- 01Greatest HitsSly & The Family Stone… ther happy topics with his usual brilliant compression: “Lookin’ at the devil, grinnin’ at his gun / Fingers start shakin’, I begin to run.” Partly that’s because it was dropped as a bonus track on the Greatest Hits album in 1970, which isn’t the usual way artists surface their most iconic material.from the chapter
- 02There’s a Riot Goin’ OnSly & the Family StonePartly that’s because Sly revisited the song on his next album, There’s a Riot Goin’ On , as “Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa,” a slowed-down and even murkier cover of his own song.from the chapter
- 03“Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa”Sly & the Family StonePartly that’s because Sly revisited the song on his next album, There’s a Riot Goin’ On , as “Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa,” a slowed-down and even murkier cover of his own song.from the chapter
- 04“Can You Get to That”FunkadelicSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 05“Super Stupid”FunkadelicSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 06“Ride On”ParliamentSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 07“Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker”ParliamentSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 08“Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples”ParliamentSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 09“Gamin’ on You”ParliamentSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 10Chocolate CityParliamentThere’s even a song on Chocolate City called “What Comes Funky” that I sometimes hear as a rhetorical question (“What comes funk: E?”).from the chapter
- 11“What Comes Funky”ParliamentSly’s greatest heir and also closest contemporary, George Clinton, wrote a whole raft of songs in E minor for Parliament and Funkadelic: “Can You Get to That,” “Super Stupid,” “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Ride On,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” “Night of the …from the chapter
- 12“You Can’t Miss What You Can’t Measure”FunkadelicClinton’s greatest Sly theft actually lies within “You Can’t Miss What You Can’t Measure,” a 1973 Funkadelic song that is in a bass player’s greatest nightmare key (E-flat minor, a half step down, which, according to Jimmy Jam, has only one purpose: to leave the bass player …from the chapter
- 13“Sledgehammer”Peter GabrielOther than the funk-derivative “Sledgehammer,” by Peter Gabriel, I can’t think of one funk staple in E-flat minor that has bass in it.from the chapter
- 14“Sing a Simple Song”Sly & the Family Stone.” was Sly’s self-referential “Sing a Simple Song,” another “funk E” monster that in its own way allowed “Elf Agin” to even exist.from the chapter
- 15“Annie Christian”PrincePrince used it as well, though not on his most straightforward songs; predictably, it ended up in unpredictable places, like “Annie Christian,” “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” “Sexual Suicide,” and “What’s My Name.” He never followed it into cliché.from the chapter
- 16“Christopher Tracy’s Parade”Prince and the RevolutionPrince used it as well, though not on his most straightforward songs; predictably, it ended up in unpredictable places, like “Annie Christian,” “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” “Sexual Suicide,” and “What’s My Name.” He never followed it into cliché.from the chapter
- 17“Sexual Suicide”PrincePrince used it as well, though not on his most straightforward songs; predictably, it ended up in unpredictable places, like “Annie Christian,” “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” “Sexual Suicide,” and “What’s My Name.” He never followed it into cliché.from the chapter
- 18“What’s My Name?”PrincePrince used it as well, though not on his most straightforward songs; predictably, it ended up in unpredictable places, like “Annie Christian,” “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” “Sexual Suicide,” and “What’s My Name.” He never followed it into cliché.from the chapter
- 19“The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”PrincePrince used it as well, though not on his most straightforward songs; predictably, it ended up in unpredictable places, like “Annie Christian,” “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” “Sexual Suicide,” and “What’s My Name.” He never followed it into cliché.from the chapter
- 20Sign o’ the TimesPrinceThe closest he got, oddly, was “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” from Sign o’ the Times .from the chapter
