As I sit at home watching a clip of Confunkshun on youtube, I am saddened by the fact that black bands on a commercial level have gone the way of the dinosaur. Is there anyone out there that thinks it possible for black bands to make a commercial comeback?

Where black bands ever comercially viable? A Black band can only have success with a White audience.

lilgish said:

Are you asking if black bands were ever viable?

PurpleCharm said:

more of a rhetorical question, as a unit the only bands that made any scratch amongst their own were Funk bands. Funk is dead. If you're in a Black Band you definately need a white audience if you're going move any units or sell shows.
[Edited 7/30/06 7:12am]

lilgish said:

What about Mint Condition and Tony Toni Toné?

AlexdeParis said:

I think Raphael Saadiq was the driving commercial force behind the band, plus TTT is funky. Mint Condition is a good example though.

as much as i would like 2 c 10 young brothers on stage throwing down,i have thrown in the towel
the young folk ain't interested in musicianship
popular music has 2 be new and fresh
anything that was done a yesterday can be considered old by 2day
that's why artists who were popular at one time are never popular again
(list 2 many 2 name)

ttt doesnt stand a chance of success in 2day's pop music market

if it does happen,it will be done in underground, kinda like a movement.
a city or scene will do it and then it will be spread among the massess

i would looooove 2 c it...maybe one day!!!

Today's popular music calls for overt-samples, drum machines/beats and computers. It's all about catchy/forgettable beats and that's it.

Music producers are even sampling samples. That's how bad it is.

I say you'll have to make an effort to support the bands on the underground as mentioned.

I was just watching this VHS tape I have that I recorded about 10 years ago and it really brought me down. After the fact. It had various "band" performances on a show called Planet Groove on BET. Anybody remember that show? Anyway, it had in studio performances with bands and LIVE musicians such as:
Maxwell
Family Stand and friends (Cory Glover)
Sweetback
Christion (the twins)
Eric Benet (first Album)
Mint Condition
and others.
Basically, it seemed it was the last time for "black" artists to do anything in a live setting with live musicians. I cherish this tape. It is mindblowing. Especially Maxwell! It brought me down because I don't see this anymore.
What happened? I dunno but it's very, very sad.

wonder505 said:

You're so right.

Bands became redundant when computer driven hiphop climbed to the top of the charts. Now we're living in a land of musical recycling, where template beats and copy-paste techniques is what guarantees sucess.

Bfunkthe1 said:

http://youtube.com/watch?...t%20groove

http://youtube.com/watch?...t%20groove

http://youtube.com/watch?...well%20bet

Bfunkthe1 said:

Like said above , it's alot about sampling and other cheap shit in the commercial mainstream biz .
But quality is still there , only you have to search for it yourself in places like MySpace or CDbaby .
That takes alotta time , i know .
But a station like www.starpointradio.com which i'm listening to right now , is playing many good current soul with real instrumentation and above all , well concepted arrangements .
The good thing is that a few Dj's over there are doing intensive-searchwork for consumers . Great tracks are played in shows from Roger Williams ( Soulsorts ) and Geoff Bingham .
Take a look at their sheldue and see if you can listen to it , whenever you have a free spot .

http://www.starpointradio...hedule.htm

Indeed not much groups appear there anymore , because of many mentioned reasons earlier in this thread .
Besides that , i guess the 80's economic-recession which resulted in less big bands , still has left some marks in the industry , apart from a few exceptions ( f.i. in the blackrock-era with non-commercial but dangerous acts like Fishbone , Living Colour or 24-7 Spyz )
.
.
.
[Edited 7/30/06 11:16am]

Fact of the matter is very few of these commercial black bands have enough material to do a full 90 minute show. A concert bill gets stacked with a bunch of flava o' the days with a few hits to hit the 20 minute mark. Bands will make their money on the concert tour, not in the studio and they'll need to stretch to flex the musicianship. As mentioned Fishbone, Living Colour and 24-7 Spyz wil give it up, but they're just aren't as commercial as Confunkshun and aren't really marketed as r&b.

PurpleCharm said:

I hope so..the sad thing is that any band white or black will be dubbed a boy band...and you know how radio feels about them....

Bfunkthe1 said:

Im wondering why this era was "the last mastodon" so to speak. Who stood up and said that black bands were no longer viable and we all believed it? Its a good question. Any takers?

lilgish said:

Actually, you'll need another Kool & The Gang!

[Edited 7/30/06 11:13am]

100MPH said:

Thanks for the info. I'm going to check these out.

PFunkjazz said:

Absolutely .
referring to some live-material i saw from Mint Condition on YouTube , i can't wait to see them again .
The only time i witnessed a show was as support-act for Toni Braxton , who has or had a relation with Keri chandler from MC .

PFunkjazz said:

There is indeed a bigger market for the oldschool-scene fans .
Actor Sinbad has been organised many summer-fests with those classic acts in Aruba , with a football-stadion loaded with fans .

the blackrock-scene is not focussed on the commercial-market but flourishes more in the underground-scene .
All those bands gave overwhelming performances here in my country during the 90's .
.
.
.
[Edited 7/30/06 11:41am]

they should!

