Dystopian Dance Party

Tag: slave

  • Jheri Curl June: Steve Arrington’s “What Do You Want from Me”

    Jheri Curl June: Steve Arrington’s “What Do You Want from Me”

    We have long extolled the virtues of both Steve Arrington‘s actual Jheri curl and his Ohio-grown bouncy funk in relation to the three–time JCJ-inducted band Slave. However, not only could I easily put Arrington on the playlist every single year, but this year, I specifically wanted to give attention to his second group, Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame, with this 1984 jam, “What Do You Want from Me.”

    Released the same year Arrington converted to Christianity (he would later become a licensed minister), this is a love song, but on closer listen also sounds like it could be a gospel song about serving Christ. At least the first verse does; then it devolves into moaning and talking about making love. But for my money, this song has a lot of the same love/sex/god themes that Prince was working with throughout his career, though with a lot less angst. It radiates so much warmth that it could only be on an album called Positive Power. I mean, just look at that beautiful backlit curl! It’s enough to make anyone a believer!

    And with that, Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame has officially entered the JCJ (and just plain J.C.) hall of fame. As always, playlists are below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Slave’s “OOOHH”

    We’ve already covered Slave not once, but twice in the seven years that we’ve been celebrating Jheri Curl June here at Dystopian Dance Party: First in 2015, with 1980’s “Watching You”; and then in 2017, with 1983’s “Turn You Out (In & Out).” But, Slave is my absolute favorite and they have bangers for days, so I’ll talk about them every year if I feel like it.

    Despite being a huge Slave fan, I had never bothered to listen to 1984’s New Plateau until a few years ago when I was watching old clips of The Scene and came across an episode in which there was a dance line to “OOOHH.” Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me find the clip again (and I highly suspect it either got removed from YouTube or had the music stripped from it due to copyright issues), but it got so hype during the part that goes “I’d love to see you party with me tonight / together we can make our own scene tonight / Ooohh.” Making our own scene! ON THE SCENE! The excitement in the room was palpable and infectious and I immediately found the song and listened to it 15 times in a row. Talk about a groove that you will remember.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with another classic JCM cut; in the meantime, check out the increasingly funky playlists below.

  • Jheri Curl June: Cameo’s “Flirt”

    It’s a testament to the depth and breadth of Jheri Curl Music that in five Jheri Curl Junes, only two bands have been featured repeatedly: Slave (with 2015’s “Watching You” and 2017’s “Turn You Out”) and the Gap Band (who kicked off 2015 with “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” followed by last year’s “Disrespect”). This year, for our sixth Jheri Curl June, we’re bequeathing that honor on a third group: Cameo, whose 1986 jam “Candy” was part of the very first JCJ way back in 2014.

    My pick for this year comes from earlier in the group’s career, but is even more of an essential Jheri Curl cut. “Flirt,” from Cameo’s 1982 album Alligator Woman, has it all: futuristic synths, a funky groove that splits the difference between P-Funk and the Minneapolis Sound, and a music video (above) that is roughly equal parts synchronized dance moves and leering closeups of models’ butts and cleavage. And speaking of leering, you’ll probably recognize the young lady from the Alligator Woman album cover: that’s none other than Denise Matthews, a.k.a. Vanity, star of the 1985 Jheri Curl Cinema classic The Last Dragon.

    We’re halfway through our first week of Jheri Curl June VIbe and just getting started! Click through for YouTube and Spotify playlists, and see you tomorrow.

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  • Jheri Curl June: Slave’s “Turn You Out (In & Out)”

    We’ve featured Slave before for Jheri Curl June, but their 1983 album Bad Enuff is the group at their most activated. By 1983, the sound of ’80s R&B had fully transitioned from leftover disco to what we all know and love as Jheri Curl Music, thanks to Prince’s Minneapolis sound taking off. Slave followed suit, though their sound had already changed slightly due to drummer and singer Steve Arrington leaving the group in 1982.

    Although post-Arrington Slave is not nearly as formidable as their earlier releases, Bad Enuff is a solid album, proving that Slave could adapt to changing times and a changing lineup. “Turn You Out (In & Out)” is arguably one of their sexiest songs, combining one of Mark Adams’ signature below-the-belt-hitting basslines with a prissy Prince-like synth riff and breathy vocals practically lifted from a Dirty Mind outtake.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with more Jheri Curl June. Spotify and YouTube playlists are below:

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  • Jheri Curl June: Slave’s “Watching You”

    While jheri curl music is most often associated with the Minneapolis Sound, the Ohio funk scene can definitely be cited as another important influence. Ohio was a hotbed for funk music in the 1970s: Bootsy Collins, the Ohio Players, Zapp, the Isley Brothers, the O’Jays, and many others. But one of the lesser-known, and highly underrated, bands that came out of Ohio during this era was Slave. Sure, their musical evolution more or less followed the run-of-the-mill trail from hardcore, horn-heavy funk to disco-influenced funk, to a (sort of) mellower R&B funk, and of course, to the synthesizer-heavy sound of the mid-’80s. But Slave managed to develop their own, super-funky, inimitable style even while sticking with the status quo, and they are one of my personal favorites.

    By 1980, Slave, though still sounding very much like a ’70s funk outfit, had embraced a sleeker, more melodic sound. In “Watching You,” from their 1980 album Stone Jam, the hard-hitting horn section had been replaced with a doodling synthesizer riff. This, along with bassist Mark Adams’ signature heavy slap bass line at the forefront of the mix, makes this a very smooth, funky early jheri-curl groove.

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