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Blistering funk rock and raw, tightly grooving psych soul from small town Victoria, TX – trailblazing material from Kool & Together. This is an amazing anthology from Heavy Light/Light In The Attic that pulls together material from private press 45s the group put in the early-to-mid 70s and previously unreleased tracks recorded by Texas music legend Huey P Meaux. There's a raw soul, funky drums & percussion core to Kool & Together's style that's really great! Singer Tyrone Sanders doubles as the group's conga player, which is a great touch! There's a demonstrable level of gritty psych soul and rock in the mix, too – wah wah guitar, in particular – but they're much more into a tight, heady groove than the kind of lumbering heft and solo-heavy styles of other Hendrix disciples. It's a family band – the earliest tracks on the set feature Charles Sanders Sr on vocals, with Charles Jr on guitar, Tyrone on conga and Joe Sanders on drums – with the boys trading lead vocals and instrumentation on other later recordings, along with additional players. A great discovery from Heavy Light Records! 19 tracks in all: "Sittin' On A Hot Red Stove", "I Know", "If You Can", "Wino Man", "Magic Words", "Peace Is At Hand", "Better Days", "Fly So High", "Electronic Funk", "Reaching Out", "Hooked On Life", "Blow It Out Your Mind", "Get Your Feet Off The Ground" and more, plus 4 demos: "Escapism Beat", "Hot Pants", "Nassau Beat" and "Wino Man".

A killer instrumental album of hard organ grooves and funky basslines! This was the album that broke Funk Inc out of their Indianapolis scene, and made them a force to be forever reckoned with in the history of funky jazz. The album grooves hard in the same sound as some of the classic work by Prestige jazz funk giants like Rusty Bryant, Charles Earland, or Ivan Boogaloo Jones – but it's almost even tighter than their work, because the Funk Inc combo as a tightly woven group of players who'd been together for a number of years. The record's filled with monster cuts that you'll recognize immediately, like the group's famous "Kool is Back", which has a monster sample on the intro, and hard heavy Kool & The Gang grooves throughout. Other tracks include "Sister Janie", "The Whipper", and "Bowlegs".

KC & The Sunshine band definitely live up to the title here – doing it good, and doing it funky with a great early Miami funk groove! The sound has a lot more sharp edges than their later hits – but is still already plenty darn infectious – a wicked bouncy groove that never lets up at all – making the album every bit a funky party as the best early gems from Fatback Band or Kool & The Gang! Production is great too – that cool Miami sense of spreading out, yet never turned towards commercial ends – as you'll hear on groovers that include "Sound Your Funky Horn", "Do It Good", "Baby I Want Your Lovin'", "All My Love", "Blow Your Whistle", "I'm a Pushover", and "I Need a Little Lovin". CD features bonus tracks – "I'm Gonna Do Something Good To You", "Why Don't We Get Together", "Queen Of Clubs (single)", and "I'm A Pushover (single)".

Way more than just a "boogie" album – as you might think from the title – and much more a hard-hitting batch of funky tunes, mixed with some even cooler laidback numbers! The album follows heavily off the style of Wild & Peaceful – mixing together the group's older crack rhythms with some newer, hipper, jazzier inflections – making for an incredibly powerful sound that really opens them up. Titles include the massively funky "Jungle Jazz" – a jazzy follow up to "Jungle Boogie" – plus some spiritual numbers that have a cosmic soul jazzy feel, like the tracks "Cosmic Energy", "Ancestral Ceremony", and "Winter Sadness". The whole thing's great – and other titles include "Mother Earth", "Caribbean Festival", and "Ride The Rhythm".

A long-overdue collection that dips into the huge disco legacy of the New York-based De-Lite label (and related imprints Red Coach and Vigor) – most famously home to Kool & The Gang, but also the home of a lot of other good east coast groups, most of whom were important in those key mid 70s transitional years between ensemble funk and disco. This set brings together 15 tracks from the label – including a number of gems that haven't been reissued before – and titles include "Slip & Dip" and "Casanova" by Coffee, "Galaxy Of Love", and "Say A Prayer For Me" by Crown Heights Affair, "I Wanna Give You Tomorrow" by Benny Troy, "Wanna Spend My Whole Life With You Baby" by The Street People, "Zone (12" mix)" by Rhythm Makers, "Hustle Wit Every Muscle" by The Kay Gees, "Party Music" by Pat Lundi, "Juice It Up" by Hotline, "Mighty Body" by Leon Bryant, and "It Really Hurts Me Girl (1979 Tom Moulton rmx)" by The Carstairs.

