Funk at the Crossroads

From Dayton to Atlanta, 1977 to 1983 — the years when funk bands had to decide what they were willing to let go.

This one is about the funk band as a unit. Eight, nine, ten musicians in a van, writing and producing their own records — Dayton, Portland, Vallejo, Memphis, Brooklyn, Atlanta. We start in 1977 with horns and live drums and follow the story east and west and south until 1983.

The transition didn't happen overnight. Shock showed me the moment of arrival — synthesizers sitting side by side with the brass, none of them asking permission. Skyy in 1980, then Skyy in 1981: same band, same producer, same label, different weight. That's how it happened inside most of these bands. Gradually, and with the same hands.

Cameo trimmed the roster and called it 21st Century Bebop. Then Fatback asked the question directly. The answer, as it turned out, was yes.

— Simone