‘Motor’ Booty Affair (Parliament)
Just the funkiest squelchiest track ever, with an incredibly fluid bass line, great big vocal arrangements. A fine track indeed.
‘This Must Be the Place’ Talking Heads (Naive Melody)
Perhaps the best band of all time and this for me is their best track. Melancholic and joyous at the same time. It would be interesting to hear it re-done in a less eighties style i.e. with more bass.
‘Fancy’ Bobby Gentry
The sweetest scoop of deep southern fried country soul. Beautifully recorded and delivered. The rim shot cuts clean through the horns, strings, guitars etc to hit you straight between the ears. Pow ! My good lady introduced me to this and I’m very grateful.
‘Rebel Without a Pause’ Public Enemy (Def Jam)
The ultimate experience in powerful music. The pinnacle at which force and funk meet.
‘River Man’ Nick Drake
When I first heard Nick Drake, just a couple of years ago, I didn’t know his tragic story. And I loved this song straight away; It’s got such depth and beauty. River Man is probably his most popular song and rightly so, although he’s got loads of great songs.
‘If You Want Me To Stay’ Sly and the Family Stone
A fantastic deep funky song. The 7” version is much better than the album version. A ton of raw emotion.
‘Everything is Everything’ Radio City
Something newish from the awesome Ubiquity label. Sits in perfectly with my down tempo set, great rolling drums , organ chords and fantastic vocal.
‘Soul Dressing’ Booker T and the MG’s
From the intro drum break to the descending guitar chords the grooves prepares itself for the gorgeous organ melody.
‘General Penitentiary’ Black Uhuru
It could have been anything from this eponymously titled LP. The killer rhythm section of Sly and Robbie go about their business with the minimum fuss but with devastating effect. For the same reason I was thinking of going with a track from Grace Jones Nightclubbing album but the Black Uhuru vocal arrangements win through.
‘Donald Where’s Your Troosers’ Andy Stewart
This is actually what’s on at my house most of the time because my 2 year old son thinks it’s hilarious and I’m encouraging him to be in touch with his Celtic roots.
You can hear how these tracks helped shape the sound of Hi-Falutin, the new Gum Drop album out on Altered Vibes.
