Funky Street

Rip It Up, Issue 85, 1 August 1984, Page 8

Funky Street

Roger Troutman The Saga Continues (Warners) If you liked Zapp 1,2 & 3: then you are gonna just love The Saga Continues. It's a stop gap before Roger and the band gather up the [vocoders for the groove attack of Zapp IV. (Coming soon the cover tells us.) Roger Troutman does some evil funk with 'ln The Mix’ a classic drum and guitar track with [everything surging in and out of the mix; with great subtle scratching really hitting the groove. More neat sounds on a funked up 'Midnight Hour' with a perverse gospel back up from the Mighty Clouds of Joy and a soul funk duet with Wanda Rush T on 'Girl, Cut it Out'. A strong and funky vinyl from Zapp's mainman. Check it out. KB Cameo She's Strange (Casablanca) This is the first release for the band in New. Zealand, although they have been top sellers on the US Black charts for years now. They began as a Clinton; influenced eleven piece P-Funk unit turning out hard funk for the urban dancefloor. This album

comes as a bit of a disappointment after all their previous material, with now only four members and a distinctively bland jazz-funk feel. Only 'Talking Out The Side Of Your Neck’ retains the P-Funk influence. However, .the title track has slowly slinked it’s way into my head and feet, a beat that deserves to be heard on every dancefloor in New Zealand. If you ever wondered why reggae never really took off in Black America, listen to Cameo’s 'Tribute To Bob Marley’, a well meant but-ultimately weak attempt at llah sounds. Various Artists Break Dance (K-Tel) K-Tel follow up their great Street compilation with this ‘‘Learn to Break" collection.'Side Two features an instructional rap on shock waves, moon walk and ! head spins, there] is also a big poster illustrating all the moves 1 and a glossary of hip hop terminology. There is nothing inherently wrong : in this, but you can learn more from your friends and the community in general. Records like this tend to make hip hop too individualistic when it should be a community/mass activity. Side Two is more musically interesting, with five good beatbox tracks, leading off with the vocoder driven ‘We are the Jonzun Crew’ and Twilight 22's quirky 'Electric Kingdom’. The two boss tracks.are Planet Patrol’s vocalising on 'Cheap Thrills’ (a welcome | relief I from I too much

vocoder) and a great cultural cross-over with Pressure Drop’s 'Rock The House’, a spirited rap from. Kingston rather than the Brdrix?Bg^pMßljMH|WKß Breakdance Soundtrack (Pslydor)M— A ten cut soundtrack from the latest dance movie. Unfortunately, unlike Beat Street, this doesn’t have 1 that fresh Bronx beat, defined by any Arthur Baker dancefloor production. Most of, the] hip hop tracks sound [a] bit forced with the perfect beat a little lost in the mix. A good example is Reckless’ a mass of scratching and.drum machines, sounds as if they are trying too hard to be "hip" and missing out on the "hop." The album is also dragged down by the inclusion of 'Cut It’ a rocky track by Reflex. However, there are some real soul gems, namely the wonderful ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Rufus and Chaka Khan and '99V2 (Won’t Do)’ by Carol Lynn Townes (except for a terrible guitar solo something the whole album is contaminated with). Also contains the club hit 'Body Work' by Hot Streak. KB Kerry Buchanan