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Don Cornelius

by on 01. Feb, 2012 in Black Culture, Hear, Records, The Eighties, The Seventies, TV, Video

As host of US TV’s quintessential black / dance music show, Soul Train, Don Cornelius, who died today, aged 75, was an iconic black music figure. Everyone who was anyone in the Soul and Funk world appeared on the programme during its 70’s heyday. Film director Spike Lee would aptly describe it as an “urban music time capsule."

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Redesigned Revitalized

by on 27. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Manchester, Mixes, The Eighties, The Seventies

I’m absolutely delighted to be finally able to announce that the revitalized Electrofunkroots website is now live and kicking, having undergone a complete overhaul, with loads of new content added. Originally launched back in August 2003, Electrofunkroots is absolutely central to my work, providing the foundation from which my DJ career was rejuvenated, and the catalyst for all my subsequent documentation of UK dance culture, and popular culture in general (without Electrofunkroots it’s doubtful that I’d have set up this blog, 7 years later down the line).

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DJ Streets Ahead

by on 26. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Misc, The Eighties, The Nineties, Video

Sad to hear about the untimely passing of DJ Streets Ahead (Shem McCauley) one of the UK’s pioneering scratch & cut exponents, who’d re-invent himself in the mid-90’s as the successful dance music producer, Slacker. More recently he moved to Bangkok, Thailand, which is where he died (cause of death is still unconfirmed).

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Etta James

by on 21. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, Film, Records, The Nineties, The Sixties

Los Angeles born Blues / Rhythm & Blues / Soul singer, Etta James, regarded as one of the great American vocalists, died yesterday, aged 73. Neither of her 2 most celebrated recordings, ‘At Last’ (1960) and ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ (1968) were British hits, and, although I was a big Soul music fan at an early age, devouring the singles my older brother and sister had bought, there was nothing by Etta James, so this wasn’t a name I became aware of until later down the line.

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Ali At Three Score And Ten

by on 17. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, Documentaries, DVD, Film, Misc, The Eighties, The Seventies, The Sixties

Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest sportsman of the 20th Century, and certainly one of its foremost historical figures, is 70 years old today.

The much loved former heavyweight boxer was labeled a big mouth when he started out, and nicknamed the ‘Louisville Lip’. When he fought the fearsome champion, Sonny Liston, for the World heavyweight title in February 1964 the majority of people expected him to be well and truly shut up, but he upset all the odds and beat the man regarded as ‘invincible’ by many boxing critics. Ranting from the ring directly after the fight he came out with one of his best-remembered quotes:

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Jimmy Castor

by on 17. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Hear, Magazines, Records, The Eighties, The Seventies

Just heard the news that New York born 70’s Funk master Jimmy Castor died yesterday. Recording as The Jimmy Castor Bunch, I first came across them back in 1975 when I picked up a copy of their single ‘The Bertha Butt Boogie’, regarded by many at the time as the quintessential ‘bump’ record. It was a big club tune in the UK at the time (as was the follow-up ‘E Man Boogie’), although, as with most Funk tracks, it received no radio support, apart from the more underground specialist Soul shows peppered up and down the country, and completely missed the chart as a result:

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Confused, Misused And In The Dark

by on 13. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DVD, The Eighties, The Fifties, The Seventies, The Sixties, Video

The issue of racism is well and truly back in the news following recent events - the Stephen Lawrence trial, the murder of Anuj Bidve, an Indian student in Salford, the ‘My Tram Experience’ YouTube clip, the Suffolk ‘gollywog in the window’ case, the Diane Abbott ‘divide and rule’ tweet, and, of course, a whole series of football related incidents, which have blown-up to a level that few could have envisaged when I made my ‘Racism In English Football’ post just a few months ago, at the end of October

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Eve Arnold

by on 10. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, Fashion, Photography, The Fifties, The Sixties

The acclaimed American photographer, Eve Arnold, died last week at the grand old age of 99. Best known for her photographs of Marilyn Monroe (taken over a 10 year period), especially those on the set of her final film, ‘The Misfits’ (1961), she had unrivalled access to the movie icon with her shots, often candid, capturing the human side of the Hollywood legend.

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Year Of Decision

by on 06. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Misc, Records, The Seventies

On New Year’s Eve, for the first time since I started up again, I was deejaying as one year passed into the next. Although I’ve had bookings every New Year’s Eve since 2004, I’ve always played after midnight, but this year I made 2 separate appearances in London, the first at the Slide & Get Diverted party in the Brixton Clubhouse between 11pm and 1am (my later date, from 3am and 5am would be over in Greenwich at the Defected event at Proud2 in the O2 Arena).

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Living To Music – Michael Jackson ‘Off The Wall’

by on 29. Nov, 2011 in Black Culture, CD’s / Digital, General, Hear, Living To Music, Records, The Seventies

This Sunday (Dec 4th), at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate. Full lowdown here:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2010/06/living-to-music/

Even though it's almost two and a half years since his death in June 2009, Michael Jackson remains ever-newsworthy. Only recently, the trial of the physician who administered the drugs that killed him, Dr Conrad Murray, came to a conclusion with Murray convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

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