DJ Monkey: "We just do what we feel, and that is what we do"

In mijn laatste contact met Joey Alkes (zie het artikel over het jubileum optreden van "Back to Basic") had ik hem toegezegd aandacht te zullen schenken aan DJ Monkey. Sinds die tijd verwachtte ik een pakje uit Amerika met een CD met wat MP3-tjes erop. Wat ik daarentegen kreeg was een dik pakket met 3 muziek-CD's, een DVD met de film "W the Movie", een CD met foto's en documenten, een CD met de video "God is an Underachiever", een aanklacht tegen het vele onrecht in de wereld afkomstig van de CD "3rd World War", en een stapel lectuur met recensies uit Amerika.

Net zomin als "Baby Charles" of Blondie één persoon is, is DJ Monkey de naam van één artiest. DJ Monkey is opgericht in Los Angeles in 2002 door Mick McMains (gitarist, keyboard speler, drummer en producent, ondermeer samengewerkt met Earl Slick) en Joey Alkes (zanger en songwriter waarvan nummers opgenomen zijn door de Plimsouls, Phil Seymour, de Roadrunners en anderen).
Zij vormen samen de harde kern van de band. Bijdragen worden verder geleverd door rapper Lil' TipToe (Jamal Cryer), scratcher "MR1" (Jeremy Roth), gitarist Ian McMains (zoon van Mick McMains) en saxofonist Mitch Rafal, alias Count Daddy-O (die samen heeft gewerkt met onder andere Rick James).
Alkes werkt al jarenlang in de muziek business en heeft zijn sporen verdiend als muziek recencent. Ook is hij de manager geweest voor lokale bands uit L.A, alsmede voor bands van internationale allure; vooral zijn samenwerking met de gemengde funk-rock band Mother's Finest is daarbij opvallend. Hun claim to fame is de monsterhit "Piece of the Rock", uit 1977.
Voordat Alkes in de muziek terecht kwam werden zijn gedichten in boekvorm uitgegeven.

DJ Monkey, met de klok mee vanaf linksboven: Lil' TipToe (Jamal Cryer), Count Daddy-O (Mitch Rafal), Mick McMains, Joey Alkes, "MR1" (Jeremy Roth)

Even sloeg de schrik me om het hart toen ik het postpakket uit Californië, USA openmaakte. De naam DJ Monkey, gecombineerd met een CD-hoes met opgestoken middelvinger, songlyrics met de woorden "Democrats, Republicans - what's the fucking difference? / They're all puppets or whores" (uit "Big Oil" van de CD "another evolution"). Toch niet weer de zoveelste rapper/hiphop artiest die vaste voet op het Europese vaste land probeert te krijgen met een onderhand uitgeknepen genre?

...stijlen en invloeden worden door DJ Monkey samengevoegd, zoals je verschillende kleuren verf mengt tot een geheel nieuwe kleur...

"another evolution", uit 2003

Bij de eerste klanken werd duidelijk dat ik me onnodig zorgen had gemaakt. Met een eigenzinnigheid die in hun muziek en teksten te horen is zet DJ Monkey je makkelijk op het verkeerde been. De muziek op de albums "another evolution" (in 2003 uitgebracht op Alkes' eigen onafhankelijke label Airborne Monkey Records) en "3rd World War" (2006) is niet alleen toegankelijk, maar ook gewoon goed en lekker.

In welk genre hoort de muziek van DJ Monkey dan thuis? Dat is een goede vraag. Ja, ik hoor rap, ik hoor wat hiphop, ik hoor soul, ik hoor jazz, blues en zelfs rock. Bovendien hoor ik veel gesproken tekst, soms à la Lou Reed, soms in een echte rap, soms gewoon gesproken. En natuurlijk hoor ik ook gezang. Al die stijlen en invloeden worden door DJ Monkey samengevoegd, zoals je verschillende kleuren verf mengt tot een geheel nieuwe kleur. En ergens in deze regenboog van muziek zit het woord 'urban', maar of dat nu urban-rock, urban-jazz, urban-soul of urban-iets-anders is, daar ben ik nog niet uit.
Joey Alkes zegt hierover het volgende: "Categories? We just do what we feel, and that is what we do. I personally don't understand the Hip-Hop tag myself. What I do accept is alternative rap/slam poetry -classical rock and jazz as what we lean to."
De CD "Corporate Oil War" uit 2008 is een 'Election Year Special Ltd Edition Compilation' met nummers van de eerste twee albums. De opbrengsten hiervan kwamen ten goede van de campagne van Barack Obama. Het is een uitstekende kennismaking met de muziek van DJ Monkey, maar gezien de aanduiding 'Special Ltd Edition' waarschijnlijk moeilijk te krijgen, met name buiten Amerika.

