New topic
Printablefunkpill said: Krytonite said: How about Curtis Mayfield? Was he better with Impressions?
wow... Good question  I'd say he was more interesting when he went solo, but he still had collaborators in his band and his co-arrangers in his solo career. I think vainandy's initial point is that every artist is best when they have somebody to bounce their ideas off of. Nobody creates in a vaccuum and nobody ever really does everything themselves, and sometimes people need someone to fill in the gaps in their ideas. Each of the Beatles solo careers are inferior to the material they made together, and often times the worst tendencies each had as a beatle were made all the more apparent in their solo careers: Paul could get far too sappy, John could get too aloof and tasteless, George could get too preachy and boring, and...well Ringo pretty much sucks. Stevie Wonder serves as an interesting example too because even though his prime material came after he renegotiated his contract and took over most of the instrumentation, writing and production himself, he still had very important collaborators in his engineers/associate producers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. These guys didn't get ripped off in co-writing credit or anything like that, but their contribution to stevie's prime is very underappreciated. Basically, they pushed him into being as good as he could be: they would purposefully botch takes so that he'd have to record the vocals over and over again until his voice sounded hoarse and angry (as on Living For the City), they would try and annoy/irritate him so that he would get pissed off (which was allegedly extremely difficult because of how friendly and good-natured stevie is naturally) and channel that energy into his performance. Occasionally they would even introduce him to a chord progression or mode he wasn't familiar with, which he would modify or rearrange and use as the basis of a song. One could argue that Stevie's prime began to wane after he stopped working with them. And yes Prince definitely was in his prime when he was around musicians who he saw as genuine colleagues/peers rather than just employees; people he felt comfortable allowing some creative input from who could tell him when something wasn't working, add their own input and genuinely be creative partners, something he hasn't had to anywhere near the same extent since he disbanded the revolution. Even though Sign O'The times was a non revolution album, it was heavily influenced by them via the experiences he had with him, the styles/flavors they'd already introduced him to, even if they didn't directly collaborate with him on most of the material. [Edited 9/28/06 18:57pm] | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
Björk is definitely better than The Sugarcubes. Feel free to join in the Prince Album Poll 2018! Let'a celebrate his legacy by counting down the most beloved Prince albums, as decided by you! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
vainandy said: Patti LaBelle was much better with LaBelle than solo. Keep that "Somebody Loves You" shit and give me some more stuff like "Lady Marmalade".
 .
. [Edited 9/28/06 12:13pm] Yeah she was bascially a mid-tempo/ballad singer post Labelle, but her first solo single from 1979 'MUSIC IS MY LIFE"is a good party jam. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
jacktheimprovident said: funkpill said: wow... Good question I'd say he was more interesting when he went solo, but he still had collaborators in his band and his co-arrangers in his solo career. I think vainandy's initial point is that every artist is best when they have somebody to bounce their ideas off of. Nobody creates in a vaccuum and nobody ever really does everything themselves, and sometimes people need someone to fill in the gaps in their ideas. Each of the Beatles solo careers are inferior to the material they made together, and often times the worst tendencies each had as a beatle were made all the more apparent in their solo careers: Paul could get far too sappy, John could get too aloof and tasteless, George could get too preachy and boring, and...well Ringo pretty much sucks.Stevie Wonder serves as an interesting example too because even though his prime material came after he renegotiated his contract and took over most of the instrumentation, writing and production himself, he still had very important collaborators in his engineers/associate producers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. These guys didn't get ripped off in co-writing credit or anything like that, but their contribution to stevie's prime is very underappreciated. Basically, they pushed him into being as good as he could be: they would purposefully botch takes so that he'd have to record the vocals over and over again until his voice sounded hoarse and angry (as on Living For the City), they would try and annoy/irritate him so that he would get pissed off (which was allegedly extremely difficult because of how friendly and good-natured stevie is naturally) and channel that energy into his performance. Occasionally they would even introduce him to a chord progression or mode he wasn't familiar with, which he would modify or rearrange and use as the basis of a song. One could argue that Stevie's prime began to wane after he stopped working with them. And yes Prince definitely was in his prime when he was around musicians who he saw as genuine colleagues/peers rather than just employees; people he felt comfortable allowing some creative input from who could tell him when something wasn't working, add their own input and genuinely be creative partners, something he hasn't had to anywhere near the same extent since he disbanded the revolution. Even though Sign O'The times was a non revolution album, it was heavily influenced by them via the experiences he had with him, the styles/flavors they'd already introduced him to, even if they didn't directly collaborate with him on most of the material. [Edited 9/28/06 18:57pm]   | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
funkpill said: vainandy said: I didn't know he did any solo stuff. He did one album under his name. Others are under The Family Stone name, but you can tell its an solo album. High On You is not a bad album  It is not known why FuNkeNsteiN capitalizes his name as he does, though some speculate sunlight deficiency caused by the most pimpified white guy afro in Nordic history.
