North Carolina soul-funk group the Brief Encounter never made it much further than local acclaim, but during their short run in the late '70s and early '80s, they created some powerful, party-starting funk on par with better-known national acts of their era. The band's high-energy dance tracks and misty balladry offered a Southern counterpoint to Parliament's psychedelic soul or Kool and the Gang's pop-geared grooves, and they flirted with disco in the early '80s before disbanding in 1983. Original copies of their 1977 debut LP, Introducing - The Brief Encounter, became a highly sought-after collector's item, and the album was reissued multiple times as more crate diggers found out about the band.