funk Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Big Bang Theory “Big Bang Theory”

sfilzen — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:14:53 +0000

Big Bang Theory “Big Bang Theory” 1986. Funkladen Music (their own label). Bright 80’s new wave, highly funkafied, from Milwaukee. Synth-laden, horns galore and funky funky bass characterize Big Bang Theory. A dash of Oingo Boingo, a splash of Sheila E. and a whole lotta James Brown but white guys in Miami Vice suits. They don’t credit Duran Duran as an influence but I’d be shocked if there weren’t posters of John Taylor on bassist Jo Voboril’s bedroom walls as the style has JT all over. See “Game of Love” especially for a play-that-funky-bass ass-shaking groove. Another good track is “Funk With Me,” which is, obviously, funky. “New Direction” feels very 80’s British blue-eyed soul meets English Beat/General Public and Tears for Fears – it’s probably my top pick on the LP. Overall Big Bang Theory is very danceable, tight and rhythm-forward but it does all start sounding the same after a bit. There’s not much out there about Big Bang Theory (the band, there’s plenty about the TV show) – I learned they recorded the album at Firebrand Recording studio where other MKE acts like The Crusties, Those Spanic Boys, others also did recordings). They do have an active Facebook page and it looks like they’ve been fairly active the past couple of years around Milwaukee. I have zero recollection of the band, but I think their heyday was before I moved here – it looks like they did some touring in the late 80’s and early 90’s, including a set at CBGB’s in ’92. I did find an hourlong performance from ’92 here in Milwaukee, at Steny’s Block Party (lol) where their look had morphed to a more 90’s style:

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Red Hot Chili Peppers “Taste the Pain”

sfilzen — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:37:34 +0000

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.

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Prince “1999”

sfilzen — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:46:43 +0000

Prince “1999” released 40 years ago today, October 27th, 1982. Considered one of the greatest albums of all-time, 1999 catapulted Prince into the mass popular culture consciousness, where he remains even after his premature death in 2016. His first record with his band the Revolution went to #9 in the US and reentered the charts after Prince’s death in 2016, hitting #7. Funky, soulful, ridiculously sexy and danceable, 1999 spawned massive singles still played regularly 40 years later. The title track “1999” charted multiple times: first at #44 in the US (#1 on the Dance chart) in ’82, then #12 in ’83 with its re-release; in 1999 it went to #40 and then in 2016 to #27. “Little Red Corvette” made it to #6 in the US in early ’83 and then re-charted in 2016 on both the R&B and Hot Rock charts (#11 and #4 respectively). The manic “Delirious” went to #8. The ultra-dirty (and highly edited for radio: the album version has the lyric “I wanna fuck you…look here, Marsha, I’m not saying this just to be nasty. I sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth”) “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” Prince’s final single from 1999 released in the US, only made it to #52. The synth-funk track “Automatic” was just released internationally which is too bad because it’s amazing. The rest of the 2-disk album is just as sexy and spectacular. “D.M.S.R.” (Dance, Music, Sex, Romance) is infectiously and hypnotically funky, as is “Lady Cab Driver.” And “International Lover,” while not a single, did earn Prince his first Grammy nomination in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category.

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Betty Davis “Betty Davis”

sfilzen — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 18:49:02 +0000

Betty Davis “Betty Davis” 1973. A spin of her ferociously funky s/t debut in tribute: Davis died yesterday at age 77 (b. Betty Mabry, 1944, d. 2022). Growling, groovy and beyond sexy (in the US she was banned from TV performances, her shows frequently boycotted, and both religious groups and the NAACP pressured radio stations not to play her songs on the air), Davis was way ahead of her time in ’73. Betty Davis is hard funk; her funk groove is less slinky and more like a bad-ass strut in killer stilettos all up and down your spine. It is also unapologetically sexual. Probably one of the most bad-ass lyrics ever (from the lead track “If I’m Luck I Might Get Picked Up” which went to #66 on the R&B chart) is: “I’m wigglin’ my fanny, I’m raunchy dancing, I’m-a-doing it doing it.” I love that the Pointer Sisters contribute on a couple of songs including the amazing “Steppin In Her I. Miller Shoes” and “Game is My Middle Name.” And of course the musicians who play as her backing band are soul and funk superstars like Larry Graham on bass and Greg Ericco (both from Sly & the Family Stone), though I have to admit I did a head-scratcher learning that Journey’s Neal Schon provided a hefty amount of the guitar work on this album. Betty Davis went to #54 on the Top Soul Albums in ’73 but received a lot more attention retrospectively with reissues in the 2000’s of her classic 70’s funk LP’s.

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Parliament “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome”

sfilzen — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 17:01:27 +0000

Parliament “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome” 1977. Today, October 26th, is Bootsy Collins’ 70th birthday (b. William Earl Collins, 1951). Bootsy co-wrote all but two tracks on Parliament’s 6th studio LP (those were “Wizard of Finance“ and ”Placebo Syndrome“) and plays bass on most of the album. While known for being the funkiest of funky bassist, Bootsy did not play bass on one of Parliament’s most famous songs that appears on Funkentelechy – “Flash Light,” which was Parliament’s first #1 R&B chart hit; it also went to #16 on the pop chart in the US. That song’s bass line was, rather, a synthesized bass played by Bernie Worrell and Bootsy plays drums on “Flash Light.” Parliament released two other singles from Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome: “Bop Gun (Endangered Species),” the album’s opening track, and the title track “Funkentelechy,” which went to #27 on the R&B charts. The song is so long that for the 7″ single it had to be split between the A and B sides.

