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
===
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 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
—
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 …………”
—
You & I <single version>:
=
You & I <full 8 minute version>:
—
===
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 music business constantly reminds me I would probably suck at selecting which songs to release for new cd releases.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm … or maybe I have finally uncovered the secret behind releasing singles.
I have figured out those wily record executives purposefully don’t release the best song first. Or at least that is the way it seems sometimes.
With that thought in mind here are three #2 song releases from bands that maybe we were wondering if they were just releasing the only song worth a shit on their cd with their first radio song.
First.
Scars on 45
Release number 2 is a song called Hearts on Fire. I purposefully started on this one because I am going to slightly backtrack on the “better than the initial release” comment. Their first release “give me something” is spectacular. Awesomely spectacular. A spectacular example of a catchy indie pop song. Hearts on Fire just shows a different side of the band’s catchy songwriting capabilities. The song was featured on Grey’s Anatomy. These guys kinda remind me of a more upbeat Snow Patrol.
The first song released gave me hope that the old Evanescence was back anew. It wasn’t perfect. And it wasn’t completely original. But it sounded like … well .. good Evanescence.
Song number 2? Spectacular.
Nothing more to say about it than that. If you like Evanescence you will love their second release.
I never saw this one coming. Song number one was based on sampling (Neil Young’s Old Man) and was great. It was a great original piece of songwriting. It was interesting and it had a distinct sound. So distinct it is hard to place … alt-folk-rap-angst-storytelling music? Anyway. Release number two is spectacular. And it is storytelling music at its best. Redlight King may be one of the best new singer/songwriters in music.
I should have written this in maybe February when I first heard this song. But i didn’t. But now I am.
And I am now because the song is finally getting some mainstream play.
And its spring.
And like every spring (or at least it seems that way) all the springlike catchy hooky songs start hitting the car radios.
I am sure some music executive has a zillion charts showing listening trends and what is infectious at certain types of the year and crap like that.
But that hooky Scars on 45 song I wrote about is getting more airplay.
One of the catchiest Death Cab songs of all time is getting some airplay.
The most listenable (of a full catalog of unlistenable stuff) Manchester Orchestra song is getting lots of airplay.
And, oddly (although happily) The Decemberist song “down by the water” is getting a boatload of airplay.
And then there is this song … “Pumped Up Kicks.”
Geez.
If there was ever going to be a ‘one hit spring wonder of 2011” this is gonna be it.
It has what someone has called “some surf guitar.” Some undecipherable vocals through an intercom. Some whistling. Some light rap. And an amazing hooky refrain/chorus.
And there you have it. You have one smooth spring breeze of a song. I would suggest it is as easy as Sunday morning but a Lionel Richie reference is uncalled for.
Suffice it to say that Foster The People and “Pumped Up Kicks” goes down like the first cold beer of the warm afternoon hitting the spot to where all you want is another.
(ok. I am done with the bad springlike metaphors)
Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks is the kind of song that’s gonna sneak up on you. Even with its insidiously catchy chorus (there are some nifty multitracked falsetto-like voices singing “All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks”) the first time you hear it you really only catch the melody and start tapping your toe but there is nothing about it that makes you simply stop and say “what the hell ” & “who the hell is this?”
It often requires several repeats to really get it in your head but once it is … well … I can’t stop listening to it._ it is frickin’ maddeningly infectious. And, yes, you will stupidly whistle along at “that one point.”
So.
Here it is.
And it will be stuck in your head all spring & summer now (and you can blame me):
This is a nifty 3 part music post. Mostly because I was too lazy to create three separate posts.
First.
Old but new …. “Old Man.”
Yeah.
“Old Man” by Neil Young. But not Neil this time.
Ok.
This first one is awesome. One of my favorite Neil Young songs of all time “old man” but made into a rap/hip hop song. And a great hip hop song.
The band is Redlight King.
I don’t really know shit about them (but I found out some stuff which I will share below). What I do know is I love what they did with this Neil Young song.
As a bonus?
The song reminds me of everything I love about Neil Young (he had to have given his permission to sample the song) and everything I love about great hip hop (sampling classics and showing how they are relevant and timeless).
What they do with Old Man is the perfection of sampling. And they even weave in some original Neil (whoda thunk we would ever hear Neil Young rapping?).
Redlight King. Redlight King is a white guitarist (the “white guitarist is from Ontario – I would tell you where specifically but most of us think of Canada as just the ‘great white north’ – and his name is Mark Kasperczyk, or “Kaz”).
His first song is “Old Man” based on a rocky patch he had endured with his father.
It is a song “with a melodic strut intertwined with a hip hop groove sampling Neil Young’s iconic “I don’t want YOUR life” story in “Old Man” creating a song with the same name but a completely different contemporary vibe.
As an FYI.
Crusty ole Neil has rarely lent his music for sampling.
So good for him I say.
Look.
I may not like another thing they (he?) do but they will always hold a nice spot in my listening heart for what they did here. They took an awesome classic song and brought it to an entirely new generation of listeners. The message of Old Man was good then. It is good now. And that is all that really matters when you thing about crap like this.
Great music carries forward great messages. If that is what Redlight King has done than let us give them credit where it is due.
Enjoy.
Next.
The new .. Scars on 45 “Give me Something.”
Whew.
This song is about everything I love in new music. A great hook. Great melody. Great refrain. Great listening song.
Scars on 45 are a new band. Here is what I know. Scars on 45 are an acoustic indie-pop band from Leeds, England. They kind of have an alternative/acoustic indie-pop kind of thing. In their words … “I guess one could call it Fleetwood Mac meets Brit-Pop meets Ryan Adams.”
And beyond that here is what I know. “Give me Something” is a great radio song.
I have no clue whether they will ever do anything as good but … frankly … I don’t care. In this age of buying individual songs off iTunes instead of buying entire cds who cares if they do anything else. It is a frickin’ good song.
And now the last.
The old.
Ok.
So I am throwing this in on the end because I heard this song on the radio the other night and it reminded me of how good old classic songs are good contemporary songs.
Good songs are timeless.
But this one may scare you at the beginning.
Cause its REO Speedwagon.
Ok. Let’s remember (or let me remind you).
Before REO became this sappy Kevin Cronin driven schlock band they created some awesome rock music.
What reminded me was that I was driving home and I heard “Roll with the Changes.”
“Time for me to Fly” (their original ballad song). Awesome.
And “Roll with the Changes” which is a non stop riff rolling song.
Those songs defined “The Wagon” and should be remembered as the original band and the original sound. And as I noted with “Old Man” upfront … they are timelessly good. You can listen to any of these songs today and you will still tap your toe and maybe drive an extra 5 miles an hour as you listen. They just get your heart pumpin’ a little and they are just damn good to listen to.