DO YOU REMEMBER? Billboard #1 HOT 100 (This Week in 1976) Wild Cherry: Play That Funky Music Play That Funky Music is asong written by Robert Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The song is commonly mistaken to be originally by singer James Brown, who never even covered the song. The performers on the classic recording included the members of the band at the time: lead singer Parissi, guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session horn players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar, Joe Eckert, and Rick Singer hired to play the horn riff that runs throughout the tracks verses. The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976 and was also number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over two million records, eventually selling 2.5 million. The autobiographical song was inspired by the times. The songs title (and chorus) came from drummer Ron Beitles observation during a break between sets at the 2001 Club in Pittsburgh. The group performed mostly hard rock, but disco was popular, and some of the groups loyal followers were asking for more dance songs. While taking a break between sets, Beitle uttered, play some funky music, white boy. Parissi decided they should, and he wrote down the phrase on a bar order pad. They later recorded it in Cleveland with a funk sound. Originally, it was planned that the song should be released on the B-side of Wild Cherrys cover of the Commodores I Feel Sanctified; however, when the owners of Sweet City Records heard the song, they suggested that the B-side become the A-side. (Epic Records picked up the record for worldwide distribution.) The song sold over two and a half million copies in the US alone; it was Wild Cherrys only hit. Parissi said he often wrote songs in a similar style as a song hed pick out from each new week of the Top 40. After writing songs in this manner for some time, one of the songs he wrote was Funky Music. Wild Cherry
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:10:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015