Prepping for the eagerly awaited Doggystyle live on August 28th, I am sorting through the samples and didn’t know this one (the Funkadelics we all knew). It is from the black LA suburbs Englewood via Rose Royce who we all know from the “Car Wash” soundtrack but who learnt more than one trick backing up Edwin Starr in the early 70s.
This 1978 hit is just terrific disco pop, it floats above the rhythm section and it uses the guitars and horns as punctuation, telling Rose Norwalt exactly where to fal on the downbeat.
The other name here is Norman Whitfield and it is a great name and explains a lot of Rose Royce’s success, I will just give you the name of one of Whitfield’s workds: “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”. There are many, many more.
Any way, this is where disco meets Motown and it is a great song and a smart sample. Not a lot of dubs either.