I Got My Mind Made Up - the Best of Instant Funk

iTunes Review

Though Philadelphia disco-funk outfit Instant Funk could boast as many as nine members, the band was organized around a core of three instrumentalists who’d played together since high school. These three (bassist Raymond Earl, guitarist Kim Miller, and drummer Scotty Miller) cut their teeth as backing musicians at Gamble & Huff’s Philly International label in the mid-‘70s, playing on records by the likes of The O’Jays, The Manhattans, and Bunny Sigler. Instant Funk had a special relationship with Sigler; it was him who secured the group a deal with Salsoul Records. I Got My Mind Made Up collects material from the six albums Instant Funk cut for Salsoul between 1979 and 1983 and includes hits from all stages of the group’s career, from the smooth Philly soul of “Crying” to the vocoder-laced electro funk of “No Stoppin’ That Rockin’.” One of the compilation’s greatest strengths is its inclusion of rare disco edits of some of Instant Funk’s most memorable hits, including mixes performed by many of the disco era’s most talented DJs and producers, such as Francois Kevorkian, Larry Levan, and Tom Moulton.