I personally don't understand the Hip-Hop tag myself. What I do accept is alternative rap/slam poetry -classical rock and jazz as what we lean to.

Joey Alkes, DJ Monkey

De instrumenten die ze gebruiken zijn akoestische gitaar, elektrische gitaar, keyboards, piano, bas, saxofoon, viool, percussie en draaitafels en daarnaast nog stemmen, zowel spraak als zang (dat laatste op "3rd World War" meer dan op "another evolution"). En die soms wat merkwaardige combinatie werkt verbazingwekkend goed.
Op het ene nummer hoor ik de lekker scheurende geluiden van een rock gitaar, het andere begint met een heerlijke jazzy saxofoon en weer een ander nummer laat alleen een akoestische gitaar en gezang horen. Het nummer "The Hum" begint met een laid-back combinatie van viool, bas, sax en gitaar en de gesproken stem van Joey. De wereld van DJ Monkey is een wonderlijke wereld die een geheel nieuw en eigen genre toevoegt aan de wildgroei van muziekgenres. Maar als dit het begin is van een nieuw genre, dan ben ik een 'follower'.

"3rd World War", uit 2006

Persoonlijk vind ik "3rd World War" sterker dan zijn voorganger. En hoe vaker ik hem draai, hoe beter ik hem vind. Er staat werkelijk niet één zwak nummer op. Maar er steken er een paar nog net even bovenuit: het nummer "Hard Times NYC" kan wat mij betreft geclassificeerd worden als een echt rock nummer, dat niet misstaan had op een Lou Reed album, gecombineerd met tropische percussie. "All Else Is Shadow" is weer een cross-over van rock, jazz en rap en bovendien zeer geslaagd (ik zou durven zweren dat ik Bowie-invloeden hoor in de zang, maar nu overdrijf ik misschien). En "Love Knows No Color" is ook al zo'n sterk cross-over nummer met een goed tekst en uitstekende muziek. En dan moet ik ook "God Is An Underachiever" nog noemen!
Ze behoren nu al tot mijn favorieten! Vergeet hierdoor trouwens vooral "another evolution" niet, want ook dit album is het meer dan de moeite waard beluisterd te worden!

None of us could have predicted that a Harvard trained, world conscious man such as Barack Obama had a hair-of-a-chance of becoming the President of the U.S.

DJ Monkey's Joey Alkes

De teksten zijn zeer sociaal geëngageerd, zonder grof te worden. Zo hoor je in het nummer "3rd World War" een aanklacht tegen de oorlog, die gevoerd werd terwijl weinig tot geen aandacht werd besteed aan sociale problemen in Amerika: "We're going to war / on the backs of the poor".
In het nummer "Big Oil" (van "another evolution") zingt Mick McMains "Democrats or republicans / What's the fucking difference? / They are all puppets or whores".
Dat vorig jaar toch de campagne van Obama werd gesteund legt Joey per e-mail als volgt uit: "When that was written, and Mick actually wrote the lyric on "Big Oil"(one of his few lyric writes), it was in 2003. None of us could have predicted that a Harvard trained, world conscious man such as Barack Obama had a hair-of-a-chance of becoming the President of the U.S.then. Many progressives were disappointed in the Democrats at that time. We will see if anything really changes, but Barack Obama's rise transcended that disappointment for many of us. Just the fact that a black man could become the President of the U.S. is huge for evolved people planet-wise. We included Big Oil in the release of COW because it has been one of our talked about songs off that debut, and because it still holds true for the most part. I have always felt, myself, that evolved and educated people must change their views and their behavior with new evidence. Football teams that are succesful change their tactics at half-time to reflect what they have learned from the opposition in the first half. We as an act do support Barack Obama, for whatever that value is to him and his administration. The Democrats as a party???"

