(re) Disco-very # 003: SLAVE

[fabio]

Intro: After hearing few tracks on various blogs I have finally decided to buy Slave’s Anthology and here’s their story:

In 1975 (in Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A) Steve Washington formed his first band, Black Satin Soul, with two high school friends, six-string whiz kid Mark “Drac” Hicks and drummer Tim Dozier.
The following year the trio hooked up with The Young Mystics, a crew that consisted of vocalist and trumpeter Floyd Miller, saxophonist Tom Lockett, and skilled bassist Mark Adams. Together they became known as Slave. They added guitarist Danny Webster and saxophonist Orion Wilhoite to round out the sound.
Vocalists Steve Arrington, Curt Jones and Starleana Young came aboard in 1978, with Arrington ultimately becoming lead vocalist.
Young, Washington, and Lockett departed to form Aurra in 1979.
From 1977-1981, Slave was one of the decade’s fiercest and most versatile band. Most of the albums it recorded during that period are superb, including 1977's Slave, 1978's The Concept, 1979's Just a Touch of Love, and 1980's Stone Jam. But if all good things must come to an end, Slave went downhill (both creatively and commercially) in 1982. Singer/drummer Steve Arrington left the Dayton outfit after 1981's Show Time (the last truly great Slave album), and his input was sorely missed.

Rewind: Their first big hit was the thumping single 'Slide' in 1977 for Cotillion, reaching # one in the Billboard Black singles chart and # 32 in the Billboard Top 100. This single earned them a reputation for playing sweaty, aggressive, in-your-face funk.
Followed by "The Party Song" (# 22 in BBS chart) and "Baby Sinister" (# 74 in BBS chart) taken from the Album The Hardness of the World (1978),
"Stellar Fungk" taken from another album called “The Concept” also released in 1978, reached # 14 in the Billboard Black singles chart. Is stimulating head music, enhanced by brain probing lead guitarist Marc "Drac" Hicks, powerful basslines from Mark Adams, and some ear popping synthesizer work by Carter Bradley.

When Slave provided its fourth album, Just a Touch of Love, in 1979, it was clear that the Midwesterners were determined to soften their approach. "Funky Lady (Foxy Lady)”, the first single taken from the album (# 55 in the BBS chart), "Roots," and the hit title song (all of which boast Steve Arrington on lead vocals) are definitely the work of a smoother, sleeker Slave -- and yet, the band still had plenty of grit. This excellent album left no doubt that Slave was still a funk band, although it wasn't as in-your-face as the Slave that gave listeners "Slide" and "Screw Your Wig on Tite" in 1977. Arrington, who first recorded with Slave on 1978's The Concept, played a major role in its evolution -- and two other lead vocalists who make important contributions to this LP are Starleana Young and Curt Jones. Arrington, Young, and Jones weren't original members of Slave, but all of them proved valuable when Slave opted to embrace a smoother style of funk. And all of them do their part to make “Just a Touch of Love” one of Slave's finest albums. The title track of the album was # 9 in the Black Single chart 1980 and # 26 in the National Disco chart.

This very prolific band released another album towards the end of 1980 and another single : “Sizzilin Hot” reaching # 57 in the BBS chart. “Feel My Love” peaked at # 62 the following year. This single, together with “Watching You” was the second to appear in the National Disco chart (peak # 23 in 1981). “Watching You” peaked at # 6 in the BBS chart.
Long before Madonna was vogueing, Slave gave the fashion shoot a funk run through as "Snap Shot". Bassist Mark Adams delivers his most crucial bass line since the band's number one R&B debut single "Slide." Carlos Franzetti's strings arrangement picture-perfectly punctuates the proceedings. Lead singer Steve Arrington snaps the camera shutter as he directs "ok, this one is for the cover of Life Magazine." Produced by engineer Jimmy Douglass, "Snap Shot" peaked to # 6 BBS chart and # 91 pop in fall 1981. The last trip down the disco chart for Slave was with “Snap Shot/Party Lights/Wait For Me” reaching # 21. Their excellent Showtime LP included the Top 20 BBS follow-up "Wait for Me" (# 20).

