Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Fun(k) Facts: So...Is It Arlester or Dyke?

Happily the answer is both. When he was born in Buffalo,NY in '43, it seems like Arlester Christian's parents had him pegged as a future British bon vivant and chat show presenter,not a funk originator. Luckily the toddler had other ideas. By the early 60's he was in Buffalo's baddest band, The Blazers, and his childhood nickname (received for the way he pronounced dice when he was a pup)Dyke, was firmly ensconced. The Blazers were tapped to be the back up band for the O'Jays and Dyke hit the road. Unfortunetly, by the time the tour reached Phoenix the O'Jays were out of dough and The Blazers had to leave the bus. Resorceful as ever, Dyke and the boys stayed in the desert and made history. They cut one of Dyke's tunes for a local label, a little thing called Funky Broadway, that was the first ever record with funk on the label. JB might have found the funk sound, but Dyke named it. Dyke was cut down by street fight gun fire in '71, but his hard funk will live on.
(For an alternate take on the origin of funk see Smokey Johnson..)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

classic stuff, cheers Cody!

Cody B said...

It is rough, isn't it Duncan? Just the way I like it.

Steve626 said...

Great, great music. If you can find We Got More Soul -- 2 CD's of Dyke, it's even better. Thanks for this.

Cody B said...

Good point Steve...I have a few other tracks on comps, but I couldn't see getting that whole set...I've had this one for ages, but I should prolly get off the dime.

soulrocket said...

I owned a Dyke's button back at when it was fashionable to wear those.

Hey, Cody. Reading your last posts made me feel all nostalgic (I was there when you wrote most of them).
Hope everything is fine with you and yours, baby.

Cody B said...

Those were the days rocket..but all is well in the new world too..good to hear from you.

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