"Play That Funky Music"
Side A of the 1976 US single
Single by Wild Cherry
from the album Wild Cherry
B-side"The Lady Wants Your Money"
ReleasedApril 1976
Genre
Length
  • 5:00 (album version)
  • 3:12 (single/video version)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Rob Parissi
Producer(s)Rob Parissi
Wild Cherry singles chronology
"Get Down"
(1973)		 "Play That Funky Music"
(1976)		 "Baby Don't You Know"
(1977)

"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records.[3] The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the song's verses. The single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976; it was also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.[4] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records and eventually sold 2.5 million in the United States alone.[5]

The song was listed at No. 93 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Top 100 Songs" in 2018.[6] It was also the group's only US Top 40 song.

Composition

Wild Cherry was a hard rock cover band, but with the advent and popularity of the disco era, it began to be difficult to get bookings because audiences wanted to dance. Parissi told the band that if they wanted to get bookings, they were going to have to start to include dance tunes in their sets, but the band resisted becoming a disco band. While playing at the 2001 Club on the North Side of Pittsburgh to a predominantly black audience, a patron said to band member Beitle during a break, "Are you going to play some funky music, white boys?" Parissi grabbed a pen and order pad and wrote the song in about five minutes. The lyrics literally describe the predicament of a hard rock band adjusting to the disco era.[7][8]

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[28] Gold 75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[30] Platinum 2,500,000[5]
United States (RIAA)[30]
Digital 		Gold 500,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Vanilla Ice version

"Play That Funky Music"
Single by Vanilla Ice
from the album To the Extreme
B-side
ReleasedNovember 19, 1990[31]
GenreHip hop
Length4:45
LabelSBK
Songwriter(s)Rob Parissi
Producer(s)Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice singles chronology
"Ice Ice Baby"
(1990)		 "Play That Funky Music"
(1990)		 " I Love You"
(1991)

American rapper Vanilla Ice later released a song featuring an interpretation of "Play That Funky Music". Based on this single, the independent record label Ichiban Records signed Vanilla Ice to a record deal, releasing the album Hooked in January 1989, containing "Play That Funky Music" and its B-side, "Ice Ice Baby".[32] Songwriter Robert Parissi was not credited. Parissi was later awarded $500,000 in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Although it did not initially catch on, its B-side, "Ice Ice Baby", gained more success when a disc jockey played that track instead of the single's A-side.[33]

Following the success of "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky Music" was reissued as its own single (with new lyrics and remixed drums), and peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 in the UK.[34] The song's accompanying music video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.[35]

Charts

Other cover versions

In 1988, the band Roxanne reached No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover version.[54]

English rock band Thunder reached No. 39 in the UK singles chart in 1998 with a cover, taken from their album Giving the Game Away.[55]

Usage in other media

The song appears on the opening show Ces gars-là, a French-language Canadian show on V Télé featuring the stand-up comic Sugar Sammy and Simon-Olivier Fecteau.[56]

In the season 8 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Skywalker Intrusion", Sheldon Cooper says to Leonard Hofstadter "Play that funky music, white boy" when Leonard turns on the car radio, though Sheldon is unfamiliar with the cultural reference. When Leonard plays the song for him, Sheldon analyzes the song, concluding that the lyrics present a musical example of Russell's paradox.[57][58][59][60]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gould, Elizabeth (2017). "Queer Transversal: The Spectacle Adam Lambert". In Moisala, Pirkko; Leppänen, Taru; Tiainen, Milla; Väätäinen, Hanna (eds.). Musical Encounters with Deleuze and Guattari. Bloomsbury. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-5013-1675-3.
  2. ↑ Breihan, Tom (September 13, 2019). "The Number Ones: Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 30, 2023. But 'Play That Funky Music' is an exceptional piece of heavy R&B.
  3. ↑ Scott, Jane (April 30, 1976). "Discotakes". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio.
  4. 1 2 3 "National Disco Action Top 30 / Billboard Hot Soul Singles" (PDF). Billboard. September 4, 1976. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Platinum Singles Top '76–'77 Years". Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 34. August 26, 1978. p. 114. ISSN 0006-2510.
  6. ↑ "Greatest of All Time – Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Wild Cherry's Rob Parissi evolves from 'funky music' to smooth jazz". Tampa Bay Times. April 26, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  8. ↑ Mervis, Scott (December 13, 2017). "Obituary: Ron Beitle / Played that funky music for Wild Cherry". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Chart Positions Pre 1989 Part 4". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4356a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 43, 1976" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  16. ↑ "The Hot 100". Billboard. September 18, 1976. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 11, 1976". Cash Box. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012.
  18. ↑ "The Singles Chart" (PDF). Record World. September 11, 1976. p. 29. ISSN 0034-1622. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1976" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Top 200 Singles of '76". RPM. Vol. 26, no. 14 & 15. Library and Archives Canada. January 8, 1977. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1976" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 19" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1976". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  25. ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1976". Cash Box. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Hot 100 60th Anniversary". Billboard. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music". Music Canada.
  29. ↑ "British single certifications – Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  30. 1 2 "American single certifications – Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  32. ↑ Vanilla Ice (March 28, 1999). Behind the Music: Vanilla Ice. VH1. Event occurs at 10:45.
  33. ↑ Westfahl, Gary (2000). "Legends of the Fall: Behind the Music". Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 100. ISBN 0-313-30847-0.
  34. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Station Reports > TV > MTV/London" (PDF). Music & Media. March 9, 1991. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  36. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  39. ↑ "RPM 100 Hit Tracks & where to find them". RPM. Vol. 53, no. 13. Library and Archives Canada. March 2, 1991. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  40. ↑ "RPM 10 Dance". RPM. Vol. 53, no. 13. Library and Archives Canada. March 2, 1991. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 9. March 2, 1991. p. 25. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  42. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  43. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  44. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Play That Funky Music". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  45. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1991" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  46. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  47. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  48. ↑ "Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  49. ↑ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. February 2, 1991. p. xii. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  50. 1 2 3 4 "To the Extreme – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  51. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending FEBRUARY 9, 1991". Cash Box. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012.
  52. ↑ "RPM Dance Tracks of 1991". RPM. Vol. 55, no. 3. Library and Archives Canada. December 21, 1991. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  53. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1991". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  54. ↑ "The Hot 100". Billboard. April 9, 1988. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  55. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 21 June 1998 – 27 June 1998". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  56. ↑ Roy, Marie-Josée (April 18, 2014). ""Ces gars-là" : Simon-Olivier Fecteau et Sugar Sammy, nouveau duo terrible de V (VIDÉO)". Le Huffington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  57. ↑ ""Play That Funky Music Was No. 1 40 Years Ago". MPR News. September 27, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  58. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (April 3, 2015). "The Big Bang Theory: "The Skywalker Incursion" Review". IGN. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  59. ↑ Ray, Lincee (April 3, 2015). "'The Big Bang Theory' recap: 'The Skywalker Incursion'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  60. ↑ Henry, Brian (April 12, 2016). "'The Big Bang Theory' recap: A road trip, George Lucas, and 'Doctor Who'". Fox News. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
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