Help me build my funk collection

[tsull1]

Carrying on from the Mass Production thread below ... I plan on getting some of their stuff as well as the similar sounding name Brass Construction.

Need to build up my funk collection, help me here.

Here's what I already have: Ohio Players [[many of their albums), ConFunkShun [[greatest hits only), Slave [[double CD greatest hits collection), Lakeside [[greatest hits), Coomodores [[plenty of albums), EWF [[lots of albums), Gap Band [[a few albums), Rose Royce [[greatest hits), Cameo [[a couple of albums). I've probably forgotten some.

OK, what do I need? Which albums [[non-greatest hits) from the above group. What other groups am I missing? I noticed on Amazon a group called Sun that I never heard of. I played some tracks, very nice funk. Probably need some L.T.D., too.

Some obscure/unrecognized groups would be great. Send me some suggestions. I like big funk groups with brass and great singers.

[daddyacey]

"obscure/unrecognized groups would be great. I like big funk groups with brass and great singers."


Starting with the obscure/unrecognized would be ..............
RIPPLE--1973-- GRC label
TOWER OF POWER--1973 Warner Bros

Known [[or should be basic)........

WAR-- 3 albums on United Artist
MANDRILL-- anything on Polydor
THE NEW BIRTH--

just to name a few.

[mr soul]

If you're looking for an instant collection, this ain't a bad place to start. I liked this set that much that I bought the vinyl box of 45's as well. Of course you should shop around for the best price if going ahead.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Funky-Sou...rds=what+it+is

[soulster]

Well, it would have been good if you could specify which albums you have already. Here's what I recommend:

Ohio Players
Pleasure
Pain
Skin Tight
Fire
Honey
Contradiction
Angel

ConFunkShun
Secrets
Loveshive
Candy

Slave
S/T
The Hardness Of The World
Stone Jam
Just A Touch
Showtime
The Concept

Coomodores
Machine Gun
Slippery When Wet
Caught In The Act
Natural High
Midnight Magic
[[I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't like the 1977 S/T album for more than the two hit singles)

EWF
All of them up to "Touch The World"

Gap Band
Gap Band II
Gap Band III
Gap Band IV

Cameo
Feel Me
Knights Of the Sound Table
Alligator Woman
Style
She's Strange
Single Life
Word Up!


What other groups am I missing?

Oh, you need some Parliament/Funkadelic! No self-respecting funk collector would be caught dead without some of it. In fact, you should start with "Osmium" by Parliament. Parliament actually predates Funkadelic. But, it's still all George Clinton!

Since you like big bands with lots of horns, you should get some Kool & The Gang. Anything from the 70s will work.

The Average White band's first three albums [[including the 1973 one on MCA) are essential!

If you can forget the big brass stuff, you need James Brown, Rick James, Teena Marie, The Brothers Johnson, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Guitar Watson, and even Ramsey Lewis did some great funk albums in the mid-70s like "Solar Wind" and "Don't It feel Good". Quincy Jones has "Mellow Madness", which was technically the Brothers Johnson's first album.

[Jerry Oz]

This set is a great place to start, just like the one that mr soul referenced:
http://www.amazon.com/Funk-Box-Vario...s=funk+box+set

The first songs that come to mind [[more to come later) for any new funk afficianado:
Glide - Pleasure
Sizzling Hot - Slave
Keep It Hot - Cameo
Freaky Dancing - Cameo
More Bounce to the Ounce - Zapp
I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Roger Troutman
Knee Deep - Funkadelic
One Nation Under A Groove - Funkadelic
Mothership Connection - Funkadelic
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag - James Brown
Sex Machine - James Brown

The list is endless, but this is a good start, in my opinion.

[Hotspurman]

Brass Construction, BT Express, Kool & The Gang, Average White Band, The Beginning Of The End, Con Funk Shun, Crown Heights Affair, Fatback Band, LTD, People's Choice, The Pockets, Positive Force.

