Looking for some rare groove music recommendations...?

December 11, 2015 1:23 PM

The past several years I've really found myself drawn to rare groove music. This is fairly obscure soul/funk/r&b from the late 70s and early-mid 80s, much of which has been heavily sampled in hiphop but is less known to the general public. I'm looking for more music similar to some favorites I've found. (links below)

I *really* love the following tracks:

Evelyn 'Champagne King' - I'm In Love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAaZl5pCcAQ

S.O.S. Band - Just Be Good To Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCcg7ctrC4w

Karin Jones - Ready Ready Love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93kTJLCAVvo

Keni Burke - Risin To The Top:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieevQ9RrDc

Leon Haywood - I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbej_lWg6oY

Walter Jackson - It's Cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irklBKIQaXo

Nicole - Desire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzvZvYFJS5M

Natalie Cole - Annie Mae:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB0lgAUKe84

Mary Jane Girls - All Night Long:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B5xS_qk0ko

Bar-Kays - Feels Like I'm Falling In Love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht5Rv4OMyyc

So in general, kind of a melancholic flavor, less of the straight happy/party stuff. Not looking for recommendations of very well known stuff a big music fan would've already heard, but more deep tracks and artists. In this area I lean more toward the post-1980 period because I think it's less explored.

posted by basehead to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Best answer: just digging through what i have (not much from that list) i found this, which seems to be part of a 3 volume series.

also, you might enjoy paul weller's vinyl classics although it's more northern soul.
posted by andrewcooke at 3:07 PM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Destination: Boogie. It's generally a bit more upbeat than your examples, but they are all fairly obscure post-1980 electro-boogie tracks. Some examples:

Mid Air - Ease Out
Karen Young - Deetour
UDM - To Please You
C-Brand - Wired for Games

Basically, you should buy this yesterday.
posted by Vervain at 5:10 PM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've previously recommended the What It Is soul compilation on AskMe, and this seems like a good place to recommend it again. Deep cuts from the 60s and 70s.
posted by gnutron at 8:53 PM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's some stuff that I found while looking up stuff that's been sampled. They fall on the '70s side of things. (Apologies if any of these are obvious.)

Eddie Holman - It's Over
Syl Johnson - Could I Be Falling in Love
Parliament - All Your Goodies Are Gone
Evelyn "Champagne" King - The Show is Over
Minnie Riperton - Inside My Love
posted by crLLC at 6:46 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Sun Palace - Rude Movements
Pleasure - Glide
Dexter Wansel - The Sweetest Pain
The Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt
Rare Essence - Body Moves
posted by p3t3 at 7:42 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: This is my favorite music genre right now. Here are some of my favorites:

This Gladys Knight tune may be the most slept on groove of all time. Crazy groove.

Holding On - Jeffrey Osborne and LTD - Ridiculous bass line
Keep on Loving Me - The Whispers
Shiver - George Benson
Inside Love - George Benson
Party Poops - Heatwave
On The Beat - The BB & Q Band
Let's Celebrate - Skyy
Back Together Again - Roberta Flack & Donnie Hathaway
Feels So Real - Patrice Rushen
I Found Lovin - The Fatback Band
Midas Touch - Midnight Star
Shake it Up Tonight - Cheryl Lynn
Walking into Sunshine - Central Line
Sugar Free - Mtume
Must Be The Music - Secret Weapon
posted by jasondigitized at 11:40 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Some more:
Quazar - Your Lovin' is Easy
Jimmy Castor Bunch - Space Age
Fat Larry's Band - Act Like You Know
Eddie Fisher - Gigolo
S.O.S. Band - High Hopes
D Train - Trying To Get Over
AM-FM - You Are The One
Spence - Get It On
Direct Drive - I'm the One
Lowrell - Mellow Mellow
Krystol - You Ask Too Much
Melba Moore - Love's Comin' At Ya !
Taana Gardner - Heartbeat
Projection - Turn Your Love
posted by p3t3 at 5:43 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Loved some of these above suggestions and the suggested videos on youtube led me to even more.

Generally liking the synth-y stuff more than the crazy electric slap bass stuff.

I hope more people get into this area of music. There's so many labels and artists forgotten now. I know it's bigger in the UK than here in the US.
posted by basehead at 9:27 PM on December 12, 2015

For more obscure stuff, you're better off combing label catalogs rather than artist catalogs. There were a lot of decent lesser known artists putting out dance/R&B singles on labels like Prelude, Fantasy, West End, Brunswick, Streetwise, Solar, Profile, Emergency, Ariola, Spring, etc... Have fun digging! I may get back into this stuff too after this thread; fun stuff!
posted by p3t3 at 12:40 AM on December 13, 2015

Oh, one last label I forgot that is probably a gold mine for anyone who digs this type of stuff - Peoples Potential Unlimited (Discogs, Soundcloud)- a small Washington DC label that puts out obscure reissues, mostly in the early 80s synthy r&b/disco vein, as well as some new artists that make the same type of stuff.
posted by p3t3 at 2:32 AM on December 13, 2015

Best answer: You would do well by looking through reissue labels - PPC is an good place to start, as p3t3 links.

Other excellent labels:
Jazzman - pick any of their funk 45s and you've probably got a gem.
Numero Group - check out their Eccentric Soul series particularly.
Cultures of Soul - somewhat more disco-focused but worth your time.

A couple of songs that don't fit elsewhere but I love:
East of Underground
Stephen Encinas
Don Blackman
posted by solarion at 4:52 PM on December 13, 2015