Lamentation Of An Old-School Music Aficionado

P-Funk Mantra: “Good evening. Do not attempt to adjust your radio. There is nothing wrong. We have taken control as to bring you this special show. We will return it to you as soon as you are grooved….”

-George Clinton-

I recently received a free two week subscription to Rhapsody – a pay for play music service and media platform sponsored by the makers of RealPlayer and being an aficionado of the old school Fusion, Funk and the R&B musical genres, I quickly hooked up with some of the old sounds that I enjoyed back in the days of the permanent relaxer and bone curler cured curly afro, bellbottoms, blue light in the basement parties, nic-nic shirts, and crepe-sole platform shoes. Ed. Note: For those who overstand the above references, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, you better ask somebody; preferably over the age of 45.

Within a few clicks I was quickly immersed in a cornucopia of nostalgic R&B musical ambrosia. Within a few more clicks I became delightfully embrangled in the effervescent syncopated back-beats of P-Funk and Bootsy Collins. Upon being thoroughly “funked” up, I moved on to the party prioritized and synthesized musical sounds of the eighties. Then a funny thing happened when I hit the nineties. Nothing! Not in the sense that there were nothing offered. It was nothing based upon the fact that what is being pushed by mainstream record companies as African American music today is nothing more than samples, remixes of old school jams, complete with the constant lyrical references to uninhibited casual sex, pimping, murder, and the problems (real and imagined) associated with living in the “hood.”

Before I’m labeled a hater, let me preference the above by stating that I enjoy and listen to hip-hop and rap. Having been born and raised in the East Bay Area in Northern California, I tend to lean mostly towards the West-Coast style of rap and hip-hop. However I enjoy a variety of musical genres. As such, I tend to tire easily listening to the constant and repetitious top-forty. It appears that mainstream record companies do not believe that African Americans are sophisticated enough to appreciate or buy anything else other than what they pass off as rap or hip-hop. Is this a conspiracy? Maybe. However we’ll deal with that issue in another blog.

So what happened to the old R&B and Funk groups of the 70’s and 80’s? Actually nothing. Many of the old school groups still record and tour with various degrees of success. Old and new CD’s produced by these groups can be heard and purchased via the internet through various music oriented websites and much of what is offered today by them is excellent. Also internet radio provides a venue for these groups to be heard by fans and newcomers alike. 70’s R&B Groups like New Birth and Blue Magic have created interactive websites where fans can chat with or email the group members as well as listen to and purchase new music. MSN and Yahoo also have group-fan clubs where fans can interact with old school artists and groups of their choosing.

Hopefully one day (or hopefully not), mainstream record companies will wake up to the fact that the African American consumer is not a monolithic collective of hip-hop and rap heads that is only interested in buying music with references to laffy-taffy, skeet-skeet-skeet, and fatty girls. If not, I’m sure that an entrepreneur with large pockets, a flair for internet marketing, and a savvy business acumen will afford us the opportunity to get our old school groove on in more ways than one. Until such time always remember that “funk not only moves, it can remove.”