Ultrafunk -

Ultrafunk was a studio-based Afro-funk band comprised of English musicians. They made the 1975–77 albums Ultrafunk and Meat Heat on Contempo Records.

Background

Ultrafunk formed in London for Contempo Records when label founder John Abbey asked arranger-keyboardist Gerry Shury to assemble guitarist Chris Rae, bassist Frank McDonald, and drummer John Richardson as a studio rhythm section.

In 1966, Abbey founded the magazine Home of the Blues,later retitled Blues & Soul. He opened the Contempo record shop and mail-order operation at 42 Hanway Street in central London, then launched an affiliated label in 1973 for licensed American soul and new British productions.

Shury earned his earliest arranger credits on 1968 singles by The Fantastics, a London-based American soul group. He arranged the late-1970 Bee Gees reunion album 2 Years On and subsequent titles by Tin Tin, a pop combo produced by Maurice Gibb. Rae emerged as a session guitarist on 1973/74 albums by Lynsey de Paul (Surprise) and Nicky Hopkins (The Tin Man Was a Dreamer), the former with Richardson, who also drummed on the 1974 Rubettes hit “Sugar Baby Love.”

Abbey introduced Ultrafunk in March 1974 with an instrumental version of the Stevie Wonder anthem “Living for the City,” backed with the Bill Withers tune “Who Is He and What Is He to You?” Ultrafunk paired with singer and former boxer Freddie Mack for “Kung Fu Man,” released in July with an instrumental flipside. The group returned in May 1975 with “Sweet F.A. (Funky Al)” (b/w “Use Me”) as Abbey prepared the material for the self-titled Contempo album Ultrafunk.

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