Dayton: The Sound Of Music (Jon Iler & John Simmons Mix)

An edit from Chicago’s Jon Iler and John Simmons brings long lost funk band Dayton back into the spotlight.

Dayton – The Sound Of Music (Jon Iler & John Simmons’ Sound Of Chicago Mix)
Not On Label – Free Download

Inconceivable as it sounds today, Southwest Ohio was once the intergalactic capital of funk. The region boasted more than just a handful of acts, but a scene packed with bands that were continually working, breaking up and seeding new projects with fresh blood. Among them were Slave, the Ohio Players, Lakeside, Bootsy’s Rubber Band and the band that made the town famous, Dayton.

Like many funk bands, Dayton had two careers in parallel: one on the charts and one in the clubs. As far as Billboard was concerned, their cover of Sly Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime” was Dayton’s claim to fame, after which their popularity entered a period of decline. But apart from the pop charts, Dayton released a ton of great records, including their massively, massively underrated third album, Feel The Music.

“The Sound of Music” was really the key track on Feel The Music, and if you’re only now discovering this overlooked record, it gives you an idea of what could be done with a vocoder and what was done with a vocoder in the era between Peter Frampton and Daft Punk.

Chicago’s Jon Iler and John Simmons have made a fantastic mix from what I think is the X-Tended Mix of “The Sound of Music,” rescuing one of the top vocoder lines from the ’80s and throwing a spotlight on the band with some cracking percussion and a tight arrangement. The download is free, as in beer, while supplies last.