A too long unheard blacksploitation soundtrack from the Fantasy Productions house -- grooves from the pool of players who laid down the sounds on Secret Stash's fantastic Porno Groove compilation -- the score for the very little seen and long lost Mad Dog's Hustle from 1974! The music is credited to The Upstroke -- the same unidentified musicians from Fantasy's adult film scores -- and in a similar fashion to the porno soundtrack material, they're working very much in the appropriate idiom, but with a unique twist. Here it's the mid 70s blacksploitation funk & soul sound, with strains of Curtis Mayfield (particularly in the vocal tunes) and other great soul cinema composers, but stretching out and doing things within it that we've never heard before. It's a mix of vocal cuts and funky instrumentals -- with rawer interplay and seemingly improvised guitar and horns solos that are straight up killer! It's in the smaller combo side of the spectrum, without the strings and bigger arrangements of the bigger budgeted blacksploitation films of the time, which just gives it a more direct energy. Some are sultry and slow cooking, others full on funky. The players identities are a mystery, but the way they work together and play off each other is natural and truly excellent. Here's hoping the Fantasy Productions vaults Secret Stash cracked open runs long and deep! Titles include "Make It Hustle", "Baby, Baby, Baby", "Party In Harlem", "Puppy Love", "Harlem Summer", "Comin' To Getcha", "Lennox Ave Rastas", "Lataesha's Cue", "Revenge", "East Side Strut", "Grover's Cue". "Always And Forever", "The Rumble", "Afrucan Child" and "Pushed Too Far". (Vinyl only release -- on white vinyl!)  © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.