Seattle Times
This story is about Wheedle’s Groove. It’s decades old and a little complicated, but very inspiring. And if you like music, appreciate history, live in the Seattle area or seek a deeper understanding of the human condition, you should know it. It begins on Feb. 25, 1970, with the Black on White Affair recording three hard-hitting funk tunes at Kearney Barton’s Audio Recording studio in Belltown. Local soul, funk and R&B plays on the radio nonstop, thanks to KYAC 1250 AM on East Madison Street. Seattle is having its heyday of soul music. The outside world is oblivious. Jump to Aug. 21, 2004. Light in the Attic Records has been operating for two years, reissuing vintage funk, punk and pop records out of a two-bedroom apartment in Fremont. Label chiefs Matt Sullivan and Josh Wright unearth a slew of old Seattle soul 45s from back in the day. The music — part of a lost musical history — demands a larger audience. It’s reborn as “Wheedle’s Groove,” a compilation of 18 tracks by 12 old-school Seattle soul outfits, including the ones mentioned above. To celebrate the record release, members of these long-dormant groups, now in their 50s and 60s, come together for a concert at Chop Suey, just down the street from the old KYAC studio. By the end of the year, “Wheedle’s Groove,” a documentary directed by Jen Maas, producer of the local indie hit “Humpday,” will enter the film festival circuit.