Inspired by this post (Og, I can’t remember hearing that one in a metric bunch of years!). I suddenly realized that even though I’m a pretty big fan of 70s music in general, I’m rather ignorant about the funky pop/soul music that was one of the really good genres of the 70s. Yeah, I know a few of the earliest rap artists like the Sugarhill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash, I know James Brown (of course!) and I’ve heard Sly & The Family Stone and Isaac Hayes (“Chocolate Salty Balls” is hilarious - yeah, I’m still that infantile - and the theme from “Shaft” is really cool). But except those, I’m pretty ignorant.
there’s an amazing funk soul band from Oakland been going since 1968, with the core members still going, called Tower of Power. Check out the “Soul Vaccination Live” album for an example of combining soul, funk, and great tunes to perfect effect. It’s amazing.
i’d also include the meters, george clinton and parliament, early kool and the gang, herbie hancock and the headhunters (headhunters and thrust are the two must have albums there), stanley clarke.
Joe Tex is one of my favorites of this era. “I Gotcha” was his big hit (Tarantino used it in Reservoir Dogs). Check out his best songs (IMO) such as:
Skinny Legs and All
Papa Was Too
Buying a Book
I Believe I’m Gonna Make It
For a new artist that’s putting out this kind of music, check out JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. His (Their) cover of Wilco’s “I’m Trying to Break Your Heart” is butt shakin’ goodness.
Zapp – More Bounce to the Ounce is possibly the funkiest song ever made
The Temptations – Shakey Ground (maybe the second most funky song)
Kool and the Gang – many songs, but Funky Stuff (1 & 2) is unbelievably funky
Stevie Wonder – Maybe Your Baby and a bunch of other funky classics (I Wish, As, Superstition, You Haven’t Done Nothing, Higher Ground, Sir Duke, jeez this guy could be funky)
Herbie Hancock – Chameleon
The Ohio Players had some really funky stuff (Fire, Roller Coaster)
Parliament/Funkadelic, of course (Flashlight!)
Lyn Collins – Think, Do Ur Thing
Betty Wright – Clean Up Woman
Chaka Khan and Rufus
Commodores – Brick House, Machine Gun
Curtis Mayfield – Superfly, etc.
There is some new stuff - no time to compile links; maybe I can later - really solid, neo-funk, soul with a lot of Philly soul and Motown in some of them:
Kings Go Forth
Eli “Paperboy” Reed
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybees
**Raphael Saadiq **- used to be in Tony! Toni! Tone! and now has two solo albums out
Aloe Blacc
All have some great stuff out there - anybody listen to them?
Kings Go Forth and Aloe Blacc are great; the rest are kind of second-tier, IMO, with Raphael Saadiq at the bottom (he doesn’t quite have the voice to pull off what he wants to). The Roots, while mainly considered hip hop, I guess, also have some strong neo-soul tunes.
ETA: Also, for 70s stuff, The Spinners, The Five Stairsteps, Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes…also, there’s a label called Numero Records that puts out a ton of regional 60s/70s soul compilations that are very strong.
I would bust out some WAR, Earth Wind & Fire, Heatwave, Brothers Johnson, George Benson - anything Quincy Jones touched production wise in the 70s oozed funk/soul/pop.
Then at the end of that decade Chic rocked. Anything they did, plus their production on Sister Sledge’s and Diana Ross’ albums is off the hook. In fact, Diana Ross tried her best to ruin the 1980 album Diana by editing out the instrumental breaks, speeding up the tracks, and other nonsense. That’s the album that you know with “I’m Coming Out,” “Upside Down,” etc. It was re-released in the 2000s with the original Edwards/Rodgers production and it RAWKS.
Also check out the SOS Band, Rose Royce, and the Isley Brothers’ stuff from this era.
Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up” is the template for Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough.” And I just discovered Robert Palmer’s “Looking for Clues,” which is also strongly influenced by that song.
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