Glenn Murdock Tells How Mother’s Finest Blazed Its Funk-Rock Path

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 this two-part series: Glenn Murdock, co-founder and singer of the groundbreaking funk-rock band Mother’s Finest. With a lineup that could seamlessly and authentically swing from guitar-fueled riffage to bass-driven grooves to soulful R&B, sometimes within the same song, Mother’s Finest notched three consecutive gold-selling albums in the late 1970s. Fronted by fiery singer Joyce Kennedy (Murdock’s wife), who also enjoyed solo success in the 1980s, the band’s assortment of fantastic songs included “You’ll Like It ‘Hear,” “Give You All the Love (Inside of Me),” “Baby Love,” “Truth’ll Set You Free,” “Can’t Fight the Feeling,” “Don’t Wanna Come Back,” the hit ballad “Love Changes” and the controversial “Niggizz Can’t Sang Rock & Roll.”

In the process, the group became famous worldwide for its ferocious live shows. Mother’s Finest has continued to deliver knockout shows up the present day, and also released new albums in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and most recently in 2015. The intense funk-rock force of Mother’s Finest — a daring band that stuck to its guns with an exciting blend of genres despite the many obstacles cast in their path through the years — continues to shine brightly as we head into 2018, a fact of which we should all feel very grateful.

Along with Mandrill and the Meters, Mother’s Finest is one of the most underrated of oft overlooked funk-rock innovators of the 1970s. Here, Murdock goes into great detail about the band’s origins, struggles being musically pigeonholed and confronting racial barriers, hard lessons learned along the way, and his philosophical outlook.

Recorded January 2018

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Scott Goldfine

As a fervid lifelong music & film enthusiast / student, I grew up in and around the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I have worked and held many positions in various media realms, since 1998 serving as Editor-in-Chief and now Associate Publisher for Security Sales & Integration, a trade publication serving the electronic security industry. I love several genres of music & film. The former includes funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, Ohio Players, etc.); blues (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Gales, etc.); rock (Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, etc.); hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc.); jazz (Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Crusaders, etc.); R&B (Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, etc.); and more. I was a club disc jockey and ran a mobile DJ company (Musical Moods) for more than 15 years, which is where the name Dr. GX originates (Doctor Good Times). Fave film genres include horror (Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.); science fiction (Aliens, Terminator, 2001, etc.); action (Warriors, Road Warrior, Die Hard); westerns (Outlaw Josey Wales, Showdown at OK Corral; Wild Bunch, etc.); suspense (Jaws, Inception, Silence of the Lambs, etc.); drama (Apocalypse Now, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, etc.); and comedies (Life of Brian, Superbad, Ruthless People, etc.). I have attended many hundreds of concerts and movies (in theaters or screenings). I may as well also throw in a few favorite TV shows to give an even broader taste of my sensibilities. A handful would be Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Lost, Justified, Fargo, Seinfeld, Sopranos, South Park, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Key & Peele, Monty Python, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Last Man on Earth, Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family and The Office. Fave authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker and Michael Crichton. I am also a big sports fan and lifelong supporter of the Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB). Also enjoy my family of course, electronics/computers/AV gear, and animals, nature and outdoor activities. Graduate of Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College and California State University Northridge (Radio-TV-Film, Psychology minor). Also studied at UCLA for kinesiology/psychology and earned post-grad Certificate in Accounting from Santa Monica College. Present main occupation is as Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Security Sales & Integration (SSI), which I joined in 1998. I am responsible for overseeing all editorial content in print. online, electronic, in-person and any other media or products for the electronic security industry's leading business-to-business trade publication. SSI is part of Framingham, Mass.-based Emerald Expositions.