- 21“The Dance Electric”Andre CymoneAnd then there’s “The Dance Electric,” which Prince gave away to Andre Cymone, although the rumor is that Cymone was too embarrassed (or too proud) to ask for himself, so his mother made the request.from the chapter
- 22“Shining Star”Earth, Wind & FireAs the Father went, so went the Son (“Shining Star,” by Earth, Wind & Fire, which came out in 1975) and the Holy Ghost (“Give Up the Funk [Tear the Roof off the Sucker],” by Parliament, 1976).from the chapter
- 23“Glide”PleasureAs I’ve explained, I came of age as a record buyer and radio listener around 1977, and the first funk classic that got to me was “Glide,” by Pleasure, an Oregon-based band that was shepherded into fame by the saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.from the chapter
- 24“Joyous”PleasurePleasure had a hit in 1977 with “Joyous,” which was later sampled by Janet Jackson (“Joyous” got its bass DNA from James Brown, a creator who owned the key of D minor—33 Top Tens in that key—and who strangely enough made his greatest gangsta statement [“The Payback”] .from the chapter
- 25“The Payback”James BrownPleasure had a hit in 1977 with “Joyous,” which was later sampled by Janet Jackson (“Joyous” got its bass DNA from James Brown, a creator who owned the key of D minor—33 Top Tens in that key—and who strangely enough made his greatest gangsta statement [“The Payback”] .from the chapter
- 26“Superstition”Stevie WonderStevie Wonder owns E-flat minor, which is half a step below.from the chapter
- 27“Skeletons”Stevie WonderStevie Wonder owns E-flat minor, which is half a step below.from the chapter
- 28“Cloreen Bacon Skin”PrinceThat revelation sent me right to “Cloreen Bacon Skin,” an extended and extensively funky Prince track recorded the same year that Cooke wrote his piece for Esquire .from the chapter
- 29“777-9311”the TimeThe Time made it explicitly known that they were not funk, at least not in the way that people had come to think of it.from the chapter
- 30“Grace”the TimeThe Time made it explicitly known that they were not funk, at least not in the way that people had come to think of it.from the chapter
- 31“Release It”the TimeThen the interviewer asks him how the Time manages such a funky sound.from the chapter
- 32Graffiti Bridgethe TimeCheck out the beginning of “Release It,” from Graffiti Bridge in 1989.) Morris establishes his cool, insisting that he was born not in his birthday suit but in a zoot suit.from the chapter
- 33“Cool Joe”George ClintonOne song is both: “Cool Joe,” by George Clinton.from the chapter
- 34“Surrender (A Second to Think)”Questlove’s pickSaul WilliamsI don’t know.from the chapter
- 35“You Can’t Change That”Questlove’s pickRaydioI didn’t like “Jack and Jill,” the Raydio hit before this.from the chapter
- 36“Hot Stuff”Questlove’s pickthe Rolling StonesMy record collection started with the throw-away songs that neither my dad nor his band wanted to attempt.from the chapter
- 37“Boy”Questlove’s pickSwamp ChildrenThis sounded underperformed and a little cheap, so there was something compelling about it.from the chapter
- 38So HotSwamp ChildrenLater, this was tacked on to the So Hot album, but I like it in its original context, where it’s a strange experimental funk song.from the chapter
- 39“Wild & Loose”Questlove’s pickthe TimePrince wasn’t even a star yet, but he was making music this amazing.from the chapter
- 40“Up for the Down Stroke”Questlove’s pickParliamentOr I could have picked “Ride On,” or “What Comes Funky,” or “Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples,” or “Do That Stuff,” or whatever.from the chapter
- 41“Sweet Gypsy Jane”Questlove’s pickthe TemptationsNot great, though I’m not mad at this song.from the chapter
- 42“Who Really Are the Monsters?”Questlove’s pickLenny KravitzI don’t know if he was trying to get Chromeoized or if he just challenged himself to make a song like this, a Talking Heads move, and I’ll give him points for adding congas.from the chapter
- 43“Fever”Questlove’s pickRonnie LawsMan.from the chapter
- 44“Watch Out Baby!”Questlove’s pickGeorge DukeI feel like a horrible Philadelphian, but I can’t get behind Stanley Clarke here.from the chapter
- 45“You’re a Foxy Lady”Questlove’s pickLarry Graham and Graham Central StationI remember this as one of the few records I panned as a nine-year old.from the chapter
- 46Star WalkLarry Graham and Graham Central StationAnd so here, officially, I will admit that I hated Star Walk as an album/song/creative direction for its first thirty-seven years.from the chapter
- 47“Creole/Feeling Funky”Questlove’s pickthe CrusadersIt’s lazy.from the chapter
- 48“Kalimba Song”Questlove’s pickBobby CaldwellI love the intro but it goes nowhere.from the chapter