The Best Of The T.K. Years (2005).
Review:
Released by the EMI-distributed Stateside in the U.K., The Best of the T.K. Years, 1975-1985 contains the same exact content as Westside’s Gimme Some!, released seven years prior. Unless you’re a serious crate-digger — or a devout fan of KC & the Sunshine Band, whose Howard Casey and Rick Finch wrote most of the material heard here — the disc contains all the Jimmy “Bo” Horne from this period that you’ll ever need, beginning with the 1980 remix of “Spank” (the basis of Exodus’ 1982 club classic “Together Forever,” featuring some of the baddest electric piano runs you’ll ever hear) and winding through “Dance Across the Floor” (his biggest hit), “You Get Me Hot,” “Get Happy,” and the remainder of his charting singles. With insightful liner notes and attractive packaging, the disc is far preferable over the Westside release. (Andy Kellman-All Music Guide).
Tracks:
01. Spank (1980 Remix)
02. Dance Across The Floor
03. Gimme Some (Part I)
04. Get Happy
05. (They Long To Be) Close To You
06. Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)
07. Don’t Worry About It
08. Goin’ Home For Love
09. Let’s Do It
10. Is It In
11. Ask The Birds And The Bees
12. Without You
13. I Get Lifted
14. Music To Make Love By
15. You’re So Good To Me
16. Rocket In The Pocket
17. You Get Me Hot
18. I Wanna Go Home With You
19. It’s Your Sweet Love
Jimmy “Bo” Horne – The Best of the T.K. Years (1975-1985)
Julio 14, 2009 a 9:36 pm (Disco)
Kc & The Sunshine Band – The TK Years (1974-1979)
Julio 14, 2009 a 5:50 pm (Disco)
The TK Years (2009).
Review:
Back in the mid 70s, if you wanted commercial, smouldering multi-racial soul and funk, Howie Casey, Rick Finch and their boys – KC & the Sunshine Band – were the undisputed heavyweights. Recording for Henry Stone’s TK label, the group had cut their teeth producing and supporting artists such as Betty Wright and George and Gwen McCrae. As a result, they were finely honed by time they started cutting their own sides for the label.
This two-CD collection makes a rightful claim for their greatness. Five brief albums are collated on two discs, beginning with 1974’s Do It Good and ending with 1979’s Do You Wanna Go Party. KC took off in Britain immediately with the chart successes Sound Your Funky Horn and Queen Of Clubs from Do It Good. Their self-titled second album is where it all matures; the hits can’t stop coming – That’s The Way (I Like It), Get Down Tonight (their first US No.1) and Boogie Shoes all tumble forth, one after the other, wrapped in a veneer of professionalism.
But it’s not just that; the album tracks are mini-masterpieces of highly textured funk; Jerome Smith’s rhythm guitar – the one that so influenced a young Nile Rodgers – is close to metronomic perfection. To underline their popularity, Boogie Shoes was ensconced in disco’s canon by its inclusion on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Of course, it soon gets formulaic; you’d be amazed if it didn’t. However, the last album here, Do You Wanna Go Party contained Please Don’t Go, an old-fashioned ballad smash; the sound of teenage love and angst.
KC & the Sunshine Band are a prime example of a phenomenally successful and influential turn who have subsequently been wiped off the face of musical history or at best, reduced to two or three tunes. The TK Years affords the opportunity to revisit their unmistakable sound again. (www.bbc.co.uk)
Tracks:
Disc 1:
Do It Good (1974).
1. Do It Good
2. Sound Your Funky Horn
3. Baby I Want Your Lovin’
4. Queen Of Clubs
5. Blow Your Whistle
6. I’m A Pushover
7. You Don’t Know
8. I Need A Little Lovin’
9. All My Love
The Sunshine Band (1975).
10. Let It Go (Part 1)
11. That’s The Way (I Like It)
12. Get Down Tonight
13. Boogie Shoes
14. Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong
15. I’m So Crazy (‘Bout You)
16. What Makes You Happy
17. I Get Lifted
18. Let It Go (Part 2)
Part3 (1976).
19. Baby I Love You (Yes I Do)
20. Wrap Your Arms Around Me
21. I Like To Do It
22. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Your Booty
23. Let’s Go Party
24. Come On In
Disc 2:
Part3 (contd) (1976).
1. I’m Your Boogie Man
2. Keep It Comin’ Love
Who Do Ya (Love) (1978).
3. Do You Feel All Right
4. Sho’ Nuff’
5. Come To My Island
6. So Glad
7. It’s The Same Old Song
8. Who Do Ya Love?
9. How About A Little Love?
10. I Will Love You Tomorrow
Do You Wanna Go Party (1979).
