Tune of the Week: Spaced Sly

Sly and the Family Stone provided a soundtrack to the societal changes happening in the late 60s. They achieved stardom with a balance of good time tunes and politically charged songs. The turn of the decade into the 70s brought lethargy, cynicism and decadence into a musical scene that had been charged with hope for a better tomorrow just a few years prior. Sly Stone was no exemption to this trend. He stopped recording and began abusing cocaine and PCP. What recording he would do involved very few other people. Early drum machines replaced drummers. He was said to have recorded his vocals lying in bed with a wireless microphone. Taken from the resulting album “There’s A Riot Goin’ On”, “Space Cowboy” does seem to be evidence of this methodology. Where his previous songs were brimming with life and energy, this sounds sludgy and mired in a downward inertia. Apparently these unconventional techniques resonated with the public sentiment as the album went on to be a smash hit. What may have seemed paranoid and gratuitous was actually quite contemporary, and it’s vibe still manages to resonate today.