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Calling All Funksters! -- Your Top 10 Funk Essentials


groovyjazzyfunky

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I'm in lust with The Funk, and I have the albums to prove it. But as much of it as I've compiled, I'm certain there're still tons of supremely funky cuts out there that I don't possess or have never even heard. Since I don't have the $$ to go out and randomly purchase whole albums that I think I might dig (and it's rare that I actually dig an entire album), I'd rather go the iTunes route and just get the tracks that I *need*.

 

As a funk-freak, which tunes in your opinion can I absolutely not afford to have left out of my collection? Give us your top 10, or however many *must-have* suggestions you can come up with. In other words, don't say "anything by _________ is essential." I want specifics. I'm looking for the cream of the crop, the rare gems, the lesser-known classics, the underground modern masterpieces (most of my collection is of older cuts) -- anything that a True Funk Soldier should have in his artillery.

All your bass are belong to us!
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Oh my. This thread is going to get ridiculous and out of control very quickly.

 

The Funk Box is an excellent starting point. Nearly every cut is worthly of legendary status.

 

Now, a random list off the top of my head.

 

artist - "song"

 

Ben Harper - "Fight For Your Mind"

Dag - "Lovely Jane"

Earth Wind and Fire - "In The Stone"

Stevie Wonder - "Boogie On Reggae Woman", "Sir Duke", "I Wish", "All Day Sucker" "Superstition", "For Once In My Life", "Ebony Eyes", "Do I Do", "Higher Ground", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"

James Brown - Buy "Star Time", his boxed set

Tower of Power - "Soul Vaccination", "Down to the Nightclub", "What is Hip?", "You Got To Funkifize", "Knock Yourself Out" (<-- the Live and in Living Color version), "Maybe It'll Rub Off", "Squib Cakes", "Walkin Up Hip Street", "I Got the Chop", "Soul With A Capitol 'S'", "Give Me The Proof"

The Brecker Brothers - "Some Skunk Funk"

Weather Report - "Barbary Coast"

Jaco Pastorius - (you're so fired if you don't already own his first album...) "Come On, Come Over", "The Chicken" (The Birthday Concert version kills)

Joni Mitchell - "Dry Cleaner From Des Moines"

Mahavishnu Orchestra - "Can't Stand Your Funk"

Parliament Funkadelic - get the compilation: 20th Century Masters and you'll be on your way to intersteller funksmanship

Sly and the Family Stone - "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", "Dance To The Music", "Sing A Simple Song"

The Meters - the Anthology is a good starting point

Booker T & The MG's - get The Very Best of...

 

argh... must stop now

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off the top of my tired head-

 

1. Anything by Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters

2. Larry Graham - The Jam or Pow !

3. Sly and the Family Stone - Thankyoufalettingmebemyselagain

3. James Brown - Sex Machine

4. Mandrill - Hang Loose or Fencewalk

5. Kool and the Gang - Can't get enough of that funky stuff

6. Prince- I wanna b ur lover

7. Barkays - who's the man with the master plan

8. Dennis Coffey - Scorpio

9. Billy Preston - Outta Space

10. The Time - 777-9311

Praise ye the LORD.

....praise him with stringed instruments and organs...

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.

excerpt from- Psalm 150

visit me at:

www.adriangarcia.net

for His glory

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What so never dance - Bootsy

Brand New Funky President - James Brown

Cosmic Slop - Funkadelic

Pusherman - Curtis Mayfield

Kiss - Prince

Cloud Nine - Temptations

Shining Star - Sly and the Family Stone

Atomic Dog - Parliament

Hyperbolicsyllablicsesquedalymistic - Isaac Hayes

In sound from way out - Beasties

Together all sing their different songs in union - the Uni-verse.

My Current Project

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Hair, Graham Central Station

Cissy Strut, The Meters

Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine, James Brown

Spank a Lee, Herbie Hancock

Fantastic Voyage, Lakeside

Funky Stuff, Kool and the Gang

Slide, Slave

Funky Broadway, Wilson Pickett

Let a Woman Be a Woman and Let a Man Be a Man, Dyke and the Blazers

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>Charles Wright and the 103rd St. Rhythm Band- "90 Day Cycle People" (with Jamerson, no less)

>Hank Ballard-"Butter Your Popcorn" (sounds like Godfather-era Bootsy to me on this one)

>Sweet Charles Sherell-"Hang Out and Hustle"

>James Brown and Bobby Byrd-"Since You've Been Gone"

>Meters-"Look a Py Py"

>Sly and the Family Stone-"In Time"

>Herbie Hancock-"Hang Up your Hang Ups"

>Mike Clark and Paul Jackson-"Swamp Thing"

>Sugar Pie DeSanto-"Git Back"

>AWB-"School Boy Crush"

 

and , breakin' the rules, but you'll be glad I did, the newly issued anthology, Rufus Thomas "Funkiest Man Alive."

