Even though it was released nearly 40 years ago in Nigeria, the City Street Funk Band's only album, 'Funky Pack' is heavy heavy heavy on the FUNK. In the mid-70s in Lagos, psychedelic rock was starting to get hijacked by the mainstream, the live scene getting its kicks on juju music, and the soul/rock market mostly cannibalized by Fela's afrobeat. On the club scene, DJs were playing American funk hits from the likes of Kool & The Gang, the Ohio Players or Mandrill and singer Philli Foxxy decided to launch a new hard funk group, the C.S. Funk Band. Recorded at EMI's studios in 1976 and the first album to feature the Mood Synthesizer in Nigeria, 'Funky Pack''s aiming-for-the-dancefloor grooves are killer. After that record, other bands started to go for the super heavy bass too… This reissue repackages the album, with all the smashing funk tunes on the A side, while the B-side is less essential, with a ballad and a disco/pop song, plus 3 bonus tracks from a former group, the Youths Of The Universe, more on a psych/garage tip.

C.S. Crew - Funky Pack
C.S. Crew - Funky Pack
(CD/LP) Cultures Of Soul COS006, 2013-04-16

Tracklisting :
A1. Love Is Peace
A2. Freaky Funkyfied Fix
A3. Bread Power
A4. Doin' The Good Thing
B1. Living Forever
B2. I've Found Love
and from The Youths Of The Universe LP :
B3. Dig In With Time
B4. Troubles Of The World
B5. Last Day



Links :
Buy it on juno or on bigcartel
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Press Release :
The C.S. Crew's Funky Pack can be best described as Nigeria's own blend of Kool and the Gang, Mandrill and the Ohio Players with a Moog synthesizer thrown in for good measure. Reissued for the first time this late 70s Nigerian raw funk masterpiece album includes bonus tracks from the related group Youths of the Universe and liner notes written by Comb and Razor label owner and Nigerian record collector extraordinaire, Uchenna Ikonne.

Funky Pack features nine cuts of rare Nigerian funk. This includes the sweaty and growling funk tracks "Bread Power," "Doin' the Good Thing," and "Freaky Funkyfied Fix," along with the psychedelic funk dancer "Love is Peace" and the end-of-the-night lo-fi party jam "I've Found Love." Youths of the Universe featured two members of the C.S. Crew and this album includes the psych/garage tracks "Troubles of the World", "Dig In With Time", and "Last Day" from the extremely rare Youths of the Universe album Gettin Into YOU.


Original post on Paris DJs