Emperors – Karate Boogaloo b/w Mumble Shingaling
The Emperors: Edgar Moore 2nd from right
Listen/Download – The Emperors – Karate Boogaloo
Listen/Download -The Emperors – Mumble Shingaling
Greetings all.
I hope the end of the week finds you all well.
A few days back I got word that Edgar Moore, one of the founding members of one of my favorite 60s soul groups, the Emperors had passed away.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Emperors since I started digging up their 45s back in the day, from their sole chart hit ‘Karate’ (Top 40 in the Fall of 1966) , to their cover (which, depending on the day you ask me I may indicate to be the superior version) of Don Gardner’s ‘My Baby Likes To Boogaloo’.
You can head over to the Funky16Corners web zine to check out a piece I wrote about the group many years ago, but suffice to say, over the course of the handful of 45s they recorded the Emperors laid down a fantastic take on the whole sock soul thing with the same garagey edge you hear on some of Chuck Edwards’ 45s (was it something in the Pennsylvania water??).
The group formed in Harrisburg, PA but recorded all of their 45s in Philadelphia.
Today I bring you both sides of a 45 that I was unaware of for years, until I happened upon it at a record show. I had always assumed the Emperors three Mala 45s to be the entirety of their output, until I grabbed their sole Brunswick 45, ‘Karate Boogaloo’ b/w ‘Mumble Shingaling’.
Recorded in 1967 and produced – like their earlier 45s – by Philly radio personality George Wilson – this is a funkier side of the Emperors, with the core of their original sound still present, but with a stripped down production style.
‘Karate Boogaloo’ – which begins with some weird, clearly overdubbed crowd noise – includes some cool percussion, rhythm guitar and of course the Emperor’s harmonies. ‘Mumble Shingaling’ features some great, shambolic guitar and organ. It’s the kind of record that makes you wonder what the Emperors – like so many groups that bumped up against the end of the era of pure soul into the sound of funk – might have done had they continued to make music.
This is the last thing they did before the group broke up seeing a partial regrouping as Emperors Soul 69 for the Futura label out of their home base of Harrisburg, PA.
As has been the case for some years now, aside from digging up the original 45s (which a quick online search will reveal to be considerably more expensive than they used to be), your best bet is to grab the Philly Archives CD reissue which includes all of their best work.
I hope you dig the song, and that you raise a glass in memory of Edgar Moore.
NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio this Friday night at 9PM. It’s a funk 45 exercise, so you won’t want to miss it!
See you on Monday.
Peace
Larry
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PS Head over to Iron Leg for a a glimpse at the sound of Billy Joel…circa 1967
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Themocracy
Killer 45, I need to pull it back out for a spin or three. I love how the crowd noise is so obviously looped.
Yup. I had a hashed copy for years, then a few months ago I minted up cheap at the Allentown show.
My Father Samuel AJ King was the guitar player on this track, the person who was supposed to sit in was not there and my father sat in on the recording of this record. One of the other members of the recording povided us with a burned copy of the 45.
[…] over at Funky 16 Corners did a write up last year of “Karate Boogaloo” on Brunswick here and more info from his […]
Edgar Moore was my grandfather. I enjoyed the time that I spent with him. It wasn’t much but it was enough for me. I found out around age 13 or 14 that he was in this group and words can’t expressed how proud I was to be his granddaughter not because he was in a group but he had such musical talent. I love music and everything about it. I was soo excited to see one of his songs on iTunes that was huge. I will always remember my pop pop and I love him dearly. RIP <3