Raising Hell

By 1975, the Fatback Band were already seasoned operators. Formed by drummer Bill Curtis in 1970, they had built their reputation on tight, unfiltered funk. But as disco began to seep into the mainstream, Fatback did not resist the shift. They absorbed it, folding that unmistakable four-to-the-floor pulse into their sound without losing the grit that defined them.

The result is captured on Raising Hell, a album that feels less like a pivot and more like an expansion. Raising Hell sharpens the groovy, funky energy from previous album, Yum Yum, into something more direct, more attuned to the dancefloor without sacrificing the band’s rhythmic backbone.

By this point, Fatback were beginning to make tangible waves in the UK. ‘Yum Yum (Gimme Some)’ cracked the Top 40 in August 1975, a modest breakthrough that set the stage for something bigger. That arrived in November, when ‘Are You Ready (To Do The Bus Stop)’ climbed to number 18, pulling Raising Hell into the Top 20 and cementing the band’s crossover appeal. The momentum carried into early 1976 with ‘Spanish Hustle’, a Top 10 hit that remains one of their most recognisable moments.

What stands out is the band’s instinct for balance. The funk remains front and centre, driven by Curtis’ rhythmic precision, but the disco influence adds a new sheen, a sense of forward motion that makes the tracks feel built for movement rather than just groove. It is not reinvention, but refinement, a band adjusting its centre of gravity without losing its footing.

For years, Raising Hell drifted out of reach on vinyl, becoming part of that quiet catalogue of records known more by reputation than by touch. The reissue corrects that.

More than just artefacts of a transitional moment, Raising Hell captures a band meeting the changing sound of the mid-1970s head-on and coming out sharper for it. Drop the needle, and the intent is immediate. This is music built to move, still as effective now as it was then.