11. Hooked On Your Love
12. I’ve Got The Feeling
13. Ooh, I Like It
14. Please Don’t Go
15. I Betcha Know That
16. Que Pasa?
17. Do You Wanna Go Party
Tower Of Power – Monster On A Leash (1991)
Julio 14, 2009 a 2:33 am (Funk, Modern Funk)
Monster On A Leash (1991)
In contrast to the many soul veterans who who have turned to urban contemporary sounds in the hope of staying on the staying on the charts, Tower of Power has stuck with the type of horn-driven, live-sounding funk and soul that put the Bay Area band on the map. Tower was long past its prime by the time Monster on a Leash was released in 1991, and had experienced its share of personnel changes. Lead singer Tom Bowes, although a passionate and competent belter, is hardly on a par with Lenny Williams. Even so, this is a respectable and decent effort from a band that remained artistically viable by staying true to itself. Unapologetically ’70s-sounding, the album falls short of the unmitigated excellence of Back to Oakland and Urban Renewal, but isn’t significantly different in its approach, content or attitude. While novices would do better to start with either those gems, this is an album that diehard Tower enthusiasts shouldn’t pass up. (AMG)
Tracks:
1. Little Knowledge (Is a Dangerous Thing)
2. How Could This Happen to Me
3. Who Do You Think You Are
4. Attitude Dance
5. You Can’t Fall up (You Just Fall Down)
6. Funk the Dumb Stuff
7. Believe It
8. Personal Possessions
9. Miss Trouble (Got a Lot of Nerve)
10. Keep Your Monster on a Leash
11. Someone New
12. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
**Listen**
Prince – The Golden Experience (1995)
Julio 14, 2009 a 2:31 am (Modern Funk)
The Golden Experience (1995)
Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, but it wasn’t until 1995 that he actually released a record credited to that symbol. During those two years, he released a greatest-hits collection, an official version of his much-bootlegged Black Album, and a final Prince album, the lackluster Come. Throughout 1994, he pressured Warner to release another album, The Gold Experience, but the company refused and he staged a public protest in the media, calling himself a slave to the label. By the summer of 1995, the artist and the company had made amends and the record was released in the fall. In a way, The Gold Experience lives up to the manufactured hype created while it languished on the shelf. More of a creative rebirth than a change in direction, the record finds Prince and the New Power Generation running through a typically dazzling array of musical styles, subtly twisting new sounds out of familiar forms. Much like The Love Symbol Album, it follows a loose concept, interweaving a variety of pop, funk, rock, soul, and jazz styles into a vague story. Song for song, The Gold Experience is slightly stronger than its predecessor, as Prince’s melodies are more immediate, especially on the Philly soul tribute “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” and the pure pop of “Dolphin.” Also, the band’s performance is lively and confident, bringing an effortless virtuosity to funk workouts (“P Control”), and fuzzed-out rockers (“Endorphinmachine”), as well as ballads like “Eye Hate U.” The Gold Experience is somewhat weighed down by interludes that attempt to further the story but wind up interrupting the flow of the music, yet that doesn’t stop the album from being Prince’s most satisfying effort since Sign O’ the Times. (AMG)
Tracks:
1. P Control
2. NPG Operator
3. Endorphinmachine
4. Shhh
5. We March
6. NPG Operator
7. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
8. Dolphin
9. NPG Operator
10. Now
11. NPG Operator
12. 319
13. NPG Operator
14. Shy
15. Billy Jack Bitch
16. I Hate U
17. NPG Operator
18. Gold
**Listen**
Commodores – Hot On The Tracks (1976)
Julio 14, 2009 a 1:08 am (Funk, R&B, Soul)
Hot On The Tracks (1976).
1976’s Hot on the Tracks was the Commodores’ fourth album, and it was also the last album they recorded before becoming a major crossover act. From 1977 on, the Commodores were as big among pop and adult contemporary audiences as they were with R&B audiences. That isn’t to say that pop fans ignored them before 1977; “Just to Be Close to You,” the single that Hot on the Tracks is best known for, reached number seven on Billboard’s pop singles chart as well as number one on its R&B singles chart. The album itself made it to number one on Billboard’s R&B albums chart, while climbing to number 12 on its pop albums chart. Nonetheless, this is an R&B record first and foremost, and the Commodores never sound like they’re going out of their way to be pop. R&B purists should have no problem with “Just to Be Close to You,” which is very much a soul ballad and doesn’t have the adult contemporary appeal of subsequent hits like “Three Times a Lady,” “Easy,” and “Still.” Nor should they have any problem with hardcore funk treasures such as “Fancy Dancer” (a number nine R&B hit), “Come Inside,” “Let’s Get Started,” and the quirky “Quick Draw.” For those who prefer the Commodores’ hardcore funk and soul over their crossover material, Hot on the Tracks is recommended without hesitation. (Alex Henderson – All Music Guide).
Tracks:
01. Let’s Get Started
02. Girl, I Think the World about You
03. High On Sunshine
04. Just To Be Close To You
05. Fancy Dancer
06. Come Inside
07. Thumpin’ Music
08. Captain Quickdraw
09. Can’t Let You Tease Me
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