Recently in Funk Category

Toward the end of 1978, these D.C. journeymen got lucky and hit the discos with the title track, which was very funk-soul for that disco moment. The album that resulted is almost like a field recording -- a completely unpretentious document of what sort of originals a modestly gifted funk-soul dance band might be doing in 1978. There's even a salsa. Very likable. (Grade: B+) [Robert Christgau] Hear It Now!

Though they had already released several successful albums, Kool & the Gang's 1979 gem Ladies Night earned the group their biggest hits yet: the absolutely classic title track as well as the mellower "Too Hot." Produced by Brazilian funk/disco master Deodato, this record remains a fan favorite and serves as a fitting precursor to their mega-hit Celebrate. —Brolin Winning Hear It Now!

Recently, I scoured the song catalogs for the video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Both contain gobs of questionable selections, including indie fluff by The Strokes and even teen pop from Aly & AJ. What I didn't find is a single Funkadelic tune. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I feel like this means mainstream rock fans no longer consider them to be top-tier rock gods. Tell me I'm wrong. Please!

For me, as well as so many rock fans who grew up in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s, Funkadelic were considered one of music's most badass groups, and Eddie Hazel one of the all-time great guitarists. When I first got into classic psychedelia and hard rock, sitting down and cranking Maggot Brain, particularly the mind-melting 10-minute title track, was a rite of passage every bit as fundamental as blasting Paranoid, Led Zeppelin II and Machine Head. It didn't matter one bit if their music was considered funk by some, or that they weren't the same color as most other bands. They rocked.

Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers proved on Sister Sledge's "Lost in Music" that hedonism and its discontents, the inevitable focus of disco's meaningfulness moves, is a subject worth opening up. Here, "Good Times" and "My Feet Keep Dancing" surround the sweetly romantic "Warm Summer Night" in a rueful celebration of escape that's all the more suggestive for its unquenchable good cheer. Side two's exploration of romance and its agonies also has a fatalistic tint, but in the end the asides and rhythmic shifts (as well as the lyrics themselves) give rue the edge over celebration. Subtle, intricate, kinetic, light but not mindless -- in short, good to dance to. (Grade: A-) —Robert Christgau Hear It Now!

Live from San Francisco's Outside Lands festival, here's our interview with soul belter Charles Bradley, holding forth on the majesty of James Brown and how Charles is coping with the tragic loss of his brother.
Enjoy.

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Charles Bradley give it up for James Brown's many albums. Play No Time For Dreaming

Charles Bradley No Time For Dreaming James Brown 20 All-Time Greatest Hits

Earth, Wind & Fire were the biggest black rock band of the 1970s. But today, they're among the era's most misunderstood platinum acts. The group's discography nearly mirrors black music's evolution, from the Afrocentric jazz of the Black Panther years to the quiet storm balladry and slick corporate funk that marked the end of that tumultuous decade with a merciful whimper. As the visionary leader, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Maurice White sought to encapsulate it all, and he succeeded remarkably. When you hear an Earth, Wind & Fire record, you know it. The soaring brass section led by Andrew Woolfolk and the Phenix Horns, the marvelous interplay between White's cool spoken-sung vocals and Philip Bailey's lush falsetto, and White's kalimba (aka African finger piano) gave them a unique, oft-copied sound. However, their capacity for hit singles has sometimes reduced them to pop-culture clichés, whether it was 1979's wildly over-the-top disco nugget "Boogie Wonderland" or Julia Louis-Dreyfus doing the funky-white-girl dance to "Shining Star" on Seinfeld.

Then there's that other black rock juggernaut of the '70s, Parliament-Funkadelic. The two organizations were rivals, and P-Funk figurehead George Clinton claimed that E.W.F. were "earth, all wind, and no fire." They celebrated the African American experience in markedly different ways. P-Funk adopted a cryptic language based on street slang, black popular culture and authors like Ishmael Reed. Their music was often intentionally cryptic, which not only protected them from homogenization (or "the placebo syndrome"), but also created a cult of believers dedicated to propagating Clinton's message of funk epiphany.

Just listening to the drum track on "Think" is reason enough to canonize this record. It's not the full-on statement of his first record at the Apollo five years prior, but it just shows how innovative and brilliant James Brown and his entourage were. Maybe 20 minutes of "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" is a bit much, but Bobby Byrd's "Sweet Soul Music" is on fire. —Jon Pruett Hear It Now!

This is the album that saw Hancock transform from a respected jazz genius into a funkified crossover superstar. While "Chameleon" and the plugged-in reading of "Watermelon Man" got plenty of airplay, Hancock never panders to his listeners. This is an extremely influential album and is now considered the Rosetta Stone for those who toil in hip-hop and electronica. —Nick Dedina Hear It Now!

On Chocolate City, George Clinton's Parliament set the template for the forward-thinking, funky Afro-futurism that would become their trademark. The spoken-word casualness of the title track gives way to the bass-buoyed glory of "Ride On" and "Together." "Don't worry about being right," the singers implore. "Just worry about being real." —Sam Chennault Hear It Now!

By the release of 3+3 in 1973, the Isley Brothers had supplanted the gritty Motown approach of earlier albums with a harder funk template. With its shrill guitar solos juxtaposed against Ron's velvet voice and the group's soft harmonies, "That Lady" is an obvious standout. Covers of "Summer Breeze" and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" are also satisfying. —Sam Chennault Hear It Now!

Children, this is a funkadelic. The title piece is ten minutes of classic Hendrix-gone-heavy guitar by one Eddie Hazel--time-warped, druggy superschlock that may falter momentarily but never lapses into meaningless showoff runs. After which comes 2:45 of post-classic soul-group harmonizing--two altos against a bass man, all three driven by the funk, a rhythm so pronounced and eccentric it could make Berry Gordy twitch to death. The funk pervades the rest of the album, but not to the detriment of other peculiarities. Additional highlight: "Super Stupid." (Grade: B+) —Robert Christgau Hear It Now!

Coming two years after the uncompromising brilliance of There's a Riot Goin' On and during a time when Sly was blowing everybody off to do drugs, Fresh may seem a little light, since the messages of the coming American apocalypse are absent. A closer listen reveals a deeply personal statement about his somewhat doomed attempts to rise above inner strife. — Mike McGuirk Hear It Now!