Talk:Funk/Archive 1

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Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Contents

Most famous/typical funky songs

  1. Commodores - "Brick House"
  2. James Brown - "Sex Machine"
  3. Parliament - "Give Up the Funk"
  4. Earth, Wind and Fire - "Jupiter"
  5. Ohio Players - "Fire"
  6. Temptations - "Shakey Ground"
  7. Tower of Power - "Love Bug"
  8. Tower of Power - "This Is Hip"
  9. Lakeside - "Fantastic Voyage"

Should Funk be considered as a genre independent of Soul or Rhythm and Blues, or as a version of either? It does after all combine elements of soul, sycodelia, and true R&B with a unique element of it's own, which makes it confusingly appear as both a bridge between genres, and a new genre formed through this continuing cross polination. ~Jack D. 10:28UTC 8/2/05

I removed the above in the interest of NPOV. Tuf-Kat 04:21, Nov 13, 2003 (UTC)

I gotta speak up an' add "Soul Finger" by the Bar-Kays to the list!! -- deeceevoice - June 22, 2004

Important Songs

Full ACK to NPOV, but as a part of an encyclopadia IMHO this document should contain a list of important milestones of the funkmusic. For me milestones are songs or albums which mark a important turning point in the development of funk music. I am aware of the fact that this will start a big discussion, but maybe we can can do this at another document and leave this document to NPOV.

--mac_c 10:01, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Agreed. My addition was merely a "me too" comment and not a suggestion that the moved item should be restored. I also think the latest comment about JB is, perhaps, not so much unimportant as somewhat clumsy. But I thought I'd leave it alone. Anyone wanna do a slight edit on it? deeceevoice 11:38, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Went back and edited the passage referred to above. Deleted as superfluous the background information on Brown Smash and Fair Deal. More suitable, I think, for the article on James Brown and not essential to an explication of the subject matter at hand. deeceevoice 13:57, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)
He-ey! I like what you've done to the place! The reorganization of the info and the sidebar look good. Much improved from when I first came to this topic -- when "funk" was defined (erroneously) as a "euhpemism" for that otoher four-letter word beginning with an "f". Peace! :-D deeceevoice 14:58, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Why is there a link to punk?

Maybe I've missed the discussion since I'm pretty new to wikipedia, but why is there a link to the punk genre on the funk page?

An excellent question. I see no reason at all, as the genres are unrelated except for having similar-sounding names. There are some bands that combine funk and punk sound but I don't think any of them are especially well-known. I'm going to remove the link.

about "videogame" funk, if that's what it's called

For example, the Final Fight and Pilotwings 64 titles, as well as the non-videogame album Expert Knob Twiddlers by Mike Paradinas and Richard D James (track 1, "Mr. Frosty", and the other track, "The Sound of Beady Eyes" -- go look for said tracks on Soulseek or something). Was this music actually funk, or some 80's-electro-spinoff genre of funk? After all, that kind of (funk?) reminds me more of Isaac Hayes' character in Escape From New York, rather than of James Brown spinning around and screaming" "HEY!" to bouncy quarternote trumpets, like a cyberpunk-funk, if you will. That's the best I can explain what I'm inquiring about. Any more information on this (sub?)genre? I'm very interested --I run like a Welshman 23:56, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)


This is from memory of one of Charles Chilton's radio programmes so it can not go into the article unless someone confirms it. The early jazz horn player Buddy Bolden performed at 'Funky Butt Hall'and named his theme song after it. At that time funky butt meant 'smelly arse'.

Butt  still means arse but funky seems to mean almost anything you want it to.
   mikeL
The article already says "funky" is related to sexual intercourse. In my first correction of this article (wa-aay back when, when it erroneously characterized "funk" as a "euphemism" for f"**k"), I specifically stated that "funk" literally meant the smell of sexual intercourse. It somehow got edited out over time. If you want to reinstate that info, go for it. deeceevoice 14:05, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I reinserted the reference to the original definition of "funk" for clarity's sake. My comment about "put some stank on it" doesn't make clear sense without it. deeceevoice 14:30, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Recent additions by 80.221...

