Hello, good evening and welcome to Strictly Business.
It's compilation time again, and we have something a little different this time around - Strictly Kids.
This is the Strictly Biz top 25 funky childrens tracks.
Funky basslines & breaks galore here, all plucked from childrens LPs, once again from the well known to the obscure.
Most of these have either been picked up from charity shops, or just lifted from the web, so the sound quality varies a bit.
Again, this is just the first part of what will be an ongoing series.
This stuff is definitely funky, so whether you listen to it yourself, or pass it on to your kids, this isn't old school, it's pre school, get down to the sounds of Strictly Kids.
Tracks include -
The Banana Splits on TV was the shit when I was a kid, used to love those crazy creatures. An LP called 'We're The Banana Splits' was released containing many nuggets of funky joy, three of them are included here, 'Doing The Banana Splits', 'Soul', and 'The Loving End'. Those bizarre looking buggers definitely knew how to play.
Bob & Merry Chimbel's tracks here are from the 'Richard Scarry's Find Your ABCs' LP, fairly weird stuff. 'R' is on some Ziggy Stardust shit, and 'T' has got drum machines & rapping on it.
'London Oh London' is stated as by Bugs Bunny, but Mel Blanc definitely didn't do the voice, it seems it was all done by some bloke called Mike McNaught. The backing track is a funky gem, but the vocals are really fucking painful, plus the same verses are repeated several times, by the end it's agony on the ol' ear lugs. So, funky track, nice horns, but certainly not easy listening.
Next up we have the legendary couple of Harrell & Sharron Lucky, Now these pair recorded lots of childrens exercise albums in the 70s, but they were obviously into the funk, as these four tracks prove. 'Carpet Drill Team Routine' is from the 'Carpet Square' LP, concentrating on exercise routine based around squares of carpet ! They don't make 'em like that any mo'. 'I'll Walk On The Line' is from the 'Tempo For Tots' LP and is a gem. Funky drums, funky bass, funky piano & funky guitar, what else could you want. The drummer gets some at 1 minute 10 seconds. 'Pease Porridge Hot' will instantly be familiar to fans of De La Soul's second (excellent) LP. From the much talked about & hard to find 'Rhythm & Rhyme' LP. Damn funky again, and the tempo keeps speeding up leading to a frantic ending. If only they kept rocking another 20 seconds they could have invented drum & bass, maybe. The Harrells final track here is 'The Body Clap', dope clean drumbreak at the beginning, again from the 'Tempo For Tots' LP. Just drums & percussion in the back, but still plenty funky. (Shit, how many times have I used the word 'Funky' already).
Next up, from the rather scary 'It's OK To Say No' LP, the spoken word parts of the album have been used a few times on hip hop tracks, but it's the title track featured right here.
The track is slightly weird and edgy, but it's funky enough.
The whole LP is pretty crazed, I have a series of three on vinyl but I have no idea if there are any i'm missing. Check out Company Flow's 'Bad Touch Example' for an idea of what to expect.
Then, from the 'Bobby & Betty Go To The Moon' album it's two cuts from Leo Muller, a spacey cover of the JB classic 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' and 'The Party After Landing', which is another groovy little number with nice horns, chimes & spacey sounds.
Playaway was my favourite shit back in 1981, my man Sonny D put me onto this nice little 'party rocker' from the Playaway crew, it's short but it's dope, and it's an Effin' Cees classic. Word to Brian Cant.
Now the first of our Playschool tracks, U.K. heads will without doubt remember Playschool, but did you know that they rocked fat breakbeats ? Lionel Morton's 'Fearless Fred's Amazing Animal Band' is a story about (duh) an animal band.
Nuttin's a gwan until Olly Octopus blesses us with a huge open drum break at 1 minute 9 seconds. This break is so fat, Olly rocks that shit lovely.
