Description |
1 online resource (105 minutes) |
Summary |
Based in its humble Oakland beginnings in 1968, the small big band Tower of Power set the world on horn-driven funky fire with a string of hits through the '80s including the rowdy "What Is Hip" and the soulful "You're Still a Young Man." In 1987, ToP set up shop for a 90-minute concert at Iowa State University where the band is in fine dancing form. In its early days it was called a "countercultural" group for its mixing and matching a variety of musical genres, including soul, r&b, funk, jazz and even church. As such, ToP proved to be on the cutting edge of explorations for the times ahead the pop music began to experiment with variegated sounds. At Iowa, the rambunctious band has the crowd thrilled with its classic hits buoyed by the vitality and grooving band featuring lead singer Ellis Hall, sax star Richard Elliott, electric bassist Rocco Prestia and band founder saxist Emilio Castillo. The show becomes an eclectic playground for the group as it delivers catchy tunes such as "Oakland Stroke," "Down to the Night Club," "Ain't Nothing Stoppin' Us Now," and the poignant cooker "There's Only So Much Oil in the Ground"--a tune written in 1974 that periodically rises up to remind of the picture of our dire future. You can sense that Iowa loves Oakland in this show. Dan Ouellette |
Notes |
Title from title screen (viewed February 23, 2023) |
Performer |
Tower of Power |
Event |
Recorded live Iowa State University, Maintenance Shop |
Notes |
Sung in English |
Subject |
Rhythm and blues music
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Genre/Form |
Concert films.
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Rhythm and blues music.
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Form |
Streaming video
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Author |
Brooker, Doug, director, producer
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Tower of Power (Musical group), performer
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Qwest TV, publisher
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