Liquid Liquid

Liquid Liquid, the New York quartet, shaped a stripped-down funk built almost wholly around interlocking percussion patterns, accented by restrained bass lines, congas, marimba, and infrequent vocals. Scott Hartley supplied drums, percussion, and talking drum; Richard McGuire played bass, percussion, piano, and guitar; Salvatore Principato handled percussion and vocals; and Dennis Young contributed percussion, marimba, and roto toms. Across their career the band issued three EPs: Liquid Liquid and Successive Reflexes in 1981, then Optimo in 1983. The final EP featured the track “Cavern,” whose groove directly supplied the foundation for Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines (Don’t Do It).” In 1997 Grand Royal Records assembled those three EPs with Live from Berkley Square, a recording captured during a 1982 performance.