Slave

by Ron WynnArguably the hottest of the 70s Ohio funk bands, Slave had a great run in the late 70s and early 80s. Trumpeter Steve Washington formed the group in Dayton in 1975. Vocalist Floyd Miller teamed with Tom Lockett Jr, Charlie Bradley, Mark Adams, Mark Hicks, Danny Webster, Orion Wilhoite, and Tim Dozier. Vocalists Steve Arrington and Starleana Young came aboard in 1978, with Arrington ultimately becoming lead vocalist. Their first big hit was the thumping single Slide in 1977 for Cotillion, where they remained until 1984. Their best tracks were lyrically simple and at times silly, but the arrangements and rhythms were intense and hypnotic. Other Top Ten R&B hits were Just a Touch of Love in 1979, Watching You in 1980, and Snap Shot in 1981. Young, Washington, and Lockett departed to form Aurra in 1979. Arrington himself left in the early 80s. They added Charles Carter, Delburt Taylor, Sam Carter, Kevin Johnson, and Roger Parker as replacements and continued on, though much less successfully, into the late 80s. They moved to Atlantic for one LP in 1984, then switched to the Atlanta-based Ichiban in 1986 for singles and LPs that were just a shade of the former vibrant Slave sound. Their most recent release was The Funk Strikes Back in 1992. Rhino issued Stellar Funk: The Best of Slave, a first-rate anthology of their finest cuts, in 1994.