Category: General

When I heard the latest news about the unfolding Harvey Weinstein scandal the lyrics to this song came to mind. So I thought it would be an appropriate time to feature this funky record from 1972.

Gloria Laverne Collins was born in Texas in 1948. She began her singing career in her teens with the Charles Pike Singer and recorded her first single, “Unlucky in Love,” at the age of 14. Her break came when, after seeing James Brown perform, she decided to send her demo tape to him. Brown heard something he liked and asked Collins to join the James Brown Revue.

It wasn’t quite that easy though, and Collins had to spend a couple of years on the bench before being called into the Revue. While she waiting, Brown took her into the studio and she recorded five songs. Two of them, “Wheels of Life” and “Just Won’t Do Right,” were released as a single on Brown’s People Records label. Shortly thereafter she was handed the lead singing spot in the Revue where Brown dubbed her the “Female Preacher” in deference to her gospel-based singing style.

Despite the fact that Brown was not particularly well known as an enlightened male, he wrote and produced “Think” for Collins, and his J.B.’s provided the backing track. With its spare drumbeat and sometimes random background vocal interjections, it’s easy to imagine that the entire track was recorded live in the studio with little or no overdubbing. However it was recorded, it worked out well, with the record reaching to the Top 10 in 1972.

“Think (About It)” became the title track for Collins’ first album, released by Polydor, which included four other Brown-written songs. But first and foremost, Collins was a salaried member of the James Brown Revue and as such saw very little of the profits from her hit record. She contributed songs to blaxploitation films like Black Caesar, and Slaughter’s Big Rip Off, and there was a much-loved duet with Brown called “What My Baby Needs Now is a Little More Loving.”

Collins recorded one more album for Polydor before leaving the Revue in 1976. She moved to L.A. and got a clerical job at the Record Plant recording studio. She didn’t stop singing though, providing background vocals for artists like Dionne Warwick, Al Green, and Rod Stewart.

Funk had a comeback in the mid-’80s and Collins decided to try to be a part of it. She released a new dance single called “Shout,” and her two Polydor albums were reissued, bringing her to the attention of a new generation of listeners. Even more attention was paid when Rob Base & DJ Ezy-Rock sampled her “Think” vocal for their 1989 smash “It Takes Two.”

Fame arrived again for Collins in 1998 when Polydor released an album called James Brown’s Funky Divas which included 11 Collins songs. In 2005 she toured Europe where she was treated like a star by audiences. Sadly, Collins suffered a seizure brought on by choking on a piece of food. She died on March 13, 2005, at the age of 56.

Yes, “Think (About It)” was a hit in 1972 but the record became even more popular in later years for the samples it spawned. In fact, it became one of the most heavily sampled of all of Brown’s records, and that’s saying something. In addition to Rob Base & DJ Ezy-Rock, those who used one of the record’s five breaks on their own records included Roxanne Shante, De La Soul, Kid Rock, Janet Jackson, Snoop Dogg, TLC, and Fergie. The feminist anthem disguised as a funk record lives on in all of these recordings.

Goddamn, this is just so good.  Period.  Never mind who the members of this band are – well, okay, you should know; you need to know.  Actor/raconteur Bill Mumy (yes, he of “Lost In Space”, Barnes & Barnes and “you’re a bad man and I’m going to wish you into the cornfield” fame); Vicki Peterson (of The Bangles) and John Cowsill (yes, he of the beloved family band and Ms. Peterson’s husband) and the late Rick Rosas, who was a highly-sought firepower bass player (working with the likes of Neil Young, Joe Walsh and other greats) make up this fine combo known as Action Skulls, born of a moment playing together at a party.  And that one instance begat this dynamite, eleven song collection, Angels Hear.  Mr. Rosas sadly passed away in late 2014 and the songs already in the can lingered until recently when the album was finished with new material and here it is.  And what an album.  Seriously.