Voor de 'South Bay Music Awards', in het leven geroepen om de aandacht te vestigen op aankomende onafhankelijke artiesten in de 'South Bay Area' in het noorden van de staat Californië, is DJ Monkey in 2009 genomineerd in twee categorieën, namelijk 'Muziek Video van het jaar' voor de video "3rd World War" en voor 'Hiphop artiest van het jaar'.
De bekendmakingen van de winnaars en de uitreikingen zullen plaats vinden op 21 februari aanstaande.

Met DJ Monkey slaat muziek naar mijn idee een weg in die voor het eerst in tijden weer eens echt nieuw en opwindend aanvoelt.

Verras jezelf en koop deze CD's!

info:
Informatie van Allmusic Guide over DJ Monkey.
Op djmonkey.tk staat een overzicht van recensies, biografieën, foto's, interviews en nieuws omtrent DJ Monkey.
Alle in het artikel genoemde CD's zijn uitgebracht op het label Squid Music.
Op de site van Squid Music is een interview gepubliceerd dat ROCKWIRED had met Mick McMain en Joey Alkes.
Recencie over DJ Monkey op Garage Radio.
Myspace van Joey Alkes.
De video "God is an Underachiever" is ook te zien op Youtube; een waarschuwing is op zijn plaats - er komen schokkende en indringende beelden in voor.

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English translation - DJ Monkey: "We just do what we feel, and that is what we do"

This article is a translation of the same article published in Dutch on January 19, 2009.

Last time I was in touch with Joey Alkes (see the article on the anniversary concert of "Back to Basic") I had promised him to give some attention to DJ Monkey. Since then I had expected to receive a package by mail with maybe one CD containing some MP3 files. I didn't.

What I did get was a big package with no less than three audio CD's, a DVD of "W the Movie", a CD with photo's and documents, a CD with the video "God is an underachiever" (a protest against the many injustices in this world and featured on the CD "3rd World War") and a whole bunch of reviews from overseas. In this review I'll just be looking at the audio CD's.

Like "Baby Charles" or Blondie, DJ Monkey is not the name of one person. DJ Monkey was founded in Los Angeles in 2002 by Mick McMains (guitars, keyboards, dums, production; has worked with Earl Slick among others) and Joey Alkes (singer, songwriter; his songs have been recorded by the Plimsouls, Phil Seymour, The Roadrunners and others). They are the band's core members. Other members are rapper Lil' TipToe (Jamal Cryer), scratcher "MR1" (Jeremy Roth), guitar player Ian McMains (Mick McMains' son) and sax player Mitch Rafal, aka Count Daddy-O (who worked with Rick James among others). Alkes has been active in the music industry for many years and earned his merits as a music critic as well. He was also the manager for several local L.A.-based bands and for bands of international fame; his co-operation with internationally acclaimed mixed funk-rock band Mother's Finest being the most prominent. This band's claim to fame is the 1977 monster hit "Piece of the Rock".
Before Alkes joined the music industry, his poems were officially published.

A mind of their own

DJ Monkey, clockwise, starting at the upper left hand corner: Lil' TipToe (Jamal Cryer), Count Daddy-O (Mitch Rafal), Mick McMains, Joey Alkes, "MR1" (Jeremy Roth)

My heart did skip some beats when I first opened the package from California, USA. The name DJ Monkey, in combination with a cover displaying the one-finger-salute, song lyrics like "Democrats, Republicans - what's the fucking difference? / They're all puppets or whores" (taken from "Big Oil", from the CD "another evolution"). Oh no, - I thought - not yet another rapper/hiphop artist trying to gain ground in Europe with a genre that has already been beaten to death?

...styles and influences are mixed by DJ Monkey like paint is mixed into a completely new color...

"another evolution", from 2003

The first sounds however told me I need not have worried. DJ Monkey do have a mind of their own and can easily put you off balance. The music on the albums "another evolution" (released in 2003 on Alkes' own independent label Airborne Monkey Records) and "3rd World War" (2006) is not just accessible, but downright good and enjoyable.