[manny]

The list can be an endless list, but here is a list of some good ones I have [[practically all) from my teens and I "consider" my personal funk essential [[there is soul-funk and jazz funk):

- War: The Music Band 2
- Herbie Hancock: Feets Don't Fail Me Now
- Defunkt: Defunkt / Termonuclear Sweat
- Incognito: Jazz Funk / No Time Like The Future
- People's Choice: We Got The Rhythm
- MFSB: Mysteries Of The World
- Instant Funk: selftitled / Butch Doctor
- Dexter Wansel: Life On Mars
- Cleveland Eaton: Half & Half / Bama Boogie Woogie
- Ramsey Lewis: Don't It Feel Good
- Sly & The Family Stone: There's A Riot Goin' On
- Joe Tex: Rub Down
- Roy Ayers: In The Dark
- Edwin Birdsong: Supernatural / Selftitled
- Earth Wind & Fire: All 'N All / I Am
- Stanley Clarke & George Duke: The Clarke-Duke Projcet, II
- George Duke: Dream On
- Lonnie Liston Smith: Loveland
- Crusaders: Streetlife
- Jimmy Castor Bunch: E-Man Boogie
- Quincy Jones: The Dude
- George Benson: Give Me The Night

[Ngroove]

Brass Construction, BT Express, Kool & The Gang, Average White Band, The Beginning Of The End, Con Funk Shun, Crown Heights Affair, Fatback Band, LTD, People's Choice, The Pockets, Positive Force.

May I add: Bootsy's Rubber Band, One Way, Aurra / Deja, D-Train, Gwen Guthrie, Sharon Redd, Midnight Star, the Deele, Yarbrough & Peoples, Rene and Angela, Skyy, SOS Band, the Time, Starpoint, Loose Ends, Fonda Rae, and the early Surface?

And if later into the eighties ya' don't mind: Morris Day, Cherrelle, Alexander O' Neal, General Kane

And nineties; Johnny Gill; c'mon, "Rub You The Right Way", "Fairweather Friend", and "The Floor" has to be quite the workouts!

[juicefree20]

As regards Sun. For starters, I'd suggest "Sunburn" & while not funky in the classic sense of the term, my favorite cut from that LP is "Dance [[Do What You Wanna Do)". "Sun Is Here" was a extremely popular Funk cut & the ballad "When You Put Your Hand In Mine" are 2 more quite popular cuts from that LP.

I don't know how they were overlooked, but you have to add The Isley Brothers & The Blackbyrds [[''City Groove" & "Unfinished Business" LPs) to the list.

I'd also add The Kay-Gees & if you like a little Disco with your Funk, Crown Heights Affair. And though a bit eclectic, over the years Prince has made some downright nasty, funky jams.

Don Blackman - "Black Man" LP - "Hearts Desire" is just downright ridiculously funky!

As for Parliament/Funkadelic I have to give you a bit of a warning. My experience is that I could never simply drop the needle of ANY of their LPs & listen to it straight through as I could with EWF, The Commodores, Slave or other groups. I just couldn't do it. For me, some of their music was unaccessible then & even after revisiting it years later, I still feel the same way. I like their singles far more than I do their LPs.

Some of the funkiest music comes from group whom have either never released an LP, or had LPs that were simply not up to par as regards the overall F.Q. i.e. Funk Quotient.

A few examples...

"Bad Times" - Captain Rapp Fea. Kimberly Ball - NOT THE RAP VERSION!!!
"Chill Out" by Free Expression
"Wide Shot" by Superior Movement
"Who's Gettin' It Now" - Chocolate Milk [[Have to revisit their LPs to revise my opinion)

[juicefree20]

Don't know how I forgot The Bar-Kays

[juicefree20]

Jerry:

I always thought of Lakeside as a Funk band who also made some hellified ballads.

Back then I was Djing at the rink, I used to play a lot of their cuts & thought that they were funky as you-know-what.


I'd say that their "Lakeside Express" Lp wasn't very funky. After having got it after I did their later LPs, it was a bit of a disappointment because they were finding their way at that point & I had come to expect more from the,. With that said, from 1978 to 1981 it seems as though they got a funkier with each subsequent LP.

