# Dougie Royal – Dungaree Baby Review
Dougie Royal's sole vinyl release, "Dungaree Baby," arrived in 1982 on the independent Renebertlas Records label during a fertile period for funk and soul music. Little is widely documented about Royal's broader career, making this 12-inch single a fascinating artifact of the era's underground funk scene. Released during the early 1980s when funk was evolving and diversifying across both mainstream and independent labels, Royal's contribution represents the kind of regional or local talent that often defined the creative backbone of funk music during this period.
The album features the track "Dungaree Baby" as its centerpiece, a funk and soul hybrid that showcases the genre's instrumental and vocal characteristics. The 5:37 duration allows for substantial instrumental development, a hallmark of funk records from this era. The repetition of the track across the record's listing suggests either a single-sided release or perhaps a double-sided pressing where both sides featured the same composition, a strategy sometimes employed for dance-oriented funk singles intended for DJ rotation and club play.
Stylistically, "Dungaree Baby" sits comfortably within the broader funk-soul tradition, likely featuring the rhythmic grooves, bass lines, and horn arrangements characteristic of 1980s funk productions. For collectors of independent funk and soul releases, this Renebertlas Records pressing represents exactly the kind of obscure vinyl that makes crate-digging rewarding. The record captures a specific moment in funk history when regional artists and small labels maintained vital creative spaces outside mainstream commercial channels.
