ARTHUR BAKER TALKS RHYTHM

The pioneering hip hop, electro-funk producer inspired Finding the Funk

I was on vacation at the Standard Hotel, my favorite Miami haunt, when I ran into Arthur Baker on the patio. Few have had as varied a career as the Boston native. He part of a posse of Beantown musicians to crave out a space in dance music circa early ‘80s. New Edition’s first debut album was on his Boston based Streetwise Records. Initially a remixer of disco tracks, he evolved into production. With producing partner John Robie, Arthur made “Planet Rock” and “Looking for the Perfect Bear” with Africa Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force and other electro jams. He help organize a series of anti-aparthied records under the “We Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City” that attacked the South African government for trying to break the American entertainment boycott against it. As a producer, arranger OR remixer Arthur worked with Bob Dylan, Al Green, Hall & Oates and scores of others.

But Arthur was funk fan at heart. That day in Miami he pitched me a documentary called ‘Finding the Funk.’ That began a multiple year journey that resulted in a project that first aired on VH1 and that can now be rented on Amazon. Much of the content that I post on this Substack and on my YouTube channel are unedited or unseen interviews from that project. These three clips are from my interview with Arthur at a Brooklyn studio years ago. The project has had some ups and downs over the years, but Arthur’s passion for funk, in particular, and dance music, generally, shines through her.