Chocolate Milk - Actions Speak Louder Than Words (1975)

Chocolate Milk formed in 1974, shortly after Kool & The Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire hit the big time. The band soon moved to New Orleans to replace The Meters as Allen Toussaint's studio and live backing band. The group is best known for this, their debut album, though they would release seven more increasingly discofied albums before breaking up in 1983. "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" is a gem of an album, with tight, funky rhythms overlaid with spacey, jazzy electrics. Although not overtly political, there are messages in many of the tracks. The title cut - a slow funk classic - has been sampled by numerous hip hop artists, including Eric B. & Rakim and Stetsasonic. "Time Machine" - another slow groover - is still a favourite, while "Pretty Pimpin' Willie," "Ain't Nothin' But A Thing" and "My Mind Is Hazy" are all strong efforts.

Album info found at Discogs:

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

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Exit 9 - Straight Up (1975)

"Straight Up" was the only album released by Exit 9, a nine-piece funk band out of New York. The group was a young one, with all members aged between of 16 and 20 when "Straight Up" was recorded. Originally called "Qualified Funk", the group built a reputation as a solid soul/rock outfit. A few months before this album was recorded, the group signed on with new managers, John Jenkins and Modeste Clark, changed their name to Exit 9, and shifted to a more dance music approach, with funky rhythms, strong melodies, tight brass, and guitars adding a raw edge to many of the songs. "Miss Funky Fox," an upbeat dancefloor favourite, is probably the best known track, but the entire album is strong, with highlights including the title track and "Jive Man," both infectious, up tempo groovers, and the mellow "Thoughts Of You." Exit 9's sound has been compared to pre-disco Bohannon and early Kool And The Gang - heady company to say the least! No wonder "Straight Up" is so popular with crate diggers and groove junkies!

Album information on Discogs:

Straight Up

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Brass Construction - Brass Construction (1975)

Brass Construction, originally known as Dynamic Soul, came together in Brooklyn in 1968. They were signed by United Artists in 1975, with their self-titled debut released later that year. Although the funk ensemble recorded at an album-a-year pace over the next decade, "Brass Construction" almost certainly counts as their most successful collection. Brass Construction's dance-funk sound was centred on the horn section, though most songs also featured vocals. The standout track here is the first single, "Movin'," a catchy, energetic, up-tempo dance number that would be the group's only chart topper (reaching #1 on the US R&B chart in 1976). The follow-up, "Changin'," also did well, reaching #24, while "Love" and "Dance" were also strong efforts. The group would only crack the top 10 again once, with the single "Ha Cha Cha" from their second album reaching #8 on the R&B chart in 1977.

Discogs page for album info:

Brass Construction

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Tom Scott & The L.A. Express - Tom Cat (1975)

"Tom Cat" was the second album for the brief-lived Tom Scott & The L.A. Express. Larry Carlton and Joe Sample left after the recording of the group's debut and the sessions backing up Joni Mitchell on her "Court And Spark" album. Robben Ford took over from Carlton on Guitars, and Larry Nash replaced Sample as pianist. "Tom Cat" proved popular and sold well. Highlight tracks included "Rock Island Rocket," "Tom Cat," "Keep On Doin' It" and "Refried." Scott left the band to perform solo after this album, after which the remaining L.A. Express recorded two more albums before calling it quits.

Info. from Discogs:

Tom Cat

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Kool And The Gang - Spirit Of The Boogie (1975)

"Spirit Of The Boogie" is a masterpiece that blends an incredible funk sensibility and energy with reverence for the groups musical and ancestral heritage. In 1975, Kool And The Gang were the kings of funk, and this album was their crowning glory. Even James Brown was in awe, saying, "They're the second baddest out there. They make such bad records that you got to be careful when you play a new tape on the way home from the record store. Their groove is so strong you could wreck." The title track made it to #1 on the Black Singles chart, while "Carribean Festival" reached #6. Both songs also did well on the Pop Singles chart. Two album releases in 1976 ("Love & Understanding" and "Open Sesame") were commercially less successful, and marked the end of KATG's funk period, and the beginning or their transition to disco later in the decade.

Album info. from Discogs:

Spirit Of The Boogie

Patrice Rushen - Prelusion (1974) and Before The Dawn (1975)

Patrice Rushen was 20 when she recorded her debut album, "Prelusion." At this stage in her career she was very much an instrumental jazz artist, and it would have been hard to predict the R&B vocalist she would become a half decade later. On "Prelusion", she plays straight ahead soul-jazz, with occasional fusion references. Rushen plays a variety of keyboards, and is backed up by the likes of Joe Henderson on sax and Oscar Brashear on trumpet. "Before The Dawn," released a year later, featured flautist Hubert Laws and guitarist Lee Ritenour. Here Rushen gets into a fuller exploration of fusion, with references to R&B, rock and pop. The only track with vocals, "What's The Story," features singer Josie James in a song highly predictive of the style Rushen herself would adopt when she switched labels and made the musical move to R&B in '78. Both these albums are available on a "twofer" CD, so these covers are for the purist who wants original covers for each set.

Album info. on Discogs:

Prelusion

Before The Dawn

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Commodores - Movin' On (1975)

The Commodores met as freshmen at the Tuskegee Institute (now University) in 1968, and were signed to Motown in 1972 after opening several shows for the Jacksons. Although best known now for soft ballads like "Easy" and "Three Times A Lady," the group started out in much more of a hard funk/soul vein. It was only with "Zoom," their fifth album released in 1977, that Lionel Richie took a more prominent role in writing and performance and the group began the shift to a adult contemporary, pop style. "Movin' On," the group's third album, charted at #29 on the Billboard Album chart and #7 on the R&B chart. The single "Sweet Love," a soulful, gospel-influenced number, reached #5 on the pop and #2 on the R&B charts, becoming the group's first top ten hit. The more gutsy, funky "Mary, Mary," "(Can I) Get A Witness" and "Gimme My Mule" are also strong efforts.

Album info. here:

Movin' On

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody (1975)

As a group, Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes existed in several forms with an ever shifting membership from 1954 to 1996, when Harold Melvin died. Their greatest success occurred in the period 1972-1976, during which they recorded for Philadelphia International. This period also coincided with Teddy Pendergrass' membership, and ended when he left in a dispute over money and the desire to have his name included as part of the group name. This album contains a mix of both socially conscious and carefree party anthems, with the title track being a fine example of the former, and the smash, "Don't Leave Me This Way," perhaps the finest disco song of all time. The album is available on CD but not with the original cover, hence this post.

Album info. from Discogs:

Wake Up Everybody

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Joe Beck - Beck (1975)

In 1975, after 2 years working as a session musician on several CTI albums by the likes of Joe Farrell and Idris Muhammad, Creed Taylor invited Beck to record his first solo album, and at the same time offered him his artistic redemption. Prior to hooking up with CTI, Beck had been in semi-retirement for 3 years, working as a dairy farmer after losing confidence in himself recording with Miles Davis in 1967 on the "Circle In The Round" sessions (that album wasn't released until 1979). Artwork for the original "Beck" release of the album was done by Abdul Mati Klarwein, who also created the covers for Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" and "Live Evil" albums. The album was re-released in 1979 with a new title - "Beck & Sanborn" - and cover, with changes designed to capitalize on David Sanborn's growing fame.

Album Info:

Beck

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