Colours of Funk (Vol. 2)” More from the German Sound Library of Golden Ring & Happy Records 1975-1982

So called „library music“ or „production music“ is used as theme or background music in radio, movie and television. Composers and musicians mostly work anonymously and their tracks appear on numerous „production music“ labels, not available for the consumer. The most famous German labels for library music from the 1970s and 1980s are Selected Sound, Sonoton and Ring Musik, who all published various music styles like pop, rock, jazz, funk, electronic or even classically adapted sounds. Many well known German artists already started to work for library music companies in the 1960s, some under their own name but others under frequently changing pseudonyms. The related library LPs were pressed in small amounts and sent out to media companies, where they became shelved without any use and often gathered dust in some forgotten basements as a result. When these recordings suddenly appeared in DJ and collectors circles during the early 1990s, a new interest in library music of the ! 1960s and 1970s occured.

The Ring Musik company was established in 1964 as a publishing house for production music in Frankfurt/ Main and started to produce countless LP albums until the 1980s, presenting hundreds of tracks on their special labels “Golden Ring” and “Happy Records”. Some of the most sought after funk tracks have been already compiled for the “Colours of Funk Vol. 1” release in 2009. With this second compilation from the same archives, we dig deeper into the fascinating German library productions of artists like Peter Thomas, Klaus Weiss, Jürgen Franke or Frank Pleyer. Especially Peter Thomas is well known around the world because of his many exceptional soundtrack recordings, while Klaus Weiss belonged to the best jazz drummers ever to come out of Germany. Frank Pleyer was among the most versatile international composers for light music and received many gold and platinum awards. Other excellent musicians like Jürgen Franke used to work behind the scenes and composed for many differe! nt production music companies, appearing under various pseudonyms like “Juan Demonio”, “Ken Aldin” or “Frank Mantis”.

The spaced out jazz funk tracks “Flash Point” or “Power Boost” by Peter Thomas sound like the missing link between his two famous soundtracks “Raumpatrouille” and “Chariots of the Gods”. Both tunes were pulled from the Happy album “Orion 2000” and present an amazing combination of funky bass lines, sharp horn stabs, open drum breaks plus obscure electronic effects. “Easy Action” with its cosmic sound scapes and funky guitar work was found on another one of the rare “Sound Music Albums” by Peter Thomas, produced for the Golden Ring imprint and housed in the yellow standard type “camera cover”. The so called Juan Demonio is no other than Jürgen Franke, who produced the most sought after Latin funk album on the Happy label, entitled “Esto Me Gusto”. Highlights of this hard to trace LP are the tunes “Porto Allegre” and “Again Please”, that include jazzy piano and flute lines, amazing percussion rhythms and finest scat vocal work by some unknown female singers.

The in demand big band funk of “Bubble And Squeak” was found on the Happy album “Full House” by Frank Pleyer, while the detailled production origin of several other tracks like “Distant Voices”, “Night Clipper” or “Rock City” remain unknown. “Beach Bunny” by Juan Demonio is a very funky guitar-brass-organ track with heavy beats from the Happy album “Turn On”, that is highly recommended to the collector of obscure German psychedelic grooves, aswell as the cheeky funk tune “Blue Riff” by Peter Mellini, composed for the library album “Children Corner”. Exceptional drummer and producer Klaus Weiss recorded many funky solo drums and percussion patterns - sometimes with the addition of electronic instruments - for the “Sound Music Album” series, of which three important tracks are featured here: The synth ladden, proto techno-like “Explorer” and “Traveller” plus the phased solo drums of “Space Drums” as the outro of this compilation.

Klaus Weiss produced four entire albums with the yellow “camera cover” for Golden Ring and each of them is highly sought after by beat makers, DJs and sample afficionados. And last but not least: The relaxed “Satin Eyes” by Mladen Franko stands out as the only track in the whole catalogue, that was produced as a flawless boogie funk gem during the early 1980s. Collectors, DJs and further rare groove afficionados are willing to pay high amounts for the seldom seen original Golden Ring or Happy albums today. Now the “Colours of Funk Vol. 2” compilation presents the next cross section of all the big library funk records from the Ring Musik Publishing archives. All tunes sound fresh and timeless due to great arrangements and the best production facilities available at the time. Thanks and big respect to all involved artists, musicians, engineers and Uli Velte from Ring Musik.