In 1970, a genre-bending band from Lengthy Seaside, Calif., referred to as Battle teamed up with Eric Burdon, former singer for The Animals. Eric Burdon Declares “Battle” included the No. 3 Billboard Scorching 100 hit “Spill the Wine,” and the Might 2, 1970, Billboard declared Burdon was formally “now a full-fledged soul singer.” After yet another album, Burdon collapsed onstage after which left the group, leaving Battle’s future unsure. The band’s subsequent album, in addition to its first for United Artists (UA), solely superior to No. 190 on the Billboard 200.
The group proved it wasn’t a Chilly Battle when its subsequent album, All Day Music, hit No. 16 on the album chart in 1972. That very same yr, The World Is a Ghetto established the group — which nonetheless performs at the moment with founding member Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan — as a musically fearless funk group that soared even greater with out the burden of a well-known frontman. The album topped the Billboard 200 on Feb. 17, 1973 — a half-century in the past this yr.
Battle Effort
After Burdon left, Battle waged a advertising and marketing blitz — the March 13, 1971, Billboard reported that the marketing campaign “included saturation of commerce and underground press with ‘Battle Is Coming’ advertisements,” in addition to “distribution of 10,000 plastic struggle helmets to disk jockeys, music writers and key report sellers throughout the nation.”
Battle Is Declared
The “Soul Sauce” column within the Nov. 11, 1972, Billboard hailed Battle’s The World Is a Ghetto because the “greatest new album of the week.” “Sparked by their present single and title lower, Battle have give you [an] wonderful bundle that’s destined for large gross sales,” predicted a assessment in the identical concern, citing the 13-minute “Metropolis, Nation, Metropolis” as an “wonderful instance of expertise within the group.”
Battle Cry
“Battle is a dynamic act in particular person and its single of ‘World Is a Ghetto’ on UA continues its quest towards the highest,” learn a “Scorching Chart Motion” dispatch within the Feb. 3, 1973, concern. The one would ultimately attain No. 7 on the Billboard Scorching 100 and No. 3 on what’s now the Scorching R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Battle didn’t cease there — the April 21, 1973, Billboard reported that “The World Is a Ghetto has gone gold for Battle along with their different United Artists single, ‘Cisco Child’ ” — which ultimately hit No. 2.
Spoils of Battle
The World Is a Ghetto grew to become “the highest pop album of the yr,” in keeping with the Dec. 29, 1973, concern, beating out Seals & Crofts’ Summer season Breeze, Stevie Marvel’s Speaking Guide and Carly Simon’s No Secrets and techniques. “The well-made AM [radio] hit of at the moment will need to have impeccable manufacturing and nice power,” learn an evaluation of the album’s success in the identical concern. “This Battle LP was a sterling instance of crossover and of the growing demand for danceable data with free-form Latin rhythms.”
This story initially appeared within the Dec. 9, 2023, concern of Billboard.
