In a review on Pitchfork I discovered that Island’s Chris Blackwell decided to release it after noticing the crossover success of “Funky Nassau” (1971) by Bahamas-based band The Beginning of the End… As I wasn’t familiar with that particular song, I checked it out on YouTube, cool, even with a part 1 & 2!
By now I was starting to wonder how many other funky musical places there might be and the first one I could think of was “Funky Broadway Part 1 & 2” by Dyke And The Blazers. After that it became a trip down the rabbit hole, the internet can be a dangerous place!
A fun discovery was an answer song by Bobby Patterson & The Mustangs called “Broadway Ain't Funky No More”! Coming from the Netherlands I shouldn’t have been surprised by Big John Russell’s “Funky Amsterdam”, but I don’t recall ever hearing it on the radio in 1975. Similarly, I discovered a “Bangkok Funky” as well, which seemed very fitting as I have been living in Thailand since 1987.
“Funky Town” was of course a big disco hit for Lipps, Inc., but I opted for the heavier 1986 version by Pseudo Echo! This collection takes you all over the planet, from Africa to Texas, and ending on The Funkie Moon!
We're going to borrow the idea of asking readers to answer a question before the download link is posted.
ReplyDeleteHere's the question: What's your favorite "funky" place?
I tried to come up with some crafty "Your Mom" kind of joke, but couldn't pull it together. :-) In all seriousness, my favorite funky place is probably the Leech Pit in Colorado Springs. Good friends own it and they certainly put the Rad in ColoRADo.
ReplyDeleteWow, that only took a few minutes! The Leech Pit looks like the kind of store where I could spend many happy hours browsing! One of my favorite funky places (I've never been there, only read about it) is the Deaf Club in San Francisco. Members of the Club for the Deaf didn't mind punk rockers renting their space for shows: they reportedly enjoyed the people watching and the vibrations of the loud music!
DeleteI lived outside Milwaukee in the early 80's: there were punk shows at Irene J's (home of a pigeon racing club) and at the Lincoln Arcade (a room above a bowling alley). After moving to Atlanta, I attended punk shows at the Clermont Lounge (an infamous strip club) and the White Dot (which was next to a drag bar, and drag queens often mingled with fans of Insane Jane, the Cocktail Gurlz, and other local bands). Those were funky times!
I never got to see Ru Paul's bands in Atlanta (Wee Wee Pole or Ru Paul & The U-Hauls), but did get to see Benjamin (aka Opal Foxx) when he fronted the legendary ATL band Smoke.
DeleteLove these kinds of stories. Unique places in cities. I always wanted to road trip and find the strangest local spots everywhere I go.
DeleteAfter living here for 35+ years I still consider Bangkok as one of the funkiest places I have ever been, a sprawling massive city of contrasts; from charming old neighborhoods along canals where time hasn't moved in ages to Blade Runner style decaying urbanisation to futuristic highrises to whatever.
DeleteAnd the local music scene isn't bad either although I guess rather tame compared to back in Europe and the US: https://www.art58koen.net/single-post/live-on-stage-in-bangkok
The worst thing about the Deaf Club was the skeleton of the blind guy with his finger to the doorbell. I tripped over him so many times going to shows there.
DeleteI'm green with envy, Nathan! And jealous of Koen as well. Thailand looks so beautiful, from the cities to the beaches.
DeleteThanks to all for your comments -- keep those funky places coming! Here is the download link: https://tinyurl.com/ItsAFunky1
"Your Mama's Butt"?!
DeleteFolks, don't forget that you can see Thailand through Koen's camera and read his stories at https://www.art58koen.net/printed-works
ReplyDeleteAnd a shout out to Moozler's Music, one of our favorite funky places in the blogosphere! https://moozlermusic.blogspot.com/
Great comp! And great blog references too, thxs for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time in funky Manchester in the funky late 70s/early 80s, there was a dark and sweaty funky cellar with a funky dancefloor and a very funky jukebox - the New Conti. Fabulous.
ReplyDelete