BREAKWATER

Breakwater is an American funk band from Philadelphia. The band released two albums: Breakwater in 1978, and Splashdown in 1980. The latter features the song “Release the Beast“, which was sampled for the Murs track “Intro” in the album Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition. “Release the Beast” was later sampled by Daft Punk for the song “Robot Rock“, which appeared on the album Human After All.

The band, originally from Philadelphia was formed in 1971. The original members of Breakwater consisted of Gene Robinson, James Gee Jones, Lincoln ‘Zay’ Gilmore, Steve Green, Vince ‘Garnel’ Dutton, Greg Scott, John ‘Dutch’ Braddock, and Kae Williams, Jr. They were signed to the Arista label in 1978.  Their second  albumSplashdown, which was released in 1980 has been referred to by Tom Bowker of the Broward Palm Beach New Times as a funk masterpiece.

The sound of Breakwater’s music is normally that of slow jams, but they have been known to incorporate rock music and funk styles into their songs, much like their song titled “You”. “Release the Beast” is best known by non-funk music fans, and the band’s sound can be closer compared to that of Con Funk Shun or Earth, Wind & Fire.