Hot City Bump Band - Come Together (1975) + Bonus Single

(Australian 1973 - 1976)

Hot City Bump Band was one of Australia's first soul-funk bands, and they were one of only a handful of groups (Skylight, Stylus, Johnny Rocco Band) who performed in this style. As Ian McFarlane notes, local audiences who had been brought up "on a steady diet of rock, boogie and pop" took some time to get used to it. Although a number of local acts (Max Merritt, The Groove, The Groop) had championed soul and R&B music during the '60s, new black American music trends such as "The Philly Sound" -- spearheaded by producers Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff and typified by groups such as The O'Jays -- came and went without gaining any significant Australian radio exposure. This was a direct result of the restrictive (and frankly racist) programming regimes on commercial radio, typified by Rod Muir's Digamae consultancy, which gained a stranglehold over Australian pop radio in the early Seventies. So, these new developments in black dance music and groundbreaking acts like Parliement-Funkadelic remained largely unheard in Australia until the arrival of Double Jay in Jan. 1975 and the eventual breakthrough of disco in 1976-77.

Guitarist-turned-producer Robbie Porter was one of the few local label owners who was willing to take a punt on new soul-funk style. He had recently signed another former Hair cast member, Marcia Hines -- and he signed Hot City Bump Band signed to his Wizard label. They released two singles during 1974 -- the first was a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", followed by "Time Is On Your Side".

In mid-1975 the band issued its highly-regarded debut album, Come Together, which was produced by the great Ernie Rose. It included an impressive cover of the Jimmy Castor Bunch's It's Just Begun. The album was accompanied by their third single, "Do What You Wanna Do", which sold strongly and peaked at #13 in Melbourne during August 1975. It charted for sixteen weeks and was subsequently included on the 1975 K-Tel hits compilation Outa Sight. They also made an appearance on Countdown on 31 August 1975, performing their hit. By then, Noel Davies had replaced original guitarist John Adolphus. It was sometime during this period that they relocated to Sydney.

They were by now recognised as one of the best live acts in the country and this led to several prestigious support gigs during 1975, including Osibisa, Gladys Knight & The Pips and The Temptations. Sadly, the group didn't continue long after that, announcing their break-up and issuing a final single, "Ain't No Use" in January 1976.

Since their demise, the Hot City Bump Band have been recognised as a world-class funk band and they are well-known internationally among aficionados of funk and 'rare soul'. Green and the McKinneys briefly formed City Strutt, before continuing with other artists and as session musicians. Chuck launched a solo career for a nanosecond and produced a 7” recording of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” which is a major 45rpm rarity these days.

Chuck was multi talented and appeared in numerous movies and shows made in Oz. He played the pirate Samuel in the 1982 Pirate Movie and was in The Odd Angry Shot (1979), Skyways, The Johnny O’Keefe Story (he played Little Richard), Mission Impossible (1988), Beyond My Reach (1990) and many others. Chuck appeared on John Farnham's 1990 album Chain Reaction and also toured as a back-up singer in the John Farnham Band. Maggie has fronted numerous bands over the years the aptly named Maggie McKinney Band was one. Chuck McKinney sadly passed away in September, 1994. [extracts from Milesago.com & tommixmusic.blogspot.com]

Ripped from vinyl, this post consists of  MP3 (320kps) and limited artwork [thanks to Marco]. I had a copy of this album back in the seventies but traded it with a mate for another album, which I thought was better at the time. Big mistake and something I've always regretted, especially as copies of this LP go for big dollars on eBay these days.  Of course, the hunt continues to find another copy at more reasonable prices.

Track Listing

01. "Hot City"

02. "Come Together"

03. "Sinner Man"

04. "Time Is On Your Side"

05. "Trying Times"

06. "Have You Ever Tried It"

07. "Kufanya Mapenzi (Making Love)"

08. "The World"

09. "It's Just Begun"

10." Let's Fly"

11. "Cloud Nine"

12. "Ain't Nobody"

13. "Mighty Mighty"

14. "Do What You Wanna Do [Bonus Single]"

Band Members:

Chuck McKinney (vocals), 

Margaret [Maggie] 

McKinney (vocals), 

John Adolphus (guitar),

Noel Davies (guitar), 

David McMaster (organ), 

David Green (bass), 

Mick Holden (drums),

Robert Ellis (congas)

Hot City Bump Band Link (106Mb)