"Rough Riders" - 1977

"Rough Rider"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ENxpsPj3A

"Pull My Strings"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYU1FJiv2h0

"From 9:00 Until" [[Liked it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXHvIya-wBI

"If You Like Our Music"
http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/If+You+L...e/4mbbAq?src=5


"Shot Of Love" - 1978

"One Minute After Midnight"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVNwK234sQE

"It's All The Way Live"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_W-frCfFfg

"Shot Of Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kw3mGnzrH4

"Fantastic Voyage" 1980

"Your Love Is On The One" [[Loved It!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHw0INuEzrE

and of course "Fantastic Voyage" [[Loved it!)


"Your Wish Is My Command" 1981

"Special" [[Now this was my jams, especially the breakdown where they spell out the meaning of each letter of the word)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyea63XG4Js

"Something About That Woman"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FoA6t13vtI

"Your Wish Is My Command"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uue5xS2vFF8


"Keep On Moving Straight Ahead" 1981

In 1981 Solar was ending their distribution deal with RCA. As a result I recall that when The Whispers, Shalamar & Lakeside released their new LPs, RCA threw those final LPs full of unreleased tracks [[The Whispers - "This Kind Of Lovin'", Shalamar "Go For It" & the above LP) out in order to compete with them. As a result, these 2 were pretty much the standout dance tracks from this LP & to me, this is where their Funk was beginning to jump the shark:

''Keep On Moving Straight Ahead"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrUYjHQgWLg

We Want You [[On The Floor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSITagroFqw


"Untouchables" 1983

"Raid"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unXJ1...feature=relmfu

"Turn The Music UP"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6MePcGfAx0

"Untouchable"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCTNL...feature=relmfu

"Outrageous" 1984

"Make My Day"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7W9TIN3IFI

"Outrageous "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTAqTt2Jjrk

Now this list isn't to suggest that I liked all of these songs. To be perfectly honest, with the exceptions of the "Fantastic Voyage" & "Your Wish" LPs, I preferred the ballads on the other LPs far more than I did their dance tracks. Especially since I've never been a fan of the "Funk" track which had that "Let It Whip" beat & tempo, which was a bit too fast for my crowd & to me simply didn't have the same "get-down" groove as the slower tempo workout that ranged from 96 to about 120 BPM..

But while perhaps not Funk in the classic J.B., Sly or Parliament sense of the word, with traditional Soul & Funk having been encroached upon by Rap & then the Synth-laden R&B of the mid-90s forward, this is pretty much what was passing for Funk in those days.

[Kamasu_Jr]

As for Parliament/Funkadelic I have to give you a bit of a warning. My experience is that I could never simply drop the needle of ANY of their LPs & listen to it straight through as I could with EWF, The Commodores, Slave or other groups. I just couldn't do it. For me, some of their music was unaccessible then & even after revisiting it years later, I still feel the same way. I like their singles far more than I do their LPs.

Some of the funkiest music comes from group whom have either never released an LP, or had LPs that were simply not up to par as regards the overall F.Q. i.e. Funk Quotient.

A few examples...

"Bad Times" - Captain Rapp Fea. Kimberly Ball - NOT THE RAP VERSION!!!
"Chill Out" by Free Expression
"Wide Shot" by Superior Movement
"Who's Gettin' It Now" - Chocolate Milk [[Have to revisit their LPs to revise my opinion)

Thought I was the only one who felt that way about Parliament/Funkadelic albums. However, my favorite and most essential Funkadelic album would be the first one issued on Westbound.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Don't know how I forgot The Bar-Kays

You mean the Borrow-Kays. LOL

[soulster]

Don't know how I forgot The Bar-Kays

And I don't know how I forgot the Isley Brothers or The Time! But, the OP did say he liked bands with horn sections.

[soulster]

As for Parliament/Funkadelic I have to give you a bit of a warning. My experience is that I could never simply drop the needle of ANY of their LPs & listen to it straight through as I could with EWF, The Commodores, Slave or other groups. I just couldn't do it. For me, some of their music was unaccessible then & even after revisiting it years later, I still feel the same way. I like their singles far more than I do their LPs.

You know, I feel the exact opposite. Very rarely can I make it through more than one Commodores album, but I can easily do a whole Parliament/Funkadelic album.

