"Wake Up" (Pure Essence)

I think the "this song will change your life!" hyperbole has been beaten, tarred, beaten again, disemboweled, quartered, and then incinerated by the atrocity that was Garden State, even for those people who were genuinely changed by The Shins. (I know a couple, and although the band is not my cup of lukewarm tea, I respect them all the same; music is the power for me too.)

So I'm not going to say "Wake Up" by Pure Essence is going to change anyone's life but the one it has already somewhat changed: mine. Although Cameron Leader-Picone, with whose generosity this song came to my attention, probably had his hair afro-up slightly more from the deep, deep groove of this lost classic from a Cincinnati (!) ensemble. And now, it can be yours, without paying 8.90 Sterling, or even supporting my favorite record label some more. (Although you should; funk obscurists need to own The Funky 16 Corners even if it costs them their last twelve dollars. Seriously, stop reading this now and break into your local record store. GO!)

In any case, the first welcome into this funk machine blew my head to the point that I think I left half of it in the car I first heard it in, then parked in a Stop 'N' Shop parking lot, but the loss of half my head was worth it. Keep your headphones on tight so this doesn't happen to you.

But dig it, dig it, dig it right here.

And learn more about them here, which will allow you to hear their "Third Rock," a song that changed my life slightly twice, first unbeknown to me as the base sample of RJD2's "Clean Living," secondly on its own.

Goddamn, I love discovering music. The people I sold Prince 45s to today on Bedford Ave. will feel the same way when they hear b-side "17 Days" for the first time, I hope.