Slave (band)

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Slave was an Ohio funk band popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. Trumpeter Steve Washington formed the group in Dayton in 1975.

Vocalist Floyd Miller teamed with Tom Lockett Jr, Charlie Bradley, Mark Adams, Mark Hicks, Danny Webster, Orion Wilhoite, and Tim Dozier. Vocalists Steve Arrington and Starleana Young came aboard in 1978, with Arrington ultimately becoming lead vocalist. Their first big hit was the thumping single "Slide" in 1977 for Cotillion, where they remained until 1984. Their best tracks were lyrically simple and at times silly, but the arrangements and rhythms were intense and hypnotic. Their song "Drac is Back" exemplifies all three of these qualities.

Other Top Ten R&B hits were "Just a Touch of Love" in 1979, "Watching You" in 1980, and "Snap Shot" in 1981. Young, Washington, and Lockett departed to form Aurra in 1979. Arrington himself left in the early '80s. They added Charles Carter, Delburt Taylor, Sam Carter, Kevin Johnson, and Roger Parker as replacements and continued on, though much less successfully, into the late '80s.

They moved to Atlantic Records for one LP in 1984, then switched to the Atlanta-based Ichiban in 1986 for singles and LPs that were just a shade of the former vibrant Slave sound. Their most recent release was The Funk Strikes Back in 1992. Rhino issued Stellar Funk: The Best of Slave, a first-rate anthology of their finest cuts, in 1994.

[edit] Discography

1977 - Slave (Cotillion) 1977 - The Hardness of the World (Cotillion) 1978 - The Concept (Cotillion) 1979 - Just a Touch of Love (Cotillion) 1980 - Stone Jam (Rhino) 1981 - Show Time (Atlantic) 1982 - Visions of the Lite (Cotillion) 1983 - Bad Enuff (Cotillion) 1984 - New Plateau (Cotillion) 1985 - Unchained at Last (Ichiban) 1987 - Make Believe (Ichiban) 1988 - Slave 88 (Ichiban) 1990 - Rebirth (Ichiban) 1992 - Funk Strikes Back (Ichiban) 1995 - Masters of the Funk (Ichiban)

Audio samples: "Watching you" (1980) (file info) — play in browser (beta) "Watching You" from the album Stone Jam, which hit the Pop charts at the 78th place and 6th on Black singles chart, and is a good example for Ohio funk. Problems playing the files? See media help.

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
		US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
1983	"Shake It Up"	#22	Bad Enuff
1984	"Ooohh"	#41	New Plateau
1984	"Steppin Out"	#73	Bad Enuff
1986	"All We Need Is Time"	#85	Unchained At Last
1986	"Thrill Me"	#84	Rebirth
1987	"Juicy-O"	#83	Make Believe

[edit] Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	US Billboard 200
1983	Bad Enuff	#30	#168
1986	Unchained At Last	#56
1987	Make Believe	#44
1994	Stellar Funk: The Best Of Slave	#44