A love of bowling led two daring men to discover an untamed vault of funk. Stones Throw Record’s founder Peanut Butter Wolf (a highly respected DJ from the Bay Area) and producer, Eothen “Egon” Alapatt were in the midst of a cross-country bowling trip along with excavating old record bins. When the duo stopped in Indianapolis (affectionately referred to as “Naptown”), they met Clifford Palmer, a sax player for the defunct 70’s soul band, The Highlighters. Palmer played the twosome some of his old 45’s, and Wolf was so smitten that he declared that his next project would be a compilation of funk from the late 60s to the early 70s.

The name of the compilation was summoned from one of the Highlighter old tunes, “The Funky 16 Corners.” Corners are collective beats from the band during a song (James Brown’s “Get Up: Sex Machine” is a great example). The “corners” had developed a craze during the late 60s, and the Highlighters went for the Guinness Book by delivering the most corners —16 — to date. The former jazz high school band, led by vocalist James Bell (a long time Ford Motor Company employee), do their best to upstage the impenetrable James Brown. Bell’s squeals on the cut “Funky 16 Corners” definitely pilfer JB’s patent yelps.

The Highlighters aren’t the only Indianapolis band featured on Funky 16. When they broke up in 1970 (economic pitfalls associated with touring), two of the members went on to form The Rhythm Machine. Their cut on this compilation, “The Kick,” should be an anthem for abstinence. The song starts with a comical plea — “People of our nation. As you know drugs have been called public enemy #1... As our contribution to the drug war, we are introducing a new dance called The Kick, hoping that those of you who are trying to kick, or those of you who would like to kick, will get caught up in The Kick influence. In order to nip you got to kick it, kick it, kick it.” The call ends and the durable funk begins. This song would have made George Clinton shed his plastered sunglasses in amazement.

Another Naptown offshoot of the Highlighters was James Bell and the Turner Brothers. Their “Funky Buzzard” is a CD bonus track on the compilation and its instrumental prowess suggests a band that should have been appointed to a regent higher than old record crates. Drummer Dewayne Garvin inspired George Clinton and Marvin Gaye so much that they hired him to play with them in the 70s.

There are many more standouts on this 22 cut album, but be warned: listening to the album straight through can cause gyration exhaustion. Start with Bad Medicine (an all-white band from up state New York) and their Track #4 contribution, “Trespasser.” Their sensibilities for jazz and the funk dressing on the side are sharp.

Soul Vibration’s “Dump” and “Jody’s Freeze” by James Reece and the Progressions (both instrumentals) simmer with buttery soul, and “Kashmere” by the Kashmere Stage Band sounds comfy at a party or on any 70s TV soundtrack.

With a song name like “Fishhead,” the band better be ready to lay it out, and Slim and the Southful Saints spew the funk. The silky interlacing of the horn and bass on the roly poly “Fishhead” is textbook funk.

Perhaps the most enjoyable cut on Funky 16 is Spider Harrison’s “Beautiful Day.” Harrison (another Naptown native) was a Radio DJ turned funk bandleader. Harrison has a friendly grip on the elements of soul; his “Beautiful Day” is mellow soul coupled with a humorous “cat call.” His “hah-hah-hah-hah” attempt at sounding like James Brown sounds more like an ill-fated battle with hairballs.

Of course, not all of it works. Billy and the Upsetter’s reworking of Archie Bell and the Drell’s “Tighten Up Tighter” sounds like a recording made at a meth lab. The speed of “Tighter” is incredible, recalling boyhood moments of finger twirling the record player to hear the voices sound like chatty chipmunks. It’s not that extreme, but it’s really close. Avoid if you’re an ardent supporter of Bell and the Drells.

However, most of the time, Funky 16 Corners slides down like a neckbone swaddled in collard clothing. There’s even a contributing track by DJ Cut Chemist (“Bunky’s Pick”) who does a turntable medley of all the songs. It’s an ode to guys who knew the funk and were willing to challenge the bell curve set by Mr. James Brown and Associates. These are cobwebbed classics, lonely jives that hermited in record crates for twenty years. Be careful, once you let them out, they will not go back willingly. Funk will not be ignored.

