Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou / “ Houzou Houzou Wa” / The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk, Vol.De Frank’s Band / “ Do Your Own Thing” / Afrobeat Airways Vol.Matata / “ I Feel Funky” / Africafunk: Return to the Original Sound of 1970s Funky Africa/ Harmless.The Funkees / “ Dancing Time” / Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos / Strut Records.The African Brothers / “ Saktumbe” / Ghana Soundz: Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70’s Ghana / Soundway Records.

James Brown / “ Say it Loud – I’m Black & I’m Proud” / Number One’s / Universal.before writing his last and greatest song A Change is Gonna Come in 1964. It’s a labor of love for all involved, and we thank them for it. Soul music is a genre of African American popular music that led to many later. We should be grateful for record labels like Strut, Analog Africa, and Soundway for reissuing so much great 70’s African music, which otherwise would be lost in the dust of history. We wrap it up with Nigerian afrobeat band Saxon Lee and the Shadows International. After that, another Ghanaian group, Uppers International, then Burkina Faso’s Mamo Lagbema. We next hear De Franks Band from Ghana, followed by the powerful Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, a band named after the city of Cotonou, Benin. George Clinton started out singing doo-wop, but by the end of the 1960s he found his groove, thanks to a fusion of soul, psychedelia, and funk. Nigeria’s The Funkees are next with “It’s Dancing Time.” The funk groove continues with Kenya’s Matata, a 10-piece funk machine from Nairobi. Popular Music from the 1970s, Genres including Disco/Club, Progressive Rock, Punk Rock/New Wave, Funk & Soul and top songs and artists from each year. We move on to Ghana with the African Brothers‘ “Saktumbe” (could this be a variant of “sock it to me,” a popular saying back then?). In West Africa’s Guinea, it was called “authenticité.” African fashion reflected America’s too, with bell-bottoms wide enough to sweep floors, voluminous afros, and other expressions of sartorial pride. (If you get a chance, watch Soul Power, a documentary film about the festival). Brown headlined the Kinshasha Festival in 1974 during the Ali-Foreman fight.

We start the show with James Brown’s 1968 #1 hit, “Say it Loud-I’m Black and I’m Proud.” A look at Malick Sidibe’s classic photos of Bamako parties show celebrants in front of their record players holding 45 rpm singles and LP’s by James Brown, The Fania All Stars, and other big stars. Nigerian afrobeat superstar Fela Kuti visited Los Angeles in 1969, where Sandra Iszidore turned him onto the Black Panthers and Black pride as well. It was a decade of political turmoil around the world, but also one of incredible. Cameroonian Manu Dibango garnered the first American top 40 hit by an African artist in 1972 with “Soul Makossa,” to give just one example. For many soul music lovers, the Golden Age of Soul Music was in the 1970s. The music and politics weren’t lost on post-colonial African countries. And American soul and funk music celebrated it all. The era saw the rise of Malcolm X and MLK, afros and dashikis, blackploitation films, and newfound black pride. and also a time of transition and change. The 1960’s and 1970’s were a time of political and social turmoil in the U.S.

Best last soul funk 1970s