The most commercially successful pop group of the 1970s, the origins of the Swedish superstars ABBA dated back to 1966, when keyboardist and vocalist Benny Andersson first teamed with guitarist and vocalist Bjorn Ulvaeus. The two performers began composing songs together and handling session and production work for Polar Music/Union Songs. At the same time, both Andersson and Ulvaeus worked on projects with their respective girlfriends: Ulvaeus had become involved with vocalist Agnetha Faltskog, while Andersson began seeing Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
In 1974, as ‘ABBA’ (an acronym of the members’ first names), the quartet submitted the single “Waterloo,” and became the first Swedish act to win the Eurovision competition. In 1975, ABBA issued “S.O.S.,” a smash not only in America and Britain but also in non-English speaking countries. A string of hits followed, including “Mamma Mia,” “Fernando,” and “Dancing Queen” (ABBA’s sole U.S. chart-topper). ABBA’s popularity continued in 1977, when both “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “The Name of the Game” dominated airwaves. That year Andersson and Lyngstad married, as had Ulvaeus and Faltskog in 1971, although the latter couple separated a few months later; in fact, romantic suffering was the subject of many songs on the quartet’s next LP, 1979’s Voulez-Vous. Shortly after the release of 1980s Super Trouper, Andersson and Lyngstad divorced as well, further straining the group dynamic; The Visitors, issued the following year, was the final LP of new ABBA material, and the foursome officially disbanded after the December 1982 release of their single “Under Attack.”
George Duke started playing the piano at 7, inspired by Duke Ellington. He worked with Al Jarreau in the 60s. In 1969, Duke accompanied Jean-Luc Ponty, recording with the violinist. After eight months with Don Ellis’ Orchestra, he joined Frank Zappa for much of 1970. Duke spent 1971-1972 with Cannonball Adderley and then returned to Zappa for 1973-1975. In 1975, he worked with Sonny Rollins, co-led a group with Billy Cobham, and then formed a funk band (the Clarke-Duke Project) with Stanley Clarke. By the late ’70s, he was completely outside of jazz, playing R&B and producing projects for pop artists like Anita Baker and Rachelle Ferrell.
This is George with Stanley Clarke in “Brazilian Love Affair’:
Group founder and leader Frankie Beverly was born and raised in the musical city of Philadelphia, and began singing as a child in church. In the early 70s he moved with his new group to San Francisco, where he met Marvin Gaye, who took a liking to the group and helped them land a contract with Capitol Records under the new name Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly.
The group’s Capitol debut was a Soul smash, yielding the hit “While I’m Alone” and hitting the Soul top 10. Over the next decade, Maze released a series of well crafted, well received albums that uniformly hit top 10 Soul and pulled onto the Top 100 pop charts based on sales among black audiences. The group also released a number of memorable singles, including “Joy and Pain,” “Southern Girl,” “Love Is The Key,” “Back In Stride” (a #1 Soul hit) and “Can’t Get Over You” (another #1).
Maze followed in 1993 with Back to Basics, another hit album that confounded critics who felt that the group’s best days were behind it. Inexplicably, it became the band’s final release, despite hitting the Soul top 5 and the Pop top 40. Since then, Maze, now consisting of Beverly, keyboardist Carl Wheeler, bass guitarist Robin Duhe, and percussionists McKinley “Bug” Williams and Roame, has been silent on record, save a 1996 Anthology.
Giorgio Moroder (born Giovanni Giorgio Moroder on April 26, 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is an Academy Award winning Italian record producer, songwriter and performer, whose groundbreaking work with synthesizers during the 1970s was a significant influence on new wave, techno and electronic music in general. He produced some Donna Summer’s disco hits, including “I Feel Love” and also worked with The Three Degrees, Sparks, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Debbie Harry and France Joli, Phil Oakey (The Human League), Harold Faltermeyer.
He created a lot of soundtracks for popular movies like Midnight Express, Top Gun, (remember the Berlin classic, “Take My Breath Away”), American Gigolo, Flashdance, The NeverEnding Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams and Scarface.
“The Chase” (OST of Midnight Express)
Full Intention - It’s set to groove
“What a Night”
Full Intention - The Green EP (Just a groove) - via discomusic.com
“Tears” (as Children of the Mission)
DJ Shadow - Organ Donor
“E=MC2″
J Dilla - E=MC2 (Ft. Common)
Scarface (Push it to the Limit) - (OST of Scarface)
James Brown (1933-2006) is probably the most sampled artist in music today, so an exhaustive list of used samples is out of the question. Here’s an (incomplete) list of songs that use bits and pieces of the music of the “Godfather of Soul”.
“Night Train”
- Carlito - “Fame Game”
- Kool Moe Dee - “How Ya Like Me Now?”
- Public Enemy - “Night Train”
- W.I.S.E Guyz - “Do the Eygyptian”
- West Coast Rap All Stars - “We’re All in the Same Gang”
Out of Sight: (King 1964)
“Out of Sight”
- Them - “Out of Sight”
Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag: (King 1965)
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”
- JAMS - “Candyman”
- Kool Moe Dee - “How Ya Like Me Now?”