Brain Pokers — these are albums, which in the “world according to the deities of mainstream” are “out of date.” However, since I’m not cool, I allow older albums to infiltrate my ear canal and then squat in my gray matter. Here are a few antiquated items you can find in any record store:

Cut Chemist: Rare Equations (Mixtape)

The grand pooh-bah of DJ’s may be Cut Chemist, spinner extraordinaire for the group Jurassic 5, and (on occasion) Ozomatli. Deft in his ability to create a heavy groove out of the uncanny (i.e. Lynrd Skynrd, Ray Manzareck’s —of the Doors — solo music), Cut Chemist is lush window dressing for the front stage rappers of Jurassic 5.

Rare Equations reminds unwary ears that Cut Chemist has a name all his own. This is some of his earliest work and helped pave the way for his works with turntable pioneer DJ Shadow on Brainfreeze and Product Placement. With the mixing help of DJ Nu-Mark (another culprit of Jurassic 5), Rare Equations is fused tightly with hip-hop, funk, and beats that seem to take on new indentities.

The deep in the gut rap of Chali 2NA (yet another Jurassic 5 member) thunders into the mix, and the antics of rapper Biz Markie (he and Cut Chemist are shared vinyl addicts) settle nicely into this dance heavy release. Somehow, he even messes with a Funky Meter’s cut and comes out on the other side sounding (New Orleans’s natives, please don’t hex me) funkier than the original.


Dire Straits: Dire Straits — Warner Remasters

Ever since I got Mark Knopfler’s recent knockout Ragpicker’s Dream, my body has craved Dire Straits like a retro addict in search of polyester. Their self-titled debut is the stuff of guitar dreams, an album that introduced the world to the double picking madness of Mr. Knopfler (a former journalist). The album opens with two of the best songs written with water as a protagonist — “Down to the Waterline” and “Water of Love.” And who can forget the song that started my lifelong pursuit of air guitar sweetness — “Sultans of Swing.”

Besides the radio juggernauts, the Straits strut their stuff on the boogie spice of “Setting Me Up” and “Southbound Again.” The port wine of this raucous album is “Lions,” a mellow but smoky closer to one of the most brilliant debuts ever.

Me’Shell Ndegeocello: Plantation Lullabies

Let’s see: seven Grammy nominations (since the debut of Plantation), an accomplished musical director and composer, worked or recorded with (among a fleet of others) Herbie Hancock, Prince, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones, and oh yes, a knowledge of the bass that seems almost sexually intimate. Yet, Me’Shell Ndegeocello (pronounced N-day-gay-O-chello — it means “free like a bird” in Swahili) still gets an owlish, “who?” whenever her name swirls in conversation circles.

Whenever I get this response, I usually point willing adventurers to her 1993 debut album, Plantation Lullabies. Me’Shell was the first woman to sign with Madonna’s Maverick label and Plantation Lullabies is drenched in an anatomical knowledge of soul music (her father was jazz saxophonist Jacques Johnson). The album was nominated for three Grammys and earned her bassist of the year from Bass Player Magazine (the first woman to win the honor).

When not getting squirrelly with the bass, Me’Shell spouts spoken word with an acidic funk. “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)” will prompt muscular jives while simultaneously wincing at the cuckold lyricism. Other standouts include “I’m Diggin’ You (Like An Old Soul Record),” “Step Into the Projects,” “Outside Your Door”...well, actually, I might as well mention every track. Each one is ripe with elegant boogaloo and lyrics that sprout more insight with every listen. I could try and genre label Plantation Lullabies, but I’ll be lazy and let Me’Shell define her domain:

“I just make beats,” she said in a past interview. “I play my bass, express myself, search and that’s it. Whatever else does or doesn’t come with that in terms of the way people respond, that’s cool. Bottom line, it’s got to be sincere and its got to be funky. The rest, I can’t f*ck with.”