Article: The death of R & B groups

[soulster]

I cant even imagine Chaka and Rufus or some other acts going synth!

Actually, they did! The addition of of David "Hawk" Wollinski in the late 70s had a lot to do with that. They put out an album "Party 'Till You're Broke" in the early 80s [[without Chaka) that was typical dance R&B of the time, and, aside from perhaps the drums and some guitar, their final hit "Ain't Nobody" was almost all keyboards.

For better or worse, it comes down to economics & education.

For example, many of us hate the idea of synths & electronics infiltrating the music & I can understand that. However, who employed synths more than Stevie Wonder when he was crafting all of those classics from 1971 forward? How about Herbie Hancock & about 100 other great groups?

So it's not so much a matter of too much electronics, but I'd argue that it's a matter of knowing & understanding how to play & utilize those electronics effectively. In the hands of an ARTIST like Stevie, those synths were like a soul that breathed. Take that same TONTO setup & put them in the hands of someone who's not a true practitioner of the art & you get a totally different result.

Perhaps it's more a matter of skill & execution because I've never heard anyone complain about the way that Stevie, Bernie Worrell & the other cats used that same technology to perfection.

Just a thought.

And a thought that's on the the mark!