Playlist: Jams from my high school days

Aw heck... I’m caught up in a nostalgia loop, and it’s pulling me backward in time. I am compelled to dust off some old 78s, hand-crank the Victrola, and spin some tunes from 1978 and ’79... my high school days in P.G. County, Maryland. To stream this music on my Vox blog, click the song titles below.

1. “Funk ’n’ Roll” – Quazar

George Clinton’s P-Funk empire was in full flower. Even breakaway band members were getting major-label deals. Such as Jerome Brailey and Glen Goins, who formed Quazar.

This was Quazar’s only hit. By the time it was released, Goins had died of cancer... a loss still felt by hardcore funkateers.

2. “Hot Number” – Foxy

The hot, Florida-flavored Latin disco of Foxy was all over the radio my senior year. (R&B and pop.)

I interviewed group leader Ish Ledesma in the late 1980s for a newspaper piece titled “Disco Didn’t Suck.” ;^D

3. “Riding High” – Faze-O

This track has been sampled by hip-hoppers; you can tell why. There’s just something gangsterish about it.

4. “Smile” – The Emotions

Feel-good music from producer Maurice White. Tight musicianship from Earth, Wind & Fire. “Genetic harmonies” from Wanda, Sheila and Jeanette. Hell of a combination.

5. “Ready or Not” – Herbie Hancock

In the late ’70s, everybody was trying to sound like the Funk Mob, including established cats like George Duke, Ray Parker, Jr. and Herbie Hancock. This one still cranks.