind was exactly what Earth, Wind & Fire became.”
Maurice White
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Boy.
It seems like the music of my youth is passing away before my eyes. Today it is Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire.
Earth Wind & Fire was one of those awesome live bands who could bring their bigger than life songs to life … as big if not bigger … on stage. And, yet, in the car you found yourself singer bigger than Life.
I saw them decades ago and I can still remember hearing the opening notes of September <I think> playing over a darkened stage. And then the voices filtered in and as they did it is almost like the musicians appeared … and then they flickered out. Only to be replaced by the entire band in white with arms spread wide.
I am not sure if they used hologram technology or some stage gimmickry but that opening may be one of the most iconic breathtaking openings I have ever seen in concert.
I loved their sounds & lyrics. The music was a random mix of funk, soul, R&B, pop, jazz and whatever else it seemed like they could try … all delivered with an incredibly infectious groove and wrapped up in bigger than Life, slightly mystical, lyrics.
Their lyrics almost always seemed to have some grander purpose than simple storytelling or some of the insipid lyrics you hear on today’s radio.
Originating from Chicago in 1969 Earth, Wind, and Fire was created through the mind of Maurice White.
He began his career as a session drummer for the likes of Etta James and Muddy Waters and in Earth, Wind & Fire, he not only drummed but sang, wrote, and produced. The group went on to sell more than 90 million albums worldwide, displaying a flashy and eclectic musical style that incorporated White’s influences from growing up in Memphis, Tenn.
In dedication to Maurice White here are my top 5 EWF songs <I admit I included a couple just because they show live band footage and you can see how awesomely over the top they were> :
Shining Star:
I counted eighteen on my pulse as Kilrenny Church struck three for three o’clock.
=
Bats in the Attic
<King Creasote>
—————
Well.
The great thing about Pandora is they often throw in some random songs when you set up playlists … this one popped up the other day … a Scottish artist, King Creosote, I have never heard of… with a song I am glad I heard.
Now.
I admit I am a sucker for a great pop hook … but this song doesn’t even come close to being pop, nor does it have a real hook and it is not even close to mainstream radio.
It is just a good touching powerful, in a thoughtful way, song.
The song I am featuring today, Bats in the Attic, is a song that can be found on a cd called ‘Diamond Mine’ which is a collaboration of an electronic musician, Jon Hopkins, interprets songs by King Creosote.
King Creosote pretty much writes nothing I would enjoy listening to day in and day out … it is like William Fitzimmons without the interesting voice & variety.
His music is fragile feeling and simplistically black & white <but with some thoughtful words>.
But the addition of Jon Hopkins puts a little flavor into the music … particularly the song I am sharing.
—
The result, through various means, captures the small village of Anstruther on Scotland’s east coast where King Creosote is based, from captured café noises to stories about local fishermen. It’s a dense and fascinating half an hour of music that has taken many years to create.
The result isn’t too perfect or polished. Instead, it’s real, and delicate, and quite beautiful.
—
In an interview King Creosote says a couple of really interesting things … he sounds focused on doing what he wants to do and gives a sense of a poet songwriter:
the pace of the album …
“fan of albums that take longer for you to hear everything, to have it click into place. Not all records should be played on the tube, with that background noise. What’s wrong with an album that only works at 2am, or in a living room with a decent pot of earl grey?”
Bats in the Attic:
The song collaboration is a little surprising in that I wouldn’t have imagined a songwriter like this would have collaborated with an electronic guy … but he gives a nice perspective on why it works:
—
Hopkins somehow manages to avoid giving the album a processed, digital feel – in fact, the very opposite. Was this your influence?
Jon and I laugh at this.
I’m very much of the modern-life-is-quite-rubbish school of thought, while he’s reassuring me that there are positive benefits to blah. And I can hear that in this record – my pulling back and trying to halt progress, while I can hear Jon taking it further. He’s tried to disguise progress.
I have included an additional song so you can hear what he sounds like solo … it isn’t really my type of music but the video is fantastic.
I loved his voice & style & darkness in his music. It was languidly dark.
Since that time he has released similar song after similar song and … well … I liked them but they didn’t hit me like his first song did.
I kinda felt like he had maxed out and was slowly slipping out of the mainstream.
Oops.
And then I heard this song several weeks back this has been stuck in my draft folder> which had this incredibly infectious funk groove refrain – and it was The Weeknd with something that actually had a pulse for a beat.
“Can’t Feel My Face” is a song by Canadian singer songwriter The Weeknd.
—
“Can’t Feel My Face” moves.
