They are all but forgotten. My dad was a fan. My dad was a big Maze fan too. Where is the Maze luv??? wait, deja vu, i feel like i have been down this road already, adamrl.
― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 27 February 2005 02:36 (twenty-one years ago)
one of my best friends, Jared, goes to see Tower of Power with his parents whenever they play on Long Island.
― Ian John50n (orion), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)
i have seen ToP live probably six times now-- these guys sorta lost it by the time the 80s roll out, though "soul with a capital S" is fun. all the classics are great (what is hip, squib cakes, still a young man, etc.), but my personal favorite is "only so much oil in the ground."
god this thread hits such a nerve! back in my jazztrumpet4eva daze, ToP were like the only funk band i could justify myself listening to, because the bandleader went to curtis, and at the end of the trumpet player's solo on "what is hip", a pyrotechnic would fire off into the crowd like a rocket.
skotrok funny you mention maze/frankie bev. two xmases ago i bought my dad the tower of power 30year comp, and my mom the two-disc maze retrospective. haven't seen them so excited since they took me to see the yellowjackets at the kutztown fair (1988 or so).
haha christ. the one ToP show i went to, the opener was AVERAGE WHITE BAND. i think tix were $50!
― Nick Sylvester, Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:19 (twenty-one years ago)
Lenny Williams era Tower of Power is essentially the music of my childhood. Especially in the spring and summer months when I was home going to swimming lessons and more especially on the weekends when Dad would drive us around in the Jetta running errands. Since we lived in shag country we sometimes would hear their slow jams on Saturday night shag radio shows and Dad would crank it loud, which would always piss Mom off. But she loves them too, which begs the question "Why do parents love Tower of Power so much?"
If you haven't heard Lenny Williams' "Cause I Love You," I reccomend it just to hear the naration in the middle: "I watched television until television went off." It's the weird sense of humor in his lyrics that always gets me. "Soul Vaccination" is hilarious.
I really could go on for hours.
― earinfections (Nick Twisp), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)
seven years pass...
three years pass...
Oh man, I just decided that this morning would be the morning I'd dive into Tower of Power and now I'm fucking mad I didn't do this a long time ago. As far as I can tell, they were pretty flawless from 1970-79.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 30 May 2015 16:23 (ten years ago)
seven months pass...
Was just watching some videos recently to see what Rocco Prestia up to. RIP.
― Blecchstar Linus Must Comp (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 19 January 2016 02:40 (ten years ago)
one year passes...