Doin' It - - - The Equatics (Blue vinyl) Stack Records

The stories of great high school funk bands, once the realm of the deepest-pocketed record collecting obsessives, are, thanks to an abundance of reissues, commonplace. Columbus, Ohio’s Fabulous Originals’ “It Ain’t Fair, But It’s Fun" is one of Deep Funk’s standing classics; newly discovered recordings have further entrenched the band’s stellar reputation. The Detroit Sex Machines’ four sides, recorded under their father’s watchful eye as the then-teenage Dudley brothers attended Detroit’s Southeastern High School are of JBs quality. And the late Conrad O. Johnson’s inimitable Kashmere Stage Band, the subject of the Texas Thundersoul anthology on this label, offered, in this fan’s opinion, some of the best ensemble funk music recorded by any band, professional or otherwise, then or now.The tales of great high school soul-bands are still rare. A ballad or two on the random Douglass High School Stage Band album or Timeless Legend’s mesmerizing entry on Columbusâ...