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Just one suggestion to add:

"Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan"

Tenstrum

 

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

Harry Dresden, Storm Front

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1. Tower of Power - Down to the Nightclub

2. Jamiroquai - Do it like we used to do

3. The Commodores - Brick House

4. Stevie Wonder - Superstition

5. Average White Band - Pick up the Pieces

6. Herbie Hancock - Chameleon

7. Bobby Byrd - I know you got soul

8. Parliament - Flashlight

9. James Brown - The Payback

10. Sly and Family Stone - Thankyou For Letting Me Be Myself

Derek Smalls: It's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water. http://www.myspace.com/gordonbache
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1. Larry Graham - The Jam

2. Badder than Evil - Hot Wheels

3. Junior Walker and the All Stars - Shotgun

4. Isley Brothers - Its your thing

5. Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots

6. Rose Royce - Car Wash

7. Chic - He's the Greatest Dancer

8. The Meters - Funkify Your Life

9. Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music

10. Bill Withers - Use Me

 

Couldn't help myself had to make 2 lists.

Derek Smalls: It's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water. http://www.myspace.com/gordonbache
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Originally posted by Tenstrum:

Just one suggestion to add:

"Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan"

oh man... Chili Peppers...

 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Subway to Venus", "If You Have To Ask", "Sir Psycho Sexy", "The Power of Equality", "Aeroplane"

 

and more random stuff:

 

G Love And Special Sauce - "Cold Beverage"

Maceo Parker - "Soul Power '74"

Average White Band - "Person to Person"

The Temptations - "Shakey Ground"

Rocco Prestia - "Solid Like A Rock"

The Isley Brothers - "It's Your Thing", "Fight The Power pts. 1 & 2"

 

Funkalicious.

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Originally posted by Bumpcity:

Originally posted by Tenstrum:

[qb]Just one suggestion to add:

"Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan"

oh man... Chili Peppers...

 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Subway to Venus", "If You Have To Ask", "Sir Psycho Sexy", "The Power of Equality", "Aeroplane"

On that train of thought "Around the World" by the Chili Peppers is pretty funky too. And I can almost play the intro in all my mediocrity.
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Well, if we can play the RHCP card, then we can also play the Galactic card! :P

 

And save yourself the trouble of listing every Tower of Power song - the What Is Hip: ToP Anthology covers all the basses. Supplement it with Rocco's Everybody on The Bus solo release and anything Doc offers from Strokeland .

 

Speaking of Funk Box, I dig Jermain Jackson's "Erucu." Has he done anything else of note (musically speaking)?

- Matt W.
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Actually, I was refering to the whole album. I think it's their funkiest.

Tenstrum

 

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

Harry Dresden, Storm Front

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Gettin' some good ideas here. ;)

 

My top somethin' (for today):

 

The Brothers Johnson - Get The Funk Out Ma Face

Maceo Parker - Shake Everything You've Got (Life on Planet Groove version)

Tower of Power - You Got To Funkifize

Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothin'/I Wish

David Bowie - Fame (this counts, right?)

Brecker Brothers - Skunk Funk

Carl Carlton - She's A Bad Mama Jama

Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie

Parliament - Flashlight/Up For The Down Stroke/Give Up The Funk

The B-52's - Love Shack

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Apache Rose Peacock/Give It Away

Spin Doctors - Big Fat Funky Booty/Stepped On A Crack

Jamiroquai - Black Capricorn Day/Deeper Underground

Earth, Wind, & Fire - Shining Star

 

Gah! There's so much great stuff out there! And I don't even know 1% of it!

All your bass are belong to us!
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What the funk?!?! :confused:

 

No one's mentioned the Ohio Players yet?! :mad:

 

I like my Ohio Players Gold compilation CD. "Skin Tight", for example, is funky.

 

I've always enjoyed James Brown's "Superbad" (because I am superbad, and, in fact, I'm a superbad brutha -- and that, mi amigo, is my daily affunkation) and "Make It Funky" (which serves more as a mantra).

 

Off-the-beaten-track funky: most of the cuts from Weldon Irvine's Spirit Man album. Hard to find; but righteous jazz funk.

 

So much funk, so little time. :eek:

 

Peace.

--SW

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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-"Hair" Larry Graham and Graham Central Station

-"Supersonic" Jamiroquai

-"Car Wash" Movie Soundtrack

-"Put your money where your mouth is" Car Wash Soundtrack

-"Zig Zag" Rose Royce

-"No Ego's Under Water" Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit

-"Tell Me Something Good" - Rufus

-"Higher Ground" Red Hot Chili Peppers

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In no particular order--

 

Healing Chant -- Neville Brothers

Sunless Saturday -- Fishbone

Erotic City -- Prince

The Bird -- The Time

Therapy -- Infectious Grooves

Funk The Dumb Stuff -- Tower Of Power

Miles Runs The VooDoo Down -- Miles Davis

Just Advance -- Kenny Denard (Marcus Miller on bass)

Knock Me Down -- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Night of 1000 Drums -- OutKast

"Women and rhythm section first" -- JFP
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Pick Up The Pieces - Average White Band

Groove Line/Boogie Nights - Heat Wave

Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry

Good Times - Chic

 

that "We've Got The Funk" song

 

Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker (yeah, I know it's a blues tune)

I Feel Good - James Brown

Black Cow - Steely Dan

September - EWF

I Wish - Stevie Wonder

Come Together - The Beatles

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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My second list of ten:

 

Fire, The Ohio Players

Tear the Roof of the Sucker, Parliament

Pop That Thang, The Isley Brothers

Sing a Simple Song, Sly and the Family Stone

Gonna Have a Funky Good Time, The J.B.'s

Stretchin' Out (in a rubber band), Bootsy's Rubber Band

Funk Factory, Wilson Pickett

Shaky Ground, The Temptations

Slippery When Wet, The Commodores

You Dropped a Bomb on Me, The Gap Band

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