Yellow Sunshine: "Yellow Sunshine"

Damn!  Another one that I’d been itching to find for a minute, yet unlike Cymande, I’d never heard anything by this group.  All I knew is that they were Philly International’s answer to early funk-rock—a sound that gets me every time—and with the other Philly stuff being on the opposite end of the soul spectrum, it only led to the intrigue of this mysterious project.  Once I procured the vinyl, I came to find out that the whole thing was the brainchild of Philly keyboard maestro Dexter Wansel and a collective of musicians that would go on to form the much more famous MFSB (“TSOP” or “Love Train,” anyone?).  Considering that resume, the title track, on side 1/cut 1, comes as a shocking revelation, all crunchy guitar and early synth, as the drummer snaps the snare in the way that only those old school cats could.  The melodic changes suggest prog-rock inclinations a la Eno, yet even those are just a set-up for the monster break-beat that storms in near the ending.  I mean, good god, uhh!  That’s just the first song!  Wansel and company proceed to tear through all sorts of funky shit, from the gut-busting heaviness/headiness of “The Greetch” to the Wansel synth showcase of “Apollo 17,” while all the while you scratch your head, knowing that many of the players here are the same guys that backed the mellow pop-soul of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Billy Paul and The Stylistics, among a multitude of others.  Goes to show that, back in the day, before shit was all polished with studio sheen, turning the amps up to 11 and shredding over syncopated beats was as natural an occurrence as waking up in the morning.