August 31, 2002

8:09 PM

In an a era where so much music seems overly mechanical Funk45.com and Galactic Fractures are terrific reminders that danceablity can be warm and loose and that human-powered music is the funkiest. These sites have what every good music site should have, encyclopedaic knowledge, detailed info, and truckloads of audio that makes you wanna find a good record store and hunt down the 45's yourself. And it's all presented in a way that encourages you to dig deeper. The song You Got Me Mama by Hayes Ware is a favorite, but there's plenty of great stuff. requires RealAudio
posted by jonmc (6 comments total)

yes. funk45 rocks. if only the sound samples were in mp3 or .au.

i really dislike ra.
posted by ewwgene at 9:18 PM on August 31, 2002

ewwgene--some of the stuff at galactic fractures is in .mp3, but it's complete shows rather tahn single tracks which is a mite tedious but still cool. I'm no big fan of Real either, but it's great to hear stuff from this deep in the crates no matter what the format.
posted by jonmc at 9:21 PM on August 31, 2002

Jesus, jon: whatta find!

Hayes Ware seems to prefigure the sixties British blues explosion, and the poppy 3-minute knock-offs typified by [suspend disbelief!] Marc Bolan in the seventies (the stroppy asides - like 'Ain't you'] remind me of Jeepster, and similar vintage T-Rex.

Beautiful stuff.
posted by dash_slot- at 9:21 PM on August 31, 2002

The vamp on Ike and Tina's "Bold Soul Sister", was used by Jimi Hendrix as a lead in to "Home Sweet Home" on the Bad Of Gypsies album.

David Bowie's "Fame" is a, note for note, knock off of a rare James Brown song that I have only heard once on a bootleg.

I would wager that, if you dug around a bit, you would find quite a few familiar riffs that have been "borrowed" by Rockers

Loved the clips, wish they were longer.

Kinda disappointed at absence of Parliment/Funkadelic.
posted by buz46 at 11:02 PM on August 31, 2002

If you like old-school Funk '45s (or even all sorts of Funk music from around the world), you can find a lot of compilation discs and original albums on cd at Dusty Groove America and Turntablelab.com. Turntablelab is DJ-equipment site, but it had a pretty deep cd and vinyl section. I've ordered from both and I've always had good service and found lots of great cds.
posted by stifford at 9:57 AM on September 1, 2002

Big props to PJ Gray @ GalacticFractures for being such a web-wide master of funk. More vinyl love can be found at John-Book.com.

John is an encyclopedia of all things music, and a really nice guy. Send him your photos of your favorite 7-11.

Yes...the key to all secrets of the universe can be found on old funk 45s.

Oh, and DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Brainfreeze CD is a highly entertaining mishmash of funk (and other) 45s and strange movie dialogue (among other things).
posted by El_Gray at 8:49 PM on September 2, 2002