The next Playschool track is Malcolm Carrick's 'Come To The Shops', from the 'Bang On A Drum' LP. It starts out as a standard kids tune, then the bass kicks in and we get a funky workout about "Fish & Lollypops".
And the third Playschool is Rick Jones' 'Bang On A Drum', from the album of the same name. This is the first kids break I ever found many years back, and I definitely have a soft spot for this track. Nice track in general, couple of drumbreaks including a drum outro. Flair classes this as classic material, maybe the rhythm section was Big & Little Ted !
Then, from another BBC LP it's Ragtime. The track in question is by Miss Sponge & Mr Jelly (actually Maggie Henderson and Fred Harris), Sponge's Welsh rhymes are a bit grating, but this track evolves into another funky bass and drum jam. Another track that speeds up until it all gets too mental and has to stop.
Next, from the rather long titled 'Susan Sings Songs From Sesame Street With The Children's Chorus' LP it's Susan (a.k.a. Loretta Long) with 'ABC Song'. Starts our standard, then morphs into a funky alphabet extravaganza. Loretta has quite a sweet voice and the band totally get busy.
The Brady Bunch released an LP called 'The Kids From The Brady Bunch' with a few suprisingly funky tracks, the best of which is the awesome 'Drummer Man', quality stuff with an wicked heavy break at the start.
Talking of drumbreaks, it's The Mike Curb Congregation with 'Mickey Mouse March', that break is off the fucking hizoock dun. It's a nice joint overall anyway, but that break just kills it. Another BBC LP in the U.K. 'Best Of Disney Time', 20 pence from a charity shop if I remember correctly.
The next four tracks are unknown to me, well, I know the name of the tracks, but I have no idea who the artist is, if anyone out there can help with information on these four I would greatly appreciate it.
'Baa Baa Black Sheep' is here, this version is pretty basic until 1 minute 20 seconds, when it breaks down into a headnodding piece that will make your toddlers bounce.
'I Can Fly' is another one by an unknown artist that I found on the net, It's got some nice flutes, and it's got 'Fly' in the title, so it can't be too bad.
'Period Portrait 1' I have no idea about whatsoever, I can't find any info anywhere, but it's a funky jam with driving rhythms and percussion. This one I would particularly like to know about, as I would love to hear what the rest of the album is like.
Finally, a couple of tracks from an unknown childrens exercise LP. The first part is funky enough, but it's the second part that I really dig. Drums, bass & piano in perfect funky harmony, plus that "Down, Bounce, Bounce, Up" shit is mad dope. Sounds like somebody should have sampled it, but I haven't heard it used anywhere.
Strictly Business presents -
Strictly Kids
Banana Splits - Doing The Banana Splits
Banana Splits - Soul
Banana Splits - The Loving End
Bob & Merry Chimbel - Find Your ABCs : R
Bob & Merry Chimbel - Find Your ABCs : T
Bugs Bunny - London Oh London
Harrell & Sharron Lucky - Carpet Drill Team Routine
Harrell & Sharron Lucky - I'll Walk On The Line
Harrell & Sharron Lucky - Pease Porridge Hot
Harrell & Sharron Lucky - The Body Clap
Joe Beard - It's OK To Say No
Leo Muller - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
Leo Muller - The Party After Landing
Playaway - The Party Is About To Begin
Playschool (Lionel Morton) - Fearless Fred's Amazing Animal Band
Playschool (Malcolm Carrick) - Come To The Shops
Playschool (Rick Jones) - Bang On A Drum
Ragtime (Miss Sponge & Mr Jelly) - Motorists Are We
Susan Sings Songs From Sesame Street (Loretta Long) - ABC Song
The Brady Bunch - Drummer Man
The Mike Curb Congregation - Mickey Mouse March
Unknown - Baa Baa Black Sheep
Unknown - I Can Fly
Unknown - Period Portrait 1
Unknown - Unknown Childrens Exercise Tracks
Password - defandstupid
Next up, something controversial.........
"Tear It Up Drummer Man"