The quasi-psychedelic power-pop of “Mainstream” could easily have been in league with the Paisley Underground, but has an uptempo abandon that pushes it a little harder and is an instantly impressive way to open the album; And from this track onward, you get majestic harmonies throughout, so if you’re into heavenly vocals, there’s plenty for you to smile about.  The “Hand Jive” beat that carries “In The Future” kicks in a joyful, tap-your-foot way – how can it not, with its positive vibe?  “The Luckiest Man Alive” is crisp, riff-filled with some wonderfully obtuse arrangements on the bridges that work in the overall straightforward pop structure; “Feed My Hungry Heart” is a (restrained) rockabilly masterpiece with everyone taking turns on lead vocals and is definitely one of the album’s highlights and “Standing On The Mountain” is tight, taut and bounces along with lots of 7th chords, which I love.

It’s all the best elements of rock & roll, power pop, California radio gold and everything in one package.  You have to have the right chemistry and clearly, the members of Action Skulls have that – along with the mastery of songwriting.  So do yourself a favor – go out and seek this record.  It’s easily one of this year’s best and that’s no stretch of the truth.  You’ll know what I’m talking about the moment you put it on your stereo.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Angels Hear is currently available

http://billmumy.com/ActionSkulls.html

The sounds coming out of the new release from Phoenix-based The Oxford Coma aren’t exactly those you would hope to buoy you up if you’re having a bad day.  If anything, it may send you into a darker headspace.  This fourteen-track aural assault was recorded and mixed by the master of abrasion, Steve Albini and it reminds me in places of bands like Kyuss, Tool and Mudvayne (although I rather liked Kyuss and, of course, Queens Of The Stone Age).  It’s an album sculpted around frustration, anger, addiction and grief – not exactly sunny pop but if it does do one thing, it makes you think.

I will say the sound of this album is phenomenal – listen to those guitars:  heavy but crisp and clean; the rhythm section is explosive.  But the tunelessness is what makes this difficult to digest and enjoy.  And the vocals leave me empty and cold.  And I give full marks for some of the song titles:  “Trauma (Maybe I’m Forgetting Something)”, “Inflatable Patriots (Touching People In Their Sleep)” and “Everything Is Out Of Tune (My Only Victories Are Others’ Failures)” – very clever wordplay.  But on a track, say, like “Trauma”, it’s all over the place – is it a straight rock track or is it nu-metal or grunge or it is hallucinatory-rock? With too many movements, it winds up sprawling.  And the screaming distracts to a degree of being unable to really focus on what I’m trying to listen to.

The one track that stood out as dynamic and worth more than one listen is the powerful and highly melodic “Reciprocal Damage” – if the entire album was in this style/vein, it would have been outstanding.  And also, very high marks for the skillful execution on “Smack And Temporary Enlightenment”. But because of my discomfort with the majority of songs, I’m afraid this CD wasn’t my cup of tea.  Great name; great sound and a shining moment or two but I’ll pass for now.

Everything Out Of Tune is currently available

www.theoxfordcoma.com

Their debut album featured primary singer/songwriter Andy Partridge leering at the Statue of Liberty amid musical settings designed to simultaneously build upon and satirize pop and punk. Their second album was a favorite of record-store browsers like me for its cover, a Monty Python-esque essay in plain typography informing us all that this is a RECORD COVER whose DESIGN is to help SELL the record.

Keyboardist Barry Andrews, whose off-the-wall organ flourishes had added to the hilarity of the first two albums, departed at that point. Enter Dave Gregory, sometimes a keyboardist but more frequently a guitarist from the George Harrison melodic school. And bassist Colin Moulding hit his songwriting groove with Making Plans for Nigel, a skewering of British parents forcing their kids through a regimented childhood and pre-ordained adulthood.

By the early 80s, they were ready for MTV with Senses Working Overtime, which alternated sparsely arranged verses with a sprightly chorus (all together now: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Senses working …”).

Then came the meltdown. Explanations have varied over the years, but all we really need to know is that Partridge was no longer able to play on stage. At the height of their careers, XTC quit performing live.

Fortunately, these were the days in which a band could still earn a living making these things called “albums.” While XTC regrouped without a drummer (Terry Chambers had an Australian girlfriend, and without live gigs, there really wasn’t much point in staying), they also formed a psychedelic side project called The Dukes of Stratosphear and settled into a nice groove releasing albums for a loyal cult following buoyed by a few “hit” songs on alternative radio.

Then they recorded a series of masterpieces.