The more diversity the better!

wonder505 said:

How did i miss to see your post above
Have fun nevertheless

I am in a black band. It is a HARD BATTLE. I will tell you all. Black people rare next to never come and see us. It is really hard to get support from black radio unless it is romantic jazz. You try to play Urban sounding music but again Urban venues are set up for rap and never have the correct soundboards for mixing the band. So you end up having to play harder rock edged music. As the Rock venues are the only ones who can support a band now. When you go see a Jill Scott or a Ericka Badu. It is a more mature crowd. Younger black bands are somewhat forced to have a rock sound to make it.
The leaders of Neo Soul Movement kinda let the fans down. They COULD have changed things at one point. But they were taking 3 - 5 years between releases. Sadly the crowd who were following them moved on. The moment was lost in time.
Perhaps there will be another movement but as of right now? I don't think there is a lot of hope.

PurpleCharm said:

Yes. But it would have to cleverly disguise itself as a non-band.
"Band" is a hard thing to grasp by those that think a loop is a song.

If the lead singer, at first, appeared to be a solo act,
if he doesn't pull out an instrument until the second CD (if he does at all),
if the band isn't called a band,
it could happen.
& a DJ might help.

This is all so sad but it will take a lot of change before the black band comes back.
Perhaps it will take one of the latest rap artists to pick up a guitar to play his own loop.
More than likely it will have to slowly transition itself back, but it will happen.

DecaturStone said:

Man, that's deep. Nice post.

lilgish said:

Sad but true. We perform for an 'Urban crowd', we HAVE TO DO COVERS of songs on the radio. You will see heads bobing now. But they will not dance until they hear something they know. After they hear something familar, they will get into the other stuff. BUT you have got to have some music they know. I went to see David Ryan Harris (black guy best live performer in Atlanta period) his crowd was mostly white. He did a song with the music from DMSR. All the black folks who had been standing in the back went crazy! Strange but true. While 'rock crowds' are not into it, too many covers and unoriginal music will get you booed ,unless you are billed as a cover band.
So when people make fun of Mary J or R&B radio for doing so much sampling or covers there is a reason.
[Edited 7/30/06 16:03pm]

Yeah it saddens me to see it not happening. Mint condition is representing. I
saw these cats last year in Atlanta. And let me tell you these brothas put it
down for 2 hours man. They performed all the ballads we love and these cats
can funk too. Don't sleep on these boys. You can purchase their dvd live at the
9:30 club to get a taste. It is really up to these guys to keep it going for awhile. From time to time, you will see some of the old school bands touring like confunkshun,cameo,barkays,ohio players,and ewf doing their thing and keep it going but ewf is probably the only one amongst them that can play to a large venue and sell it out while the rest of the black bands play festivals, black football homecomings, and black expos but we will take the funk anyway we can get it because these new artist today sure as hell ain't putting it down like that.

I did the local festival circuit with my old band. It was tough (as far as making any money) but actually getting booked wasn't hard at all. Here in Jersey, I found that there is/was a shortage of live bands, especially ones that played originals. We did a LOT of free gigs just for the exposure and most promoters will gladly put you down if they don't have to come out of pocket. Some of what passes for "live entertainment" these days makes me go

I've found that many of the younger crowds - teens, early 20's - turn a deaf ear to live music/guitar solos. Sometimes, you could just sense the lack of interest, at least 'till someone would start playing hip-hop...

Nowadays, I play church gigs from time to time and I find that some of the funkiest musicians are in church. There are some bad, funky bands doin' their thang in church. Many of them come from a funk background, but a steady church gig is what pays the bills. Some of the cats I've played with play/played with Slave, BT Express, Miki Howard, Jodeci, among others. Seems as if the live band heyday is gone, and the oldies touring circuit is where older live acts make the bucks/get audience respect. That's why a Frankie Beverly & Maze can tour all year. Unless you hook up with an R Kelley, ala the Isleys, it's super-hard to get on the radio these days...

lilgish said:

...

DecaturStone said:

This factor can't be ignored. It's one of the first things that came to mind when I read the title to the thread.

100MPH said:

thanks for the info.
I will check this out when I get some time.
We can all do our part in trying to keep this stuff alive and relevant by talking about it and sharing information with others. IMO

lilgish said:

....Yeah like (just off the top off my head):

Ohio Players
Cameo
The Gap Band
Con Funk Shun
Zapp
Kool & the Gang
BarKays
Lakeside
Slave
The Commodores
Earth Wind & Fire
Midnight Star
Dazz Band
Parliament
Brick
Skyy
One Way.....

Sowhat said:

.....more of a rhetorical question, as a unit the only bands that made any scratch amongst their own were Funk bands. and some of those bands you mentioned crossovered.

Name some non funk bands, that were commerically successful without crossing over?