Play That Funky Music#Vanilla Ice version
{{short description|1976 single by Wild Cherry}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Play That Funky Music
| cover = Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry US vinyl 1976.png
| alt =
| caption = Side A of the 1976 US single
| type = single
| artist = Wild Cherry
| album = Wild Cherry
| B-side = The Lady Wants Your Money
| released = April 1976
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
Musical Encounters with Deleuze and Guattari |chapter= Queer Transversal: The Spectacle Adam Lambert |editor-first1= Pirkko |editor-last1= Moisala |editor-first2= Taru |editor-last2= Leppänen |editor-first3= Milla |editor-last3= Tiainen |editor-first4= Hanna |editor-last4= Väätäinen |publisher= Bloomsbury |page= 120 |isbn= 978-1-5013-1675-3 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Dg5sDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA120}}{{cite web|first= Tom|last= Eames|title= The 100 greatest songs of the 1970s, ranked|website= Smooth Radio|date= June 6, 2023|url= https://www.smoothradio.com/features/top-songs/1970s-best-songs-top-100-ranked/|accessdate= August 15, 2024}}
- R&B{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music"|website= Stereogum |date= September 13, 2019 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2058136/the-number-ones-wild-cherrys-play-that-funky-music/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= But 'Play That Funky Music' is an exceptional piece of heavy R&B.|access-date= June 30, 2023}}
| length =
- 5:00 (album version)
- 3:12 (single/video version)
| label = Epic
| writer = Rob Parissi
| producer = Rob Parissi
| prev_title = Get Down
| prev_year = 1973
| next_title = Baby Don't You Know
| next_year = 1977
| misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|JTvlujbJ5vg|"Play That Funky Music" (album version)}}}}
}}
"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.{{cite news|first= Jane |last= Scott |title= Discotakes |date= April 30, 1976 |newspaper= The Plain Dealer |location= Cleveland, Ohio}} 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. 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.{{cite magazine|title= Platinum Singles Top '76–'77 Years |magazine= Billboard |date= August 26, 1978 |volume= 90 |issue= 34 |page= 114 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22play+that+funky+music+scored%22&pg=PT142}}
The song was listed at No. 93 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Top 100 Songs" in 2018.{{cite magazine|title= Greatest of All Time – Hot 100 Songs |magazine= Billboard |access-date= August 5, 2018 |url= http://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-hot-100-singles}} 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, the group found it increasingly difficult to book gigs. Most promoters had little interest in rock bands when dance acts were far more lucrative. Parissi attempted to persuade his bandmates to incorporate dance tunes into their sets, but they resisted as they did not want to be tagged with the stigma of being "disco".{{cite news|title= Wild Cherry's Rob Parissi evolves from 'funky music' to smooth jazz |newspaper= Tampa Bay Times |date= April 26, 2013 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/wild-cherrys-rob-parissi-evolves-from-funky-music-to-smooth-jazz/2117555/}}
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.{{cite news|first= Scott |last= Mervis |title= Obituary: Ron Beitle / Played that funky music for Wild Cherry |newspaper= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date= December 13, 2017 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2017/12/13/Ron-Beitle-Played-that-funky-music-for-Wild-Cherry/stories/201712130135}}
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1977) !Position |
| scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |access-date= July 1, 2014 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=40276}}
|55 |
|---|
=All-time charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1958–2018) !Position |
| scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|title= Hot 100 60th Anniversary |magazine= Billboard |access-date= February 22, 2020 |url= https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100-60th-anniversary}}
|93 |
|---|
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Wild Cherry|title=Play That Funky Music|relyear=1976|certyear=1976|award=Gold}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Wild Cherry|title=Play That Funky Music|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|award=Platinum|id=14087-4316-1|access-date=July 8, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Wild Cherry|title=Play That Funky Music|relyear=1976|certyear=1976|award=Platinum|access-date=January 31, 2020|refname=RIAA|salesamount=2,500,000|salesref=}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Wild Cherry|title=Play That Funky Music|relyear=2005|certyear=2005|award=Gold|access-date=January 31, 2020|note=Digital|refname=RIAA|digital=true}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}
