I put my rekkids back in alpha order for the first time in decades and learned some things
A few artists in view here: Herbie Hancock, The Brothers Johnson, Jesse Johnson, Princess, Jermaine Stewart, Kraftwerk, Sam Cooke, One Way, The Meters, The Dazz Band, and Niles Rodgers.
A
Most of these are “Art of Noise” albums. Atension is a good funk band with horrendous lyrics. “Brown Mark,” whatever happened to that guy? Appolonia 6 is a highly underrated album and better than their previous incarnation as Vanity 6.
B
James Brown put out some shitty music in his final decade.
C
Among the largest piles, for some reason, and it’s mostly George Clinton.
D
I have more Dazz Band albums than I thought. Too many, in fact. They only had one or two good ones. Chico DeBarge’s “Talk To Me” album artwork is…quite something. (Prince really altered the landscape of music fashion for a minute there.)
E
Probably the smallest pile (next to ‘X’). Sheila E’s “The Glamourous Life” is still a near-perfect album. I once again lament that I only have two of Earth, Wind & Fire’s albums and one of them is from their later years and they did not adjust well to the changing musical landscape.
F
Full Force’s success is kind of hard to gauge from their inconsistent albums. Mostly sex-songs and macho shit. The Force MD’s put out one really great album.
G
Another small pile, but it’s dominated by Sugarhill and Tommy Boy Records. Wait. Who the hell’s “Erroll Garner”?
H
I have all of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” phase of music, even the not-so-great stuff pandering to Rockit’s success. Still, he’s one of my favorite pianists and I don’t have enough rekkids by him or his various bands. Paul Hardcastle, heh, he had a moment. “Monday Night Football” was by Hurt ‘Em Bad and the S.C. Band and if you remember this novelty hip-hop hit, I salute you.
I
(Nothing. I have no albums by artists whose names begin with this letter.)
J
A big pile, thanks to names like Jackson and Johnson. A surprising amount of these are Jonzun of the Jonzun Crew fame. Despite the low quality of his individual output, I kept buying his shit hoping for another wrecka like “Lost In Space,” but, eh. The good stuff is Jesse Johnson, yessir. Ahmad Jamal, another favored pianist. Juicy put out one, great R&B album, “It Takes Two.” Who remembers Eumir Deodato?
K
Not a lot of repeat artists in this pile except Michael Kiwanuka, a phenomenal artist who is now three albums strong. Kleer put out one great album. Seriously, does anyone remember Eumir Deodato?
L
Notable for Ramsey Lewis, one of my favorite pianists, and Loose Ends, a band whose work I wish had more of on wax.
M
A big stack, but just a mix of stuff. Teena Marie’s “Emerald City” is an underrated rekkid. Mandrill, The Meters, a surprising amount of Mai Tai’s music. Heh, one Mom’s Mabley album.
N
If it weren’t for NIN’s “Halo I-IV” box set, this small-ish stack would have been nothing but Newcleus rekkids.
O
Literally one rekkid each from The Ohio Players, Billy Ocean, and One Way. A stack of three.
P
Dominated by Prince, hands down. I have all his studio albums, though not all on wax. Oscar Peterson, another favored pianist.
Q
(Nothing to see here.)
R
Niles Rodgers was a helluva songwriter, but his individual output was quirky and far more interesting than his hugely successful pop work. I’m a hip-hop fan, but I always felt like Run-DMC ran out of gas early. Run would shine when he’d adopt a different pace, but too often it was the same cadence with them and I got bored with it fast.
S
Scritti Politti, heh, that one hit, lotta energy. Slave was a great band. I can’t wait for The Sorcerers new album!
T
Tamara and The Seen, I wish they’d done a little bit more. They did a’ight for that hot minute when Jesse Johnson was dominating the black music landscape.
V
Vanity 6, Prince’s heavily new wave influenced funk album with the lingerie-clad frontladies. Hoo-boy, I still remember that V6 poster and how scandalous it was, at the time. (You could see Vanity’s nipple!) Does anyone remember VeryCheri, a female hip-hop group? I think they only put out one single, “69 Cancer Sign.” (I’m a Cancer, so I bought it.)
W
This stack isn’t that big, but it’s dominated by Nancy Wilson. They’re inherited rekkids and I wish they’d been better taken care of. My parents danced to a Wilson song at their wedding and I did the same with my wife. Jody Watley, man, I crushed on her so bad. And one Flip Wilson reeked.
X
Only one album under this letter, by the greatest rock and roll band that ever existed for one rekkid: Xavion.
Y
(Nothing.)
Z
Zapp! Three albums by this genre-defining funk band. For nearly five years, they dominated summer, releasing at least one hit single every summer, during my high school years.
NOTE: This is a sampling of my record collection, LPs and singles that caught my attention as I went through them. These mentions in no way reflect my full musical tastes as the majority of my records are from the 1980s and backward, a time growing up in geographically segregated Boston which isolated us from broader musical trends because racism in everything, I guess. Please, do carry on!