Licky "African Rock" (1979? 1980?)

I think this is one of those obscure low-rent studio productions where they spent a day recording a bunch of tracks with session musicians and made up a new name for the band on each song. So I guess it was pretty near the end of the session when somebody came up with "Licky" as a band name.

"Licky, man, it's like Sexxy but it sounds more sexual in your mouth when you say it" explained Larry Robinson while frantically rubbing his nose "I'm about that mouth feel."

High fives all 'round.

So anyway, Licky is the B-side. Bizzarrely, the A-side is the exact same recording but with all the percussion turned down in the mix, and as an over-dub a man sings off-key in a kind of trembly, stage fright voice while randomly shaking a tambourine that has about a hundred too many microphones pointed at it. It is like someone doing bad karaoke of Osibisa. The track is still called "African Rock" but the band is now "Dream Lovers". I doubt that anyone anywhere has ever listened to the A-side of this record all the way through.

It's disco, by the way, but in all the right places - no strings, plenty of augogo, hot synth solos and bass that gets slapped, sure, but not in an abusive way. The concept of this song is that an African rock is travelling from America to Africa to learn about itself. Initially the rock doubts its abilities but it receives encouragement from nearby backing vocalists in the end it succeeds. It is kind of "a journey" I guess.

(B-side wins again).

Licky - "African Rock"