100 Greatest Funk Songs

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August 15, 2005

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Greatest Funk Songs

More Criteria: The 100 greatest funk records of all time. Songs are
R&B based on impact, influence, and popularity.
Lists
Edited By: Jeff B.

• Funk Last Updated: 2008-08-07

Artists
•
Newly added names are in Red
R&B/Soul
Songs
•

R&B/Soul
Greatest Funk Songs
Ballads
• R&B

Songs   1. Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine) Part I -

1990s James Brown

• R&B
  2. Papa's Got
a Brand New Bag - James Brown &

Ballads The Famous Flames

1990s

  3. Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly &

• R&B
The Family Stone
Artists   4. Tear the Roof
Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk) -

• Motown Parliament
Songs

  5. Theme
from "Shaft" - Isaac Hayes
• Motown   6. Superfly - Curtis Mayfield

Albums

  7. Superstition - Stevie Wonder

Temptations
  8. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - The
Music

  9. When Doves Cry - Prince & The Revolution

Forum 10. One Nation Under a Groove - Funkadelic

11. Cold Sweat Part I - James Brown & The Famous

1/10
 Flames

Movie
12. Out of Sight - James Brown & The Famous
Lists
Flames
13. Funky Broadway - Dyke & The Blazers

14. Cissy Strut - Meters

15. Chameleon - Herbie Hancock
16. It's Your Thing - Isley Brothers
17. Flash Light - Parliament
18. War - Edwin Starr
19. Super Freak Part I - Rick James
20. Little Red Corvette - Prince & The Revolution
21. Don't Stop ('Til You Get Enough) - Michael
Jackson
22. Family Affair - Sly & The Family Stone
23. Living for the City - Stevie Wonder
24. I'll Take You There - Staple Singers
25. That Lady Part I - Isley Brothers
26. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight
27. Tell Me Something Good - Rufus
28. Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
29. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
30. Play That Funky Music (White Boy) - Wild Cherry
31. Car Wash - Rose Royce
32. Brick House - Commodores
33. Fire - Ohio Players
34. Low Rider - War
35. Pick Up the Pieces - Average White Band
36. Got to Give It Up Part I - Marvin Gaye
37. More Bounce to the Ounce Part I - Zapp & Roger
38. Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang
39. Funky Drummer Parts I and II - James Brown
40. Amen, Brother - Winstons
41. Apache - Incredible Bongo Band
42. The Payback - James Brown
43. Think (About It) - Lyn Collins
44. Word Up - Cameo
45. Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts
103rd Street Rhythm Band
46. Atomic Dog - George Clinton
47. You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate
48. Funky Stuff - Kool & The Gang
49. Dazz - Brick
50. Shining Star - Earth, Wind & Fire
51. Hollywood Swinging - Kool & The Gang
52. Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) - B.T. Express
53. For the Love of Money - O'Jays
54. Give It to Me Baby - Rick James
55. Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright
56. Groove Me - King Floyd
57. Ain't Nobody - Rufus & Chaka Khan
58. Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
59. What is Hip? - Tower of Power

2/10
60. You Dropped a Bomb on Me - Gap Band
61. I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles
62. Genius of Love - Tom Tom Club
63. (Not Just) Knee Deep Part I - Funkadelic
64. Get Down On It - Kool & The Gang
65. Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players
66. It's Just Begun - Jimmy Castor Bunch
67. Slide - Slave
68. P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up) - Parliament
69. I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up and Dance
(Oops, Up Side Your Head) - Gap Band
70. Keep on Truckin' Part I - Eddie Kendricks
71. Fight the Power Parts I and II - Isley Brothers
72. Say It Loud - I'm Black and Proud Part I - James
Brown
73. Give It Up or Turnit a Loose (In the Jungle Groove
remix) - James Brown
74. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
75. Bustin' Loose - Chuck Brown & The Soul
Searchers
76. Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly & The Family
Stone
77. Sign O' the Times - Prince
78. Cloud Nine - Temptations
79. Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)
- Temptations
80. Funkin' for Jamaica - Tom Browne
81. Heartbeat - Taana Gardner
82. Use Me - Bill Withers
83. Shakey Ground - Temptations
84. Future Shock - Curtis Mayfield
85. Just Kissed My Baby - Meters
86. Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me?) - Gap
Band
87. Get the Funk Out of Ma Face - Brothers Johnson
88. Freddie's Dead (Theme from "Superfly") - Curtis
Mayfield
89. Upside Down (Inside Out) - Diana Ross
90. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
91. The Jam - Graham Central Station
92. Stand! - Sly & The Family Stone
93. Right Place, Wrong Time - Dr. John
94. Computer Love - Zapp & Roger
95. Fantastic Voyage - Lakeside
96. Let it Whip - Dazz Band
97. I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl) -
Instant Funk
98. No Parking (On the Dancefloor) - Midnight Star
99. Cutie Pie - One Way
100. Get on the Good Foot - James Brown

