From the Oldies Vault: Fearless Funk

Fans of funk, both young and old, will enjoy diving into the Vault of Fearless Funk because nothing beats original old-school.

Being old-school myself, there are days when I’m loving psychedelic blasts from the past or just some pure pristine oldies pop.  But other days – I just want to get funky – and here’s where the oldies vault of Fearless Funk really shines.

In 1976, Parliament, spearheaded by the grand master of funk, George Clinton, laid down some of the heaviest funk with: Tear The Roof Off The Sucker (Give Up The Funk) and followed it up hard in 1978 with Flash Light.

In 1979 the lost hit Funk You Up was recorded by the Sequence (a female rap group from SC) for Sugar Hill Records. And all through the decades, there’s been plenty of funky songs and even funky dances to go around, including Do The Funky Chicken by Mississippi born Rufus Thomas. There were even funky places to go: Wilson Pickett took us to Funky Broadway, Lipps took us to Funkytown and Arthur Conley took us to Funky Street.

Tupac’s 90’s California Love, featuring Dr. Dre, had versatility that fit it into multiple molds: West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap and G-funk. It’s seriously infectious evoking: fun, freedom, rebellion and ferocious partying (all in California).

In 2014, Mark Ronson gave us the catchy Uptown Funk. It’s a song sure to move and groove…sitting still is not an option!

So get down, get fearless with some fearless funk! Dust off the vinyl and/or CD’s or check out these blasts from the past on YouTube. Load them into your favorite listening devices – in other words, get the funk out:

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – James Brown ‘65

Funky Broadway – Wilson Pickett ‘67

Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix ‘67

Funky Street – Arthur Conley ‘68

I Want to Take You Higher – Sly & the Family Stone ‘69

Do the Funky Chicken – Rufus Thomas ‘70

Shaft (theme) – Isaac Hayes ‘71

Respect Yourself – Staple Singers ‘71

Superfly – Curtis Mayfield ‘71

I’ll Take You There – Staple Singers ‘72

Funky Stuff – Kool & the Gang ‘73

Tell Me Something Good – Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan) ‘74

Tear the Roof Off the Sucker – Parliament ‘75

Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry ‘76

Shake Your Rump to the Funk – the Bar-Kays ‘76

Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me – Peter Brown ‘77

Ffun – Con Funk Shun ‘78

Flashlight – Parliament ‘78

One Nation Under Groove – Funkadelic ‘78

Bustin’ Loose – Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers ‘79

Funk You Up – the Sequence ‘79

Funkytown – Lipps, Inc. ‘80

Take Your Time (Do It Right) Part 1 – The S.O.S. Band ‘80

Fantastic Voyage – Lakeside ‘80

Stomp – Brothers Johnson ‘80

She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked) – Carl Carlton ‘81

Let’s Groove Tonight – Earth, Wind and Fire ‘81

Atomic Dog – George Clinton ‘82

Freak Show On The Dancefloor – The Bar-Kays ‘84

White Horse – Laid Back ‘84

Word Up – Cameo ‘86

California Love – Tupac Shakur/featuring Dr. Dre ‘95

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars (songwriter) 2014

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