[Jerry Oz]

I was a huge Lakeside fan and loved most of their dance cuts as well as their ballads. Most underrated of all of their songs [[in my opinion) is "Be My Lady" on "Keep On Moving Straight Ahead" LP, which was more than likely a bunch of cuts that didn't make it onto earlier albums. Stephen Shockley was a remarkable guitarist and he laid out one of the best effected lead guitar solos I ever heard on "Be My Lady". I think that I may be the only person in America who either heard or remembered that track and that is a shame. "All the Way Live" and "Pull My Strings" were my favorite dance tracks by Lakeside.

I kind of feel the way that some feel about Parliament. One of the first albums I bought was "Gloryhallastoopid" and most don't care for that album, but it was for me a true masterpiece. So much to listen to and so much to dance to! In Columbus, they were playing the instrumental "Big Bang Theory" at night clubs and I will hold that up against any funk cuts you can find. Largely because of that album [[and "Funkentelechy vs the Placebo Theory"), I owe every George Clinton release at least one listen to.

The Isley Brothers, in my opinion, are a band that is so good, people don't consider them when listing great bands. It's kind of a given. "Living In the Life", "Fight The Power", and "Take Me to the Next Phase" stand on their own as funk classics.

Finally, as for the "Borrow Kays" [[LOL), if you didn't like the rest of their output from the '70s and '80s [[especially their "punk funk" phase), you have to give them love for "Holy Ghost". The percussion solo at the end of it is unlike anything else in funk/R&B/soul that I can think of. It's one of those songs that you can't turn up loud enough.

[chidrummer]

Well now, contrary to some of my SDF colleagues here, there can be no truly great Funk collection with out the P. But, if you're not that hip to the Mothership of all things Funky I would still suggest you have the Tear The Roof Off 1974-1980 compilation just so you'll have a chance of being taken seriously. The only two other "greatest Hits" packages I would recommend is Sly & The Family Stone's Greatest Hits and James Brown's, Star Time.

After that, LP wise you need:

Herbie Hancock

Headhunters
Secrets
Man Child

Crusaders

Images
Free As the Wind
Chain Reaction
Live in Japan

Zapp/Roger Troutman

More Bounce To The Ounce
The Many Facets of Roger

Bootsy's Rubber Band

Stretchin' Out
Player of The Year

Cameo

Cameosis
We All Know Who We Are
Alligator Woman

George Duke

Reach For It

Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers

Bustin' Loose

Rick James

You & I
Bustin' Out of L7

Brothers Johnson

Looking Out for #1
Right On Time
Blam!

Tower of Power

Urban Renewal
Rhythm & Business

Isley Brothers

Go for Your Guns
3+3
Winner Take All

Rufus

Rufusized
Ask Rufus
Rags to Rufus

Stevie Wonder

Talking Book
Innervisions
Songs In the Key of Life

Johnny Guitar Watson

Ain't That a Bitch
A Real Mother for Ya

Sun

Sun is Here

Prince
Dirty Mind
The Black Album
Sign O the Times

and some singles that are worth looking up -

Bell & James - Living It Up [[Friday Night)
Brick - Push, Push
Captain Sky - Wonder Worm

There's a whole lot more that I'll leave to others.

[juicefree20]

Kamasu,

Where Parliament/Funkadelic was concerned, those singles were spectacular & to me, when the were good, they were slamming. But honestly unless it was a ballad, I wasn't trying to sit & listen to the rest of the LP & trying to decode all of the inside jokes. Besides that, most of the folks that I knew who listened to their LPs usually did so only AFTER smoking some joints, then sitting around contemplating the mysteries of the world, or ruminating about the profound meaning of songs like "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad [[The Doo Doo Chasers)".

I grew to understand where they were coming from & years later I discovered "Osmium" & though I liked a couple of cuts, I simply couldn't get into that LP, likewise with "Free Your Mind" & others. To me they either were too slow to dance to or just too damn wierd. I mean seriously, how in the hell were you going to dance to a song like "Jimmy's Got A Little Bit Of B In Him"?
In 1974!?!?

Their singles & some choice LP cuts like "Get Off Your Ass" & others were spectacular. In 1976, "Tear The Roof Of The Sucker" was unlike anything out there & it was slammin' & I remember how "Flashlight" blew our minds because again, there was just nothing like it, especially with Bernie & that electronic clap. They have loads of songs that I love that are true classics.

