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:
“We tend to shy away from describing ourselves, we tend to use other people’s descriptions [of our music],” he admits, “some of our favorites being adventure pop, tropicali, garage glam, indie prog, lounge pop — these are all things that make us smile and there’s something vaguely true in all of them.”
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Saint Motel lead singer A/J Jackson
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“If Jarvis Cocker moved to LA and made an album of yacht-rock influenced Britpop, it might sound like this.”
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The Guardian November 2013
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First.
Saint Motel.
A band that opened for Arctic Monkeys … and they are kind of like a ska version of Arctic Monkeys.
Kind of.
The first time I heard them on the radio I started bobbing my head and wondering who the hell this band was. Great <great> driving song.
The song was “My Type.”
Fun.
Upbeat.
Eclectic.
Saint Motel is an alternative band with some glam pizzazz featuring a singer not averse to flamboyance, a suave croon and lyrics that verge on the literary. flourish and no little élan … and there’s a light sprinkling of Caribbean rhythms, tropical flavours and lounge-jazziness throughout.
They are an LA band <key members are ex USC film students> who seem to have been kicking around the LA music scene for a number of years.
Here is their website <which features their song I heard … My Type> and I have also shared a link directly to youtube:
This is a band led by a guy named Jean-Philip Grobler <he is actually a solo act called St. Lucia with a group that plays with him> who is a South African-born, Brooklyn-based musician … the band includes his wife and three other musicians.
The song I heard first on Palladia, Elevate, and the video I am including … is from when St. Lucia were evicted from their real life Brooklyn warehouse practice space to make way for new condos.
They took the opportunity to throw one last rooftop party and shot this video featuring their friends Avan Lava, Dap Kings, Savoir Adore.
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St. Lucia – “Elevate”
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St. Lucia – All Eyes On You (Unofficial Music Video):
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.”
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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>:
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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.
“The way we use strings they become more like a lead instrument with lead melodies and prominent counter-melodies, it’s not a background texture led by big bass lines or synths like the Balearic stuff.”
Keyboardist/Bassist Jack Patterson
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Well.
I am almost embarrassed to be showcasing this group and music.
Ok. I am <not almost>.
But.
With so much heavy techno on the radio … combined with so much harsher r&b/rap rock the music from Clean Bandit sounds fresh.
And happy.
And uplifting.
It’s not as pop oriented as Katy Perry but captures the same fun feel.
The light & whimsical sound seems almost refreshing … because … well … it is light & whimsical.
Anyway.
Clean Bandit is a techno group <think maybe a more well-rounded Owl City> who weave elements of classical music with a dance music beat to create what I call ‘happy music.’
I know.
How the heck can it be ‘contemporary happy’ and incorporate classical music … but it does. Classical composers are probably weeping in their graves but it is a really nice way to make the old new again.
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Most of their music intertwines classical compositions, such as those from Beethoven, Dvorak, etc. (most typically, Mozart for their song “Mozart’s House”) and they say that some of their music has a lot of humour and a bit tongue in cheek at times.
They produce the music themselves and invite guest artists to sing their songs. Initially, many record labels refused to sign them up as they thought they were a ‘joke band.’
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Here are a couple of their songs.
I happen to like the first one better than the second, Rather Be <which is rocketing up the charts and is addictive enough that I predict will soon be on your radio so often you will want to shoot someone>.
As the technology has developed in music it has became possible for individuals or smaller groups Well. While I do love the fact electronica <dance beat, club tempo, whatever you want to call it> has finally made the prime time playlists … I fear it is becoming almost commodity-like. Because of technological advancements almost anyone can produce electronic songs and recordings in small studios or even their basements. At the same time, computers facilitated the use of music “samples” and “loops” as construction kits for creating songs. This is the basis of this thing on today’s radio called electronica <which includes a variety of styles including ambient, downtempo, house and trip-hop>.
I really do like this kind of music. I always have … European dance clubs have been playing this stuff for years.
But … in doses.
But I will also admit that the advancement of all this technology makes it difficult to figure out who can really sing. And the issue gets compounded by the popular dance-techno (what I call euro dance hip hop) sound. In this genre there are a bunch of really good songs where singers don’t sing songs … they provide well planned song bites. Listen to them … very very rarely does someone sing all the way through … they are given sections to sing somewhere between some amazingly danceable music bridges. Here is a thought.
Maybe we should think this generation is creating a contemporary version of the torch singer. And while it is a different time and place I tend to believe the rules are the same – singing in doses and complimentary.
Therefore. Someone like David Guetta <or any traditional dj/mixmaster> doing a cd and inviting Sia and Nicki Minaj or even a Pitbull to sing is perfect.
Now. Nicki or Pit doing their own cd? Crazy <meaning … “they shouldn’t”>. They’re not full singers who can carry an entire album <at least to my mind … and ears>.
Here is some further musical heresy. Here is today’s ultimate contemporary torch singer. Rihanna. Huh? Well, I am not really sure she can sing a song. But I am sure she can sing <I love her voice resonance>, and exceptionally deliver … the song-bite. That’s the way they produce her songs. That is the way she sings her parts. Now. She may be a very good singer but for now she is an electronica torch singer.
And this means we should look backwards for some awesome singers … Nadia Ali. Vanessa van Hemert <4 Strings>. Sophie Barker <Zero 7>. Thievery Corporation, Chicane, Wax Poetic and Delirium have been doing this for years … quite well I may suggest.
Now here comes the commodity thought.
All the dj/mix masters are putting out songs. But it just has officially become ludicrous. Let me give you examples (using songs I happen to like and have on my running mp3 player>.
This song is awesome techno. By a dj guy named Zedd < Anton Zaslavski known primarily by his stage name Zedd is a German electronic dance music producer and DJ from Kaiserslautern, Germany> and the song is called Spectrum.
And then there is Kerli <from Estonia> who sings something she calls “bubblegoth” <I don’t remember where I heard it but she gave a delightful interview explaining it>. She is also a songwriter … she wrote Demi Lavato’s “skyscraper.” Her song Zero Gravity is another very good electronic song but it sounds an awful like Spectrum:
Look. I actually like this music … but this has become slightly absurd. It is all almost exactly the same song with different singers singing different bridges and soundbites. The only thing that may save the genre is i-tunes/amazon ability to buy one song at a time. As long as these musicians can afford to produce people will buy one song at a time <but never really be sure who is singing what>.
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.
