Click on the label to hear a sample!

 When the Electric Indian hit the charts in 1969 with the instrumental ‘Kee-Mo-Sabe’, they were just another anonymous, bubblegum-ish hitmaker, who would fade into obscurity as fast as they had appeared. Their LP was a loose (though not occasionally uninspired) outing with a number of soul covers (‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, ‘Storm Warning’ etc.). The truth behind the ‘fake’ band was that it was composed of a collection of Philly all-stars (including Vince Montana on vibes and a young Daryl Hall on keyboards). Originally assembled by Philly blue-eyed soulster Len Barry, the Electric Indian saw their first 45 released on the local Marmaduke label (co-owned by Barry) , and then picked up by United Artists. Their secret weapon was this hot slice of funk, hidden on the b-side of their one and only hit. ‘Broad Street’ (named for the Philly byway) is one of the best examples of the kind of horn-heavy instrumental funk that was finding it’s way onto local Philly labels in the late 60’s (see this month's Funky 45s for more). Groups like the Panic Buttons, African Echoes, Delights Orchestra and Pal & The Prophets were laying down danceable tunes driven by funky guitars and blaring horn sections. The fact that so many of these instrumentals seem to tap into a definable ‘sound’ is no doubt related to the fact that the records featured many of the same players. ‘Broad Street’ (a non-lp track) is far funkier than anything on the Electric Indian LP, and features a nice fat drum break about a minute and a half into the tune.

The cool thing is that for a pretty nice funk side, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. It was released at least three times; first locally on Marmaduke, then nationally on United Artists, then again on UA in Europe.