Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Blowfly - The Weird World of Blowfly (1973)

Blowfly was the legendary alter ego of soul singer/songwriter Clarence Reid (R.I.P.). The concept of Blowfly was pretty simple: filthy, X-rated parodies of classic pop and soul songs sung by a dude in a shitty superhero cape and mask getup, usually recorded "live" in a party setting. For example, "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" becomes "Shitting on the Dock of the Bay" or "The Thrill Is Gone" becomes "The Sperm Is Gone". If this sounds incredibly stupid and juvenile to you, well it most certainly is. But the offensiveness is pretty much the point, and I would be lying if I said this wasn't thoroughly entertaining. Calling The Weird World of Blowfly a comedy record is selling it a bit short. The musical content is quite good, with Blowfly's backing band particularly hot on this recording (especially the drummer's breakbeat segues in between the songs). And the audience is very energetic, interacting with the performers and helping make the whole recording a fun experience. It's a novelty concept on display here, but it withstands repeated listens after the shock content wears off.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5XqXefj93qNjfCMjaZuFNv

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