- Lammastide | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
FuNkeNsteiN said: funkpill said: He did one album under his name. Others are under The Family Stone name, but you can tell its an solo album. High On You is not a bad album agree... That was the only album under his name alone. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
funkpill said: FuNkeNsteiN said: High On You is not a bad album agree... That was the only album under his name alone.
It has the coolest cover out of all of Sly's albums  It is not known why FuNkeNsteiN capitalizes his name as he does, though some speculate sunlight deficiency caused by the most pimpified white guy afro in Nordic history.
- Lammastide | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
How about Slave vs. Steve Arrington? | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Paul McCartney..... Get Back, the Beatles's years are waiting for you... ...Dorothy made me laugh (ha ha)...
THE ORG TOP 50 http://www.prince.org/msg/8/192731 PRINCE or MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO http://www.prince.org/msg...02?jump=51 The Funny Thread About the Album Kiss http://www.prince.org/msg...0652?&pg=1 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I don't know if anyone has mentioned George Michael yet. I was NEVER a fan of Wham, but George on his own is amazing. He's one of my top 10 favourite artists, but Wham was just too sappy for my liking. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Krytonite said: How about Curtis Mayfield? Was he better with The Impressions? I liked him better solo. Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Najee said: Most of these acts you're naming -- Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and Jeffrey Osborne -- became solo acts when soul music was changing from the socially aware brand of funk of the '70s to a more AC-type format in the early to mid-'80s. Even Teddy Pendergrass was heading down that road before his paralyzing accident in early 1982. That adult comtemporary shit didn't take over until 1985 and later. The early 1980s was mostly funk, funk, and more funk. Even Luther Vandross was funky with jams like "She's A Super Lady". Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
sextonseven said: How about Slave vs. Steve Arrington? Ohhhh that's tough, But I think I'll go with Slave on the strength of "Watching You" and "Snapshot" | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
100MPH said: With exceptions like Aurra , The BarKays , Don Blackman , Bootsy , Tyrone Brunson , Brick , Cameo , Ca$hlow , Chocolate Milk , Civil Attack , Collage , Con Funk Shun , Dazz Band , The Deele , Ebonee Webb , Fatback , Freedom , Funkadelic , Gap Band , General Caine , Rick James , Junie , Kleeer , Lakeside , Klymaxx , Magic Lady , Mantra , Midnight Star , Mtume , Bobby Nunn , Ohio Players , One Way , Parliament , Prince , The Reddings , Slave , Stone City Band , Sun , T-Connection , Tease , The Time , Twennynine , Steve " The Fearless Leader " Washington , Wreckin' Crew , Bernard Wright , Wynd Chymes , Zapp , Zoom and some others who kept the funk alive during a few years in the 80's .
. . . [Edited 9/28/06 19:11pm] Great list! There was also Skyy, Bill Summers and Summers Heat, Rafael Cameron, Carl Carlton, Junior, Shalamar, Dynasty, The Whispers, Evelyn "Champaigne" King, Jerry Knight, Sho-Nuff, The Stone City Band, The Isley Brothers, Michael Henderson, Tom Browne, Frankie Smith, One Way, Glass, Warp 9, The Mary Jane Girls, Margie Joseph, Cheri, Kano, Mass Production, Secret Weapon, Tyrone Brunson, Paul Hardcastle,....hell, the list goes on and on forever. Funk ruled the early 1980s. Almost everyone was doing funk. Shitney Houston would have had bricks thrown at her a few years earlier.
