Introducing the next generation to FUNK

**jazz_pilgrim** · April 13th, 2004, 01:42 AM

A colleague at work, who is in his Twenties and into Hip-Hop, was very interested in checking out some of the Seventies Funk tunes, from whence a lot of Hip Hop beats came ... so I recorded him an MD of Seventies Funk - by way of introduction to the music. And to get him hooked!

Thanks for your positive feedback efunk-adelic! So here goes with the list od what I recorded:

CREATIVE SOURCE - Who Is He And What Is He To You
BRASS CONSRUCTION - Movin'
BRASS CONSTRUCTION - Changin'
PARLIAMENT - Flashlight
MASS PRODUCTION - Welcome To OUr World Of Merry Music
BROTHER TO BROTHER - Chance With You (from an Eighties Rare Groove compilation)
CHARLES WRIGHT AND THE WATTS 103RD STREET RYTHM BAND - Express Yourself
BANBARA - Shack Up
JAMES BROWN - Funky Drummer
GEORGE DUKE - Reach For It
STANLEY CLARKE - More Hot Fun
RARE GEMS ODYSSEY - What Is Funk
(a great sense of humour on ths track!
Hey fellas? What's funk!
Funk is when you are going to the zoo ..
.. and you get bitten on the arm by a monkey ....
... and you come home with a MONKEY BITE! 8) 8)
Love it!)
KOOL AND THE GANG - Funky Stuff
KOOL AND THE GANG - More Funky Stuff
KOOL AND THE GANG - Jungle Boogie
CAMEO - It's Serious
FATBACK BAND - Wicky Wacky
FATBACK BAND - Yum Yum (Gimme Some)
FATBACK BAND - Bus stop
REUBEN WILSON - Got To Get Your Own (an obscure hammond organ led jazz fusion track with a really funky rythm)
CLARENCE WHEELER AND THE ENFORCERS - Right On (another Rare Groove gem recently championed again by Norman Jay)
FBI - FBI
FBI - Talking AbBout Love
(2 tracks from one of the best British soul and funk LPs ever. Saw it in a record store a few months ago with a $200 price tag on it!)
JB's - Gimme Some More
VICKI ANDERSON - The Message From The Soul Sisters (I believe this one has been often sampled)
GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION - The Jam (getting heavy)
(Cheers Zeca for putting me onto these last two! :D )
JAMES BROWN - Get Up Offa That Thing
and to finish off ...
OHIO PLAYERS - Fire

So - how's that for an introduction to the world of Seventies Funk? I tried to mix it all up - some obvious funk classics of course, some jazzier tracks, some of the Rare Groove classics and the best of British! It's difficult trying to fit a whole era of music onto one MD.

It has gotten a very good response. My friend like Brass C (Moving) and the Parliament trax the best. Interestingly, he told me that he recognized so many of these tunes as they have been sampled by a lot of his Hip Hop artists.

:)

**K-Bee** · April 13th, 2004, 06:19 AM

Nothing short of stunning!!
Way2Go Jazz, if your collegue can't find anything to love among those tracks, something must be wrong with his head! :lol:
You seem to have avoided the more jazzy side of funk though (george duke aside). Was that a deliberate move??

**PeaceFroggy** · April 13th, 2004, 06:28 AM

Any reason for the absence of Sly & The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire? I don't want to be an annoying nit-picker, but I think any funk anthology ought to have at least a couple of their tracks on it.

I would also be inclined to include some dance-funk orientated groups like Chic, KC & The Sunshine Band and The Brothers Johnson, but that's just personal preference.

**K-Bee** · April 13th, 2004, 06:34 AM

Ooops :oops: just noticed the prescence of one Reuben Wilson on the list. guess some jazz-funk was actually there after all :D

Actually I agree with PeaceF about the Bros. Johnson thing. they do belong there but since the MD's have a limit you'll have to stop somewhere

**jazz_pilgrim** · April 13th, 2004, 06:48 AM

Originally Written by PeaceFroggy

Any reason for the absence of Sly & The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire? I don't want to be an annoying nit-picker, but I think any funk anthology ought to have at least a couple of their tracks on it.

I would also be inclined to include some dance-funk orientated groups like Chic, KC & The Sunshine Band and The Brothers Johnson, but that's just personal preference.

PeaceFroggy - You have a good point there!!

My friend said he already had a Sly Stone CD so he didn't need any more. Otherwise Sly Stone would have definitely been included! I certainly considered EWF (Africano), Chic (Chic Cheer) and Bros Johnson (Get The Funk Outta My Face) - but I simply ran out of space! Maybe I will include them in a Vol 2!

K-Bee - I guess I was trying to break him gently into the jazz thing .... if he likes that side - then I can do some more ...

:)

**PeaceFroggy** · April 13th, 2004, 08:18 AM

I suggested dance funk because that's what first pulled me into the extensive genre. I think it's the most digestible and enjoyable for new listeners.

The earlier and more abstract stuff takes a while to develop an appreciation for. When I first listened to Parliament Funkadelic, my initial reaction was "what the ****?", but now I really enjoy it. Whereas dance funk, for me at least, had an instant like-a-bility factor (for lack of a better way to put it!).

I think dance funk is a more accessible way for people to enter the genre, and from there they can discover the rest of what funk has to offer.

This could change from original preference in music though. For example, I entered funk through disco, dance-based music, so it was natural that I would first be attracted to dance-based funk music. Somebody entering funk through rock might be more attracted to the earlier "black rock" Sly Stone stuff. I don't know about someone with a hip hop background.