East Bay Grease defined their sound and landed them a contract with Warner Brothers. Bump City, their debut for the label in 1972, was a hit on both the Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts and earned them the hits “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The 1970s were a heyday with radio classics such as “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?” and the band continued to tour and record throughout the years. Castillo says their love for the stage is as strong today as it was in 1968.
Fifty years later, in 2018, they returned to Oakland to celebrate their historic 50th anniversary. Tower’s plaid-rattling grooves and raucous revelry have already been a balm to the soul throughout their half-century existence, but the release of 50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater could not have come at a better time.