Vanilla Ice version
{{Infobox song
| name = Play That Funky Music
| cover = Play That Funky Music by Vanilla Ice.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Vanilla Ice
| album = To the Extreme
| B-side =
- "Ice Ice Baby" (US)
- "Go Ill" (UK)
| released = November 19, 1990{{cite web|title= Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music |publisher= Recording Industry Association of America |access-date= November 16, 2019 |url= https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=vanilla+ice&ti=play+that+funky+music&lab=&genre=&format=&date_option=release&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH#search_section}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Hip hop{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= Vanilla Ice - "Ice Ice Baby|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=Hachette Book Group|location= New York|page= 209}}
| length = 4:45
| label = SBK
| writer = Rob Parissi
| producer = Vanilla Ice
| prev_title = Ice Ice Baby
| prev_year = 1990
| next_title = I Love You
| next_year = 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".{{cite AV media|title= Behind the Music: Vanilla Ice |people= Vanilla Ice |date= March 28, 1999 |time= 10:45 |publisher= VH1}} Songwriter Robert Parissi was not credited. Parissi was later awarded $500,000 in a copyright infringement lawsuit.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}} "Ice Ice Baby" was also found to contain copyright infringement.
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.{{cite book|first= Gary |last= Westfahl |year= 2000 |title= Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture |chapter= Legends of the Fall: Behind the Music |chapter-url-access= registration |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/sciencefictionch00west_0/page/100 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |page= 100 |isbn= 0-313-30847-0}}
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. The song's accompanying music video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.{{cite magazine|first=|last=|title=Station Reports > TV > MTV/London|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1991/MM-1991-03-09.pdf|magazine=Music & Media|date=March 9, 1991|page=|access-date=December 12, 2022}}
=Charts=
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==Weekly charts==
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==Year-end charts==
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Other cover versions
In 1988, the band Roxanne reached No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover version.{{cite magazine|title= The Hot 100 |magazine= Billboard |date= April 9, 1988 |access-date= March 25, 2017 |url= http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1988-04-09}}
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.{{cite web|title= Official Singles Chart Top 100: 21 June 1998 – 27 June 1998 |publisher= Official Charts Company |access-date= 20 September 2021 |url= https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19980621/7501/}}
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.{{cite news|first= Marie-Josée |last= Roy |title= "Ces gars-là" : Simon-Olivier Fecteau et Sugar Sammy, nouveau duo terrible de V (VIDÉO) |work= Le Huffington Post |date= April 18, 2014 |access-date= May 2, 2015 |url= http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/18/ces-gars-la-v-tele-simon-olivier-fecteau-sugar-sammy_n_4811126.html}}
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.{{cite news|title= Play That Funky Music Was No. 1 40 Years Ago |publisher= MPR News |date= September 27, 2016 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/27/play-that-funky-music-no-1-40-years-ago}}{{cite web|first= Jesse |last= Schedeen |title= The Big Bang Theory: "The Skywalker Incursion" Review |work= IGN |date= April 3, 2015 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/03/the-big-bang-theory-the-skywalker-incursion-review}}{{cite magazine|first= Lincee |last= Ray |title= 'The Big Bang Theory' recap: 'The Skywalker Incursion' |magazine= Entertainment Weekly |date= April 3, 2015 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://ew.com/recap/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-19/}}{{cite web|first= Brian |last= Henry |title= 'The Big Bang Theory' recap: A road trip, George Lucas, and 'Doctor Who' |publisher= Fox News |date= April 12, 2016 |access-date= May 3, 2022 |url= https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-big-bang-theory-recap-a-road-trip-george-lucas-and-doctor-who}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/100819/ "Play That Funky Music" lyrics]
{{Vanilla Ice}}
{{Wild Cherry (band)}}
{{American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Song}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles