Cymande, Brothers on the Slide | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 59^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Brothers on the Slide” by British funk band, Cymande.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 59^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Brothers on the Slide”, performed by British funk band, 🎙 Cymande. 

“Brothers on the slide / Working on the wrong side / What ya gonna do / You can’t win so you know you must lose / We know which way you goin’.” Uh-oh – sound sus ! What doesn’t sound the least bit sus is the 🎙 Cymande classic, 🎵 “Brothers on the Slide”. “Brothers on the Slide” appears as the third track on the British funk band’s 1974 album, 💿 Promised Heights.  The groove is utterly electric – it totally SLAPS.  The guitar riff is ripe, while the bass line is one of the best you’ll ever hear from the 1970s.  Sure, there are far more renowned funk/soul records from the era, but “Brothers on the Slide” shouldn’t be neglected.

The vocals are terrific, too, expressing this narrative of bad, sketchy choices being made. Lyrically, “Brothers on the Slide” is simple.  The type of bad stuff happening isn’t clear, but, it’s not good. Among the most memorable lyrics are “(Slowly sliding) We’re doing all that we can,” which is like the chorus or bridge, as well as the recurrent, “We know which way you goin’.” It should come as no surprise that 🎵 “Brothers on the Slide” has been sampled numerous times. Perhaps this is more of an obscure gem from the 1970s, but it’s a stellar one, nonetheless.

🎙 Cymande • 💿 Promised Heights • 🏷 Partisan • 🗓 1974

Cymande, “Brothers on the Slide”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 59 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Partisan; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]