Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle Funk, Modern Soul & Boogie Volume II 1972-1987 is the best kind of historic artifact—an irresistible, hard-dancing release that constitutes another glorious feather in the cap (make that the flash pimp hat) of indie label Light in the Attic Records.
That’s no surprise given the mini-cottage industry that LITA’s constructed for the last ten years atop Wheedle’s Groove, the wonderful 2004 compilation that first exposed the world to vintage 1965-1975 Seattle soul sounds. Over the decade, the label’s put out reissues of unreleased/out-of-print jewels from Wheedle’s alums Overton Berry and Robbie Hill’s Family Affair, a limited-edition box set of 45s, and the terrific 2010 Wheedle’s Groove documentary. This wealth of material reconstructed a nearly-lost corner of Seattle music history. And most importantly, it grooved like hell.
If Wheedle’s Groove II is an indication, this particular well ain’t nowhere near dry. The 18 cuts on display cut a wider swath chronologically and stylistically than the first Wheedle’s Groove, showcasing local R&B’s radical metamorphoses through funk, disco, hip-hop, and electro-pop. DJ Supreme La Rock, the wax-spinning Indiana Jones whose crate-digging helped begin the Wheedle’s odyssey ten years ago, compiles and sequences this follow-up to favor flow over chronology, and it plays like a lovingly-curated set of house party jams. The historic end’s ably held up by City Arts scribe Jonathan Zwickel’s engaging liner notes, which include interviews with band members and some fascinating backstory to boot.
Several cuts, like Don Brown’s insidiously-catchy soul/yacht rock fusion “Lose Your Love,” possess hooks that woulda made ‘em hits if their creators hadn’t been so removed from the rest of the world. But that geographic isolation also infused these Seattle acts with a raggedness and character removed from the homogenizing influences of music epicenters like LA and Detroit. M’s third-baseman Lenny Randle’s “Kingdome” swings with a call-and-response funkiness way cooler than you’d ever expect from a sports novelty tune, and an easygoing summery looseness informs the stunning vocal interplay on Cold, Bold, and Together’s 1972 jewel, “Let’s Backtrack.”
Disco casts a long (and for some of the musicians interviewed, unwelcome) shadow over several Wheedle’s II tracks, but even the frothiest moments offer plenty of big and small pleasures. Priceless’s “Love in Your Life” and “Look at Me” capture the inspiring sound of scruffy indie musicians crafting dance music as lush and escapist as anything by Chic or Tavares, while local vocalista extraordinaire Bernadette Bascom augments her killer pipes with a healthy dose of humor at the front of Epicentre’s “Get Off the Phone.”
The best selections on Wheedle’s Groove II really seem to be beamed in from some parallel soul universe. Frederick Robinson III’s “Love One Another” probably sounded antiquated in 1983 with its shuffling real drums, chugging rhythm guitar, and Robinson’s rough velour-soul voice, but it’s an oddity (Christian protest funk?) that’s as magical and to-the-bone soulful as it is unconventional. The enigmatic Malik Din’s skittery synth-funk track “Trouble in Mind” sounds like Curtis Mayfield cutting a new-wave song for a John Hughes flick, while Prince’s cyborg twin shows up in robotic Euro-disco armor on Teleclere’s awesome, delirious 1983 dance jam “Steal Your Love.”
Canny spinner that he is, DJ Supreme programs the most epic track at the end. Robbie Hill’s Family Affair provided one of the first Wheedle’s Groove’s finest moments with their potent Sly Stone-influenced “I Just Wanna Be (Like Myself),” but their 7-minute 1975 jam “Don’t Give Up,” which closes Wheedle’s Groove II, is nothing less than a stone masterpiece. Starting at a soulful simmer with a reflective spoken-word intro, languid wah-wah guitar, and some breathtaking falsetto crooning, Hill’s in-the-pocket drums kick into a driving funk groove halfway through, punctuated by an almost psychedelic jazz flute. You couldn’t ask for a more unconventional, gorgeous, and unerringly booty-shaking capper to this unconventional, gorgeous, and unerringly booty-shaking collection.