BLOWFLY'S ZODIAC PARTY

Nobody could have suspected the path that Clarence Henry Reid?would take during the 1960s. During this time he worked as a?singer/songwriter and producer for the likes of KC & The?Sunshine Band, Bobby Byrd, Gwen McCrae, and various others.?He would also release his own compositions, including the deep?soul classic Nobody But You Babe, which would become a sampling?favorite of KRS-One, Erykah Badu, DMX, and more. Though?Reid maintained a reputation as a consummate professional?among the romantic soul crowd, outside of his day-job he turned?a complete 180, writing and performing humorous, deliberately?raunchy and sexually-explicit parodies of songs. These parodies?would be relegated strictly to friends at parties, and wouldn't see?a wide audience until the 1970s hit.?In 1971 Reid would gather a collection of studio musicians,?including famed R&B sidemen Timmy Thomas & Benny Latimore?on keys, and Little Beaver on guitar, to finally commit these?parodies to wax. In order to protect his identity as a songwriter?Reid took on the stage name Blowfly, and dressed as a comic?book super villain for live performances and photos. From there?he would release numerous studio albums of similarly crude?parodies throughout the 70s and 80s, which were enormously?popular as party records. These records would also go on to?become a wealth of sampling fodder for artists like Jurassic 5, The?Pharcyde, DJ Shadow, Eazy-E, and many more, as well as lead?Reid to collaborate with artists as varied as soul contemporary?King Coleman, to former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, to?ganja-centric rapper Afroman.?1978 saw the release of Blowfly's Zodiac Party, a loosely defined?concept album which framed Reid's explicit renditions around the?theme of the Greek Zodiac symbols. Reid had already covered?this topic earlier on the similarly titled Blowfly Zodiac, but Zodiac?Party differentiates itself from its lack of parodies, instead placing?Reid in the center of a raucous shindig with his backing band,?schmoozing effortlessly with excited partygoers, curious to know?their signs. It's a singularly surreal entry in the parodist's catalog,?but a no less entertaining 70s party record.??A1. Aries * A2. Capricorn A3. Sagittarius * A4. Gemini A5. Leo * A6. Cancer?B1. Scorpio * B2. Virgo B3. Taurus * B4. Pisces B5. Libra * B6. Aquarius