Skylarking benefited from the discipline imposed by producer Todd Rundgren. It’s in some ways the rural answer (not that XTC’s base of Swindon is a tiny town, but the band was influenced by the fields around it as surely as R.E.M.’s early work reflects agricultural northeast Georgia) to Dark Side of the Moon — a set of musings on life and death with transitions between songs and moods.

And still, the decision-making was odd. Initial pressings of the album omitted the agnostic’s lament Dear God, a classic mix of Partridge wit and anger perfectly arranged with atypical rhyme schemes and brooding acoustic guitar — the bass notes under an A minor chord go A / F / G / F#, creating an ominous, uneasy atmosphere. It’s an alt-rock standard that barely saw the light of day.

Oranges and Lemons was XTC’s The White Album, a mixture of pop and more diverse styles pushed along by Moulding’s agile bass lines and guest drummer Pat Mastelotto on his way to King Crimson glory. My personal favorite is the chaotic Across this Antheap, a witty and poignant depiction of a society too distracted by “work” to address those in need. “The fur is genuine but the orgasm’s fake,” chortles Partridge before he takes liberties with the rhyme scheme: “We’re spending millions to learn to speak porpoise / while human loneliness is still a deafening noise.”

This album also found Partridge reveling in parenthood. The opener, Garden of Earthly Delights, is a remarkably optimistic tour of the world for his children, including such helpful advice as “Just don’t hurt nobody — ‘less of course, they ask you.” Next up is parent Partridge pledging to make up for his lack of education with a big heart in Mayor of Simpleton, which actually topped the U.S. Modern Rock chart and got airplay on our local “Skynyrd and Zeppelin 4EVER” station in North Carolina.

So if you had to pick a band that would gaze upon a rotting jack o’lantern and immediately think of heads on spikes at Traitor’s Gate, then turn the whole thing into a tale of a Jesus/JFK figure inspiring people but being murdered by the cynical powers that be, then use that as the lead single for an album called Nonsuch, you’d have to say XTC. Read the story at Chalkhills.com, which goes into vivid detail on scores of XTC songs and will destroy your productivity for the day.

On its surface, Pumpkinhead is rather cynical. A compassionate and charitable man (“showed the Vatican what gold’s for”) develops a following (“emptied churches and shopping malls”), and those who prefer the status quo of the oligarchy (“But he made too many enemies / Of the people who would keep us on our knees”) respond by questioning his sexuality (“Peter merely said / Any kind of love is all right”) and then crucifying him (“had him nailed to a chunk of wood”).

But like a lot of Partridge songs, this is deceptively hopeful. It has a sprightly setting, as American Songwriter notes:

While Bob Dylan may have been an inspiration to Partridge when writing, he and his band played the song more as an energetic romp than a balladic dirge, with a recording featuring booming drums, jangly guitar, and frisky harmonica.

The general populace in this song is receptive to Peter’s “peace, love and understanding” message. Yes, the rulers have him killed, but then there will always be more Peter Pumpkinheads — in all of us. “Hanging there he looked a lot like you, and an awful lot like me.”

We may not need one massive Peter Pumpkinhead. We need a little Peter Pumpkinhead in all of us.

So, this Halloween, why not leave your jack o’lantern out a bit longer than usual? Maybe we’ll be inspired. (Or maybe the neighborhood deer will have a nice snack.)

Ashok Kailath, aka ash.ØK, spent a chunk of his career behind the board before switching sides. His new effort, The Unraveled, gives folks familiar with his producing a glimpse into the inside of his mind. His sound is proof that when a producer creates, it’s a vibrant, unadulterated look at his or her personal aesthetic, unencumbered by other artists’ input. For Kailath, that means mixing world with dance, experimental with modern pop — he throws a little bit of everything into the pot to see what works. In short, it all does.

For the video for the album’s eponymous title track, Kailath collaborates with filmmaker Patrick Mason to complement the track, led by past-The Voice contestant Rebecca Loebe. As a midwesterner, the depiction of West Virginia and the Appalachian lifestyle is heart-rending and accurate; the quiet desperation of the characters matches the song’s yearning, steady (almost uncomfortable) calmness. It’s tense, but it’s life. And it’s a masterful work from a masterful producer.

Check out the video for ash.ØK’s “The Unraveled” below!