A Fantastic Voyage from Oklahoma City to Dayton, Ohio to Plainfield, New Jersey

 

 Black History Month on the move.

Start in Oklahoma City...

In the South it's usually a fact that if you live near the railroad tracks or by the river, you're probably live in the bad part of town. The Moore house was built on stilts, with the river on one side & the railroad tracks on the other.

 

According to Harold Moore Sr.: He had four children, Jr. & his three sisters who had been abandoned by their alcoholic mom. Harold Sr. worked for a very rich woman who took a liking to the kids & bought them musical instruments, even paying for lessons. She made the kids a deal that if they learned how to play at least three songs she would get them a slot on some local TV telethon. The kids took to music very quickly. Within a year they were appearing on local TV.  The response was so good that the woman paid for them to record an LP but suggested they write "original" songs. This is where Harold Sr. comes in. Dad wrote all the songs that appear on the LP, with most of them being attacks on the drunken & supposedly abusive ex-Mrs. Moore… "Mama drinks Tequila / She stays drunk all the time." Once the LP was recorded & pressed, the next step was to get them in the local record stores. At least one store told Mr. Moore that they could not stock them unless they were shrink-wrapped. Harold went to a butcher shop where his brother worked. Harold used their shrink-wrap machine to seal the LPs… unfortunately, this was a high heat machine. Sr. had melted every single LP in the process. This wasn't discovered until someone bought one & took it home. All the LPs were pulled from the stores. Rather than re-press it, the woman decided to release some 45s.

These 45s were compiled to recreate the original melted LP.

Jr. & his Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds, HMM Records SH 954-955, 1971.
all decryption codes in comments

Side One -
Thing, Do the Creep
Momma Love Tequilla
Pimp
Waw-Waw Rock
Love from Above
Flip Will
Do Your Funky Thing

Side Two -
Slow
Sweet Little One
Kewetha
Kat-Walk
Rock 'N Roll Santa
Rock Blues
Pop Junior Pop

Jr & his Soulettes: Harold M. Moore, Jr. - guitar & vocals  (age 10); Jacqueln Carol Moore waw waw organ & vocals (age 6); Vinita Marie Moore - bass & organ (age 6); & Denise Marshell Moore - drummer (age 7).

 

 

I never know how the lesson plan is going to turn out before I get ready for class. This time it was driven by a comment on the Wackies post from aboynamedstew. So mixing the classroom/roadtrip metaphor, I decided to detour to Dayton, Ohio before heading on to New Jersey.

Dayton Funk Connection

Being originally from Pennsylvania & spending much time in the musick dives of neighboring Ohio, as well as being a Funk fanadelic, Dayton Funk has always held a place in my heart.

Of course there's Ohio Players (I've posted Skin Tight over at digital meltd0wn blog). I'm giving some different tastes from FunkenTown so although the Players are sublime (& their covers even more sublime), you'll have to grab that Ohio elsewhere, player. Ditto Zapp (however I've added a tribute to Roger Troutman before I leave Dayton).

That's the easy ones, but do you all know Slave or Lakeside or Faze-O or Platypus?...

Steve Arrington of Slave:
     “Dayton's scene was all these bands that didn't sound anything alike. Ohio Players didn't sound anything like Heatwave who didn't sound like Slave; Slave didn't sound like Zapp; Zapp didn't sound like Lakeside. What we got from the Players was, we had to find our own voice. The Dayton sound was—innovation.”

But they all had one commonality: Charles Spencer, a music teacher at Roosevelt High School, Dayton, Ohio.. Every band in Dayton that went on to sign a major label deal (including Platypus) had students of Spencer's in them. Spencer made his kids read music & study theory. He also staged battles-of-the-bands to raise money for the school. The funds were good for the musicians but so was the competition; it helped the players hone their skills & also build an audience.

 

Lakeside was loosely formed in 1969, on the cusp of the funk boom in Dayton. It wasn't until the late 70s & early 80s that this group really hit its stride with the hit song "Fantastic Voyage". The song hit #1 on the Billboard R&B charts, propelling the band into the national spotlight for the rest of the 1980s. Say yes.

 

Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage, Solar BXL1-3720, 1980.

Side A -
Fantastic Voyage
Your Love is on the One
I Need You

Side B -
Strung Out
Say Yes
Eveready Man
I Love Everything You Do
Say Yes (reprise)


 

Slave formed in the mid-70s in Dayton. They quickly had a hit single with their song "Slide".  They were known for their use of electric trumpet, fat bass licks, & soaring vocals. They had more hits in the early 80s like "Snap Shot" featured here. Disco funk...it's the spice of life. Smokin'.  I'm enSlaved.

Slave - Show Time, Cotillion SD 5227, 1981.

