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The Britfunk scene really got going in 1979 at a time when bands were taken seriously beyond the soul clubs. Also during this time the music went a long way to counteracting pretty much 10 years of black British Music being ignored by radio, record companies and more or less the mainstream. There had been British soul/funk bands for about as long as there had been soul/funk. Eddy Grant’s Equals are probably the best known, and Average White Band among the most successful, but through the 1960’s and 1970’s the likes of Kokomo, Gonzales and Matata flew the UK soul flag, while Cymande fused jazz, funk and Rasta roots, Black Velvet peddled funk/rock, Osibisa melded sounds from Ghana with those of the Caribbean and The Funkees are fairly self-descriptive.
 While these acts meant dancefloors were that much better off, they were essentially a series of one-offs and never established an identifiable and enduring UK soul scene. By the end of the 1970’s the British funk scene had broken huge as it moved from small inner London clubs to the suburbs where, thanks to personality deejays like Chris Hill, Robbie Vincent, Pete Tong, Froggy and Greg Edwards, it was attracting huge multi-racial crowds and filling vast dancehall venues. The Soul All-Dayer and Weekender was born, and with US groups seldom viable as part of the deejay-heavy bills, the British Jazz Funk band Light of the World were in demand as the movement’s house band. Live bands like Central Line, Linx, Freeze, Hi-Tension, Level 42, Shakatak and Atmosphear started to emerge and break through into the pop charts, it became, officially, a genre of its own – Britfunk.
The movements leaders ‘Light of the World’ were going from strength to strength. They were kids when they started Light of the World, the youngest member being just 15, and grew into men, as their success in music continued with the release of their second album ‘Round Trip’. Band members developed new side projects resulting in the formation of bands including Beggar & Co and Ingognito. Light of the World continues to perform Live in the UK and is soon to branch out into Europe. Songs performed include London Town, I’m So Happy and Number One Girl. For more information visit www.lotw-funk.com or contact Teresa Crocket, tmc.events by email: teresa@tmcevents.co.uk or 07880 735 188
Teresa Crockett
TMC Events
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