Artist:The Fatback Band
Song:Backstrokin'
Album:Hustle! The Ultimate Fatback 1969-84
The Fatback Band had success on the R&B charts in the 70s and early 80s. The 1980 single Backstrokin' was their biggest hit. By this time the band name was shortened to Fatback. They were formed in New York City in 1970 by drummer Bill "Fatback" Curtis. He was already playing sessions when he wanted to merge the "fatback" jazz beat of New Orleans with funk. On lead vocals, bass and keyboards was Johnny Flippen. Curtis and Flippen wrote most of the songs. The rest of the band through 1979 was Earl Shelton on sax, Johnny King on guitar and Gerry Thomas on keyboards. The Fatback band signed with Perception Records. They were a jazz label but they occasionally signed pop acts like King Harvest. They were distributed by A&M. The Fatback Band recorded three albums for Perception. They scored a top 30 R&B hit with Street Dance in 1973. When Perception closed, The Fatback Band signed with Polydor's Event label. after three albums on Event, they were moved to Spring Records and the band name was shortened to Fatback. And that's when they had more consistent success on the R&B charts. The 1980 album Hot Box was their biggest success. Gotta Get My Hands On Some and Backstrokin' were top ten R&B hits. Backstrokin' reached #3 on the R&B Singles chart. They faded after that and after recording for Cotillion and Start, Fatback ended in 1985. The Fatback Band's back catalog is owned by Ace Records and they released this 2CD comp. Bill Curtis has reunited Fatback a couple of times. He has done some writing and producing but nothing notable. His songs are sampled by hip hop guys so I'm sure he makes money from that. Here's a video of Backstrokin' by The Fatback Band.
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