Biography
T. Life, the man who produced Thomas Bucknasty's debut album, Blast-O-Funk, is best known for his work with Evelyn "Champagne" King from 1977-1979. But this little-known LP sounds nothing like Life's much sleeker work with King -- Thomas Bucknasty's specialty is hard, tough, gutbucket, horn-driven funk along the lines of the Bar-Kays. This isn't to say that Bucknasty is in a class with those guys -- Bucknasty didn't quite have the killer hooks that funk royalty like Bar-Kays, Parliament/Funkadelic, the Gap Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, and Rick James boasted. But while the material isn't fantastic, it's decent. When Thomas Bucknasty tears into sweaty, forceful numbers like "Rock Til You Don't Care," "Flashback," and "That's What I'm Hoping Now," you can hear the band's potential. Perhaps if Bucknasty had stayed together long enough, it might have developed into something special. But one can only speculate because the band never recorded a second album. Out of print since the early 1980s, Blast-O-Funk is unlikely to ever be reissued on CD. So if you're a funk collector and come across a copy somewhere, grab it immediately.
(information taken from discogs.com)
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Born Thomas McNeill and native of Philadelphia, PA band leader Thomas Buck Nasty known to throngs of friends and fans affectionately as The Poet, has become an enduring icon in the music world, an acclaimed singer, songwriter, spoken word poet, producer, and multi-talented composer and instrumentalist. It may be a Hip Hop world, in large part, however, audiences of all ages and backgrounds who find the head rolling, foot patting and “whomp stomping” sound of Thomas Buck Nasty Blues Band, along with The Whomp Stomp Committee are never the same again, in any generation.
The debut album, Blast o Funk, RCA Records fame produced the original Buck Nasty, a group which ruled the night club and concert scene in Philadelphia in the 70s and 80s. Buck Nasty emerged as a formidable force when music was going through its metamorphosis from R&B, blues, through psychedelic and Funk; immortalizing their sound through the Hip Hop era and into the Now where The Funk lives on. When many groups were hard pressed to keep abreast of the changes, awestruck fans witnessing Thomas BuckNasty’s thunderous gospel, throaty voice, wondered whether they were in church or at a concert. Thomas Buck Nasty has withstood the rapidly changing, highly competitive music scene to command a global presence and remain a Philadelphia legend. With gigs in venues from Poland, Australia, Germany, Spain, to Paris, France and more; Thomas Buck Nasty with The Healers, perform as global ambassadors of jazz, blues and The Funk.
(the second snippet culled off examiner.com)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.