The Soul Train – Brit-Funk

The 1970s & 1980s in Britain, saw the nation become a proverbial melting pot. During the 1950s and 60’s immigration and population boom post World War II, we saw both industrial strife, racial tension and advancing technologies.

Whilst socio-political storms were brewing and settling into later 1980s boom-and-bust economics, The 1970s and early ’80s music scene was about to explode. From the “space oddity” of Glam Rock, Bowie, Prog-Rock and US Disco, came Punk, Ska, and a quieter revolution: Brit-Funk.

From Liverpool, harmony group The Real Thing gave us “You To Me Are Everything” and multi-racial melodics Hot Chocolate built on the work of The Foundations, The Equals, and Jimmy James & The Vagabonds to bring us a very unique sound.

Led from London but not exclusively, Light of The World (and their offshoots, Beggar & Co and Incognito) Linx (featuring the emerging 90’s/00’s media star David Grant), Freeez, Junior Giscombe, Mirage, Hi-Tension, Osibisa, Central Line, and Level 42 emerged from the soul clubs of London and Essex into a national phenomenon scoring hit after hit.

Taking inspiration from the American soul scenes of the 60s and the funk and disco variants of the 70s, Brit-Funk was really the first signature sound of African-Caribbean heritage that fused calypso, reggae and the dancefloor-friendly sounds of soul and funk

Boosted by a series of DJs who seemed to partner with the artists more than simply play their recordings, live Personal Appearances were more viable than their American counterparts and before we knew it, we had dedicated labels – remember Street Sounds compilations, anyone? – with recording studios and songwriting teams bringing that distinctly British flavour to soulful music.

No copying of American accents, this was a departure and a homage to its influence from American R&B.

Instead, we had steel drums, lover’s rock reggae melodies, funky salsa-esque guitar solos, driving basslines and percussions, and brass.

One outfit not mentioned so far took the brass to another level. Scotland’s The Average White Band.

1975, just before THAT hot summer, the AWB released a driving horns-led slab of funk (influenced no doubt by James Brown’s JB’s band) called “Pick Up The Pieces”. And if there’s one song that sums up Brit-Funk, it’s this. A Billboard Hot 100 number 1, and featured on media montages to this day, its iconic symbolisation of free-thinking rhythms and melodies and a nod to the “white-sox” soul scene of the time, made this the All-Dayer anthem.

Of course, there are more than a few playlists you could make from this era, like “Summer Groove”, “Mama Used To Say“, “London Town”, “Intuition”, “Southern Freeez” and Incognito’s absolute smash hit “Always There” – a cover of the US group Side Effect’s Jazz-Funk icon – that’s had more reissues and remixes than most and features the legendary Jocelyn Brown on lead vocals. Making this song their own was no mean feat.

Brit-Funk persisted despite many of the groups either crossing over into pop super-stardom (like Level 42) or splitting and ceasing.

In the 1980s, we got Imagination, Loose Ends, 52nd Street, The Coolnotes, Second Image, Direct Drive, Paul Hardcastle, Stevie V, Projection, Sahara, and of course gave us crossover hits from The Chimes, Jakki Graham, our previously covered legends Soul II Soul, and of course the emergence of big hitters like Mica Paris, Omar, The Brand New Heavies, and the sophisticated soul of the Acid-Jazz era in Opaz/Ray Hayden and The Young Disciples.

Brit-Funk paved the way and influenced what we saw become the Garage, Grime and 2-Step scenes. Arguably helped us see Massive Attack rise to fame and their Bristol-based dub-soul concoctions. Fuelling interest in UK Hip Hop, House and Jungle/Drum-n-Bass derivatives.

So if you’re listening to Stormzy, you might owe a little debt of gratitude to Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick of Light of The World/Incognito.

Pioneers come in many shapes and guises. The Brit-Funk scene – whilst perhaps a little niche at the time – has since become an inflexion point for Black British music and a unique identity to this newly formed genre of distinct, but related, soul, funk and grooves.

So what one song can we feature from this collection of rare grooves and ground-breakers?

It’d have to be this one. “People everywhere, doing the Southern Freeez…”

Enjoy, windows down, vibes blasting, it’s the summer and that is defined by Brit-Funk whether you know it or not.

Perry Timms
4 August 2022.

Perry is the Founder and Chief Energy Officer of People and Transformational HR Ltd (PTHR) and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD, a fellow of the RSA and Visiting Professor at 4x Business Schools in the UK. Perry is a 3x published author; a 2x TEDx Speaker and 5x Member of HR’s Most Influential Thinkers List ranking Number 1 in 2022.

Perry’s musical heritage is in music of black origin and particularly 1960s American R&B and British Soul & Funk from the 1980s-date.