A landmark album of funky genius – and one of the first times a batch of funky 45s had ever been so tightly sewn into a full LP! By the time of this album's release, Kool & The Gang were already underground legends – cutting it up in small clubs around the east and midwest, and working hard to push their excellent early singles on the De-Lite label – the kind of indie funky 45s that went on to shape the sound of a generation to come! This album brings together a number of those singles – really great little tracks that you can't really ever find on wax, and which have the group's perfect blend of bass/drum rhythms, choppy guitar, and hard-blaring horns – a massive groove that's still tighter here than any of the countless combos the record went onto inspire. The LP's a non-stop jam all the way through, with funk so pure it could be considered the blueprint for a generation – and titles include "Give It Up", "Raw Hamburger", "Kool's Back Again", "Breeze & Soul", "Sea of Tranquility", and "Kool & The Gang".

Not the rock group promised in the title, but one of the most smoking African combos of the 70s – a brilliantly funky lineup that's got a feel that's almost like the best from Kool & The Gang at the time! There's definitely an Afro Funk approach to the music – but most of the sounds here would sit perfectly next to the best American combos of the time – not just because the group sings in English throughout, but also because they've got a hard-hitting way of serving up the drums and basslines – and often layer in these moogy keyboard lines that are somewhere between "Summer Madness" and P&P Records funk! The album's a killer all the way through – one of the heaviest, most hard-hitting records from the scene at the time – and titles include "Shadow of the Boogie", "Together Again Never To Part", "Let's Marry", "Everybody Get Down", "People Talk", and "Lagos City".

Proof that the US Army had plenty going on during the 70s – as you'll hear from this killer set of military-produced grooves from East Of Underground! The set goes way past the previous East Of Underground reissue – to feature work by the groups Soap, Black Seeds, and Sound Trek – all wrapped up in a beautiful package that's as visually pleasing as the music is funky! The cuts here were all recorded by US Army servicemen during the height of the Vietnam war – as Army-issued albums designed to encourage recruitment (as if a few funky grooves could help offset the bad press the war was getting on TV!) But despite that odd origin, the music here is all pretty great – mostly covers of familiar tunes from the time, but recorded with a nicely gritty quality that's mighty nice – and which makes the overall feel of the records like digging into some lost small studio tapes – ala Numero! Now Again have done a great job of putting together the whole package, too – contributing a wealth of notes and photos, and really digging deep into the scene in which these unique records were created. Not only that, but the packaging also replicates the style of the original odd releases too! The set features an LP each of music by East Of Underground and Soap – plus another LP that features a side each by the groups Black Seeds and Sound Trek. Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "Kool & The Gang", "Walking In The Rain", "Backstabbers", "I Love Everything About You", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Go Outside In The Rain", "Black Magic Woman", "Hell Below", "Higher", "Popcorn/Santana", "Walk On By", "Java Girl", and "Get Together".

A landmark album of funky genius – and one of the first times a batch of funky 45s had ever been so tightly sewn into a full LP! By the time of this album's release, Kool & The Gang were already underground legends – cutting it up in small clubs around the east and midwest, and working hard to push their excellent early singles on the De-Lite label – the kind of indie funky 45s that went on to shape the sound of a generation to come! This album brings together a number of those singles – really great little tracks that you can't really ever find on wax, and which have the group's perfect blend of bass/drum rhythms, choppy guitar, and hard-blaring horns – a massive groove that's still tighter here than any of the countless combos the record went onto inspire. The LP's a non-stop jam all the way through, with funk so pure it could be considered the blueprint for a generation – and titles include "Give It Up", "Raw Hamburger", "Kool's Back Again", "Breeze & Soul", "Sea of Tranquility", and "Kool & The Gang". 2012 remaster – with much better sound than the 90s CD version.