But their LPs as a whole, I've just never been able to get into them.

[juicefree20]

Jerry:

When that LP dropped in 1979, the only other song that I could really get into was "Theme From The Black Hole". But for me, the true bomb on that LP was "The Big Bang Theory" which to me, kinda felt like a continuation of "Flashlight". That song was & is funky as hell & I have to say that while their other songs are always mentioned, I rarely hear anyone mention that song, much less play it these days.

I think that what it could be is that back then, I was just too young to appreciate their music & the various influences that some of their songs drew from. Once 1976 came along & I was making pause button tapes, Disco had a full head of stream, the Soul & Funk had been slicked up & that was the sound that most of us were gravitating toward.

Once I began DJing in 1977, it came down to dancing & for the most bpart, that's what I based my opinion & LP purchases on. Did it have enough fast music or even ballads to make it worth me paying $5.98 x2 [[had to have double, you know). For my purposes, there were just too many songs on their LPs that simply didn't fit the dance sensibilities of those times.

Perhaps I really need to sit down & listen to them for the 38th time to see if I'll finally get it. But like I said earlier, I think that part of the fun for most of their fans that I knew back then was rolling themselves a big ole joint, popping open a bottle of Canei, Boone's Farm or Fuki Plum Wine & just lying back on the couch in a gangster lean...

WHOOO-WHOOO-OOOO

The 70s, I guess that you really had to be there

As for Lakeside, along with Cameo these guys made some great ballads. "Anything For You", "Say Yes" & "I Love Everything You Do" are a couple of my favorites.

The Isleys were diverse, but as far as bringing the funk, they're a definite no-brainer. Those brothers were BAD!!!

[juicefree20]

Kamasu:

The funny thing is that here in N.Y. I never remembered anyone ever talking about them copying everyone. I have to admit that I was a bit pissed at The Commodores for appropriating Sugar's "Awwww" & I also admit that I noticed the same with Larry on the "Flying High On Your Love" Lp. With that said, I just though that these brothers made some funky music that I liked.

And to be honest, around the time that they really began getting popular here around 1976 or so, it seemed as though a lot of groups had been borrowing from other popular groups. We had folks trying to sound like EW&F, folks trying to sound like Kool & The Gang, folks trying to sound like James & in the biggest shocker, James actually borrowing, this time not from himself, but from David Bowie!

I have to admit that I loved The Bar-Kays circa 1976 - 1983, after which they succumbed to the electronic funk wave. Unfortunately, far too many Funk bands got synth & Simmons or Linn Drum happy & the rest began trying to make cute Pop crossover hits of began trying to become Pop crooners & despite what Instant Funk said, the funk was no longer on, it was pretty much gone.

And so it was with The Bar-Kays whom were also swept away by the Electro-Funk wave, most likely punishment for borrowing from The System or Ollie & Jerry

[tsull1]

Great recommendations everyone, thanks! This board is awesome. Good link from Amazon on those rare funk classics. I've been viewing that for awhile and was thinking about getting it.

[Jerry Oz]

Testament to Lakeside being a fantastic band was their rendition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand". I mean, they total reinvented a Beatles classic [[perhaps THE essential Beatles song) as a ballad and it worked. Lakeside was so unique in that they had four singers and a five-piece rhythm section. Everybody just focused on what they did best. I really wish someone would come out with a definitive collection of SOLAR songs, not just singles, but also some of the stuff that was really well done that others missed. In addition to Lakeside, there would be a huge dose of Leon Sylvers III.

Regarding George Clinton [[again), "Flash Light" came out when I was a sophomore in high school and my new friends from the other side of the tracks hipped me to the entire universe. Over the next three years, "One Nation Under a Groove", "[[Not Just) Knee Deep", and "Theme From the Black Hole" would drop, in addition to "Big Bang Theory". I DJed small gigs until a few years ago and I made sure that those songs, along with "Atomic Dog", "More Bounce To The Ounce", and Roger's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" were played every single time. I knew if the floor ever began to empty out, I would put one on and instantly, it was full again. And every time "Flash Light" ends, you can count on all of us old folks saying in unison: "Everybody's got to live a life under the sun, under the sun, under the sun!" Good times.