I liked Salt-N-Pepa well enough in their heyday, but this isn’t their “Whatta Man.” This is Linda Lyndell’s original “What A Man,” recorded for Stax’s Volt label in 1968. And what a record it is.
For years, I had no idea the Salt-N-Pepa song had an earlier life. I found Lyndell’s version while digging for songs to add to my 1960s Spotify playlist. That familiar hook caught my ear, but the whole performance kept me listening. Lyndell sounds terrific, and the groove has a loose, irresistible energy.
This is one of my favorite kinds of finds: a song I thought I knew, leading me to one I’d somehow missed.
It’s enough to get somebody to try to do the Funky Broadway.