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Bio:
This was a project of German producer Leo Muller.
In 1973, Thin Lizzy were based in London and their star was on the rise.
They were approached by Muller about recording an LP of Deep Purple covers.
Perhaps money was still scarce at this point
as the band accepted the offer.
They brought in singer Bennie White
of Dublin band Fudd (AKA Elmer Fudd)
for the session as his voice was more suited to Ian Gillan's
material than Lynott, and Bennie brought keyboard player Dave Lennox with
him.
The Funky Junction LP is basically an exploitation album
designed to cash in on the recent success of Deep Purple.
It was released in the UK and USA with anonymous credits.
It was also released in Germany on the Sonic label in a different cover and under
a different name as "The Rock Machine Plays the Best of Deep Purple and Other Hits".
The band pictured on the front cover of the UK/USA edition is in fact Hard Stuff,
who coincidentally were signed to Deep Purple's
Purple Records label. Another coincidence is the fact that
Hard Stuff guitarist John DuCann was briefly a member of Thin Lizzy
during a German tour in 1973.
The Funky Junction album contains five Deep Purple covers plus four Leo Muller
"originals" which are in fact re-titled public domain songs. It's certainly not bad but
it's nothing special either. It was a bargain bin perennial until the Thin Lizzy connection
became more widely known. It is now a (very) minor collectable.
There are two more Funky Junction tracks on another Leo Muller LP but they are
thought to have been recorded by a completely different, unknown lineup.
This album consists of 8 Gladys Knight & The Pips tracks plus two funky instrumental tracks by Funky Junction, "Roads End" (funky drum breaks) and "Talkin Trash" (a slow funk). Both are Leo Muller originals. It is unknown if they were recorded by the same lineup of Funky Junction as on the previous LP, but it seems unlikely -- by 1975, Thin Lizzy's career had really taken off.
Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic.