Funky Worm
{{For|the band|The Funky Worm}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Funky Worm
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Ohio Players
| album = Pleasure
| B-side = Paint Me
| released = January 16, 1973
| format =
| recorded = 1972
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Funk{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Kris Kross' "Jump|website= Stereogum |date= January 12, 2022|url= https://www.stereogum.com/2172381/the-number-ones-kris-kross-jump/columns/the-number-ones/|accessdate= July 20, 2024|quote=...taken from “Funky Worm,” the 1973 funk workout from former Number Ones artists Ohio Players.}}
| length = 2:41
| label = Westbound
| writer = Ohio Players
| producer = Ohio Players
| prev_title = Varee Is Love
| prev_year = 1972
| next_title = Ecstasy
| next_year = 1973
}}
"Funky Worm" is a song by American funk group the Ohio Players, from their album Pleasure. It peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1973 and also peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=437}} Billboard ranked it as the No. 84 song for 1973.
Influence
The song's ARP synthesizer{{cite web |last=Mao |first=Jeff "Chairman" |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/04/junie-morrison-interview |title=Interview: Funk Lifer Junie Morrison |date=April 7, 2015 |website=Red Bull Music Academy |access-date=September 6, 2023}} solos, played by Junie Morrison,{{Cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/walter-junie-morrison-mn0000300262/biography | title=Junie Morrison Biography, Songs, & Albums | website=AllMusic }} have become a staple part in hip hop sampling history, being sampled by artists such as MC Breed, Too $hort, Dr. Dre, Xzibit, and Game. The high-pitched whine of the synthesizer on the song was often emulated by producers from the West Coast and became a staple in G-funk music. N.W.A notably sampled "Funky Worm" on their songs "Gangsta Gangsta" and "Dope Man". Ice Cube sampled "Funky Worm" for his songs "Wicked" and "'Ghetto Bird", duo Kris Kross' 1992 single "Jump", Lil' ½ Dead's 1994 song "East Side, West Side", Tim Dog's single "Skip to My Loot" (featuring Smooth B), DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's 1993 hit "Boom! Shake the Room", and Ruff Ryders 1999 song "Bugout" also samples the song.{{Cite web |url=http://www.the-breaks.com/search.php?term=funky+worm&type=4 |title=List of artists that sampled "Funky Worm" |access-date=2007-11-17 |archive-date=2006-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060612220002/http://the-breaks.com/search.php?type=4&term=Funky+Worm |url-status=dead }}
It was also sampled in De La Soul’s "Me Myself & I”, off their 1989 album 3 Feet High and Rising. It was also sampled for the ring entrance for L.A.X.
In popular culture
The song can be heard on the fictional radio station Bounce FM, in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The Google Doodle celebrating the 44th anniversary of Hip Hop (August 11, 2017) featured the song on a virtual record that allows users to "scratch.".{{Cite web | url=https://doodles.google/doodle/44th-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-hip-hop/ | title=44th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop }} The song can also be heard as a Player Anthem in the video game Rocket League, where it was released in a pack called "Behind The Samples" for free on February 1, 2022.{{Cite web | url=https://www.rocketleague.com/news/new-player-anthems-arriving-for-black-history-month/ | title=New Player Anthems Arriving For Black History Month }}
An ancestral caecilian – a worm-shaped amphibian – whose fossils were recovered from Late Triassic rocks in Arizona was named Funcusvermis in reference to this song.{{Cite journal |last1=Kligman |first1=Ben T. |last2=Gee |first2=Bryan M. |last3=Marsh |first3=Adam D. |last4=Nesbitt |first4=Sterling J. |last5=Smith |first5=Matthew E. |last6=Parker |first6=William G. |last7=Stocker |first7=Michelle R. |display-authors=3 |date=25 January 2023 |title=Triassic stem caecilian supports dissorophoid origin of living amphibians |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=614 |issue=7946 |pages=102–107 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05646-5 |pmid=36697827 |pmc=9892002 |bibcode=2023Natur.614..102K |s2cid=256272986 |issn=1476-4687|hdl=10919/113568 |hdl-access=free }}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1973) !Peak |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"|15 |
| U.S. Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles
|align="center"|1 |