Musical rainbow

It is not easy to pinpoint them as far as musical genre is concerned. I can hear some hiphop, I can hear soul, I can hear jazz, blues and even rock. I even hear quite some spoken lyrics, á la Lou Reed, sometimes in a real rap, sometimes in normal spoken words. And of course I hear singing. All those styles and influences are mixed by DJ Monkey like paint is mixed into a completely new color. And somewhere in this musical rainbow you can see the word 'urban', but whether that is urban-rock, urban-jazz, urban-soul or urban-something-else, I still have to figure out.
Joey Alkes: "Categories? We just do what we feel, and that is what we do. I personally don't understand the Hip-Hop tag myself. What I do accept is alternative rap/slam poetry -classical rock and jazz as what we lean to".
The CD "Corporate Oil War" from 2008 is an 'Election Year Special Ltd Edition Compilation' containing songs from the first two albums. All its profits went to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The CD is an excellent way to get to know the music of DJ Monkey, although I imagine it will be hard to come by, especially outside the USA, it being a 'Special Ltd Edition'.

I personally don't understand the Hip-Hop tag myself. What I do accept is alternative rap/slam poetry -classical rock and jazz as what we lean to.

Joey Alkes, DJ Monkey

The instruments used are acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, piano, bass, saxophone, violin, percussion, turntables and voices, both in song and in spoken word (more so on "3rd World War" than on "another evolution"). This somewhat strange combination does work amazingly well.
On one song I hear the sound of a rock guitar ripping apart, the other starts off with a smooth jazzy saxophone and yet another has you listening to an acoustic guitar and singing. The song "The Hum" starts off with a laid-back combination of violin, bass, sax and guitar and Joey's voice talking. The world of DJ Monkey is a wondrous world that adds a completely new and self-defined genre to the diversity of musical genres that exists today. But if this is the start of a new genre, then I am a 'follower'.

"3rd World War", from 2006

Personally I prefer '3rd World War' to "another evolution". And the more I listen to it, the better it gets. It doesn't contain even one weak song. However, some are still better than others: the song "Hard Times NYC" can be classified as a classical rock song, which would have been a great choice on any Lou Reed album, combined with tropical percussion. "All Else Is Shadow" is more of a cross-over between rock, jazz and rap and a really good effort at that (I could swear I hear some Bowie-influences in the singing, but that may be my imagination getting carried away). And "Love Knows No Color" is yet another great cross-over song with good lyrics and great music. And, of course, I should also mention "God Is An Underachiever"!
These are favorites already. Don't turn your back on "another evolution" though; the album is really worth a listen!

Social engagement

None of us could have predicted that a Harvard trained, world conscious man such as Barack Obama had a hair-of-a-chance of becoming the President of the U.S.

DJ Monkey's Joey Alkes

The lyrics on the whole are very socially engaged, without becoming rude. The song "3rd World War" is a clear accusation against a war that is being fought, while next to no-one is giving any attention to America's social problems: "We're going to war / on the backs of the poor".
In the song "Big Oil" (on "another evolution") Mick McMcains sings "Democrats or republicans / What's the fucking difference? / They are all puppets or whores".
Still, DJ Monkey supported Obama's campaign last year. In an e-mail Joey Alkes explains: "When that was written, and Mick actually wrote the lyric on "Big Oil"(one of his few lyric writes), it was in 2003. None of us could have predicted that a Harvard trained, world conscious man such as Barack Obama had a hair-of-a-chance of becoming the President of the U.S.then. Many progressives were disappointed in the Democrats at that time. We will see if anything really changes, but Barack Obama's rise transcended that disappointment for many of us. Just the fact that a black man could become the President of the U.S. is huge for evolved people planet-wise. We included Big Oil in the release of COW because it has been one of our talked about songs off that debut, and because it still holds true for the most part. I have always felt, myself, that evolved and educated people must change their views and their behavior with new evidence. Football teams that are succesful change their tactics at half-time to reflect what they have learned from the opposition in the first half. We as an act do support Barack Obama, for whatever that value is to him and his administration. The Democrats as a party???"

Music Awards

The 'South Bay Music Awards' were founded 'to provide a platform for emerging Independent Artists to showcase their talent as well as for on-line distribution of their music'. DJ Monkey is one of its 2009 nominees in two categories, i.e.: 'Video of the Year' for their video "3rd World War" and 'Hip Hop Group or Artist of the Year'.
According to southbaymusicawards.com the 5th Annual Annual Los Angeles South Bay Music Awards have been temporarily postponed. 'A late-April/early May date is in negotiations'.

For me, DJ Monkey are winners, no matter what. With DJ Monkey music turns a corner that is truly new and exciting.

