No matter what season it is, memories of a less chaotic childhood awakened thoughts of the now-defunct six-member OH. funk band, Dayton, and their most recognizable hit, a sly (pun intended) and languorous remake of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime.”
Recalling the glory of lazy mornings, sunlit afternoons and nights that brought cool drinks and hot BBQ plates, Dayton vocalists Derrick Armstrong and Rachel Beavers made “Hot Fun” a chilled-out listen via the sultry, understated delivery, light use of the vocoder and a sinuous, undulating funk that pleasantly contrasted Sly’s rollicking original. And just where most songs trickle to an end after the final chorus, right at the 3:50 mark, Armstrong’s adlib introduces a twenty-second music break that launched extra time for stepping, skating and grooving to the synth-riding beat. Dayton may not have survived the 1980s, but this third album’s track added to their self-composed hits and solidified their place in the annals of disco-esque funk.
