A much needed Black Music thread.
- Thread starter Insidious Von
- Start date
Not Southern Soul but Northern Soul....a romantic ballad....the kind i was a sap for then and still am now ..lol
And of course a few years later they scored their biggest hit with "Ooh Child"
This group has an interesting history and legacy that I did not know until now. I'll explore more and report back.
Great song, Ogi...
Not to pick nits, but Northern Soul referred to the type of music played in Northern Soul clubs in the northern and mid-land regions of England. Not where the song was recorded, and almost never a ballad.
To be classified as Northern Soul it pretty much had to be sufficiently up-tempo for the type of dancing universally done by the patrons of those clubs.
In the early days, at least, mainstream popular songs from Motown, etc. were far less popular in the clubs than rarities that British DJ's would discover on trips to the U.S., scouring though obscure label warehouses and cut-out bins in U.S. regional used record shops.
The Northern Soul dance style does not seem to have evolved since the 1960's up to the resurgence of the clubs in England today.
As it happened, a lot of the labels that produced that music were located in the northern U.S., and more complexly orchestrated than the usual style of music that came out of southern labels such as Stax and Hi, etc.
I have to admit that when I was first exposed to this music I thought it meant music produced in the northern U.S. vs. the southern U.S. as well...
The issue is quite complex. Here is a Wiki article about Northern Soul that goes into a great amount of detail. A long read:
Northern soul - Wikipedia
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interesting take on things. thanks..the song itself is not a Southern soul style....the group was from Chicago, so i kinda lumped it in wth Northern soul...but your nuance about the subtle differences is much appreciated......as you know The Southern soul style is laden thick with horns, and a bass line and drums play a prominant role...Northern soul..not so much.....that,s my take
Ok so going back to The Five Stairsteps. One of the members of the group was a young teen by the name of Keni Burke. Keni Burke ended up being a session musician (bassist) for many artists including Diana Ross, Natalie Cole and Curtis Mayfield. He released his first solo LP in 1977 . This was one of the singles
"Shuffle"
Gives me Ohio Players vibes for sure.
His most successful LP was 1982's 'Changes'. It featured this beauty, one of my favorite 80's songs.
"Rising to the Top"
That classic bassline has been sampled in a few memorable songs, mostly in hip hop. Of course that's him playing it. He wrote and produced pretty much all of his material. This tune went to #63 on the R&B charts.
After the Five Stairsteps disbanded they ended up forming a new group called the Invisible Man's Band. In 1980 they released this disco floor filler
"All Night Thing"
"Shuffle"
Gives me Ohio Players vibes for sure.
His most successful LP was 1982's 'Changes'. It featured this beauty, one of my favorite 80's songs.
"Rising to the Top"
That classic bassline has been sampled in a few memorable songs, mostly in hip hop. Of course that's him playing it. He wrote and produced pretty much all of his material. This tune went to #63 on the R&B charts.
After the Five Stairsteps disbanded they ended up forming a new group called the Invisible Man's Band. In 1980 they released this disco floor filler
"All Night Thing"
2Pac died on Sept 13, 1996 at the age of 25.
Notorious B.I.G. died on March 9, 1997 at the age of 24.
Shot down in their prime. Both super talented. Tupac was a dual talent rapper and actor. My favorite 2Pac joint right here
"So Many Tears"
Welcome to Terb....and this topic.........we have a tight knit group of posters on this thread...with contributions from Black Rock..Blues, R&B Soul, Rap and Hip Hop......running the gamut of every taste....stick around and post some stuff
From the late 80's through the early to mid 90's there was a prominent jazz infusion in hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr/Guru, Digable Planets, Us3, The Roots, Common etc. Many jazz records have been used in samples over the course of hip hop's history. From Bob James to George Benson to Donald Byrd to Miles Davis. Massive influence.
if any of you are familiar with ZZ Topp,s La Grange.....this may of been their inspiration