Surprise yourself and buy these albums!

info:
Information on DJ Monkey at Allmusic Guide.
At djmonkey.tk an djmonkey.tk can be found of reviews, biographies, photos, interviews and news on DJ Monkey
All CD-s mentioned in the article were released on the Squid Music label.
An interview with Mick McMain and Joey Alkes was published at the Squid Music site
DJ Monkey review at Garage Radio.
Joey Alkes' Myspace
The video "God is an Underachiever" can also be viewed on Youtube; a warning should be given though - this video contains some shocking images.

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Back to Basic 20 jaar in Zaal de Unie

Op 21 november jl. speelde de Rotterdamse band Back to Basic de sterren van de hemel in zaal De Unie in Rotterdam. Beetje laat bericht voor een blog, maar beter beetje laat dan helemaal nooit.

Back to Basic verdient het alsnog vermeld te worden, al hebben de bandleden dat niet meer nodig; die zijn na hun carriérre bij B2B allen goed terecht gekomen.

Op 21 november bewees Back to Basic zijn klasse nogmaals meer dan overtuigend. Niet dat ik die overtuiging nodig had trouwens. Twintig jaar geleden stond ik bij een van de eerste optredens al vooraan. Dat de eerste CD van de band, "Give All U Got......", intussen ook al weer 15 jaar oud is was niet te horen. They could have fooled me!

Even was ik weer 30 en stond ik weer vooraan te genieten van zanger Theo Braams, gitarist Tjeerd van Zanen (van een klasse waar we er in Nederland maar weinig van hebben!), bassisten Remko Deijl* en Ivo Severijns* (na B2B gekozen door Anouk voor haar begeleidingsband), toetsenist Tijn Smit (yeah, swingt op eenzame hoogte, een waar pleitbezorger van serieus lekkere orgeltjes!), drummers Sjoerd van Bommel en Hans Eijkenaar, percussionist Leen van Rij en de blazers Peter Broekhuizen (saxofoon) en Nico Nijholt* (trombone). En ze waren er allemaal!
* NB: zie het commentaar van Tjeerd van Zanen onderaan dit artikel...

Soms heeft een band gewoon momentum nodig, hoe geweldig de band, de individuele bandleden en hun muziek ook mogen zijn. In mijn ogen had B2B gewoon even succesvol en bekend moeten worden als Bløf. Kennelijk was het momentum er gewoon niet.

Aan 'exposure' heeft het niet gelegen. De Amerikaanse columnist (en songwriter en publicist en journalist en manager van ondermeer Mother's Finest) 'JHA 385', het nom de plume van Joey Alkes, schreef in 1993 in het L.A. Rock Scene Report een uitermate lovend artikel over de eerste CD van de band. Aangezien dit nog nergens online is te vinden neem ik het hierbij integraal over. Ik zal Joey er over inlichten...

"Northern Europeans have long held a fascination for indigenous American music. All too often, their attempts to re-create or use it as a vehicle for self-expression is mired in cultural difference and language or linguistic and phonetic translation. At times, it seems that there are even enormous emotional and philosophical differences to prevent a Norwegian or Dutchman from truly sounding like he/she has a handle on the blues, blues-rock or country. More often the pure-pop translations are more succesful as we have seen in the many more cases of worldwide hit pop acts from Europe. Abba from Sweden, etc., is one example; another is the German Heavy Metal-groups. For some reason, the Irish and English accomplish these rootsy-rock enterprises with much more success. Maybe it is because English is the base language for African-American linguistic patua. I am not a linguist, nor a musicologist, the truth be known, but I do know that when I receive a big band blues-soul-rock album from Holland from my friends Gerard de Bruyn & Willem van Kooten of Nanada Music, I listen to it with trepidation since I know I want to like it but probably won't.

Somewhere it is said, "you should walk in fear," so I did and to my very pleasant surprise the debut album by Dutch band BACK TO BASIC from Red Bullet Records of the Netherlands is a moving and powerful body of music. Songwriters Tjeerd van Zanen (guitar) and Michel van Schie (bass, keyboards, computer), who with various other contributors write the bulk of the material, primarily concern themselves with matters of the heart.

