Play That Funky Music

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"Play That Funky Music"
Single by Wild Cherry
from the album Wild Cherry
Released	1976
Format	7"
Recorded	1975
Genre	Disco, Funk rock, Pop
Length	3:12
Label	Epic Records
Writer(s)	Robert Parissi
Wild Cherry singles chronology
"Voodoo Doll/Because Your Love Is Mine" (1975) "Play That Funky Music" (1976) "I Feel Sanctified" (1976)

"Play That Funky Music"
Single by Vanilla Ice
from the album To the Extreme
B-side	"Ice Ice Baby"
Released	1990
Format	7", CD single, cassette single
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:19
Label	SBK Records
Writer(s)	Vanilla Ice, Earthquake, Robert Parissi
Producer	Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice singles chronology
"Satisfaction" (1989) "Play That Funky Music" (1990) "Ice Ice Baby" (1990)

"Play That Funky Music" is a funk rock song written by lead vocalist and guitarist Robert Parissi and recorded by the rock band Wild Cherry. The performers on the classic recording included the members of the band at the time, guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session horn players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brandiar, Joe Eckert, and Rick Singer hired to play the horn riff that runs throughout the track's 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.^[1] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over two million records. The song was also the basis of a top five U.S. hit for Vanilla Ice in 1990.

The autobiographical song was inspired by the times, and the song's unforgettable title (and chorus) came from drummer Ron Beitle's observation during a break between sets at the 2001 Club in Pittsburgh. The group was mostly a hard rock outfit, but the Disco era was really gaining steam and many of the group's loyal followers were asking for more dance songs. While taking a break between sets, Ron uttered the now classic line "play some funky music, white boy". Lead singer Robert Parissi decided they should, and wrote down the phrase on a bar order pad. They later recorded it in Cleveland with a Disco sound.

Originally, it was planned that the song should be released on the B-side of Wild Cherry's 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 million copies, but was Wild Cherry's only hit.

The song listed at #73 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.^[2]

Parissi said he often wrote songs in a similar style as a song he'd 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. The song that served as inspiration for the hit was Fire by Ohio Players, which features a similar bass line and rhythm guitar part.

Part of the song's popularity stemmed from the controversy surrounding its lyrics. A few listeners thought the lyrics were "play that fucking music, white boy".^[who?] At the time, Parissi and the record label vehemently denied that there was any profanity in the vocals, though on the full version of the song's fade out the phrase "play that funky music, honky (slang for a white person)" is used. The group did, however, re-record the chorus just for the city of Boston, which apparently was having some racial tension at the time. Hence, a version was released in which the chorus is "Play that funky music right, boy".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Vanilla Ice version

Vanilla Ice later released a song featuring an interpolation of "Play That Funky Music". Songwriter Robert Parissi was not credited, and 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.^[3]

Following the success of "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky Music" was reissued as its own single, and peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #10 in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] Other cover versions

• A tribute version of the song was arranged and recorded by Gordon Goodwin and his Big Phat Band on their 2006 record The Phat Pack.
• A spoken word version of the song, deliberately done in an unflattering manner, was used in the early 1990s in a Pioneer Electronics commercial for their automobile audio products.
• A cover version in 1988 by the pop-rock group Roxanne peaked at #63 on the American pop charts.
• The Leningrad Cowboys issued a cover version on their 2006 Album "Zombies Paradise".
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their album Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes
• Adam Lambert covered the song on March 31, 2009 on the TV show American Idol.
• B*Witched covered the song in 2001 as a US-only release, but it failed to chart like their 2 previous singles. It was their tenth and final single.
• Thunder did a cover version of the song on their 1999 Album Giving The Game Away.

[edit] Usage in other media

This song has been used in the films, Evolution (2001) and The New Guy (2002).^[4] A rap version is played in the film Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), while an instrumental version of the song is played on bagpipes by Matt Stifler in the direct-to-video movie, American Pie: Band Camp (2005).

The song appears in the video games Guitar Hero 5 and DJ Hero (as a playable track), Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 (a cover version), and Shaun White Snowboarding.

It also appeared on an episode of King of the Hill entitled Patch Boomhauer.

[edit] References