Not the rock group promised in the title, but one of the most smoking African combos of the 70s – a brilliantly funky lineup that's got a feel that's almost like the best from Kool & The Gang at the time! There's definitely an Afro Funk approach to the music – but most of the sounds here would sit perfectly next to the best American combos of the time – not just because the group sings in English throughout, but also because they've got a hard-hitting way of serving up the drums and basslines – and often layer in these moogy keyboard lines that are somewhere between "Summer Madness" and P&P Records funk! The album's a killer all the way through – one of the heaviest, most hard-hitting records from the scene at the time – and titles include "Shadow of the Boogie", "Together Again Never To Part", "Let's Marry", "Everybody Get Down", "People Talk", and "Lagos City".

Proof that the US Army had plenty going on during the 70s – as you'll hear from this killer set of military-produced grooves from East Of Underground! The set goes way past the previous East Of Underground reissue – to feature work by the groups Soap, Black Seeds, and Sound Trek – all wrapped up in a beautiful package that's as visually pleasing as the music is funky! The cuts here were all recorded by US Army servicemen during the height of the Vietnam war – as Army-issued albums designed to encourage recruitment (as if a few funky grooves could help offset the bad press the war was getting on TV!) But despite that odd origin, the music here is all pretty great – mostly covers of familiar tunes from the time, but recorded with a nicely gritty quality that's mighty nice – and which makes the overall feel of the records like digging into some lost small studio tapes – ala Numero! Now Again have done a great job of putting together the whole package, too – contributing a wealth of notes and photos, and really digging deep into the scene in which these unique records were created. Not only that, but the packaging also replicates the style of the original odd releases too! The set features a CD each of music by East Of Underground and Soap – plus another CD that brings together an unusual double LP by the groups Black Seeds and Sound Trek. Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "Kool & The Gang", "Walking In The Rain", "Backstabbers", "I Love Everything About You", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Go Outside In The Rain", "Black Magic Woman", "Hell Below", "Higher", "Popcorn/Santana", "Walk On By", "Java Girl", and "Get Together".

Amazing sounds from the last Western years of Iran – really incredible music that shows what a cultural crossroads the nation had become! While some might criticize the culture as embracing the west too strongly at the time, music like this is a great illustration of the way that the cognoscenti were really onto something unusual – able to weave together the local and the global in really cool ways – crafting funk and grooves that are unlike any thing happening in neighboring scenes at the time! The mix of regional and western modes is not unlike Turkish music from a few years before – but the styles here are also much more soul-based, with a range that flows between funk and club, and includes some instrumentation you'd never hear on an American record at all – a perfect complement for the echoey style of vocal recording used on many numbers. The package may well be the most compelling so far from this mighty cool label – and titles include "Kermani" by Zia, "Koolehbaar" by Shahrokh, "Mahigir" by Maziar, "Omadi" by Shoreh, "Tasvire Yek Fal" by Soli, "Be Man Tekyeh Kon" by Shamaizadeh, and "Avazekhian Na Avaz" by Farrokhzad.

Amazing sounds from the last Western years of Iran – really incredible music that shows what a cultural crossroads the nation had become! While some might criticize the culture as embracing the west too strongly at the time, music like this is a great illustration of the way that the cognoscenti were really onto something unusual – able to weave together the local and the global in really cool ways – crafting funk and grooves that are unlike any thing happening in neighboring scenes at the time! The mix of regional and western modes is not unlike Turkish music from a few years before – but the styles here are also much more soul-based, with a range that flows between funk and club, and includes some instrumentation you'd never hear on an American record at all – a perfect complement for the echoey style of vocal recording used on many numbers. The package may well be the most compelling so far from this mighty cool label – and titles include "Kermani" by Zia, "Koolehbaar" by Shahrokh, "Mahigir" by Maziar, "Omadi" by Shoreh, "Tasvire Yek Fal" by Soli, "Be Man Tekyeh Kon" by Shamaizadeh, and "Avazekhian Na Avaz" by Farrokhzad.