. . [Edited 9/29/06 13:41pm] Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
ThePunisher said: sextonseven said: How about Slave vs. Steve Arrington? Ohhhh that's tough, But I think I'll go with Slave on the strength of "Watching You" and "Snapshot"I could listen to "Just A Touch Of Love" over and over and over... | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
sextonseven said: How about Slave vs. Steve Arrington? Steve Arrington is great but I like Slave better. Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
ThePunisher said: sextonseven said: How about Slave vs. Steve Arrington? Ohhhh that's tough, But I think I'll go with Slave on the strength of "Watching You" and "Snapshot"And "Stone Jam" and "Sizzlin' Hot". Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Here's one. I think that Eddie Kane Jr. was much better when he left "The Five Heartbeats" to turn solo! "NIGHTS LIKE THIS.....I WISH....THAT RAINDROPS WOULD..... FAAAAALLLLL!!!!! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
100MPH said: With exceptions like Aurra , The BarKays , Don Blackman , Bootsy , Tyrone Brunson , Brick , Cameo , Ca$hlow , Chocolate Milk , Civil Attack , Collage , Con Funk Shun , Dazz Band , The Deele , Ebonee Webb , Fatback , Freedom , Funkadelic , Gap Band , General Caine , Rick James , Junie , Kleeer , Lakeside , Klymaxx , Magic Lady , Mantra , Midnight Star , Mtume , Bobby Nunn , Ohio Players , One Way , Parliament , Prince , The Reddings , Slave , Stone City Band , Sun , T-Connection , Tease , The Time , Twennynine , Steve " The Fearless Leader " Washington , Wreckin' Crew , Bernard Wright , Wynd Chymes , Zapp , Zoom and some others who kept the funk alive during a few years in the 80's .
. . . [Edited 9/28/06 19:11pm] And of course, the majority of these acts you named were limited to marginally successful. And even then, acts like Con Funk Shun started down its road to ballads, with "Love's Train" and "Baby I'm Hooked." THE TRAFFIC JAMMERS, The Org's house band: VAINANDY -- lead singer; NAJEE -- bass; THE AUDIENCE -- guitar; PHUNKDADDY -- rhythm guitar; ALEX de PARIS -- keyboards; Da PRETTYMAN -- keyboards; FUNKENSTEIN -- drums. HOLD ON TO YOUR DRAWERS! |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Najee said: 100MPH said: With exceptions like Aurra , The BarKays , Don Blackman , Bootsy , Tyrone Brunson , Brick , Cameo , Ca$hlow , Chocolate Milk , Civil Attack , Collage , Con Funk Shun , Dazz Band , The Deele , Ebonee Webb , Fatback , Freedom , Funkadelic , Gap Band , General Caine , Rick James , Junie , Kleeer , Lakeside , Klymaxx , Magic Lady , Mantra , Midnight Star , Mtume , Bobby Nunn , Ohio Players , One Way , Parliament , Prince , The Reddings , Slave , Stone City Band , Sun , T-Connection , Tease , The Time , Twennynine , Steve " The Fearless Leader " Washington , Wreckin' Crew , Bernard Wright , Wynd Chymes , Zapp , Zoom and some others who kept the funk alive during a few years in the 80's .
And of course, the majority of these acts you named were limited to marginally successful. And even then, acts like Con Funk Shun started down its road to ballads, with "Love's Train" and "Baby I'm Hooked." Limited ? ... in what context ? ... that they didn't lead the commercial charts ?
