So the legendary "Right On Time" album has finally been reissued! Those of us who don't have a few hundred shares in the stock market or a wealthy inheritance to live comfortably for the next twenty years can finally buy a copy of this beauty!
I think I was possibly the first to buy a copy this gem on Earcave. I'd just gotten an email update from the Earcave mailing list and as soon as I opened it, a high resolution image of the Prophet cover came staring at me right in the face! On pure impulse, I rushed to their page and bought a copy. It's not been the first time I've made such a rush to buy something on Earcave, but it doesn't happen often, that's for sure!
When looking at the world of privately pressed funk and soul, sometimes it can be hard to distinguish quality from hype. Record sellers (understandably) have a vested interest in making any rare record they find the "holy grail dope shit million dollar boogie" record of the week. Record buyers, as a consequence, react to this kind of advertisement and consequently shelve their critical and balanced judgement skills. This record, however, is the real deal.
I'd previously heard all the tracks from the vinyl rip posted on A Pyrex Scholar's blog, and was well impressed with what I heard. Now that I've got it on vinyl the listening experience is even better than before!
This record is a 7 track 1984 boogie-funk album by the Californian artist "Prophet". As far as we know, no other releases have come from Prophet either previously or subsequently, and no single accompanied this album either. Prophet released this album on what appears to be his own label in San Francisco. The immediate thing to notice about this album is its bedroom style production techniques and DIY grooves that give it an irresistible charm. The idea that someone actually went out of their way to write and produce their own music back from a time when recording anything wasn't straightforward automatically gives a record a degree of integrity, and boy, does this album have integrity! The front cover backs this up, too. A fantasy like image of the artist Prophet amongst the stars radiates the "bedroom production" feeling and shows the vision behind this record.
The songs on this album are all highly charged, stripped-down early 80s synth funk/boogie songs. The unusual thing perhaps about this album that there isn't one single slowjam/downtempo soul song, which is unusual and rare for a funk LP full stop, let alone a private pressing!
This LP starts with an absolute bomb, which is the title track "Right On Time", where we're brought to Prophet's world with some insane synth sweeps and Prophet's explosively high vocals. This song makes a fantastic boogie track that's totally in a league of its own. Many people would point to the Prince influence in the Prophet LP, but without a doubt, Prophet has totally entered a new realm with his sound, making him quite unique and distinctive from Prince.
The next track, "So Excited" was a track which flew over my head until I heard it on vinyl. Something suddenly just "clicked" as to how good this track was. Let me put it this way: the title, "So Excited" does perfect justice for this song. This song makes you so excited, and Prophet also sounds very excited in this original and creative arrangement.
For those who love really strange and off-the-beat-and-track indie soul songs, the third track "When I Fell In Love" ought to hit all the right notes. But perhaps the most funkiest track on the LP is the fourth song, and the last one on the A Side: "Tonight". The smooth guitar work along with the synthesized handclaps make this song a real groove. Along with the odd pitched synths that kick in, this song is possibly the spookiest and ghostly of the songs on this album. For me, it certainly has the most intrigue of all of them.
Onto the B Side, we begin with the funky song "Strong And Mighty"; a nice seductive little groove that was slightly before its time. And then we move onto the quickest paced of the songs, "Stick Around", which just features fancy guitar work, bassing and drum machines along with Prophet's vocals - a nice little jam to ride to!
The last song, and possibly most people's favourite, is the synth groove "You Really Turn Me On". Despite the absence of a slowjam on the LP, this song more than makes up for that. The melodies within the synths on this are just heavenly and Prophet's vocals too are a beautiful combination alongside it; his vocals are slightly different on this song compared to the rest, which makes for a really interesting contrast. ("You know why babe?! I've gotta have ya!") Those who think that DIY production detracts from the harmony of a song are forced to think again with this track, as by all accounts, this is a beautiful tune.
This album is a stunning album, and despite the fact that it has been digitised, well documented and reissued, there will always be a mystique and a factor X about this album. That, I'm convinced.
