Seminal Selection - Sly And The Family Stone Greatest Hits (Epic, 1970)
Each issue we ask a DJ or artist to name an album that's been an inspiration to them. This month, former Blockhead and disco innovator in his own right Chaz Jankel chooses a psychedelic funk collection par excellence...
"I think I liked the music because it went beyond all expectations of what music could be at the time. I suppose you'd call it psychedelic funk, but it had rock, great songwriting, great rhythms. I could list off loads of very innovative tunes. I remember, for example, hearing 'Thank You (Fallentinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' for the first time, and it didn't change key anywhere, and it was so different to the pop fare around it just reshaped my way of looking at music, really.
"To this day, Sly's writing is probably the most exciting to me of any band. When I met Ian Dury, the influences that had been prevalent to the other musicians he'd worked with were more rockabilly, and I'd been tuning into African-American music, as well as rock stuff. When I heard War, James Brown, an amazing act called Mandrill, I just thought it was fantastic stuff. Things like that had a major impact on me, but it was Sly that was the most significant.
"If I had to choose my favourite Sly track, it'd probably be 'Family Affair' or 'Thank You'. He did that track twice, but the original is the best."