Side One -
Snap Shot
Party Lites
Spice of Life (oh Yes, You’re the Best)
Smokin

Side Two -
Wait for Me
Steal Your Heart
For the Love of U
Funken Town

This L.P. is dedicated to Allah for the Concepts of Pure Growth!!

 

Faze-O was a late 70s funk group produced by Clarence Satchell of the Ohio Players,

Faze-O - Breakin' the Funk, She Records SH 742, 1979.

Side One -
Breakin’ the Funk
Ya-ba-da-ba-duzie
I Still Love You

Side Two -
Let’s Rock
I’m Tankful
See You Through the Night

 

Platypus was a little known, short-lived disco-funk band that was active in the late 70s-early 80s.They combined their appreciation of the Ohio Players & Parliament/Funkadelic with a lot of disco gloss & occasional rock elements. Unlike the Players or P/Funk, Platypus didn't use any horns.

Platypus - Platypus, Casablanca NBLP 7171, 1979.

Side 1 -
Dancing in the Moonlight
Street Babies
Love the Way You Funk
Don’t Go Away

Side 2 -
Dance if You Can
Running from Love
Body & Soul

 

 

Zapp.  Zapp & Roger.  Roger.  He wore many coats. He was gunned down by his brother.  Tribute.

R.I.P. Roger - Some Troutman Tastees, NØ Comp, 2021.

Victim of Love
More Bounce to the Ounce
Dance Floor
Do it Roger
Heartbreaker (Pt 1 & Pt 2)
Computer Love
Girl, Cut it Out (maxi-single)
Fire
Thrill Seekers (extended remix)

 

 

Now were finally headin' for Plainfield & I feel the pull of the Mothership.

I've posted plenty Funkadelic nectar here & here & here & here, & elsewhere...you can search it out if you want it. Here's some close family representing.

Parlet - Invasion of the Booty Snatchers, Casablanca NBLP 7146, 1979.

Side 1 -
Ridin’ High
No Rump to Bump
Don’t Ever Stop (Lovin’ Me, Needin’ Me)

Side 2 -
Booty Snatchers
You’re Leaving
Huff-n-Puff

Parlet began as: Jeanette Washington (in 1975 she joined Parliament with...);  Debbie Wright (the first female members of Parliament & Funkadelic); & Mallia Franklin (also vocalist with Parliament-Funkadelic who introduced George Clinton & Bootsy Collins in 1971 as well as bringing ex-Ohio Player Junie Morrison to P-Funk in 1978).  Here Parlet is: Jeanette Washington; Shirley Hayden (replacing Debbie Wright): & Janice Evans (replacing Mallia Franklin).

 

 

 

These last two are not really Funk...they're Funk & Punk & Rock & Roll & Soul & Blues & Rap & Poetry & Jimi & they're all P-Funk. This is a Black History lesson for all who will listen. Last days for the revolutions of Jimi. Don’t crash & burn.

Various - The P-Funk Guitar Army: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, 

Blue Dog Records PCD-2827, 1994.

Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky - John Sinclair with Ras Kente
Purple Hazel - Eddie Hazel
Pleasure With the Dirt Devil - Blackbyrd
Positivity - Michael Hampton
Look Now Baby James Glass & the Get to Gettin’ Band
Fly On -  Blackbyrd
Reflections on Jimi Part 1 - George Clinton
Funky Kazoo - Michael Hampton
The Wind Cries Colors - Ras Kente
Get to the Gettin’ - James Glass & the Get to Gettin’ Band
Future Past - Randall & Allen Lynch
Should’a Known - Randall & Allen Lynch
Reflections on Jimi Part 2 - George Clinton
Debbie Does the Voodo Child - Point Blank

Various - P-Funk Guitar Army: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix: Return of the Gypsy, 

P-Vine Records PCD-2847, 1994.

Thanx Jimi - Andre Foxxe
Return of the Gypsy - Johnny Graham
Oh Say Can You See, the Red, the White, & the Blues - Johnny Graham
Father forgive Um - Mud Bone Cooper & Michael Hampton
Jimi Why D-U Have ta Go - Dee Dee "Dirty Mugg" James & Bootsy's Rubber Band
Revolutions of Jimi - Bootsy Collins
Jimi Why D-U Have ta Go (dance version) - "Dirty Mugg" & Bootsy's Rubber Band
Future Equations - The Darryl Plummer Band
What You Gonna Do? - Ras Kente
Fishin; da Sea - Menace
I Need a Man - Menace
Last Days - Menace
Crash & Burn - Andre Foxxe

Both volumes recorded New Orleans, Lousiana; East Detroit, Highland Park, Michigan USA 1994.

Funk On!
NØ