They included Phil Fearon (Galaxy and Kandidate) and Lloyd Phillips (Kandidate), brother of guitarist Paul, before becoming Hi-Tension and riding high on the Brit funk wave with the tracks, "Hi Tension" and "British Hustle".
Hi-Tension is the sole album by Britfunk band Hi-Tension, released in 1978 by Island Records. Following the domestic success of the band's hit single "Hi-Tension", considered the first Britfunk song, the band recorded the album with producers Alex Sadkin and Kofi Ayivor at Island Studios, London. Disagreements arose between producer Sadkin, who proposed a commercial direction, and band leader David Joseph who wanted the album to retain the band's aggressive live sound. Hi-Tension reached number 54 on the UK Albums Chart, while "British Hustle" provided the band with their sole Top 10 hit.
Despite its muted reception, and the group subsequently disbanding, Hi-Tension has since been regarded as a key and influential album in Britfunk and British R&B.
In August 1978, "British Hustle" was released as a single and became the band's only UK Top 10 hit, where it reached number 8. The track was popularised by British DJs like Greg Edwards and Robbie Vincent, and according to Easlea, "[t]he single had a freshness, edginess and pizzazz that simply wasn’t coming out of the US disco phenomenon at that point." Black Echoes reported in September that the album would be named Bless the Funk and released on 20 October. To promote the upcoming record, Hi-Tension began a 40-date tour in autumn 1978, but the album was not yet completed, "so it was almost a waste of time" according to Joseph.
The band also found their equipment kept getting damaged, commenting: "It's like the better you become, and the more things you get, the worse it becomes." In early 1979, the band fired their management team – who operated internally at Island – due to the problems surrounding the album's production, and signed to a new company who gave them what they saw as "the right balance of guidance and independence.
The eventually released album, named Hi-Tension, entered the UK Albums Chart in January 1979, peaking at number 54 and spending four weeks in total, but was unsuccessful in the United States, while in Britain, the single "Autumn Love" – released November 1978 – was overlooked by DJs in favour of its more typical "rhythm-rattling" B-side "Unspoken", and did not chart. In the music press, Hi-Tension suffered credibility issues for being young and British funk band. In their review, Black Music & Jazz Review panned the album, saying that despite "the sterling efforts" of producers Ayivor and Sadkin, Hi-Tension proved "that you cannot turn a pig's ear into a silk purse." Beat Instrumental nonetheless commented that the band "certainly feature in the slim first division of their type of music." The group followed the album with the single "Funktified," which Blackwell allowed Joseph to produce alone, but the musician felt he "rather spoilt" the job due to the stressful working conditions, with "too many people around me, telling me what to do and saying they want it ready by tomorrow."
He began to feel uncomfortable with Island Records, telling an interviewer in 1979: "When I talk to Island, I speak my mind. I don't think the directors and so on are wrong in all their decisions, but I don't think they still really groove to us." The group disbanded later in the year.
Side one
1. You're My Girl - 4:25
2. Searchin' - 4:17
3. Autumn Love - 4:55
4. Power And Lightning - 4:21
5. Unspoken - 3:48
Side two
1. British Hustle - 6:31
2. If It Moves You - 5:23
3. Hi-Tension - 5:15
4. Peace On Earth - 4:02
Hi-Tension
- Ray Alan Eko – alto saxophone (tracks 3, 7, 9), tenor saxophone (tracks 3, 7, 9)
- David Joseph – lead vocals, horn arrangements, electric piano, Clavinet, string synthesizer, Minimoog, Yamaha organ
- Leroy Williams – congas, bongos, percussion
- David Reid – drums
- Paapa Mensah – drums
- Kenneth Joseph – electric bass, backing vocals
- Paul McLean – lead guitar, guitar synthesizer, backing vocals
- Paul Phillips – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Bob Sydor – tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
- Jeffrey Guishard – robotoms, timbales, percussion, lead vocals
- Guy Barker – trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
- Others
- Patrick McLean – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Bill Lyall – string arrangements (tracks 1, 3)
- Peter Thoms – trombone (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
- Chris Blackwell – executive producer, production (track 8)
- Godwin Logie – engineer
- Alex Sadkin – engineer (all tracks except track 8)
- John Dent – mastering
- Alex Sadkin – production (all tracks except track 8)
- Kofi Ayivor – production
Notes
Release: 1978
Format: LP
Genre: Funk
Label: Island Records
Catalog# ILPS 9564
Vinyl: VG
Cover: VG
Prijs: €5,99
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