If we have to bring up the statistics then ... - The Dazz Band received a Grammy for best live-act in the season of 1982-1983 . - Many Cameo-albums already sold platinum ( etc ) , years before their commercial hit with Word Up . Hence their (?)"limited"(?) liveshows ... most fierce & theatrical funk-opera i ever saw from them in 1987 . Limited ? ... dude , Larry Blackmon always stated that he and his C-Army "respect" the stage ... and they proved to do so . If they were all so limited ...why the heck keep 2day's producers using their samples ? . . . [Edited 9/29/06 20:31pm] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Najee said: 100MPH said: With exceptions like Aurra , The BarKays , Don Blackman , Bootsy , Tyrone Brunson , Brick , Cameo , Ca$hlow , Chocolate Milk , Civil Attack , Collage , Con Funk Shun , Dazz Band , The Deele , Ebonee Webb , Fatback , Freedom , Funkadelic , Gap Band , General Caine , Rick James , Junie , Kleeer , Lakeside , Klymaxx , Magic Lady , Mantra , Midnight Star , Mtume , Bobby Nunn , Ohio Players , One Way , Parliament , Prince , The Reddings , Slave , Stone City Band , Sun , T-Connection , Tease , The Time , Twennynine , Steve " The Fearless Leader " Washington , Wreckin' Crew , Bernard Wright , Wynd Chymes , Zapp , Zoom and some others who kept the funk alive during a few years in the 80's .
. . . [Edited 9/28/06 19:11pm] And of course, the majority of these acts you named were limited to marginally successful. And even then, acts like Con Funk Shun started down its road to ballads, with "Love's Train" and "Baby I'm Hooked." The best thing about these acts are they achieved what they wanted to achieve....R&B success only. They had no desire to venture into pop. When R&B acts started trying to get a pop hit, that's when the music suffered. As far as Con-Funk-Shun goes, they did funk and ballads.....all the funk acts did. However, ballads by funk groups had a far different sound than some damn "Saving All My Love For You" by Shitney Houston. Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
vainandy said: The best thing about these acts are they achieved what they wanted to achieve....R&B success only. They had no desire to venture into pop. When R&B acts started trying to get a pop hit, that's when the music suffered. As far as Con-Funk-Shun goes, they did funk and ballads.....all the funk acts did. However, ballads by funk groups had a far different sound than some damn "Saving All My Love For You" by Shitney Houston. X-actly , put their 7-album from 1981 on the decks ... slowz & fast jamz are TIGHT ! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
100MPH said: vainandy said: The best thing about these acts are they achieved what they wanted to achieve....R&B success only. They had no desire to venture into pop. When R&B acts started trying to get a pop hit, that's when the music suffered. As far as Con-Funk-Shun goes, they did funk and ballads.....all the funk acts did. However, ballads by funk groups had a far different sound than some damn "Saving All My Love For You" by Shitney Houston. X-actly , put their 7-album from 1981 on the decks ... slowz & fast jamz are TIGHT ! And the "trying to get a hit with mostly ballads" thing didn't start until Michael Cooper went solo, which is another person to add to the list of entertainers who fuck up when they go solo.
However, in the present day, I notice that Michael Cooper tours with Con-Funk-Shun and they perform plenty of funk. Hmmmmm.....I wonder why? Looks like he finally realizes that over time that the songs that most people want to hear are the ones when he was with the group. Doing what?....Funk!  Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
vainandy said: And the "trying to get a hit with mostly ballads" thing didn't start until Michael Cooper went solo, which is another person to add to the list of entertainers who fuck up when they go solo.
However, in the present day, I notice that Michael Cooper tours with Con-Funk-Shun and they perform plenty of funk. Hmmmmm.....I wonder why? Looks like he finally realizes that over time that the songs that most people want to hear are the ones when he was with the group. Doing what?....Funk! It's not their middle-name 4 nuffin'
I kinda dig Mike Coop's 1rst album though ... "Love Is Such A Funny Game" is a solid midtempo-jam . CFS did some live-shows for radio in the 80's ... i tracked a playlist somewhere : From a show in 1986 : - Turn The Music Up - CFS Medley - Pretty Lady - Leaving - Ffun - Ms. Got The body - Love's Train - Electric Lady | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
.... [Edited 9/29/06 19:33pm] Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
100MPH said: vainandy said: And the "trying to get a hit with mostly ballads" thing didn't start until Michael Cooper went solo, which is another person to add to the list of entertainers who fuck up when they go solo.
