Funk

The photo is of the EIS in Sheffield.

The soundtrack to my bike ride on Saturday was the Funk playlist on my ipod.

Funk music first came into my consciousness when I was at school – Superfly by Curtis Mayfield. It was a bit of a revelation. For the next few years I tried to listen to Funk by bands that appeared massive in America but did not even get albums released over here [BT Express, Ohio Players, Funkadellic etc]. This was not easy. Affording the albums was even harder. When I did manage to buy a double James Brown album – Payback – in Ulverston it seemed a bit impenetrable and daunting, as well as being an expensive import. But I loved the music then, and it still sounds great now on the damp roads of North Yorkshire. When I met Danielle a few more great tracks came my way.

The thing with Funk is that it is nearly all down to rhythm, cross rhythms and dynamics. Melody has little role. On the rare occasions that harmony does appear it can be spectacular. This can be harmony within one voice, like James Brown's guttural grunts, or just great harmonies like Curtis Mayfield on Superfly [he takes all song to hit it right, does so then stops the track right there] or on Talking Loud & Saying Nothing by James Brown.

So as the pedals splashed through the murk, that smile on my face came from the Fatback Band, Roadblock and all the rest.