REVIEW: Various Artists, Funk on Film (PolyGram)
- Joann D. Ball
Funk on Film (PolyGram) is a right-on collection of some of the best cuts featured in that genre of 1970s films often labelled Blaxploitation. Aimed primarily at African-Americans who longed to see themselves and their experiences represented on the movie screen, Blackploitation films were shown at inner-city movie houses across the country during the first half of that decade. As Black Power on film, these movies featured Black celluloid heroes and heroines who didn't take no mess and went up against The System to the sounds of a soulful and funky soundtrack. With twelve baaaadassss cuts, Funk on Film is indeed "Super Bad '70s Cinematic Soul The Hard Way!"
Funk on Film gets on the case with Isaac Hayes' "Theme From 'Shaft,'" the title track from the 1971 tour de force starring Richard Roundtree. Decades before becoming the voice of the soul singing Chef on the animated hit show "South Park," Hayes secured his position as a soul institution with this signature song. Without a doubt, Pam Grier was the toughest sistah on the urban big screen in the early 1970s. As Foxy Brown Grier didn't play around, a trait plain for all to see in the 1974 movie bearing that character's name and celebrated in "Theme of Foxy Brown/Overture of Foxy Brown" performed by Willie Hutch. And over 20 years later as Jackie Brown, Grier rides off into the sunset singing along with Bobby Womack and Peace to "Across 110th Street." Originally the theme for the 1972 hit movie of the same name, "Across 110th Street" is included here along with another gritty big city tale, James Brown's "Down and Out in New York City" from the flick "Black Caesar."
Long before she brought some color and class to television's "Dynasty," Diahann Carroll gave a memorable performance as Claudine, a working class mom trying to keep her family intact in the movie of the same name. The Curtis Mayfield-penned "On and On" featured in "Claudine" was a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips. Although it is included here, the music social commentaries sung by Mayfield on the soundtrack for "Super Fly" are notably absent. Any one of the three hits from this movie, the title song, "Pusherman," or "Freddie's Dead," would have made Funk on Film a much more complete collection.
The Staple Singers' slow-burner "Let's Do It Again" from the movie of the same name which starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier is featured here along with the Four Tops' soulful "Are You Man Enough" from "Shaft in Africa," the 1973 sequal to the genre blockbuster "Shaft." Of the twelve tracks on this CD, "Car Wash" by Rose Royce has probably enjoyed the most mainstream success given its disco-friendly beat. But oddly enough, the instrumental track "Theme From Together Brothers" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra has provided the basis for a 1990s dance hit, "C'mon Ride It (The Train)" by the Quad City DJ's.
The twelve tracks on Funk on Film capture an important phase in both musical and cinematic history. The combination of music and film represented here was built on the essence of soul, and which was a central part of Seventies' popular culture. Funk on Film has hit record stores at the perfect time, given the renewed interest in all things from that decade. So, groove to these soundtrack cuts and be sure to keep an eye open for the films in which they appear the next time you visit the video store.
TRACK LISTING [artist in brackets]: Theme From 'Shaft' [Isaac Hayes], Across 110th Street [Bobby Womack and Peace], Down and Out in New York City [James Brown], Theme From Together Brothers [Love Unlimited Orchestra], Car Wash [Rose Royce], Theme From Foxy Brown/Overture of Foxy Brown [Willie Hutch], Let's Do It Again [Staple Singers], Little Ghetto Boy [Donny Hathaway], Are You Man Enough [Four Tops], On and On [Gladys Knight & The Pips], No Way Back [The Dells], It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday [G.C. Cameron]
