Funky 45's — All Formats  

A sweet funky 45 debut for these 2 great cuts! "Tramp" is the original instrumental backing for the Otis & Carla hit – vocals stripped off and funky drums up large in the mix – making for all the funking vamping madness that first made us love the cut. Love that ripping guitar too! "Better Get A Move On" is a great lost bit of funk from the Wattstax concerts – showing up here for the first time on vinyl, and stepping out with some incredibly righteous vocals from Louise!

A stone killer – filled with funky riffing, mad keys, and a wicked groove that's always made this one a favorite! The track begins with some off-kilter electric piano – then slowly backs into a soulful vocal that expands the groove – then the flipside breaks out with a funky flute instrumental, all supported by a really monster break!

A monster! "Smokey Joe's La La" is a hard-dancing, heavy-stepping, piano-driven instrumental that we never tire of! The pianist has this heavy left hand that really works the go-go groove of the cut wonderfully – taking into sock-boogaloo heaven! The flipside features a killer from Brother Jack McDuff! "Hot Barbeque" is one of his greatest tunes ever – and a rare number in that it's got vocals shouted over the top, screaming "hot barbeque – today!" while the organ, guitar, and tenor race madly over this jaunty rhythm laid down by the drums of Joe Dukes!

Two of the most famous tracks ever from Gil Scott Heron – both of them great! "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is Gil's great gift to the 20th Century – a tune that mixes his protest poetry roots with a massively funky line – sweet flute and heavy bass – more than enough to make anyone sit up and take notice! "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" kills us every time – a jazzy groover, but telling the tale of addiction like no tune ever before – or since! Completely heartbreaking – and completely infectious too.

They mighty "Humpty Dump" by The Vibrettes – one of the all time greatest funky songs ever! "Humpty Dump" is one of those killers that we loved even before we'd heard of the funky 45 – an instantly catchy mix of scratchy guitar, heavy bass beats, and female vocals – jumping around in a funky groove that never lets up, and which really goes to town on part 2! A straight up funky masterpiece!

Mad vocals from Spanky Wilson – a great singer with a rough-edged style, sitting somewhere between soul and jazz, and nearly always backed by some really funky arrangements! These tracks are 2 of Spanky's most in-demand with funk fans – the hard-hitting "You", and a surprisingly great take on "Sunshine Of Your Love", one that begins with some mad mad breaking drums!

Funky, righteous, and mighty nice – one of the best tunes ever from Ernie Hines! "Our Generation" has a sharp political message, and this great funky riff in the rhythms – one that's touched by a bit of Stax styles in the Memphis guitar and horns – but which also has a deeper darkness than the usual groove from the label! "Rock Creek Park" is a tune we could hear a million times over, and never tire of – a sublime funky line from The Blackbyrds – with a bassline at the start that gives way to moogy magic and these super-sexy vocals!

2 funky sample classics - back to back on one 45! "EVA" is one of the greatest tracks ever by Jean Jacques Perry – a mad mix of snapping beats, spacey moog, and these cool bell tones – sampled famously by Gang Starr, but even funkier straight up in this original mix! "Take Yo Praise" is a great bit of work from righteous poetess Camille Yarbrough – starts with a spare vocal bit, then bubbles with a superdope bass part that snaps along with some heavy guitar and conga beats!

Killer funk from the glory days of the Prestige Records scene! "Got Myself" is one of the catchiest numbers ever ecorded by Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers – a barrage of bouncy beats, peppered with jaunty piano, and completed by a frenetic funky flute line over the top! "Fire Eater" is one of those cuts that just goes "whomp" from the word go – slamming with some Idris Muhammad-styled beats, very heavy work on the Hammond organ, and a killer tenor solo from Rusty!

One of the greatest tunes ever from the legendary Lonnie Liston Smith – a cosmic number for the dancefloor – with a bassline and conga bit that kick things off, then a keyboard line that soars to the heavens – all while the vocals stay righteous all the way through! "A Chance For Peace" is jazzy funky too – with keyboards vamping all over the top, and these hip vocals layered in next to the horns – stating a message that meant plenty to listeners back in the day – and during these days too!

2 of the funkiest tracks ever from this legendary group! "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth" is the title track to the group's album of the same name – and it's got a slow, sinister bass/keys riff that you'll recognize instantly from a million samples! The original tune still sounds better than any of the copies – and it somehow comes off better on 45 than on the full LP! The flipside features the longer, more open-ended jazzy groover "24 Carat Black Theme" – another killer funky number, with a wonderfully spacey groove!

You'd be hard pressed to find a funkier combination than this! "Kissing My Love" is a monster break track from singer Spanky Wilson – one that starts with snapping drums, tripping organ, and a wangly guitar that makes the whole thing groove nicely – and all this before Spanky's vocals even come in! "Stone Thing" also has a great break – with some skittish noisy drums rattling under mean guitar – while Alvin shouts and calls the whole tune out!

Two tasty funky numbers on a limited reissue 45! Billy Garner's "Brand New Girl" is a non-stop groover – with a hard James Brown/Lee Fields vocal style, and compin' and chompin' guitar underneath! Next is a break you can't live without – served up on the amazing intro to Billy Garner's classic "I Got Some"! The tune's one that you'll recognize from a few famous samples, but to our ears it sounds best here in the original – a badass funky soul tune with all elements right, tight, and outta site!

One of the funkiest cissies we've ever heard! Preston Love wails it loud and hard on this excellent number – guitars snapping over drums on a heavy popcorn groove, the whole band vamping like a line full of dipping birds in the window of a gift shop during an earthquake, Preston coming in with a nice dose of sax to funk things up a bit more! Brenda George's tune – "I Can't Stand It" – is one of her funkiest numbers, a nice blend of bassy bass and sock-soul lyrics, with a piano hiding at the bottom, vamping on the beat with a slight edge to it!

"What A Man" is one of the greatest funky singles ever recorded by Stax Records! You may know the cut from a famous sample years back by Salt N Pepa, but Linda's version is the one to hear – a proud-stepping groover with heavy drums, a great bassline, and some wangly guitar that grooves nicely around some piano bits – all in the 15 seconds before Linda comes in and socks it home on vocals! "O Baby" is a tightly snapping groover from Billy Hawks – a bit of a bluesy sound on the vocals, but some fast drums and organ riffs that keep the whole number dancing nicely with a fresh and righteous approach!