1) Brainstorm
A band from Detroit, MI. This group was big in the late 70s - early Eighties. There biggest hit was This Must Be Heaven. Lord, if I had a dollar for every time I slow-dragged to that song in some friend's wreck room...Phew! I'd be rich. Rich! I tell ya! Oh, a wreck room? Don't know what that is? Ask your Mama. And if you are not American, ask an American friend to ask their mama. Better yet, Google it! This group had a myriad of members who had a myriad of musical backgrounds. A young Regina Carter even had a stint with them. I have to admit it was the combo of the late Belita Woods and Lamont Johnson's voices on This Must Be Heaven that set me spinning. Ah, youth! Take a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Fe2-ikAjM
Black Merda
Bet you never heard of this one. A rock, funk and psychedelic band based in Detroit also, who was active from the 60s through the 70s and re-upped in the early 2000s. They began as the back up bands for some heavyweights: Wilson Pickett, The Spinners, The Chi-lites, Jackie Wilson, etc. They had a R-n-B background but were heavily influenced by rock and veered off into the realm of Cream and The Who and finally settled into the psychedelic making sounds like Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone. Despite their sound, their message was early Public Enemy.
Take a listen to Long Burn The Fire! You will hear all the influences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AobEReFjtlA
And last but not least is The Rotary Connection.
A band from Chicago who billed themselves as strictly psychedelic soul. I have a soft spot for them because Minnie Riperton sang with before striking out on her own. This was another of those groups with a long roster of members who came and went. They were active from '66 -'74. Sample their sound with a then unknown Minnie Riperton singing Lady Jane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1tZtL6oz44
Groovy, right?
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