"I Could've Been a Contender" 10/01/06

[Pete70s]

I've been writing down a list of future contenders, and have close to two dozen upcoming artists. Fun times ahead!

For this week:



WAR

"Low Rider" still gets used in countless movies (my step-kids LOVE the song because it was used in "Robots"), but it seems that the song has outlived the recognition of the band. Which is yet another rock n' roll travesty..

Formed in 1962 as the Creators, the band would go on to back-up football legend Deacon Jones in his singing career, before an enthusiastic Eric Burdon jumped onstage with them in 1969. Tired of the Rock scene and looking for a fresh, authentic sound, Burdon lead them into the studio to record the debut album "Eric Burdon Declares War". The single "Spill The Wine" would peak in the top-5 in the summer of 1970.

Burdon would leave the band after their second release "The Black Man's Burdon", and the remaining members would carry on as WAR without him. Between 1971-1978, the group scored 11 top-40 singles, among them "The Cisco Kid", "All Day Music", "Summer", and "The World Is A Ghetto". But their biggest success came with "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends" in 1975. They were musical groundbreakers who mixed soul, funk, Latin and rock into a style of their own.

The band could not continue their success through the disco era, though, and after the disco-flavored "Galaxy" in 1978, WAR dissappeared from the charts. They continued to record and tour into the eighties, however. Today, The only original member in the band lineup is keyboardist Lonnie Jordan. The largest group of the remaining members formed their own group, the Lowrider Band. It consists of four original core group members of War: Howard Scott, BB Dickerson, Lee Oskar, and Harold Brown.

If the strength of "Low Rider" couldn't get them into the Hall, I don't know what will...

[Dawn]

Excellent choice, Pete. This group had a very varied sound, and quite an impressive string of hits in the '70s. I had not known about the connection to Deacon Jones - that's interesting.

The oldies stations play a few of their hits, particularly Low Rider and The Cisco Kid, but others seem to be pretty much overlooked. My favorites from them are All Day Music, The World is A Ghetto and Summer. I don't know a lot from them apart from their hit singles, but a member of another site I post on recently made some War album recommendations that I'd like to check out.

[Ken]

They really deserve to be in the hall.I remember listening to both Low Rider and Why Can't We Be Friends? many times back in the mid 70's. Low Rider Still gets regular spins on my local classic rock station along with Spill The Wine.

A few years ago I tracked down a copy of War's Greatest Hits on vinyl and I love it!!

[KittyKat - RIP Luciano]

I totally agree about the fact that War should be in the Hall. They are definitely overlooked. "Why Can't We Be Friends" remains one of my favorite songs, even though it's a tad overplayed.
I wasn't aware that they had so many top 40 hits.