"Feeling restless, a lot on my mind
Same old story, when love's left you blind
Acting poorly, got a aching heart
Love took a walk and tore it apart"

From "Too Late for Sorry" written by van Zanen and back-up vocalist Ivo Severijns perfectly echo the themes of the album. Lead vocalist Theo Braams is easily the equal of Andrew Strong as a soul singer as he pumps, pleads and drawls through the albums power horn section-background vocal arrangements. Moments are absolutely thrilling like in the groove affirmation of hope that churns along to a major chorded "Tomorrow is Another Day" and the searching and ascending horn and vocal arrangements of "Key to your Heart". If the Commitments were half as soulful, half as competent they would have had something.

"Leave Me Alone" is the best candidate for a single, but this is a body of music that presents a number of radio friendly cuts. "We Belong Together" and particularly "River Of Love", with their accoustic guitar and keyboard based sounds, which is a departure from the majority of the album, offer a real avenue for American AOR airplay. "River Of Love" offers the other real alternative to "Leave Me Alone" as a single. Both remind one of Springsteen's Tunnel Of Love era and both are beautiful songs that offer insight and sensitivity.

Nonetheless, the real treat on this album that deserves to be offered to the American public (at least in an import) is Broekhuizen, van Schie and Eijkenaar's horn arrangements; and Braams' ability to sound like he grew up on Stax-Volt Records while living in Missisippi. His version of the Jr. Walker penned "Peace and Understanding" is uncanny.

There is so much good to say about this debut act by Dutch soul-rock band Back to Basic that I can't begin to further describe this product for lack of appropriate space in this column. It has to be sufficient to finally say that this body of work, from production to packaging is a "Class A" act; and certainly does not have to take a backseat to British or American products anywhere."

Enfin, hieruit blijkt wat een bijzondere band Back to Basic was en is.
De avond van vrijdag 21 november 2008 is uiteindelijk ook een bijzondere en memorabele avond geworden. Ik kan later zeggen: daar was ik nog bij, bij dat geweldige jubileumconcert van Back to Basic! Het was zonder meer de beste besteding van 5 Euro sinds lange tijd! Ik geef je op een briefje dat een jubileumconcert van Bløf, mocht dat er ooit komen, beslist meer gaat kosten dan dat.

Back to Basic in zaal de Unie op 21 november 2008

Zie ondermeer Red Bullet Records
Korte Biografie van Back to Basic op de site van Muziek Centrum Nederland

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Exclusive Interview with Clay Drayton of Soul Excitement

40 Years ago, the sixties were nearing their end. It later proved to be the end of an era that had produced great music and the first of what came to be known as 'pop' music. One of these popular genres - now defined as 'funk' - brought us the names of James Brown, The Meters, Sly & The Family Stone and many others.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Clay Drayton

The end of this era was the beginning of a new one. One in which black music became the true driving force. And like the sixties, the seventies brought a lot of new musical genres that conquered, and indeed ruled!, the world. These genres - like soul, disco and R&B - were predominantly 'black'. Their 'common denominator' was - still - funk with its roots in the previous decade. Funk became the calling card of illustrious bands and artists such as Parliament, Funkadelic, Mother's Finest, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Johny Guitar Watson, Cameo and The Bar-Kays.

Of course, these well-known acts were not the only ones that made great funk music. There may have been hundreds of other bands out there that rode the waves of the popular new music genre. Some were more succesful than others. And while some have not been able to escape from the abyss of time, others have survived - albeit just barely - and some of those were even re-released by such labels as Kay-Dee Records, Motown and Stax.

Soul Excitement

Label of the 45RPM re-release of 'Stay Together' by Soul Excitement

Those that were less succesful were not always less in terms of quality. Like today, back then there were many ways for new young bands to shine brightly one week and implode the next, like red dwarfs dying in the galaxy. One of these bright new bands was called Soul Excitement. Its front man was Clay Drayton. I stumbled upon the band's name one night reading about the song "Stay Together" that was re-released by Kay-Dee Records and ordered this 'new' 45RPM vinyl re-release single.

Hearing it for the first time I became instantly interested. My interest was triggered not because "Stay Together" still sounds hot, new and funky though, which it does!, but actually because of the 'wild' intro the song starts-off with. It has the rythm of a Viennese Waltz and sounds exactly like a traditional Dutch children's song, that is sung on December 5th, celebrating the birthday of Saint Nicolas, who is believed to be a great children's friend. This waltz was originally written by a a seventeenth century bagpipe player from plague-ridden Vienna; see the article "Popmuziek is schatplichtig aan zeventiende eeuwse doedelzakspeler" (DutchEnglish: Pop music pays tribute to seventeenth century bagpipe player).

My 'quest' into the origins of the intro to Soul Excitement's only single eventually brought me in touch with Clay Drayton. Clay was the singer, bass player and frontman of Soul Excitement. As it turns out, Clay is still working with music. He was friendly enough to answer a few questions for this article.

Clay is the main author of the song "Stay Together", on which he cooperated with the other band members A.C. Drummer Jr. (Guitar), Roland Washington (Saxophone), Paul Cutner (Drums) and Paul Settle (Trumpet).
About the 'wild' intro to the song Clay remembers it was inspired by Sly and the Family Stone's intro to "Sing a Simple Song". He was not aware of the origins of the intro on "Stay Together" as described in the above mentioned article. However, he says, "I wrote it from an American children's song 'The more we get together, the happier we'll be'".

The origins of a psychedelic funk band

Soul Excitement only existed for a short number of years. On how the band was formed, Clay remembers: "I met AC when we were in a band called Cecil Garrett and the FascinationsCecil Garrett and the Fascinations: Cecil Garrett and the Fascinations were part of the sixties' Pittsburg sound. "Bearcat" is one of their better known records., I wanted to start a band of my own and AC came with me. We found the other band members.
AC's mother knew a couple who wanted to start their own record label. They liked us and paid for studio time and record pressing on their label 'Pink Dolphin Records'. We played at night clubs every weekend for four years."

At the "Rare Funk and Soul Forum" Roland Washington, the band's saxophone player, also remembers the exciting times with Soul Excitement:
"Soul Excitement was a psychedelic funk band out of Newark, New Jersey. The band was originally formed by Clarence (Clay) Drayton, who was the leader and bass player, along with AC Drummer, guitarist, and Paul Cutner, drummer in the year 1968. During the summer of that year they took on a young tenor saxophone player, Roland Washington.
The band concentrated primarily on performing songs of the current popular artists of that time with a deep, funky, driving spin on such songs as Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made To Love Her", Parliament Funkadelic's "Good Old Funky Music" and "I Just Want to Testify", the Temptations' "Runaway Child". Their repertoire was an endless chain of funky songs. Clay on bass and Paul on drums would always put the band right in the pocket of the groove. AC Drummer would fill the rest with some of the funkiest guitar strokes accented by fuzz and wah-wah.

Dee Dee Warwick

The band enjoyed performing as regulars at such places as "The Cheetah" and "Trudy Heller's" in Manhattan. They were well loved wherever they performed. Soul Excitement also performed as backup band for Dee Dee Warwick and Linda Jones, two oustanding recording artists of that time. They performed on shows opposite the Delfonics, Unifics, Manhattans, Sam and Dave, Joe Tex and many other well known celebrities of that era.

Ellis Haizlip, host of the Channel 13 show 'Soul!, 13 Dec. 1972'

The band was later joined by Bernard "Captain Hook" Cutner as lead vocalist. His energy and dance moves created an atmosphere that totally captivated audiences. In the fall of 1968, the Soul Excitement appeared live, along with the "Grand Prix Machine" singing group, on Channel 13's "Soul", hosted by Ellis Haizlip. Haizlip later commented that until that time, no other performers had ever stirred the audience so much that they began dancing up and down the studio aisles.
After Captain Hook left the band, Tamy Smith joined as lead vocalist and eventually Paul Settle came aboard on trumpet. Tamy Smith and Clay Drayton are the voices heard singing the lead vocals on "Stay Together". Tamy is also the lead singer on "Smile".

The "Stay Together" and "Smile" 45RPM, unfortunately, was the only recording produced by Soul Excitement. The band dissolved sometime around January or February of 1970."

Soon after the recording of "Stay Together" and its B-side "Smile", AC Drummer and Clay Drayton began playing full-time for Dee Dee Warwick (sister of Dionne Warwick), which meant the end of the band and the end of Clay's brush with funk music.

Hollywood

However, it was just the beginning of an era that turned out to be even more exciting for Clay Drayton than Soul Excitement had already been.