Released in 1982, the post-Arrington Visions of the Lite was the first Slave album that could honestly be described as disappointing. This isn't a terrible record, but it's definitely a mediocre one. While "Visions", "Friday Nites," and other tracks are mildly catchy, nothing on the LP is in a class with "Slide," "Watching You," "Just a Touch of Love," or "Snapshot." After five-star treasures like The Concept and Stone Jam, one held Slave to very high standards; and while Visions of the Lite isn't as disaster, hearing it is like tasting beer when you have grown accustomed to champagne
Slave recorded for the label Cotillion until they moved to Atlantic for one LP in 1984, then switched to the Atlanta-based Ichiban in 1986 for singles and LPs that were just a shade of the former vibrant Slave sound.

Thanks to the usual www’s “Billboard” and Hua Hsu. Ron Wynn, Craig Lytle and Alex Henderson @ “All Music Guide”

[SandraDee]

I rather like Steve Arrington's first 2 LPs after he left Slave (Hall Of Fame 1 & Positive Power), before he got religion in a big way. Moody, hypnotic, machine-tooled funk of the highest order!

[jam master jay]

Those Steve Arrington solo albums were favorites of mine as well (like you said, the first two).

If I was picking my personal all-time top songs from back in the day, I would definitely include "Just A Touch Of Love".

[fabio]

SandraDee and Jam Master Jay
I am not familiar yet with the records you are refferring to. I have noticed a couple of Steve Arrington tracks on the Anthology but i am ejoying "Sizzlin Hot" so much at the moment that i cannot play anything else...

[efunk_adelic]

loved this group and bought at least their first 5 LP's.

the only songs I have revisited in the last few years are.

Slide
Wait For Me
Just A Touch Of Love


Steve Arrington's
Weak At The Knees
You Meet My Approval

[boogyjuice]

Originally Posted by fabio

SandraDee and Jam Master Jay
I am not familiar yet with the records you are refferring to. I have noticed a couple of Steve Arrington tracks on the Anthology
but i am ejoying "Sizzlin Hot" so much at the moment that i cannot play anything else...

Steve Arrington Interview
( From Farid (Funkylol94) )




farid: Could you tell us more about how you started out in music, like how where you touched by the musical ‘virus’ ?

steve: I’ve always been fascinated by music. When I was a kid, I played records before I could read, by associating the song with the label. I used to just stare at the 45’s going around. The first song I ever liked was “Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pop”. My great uncle, Charles Cook called me ‘Moosic’ (That’s how he said music). I loved my mother’s Jimmy Smith album, “Walk on the Wild Side”. We listened to that on our Saturday morning house-cleaning day, long with Aretha’s, “Skylark” album on Columbia Records. Some people don’t know about Aretha’s jazz days. That’s how I got the bug.


f: You come from Dayton, Ohio. How do you explain the fact that the Ohio scene was so prolific although Ohio was far from all the big music scenes from the days like Detroit, Chicago, NYC & L.A ?

steve: James Brown, the godfather of soul had King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio. Everybody that’s funky owes a debt to Brown.


f: If I’m not mistaken, the first big band (in terms of commercial success) to come out of Dayton was the Ohio Players. The Dayton scene has a sound of it’s own. I mean it’s rough and funky in the deepest sense of the word. I suppose that in the early 70’s the Ohio Players was THE band you were looking up to in your town ? Were there any other bands or artists at that time who were a driving force on the Dayton’s music scene ?

steve: Yes, the Ohio Player’s. They were the band that everyone was looking up to. They were so funky, jazzy, bluesy, and most of all original! Another band that I, and the younger guys, looked up to was the band called The Young Underground, who later became the mighty Lakeside.


f: In your early days, as a drummer, what were your main influences ? I feel some jazz too in your music, am I wrong ?

steve: One of my early influences was Billy Cobham, when he was with Mahavishnu Orchestra. I saw them in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the bill with Frank Zappa and Florescent Leach and Eddie. I had never heard of Mahavishnu Orchestra, until that day in about 1971 or 72, since I have never been the same.
I also love the Yes drummer, Bill Bruford, in the ‘Round About’ and ‘Close to The Edge’ days.
Also, Tony Williams, ‘Lifetime,’ and then later when I heard him with Miles Davis, which lead me to Elvin Jones with Coltrane. Oh, my God !... Elvin with Miles, Tony with Coltrane, Billy with Mahavishnu, and Bill Bruford with that crazy snare on Round About got it done for me. And of course anything that Brown did was a lesson in all things funky! Clyde Stubblefield in the house.