Good stuff. Thanks. But it could use a little cleaning up. I don't have the time. Someone else wanna take a crack at it. deeceevoice 14:05, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)


"once formally defined as the smell of sexual intercourse" --- surprising and difficult to accept! Please give proper references: defined when? by whom? etc. and did it apply just locally somewhere? and what does 'formally' mean in this context? Sexual intercourse in the social sense can have many smells scent, alcohol and so on. In the carnal sense it may have smells in other creatures but given normal hygene it is virtually odourless in humans. The word funk has other, older, meanings associated with fear or depression which are still in common use. Perhaps the connotations with smell have nothing to do with the original 'funk' but developed from the word 'fug'. mikeL

Sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. Sexual intercourse does have a particular smell -- and it's got nothing to do with hygiene. Human beings are part of the animal kingdom, too. Why should we be any different? Further, did you even bother to google it? Or are you so certain that you're right, you didn't even bother? Try something like "funk smell of sex" and see what you came up with. My "search" turned up all kinds of stuff immediately. I looked it up sometime in the 1970's in a dictionary and then suddenly came to understand why why mother forbade me using the term when I was younger. deeceevoice 01:28, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
The African-American community, at least, has always been aware of the connection of "funk" w/sex -- something which seems to have been lost by mainstream (read "white") society. The connection no longer appears in the dictionaries of today that I've come across.
From "Give It to Me, Baby" (Rick James): "Give it to me. Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff {Say what?) Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me."
Still say it's got nothing to do with sex? :p deeceevoice 16:38, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I suppose that 'Funk' is becoming one of those words that can mean whatever you like. It is now being used as a meaningless general-purpose word to get round the censor in the lyrics of pop music, because it almost rhymes with 'F**k'. A recent (Summer 2005) record in the UK charts is called 'Don't Funk With My Heart', but this has now become so 'old hat' that it no longer shocks any more and sounds 'juvenile'. Maybe a genuine word such as 'mess' or indeed 'f**k' itself would have more powerful meaning. But the word 'Funk' goes back further than that. The first occurrence that I can unearth (at least here in the UK) is during WW2, when to 'Funk' was to "wash your hands of" the war, or make a sharp exit when faced with a risky situation not of your choosing. A 'Funk Hole' was a private hotel or guest-house in a remote part of the country largely unaffected by the war, where well-heeled people with the necessary money could stay as long-term guests and safely ride-out the war in relative comfort. Presumably many such people were prepared to 'make their peace' with whoever emerged as the victor. A 'Blue Funk' was the wartime equivalent of a panic attack, among servicemen who faced unfavourable mathematical odds of survival (such as the high death-rate among RAF bomber crews)...not 'cowardice' as such, just a temporary 'stress disorder' or 'nihilistic' mindset (See 'A Wobbler' and 'The Yips') that could sometimes be cured by a stiff drink or three.

Sorry that us Brits have made such a mess of the American language,  :-)

ChrisR, Newbury UK (04 SEP 05)

Transferred from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talk:funk"

Another sexual reference:
Was watching "Scent of a Woman" where Al Pacino's character says he dreams of having a woman wrap her arms around him and wrap her legs around him; of awakening in the morning with her still lying beside him "all funky and warm."
I rest my case. :p deeceevoice 09:11, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

Rio de Janeiro's Funk

Please, let's take this out..

"In Brazil, the word "funk" is used to denote a distinct genre of music called baile funk (also known as rio funk), related to electro."

The Brazilian funk has *NO* relations with this funk.. Not even with electro music..

Brazilian Funk talk about sex, drugs and money with a very poor musicality.

  • I vote take it out. It's only Funk in name. Musically it's related to funk only in the same way that any post-funk electronic music is. Dissolve
  • If nothing else, it needs a disambig block at the top of the page so people for baile funk can find it. Tuf-Kat 05:39, 7 December 2005 (UTC)