3. Sly And The Family Stone - Ain't But The One Way
The downfall of Sly Stone is one of the most extraordinary and tragic in pop music. Releasing album after album of fresh, ground-breaking funk from the late 60s to mid-70s that heavily influenced the likes of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Prince, there's a strong case for Sly and the Family Stone being one of the most important pop acts in history, and its largely down to the erratic genius of the band's main-man. But by the time Ain't But The One Way was released in 1981, the musicians that had featured on the Family Stone's seminal records were long gone. What we're left with is a drug-addled Sly trying to recapture past glories. Originally envisioned as a collaboration between Sly and George Clinton, the Funkadelic man left the project following a dispute with label Warner Brothers, and Sly himself went into hiding in the middle of the sessions. This left producer Stewart Levine to pick up the pieces and release something resembling a coherent album. He actually does a decent job, and for the dedicated, there is just enough in Sly's swan-song to hold your interest. L.O.V.I.N.U is a strong opener that echoes early Prince, Hobo Ken is a fun slice of classic funk and Sylvester is an eery 45-second a-cappella that sticks in the memory. But what about Sly? Well the man has made few public appearances since the release of Ain't But the One Way, and outside of a few leaked demos, no new music. In 2009, the Guardian reported that bankruptcy has left the troubled genius homeless and living in a camper-van in Los Angeles. Ultimately a victim of his own demons, this album marked the point of no return for one of funk's biggest icons.