Thanks to VainAndy the Bar Kays are slowing becoming one of my favorite bands with the funky new wave sound. Do any of you know if the album Propositions is any good? I've seen it online for sale and was thinking of buying it. Does it have the funky 80's new wave sound I love so much? Also, i've heard their best album is Night cruising. Why is it out of print, damn it!

It's very good. You would love the title track "Propositions" and "Tripping Out". Those two would probably be the most "new wavish" sounding tracks on the album. "Do It (Let Me See You Shake)" and "She Talks To Me With Her Body" are two great funk tracks. "Anticipation" and "I Can't Believe You're Leaving Me" are two great slow jams. There's also a funky drum track that is played backwards at the end of the album called "Busted".

vainandy said:

yay! i was hoping you'd come to my rescue! thanks for the review. i think i'm going to order it. i already know "she talk to me with her body" and "do it" and they are both great tracks. i need more though, i'm hooked and it's all your fault. do you also have the night cruising album? is it really their best funky new wave album? cheers!

"Nightcruising" is my favorite album of their's. "Freaky Behaviour" is similar to Rick James' "Super Freak". "Hit And Run" is a funky track with synths around the same tempo as Prince's "D.M.S.R." I always like to mix and blend "Hit and Run" into "D.M.S.R.". My favorite is the uptempo synth jam "Traffic Jammer". "Nightcruisin" is a synthy funky jam. "Touch Tone" is a very new wavy sounding track. "Backseat Driver" is a funky synthy instrumental. "Unforgettable Dream" is a nice slow jam that reminds me of The Commodores' "Easy". "Feels Like I'm Falling In Love" is an excellent slow jam.

Yeah, this album is their best. It's full of synths too.

vainandy said:

that album sounds tight. i wish i could get my hands on it. i may try to track it down some how. it sounds like something i would love.

by the way, do you like Val Young? she was a rick james protege that sang "seduction" and "if you should ever be lonley". i ordered her cd through amazon and i can not wait to get it. i heard it rocks! i love those 2 singles so i'm hoping the album will be more of the same.
[Edited 8/22/07 15:59pm]

u wanna get the Debut on Stax all instrumental with the "real Bar kays"

Propositions is the shit dancerella. I still have my vinyl copy and i bought
the cd last year for under 10 bucks and i'm glad i did because i see amazon
has upped the ante on it. The cd was remastered wonderfully. You won't be disappointed. This is one of the barkays funkier new wave 80's albums along with night cruising and dangerous. If you want to check out their earlier funk lp's from the 70's, pick up too hot to stop and flying high on your love.

I had never heard of Val Young until recent years so I don't have anything of her's except that one little song on a "Rick James and Friends" compilation CD. I think she first came out around 1985. She never got any airplay in my area. I guess maybe because all the stations in my area were too busy playing a certain little goodie two shoes that year and didn't have room to play anyone else.

vainandy said:

The Bar-Kays' "Hit and Run" came out a year before Prince's "D.M.S.R."

Anyway, "Propositions" is my favorite Bar-Kays album. "Do It (Let Me See You Shake)" is arguably my favorite song by them, and "She Talks to Me with Her Body" is another stone-cold jam. The title track is a new wave-inspired cut. I also like the old blues feel of "Anticipation" and "I Can't Believe You're Leaving Me" is one of those Prince-inspired ballads.

Yeah, "Nightcruising", "Propositions", and "Dangerous" are their new wavish period. I know Dancerella pretty well from the org and I know she (forgive me if you are a he) doesn't care much for the 1970s but she lives for the new wave style funk. Another Barkays album I think would really be up her alley is their 1986 album "Banging The Walls".

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Najee said:

I know. The two songs sound nothing alike. I was simply explaining the tempo of "Hit and Run". It mixes so smooth you "D.M.S.R.", you barely have to adjust the pitch control.

vainandy said:

you are absolutely right on all counts. i am a she and i loves me some funky new wave! yeah, i generally do not like music from the 70's i'd prefer to get their 80's stuff. damn, i never even heard of banging the walls. howz that one?? geez, i havae long way to go on finding their stuff but at least i can start with propositions.

vainandy said:

yeah, they only played those 2 tracks by her on the radio when i was a youngin.i'm still waiting for my cd to come but i'll let you know how it is because you may want to get that one too. she seems to be another funky new waver!

On the "Banging The Walls" album, The Barkays continue on with their theme of copying other artists and themselves.

"Your Place Or Mine" kind of reminds me of "Freakshow On The Dance Floor" part 2.

The title track "Banging The Walls" is kinda rockish.

"Sex Driver" reminds me a lot of Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid".

"Dance Your Body, Desara" is kinda rockish/new wavish also but at the beginning it has something that reminds me of the opening of Prince's "When Doves Cry", that voice that goes "ya ay ya ay" right after the guitar at the front. They also have some Princely-like sayings throughout the song such as...."This is for the wild ones, this is for the freaks, this is for the unconcerned, this one's for me. This is for the others that stayed at home. This for the free and the boys in drag." They love some Prince.

They also get Princely again on "Missiles On Target". They chant...."It's atomic time, girl set your clock, in come love that can't be stopped". It sounds a lot like the chant in Prince's "Lets Work"...."work alright, we gonna work all night, everybody work, that's right, everybody, everybody".

"Paper Doll" is a decent slow jam also.
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[Edited 8/23/07 14:19pm]

vainandy said:

wow! this albums sounds hot. i need to find this one too. how does it compare to propositions and night cruising?

i love the way they ripped off rick james and prince and made it their own. that's how you rip shit off! do it right damn it!

