Sugarhill’s “Rappers delight” was not made with any of the technology to which you refer. The first Roland programmable drum machine, the CR-78, was released in 1978 and the first machine that made an impact on the music scene was the Linn LM-1 in 1980 which cost a staggering $5000, the infamous Roland 808 was released the same year. The backing for Sugarhill’s record was actually made with tape loops of Chic’s “Good times” break. The record was creative and new and opened up a new genre of music and it certainly didn’t kill soul or sign the death warrant for musicians.

It is also unfair and I think untrue to blame DJ’s and hip-hop artists. What they were doing was something different, something new. They used turntables as their instruments and drums by manually manipulating vinyl records to make extended breaks and loops to create their own rhythms. To do that well requires skill. They were not killing soul either, on the contrary, many of them extended the life of soul music by bringing artists like James Brown to a younger audience who otherwise would never have heard his music.

Disco and soul music existed alongside and within each other in the 70’s and after disco’s demise, the 80’s yielded some great soul records, many of which utilized drum machines and synthesizers in the production. The difference was (and this is where I start to agree with jimmymack) they were mostly programmed and played by musicians. The clever musicians learned how to use and embrace new technology, rather than bemoan its existence and blame it for killing music or putting them out of a job.

I believe the demise of soul came about in the latter half of the 80’s and I think there were two reasons. First is the pop video. The record buying youth were being sold images of pop stars and they started listening with their eyes. How the singer looked became more important than how they sounded. James Brown and Aretha Franklin had amazing voices, but put them alongside the new romantic pop stars of the 80’s, or the sexual images they are sold today and the kids just won’t get it.

Secondly, I think to a degree soul died of natural causes. Just as traditional jazz and the greats like Sinatra and Ella were shunned by the kids who got excited about Elvis, styles changed… it’s just evolution.

Technology cannot be blamed for making it “too easy” to make a record. If it is easier then that allows more people to make music, so there is more choice for the listener and the people with real talent will always make a better record than those without, regardless of the tools they use. But therein lays the real problem. What is a “better record” exactly? Is “Sexy Bitch” a good record? It certainly isn’t soul, or full of any great musicianship, but it is a huge hit and try telling the 1000 people who pack my dancefloor on a Saturday night that it is rubbish… I think they will disagree. But are they wrong, or just entitled to their opinion?

I do however think that it is a matter of education to a degree. It is a shame that a great singing voice is not enough now, it has to be accompanied by sex appeal and images to sell cd’s to our youth, and that is not what real soul music is about. Maybe one day it will be again.

All of these eras have their “chiller” moments. Peggy Lee’s “The Folks Who Live On The Hill” is a prime example: Nelson Riddle lush arrangement, huge orchestra, Frank Sinatra at the baton.

At the moment the particular “chiller” soul track which I can’t get enough of is The Dukes, Mystery Girl. If I looked through my collection I can think of many such tunes: Billy Griffin, Second Day Love Story; Mercy Mercy, What Are We Going To Do About It; Roy Ayers, No Stranger To Love/Want You; Leon Ware, You Are My Starship; Windjammer, Tossing and Turning; Don Blackman, Since You’ve Been Away (in fact I once witnessed Don’s bass player start to cry during a live performance of this. When I questionned him afterwards, he admitted it is an emotional tune but blamed the smokey atmosphere! No such excuse in today’s smoking free clubs). All these tracks take me to another place. But what can truly achieve this these days?

What is it that all these tracks, old and new, have in common? Quality. Yes, you are absolutely right about “Gucci Music”. Style now wins over substance. We listen with our eyes these days.

One of the Radiocafe team, Glen, was a radio plugger for many years. He tells an excellent story about plugging a recent Lionel Richie album, and working with Lionel’s (then) manager, a woman in her 30s. He embarked on some small talk with her: “I think I preferred Lionel in the Commodores days”, he commented. “What is the Commodores?” came her reply. What made it worse was she even had a piece of paper in front of her with Lionel’s recording biog on it. Glen tells me he entered the music industry as he wanted to work with people who were into their music; and left it because so very people who run this industry have the faintest idea at all.

“Rap and Bass”! Surprised she didn’t say “it’s short for uRBan innit”.

I recently introduced a feature on my show called “The Chiller”. Every week I play one song that gives that shiver down the spine feeling. So far tracks included have been “I’ve been loving you too long” by Otis Redding, “Go away little boy” by Marlena Shaw, “Something He Can Feel” by Aretha Franklin, “Mystery” by Anita Baker, “Aint No Way” by Jean Carne, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Holiday and the most modern recording being “Kissing You” by Keith Washington. For me these are songs that are very special and the vocalist is giving 100%. Of course it is a matter of personal taste, a record that “moves” on person may not affect another, but nowadys it is very hard to find anything where the artist is singing “from the soul”.

So what happened? Is the record industry to blame or is it our culture? It seems that the music industry has gone down the tabloid paper route using sexual images to promote its product with pop videos that are almost pornographic. The current “R&B” scene is dominated by what I call “Gucci music”.. it has become a sexual fashion trend with interchangeable vocalists and formularised production aimed at our youth. It is more about how the artist looks than how they sing. A girl recently came to my DJ booth and asked me to play some “R&B”, I asked her if she knew what “R&B” stands for and she replied “Dunno, is it Rap and Bass?” I think if I had asked her which artist she fancied or which singer was dating who she would have been able to answer!

As a composer, I came across a take on this situation that interested me. A film director in Memphis had noticed there were very few resources left in the former region of Sun Studios and the Muscle Shoals Horns et al for her soundtrack. Economics, Urban Renewal…
I’m a pretty average guy but I’ve loved soulful music for years so I stepped up to the plate to write her some soundtrack. So far its an instrumental suite for soprano sax and concert band and it debuts in a gig on the 24th October at All Saints’ Church, West Dulwich from 7.30pm. I hope its a kind of affirming contemporary gumbo for 30-odd musicians including 4 percussionists, and all kinds of horns. The movie is in production now and is called Up/Down Eve. Information closer to release; the soundtrack mixing starts next January. The director is the very cool survivor Kendra Boaz-Zentando from whom I’ve enjoyed some insightful words down the line from her home city to downtown Finsbury Park. And Cheers to Roger Cawkwell (sax), John Holland (MD) and the Lambeth Wind Orchestra for getting into the project so stylishly.