Funk Rock: The Best of Pulp Fusion (Various Artists)

The other day I received a copy of DJ Pogo Presents the Best of Pulp Fusion from Harmless Recordings (Demon Music Group), which as described on the cover is a compilation of “1970’s Ghetto Jazz & Funk Classics.” Brand new to my collection, it quickly begged to be discussed in this space, jumping ahead of other tomes that have long been part of defining the Spectrum.

Pulp Fusion jumps out at me, because it is a rare type of album in my collection. In fact, it required a minor change in the Spectrum. Before that discussion, though, a word about this compilation. The series of Pulp Fusion discs brings together excellent tracks from the jazz, funk, and soul records—many are deep, dusty, hard-to-find tracks. This isn’t typical stuff found on radio, but it is the stuff that DJs are culling for beats.

The Best of… is the eighth disc in the series, and so DJ Pogo celebrates the series by bringing together some of the best tracks from the previous compilations plus three tracks first “pulped” (as they say) on this set. Those tracks are on Disc 2. What makes this an excellent introduction to this series, and really an introduction to a DJ’s appreciation of music, is the first disc on which DJ Pogo has worked his mixing magic on 14 tracks. Nine of those tracks are then among the unmixed on the second disc.

I had very little exposure to this music or the use of it by DJs, but this 2 CD set really has sold me on both the treasure trove of tracks from the 70’s and what a DJ with an ear for those treasured beats can do to put today’s shine and polish on the gold once lost in the 25¢ bins of your local used record store. Stand out tracks from Disc 2 (“Straight Up: Unmixed) are: Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers with “Chitterlings Con Carne” (Latin jazz), Mandrill with “Fat City Strut” (1973, funk with Latin breaks), and Pleasure with “Let’s Dance” (1976, funk with great horn breaks and an introduction call out, “Let’s make it fun-fun-fun-fun-fun-funky!” that seems to have inspired today’s Junior Senior’s hip-hop rhymes, such as on “Rhythm Bandits”).

Stand out tracks from Disc 1 (“Neverending Beginning: Mixed”) are DJ Pogo’s work with: “The Watts Breakway” by The Johnny Otis Show, “Fire Eater” by Rusty Bryant, and “Boogie Woogie” by Sound Experience.

Finally, as I said, Pulp Fusion caused a minor change in the Spectrum. After feeling like Funk Rock was the best category for this compilation, it then bothered me that Pulp Fusion would be so far from Soul, Rhythm & Blues, and Hip Hop. The Funk Rock category came to be toward the end of the Spectrum near American Dance Rock and Guitar Rock, because for years, Funk Rock was typified in my collection by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are hard rockers with a heavy dose of funk, so Funk Rock came to be like a bridge between the American Dance Rock and Guitar Rock sections.

Now with a thorough education in funk from Pulp Fusion, I realized it was time to make the Spectrum right. Therefore, as you can see on the Music Spectrum Index page, I have moved Funk Rock from just ahead of Guitar Rock to just after Soul. That section of the Spectrum is quite complex to sort out, and I’d be happy for comments on the order, but mainly I am trying to show the connection between Blues and Gospel, and how they have led to Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop/Rap, Soul, and Funk Rock. It all goes back to the Blues.

While at school at Northwestern University, I followed a campus band called Spank, which included two friends: Matt Barnard on trombone and Kevin O’Donnell on drums. Spank would crank out funk and soul classics most weekends, and in contrast to the typical DJs and bands on campus, Spank was a show where you could really “shake ‘em on down.” Now that Spank is just a poster kept on my wall as a memory, here’s Pulp Fusion to continue the shaking and grooving and the education—an education in funk.