f: I read that you were in College with Mark Adams, Slave’s legendary bass player. So why didn’t you join the band right from the start ?

steve: I was in High School as a senior with Mark Adams, who was a freshman at the time. We were in a band together called, The Young Mystics. Bad management broke us up. I went to California and ended up playing with Pete and Shelia Escovedo and Carlos Santana, who did some touring with us. Mark Adams joined with Stevie Washington, a new guy in town and nephew of Peewee (Ralph Middlebrook) of the Ohio Players.




f: On ‘Stellar Fungk’ you’re on drums, and then in 1979 on ‘Just A Touch Of Love’ you handle the vocals. How did this change happen ? Was it the departure of Curt Jones & Starleana Young who went to create Aurra ?

steve: No. Star, Curt, and Stevie did not leave until after the ‘Stone Jam’ album. I started singing lead vocals because Danny Webster, who sang most of the leads on the 1st and 2nd album, disappeared from the Atlantic Record studio in New York, for 2 weeks and we asked ourselves “What are we going to do?” I said, “Give me a shot at the mic, since we’re just sitting.” And vwalah, “Just a Touch of Love.” Curt, Star and I contributed on different songs, but at this 2-week period I came forth with “Just a Touch of Love.”


f: At the base of the Slave sound there was trumpet-player Steve Washington & of course Charles Carter on sax & keyboards, who followed you in your solo carreer with his brother Sam. Steve became Aurra’s producer & released a solo LP on Salsoul in 1984. Do you keep in touch with all the band members or has everyone gone his own way ? Also why did you leave the band in 1981, following the release of the ‘Showtime’ LP ?

steve: Yes, I keep in touch with band members and, yes, we have all gone our own separate ways. I left the band in 1981, because of the classic R&B story: we are not getting paid, and so we implode. Unfortunate how as a musician, you can do your job, work hard as a child all the way up to the big time, and somebody behind a desk decides they want their money and your money, too. Just to do it.




f: Let’s go back to your solo carreer. In 1983, you released your first LP ‘Hall of Fame I’. I remember the first time I discovered this album at the end of the 80’s (sorry but I’m only 31 years old !) with a track that hit me severely (!) : "Nobody Can Be You", with a sound that was pretty different from other records at that time, with a heavy groove and handclaps.
When you wrote that song, what influences did you bring and what state of mind were you in ? What kind of sound were you looking for ? If you can still remember, what kind of instruments did you use for that particular track ? (I am a vintage instruments freak as we say today !)

steve: I played Fender bass on “Nobody Can Be You, But You.” I either played Buddy Hankerson’s Music Man or my Precision. I like the word ‘severely’ in your reaction to the song, “Nobody Can Be You, But You” because I wanted that song to be intense and yet, smoooooth. The state of mind I was in was to try to encourage somebody who wasn’t sure that they were important or special. There are no two people alike, so you are as important and as special as the next one. Period, end of story!


f: My second favorite track on that album is ‘You Meet My Approval’. Still a very original sound, with a slight touch of jazz, very subtle, and a latin touch towards the end of the song. Do you like latin music (salsa, samba, mambo & other south american rhythms) ?

steve: Love Latin music ! I played with Shelia Escovedo, also known as Sheila E., the greatest female percussionist ever. My mentor was her uncle, Coke Escovedo, who played percussion on the ‘Abraxas’ album with Santana. Coke was also co-leader of the groundbreaking group Azteca with brother Pete Escovedo. You got it! “You Meet My Approval” was a meeting of several musical worlds. I used to love to play that song live.


f: I own both the vinyl and the CD version of the ‘Hall of Fame I’ album, but the CD carries two unreleased bonus tracks : ‘At It Again’ & ‘I Love You’. The first one has a slight P-Funk feel but your personal touch and arrangments are still very much to the forefront, and the second one is a sure dance floor filler. Why didn’t those tracks end up on the LP ?
This album was met with great commecial success. Do you remember how the people received it ? The album was released on Atlantic Records but some singles like ‘Way Out’ were issued on a small label, Konglather. Was this your own structure ?

