Funky Fresh Function

This week’s playlist went right over my head. Or maybe, under the radar…I’m not sure. I do know what I don’t know, however that plays out, and I didn’t know the performers or music in this week’s Al compás del mundo radio program. It’s the brainstorm of guest programmer, Ras Haas, a card-carrying member of the familial tribe, though admittedly, of a different generation. This should be apparent as you’ve not heard any of this genre previously on the show. And what genre is it? Not sure. These songs came out of the 1980s and, I’m told, they’re post-disco and an incipient lead-in to rap…or at least it served as fertile ground for a wealth of sampling taken by that next musical movement up.

When Ras passed the finished product on to me, I admittedly had some reservations, disco being a hateful creature in my geezer mind – and it sounded close to disco. But a few listenings have cleared some space and I sense a trend emerging. Funk is foremost and that’s nothing new for most any dance music scene from the ‘60s onward. The use of electronic effects skyrocketed (vroooOOMM! Zzz zzz) and that, too, was initially a turn-off. I pointed out how disheartening it must have been for 5-6 member bands being replaced by 2 guys and a host of electronic components. My complaint based on similar regrets as expressed by long-time world music producer Joe Boyd in “The Roots of Rhythm Still Remain,” a 900-page history of international roots music and the recording industry. Boyd bemoaned the effect on suddenly unemployed musicians in South Africa, for example, as synthesizers and drum machines put them out of work. But that’s a whole other tangent.

Ras pointed out what I had chosen to ignore. That inorganic sound effects had found their way into most types of music for decades and that this was a natural evolution of what musically makes the world go around. He’s right. You can’t fight city hall – or the Gap Band for that matter. One thing Ras Haas promised was toe-tapping, and on my first incredulous listen I succumbed without even realizing. Thumbs up!

Al compás del mundo programa #188 run, 7-10-25 - Funky Fresh Function

01 Thandi Mbongwe - Hey Baby Don't Change

02 Leval - Our Love

03 Endia Johnson - Love Education

04 Shannon - Let the Music Play

05 Connie - Funky Little Beat

06 Five Star - Let Me Be the One

07 Change - You Are My Melody

08 Bobby Youngblood - There's Never Been

09 Gap Band – Outstanding

10 Komiko - Feel Alright

11 David Joseph - You Can't Hide

12 Cashflow - Mine All Mine

13 Cherrelle, Alexander O'Neal - Saturday Love

14 Intrigue - Call of the Heart

15 Network - Rap Your Mind

16 Colonel Abrams - I'm Not Gonna Let

17 SOS Band - Just Be Good to Me

18 Debbie Deb - When I Hear Music

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