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Bandmates keep music of late Punk-Funk king alive
Rick James' Stone City Band will perform at Powers Auditorium on Saturday.
Rick James is gone, but the punk-funk sound he invented lives on.
The “Super Freak” singer was one of the most popular Motown acts in the late ’70s and early ’80s. His combination of punk rock and funk earned him the title “King of Punk-Funk,” while his wild lifestyle brought notoriety.
James died in 2004 at 56, but his band continues to perform and keep his music alive.
The Stone City Band, featuring the Punk-Funk Horns, will come to Youngstown Saturday for a concert at Powers Auditorium.
The band includes many of its original members, including its leader, trumpeter-vocalist L.A. Sky; Oscar “O” Alston, bass guitar; and Chris Powell and Mike “Snakebite” Roberts of the Punk Funk Horns.
James was a music historian who borrowed elements from other artists to form his own unique sound.
“He once told me how he had watched Sly and the Family Stone and had noticed the success and adoration many times attached to artists with long hair, so he incorporated it into the Stone City Band and their attire,” said Powell. “This is one of the reasons Rick James, the Stone City Band and the Punk Funk Horns had the long braids.”
The Stone City Band searched for a singer with the voice and mannerisms of James, and believes it has found the perfect choice. Powell would not reveal who the singer is, but said “you may think Rick has arisen upon hearing and seeing the show Saturday.”
While younger people may only know of him through the portrayals of comedian Dave Chappelle, James had a number of hits in his heyday, including “Bustin Out,” “Give It to Me Baby,” “Mary Jane,” “You and I” and “Fire and Desire,” a duet with Teena Marie. The Stone City Band will play all of these hits at Saturday’s concert, said Powell.
Also performing at Powers Auditorium will be the Bar-Kays, a soul, R&B and funk group. Many of the original members of the Bar-Kays died in a plane crash, along with Otis Redding, in 1967. James Alexander, who is an original member, and Larry Dodson, the lead singer and vocalist on all of the Bar-Kays’ hits, front the band. The Barkays performed on the song “Shaft” with Isaac Hayes. Bar-Kays hits include “ Son of Shaft,” “Too Hot To Stop,” “Holy Ghost” and “Shake your Rump to the Funk.”