When one thinks of the cultural contributions that Brooklyn's African-American neighborhoods made in the 1980s and 1990s, the people who immediately come to mind range from director
Spike Lee
to major rappers (
the Fat Boys
,
Big Daddy Kane
MC Lyte
Biz Markie
, among many others) to
soul
/
urban
contemporary singer
James "D-Train" Williams
. But back in the 1970s, Brooklyn was known for its
disco
-minded brand of
funk
. Brooklyn
wasn't the kind of hardcore funk that you expected from
James Brown
George Clinton
's
P-funk
empire (
Parliament/Funkadelic
Bootsy Collins
the Brides of Funkenstein
, etc.),
the Gap Band
Rick James
, or
the Ohio Players
-- it was
-
, and Brooklyn outfits like
B.T. Express
the Crown Heights Affair
, and
Skyy
were huge in the clubs (especially black clubs). When
' second album,
Non-Stop
, came out in 1975,
Scepter
assumed that it would fare well in
dance
clubs -- and sure enough, club DJs went wild over this record. However,
contained some major radio hits as well, including
"Peace Pipe"
and
"Give It What You Got"
(both of which reached number five on
Billboard
R&B
singles chart). Meanwhile,
"Still Good, Still Like It"
"Discotizer"
are among that tracks that weren't big radio hits but grabbed the attention of club jocks. The LP's only ballad is a cover of the
Burt Bacharach
Hal David
favorite
"Close to You"
; although
' version is pleasant enough, the fact remains that romantic
ballad
s were never its strong point. Up-tempo material is what defines
and makes it one of the band's finest, most essential albums. ~ Alex Henderson