Author: zachary.hoskins@gmail.com
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Jheri Curl June: The Gap Band’s “Disrespect”
Last Thursday, June 7, would have been Prince’s 60th birthday had he: a) not passed away in April 2016, and b) believed in concepts as prosaic as “birthdays” and “years.” Last week also happened to mark the underwhelming conclusion of the beef between rappers Pusha T and Drake, which just a few short weeks ago…
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Jheri Curl June: Fatback Band’s “Double Love Affair”
Long before SZA’s ode to sharing a man, Fatback Band had “Double Love Affair,” a playful, jaunty tune about two-timing from the point of view of a man who “has so much love inside” that he “has to spread it out.” It might be the most lighthearted, infectious song about blatant infidelity ever recorded. Musically,…
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Jheri Curl June: West Phillips’ “(I’m Just a) Sucker for a Pretty Face”
I’ve been sitting on this song for at least two Jheri Curl Junes now, but I always held it back because I didn’t know what to say about West Phillips. The only information and the sole photo I could find of him are both above, stolen from his Discogs artist page; and when I Google…
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Jheri Curl June: Imagination’s “Just an Illusion”
As we mentioned in our Jheri Curl June 2K18 podcast, one of our favorite activities here in the Dystopian Dance Party universe is digging in the crates for Jheri Curl Music; and the British JCM group Imagination is my favorite discovery since the Deele. I picked up their first album, 1981’s Body Talk, solely because of…
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Jheri Curl June: Aurra’s “Make Up Your Mind”
Dayton, Ohio’s Aurra began life as an offshoot of Jheri Curl June Class of 2015 and 2017 members Slave, led by multi-instrumentalist Steve Washington with guitarist and singer Curt Jones, singer Starleana Young, and arranger/multi-instrumentalist Charles Carter all in tow. By their third album, 1982’s A Little Love, Carter had departed (replaced by a whole mess of synthesizers)…
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Jheri Curl June: Mandrill’s “Get It While It’s Hot”
We begin our fifth year of Jheri Curl June with Mandrill: a group from Brooklyn, New York that had existed for over a decade before embracing the slick, seductive sound of Jheri Curl Music. Like Jheri Curl June veterans Kool & The Gang, Mandrill began as a large funk outfit with latin and jazz influences.…
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The Prince Issue Podcast with Guest Erika Peterson
As you may have heard, we recently launched a physical magazine, the first issue of which is dedicated to eclectic art and writing inspired by the music of Prince. So, to celebrate a successful launch–and to get us back in podcasting mode after an unplanned six-month leave of absence–we invited Erika Peterson, a friend and…