10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1249: The 13th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT.
PARLIAMENT: Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)
The annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit is always one of TIRnRR's most-anticipated and best-loved shows each and every year. For the 2024 edition, Dana chose to honor the memory of our friend Scott Cornish, who was one of THE biggest music fans we ever knew. Dana recently helped Scott's family clean out the vast accumulation of stuff that Scott left behind, and Dana used soul/funk/R & B gems from Scott's collection to program this year's Soul Pit. I am certain that Scott would have been tickled by that tribute.
The 13th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT kicked off with Carl Carlton's "She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked,)" and then flowed with direct funky intent into Parliament's authoritative mission statement "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)." 10 Songs ain't got the will to resist that, so my tribute to Dana's funky tribute to Mr. Scott Cornish begins in earnest with Parliament. Tear the roof off the sucker!
CHAKA KHAN: I Feel For You
In my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), I write about "Tell Me Something Good," the 1974 Rufus hit that introduced the pop world to singer Chaka Khan:
"I was 14 when Rufus's 'Tell Me Something Good' hit the airwaves in 1974. And lead singer Yvette Marie Stevens--aka Chaka Khan--just may have been the sexiest thing I had ever heard on the radio.
"At 14, I didn't realize that this group backing up the sultry moves of its vocalist had a direct connection to an earlier favorite song: 1968's 'Bend Me, Shape Me' by the American Breed. I loved that song, and would never have suspected a link between Rufus and the American Breed. Rufus, in fact, evolved from the American Breed, though only guitarist Al Ciner remained from the days of 'Bend Me, Shape Me' through 'Tell Me Something Good.' The connection's legit, though Ciner didn't really stick with Rufus much beyond that point.
"And really, the immediate, primal appeal of 'Tell Me Something Good' can be attributed to one thing above all else: Chaka Khan's miraculous ability to transmit pheromones over the airwaves...."
Chaka Khan's signature tune is her 1984 hit cover of Prince's "I Feel For You," which featured Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica and Melle Mel on the rapping hook (Chakakhan. Chakakhan.) and which duplicated "Tell Me Something Good" 's # 3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100.
With pheromones intact.
OHIO PLAYERS: Love Rollercoaster
Maybe you can't hear or feel the pheromones in/at play in Ohio Players' 1975 chart-topper "Love Rollercoaster," but the same can't be said of the cover graphics for the group's albums.
Writing in Bomp! magazine in 1978, Gary Sperrazza! called for the Ohio Players LP cover collection to be made available as holograms.
I approve of this message.
THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH: Smiling Faces Sometimes
"Smiling Faces Sometimes" was the only big pop hit for the Undisputed Truth. Dana has played two other Undisputed Truth on previous Funky Soul Pits ("Mama, I Got A Brand New Thing" and their cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends"), and we played their Forgotten Original version of the Temptations' subsequent hit "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" on a non-Soul Pit TIRnRR. Oddly enough, this is the first time we've gotten around to playing "Smiling Faces Sometimes."
Stranger than fiction? Well, that's the undisputed truth.
THE DONAYS: Devil In His Heart
Speaking of the Beatles, we know that the soon-to-be-Fab Four started out wishing they could be a soul band. Because the Beatles became THE BEATLES!!!, their cover of "Devil In His Heart" (retitled "Devil In Her Heart") is far-better known than the Donays' original take (which was, to be fair, just a B-side anyway). I'm not sure which version I prefer. A free society allows us to love both.
JR. AND HIS SOULETTES: Momma Love Tequila
Momma love tequila. Perry Como told us that Papa loves Mambo. But I betcha Papa also loves it when Momma loves tequila. Commence Mambo!
RICK JAMES: Super Freak, Pt. 1
From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
"The riff.
"Early singles by the Kinks and the Rolling Stones provide prime examples of pop music's all-time classic riffs. The hypnotic appeal of the riff is defined and embodied by the simple, repetitive piledriving of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day And All Of The Night,' 'The Last Time' and '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,' and other monster, monolithic guitar hooks (like the Beatles' 'Day Tripper,' Them’s 'I Can Only Give You Everything,' and we may be here all night if we keep this up).
Rick James' riff for 'Super Freak' belongs in that conversation. Its subsequent use by the Romantics (who adapted it for their sole Top Ten hit 'Talking In Your Sleep') and MC Hammer (who sampled it for 'U Can't Touch This') illustrate its durability. All credit to Rick James...."
THE GROOVE MASTERS: When Nature Calls
After Dana played the Groove Masters' 'When Nature Calls," I quipped that the track was the inspiration for the Rutles' "Number One." When nature calls? NUMBER ONE, NUMBER ONE...!
Yes, I am indeed still twelve years old. And proud of it. A little benign immaturity never hurt anyone.
OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
Also from The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
"...Soul singer Otis Redding's only crossover pop hit was '(Sittin' On) the Dock Of the Bay,' an incredible mix of pride and resignation, a swagger reduced to a shrug. It was a posthumous # 1, ascending the charts after Redding perished in a plane crash in 1967.
"Redding was a huge, huge star on the R & B charts. Rock promoter Bill Graham referred to Redding as 'the black Elvis,' an electrifying showman with a nigh-unique potential to unite black and white audiences under one big soulful pop rock 'n' roll tent. He wasn't a crossover artist, not in the same sense as the Motown acts selling 45s by the truckload to young America. Redding was the single greatest voice of Stax/Volt Records, a Memphis label that was pure soul. Crossover? Let the white kids cross over to us, man. If anyone could achieve that specific level of destiny in the sixties, it was gonna be Otis Redding...
"...Redding did not need pop success. I betcha he wanted it anyway. He certainly deserved it, and I think he would have achieved it. His transcendent performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in '67 likely opened eyes and ears going forward, and '(Sittin' On) the Dock Of the Bay' seems like it should have been a surefire pop smash, regardless of Redding's mortal fate. I don't see how its across-the-board real-world triumph can be attributed solely to sudden interest in a deceased singer...."
SHIRLEY AND LEE: Let The Good Times Roll
Good times. Let 'em roll. All night long. Godspeed, Scott.
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My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.
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