Trouble Funk
Reviewed on this page:
In Times Of Trouble - Drop The Bomb - In Times
Of Trouble (2 disc version) - Trouble Over
Here, Trouble Over There
Trouble Funk wasn't the first go-go band (Chuck Brown and the Soul
Searchers were), but they were the foremost ambassadors of
Washington DC's great contribution to popular music. Over a
polyrhythmic base using timbales and other Latin percussion and
funky bass, go-go uses chanted vocals and little splashes of horns,
keyboards, chunky rhythm or scorching lead guitar. It's an
extraordinarily supple, extensible form -- you can play anything
from an MOR ballad to a car commercial over a go-go beat and make
it danceable. Trouble Funk has a remarkable ear for catchy hooks,
a fantastic rhythm section, and staying power: I saw them a few
years ago, and they still had all the groove and enthusiasm of
their pioneering early 80s records. For more on go-go, check the
Go-Go Home Page.
(DBW)
Personnel:
Tony Fisher, bass; Robert Reed, keyboards; James
Avery, keyboards; Taylor Reed, horns, keyboards;
Chester Davis, guitar; Timothy "T-Bone" David,
percussion; Mack Carey, drums & percussion; A.
Robinson, drums; David Rudd, sax. Robinson left 1982,
replaced by Emmett Nixon.
 In Times Of Trouble (1979)
The group's debut includes major grooves like the near-instrumental
"Spin Time," the horn-driven "Say What" and "In Times Of Trouble,"
two versions of the frantic "Funk 'N' Roll," and even a yearning
ballad, "Freaky Situation." More varied than most go-go records,
but also containing the seeds of their later sound. (DBW)
 Drop The Bomb (1982)
Several
of the band's big hits are here, but not in the hit versions:
recorded in a hurry for Sugarhill Records, the album includes
stripped-down, lackluster versions of the title track and "Pump It
Up," which both drag without the hooks of their later versions. The
single "Hey Fellas," with an irrestistable horn lick, is the only
worthwhile cut here -- the CD includes a single version plus the hard-hitting non-album
"Supergrit" as bonus tracks. (DBW)
 In Times Of Trouble (2 disc version) (1983)
A 2-disc rerelease which adds a live album recorded in DC, a
nonstop jam including half a dozen stunning riffs and a smoking
version of "Let's Get Small." If you want to hear go-go at its
best, live and studio, don't pass this up. (DBW)
 Trouble Over Here, Trouble Over There (1987)
This time out, the band gave up on go-go and went for a mildly funky R&B sound, working with Bootsy
Collins. It doesn't work: the tunes are mundane, with so many overdubs layered on, the music loses any spontaneity. Bootsy brings
in late 80s cohorts Steve
Jordan, Vickie Vee and Mico Wave, and wrote "Trouble" and "New
Money," which are decent but forgettable. The one excellent track
is the only one that recalls Trouble Funk's old sound, the hook-filled ode to their percussionist
"Hey Tee Bone." (DBW)
Classics Vol. 3 - Back In The Day (1994)
Droppin' Bombs (1999)
A greatest hits. (DBW)
All The Way Live (2000)
Let's get small.
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