FUNK BOMBS COLLECTORS 292 GRAND OPENING 2022

 

Freestyle_ Soul & Disco!

 

Funk & Soul Classics 2022

 

Retro Funk

 

Funk Lite

 

Mainstream Funk

 

FUNK BOMBS COLLECTORS 292 GRAND OPENING 2022

 

James Mtume - The History Box Set (Song Writings, Arrangements & Productions) 10CD (2022)

                                        Over 150 Songs on 10 CD'S / Digitally Remastered

R.I.P. "Heaven In The Afternoon" singer Lew Kirton

 (January 22, 2022) Today we say a sad goodbye to singer and drummer Lew Kirton, known for a string of hits on Miami’s TK Records in the late 70s and early 80s.

Born in the Carribbean, Kirton (then known as “Jiggs Kirton”) first came to the attention of music fans as the lead singer of The Invitations (replacing Herman Colefield), a popular soul group that also featured Gary Gant, Bill Morris and Robert Rivers. They had some moderate hits with “They Say The Girl’s Crazy” and “Look On The Good Side,” before Kirton moved over to TK Records for a solo career.

On TK, Kirton scored a hit with a cover of Hall & Oates’ “Do What You Want, Be What You Are,” on which he showed off his powerful lead vocals, somewhat reminiscent of The Dramatics’ LJ Reynolds. Even bigger was his upbeat, horn-filled dance song, “Heaven In The Afternoon.”

Kirton moved to MCA records and continued to record solo through the mid-80s, while also performing as a guest vocalist with other acts.

After years out of the spotlight, Kirton’s music was rediscovered by fans via reissues of his TK work by Expansion Records. Kirton then went back to the studio, and independently issued new music on the albums Forever in 2005 and So Into You in 2010, still sounding fantastic. Rest in peace. Mr. Kirton.

GREAT WEEKEND !!!

 

80's Soul disco funk classics

 

LUXURY SOUL 2022

 

James Mtume, Grammy Award-winning songwriter, dead at 76: ‘He will be dearly, eternally missed’

Rest In Power to the great James Mtume. The South Philly native & prodigal son, Jazz ROYALTY (the son of the great Jimmy Heath) and music trailblazer & pioneer. His passing is truly a monumental loss. Let’s look at some of Mtume’s music and legacy through the years, as a THREAD: pic.twitter.com/CQyJZLzwMs

— COSMO BAKER (@CosmoBaker) January 9, 2022

Legend: Mtume (seen in 1973) was born James Heath Jr. in Philadelphia as he is the son of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath as he was raised by mother Bertha Forman and pianist James ‘Hen Gates’ Forman who played in Charlie Parkers band

In the late 1960s he joined the US Organization which was the Black empowerment collective which created Kwanzaa. 

It was around this time where he changed his last name to Mtume which means ‘messenger’ in Swahili.

He took after his father and stepfather as he made his name as a jazz musician in the late Sixties and even toured with icon Miles Davis as a percussionist from 1971 to 1975.

Years later in 1978 he created his own R&B-jazz group called Mtume with Lucas in addition to  Tawatha Agee as they released five albums through 1986.

 Their most known hit was Juicy Fruit which remained on the Billboard R&B chart for 22 weeks when it was sampled for Notorious BIG’s hit Juicy in 1994.

In 1986 he composed the music for James Baldwin’s film Native Son.

He also had a successful songwriting career as he and Lucas co-write Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s The Closer I Get To You.

Mtume was also credited on songs by Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, and K-Ci and Jo-Jo.