response 22 of 26:

May 22 08:15 UTC 2002

Also, having done a little research on Heatwave, of "Boogie Nights" 
fame, it would seem that soft funk evolved somewhat into connections 
to disco, and soul would seem to be the slow-tempo counterpart to funk.

Heatwave was apparently an influence on the second sound of Kool & The 
Gang.  Here's Real One's notes at the artist guide again, on the album 
_Central Heating_, as follows:

If you could use only one adjective to describe Heatwave's sound, it 
would be "smooth." The band's romantic ballads and slow jams were the 
epitome of smooth, and that adjective also describes many of their up-
tempo funk grooves. This isn't to say that Heatwave's funk lacked 
grit -- it had plenty of grit, but even so, it was an undeniably 
smoother style of funk than Parliament/Funkadelic, James Brown, Tower 
of Power, Rick James, or the Bar-Kays. In fact, when Kool & the Gang 
switched to a smoother, sleeker approach in 1979 and hired J.T. Taylor 
as its new lead vocalist, Heatwave was a big influence. The Kool & the 
Gang that emerged on 1979's Ladies' Night is certainly a lot more 
Heatwave-like than the gutbucket, down-and-dirty Kool & the Gang 
of "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging." And it isn't hard to hear 
the parallels between Taylor and Heatwave's Johnnie Wilder. It's safe 
to assume that when Kool & the Gang was reinventing itself, its 
members had Too Hot to Handle and Central Heating in their 
collections. With this excellent sophomore effort, Heatwave lived up 
to the promise it showed on Too Hot to Handle. The invigorating funk 
smash "The Groove Line" became a disco-era anthem, and the album's 
other big hit, "Mind Blowing Decisions," is a quiet-storm classic. 
From up-tempo funk grooves like "Party Poops" and "Put the Word Out" 
to the romantic Northern soul of "Happiness Togetherness" and "Leaving 
for a Dream," Central Heating is among Heatwave's strongest releases. 
~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide