Mandingo : Manhunter

Mandingo is a weird band. First of all, I'm not sure they were actually a band per se, but rather a set of studio musicians who did library music for some of the British production companies, although I read somewhere it was actually the Geoff Love Orchestra. They played music that was composed primarily by folks who wrote for soundtracks and production companies, like Brian Fahey and Mike Vickers.

The music is a cross between the pop orchestras of yore and the funk of the day. It's full of brass, strings and percussion (though I suppose you could say the same of the Love Unlimited Orchestra), but it's anchored by a funk backbeat, some heavy bass and even some rock guitar, which tends to make it sound like the soundtrack to a 70's cop show, which is to say, it sounds awesome. Plus it's really percussion heavy. In one interview, Mike says they had four drummers and seven percussionists in the studio at once.

"Manhunter" is the kick-off song for the album, and rightfully so. It's some seriously heavy funk, anchored by the tight bass-line and the rhythm guitar. The horns carry the tune with full-on intensity and the whole thing is buoyed throughout by the non-stop barrage of percussion. Apparently, Mandingo LPs were the go-to records for hi-fi salesmen back in the day. When you 'drop the needle' on this one, you'll see why.

The records were on EMI and were released primarily in the UK. Also, they used to release in quad as well as stereo and I can only imagine how this would sound remixed for 5.1 surround. You can find "Manhunter" on Mandingo's 1975 release Savage Rite. Their albums have been repackaged as 2-for-1 deals, which is a pretty good deal, except they don't seem to be in print any longer. And I was first introduced to Mandingo on the excellent Sound Gallery compilations, both of which are worth owning, although they too seem to have passed on.

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