“Ain’t We Funkin’ Now,” requested the Brothers Johnson on the opening monitor of their third album collaboration with Quincy Jones, Blam!, launched on August 4, 1978. They actually had been, with a document that took simply 4 weeks to get them again to the highest of the R&B album chart and the pop Prime 10.
Blam! was one other nice showcase for the musicianship of co-vocalists George and Louis Johnson, who performed lead guitar and bass respectively, along with the peerless manufacturing abilities of “Q.” The A-list of gamers who guested on the album included such top-notch abilities as David Foster, Larry Carlton, Harvey Mason, Steve Porcaro, and Michael Brecker.
This new 1978 set additionally added one thing of a space-age vibe to the brothers’ type, particularly on one in every of its singles, “Ride-o-Rocket,” a futuristic composition by the good husband and spouse workforce of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Certainly, the final monitor, “Streetwave,” had what Billboard described as a “Star Wars flavored, cosmic journey.” Louis Johnson had writing credit on 5 songs, and Quincy on three.
The album didn’t provide up any huge hit singles, with each “Ain’t We Funkin’ Now” and “Ride-o-Rocket” peaking at No.45 on the R&B chart. However the Brothers Johnson had been a bona fide album act with an enormous viewers, who stored Blam! at No.1 on the R&B countdown for a full seven weeks, and helped it to No.7 pop.
The duo marked the brand new launch by way of a double-bill tour of the US with the Feelings, as Blam! grew to become their third US platinum disc in a row, with one other to return in 1980 with Mild Up The Evening. All of these albums stand as a worthy tribute to the duo and specifically to Louis Johnson, who so sadly handed away in 2015 on the age of simply 60.
Purchase or stream Blam!
