An All Star Lineup of 70’s Florida Funk!

• Listen to this songs on youtube: I Got Bills To Pay
• Listen to these 45s in a Spotify playlist here with other 45s from the blog (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.
• Download the songs by clicking the titles above

Greetings friends!  Glad to have you back here on the blog for another go round. Today’s 45 is another addition to our growing collection of Miami / Florida records.   Now that I’m writing that down, it seems like a good theme for a full hour long podcast. I’ve DJ’ed this record a few times at the weekly night my pal Dan and I have been running for almost 9 years and every time he jokes “I always want to hit the club to dance to songs about not being able to pay my bills.”  He’s not wrong- it’s a downer of a tune in some ways but musically it’s so slick I just can’t help myself.

Johnny K hails from the coastal city of Tampa, FL where he put together his first group Johnny K Killens & The Dynamites who released a great 45 on the Deep City label in the mid 60′s where he undoubtedly met Willie Clarke.  The same time period he put out the slower, less fun and funky,  “Don’t You Believe” on Phono which you can read a little about and hear over on Sir Shambling’s great blog.  It’s a good listen, especially being a bit out of character for Johnny. Henry Stone said: “he was a natural for singing the funny songs written by Clarence Reid and Willie Clark, with a naturally comic-sounding style. His moves in the studio and onstage made him a big hit from his hometown of Tampa and everywhere he appeared with his band. If you need to laugh, listen to Johnny K, he will brighten your day.”

“I’ve Got Bills” was released in 1973 b/w “I’m Afraid of The Dark” on the smaller Florida label Drive.  As I said, the song credits read like a who’s who of Miami funk.  “I’ve Got Bills” was co-written by none other than Clarence Reid, produced by Willie Clarke and was a TK Productions which was Henry Stone’s concern.  All heavy weights who touched the vast majority of funky music coming from the sunshine state.  The record proved to be popular enough that Buddha picked it up for national distribution and replaced “I’m Afraid of The Dark” with “Mama Don’t Allow No Bumpin’ In Here.”

At the same time as today’s 45s, he released another couple of great sides on Drive, “Screwdriver” b/w “Home Boy” under the name Johnny K and The Home Boys.

His discography after this record is a little spotty.  He remade “Screwdriver” on the Pip label, and though undated it seems to land in 1979. The first release on Pip, catalog 1001 is dated 1979 and Johnny’s record is Pip 1002 and when you listen, I think you’ll hear that it sounds like it was birthed from the impulses of the late 70s.

Finally worth noting that the always wonderful Numero label has done a wonderful reissue of the Deep City label and another of their affiliates which has a couple Johnny K & The Dynamites tracks on them if you’re looking for a solid overview and a nice collection.

That’s all for today, hope you enjoy the record it’s a favorite of mine!

-George / Snack Attack

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