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Prince “Controversy”

sfilzen — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 17:14:16 +0000

Prince “Controversy” released 40 years ago today, October 14th, 1981. Shockingly, our copy still includes the large poster which somehow escaped the normal rips, wears and tape tears from being attached to an 80′s teenager’s wall (the image cropped a bit here because posting it in its full glory got me thrown into “violates social standards” jail 🙄).

Controversy is Prince’s fourth album; it hit #21 on the US album chart and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. Funky and danceable, its themes are a mix of socio-political commentary (most explicitly on “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” but also on the pro-gun control song “Annie Christian”), religion and sex sex sex without even a whisper of innuendo. Songs- and that poster! – like “Sexuality” (released outside of the US as a single – 1981 America was clearly not ready for it), “Do Me, Baby” (which was released, hitting #41 on the single chart and #1 on the R&B chart; it was supposedly written not by Prince but by Revolution bassist Andre Cymone), “Private Joy” and “Jack U Off” tell us exactly where Prince’s mind was at when writing the LP. Other singles he released were the title track “Controversy” (#70 US, #5 UK) and my favorite song on the album, the ultra-funky “Let’s Work” which went to #1 on the US Dance chart.

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Isaac Hayes “Shaft” soundtrack

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:57:33 +0000

Isaac Hayes “Shaft” soundtrack, released 50 years ago this month. Stax Records. Today, August 20th, also would have been Isaac Hayes’ 79th birthday (b. 1942, d. 2008). The Shaft soundtrack went to # 1, as did the the single “Theme from Shaft.” The soundtrack spent an astounding 60 weeks on the Billboard album chart, is part of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry and won a bunch of accolades including Grammys for the Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical and Best Instrumental Arrangement and the film score as a whole won for Best Instrumental Composition Written Specifically For A Motion Picture or for Television. Hayes also won an Oscar for the theme single and was nominated for best Original Dramatic Score. Hayes had originally wanted to star in the film as John Shaft (Richard Roundtree had already been cast) so got a cameo in the movie instead. The soundtrack, written entirely by Hayes specifically for the film, is mostly instrumentals for specific scenes (i.e. “Shaft’s Cab Ride” and “Cafe Regio’s”) except for the title track, the excellent “Do You Thing” which charted in the top 40, and “Soulsville.”

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Funkadelic “Maggot Brain”

sfilzen — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 17:27:45 +0000

Funkadelic “Maggot Brain” released 50 years ago today, July 12th, 1971. Ranked as one of the greatest albums of the 70′s, of all-time and it certainly is one of mine, Funkadelic’s third LP (and final album with the original Funkadelic lineup) went to #108 on the US Album Chart and to #14 on the R&B chart. Its singles are some of my all-time favorite songs, too: “Can You Get to That” is close to my #1 (and features Isaac Hayes’ backing vocal group Hot Buttered Soul), “Hit and Quit It” is so hot, and “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks“ is pretty great as well. Also amazing are the other songs not released as singles: leading off with title track “Maggot Brain” – a 10-minute Hendrix-style guitar jam by Eddie Hazel recorded with one take – and bookended with another extended freak out jam, clocking in at 9+ minutes, “Wars of Armageddon.”

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Ian Dury “Lord Upminster”

sfilzen — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 21:20:24 +0000

Ian Dury “Lord Upminster” 1981. Ian Dury’s second solo album, Lord Upminster is a mix of funk, disco, reggae and pub rock, though goes heavier on the funk/reggae end, influenced by both its recording in Nassau, Bahamas and Dury’s collaboration with Sly and Robbie. Compared to his first solo LP New Boots and Panties!! in 1977, Lord Upminster did poorly on the UK charts (#53) and its only single, “Spasticus (Autisticus)” failed to chart at all (it’s not a great song – weirdly new wave disco with Dury shouting “Spasticus!”). Funk tracks like “The (Body Song)” are a bit simplistic, super-repetitive and childish – I feel like this one could have been on Sesame Street back in the day. “Lonely (Town)”drags on forever and the piano reminds me a bit of 80′s era Jo Jackson (in my opinion: not a good thing). The disco groove on “Trust (Is a Must)” is alright, a good amount of funky bass but again, super-repetitive. Honestly, I couldn’t really make through much more – this record has been on the “should it stay or should it go” pile and my vote is that it goes.

Buy a Record

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David Bowie “Station to Station”

sfilzen — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 21:01:53 +0000

David Bowie “Station to Station” released 45 years ago today, January 23rd, 1976. Bowie’s 10th studio LP, Station to Station introduced us to his Thin White Duke persona, a hollow and “nasty character,” impeccably dressed, who sings aloofly over funk and cold synthy krautrock. Station to Station went to #3 in the US and #5 in the UK and is considered among the best albums ever made, despite the fact that Bowie was completely blitzed out of his mind on cocaine, getting his calorie sustenance from peppers and milk and had zero recollection of the LP’s production in Los Angeles during 1975 (“I know it was in LA because I’ve read it was”). Bowie released three singles from the album (four if you count the title track “Station to Station,” which was a France-only single). The first was “Golden Years” (#10 US, #8 UK) which is disco-funky and weirdly warm and icy-cold at the same time. Next was “TVC 15″ (#64 US, #33 UK) which is one of my favorite Bowie songs – I vividly remember him performing it at Live Aid in ‘85 and it was mind-blowing. Apparently a strung-out stoned Iggy Pop-inspired song: Iggy was staying with Bowie in LA and hallucinated that his TV swallowed his girlfriend. “Stay” was the final single; another funkster, it was only released in the US (its B-side was another Station to Station track: “Word on a Wing”) and then again in ‘76 as the B-side to the re-release of “Suffragette City” (that single originally released in ‘72 as the B-side to “Starman”).

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