The Time was Now Early November 1988, I Remember this Time Well, there was a Couple of Things Happening around this Period, I was Waiting to Hear whether I had got a New Job, Working for Norfolk County Council as a Cook, and also I had Sold my Van which I had, I Part-Exchanged it for a Morris Marina!
Home Life was getting back to Normal after the Bankruptcy about a Month Earlier, by this Time we had been Living in the same House for about 6 Years, and Married for 10 Years, Nathan was 10 Years Old and Natalie was 8 Years Old, but the only thing I Wanted at that Time was the Job I had Applied for a Couple of Weeks Previously!
I was Lucky back then, the First Job I went for after the Bankruptcy, I got, I had a Call from the Day Centre Manager, Telling me I had got the Job, I was to Find out Later, I Nearly Did Not get the Job, because I was a Bloke, and No Man had Ever Worked Inside the Day Centre Before, they were All Females! So with only about 6 Weeks until Christmas, I had got Myself a New Job, it was Monthly Pay, I had Always been Paid Weekly before, but at Least I was going to get 1 Month's Pay just before Christmas!
I Remember my First Day in the New Job, Very Well, my Hours were to be 8am until 3pm, 5 Days Per Week, the Money Was Not Great, but the Hours Were and I was to get Every Bank-Holiday Off, I had Never had them Hours and Times before, Working as a Chef, although I was Now Called a Cook-In-Charge! The Place I worked was a Day Centre for People with Alzheimers Disease, Now I had Never Worked in a Place Like this Before, but Being the Cook, I thought, who the People were Would Not Affect me in Anyway or my Work, how Wrong I was Going to be, in the Future!
I Remember the First Day, After I Knocked Off at 3pm and I was in my House by about 3.10pm, I thought "What a Cushy Little Job, this is Going to be" and I Liked all the Staff who Worked there and the Place, But as you know, things are Always Great to Start with, its about a Week into, that you Start Realizing who the D@ckheads are! ========================================================
Now for some Music, Back in the Middle 70's and Early 80's one of the my Favorite Funk Band's was Mass Production, they had Some Great Music Released back then! Mass Production like a Few Other Bands back then (Cameo, Earth Wind & Fire, Bar-Kays, Funkadelic etc), had Several Band Member's, Mass Production had 10!
They Released a Total of 8 Albums Over a 8 Year Period from '76 to '83, All of them on the Cottillion Record Label. I'm Not going to Feature any of their Usual Track's but I'm Going to Feature 3 of their Instrumentals, the First one is "Shante" from the "Massterpiece" Album of 1980 and the other 2 Tracks Come from the 1983 Album "Mass Production" they are "Sundancer" and "Victory in '83" I Don't Know which is my Favorite Track out of the 3, but I did Purchase "Shante" as a 7" Single and the Album, which it Came From!
In this Series of Posts, I will Writing about the Artist's who are in My "Who's the Greatest Funk Bass Player" Poll.
The Poll is over to the Right of the Blog, it has been Running for a Few Week's, so if You haven't already Voted, Please do so!
In these Post's, I will write a few Facts, Figures, Stats and Interesting Stuff on the Artist in Question, I will also include a Playlist of their Greatest Songs.
I will Write a Post on Each Artist, One Every Other Week!
ARTIST NUMBER 2..............MARK ADAMS This Week's Bass Player is Mark Adams (He got my Vote) of the 70's Funk Band Slave, incidentally my Favorite Bass player and my Favorite Band! I had the Pleasure of seeing Mark Adams and Slave in Concert back in 1984, at The Pink Elephant in Luton UK, it was a Great Concert, by The Best Funk Band Ever! I have Scoured the Internet, but there is not Too Many Stories and Facts Concerning the Slave Bass Player, so I have Posted about Slave's Early Years, which Mark Adams was an Integral Part. I will put a Few Links at the End of the Post and if you know anything, which I have not Mentioned Please drop me an e-mail (for a Part 2 Post)!
Mark Leslie Adams was Born during 1960, he was one of 3 Sibling's,(the other 2 were Sisters) and from Dayton, Ohio, USA. Slave began in 1975, Guitarist Mark "Drac" Hicks had a Band Called Black Satin Soul with Drummer Tim "Tiny" Dozier, they later met Trumpeter Steve Washington in a Local Music Class! Mark Hicks also Knew Bassist Mark Adams, who Led another Local band by the Name of "The Young Mystics" which also included Floyd Miller, Tom Lockett Jr, Carter Bradley, Danny Webster and Orion Wilhoite. All the Members of the 2 Bands Gelled Together after a Music Session at Tim Dozier's House!
The 2 Band's decided to Form 1 Band together, and they Called themselves "Congress"
After 2 or 3 Sessions together the Band decided to Change their Name to "Slave" after Floyd Miller came in to 1 of the Sessions with a T-Shirt on with the Name "Slave" Written across the Front of it! Slaves early Work included Covers of Band's such as Earth Wind & Fire, Hall & Oates and the Average White Band. Their First Concert Performance was at "The Roth High School" Talent Show, Steve Washington's Father Brought them Their First P.A System and Mark Hick's Father Brought them their First Amp and a Couple of Guitar's.
After about 6 Month's of Rehearsal's in Mark Hick's Father's Garage, Steve Washington Tried to get Slave their First Contract. He knew "Jeff Dixon" who was Programme Director from WNJR-AM, he later Became "Slaves" Manager and Producer! Jeff Dixon then Set about getting Slave a Music Contract, this took about 6 Weeks and During Spring of 1977, and Slave were Signed by Henry Allen, President of Cottillion Records, a Subsidary of the Great "Atlantic Records".
That same Year of '77 saw "Slave" Release their Debut Album, Entitled "Slave" it was Producer by Jeff Dixon. The Album reached Number 6 on the Us Billboard Top Soul Chart and was Certified Gold. The Biggest Hit (& only Single Release from the Album) on the Album and Slave's Biggest Hit of All Time was "Slide" the Track went "Gold" on 14 July of '77. "Slide" Reached Number 1 on the US R&B Chart and made it to Number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The Original Line up for The "Slave" Album was as Follows: Steve Washington....Trumpet, Percussion and Vocals Mark Hicks...............Lead and Rythym Guitars and Vocals Mark Adams............Bass Guitar Floyd Miller.............Trombone, Trumpet and Vocals Tom Lockett Jr.......Tenor and Alto Sax Carter Bradley.......Keyboards Danny Webster.....Guitar and Vocals Tim Dozier............Drums, Percussion and Vocals Orion Wilhoite.....Alto and Tenor sax
Mark Adams was Ever Present in Slaves Line-up during their 15 Studio Album's, they also Released 7 Compilation Album's and had 21 Single Releases. Mark Adams Died on March 5th 2011, he was 51 Years of Age, I Believe he had 6 Children and 10 Grand Kids. To Hear some of Mark Adams Great Bass Playing check out this Great Slave Mix from ej flavors.com there are some Great Tracks on Here! Full Track Listing as Follows: 01 – Slide 02 – Spice Of Life 03 – Party Lites 04 – Wait For Me 05 – Inside Out – Odyssey 06 – Watching You 07 – Just A Touch Of Love 08 – Dreamin’ 09 – Snapshot 10 – Steal Your Heart
I'm Not going to Feature any of their Usual Track's but I'm Going to Feature 3 of their Instrumentals, the First one is "Shante" from the "Massterpiece" Album of 1980 and the other 2 Tracks Come from the 1983 Album "Mass Production" they are "Sundancer" and "Victory in '83"
