Al compas del mundo - programa #91 - Soul and funk of the 70s

This playlist speaks for itself. Rufus kicks off and the list only improves: Mayfield’s Pusherman, Funkadelic, War and, of course, Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues. They’re all hits, actually, just some are better known and rose higher on the charts – those we were familiar with, at least. I can’t speak for the R&B ratings in Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, etc. (were “race records” still a thing then? Did something akin to that exist?) I don’t listen to much radio, other than that extraordinary streamer Radioactiva.TX. So if I’m flogging a dead horse and you’ve already heard some of these tunes for the third time today on oldies radio, forgive and forget. There’s a reason this music has survived as some of the “best of”. You haven’t heard them in this sequence and without commercials so relax your mind and go with the flow. And don’t forget your “apple hat”. - J.H.

Run List for Soul and funk of the 70s. First broadcast 8-31-23.

Our dedicated listeners will note a SNAFU that caused a pause between programa #90 and #91. A necessary cosmic alignment was delayed. Finally, Jupiter was red and the Moon was blue. But it's allright now, Jack!

01 Rufus - Tell Me Something Good

02 Curtis Mayfield – Pusherman

03 Funkadelic - Standing On the Verge of Getting It On

04 War - Slippin' Into Darkness

05 Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues

06 Apollis - What It Is, Pts. 1 & 2

07 Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street

08 Joe Simon - Theme from Cleopatra Jones

09 Teddy Pendergrass - Love T.K.O.

10 Johnnie Taylor - Cheaper To Keep Her

11 Willie Hutch - I Choose You

12 William DeVaughn - Be Thankful for What You've Got

Tip of the hat, Jim.

Comments

British Invasion - 1960s

I wanted to declare “Kick out the jams, mo’fos!” as a signpost towards the message in this week’s Al compás del mundo radio show, but that actually came about a little later. As humanity descended ever deeper into the Cro-Magnon state, Iggy Pop and the punks claimed that honor. What we have here instead, is a post-WWII let’s shake up the political order a bit, and no, not everyone has signed up to be an unconscious consumer attitude. There’s something afoot with these lads. Not exactly revolutionary fervor, but most certainly promoting a change in the general way of things. Recalling Che Guevara’s famous quote “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”, the Animals, Yardbirds, Rolling Stones et. al. pouted and preened – some more than others – in a way that hadn’t quite been done before. Youthful vigor ensued. These groups pushed the evolutionary chain of popular music a step further and we’re all better off for it. Set list Al compás del mundo programa #183, 6-5-25 - The British Invasion, 1960s 01 Yar...

Funk and Soul

Al compás del mundo - programa #169, 2-27-25, Funk and Soul 01 The Commodores - Brick House 02 Tower of Power - Drop It In The Slot 03 Parliament - Ride On 04 Sly & The Family Stone – Frisky 05 The Webb People – I’m Sending Vibrations 06 Ruby Delicious - Rock Steady 07 Mandrill - Git It All 08 The San Francisco TKOS – Herm 09 Ohio Players - Fire 10 Parliament - Mothership Connection (Star Child) 11 Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie 12 Chico and Buddy - A Thing Call the Jones 13 Little Ann – Possession 14 Lafayette Afro-Rock Band - Time Will Tell 15 Parliament - Ain't Nuthin' But a Jam Y'all What did James Brown mean when he said “we’re gonna have a funky good time”? This “funky” of which he spoke, was it strictly musical (and danceable), or maybe sexual, sociable, or even political? Or maybe a little bit of each? Funk, funky, funkify, funkadelic, funkalicious…all pointing at the pleasure principle…a new dialect for the “blue...

Nuyorican boogaloo cha-cha-cha

I’m labelling this week’s playlist as “Nuyorican” music, the lion’s share of the players from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican ancestry. Two notable exceptions are Joe Bataan, a Filipino-African American, and Mongo Santamaria born in Cuba. What they all have in common, however, was centered around the music scene of New York City where African American and Latino musicians forged a common ground in creating “boogaloo” dance music, mixing elements of R&B, Soul, and Latin dance rhythms. The boogaloo genre was fairly short-lived, enjoying popularity during the 1960’s before giving way to salsa, in what was largely an East Coast and Caribbean impulse. “Watermelon Man” and ”El Watusi” were early and major boogaloo hits, but truly, most of the titles included in the program were popular recordings in their day, whether cha-cha-chas like Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va”, or GFyEN’s guajira. I’ve gathered them here for an hour’s worth of revelation for those too young to have heard thi...

Search This Blog