The banging the wall album while outrageously new wave, was not up to par
with night cruising or propositions. With the exception of a few tracks, it sounded a lot like a time/prince album and understandably so because prince/time were burning up the airwaves during that period. I love the album version of your place of mine along with the rest of side 1 but side 2 of the album was just blah.
The song vain is thinking about by the barkays when comparing it to d.m.s.r is the barkays dance,party,etc. from the dangerous l.p. I saw the barkays live when that album was out and they rocked that song live and had everybody shaking their asses. Dancerella you would probably like banging the walls if you are into the 80's new wave period but you probably see a bit of a letdown from night cruising and propositions.

Najee said:

You're right. The version on the greatest hits sounded like prince's erotic city and to me the album version had a more organic sound. I definitely preferred the album version over the alternate take they had on the greatest hits cd.

I remember this album.I like the title track and "She Talks To Me With Her Body".It was a big album in the spring of 1983.

It's a decent album but I don't like it as much as "Propositions", "Nightcruising", or "Dangerous". There are some great songs on the album but there are also some bland songs too. The other three albums, especially "Nightcruising" and "Dangerous"....every song on the album is good.

Speaking of The Barkays ripping people off, I don't know if I've told you about The Barkays' producer Allen Jones', side project he had called Ebonee Webb. I may have told you already because I always tell everybody. If you like Prince's early sound from the "Dirty Mind/Controversy" era, you will absolutely love Ebonee Webb. Be on the lookout for their jam "Something About You". It sounds like a cross between Prince's "Head" and The Time's "The Stick". It has the exact, do you hear me, the EXACT type synths that Prince used and is sung in a falsetto so similar to Prince's that everyone thought it was a new song by Prince when it was originally released.

I feel exactly the same way. On side two, I love "Dance Your Body, Desara" and "Missiles On Target". There are some songs inbetween there that are just bland.



Everyone is misunderstanding me about "Hit And Run". I made the comparison of "Dance, Party, Etc." to "D.M.S.R." for Dancerella in a previous thread when I gave her my review of the "Dangerous" album. When I was giving my review of the "Nightcruising" album, the only way I knew to describe the tempo of "Hit and Run" was to let her know that it was the same speed as "D.M.S.R.". I didn't want her to think it was an extremely fast song like "Propositions" or something.




I saw The Barkays live in October of 1985 when "Banging The Walls" was out. It was my very first concert ever. The line up was The Barkays as the headliners and Con-Funk-Shun opened for them. I can't remember the first act (because I was so fucked up that day) but it was a girls group, I think it was Klymaxx (I can't even remember their performance).

It was while the Mississippi State Fair was here. When you bought your ticket, you got free admission to the fair. I couldn't get none of my dead ass friends to go with me so I went to the concert completely alone. I went into the fair but was not studying no rides so I went into the coliseum early (I'm surprised they didn't run me out). The Barkays were in there doing soundchecks. At that time, there were a lot of guys in the band and, with all the lights on, I could see just how wild and freaky they really looked. Even the girls that were with them were freaky looking.

When it got time for the concert to start, I had been there a long time already and my feet were hurting. I didn't feel like standing on the floor so I sat in the first or second row of the stands. While waiting for it to start, a guy and his girlfriend sitting next to me started talking to me. I had a coca-cola and they offered me some of their Jack Daniels to pour into it. It's amazing how trusting I was back then, I was only about 18. I would never be so trusting these days. When the lights went down, they fired up a joint, offered me some, I took a few hits, and gave it back. Then the people down the row started passing joints down the row and everyone would take a hit and pass it down. I got sooooo fucked up, this was during the opening girls group....probably Klymaxx, I can't remember.

I don't remember much about Con-Funk-Shun's performance except for them dragging out "Love's Train" forever. Then The Barkays came on. I totally woke up then. They were the wildest motherfuckers I had ever seen in my life. Larry was prancing around the stage cussing....."Jackson, Mississippi....where the party at....ain't no god damnned party up in here you dead motherfuckers....make some god damned noise". Throughout the performance Larry shot fire from his fingers and when they got to the finale "Freakshow On The Dancefloor", I saw Larry pull something brown out from between his legs. I was drunk and high and all I could see was something long and brown dangling between his legs. I thought "This is the biggest dick I've ever seen in my life". It wasn't no dick. He pulled it out even further and it was a big ass boa constrictor. He dangled that snake between his legs, then he started swinging it in the air like a lasso. The crowd started backing up because they thought he was going to throw it into the audience. He put in on the floor and let it slither while the band played. Then he layed on the floor and humped the snake. Then he picked it up and put the snake's head in his mouth. He snapped his finger and fire shot out again. It was truly a freakshow on the dancefloor. That was the best concert I have ever been to in my life.
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[Edited 8/24/07 7:57am]

It did kinda sound like "Erotic City". I hated that version though. It sounded too stripped down. The album version is far superior. I don't know why they felt the need to remix it for the compilation.

dancerella said:

Well, you've heard wrong, dear.
Too Hot To Stop & Flying High On Your Love are by far their best work.

phunkdaddy said:

hmmm....i know you say this album is not very good but it sounds right up my alley. i think i shouod just try to get al 3 of them but i don't know how since they're out of print.

vainandy said:

i absolutely love the GH version that shit is banging. i've only heard the original and it's still hot but i prefer the one from the GH!

FuNkeNsteiN said:

are those 2 from the 70's?

vainandy said:

i'm not familiar with Ebonee webb but i trust your opinion and would love to hear it. great, another album i need to try and find that's out of print.

dancerella said:

... but since you only dig their 80's stuff..