However, in the present day, I notice that Michael Cooper tours with Con-Funk-Shun and they perform plenty of funk. Hmmmmm.....I wonder why? Looks like he finally realizes that over time that the songs that most people want to hear are the ones when he was with the group. Doing what?....Funk! It's not their middle-name 4 nuffin'
I kinda dig Mike Coop's 1rst album though ... "Love Is Such A Funny Game" is a solid midtempo-jam . CFS did some live-shows for radio in the 80's ... i tracked a playlist somewhere : From a show in 1986 : - Turn The Music Up - CFS Medley - Pretty Lady - Leaving - Ffun - Ms. Got The body - Love's Train - Electric Lady You should check out these CDs. All the tracks are live in concert: 1. Party Train - The Gap Band 2. Keep It Hot - Cameo 3. Too Tight - Confunkshun 4. Sweet Sticky Thing - Ohio Players 5. Say Yes - Lakeside 6. Why Have I Lost You - Cameo 7. There I Go - Dazz Band 8. Bop Gun - George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars 9. Outrageous - Lakeside 1. All The Way Live - Lakeside 2. Drop The Bomb - The Gap Band 3. Aqua Boogie - George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars 4. Candy - Cameo 5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Lakeside 6. Yearning For Your Love - The Gap Band 7. Love's Train - Confunkshun 8. Fire - Ohio Players 9. FFun - Confunkshun DISC 1 1. Tom Joyner Intro 2. Party Time - UWF All Stars 3. Ffun - Confunkshun 4. Take Your Time (Do It Right) - SOS Band 5. Freak Show On The Dance Floor - The Bar-Kays 6. Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) - Charlie Wilson 7. You Dropped A Bomb On Me - Charlie Wilson 8. Love's Train - Confunkshun 9. Just Be Good To Me - SOS Band 10. Let It Whip - Dazz Band 11. Shake And Dance With Me - Confunkshun DISC 2 1. Party Train - Charlie Wilson 2. Heartbeat - Dazz Band 3. Anticipation - The Bar-Kays 4. Shake It Easy - Confunkshun 5. Move Your Boogie Body - The Bar-Kays 6. Computer Love - Charlie Wilson/UWF All Stars 7. Outstanding - Charlie Wilson 8. Oops Upside Your Head - Charlie Wilson Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
vainandy said: You should check out these CDs. All the tracks are live in concert: 1. Party Train - The Gap Band 2. Keep It Hot - Cameo 3. Too Tight - Confunkshun 4. Sweet Sticky Thing - Ohio Players 5. Say Yes - Lakeside 6. Why Have I Lost You - Cameo 7. There I Go - Dazz Band 8. Bop Gun - George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars 9. Outrageous - Lakeside 1. All The Way Live - Lakeside 2. Drop The Bomb - The Gap Band 3. Aqua Boogie - George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars 4. Candy - Cameo 5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Lakeside 6. Yearning For Your Love - The Gap Band 7. Love's Train - Confunkshun 8. Fire - Ohio Players 9. FFun - Confunkshun DISC 1 1. Tom Joyner Intro 2. Party Time - UWF All Stars 3. Ffun - Confunkshun 4. Take Your Time (Do It Right) - SOS Band 5. Freak Show On The Dance Floor - The Bar-Kays 6. Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) - Charlie Wilson 7. You Dropped A Bomb On Me - Charlie Wilson 8. Love's Train - Confunkshun 9. Just Be Good To Me - SOS Band 10. Let It Whip - Dazz Band 11. Shake And Dance With Me - Confunkshun DISC 2 1. Party Train - Charlie Wilson 2. Heartbeat - Dazz Band 3. Anticipation - The Bar-Kays 4. Shake It Easy - Confunkshun 5. Move Your Boogie Body - The Bar-Kays 6. Computer Love - Charlie Wilson/UWF All Stars 7. Outstanding - Charlie Wilson 8. Oops Upside Your Head - Charlie Wilson 
I'll be back 4 the tracklists later . . . . [Edited 9/29/06 19:57pm] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
100MPH said:
I'll be back 4 the tracklists later . . . . I used to see that one in the record stores all the time. Cameo and The Gap Band have a live album also. Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
 
Their D-Xposure live-joint in Frisco includes an instrumental & improvised jazz-version of "Let It All Blow" ... nothing limited about that | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
100MPH said:
Their D-Xposure live-joint in Frisco includes an instrumental & improvised jazz-version of "Let It All Blow" ... nothing limited about that Now that album I haven't seen. Andy is a four letter word. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |