NOT ROCK
Herbie Hancock
Head Hunters
1973 | Columbia Records

Many great players have successfully crossed genres, widening the appeal of jazz to a larger and less assuming audience. And funk and R&B were fused with bebop and hard bop long before many assume. This week, I want to pay homage to the album, and the artist, I believe to be the most influential in terms of the electro-funk-jazz movement – Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters.

Head Hunters was released in 1973 on Columbia Records. Though this was not the first time Hancock experimented outside of the bop box, it was the first time the music world, and more specifically pop, recognized jazz in any major way. Hancock incorporated synthesizers neatly into jazz, never sacrificing melody or harmony.
More on The Masterful Mr. Hancock

HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT…
“Hooked on a Feeling”
Blue Swede
1973 | EMI

“OOKA-SHAKA-OOKA-OOKA-OOKA-SHAKA!” My God. Webster’s defines “pop music” as any music that “features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and a conventional structure.” And apparently “pop music” also occasionally contains elements that are “out of left field.”

Such is the case with Blue Swede’s biggest hit, “Hooked on a Feeling.” Having been peripherally aware of the “dancing baby” phenomenon of 1996-97, I imagine that (and Reservoir Dogs) was my first exposure to the 1974 #1 hit single. Strange that the song itself has a much more interesting history than the group that originally recorded it.

“Hooked on a Feeling” was originally written by Mark James and released to immediate chart success (Billboard #5) by BJ Thomas, in 1968. It was covered in 1971 by Jonathan King, who added the “ooka-shaka” chants, and Blue Swede picked up the ball and ran with it in 1973. Blue Swede, a band transparently manufactured to back up Swedish singer Bjorn Skifs, kept Jonathan King’s “ooka-shaka” contribution and (I’m speculating) gave it a little European flair. In truth, Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” was produced by Jonathan King himself. So maybe King is the one to blame for what sounds like a gang of angry, lovelorn cavemen and, later, the first of a million “internet phenomena.”
More on Blue Swede | “Hooked on a Feeling”

HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT…
“Hooked on a Feeling”
Blue Swede
1973 | EMI

“OOKA-SHAKA-OOKA-OOKA-OOKA-SHAKA!” My God. Webster’s defines “pop music” as any music that “features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and a conventional structure.” And apparently “pop music” also occasionally contains elements that are “out of left field.”

Such is the case with Blue Swede’s biggest hit, “Hooked on a Feeling.” Having been peripherally aware of the “dancing baby” phenomenon of 1996-97, I imagine that (and Reservoir Dogs) was my first exposure to the 1974 #1 hit single. Strange that the song itself has a much more interesting history than the group that originally recorded it.

“Hooked on a Feeling” was originally written by Mark James and released to immediate chart success (Billboard #5) by BJ Thomas, in 1968. It was covered in 1971 by Jonathan King, who added the “ooka-shaka” chants, and Blue Swede picked up the ball and ran with it in 1973. Blue Swede, a band transparently manufactured to back up Swedish singer Bjorn Skifs, kept Jonathan King’s “ooka-shaka” contribution and (I’m speculating) gave it a little European flair. In truth, Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” was produced by Jonathan King himself. So maybe King is the one to blame for what sounds like a gang of angry, lovelorn cavemen and, later, the first of a million “internet phenomena.”
More on Blue Swede | “Hooked on a Feeling”