- Kool Moe Dee - “I’m a Player”
- No Face - “Stole My Shit”
- Pharcyde - “I’m That Type of Nigga”
- Salt-N-Pepa - “Swift”
I Got You (I Feel Good): (King 1966)
“I Got You (I Feel Good)”
- GangStarr - “Gotch U”
- LeJuan Love - “I Got You (I Feel Good)”
- Public Enemy - “Contract on the World Love Jam”
It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World: (King 1966)
“It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” (Intro)
- Alicia Keys - “Fallin’”
- Big Daddy Kane - “Mortal Combat”
- Black Moon - “Black Smif-N-Wessun”
- Heavy D - “You Ain’t Heard Nuttin’ Yet”
- Ice Cube - “This is a Man’s World”
- Ice Cube - “Jackin’ for Beats”
- Luke - “Arrest in Effect”
- Nature - “Man’s World”
- Tupac ft Dramacydal, C-Bo & Storm - “Tradin War Stories”
The “Amen Break” is four bars of the drum break lifted from the song “Amen Brother” as performed by the 1960s funk/soul outfit The Winstons. The song is an uptempo, instrumental rendition of the gospel music classic “Amen”. It is unknown, but doubtful, whether the drummer, G.C. Coleman, has received any royalties for the sampling of his drum part.
(from wikipedia.org)
London-born singer Labi Siffre has spent his career breaking down boundaries. The openly gay singer has built a small cult following with works that deal squarely with homophobia and racism. In addition to his nine albums, the multi-talented Siffre has written three books of poetry and has also written for the stage.
Musically, Siffre is known for his soulful, high-pitched voice and thought-provoking lyrics. His single “I Got The” from his 1975 album Remember My Song received a modicum of fame decades after its release when its funky piano hook was sampled in Eminem’s 1999 debut smash single “My Name Is.” In 1988, Siffre had a hit with his anti-apartheid anthem “(Something Inside) So Strong,” a song that embodies his vocal talents and his social conscience. )
Stephen Winwood was born May 12, 1948, in England. In 1963 Steve (then 15) and his brother Muff joined guitarist Spencer Davis to form the Spencer Davis Group. Although he was only 15, Steve’s vocals were astoundingly soulful and mature, and his skills at the piano were also advanced beyond his years. The Spencer Davis Group released a handful of classic R&B-styled singles, including “Keep on Running,” “I’m a Man,” and the monumental “Gimme Some Lovin’”. Steve left in 1967 to form Traffic with guitarist Dave Mason, horn player Chris Wood, and drummer Jim Capaldi, all of whom had played on “Gimme Some Lovin’.” Winwood broke up that band at the beginning of 1969, due to internal conflicts.
Winwood subsequently hooked up with old friend Eric Clapton, who’d recently parted ways with Cream. The debut of Blind Faith (1969) was a hit, but the extreme pressure on the group led to their breakup even before the end of the year. Winwood began work on what was slated to be his first solo LP, but he gradually brought in more ex-Traffic members to help him out, to the point where the album simply became a band reunion. They released several albums until they broke op in 1974.
Steve returned in late 1980 with the little-heralded ‘Arc of a Diver’, a much stronger effort on which he played every instrument himself. It was a platinum-selling hit in the U.S., helped by the hit single “While You See a Chance”. The extremely similar 1982 follow-up ‘Talking Back to the Night’ sounded rushed to some reviewers, and it wasn’t nearly as big a hit. Taking more time to craft his next album, Winwood didn’t return until 1986, with ‘Back in the High Life’. It was a smash hit. Winwood’s hot streak continued with his first album for Virgin, 1988’s Roll With It.
The members of the Commodores came together as a result of two groups disbanding: the Mystics and the Jays. Initially formed to simply play music as a pastime and to meet girls, the lineup consisted of William King (trumpet), Thomas McClary (guitar), Ronald LaPread (bass), Walter “Clyde” Orange (drums), Lionel Richie (saxophone), and Milan Williams (keyboards). The Commodores association with Motown was a result of the group touring with the Jackson 5. Their first release on Motown was the up-tempo instrumental dance cut “Machine Gun.” That number was followed by the Top 20 single “I Feel Sanctified,” which lead to their third single and first number one record in “Slippery When Wet.”
In September of 1976, they released “Just to Be Close to You,” their second number one single. The Top Ten hit “Fancy Dancer” followed, and then came “Easy.” Different from their other tunes, “Easy” was very serene and not nearly as soulful or funky as the band’s other tunes. Nonetheless, it claimed the number one spot on the charts, and it paved the way for the style of ballads the group would later be known for. However, soul and funk was still very much present in spite of the benevolent rhythms of “Easy.” This was demonstrated with the release of what would become the group’s anthem, “Brickhouse.” Two consecutive number one singles would follow: the dance cut “Too Hot ta Trot” and the placid number “Three Times a Lady.” And then there was “Still.” The last number one for the group with Richie as a member.
In 1981, Richie recorded “Endless Love” with Diana Ross. The success of the single was a prelude to the success Richie would relish upon his exit from the group, which occurred in 1982. In the absence of Richie, the group courted the talents of tenor J.D. Nicholas (formerly of Heatwave) and would go on to release its biggest hit: “Nightshift” (1985). Penned by Clyde Orange, the song pays to tribute to the late soul singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson.
The most commercially successful pop group of the 1970s, the origins of the Swedish superstars ABBA dated back to 1966, when keyboardist and vocalist Benny Andersson first teamed with guitarist and vocalist Bjorn Ulvaeus. The two performers began composing songs together and handling session and production work for Polar Music/Union Songs. At the same time, both Andersson and Ulvaeus worked on projects with their respective girlfriends: Ulvaeus had become involved with vocalist Agnetha Faltskog, while Andersson began seeing Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
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