Michael Hughes (July 23, 1958 – October 13, 2008) – You Are The One (1981)

AM-FM's ultra-funky anthem was co-written by three former members of Experience Unlimited who went on to become Vaughan Mason's Crew.

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Michael Hughes (aka “Outta Site” Mike, aka “Professor Funk”) was a keyboardist, songwriter, producer, and one of the original members of Experience Unlimited (E.U.), the Washington, D.C. group responsible for the underground classic 1977 funk album Free Yourself.

See our previous post on Free Yourself for more on the group’s history and their landmark album’s significance.

Along with drummer Anthony "Block" Easton and bassist/lead vocalist Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott, Hughes co-wrote the epic instrumental title track “Free Yourself.” He also solely wrote another of the LP’s stellar cuts, the aptly-named jam “Functus.”

Hughes later played keyboards, including Moog bass synthesizer and clavinet, on Vaughan Mason & Crew’s hit Brunswick LP Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll (1980).

Besides gracing its #5 R&B title track, his keyboard wizardry helped make the album’s opening cut “Roller Skate” an equally funky although lesser known roller anthem.

The “Crew” backing Mason consisted of Hughes and two other former E.U. members, percussionist Cleveland Battle and guitarist Gerard Butler. They were eventually offered their own contract with Brunswick, but were told they couldn’t be called The Crew. So AM-FM were born, which stood for “All Music for All Minds.”

Their first single, the ultra-funky jam “You Are The One” (1981) was co-written, arranged, and produced by Hughes, Battle, and Butler. Issued on Brunswick subsidiary Dakar Records, it was a regional hit up and down the East Coast and throughout the Southeast.

Unfortunately, the group ran into trouble before they could capitalize on the single’s success. As Hughes explained in a 1991 interview:

“We started working as writers and producers for Brunswick and working with other groups such as D-Train with “You’re the One for Me” and the early Bar-Kays. We became more of a writer/producer type group. We got into a bad management agreement and had to sit on the deal for the remainder of the contract so we came home to DC to do Go-Go again. That’s when AM/FM first appeared on the scene doing Go-Go music. We were really a funk/rock band, but since our roots were in Go-Go, coming from E.U., we chose to do Go-Go so we could sustain ourselves until we could get another deal.”

They released more singles throughout the eighties, but “You Are The One” remains the most tantalizing reminder of the funky heights they might have reached.

Sadly, Hughes died in a motorcycle accident in the fall of 2008.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Michael Hughes.

Further info:

“AM/FM: The Examiner Interview," 1991, D.C. Legendary Musicians, Inc.

#soul #funk #go-go #ExperienceUnlimited #AM-FM #MichaelHughes