Some Funkettes

Issued in time for what would have been Patrick Cowleys 70th birthday, Some Funkettes is a selection of disco and funk covers the producer recorded between 1975 and 1977. Charmingly raw and stripped down, the tracks demonstrate his skills at constructing muscular rhythms and painting them with inventive, high-flying keyboard solos. These instrumentals faithfully pay tribute to Cowleys major influences, while unmistakably bearing his personality and style. Papa Wuzza Rollinston is an interstellar take on the Temptations classic, replacing most of the instruments (apart from the wah-wah guitar and tense, simmering drums) with synths, and taking its drama to another level. The track titled Spiked Punch is actually Herbie Hancocks Head Hunters jazz-funk standard Chameleon in disguise, and though its a bit less busy and more laid-back than the original, the interpretation is still highly adventurous and riveting. The albums centerpiece is a cover of Donna Summers Giorgio Moroder-produced hit I Feel Love, prefiguring Cowleys legendary 15-minute remix of the groundbreaking track, which became an underground hit years before it was officially issued in 1982. Backed by slightly wobbly drums and insistent, throbbing bass, Cowleys synth lines mimic Summers iconic vocal performance before jetting off on their own ecstatic course. A bit more down to earth is the explosive funk of Dynomite, a Top Ten hit for Tony Camillos Bazuka in 1975. The CD and digital editions of the album include vocal versions of two songs. Do It Any Way You Wanna, originally by the Philadelphia-based Peoples Choice, is much improved by the inclusion of the songs simple, unforgettable chorus, while Rollinston, though earnestly sung, sounds more evocative when left as an instrumental. Even when he was riffing on familiar cuts, Cowley left a distinctive touch on everything he did, and Some Funkettes is just as enlightening as the rest of the archival volumes of his music which have surfaced in the 21st century. ~ Paul Simpson