Marvin Gaye

Clay Drayton remembers: "I was playing in Las Vegas with Dee Dee Warwick for six weeks and after three weeks we got a week off and went to Beverly Hills to see Dionne. When I set foot in Hollywood, I knew that I wanted to live there. As soon as the six weeks was over everyone else went back to New Jersey and I moved to Hollywood.
That very day I found an apartment on a side street off of Hollywood Boulevard. As I walked out of the door and started down the street a van drove up and the driver shouted "Clay!".
I looked and it was Mark Davis, the keyboard player we met one year prior at a gig in Chicago.
He asked "Are you living here now?" and I said "Yeah, I just got an apartment".
He asked again "Are you still writing songs?"
"Of course", I answered.
"Well I’m producing Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross, would you like to write for Motown?", he asked."

It's the stuff dreams are made of or, in the words of Clay Drayton, "It was a DIVINE appointment".

Jackson 5

Clay continues: "A short time after that I was on the writing staff at Motown Records, working with some of the best producers in the world. Hal DavisHal Davis: African American songwriter and record producer. One of the key figures in the latter part of The Jackson 5's Motown career. Co-writer and producer of the Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There", among others would come into the room asking "Anyone got anything for my boys?" (i.e. The Jackson 5). I said "Yeah, I have a few songs", he listened and liked what I had."
As a bass player Mr. Drayton played on many of the Jacksons' sings: "Being a bass player, Joe JacksonJoe Jackson: father and manager of the Jackson 5 and family patriarch asked me to do some things with Jermaine. I also wrote and produced some things on Randy and Janet when they were young. Unfortunately," he says "these things were not released."

Mr. Drayton was also the arranger on "Love Hangover" for Diana Ross. He earned five gold records to his credits on albums from Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, High Inergy and Lenny Williams.

Motown time capsule featuring the song "Love Hangover" by Diana Ross, arranged by Clay Drayton. Year: 1976

20th Century Fox Music

After Motown, Clay Drayton signed with 20th Century Fox Music. He has been president of his own music publishing companies, ClayTam Publishing (with his wife Tami) and Troytiaco Publishing.

Clay is also a member of the Screen Actors GuildScreen Actors Guild (S.A.G.): American labor union representing over 120,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide. According to SAG's Mission Statement, the Guild seeks to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members. and has appeared in several commercials, movies and television shows. He has produced Opening Night Productions for several World Conferences, which includes special guests such as M.C. Hammer and Martha Reeves (of Martha and the Vandellas).

Phatfoot

Today, Clay Drayton has even ventured into inventing. Clay explains: "As a bass player, many drummers would ask me to stand in front of their bass drum to keep it from sliding. There was no device to stop the drums from sliding. Drummers used all kinds of crazy things to keep the drum in place. Basically drummers have resolved the problem to using heavy carpets or rugs. Then one night I saw this thing floating in a dream. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a piece of paper and started folding it like origami. And there it was."
Clay continues: "I called someone to create a prototype." After the product was fine-tuned and completed it was tried out by Kenny Elliott who at that time was the drummer for Lou Rawls. Clay: "Kenny loved it: "Man this is amazing!" One of the other drummers he had it tried by was Dean Castronovo of Journey. Dean was blown away."
Today, the Phatfoot Drum Harness is made of glass filled Nylon but only weighs less than 2 oz, making it lightweight and durable.

Roland Washington later performed with Larry Young Jr. (jazz organist) and Chris White (bassist). He founded the Bell Telefunk Company band, which after he departed later evolved into The Dazz Band. Roland Washington currently is a producer and co-host at KPOO FM 89.5.

Clay Drayton (right) and his wife Tami

A.C. Drummer Jr. has continued to play the guitar. He mainly plays jazz, soul-jazz and jazz-funk and has recorded with Willis Jackson, Lou Donaldson (Jazz Sax) and other artists. He currently lives in North Carolina with his family.
To this day Clay Drayton still plays the bass and can be heard on recordings and during concerts by Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. (ex-5th Dimension). Like Billy and Marilyn, Clay and Tami Drayton have lived the title of Soul Excitement's one and only recording and still Stay Together.


Thanks go to Clay Drayton and Roland Washington!

Info:

• Forum: The history of Soul Excitement by Roland Washington
  
• Web: Dr. Gayle Wald on Ellis Haizlip and Soul!
  
• Web: Producer Hal Davis on the making of Diana Ross' "Love Hangover"
  
• Web: Home of the Phatfoot Drum Harness
  
• Web: Clay and Tami Drayton teach marriage classes and counsel couples at 'Romance and Royalty'
  
• Web: Home of Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.

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