steve: They were very melodic, more melodic than the tracks that made it on the album. (A peek into what was to come.) People loved Hall of Fame I. I was nominated for the Soul Train Awards, new artist of the year. The song “Way Out” from that album was on my own label, soon after picked up by Atlantic.


f: In 1985 comes out your second LP ‘Dancin' In The Key Of Life’ with the huge ‘Feels So Real’. I remember hearing that particular track in a club in London. How many times did you visit Europe for concerts and which countries did you visit ?

steve: I went to England, Germany, and Holland.


f: In 1986, you followed with ‘The Jammin National Anthem’, with Paulhino Da Costa on drums on a few tracks. You appear on the cover with a lot of children from different ethnic background. Was this a message towards open-mindedness ? We all remember that at the time, apartheid still existed in South Africa, but towards the end of the 80’s, a lot of artists opened their musics to ethnic music (or world music).

steve: It certainly was a message for open-mindedness ! Racism is passed a drag. Racism is a nuclear bomb ! I just wanted to tell somebody that it’s about LOVE, and my Lord and Savoir, Jesus Christ, even though some followers of Christ have fumbled the ball in this area many times.

Paulinho Da Costa is a great percussionist. He played percussion in the movie, Roots and is a great session player in Los Angeles. Also, George Johnson, of The Brother’s Johnson, played Guitar on the ‘Dancin’ in the Key’ album. I know we are talking about the “Jammin’ National Anthem” album right now, but I have to say that George Johnson played some wonderful on guitar on “Dancin’ in the Key of Life.” Freddie Hubbard played the trumpet solo on ‘Feel So Real’.
Back to “Jammin’ National Anthem” album; I really like the song ‘Holiday’ off that album.


f: You are now a Reverend, so has your musical background an effect on the way you handle your ministry and is it present in the Gospel in your Church ?

steve: Yes, it does, because I’ve been in the limelight and a star, where most people say they’d give anything to be. Because I’ve been there, I can tell people, you get used to it, the limos, the hype, the accolades. In the end, we are all the same; we just want to be loved.


f: Are there any news today on your side, like do you plan on putting out other albums or will you be touring any time soon ?

steve: I’m finishing up a new album right now and will be touring. I’m looking big time forward to it, too.


f: What kind of music do you listen to nowadays ? Todays’s music or the great music that was made back in the days ?

steve: Both. I listen to mass choir music. I listen to Thelonious Monk. I listen to Daft Punk. Lately I’ve been vibin’ on ‘Come See About Me’, by the Supremes and ‘In the Sanctuary’, by Kurt Karr.

steve: I want to thank your parents for the love they showed Monk, Miles, Dexter Gordon, and Bird. In this generation, thank you for the love you’ve shown me. There’s a lot of racism in America. A lot of my heroes received a lot of love in Europe and for Miles, especially France.
And remember, that Jesus Christ is way over the top, slammin’! He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Can’t wait to see ya! Somebody talk back to me on this thing!

God bless,
Rev. Steve Arrington
10/13/06


thanks so much steve for this interview

interview : farid "beef"
translate: wonder b "blaise"

Source : STEVE ARRINGTON INTERVIEW


Miss Funkyflyy's Aurra Page



Aurra @ SoulTrain

[SandraDee]

Steve Arrington sounds a nice guy. It was very gracious of him to not correct the interviewer when he said 'Dancing In The Key Of Life' was his 2nd LP when it was in fact his 3rd.

[boogyjuice]

Originally Posted by SandraDee

Steve Arrington sounds a nice guy. It was very gracious of him to not correct the interviewer when he said 'Dancing In The Key Of Life' was his 2nd LP when it was in fact his 3rd.

Oui ...

[efunk_adelic]

darnit! Steve is a Bronco's fan?

[fabio]

Wow Boogiejuice.. i am speechless. That's the way i would loooove to write my entries (pictures, interviews and videos). Thank you so much for your contribution, I would love to learn how to cut and paste the way you do.