Greetings all.

I’ve been cold and tired of late, so I thought it wise to light a fire under this week’s figurative ass, and what better way to do that than with a tasty slice of breakbeat funk.

‘Shack Up’ by Banbarra is one of those records that I knew of – as a breakbeat source – long before I ever heard (or owned) it.

Not only was it sampled heavily, but it also had a second (third?) life of sorts when it was covered by the UK post punk band A Certain Ratio in 1980.

The thing that I found odd is that when I started to look for information on the band and the record, I found almost nothing.

The facts as they stand are, Banbarra was a Washington, DC based act featuring Moe Daniels and Joseph Anthony Carter. They recorded ‘Shack Up’ in 1975, and though it didn’t hit the Pop or R&B charts, it was popular on disco dancefloors in both the US and the UK (it shows up on Billboard’s disco charts for 1976).

Bearing both a very 1970s message of “we don’t need a piece of paper to prove our love”, and one of the tastiest, swingingest breakbeats ever, ‘Shack Up’ really ought to have been a hit.

Unfortunately, as good as ‘Shack Up’ is, Banbarra never made another record.

That, as they say, is a drag.

So dig the funk (and that break), and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

 

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

 

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.