Red Hot Chili Peppers “Taste the Pain” 1989. Late 80’s funk metal, “Taste the Pain” was the third and final single from RHCP’s ’89 LP Mother’s Millk. It didn’t chart in the US but made it to #29 in the UK. Fishbone’s Philip “Fish” Fisher performs drums on the track (though Chad Smith appears in the video) and it was the first song guitarist John Frusciante recorded with the Peppers. Flea plays trumpet! (and bass, of course). The Peppers are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me: some of my friends like to give a lot of shit about the band (“everything sucked after The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” “total punk sellouts, man” etc etc) but, with some exceptions (oh god the funk ballads, please no), they always get my ass shaking. Mother’s Milk in particular holds loads of fuzzy, funky warm feelings as I listened to it on repeat while in Madison for college (I’m pretty sure I found the used CD – which I still have – in early ’90 at a Madison records store for cheap). “Taste the Pain” was always a highlight of the album: a slinky, sexy hip wiggler with a dark edge. The b-side has two non-album singles: “Show Me Your Soul,” a smoother, rap-funk track (released as a single in 1990 when it was featured on the soundtrack for the film Pretty Woman) and “Millionaires Against Hunger” (recorded during sessions for 1985’s Freaky Styley) which is heavy funk and reminiscent of the late 70’s NYC rap sound.