Britfunk pioneers EARL MCKENZIE and CLIVE GARDINER are two lifelong friends who grew up together in Southall, West London, UK. Their mutual love of soul, funk and jazz inspired them to form a 7-piece band "The Class Of ‘78” in their teens featuring songs they had written and arranged together. After a few years of playing live, and with Earl and Clive now at university, they formed a self-contained duo called McKENZIE & GARDINER (aka McKENZIE GARDINER) with Earl on guitar
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Britfunk pioneers EARL MCKENZIE and CLIVE GARDINER are two lifelong friends who grew up together in Southall, West London, UK. Their mutual love of soul, funk and jazz inspired them to form a 7-piece band "The Class Of ‘78” in their teens featuring songs they had written and arranged together. After a few years of playing live, and with Earl and Clive now at university, they formed a self-contained duo called McKENZIE & GARDINER (aka McKENZIE GARDINER) with Earl on guitar, bass and lead vocals and Clive on keyboards and backing vocals writing songs individually and together. In 1983, they made their first demos in Brixton which won a competition in “Blues & Soul” magazine offering a day in the studio at Streetwave Records, West Acton. There they recorded FROM TIME (Groove Version) which landed them an artist and publishing deal. In July 1983 a new recording of FROM TIME was made and released as a 7” and 12” single produced by Joe Williams. Years later this became a highly sought-after Rare Groove slice of 80’s Boogie, with the original 12” selling for up to £200 on ebay. The 12” was re-released by French label Boogie Times in 2011 and has featured on Rare Groove CD compilations. A 12-track album of unreleased songs recorded in and around 1983 called "SONGS FROM TIME - THE LOST DEMOS” including FROM TIME (Groove Version) was released by Headstretch Records digitally in autumn 2013 and as a limited edition 8-track vinyl version in 2014. Proud to have been played by Dâm-Funk.
