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Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on THE ONE: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove.
Featured in TIR Episode 67 (three segments): Two of the original horn players of one of the baddest horn-based funk groups of all time — Mick Grudge and Morris Price of Brass Construction! Formed in Brooklyn, N.Y., and originally known as Dynamic Soul, the band changed its name and with producer-composer-arranger and multi-instrumentalist Randy Muller leading the way embarked on a 10-year run of hit albums and songs beginning in 1975.
Brass Construction’s debut included what would be its most successful single — a jamming track called “Movin” that topped the R&B chart and went to No. 14 on the pop chart, helping push the album to be certified for platinum sales. That record also included the No. 3 dance chart tune “Changin’”
The band would release nine more albums that yielded five additional Top 40 R&B hits. Among those along with other notable tracks were “”Ha Cha Cha,” “The Message,” “What’s on Your Mind,” “Love-U,” “Wake Up, “Get Up,” “Right Place,” the super funky “Get Up to Get Down,” “Do Ya,” “How Do You Do (What You Do to Me),” “Can You See the Light,” “Attitude,” “Walkin’ the Line,” “Partyline” and “Zig Zag.” Although in transitioning from the 1970s to the 1980s the ferocious horns became less prominent in favor of synthesizers, as was the case with virtually all the R&B bands of that era, Brass Construction managed to consistently deliver catchy funk tunes with each release.
Yet there was dissention within the ranks and 1985 would see the group’s final studio album. While Muller had become involved with protege acts like Skyy, another TRUTH IN RHYTHM guest, Grudge and Price — who are also multi-instrumentalists and composers — had latched onto other preoccupations as well. And beginning in the latter 1980s, Grudge and Price spearheaded the revival of Brass Construction as a live act.
In this in-depth interview, the pair recount the group’s entire history including the albums, tracks, stage antics, band dynamics, seldom-told stories, legal wrangling and returning to perform once again and preserve the legacy. Time to get yourself together, get higher and move on with the one and only Brass Construction!
Recorded October 2018
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