2/15/16 WHAT THE FUNK!: Sly & The Family Stone – Higher And Higher Live (1969)

I Want to Take You Higher, a song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, which also featured Stand! on the B side. Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, “I Want to Take You Higher” is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Continue reading

2/14/17 O&A NYC WHAT THE FUNK- VALENTINE’S DAY: Ebony Eyes- Rick James featuring Smokey Robinson

Ebony Eyes by super freak Rick James and Motown balladeer Smokey Robinson for the Gordy (Motown) label. The song was first featured on James’ album Cold Blooded. Continue reading

2/13/17 O&A NYC WHAT THE FUNK! PUMPING IT UP FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Parliament Funkadelic: P-Funk Wants to Get Funked Up- Mothership Connection (Houston 1976)

What The Funk! O&A NYC honors the sound that defined the defiant 70’s. “Make my funk the P.Funk, I wants to get funked up”.  Continue reading

5/14/16 O&A NYC WITH WaleStylez- SONG OF THE DAY THE 80’s: Junior- Mama Used To Say

By Adewale Adekanbi Jr.

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Junior, British singer/songwriter, sparked the British R&B/pop invasion of the ’80s with his classic Mama Used to Say. Though Sade Loose Ends, Soul II Soul, and Billy Ocean had more hits, it’s worth noting that Junior was a pioneer when he created and presented British-based R&B/pop music to audiences outside the U.K. some ten years earlier.

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2/19/15 O&A Throwback Thursday: TLC

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TLC was a girl group whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip hop, soul, funk and new jack swing. TLC originally comprised singer Tionne T-Boz Watkins, rapper Lisa Left Eye Lopes and singer Rozonda Chilli Thomas. The group was very successful in the 1990s and early 2000s in spite of numerous spats with the law, each other, and the group’s record label and management. Continue reading