The Eliminators -

The Eliminators were an American soul-funk band that released the 1974 album Loving Explosion on BRC.

Members: James Funches (saxophone, flute), Nathaniel Williams (bass), Clifford Little (congas), Carl Johnson (drums), Calvin Rhodes (guitar), Robert Burris (guitar), James Anderson (organ), Godosakahi Jordon (saxophone), Jonathan L. Robinson (trumpet, flugelhorn), Levon Meyers (vocals), Donald Clark (vocals, harmonica)

Background

The Eliminators developed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after drummer-songwriter Carl Johnson and brass player Jonathan L. Robinson worked in earlier local groups.

Johnson first wrote original material with the Teentones, a teenage vocal group at Atkins High School under music director Harry D. Wheeler. The Teentones worked school variety shows and Lincoln Theatre talent contests. They also cut an acetate demo in Greensboro before the lineup frayed after graduation.

Johnson and Robinson later played together in the Staccatos, a mid-Sixties Winston-Salem ensemble. The Eliminators formed around Johnson as drummer-songwriter and Robinson as brass player. The group also included bassist Nathaniel Williams, percussionist Clifford Little, keyboardist James Anderson, singers Levon Meyers and Donald Clark, guitarists Calvin Rhodes and Robert Burris, and reedists James Funches (alto saxophone, flute) and Godosakahi Jordon (tenor saxophone).

The Eliminators linked with Alonzo Tucker, a former Royals/Midnighters guitarist-arranger who co-wrote Jackie Wilson sides for Brunswick, which signed the group to its BRC division.

Loving Explosion

The Eliminators released their debut album, Loving Explosion, in July 1974 on BRC, a Brunswick Records Corporation imprint.

Explosion presents vocal soul and funk, performed by the eleven-piece lineup. The ten-song program includes a cover of the David Ruffin number “Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can).”

“Loving Explosion” opens with Levon Meyers placed at the front over brass-driven rhythm figures. “Get Satisfied” slides across speaker-to-speaker guitar phrases while Donald Clark’s falsetto cuts into the upper register.

“Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)” drives a plea text through hard ensemble accents. “Taking Love, And Making Love” slows into a smooth ballad setting with a broad arranged vocal line. “Get Satisfied (Pt. 2)” works the earlier guitar-rhythm pattern as an instrumental pass. “Loose Hips” and “Rump Bump” close the record with brass breaks, organ figures, and Meyers back in a rough front-vocal role.

A1. “Loving Explosion” (3:00) – Tucker–Johnson
A2. “Get Satisfied” (2:47) – Tucker–Johnson
A3. “Love Your Woman” (3:09) – Tucker–Clark
A4. “Give It Up” (3:04) – Tucker–Johnson
A5. “Try, Try, Try” (4:05) – Tucker–Clark

B1. “Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)” (3:36) – Miller
B2. “Taking Love, And Making Love” (4:06) – Tucker–Johnson
B3. “Get Satisfied (Pt. 2)” (2:47) – Tucker–Johnson
B4. “Loose Hips” (3:43) – Williams–Robinson–Johnson
B5. “Rump Bump” (3:50) – Tucker–Clark

The Eliminators recorded Loving Explosion at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte and O.D.O. Sounds on 54th Street in New York with producer Alonzo Tucker, director Jonathan L. Robinson, and engineers Wayne Jernigan and Jack Sherdel.

BRC lifted “Give It Up” as a November 1974 single backed with “Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can).”

James Funches reappeared on the 1976 Black Fire release by singer–keyboardist Wayne Davis.

Discography: