Spaced Invaders

Keeping in line with the last Funk Friday post. I decided to drop some more Electro Funk for ya. This time showcasing one of my favorite all time late 70’s, early 80’s funk groups, Midnight Star. Midnight Star was one of those groups that were a little ahead of their time, but not too far where no one could get on their level. If you take a listen to them, nearly all tracks from them contained the vocoded, auto-tuned voice, that well T-Pain is wrongfully credited for starting. Anyway, here’s Midnight Star’s - Operator. It’s an awesome track plain and simple. Great vocal melodies, and of course vocoded voices.

In the same light as Cybotron, Twilight 22, and Hashim, I bring you this bangin electro hot sauce funk track from Tyron Brunson called The Smurf. I’ve been rocking this pretty heavily lately. The intro kind of cleans the palate in the middle of a set. You might recognize it because X Clan sampled the hell out of it in Heed the Words Of The Brother. Enjoy!

This was the first track that started playing when I turned on iTunes this morning. This San Francisco based funk band produced an awesome album “This Is The Beginning” and it completely slipped through the cracks. I wouldn’t classify these cats as “funk,” I’d say they are more a psych-soul band sort of like Sly and the Family Stone. This is the Beginning is packed full of horns, drum breaks and acid filled guitar riffs and solos, it’s perfect for those who love good funk music, for DJs who want some good floor heaters, and for the producers looking to sample something. In fact, I’m surprised this whole album wasn’t sampled more. I guess many pressings of this album didn’t get out to the public. Anyway, here is a track from the album entitled Mirage.

A stellar example of some early Detroit funk! To get the full story on the Fabulous Counts you can go here. But I just wanted to give you something good to start your hump day with.

I waited to drop this because of both Flatbroke’s and BirdFlu’s love themed casts and I didn’t want to switch the groove up to much. Anyway, here are some dirty, dirty funk breaks that I pulled together for everyone to get down to. Overall, I’m really feeling this podcast and had to dig through a lot of stuff to put it together. Leave some comments and let me know what you think.

DJ Sonar’s - Dirty Breaks
Tracklisting

1. Bloodstone - Traffic Cop
2. Duncan Lamont - Funky Express
3. The Soul Searchers - Funk to the Folks
4. Edwin Starr - I Just Want to do My Thing
5. Little Royal - Razor Blade
6. The Mighty Ryders - Evil Vibrations
7. Oliver Cheatham - Saturday Night
8. Jesse Graham Plus 3 - Shootin the Grease
9. James Brown - Superbad (parts 1 & 2)
10. Skull Snaps - I’m Your Pimp
11. Tickled Pink - Reach Out (And Give Me Your Hand)
12. Louise Freeman - I Can Do It
13. Curtis Mayfield - Radio Drop
14. Earl English & The Apaches - Trying to Make Ends Meet
15. The Undisputed Truth - What It Is
16. Donnie Brown - Funky Mind
17. Earth, Wind, & Fire - Happy Feelin’
18. Mongo Santamaria - I Can’t Get Next To You
19. Sir Guy & The Rocking Cavaliers - Funky Virginia

 

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Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! Get your scrump on with some baby makin music by the most soulful white boy in the DJ world, DJ Scrunchyface Flatbroke. This special edition of the Stone Groove Podcast will get anyone into the baby makin mood. I know that the guys out there won’t last past the five minute mark, so take it slow and easy with your special lady and groove to this Valentine’s Day Stimulus Package.

 

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This is one of the most legendary funk albums of the 70’s. It’s one of those albums that when you find it you will become the envy of any crate digger out there. And thanks to Clay at 52.5 Records he was able to land a copy of this album for me. So you can send your hate emails to me whenever. Anyway, the Skull Snaps cut just this one album and it’s blend of hard breaks, soulful vocals, and soaring grooves will continue to make this album a must for any collector for years to come.

I only heard the track “It’s a New Day.” prior to the whole album. It is a phemominal mix of soul and funk, not to mention the opening break has been sampled by so many rap artists. In fact, some record collectors swear up and down this track gave the rhythm for nearly all the early 90’s rap and has been credited as the most sampled drum beat in all rap music.

The album as a whole is just this incredible ride through a funk and soul rollercoaster! After listening to the first side of the album, I was blown away by each of the tracks. The haunting vocals, and the breaks were just insane! I got up and flipped the record over to the B-Side and the ride did not stop. The first song that comes at you is “I’m Your Pimp” and you would swear that should have been used in a Dolemite movie. With lyrics like, “I wear my hat to the side….I walk with a limp…” How could it have not been in that movie?

This is one of the best albums that I have ever heard. This goes to show that digging does pay off, and to stay away from the Top 40. You don’t find real soul like this in music today. This album is a perfect example of early 70’s funk and will continue to be a collector’s item. In fact you can only find re-issues on Ebay and for the actual album, good luck trying to find one under triple digits.

Tracks
A1 My Hang Up Is You (4:02)
A2   Having You Around (4:30)
A3  Didn’t I Do It To You (3:15)
A4   All Of A Sudden (3:23)
A5   It’s A New Day (3:04)
B1  I’m Your Pimp (4:03)
B2  I Turn My Back On Love (2:45)
B3  Trespassing (4:03)
B4   I’m Falling Out Of Love (2:46)

Listen to: It’s a New Day