If its propulsive chug recalls last year’s Ariana Grande collaboration “Love Me Harder”, that’s because it’s covered with the same fingerprints—those of pop impresarios Max Martin, Peter Svensson, and Ali Payami. Perhaps recognizing just how dead-on Tesfaye’s Michael Jackson impersonation was on his cover of “Dirty Diana”, the producers anchor the track with a bassline that could have come from an alternate-dimension Thriller produced by New Age composer Vangelis instead of Quincy Jones.
Glossy but not blinding, there’s a throb underneath everything that keeps it tethered to Tesfaye’s underworld, an ever-present reminder that “comedown” is more than just two words mashed together.
<source: Pitchfork>
—
Awesome funk hip hop song.
Infectious beat and a song you will crank up on the car radio.
I have been totally underwhelmed with new music lately.
Sure. There has been an occasional ‘listenable’ song … but nothing spectacular.
I almost wrote about the new Foo Fighters song … but … while it is really good … it is also derivative of things <or at least something> they have done in the past.
And then I decided to share ‘Not for Long.’
It’s kind of like a pop version of hip hop. It has a smooth rap with okay lyrics … and a spectacular hook.
“Funk upon a time, in the days of Funkapuss, the concept of specially designed afronauts capable of funkatizing the galaxies was first laid on man child.”
=
Parliament
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Ok.
This is about new music … and old music.
There is a new song on the radio that kind of sounds like a Morris Day and the Time <which is good>.
And it sounds like some good ole time funk. The good stuff.
Bands like … Sly & the Family Stone. Ohio Players. Brothers Johnson. Good Rick James.
Which is why this post is highlighting the new song, Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson, and highlighting my favorite ‘best of’ funk.
I will admit something personally.
Truth be told if I could do it all over again I would have been a bass player in a funk band.
I would have been in heaven.
But I can’t.
So every once in a while I put on a funk playlist on Pandora and dream a little.
For today?
I will begin with Uptown Funk.
Listen.
It’s really at about the 1:08 mark when the horns kick in that funk take over.
All I can say is “Everybody dance on the funk …………”
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You & I <single version>:
=
You & I <full 8 minute version>:
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Lastly.
The masters of funk … Bootsy Collins and George Clinton … to me their songs were mostly unlistenable.
I love a good driving bass underlying an awesome pop-like melody … and Bootsy & George mostly created what I think of as ‘jam funk.’ A living breathing rambling song format. It just was mostly stuff I could not wrap my listening mind around.
With a couple of exceptions.
Flashlight <of course> is timeless funk.
But the best of Parliament?
This is when they because part of culture.
Tear the Roof off the Sucka.
Priceless timeless stuff.
If you ever want a sense of how a remix can give a really good song a really nice different feel … this may be one of the best examples you will ever find.
There is a new song being played on the radio … Waves by some guy named Mr. Probz <and what exactly was he thinking when he came up with that artist name???>.
I will begin with the original version.
This is a version I love.
I love it for its simplicity and the earthy authenticity this guy’s voice brings to such a simple heartfelt thought.
In a world where it seems like we overproduce genuine feelings and thoughts … not just in music but on tv or even in business meetings … this is a reminder that complex thoughts, when simply and well communicated, is a powerful powerful tool.
Stripping something down to its barest soul showcases vulnerability.
And there is always a time & a place for vulnerability.
—
Waves: the original version … which is really really good:
Now I will get to the version on the radio. It is a remixed version of that stunningly beautiful warm stripped down original.
Here is where remixing can actually be done well.
They could have gone Calvin Harris on us and created some techno dance beat version with a mirror ball circling above us … but they didn’t.
It is a slightly understated techno vibe which actually taps into a heartbeat feeling which kind of taps into your gut in a slightly different way than the original.
The remix changes the original but in a way that simply permits us to feel a variation of the emotion and not changing the intent.
Very very well done.
—–
Mr. Probz – Waves remix <for more upbeat listening>
I listened to some other stuff from good ole Mr. Probz and most of it is pretty miserable stuff <which is why I am not including anything else he has done>.
“I honestly don’t want to say too much about the music, because the truth is if music is of any worth, it should be able to speak for itself.”
=
W. Fitzsimmons
———-
Well.
Well crafted well worded songs seem to be difficult to find these days.
But thankfully … pensive thoughtful music never goes out of style.
William Fitzsimmons seems to combine all of the above.
As one commenter suggests after one of his songs:
——-
Ouch. From the tender guitar opening to the gut wrenching first words, this song takes the knife and twists it inside your chest.
The man is regretful, but honestly apologetic.
He knows that he has made a fatal mistake. ——–
To be clear.
This isn’t the type of music to listen to … if you are looking for something to pick you up.
This is thoughtful stuff … soul searching type music.
Now.
Interestingly … while I think the techno rage has gone absurdly berserk in music … his music is a perfect example of how techno could, and probably should, work.
His original versions are languid.
His remix versions are … well … I honestly am not sure how to describe the songs … other than I like them.