Bandit Records? Chicago folks?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Anyone heard the Badit records compilation from the Numero Group? It's collection of tracks from this obscure 1960s label from the south side of Chicago. A friend of mine in Chicago said there was a pretty good and pretty long piece in Reader on the guy who ran the label, a kind of pimp/cult leader type who funded the company with the earnings of bunch of women he lived with. Just curious if anyone has actually heard the disc. I believe Numero is the same company that put out the Capsoul label CD last year.

― jonventnet, Friday, 8 July 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

Your info is correct. As for the music itself, it's a mixed bag. Mostly semi-pro imitations of whatever the currently popular (ie profitable) sound happened to be, from girl-group stuff up to funk (Bandit was around, off and on, through the 70s). Some gee-whiz appeal in that a couple tracks were sung in lusty falsetto by label mastermind Arrow Brown's then-7-year-old son. In all, the music < the story behind it.

― asl, Friday, 8 July 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)

I don't know, I would be hesitant to dismiss it musically so easily. I have it and love it, i think the first and last 1/3rd of the record are pretty great but it sags a bit in the middle...

However, i say without any hesitation that "We're Going To Build A Time Machine," the last tune, is all-time classic

― b'angelo, Friday, 8 July 2005 18:27 (twenty years ago)

well now thinking about it it is pretty fair to say that the music < the story, because that story is preposterous

― b'angelo, Friday, 8 July 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

Holy shit -- was in Chicago a week after the story came out to visit family and my sister saved me a copy of the paper. That might be one of the best, most twisted things I've ever read. I actually went so far as to e-mail the author to ask about a couple things. He mentioned that the Numero Group might be staging a live show with some of the members of the Bandit and Capsoul acts performing, and that there would probably be an epilogue to the story running around that time since a few details emerged after the original piece ran.

― colbycheddar, Friday, 8 July 2005 21:24 (twenty years ago)

the Reader website is notoriously hard to navigate and find things on, plus they charge for archive stories. does someone know where to get a copy of this article online?

― norm, Friday, 8 July 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

Agreed. The music is interesting if not always great, but the story is even better. Haven't read the Chicago Reader piece, though I heard about it. I did see a review of the disc in Mojo magazine by the same writer I believe. Definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of Chi-soul or under-the-radar R&B from the period.

― larryson, Sunday, 10 July 2005 02:23 (twenty years ago)

Anyone have a link to this story?

― JoJo, Tuesday, 12 July 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

You have to pay for the archived articles on the Reader site. Here is the link to the place where you can buy it, if you want.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 16:22 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

I know some people were looking for the Bandit records story from the Chicago Reader. The Numero Group website has the text from the article up on its new website.

http://numerogroup.com/press.php

― norm, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

oops, here's a direct link

― norm, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

http://numerogroup.com/press.php?unique_id=00066

― Janie Jones, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

I know I'm late on the draw here, but some threads just get lost in the shuffle...this Bandit comp is actually all seventies, IIRC - it is not a sixties album. That "time machine" song isn't technically the last cut; there are some acapella outtakes that follow it up. And I think the whole eccentric package is great, but then again I'm a huge fan of older R&B anyway, so I can deal with it.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Thursday, 15 September 2005 11:11 (twenty years ago)

The first few singles date from 68/69 -- and they certainly sound like late 60s Chi-soul -- but yeah the bulk of the material is 70s stuff.

― lawler, Thursday, 15 September 2005 13:10 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.