Cos: The original motion picture soundtrack

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(“Luscious Fox”)

Everyone here at the Hymie’s Records International Headquarters is bursting with anticipation over the show we’re sponsoring at the Triple Rock Social Club on May 27th – It will be your first chance to see Grolar Bears, the near-20-piece soul/funk ensemble that’s been the subject of speculation and mystery for more than a year.

We first heard of our soon-to-be-favorite album from our regular Stuart, who broke our hearts last year by moving out of town before he could guest DJ our monthly Record Roadshow at the Turf Club. But could it be true? A funk band dozens deep laying down tracks that could jam alongside “Superfly”?

For months, a wnile year, we wondered.  Finally, Jonathan Kramer brought copies of his record into the shop and you can hear Grolar Bears for the first time, on Cos: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,

Unlike some other local releases, there’s no secret.  There’s no movie called Cos, and this isn’t a soundtrack.  It’s just a sweet soul/funk album in the style of the 70s Blaxploitation score: Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly, and Short Eyes, Bobby Womack’s 110th Street, and Galt MacDermots’s Cotton Comes to Harlem, for instance. Many people would name Isaac Hayes’ Shaft score as their favorite, and it’s probably the most well known. My favorite is Let’s Do It Again, which features music by Curtis Mayfield and the voices of the Staple Singers (and it’s a sweet movie, starring and directed by Sidney Poitier, by the way).

Jonathan Kramer, who conceived Cos: The Original Motion Picture Score and dedicated his life to it’s realization, admits there’s no motion picture, but he did help produce a really awesome trailer for the non-existent film:

Grolar Bears recorded Cos with a portable studio they called “the suitcase” over the course of a year. Sessions took place wherever they could – in churches, band rooms and auditoriums. The album features a score of local musicians who lent their talents to Jonathan Kramer’s design. The finished album is a genuine recreation of a sound and an era in cinematic and pop music history.

We at Hymie’s are honored to have the opportunity to help by sponsoring their show at the Triple Rock Social Club on Sunday, May 27th.  It’s a one-of-a-kind show.