3/10
101. Doing It To Death Part I - Fred Wesley & The JBs
102. Tramp - Otis & Carla
103. Get Out of My Life, Woman - Lee Dorsey
104. Mothership Connection (Star Child) - Parliament
105. Up for the Down Stroke - Parliament
106. Soul Finger - Bar-Kays
107. The Horse - Cliff Nobles & Co.
108. Memphis Soul Stew - King Curtis & The Kingpins
109. Let a Woman Be a Woman, Let a Man Be a Man
- Dyke & The Blazers
110. I Gotcha - Joe Tex
111. Smiling Faces Sometimes - Undisputed Truth
112. Outa-Space - Billy Preston
113. Be Thankful for What You've Got - William
DeVaughn
114. Pusherman - Curtis Mayfield
115. I Know You Got Soul - Bobby Byrd
116. Drop the Bomb - Trouble Funk
117. Get Up Offa That Thing - James Brown
118. Bootzilla - Bootsy's Rubber Band
119. Jungle Love - The Time
120. A Love Bizarre - Sheila E. & Prince
121. (Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again -
L.T.D.
122. Scorpio - Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar
Band
123. Too Hot to Stop - Bar-Kays
124. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - Indeep
125. She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's
Stacked) - Carl Carlton
126. Serpentine Fire - Earth, Wind & Fire
127. Slippin' Into Darkness - War
128. Brother's Gonna Work It Out - Willie Hutch
129. Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack & Peace
130. The Bottle - Gil Scott-Heron
131. Jungle Fever - Chakachas
132. The Funky Worm - Ohio Players
133. You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder
134. Don't Stop the Music - Yarbough & Peoples
135. Holy Ghost - Bar-Kays
136. Cosmic Slop - Funkadelic
137. Pass the Peas - Fred Wesley & The JBs
138. Ffun - Con Funk Shun
139. Expansions - Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic
Echoes
140. (Fallin' Like) Dominoes - Donald Byrd
141. Juicy Fruit - Mtume
142. All Night Long - Mary Jane Girls
143. Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson
144. Candy - Cameo
145. Take Me To the Mardi Gras - Bob James
146. Fencewalk - Mandrill

4/10
147. (Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All
Going To Go - Curtis Mayfield
148. Street Life - Crusaders
149. Rock Creek Park - Blackbyrds
150. Running Away - Roy Ayers
151. God Made Me Funky - Headhunters
152. The Message - Cymande
153. Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got, To Get
What She Wants) - James Brown
154. I Can't Get Next To You - Temptations
155. Escape-ism - James Brown
156. Funky Nassau - Beginning of the End
157. Summer Madness - Kool & The Gang
158. Backstrokin' - Fatback
159. Funky President (People It's Bad) - James Brown
160. Why Can't We Be Friends? - War
161. Birdland - Weather Report
162. Yes We Can Can - Pointer Sisters
163. I Can Understand It - New Birth
164. The World is a Ghetto - War
165. Supernatural Thing Part I - Ben E. King
166. N.T. Parts I and II - Kool & The Gang
167. Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved - James Brown
168. (I Wanna) Testify - Parliaments
169. Everybody is a Star - Sly & The Family Stone
170. The Breakdown Part I - Rufus Thomas
171. Sing a Simple Song - Sly & The Family Stone
172. The Ghetto - Donny Hathaway
173. Mary Jane - Rick James
174. Machine Gun - Commodores
175. Joy and Pain - Maze feat. Frankie Beverly
176. Funky Sensation - Gwen McCrae
177. Movin' - Brass Construction
178. I Want To Be Your Man - Roger
179. We Got the Funk - Positive Force
180. Impeach the President - Honey Drippers
181. Ashley's Roachclip - Soul Searchers
182. Dance to the Drummer's Beat - Herman Kelly
183. Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother For
Me) - James Brown
184. Always There - Ronnie Laws
185. Could Heaven Ever Be Like This? - Idris
Muhammad
186. To Prove My Love - Ned Doheny
187. I Thought It Was You - Herbie Hancock
188. Right Off - Miles Davis
189. Love Will Bring Us Back Together - Roy Ayers
190. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-
Heron
191. Whistle Bump - Deodato
192. Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On) -
Lee Dorsey

5/10
193. Superman Lover - Johnny "Guitar" Watson
194. I Get Lifted - George McCrae
195. Dukey Stick - George Duke
196. If I'm in Luck I Might Get Picked Up - Betty Davis
197. Burning Spear - S.O.U.L.
198. Action Speaks Louder Than Words - Chocolate
Milk
199. Soul Power '74 - Maceo Parker
200. Zombie - Fela Kuti

Honerable Mentions

  *Proto-Funk
  Limbo Jimbo
- James Brown
  Think - James Brown

  Testify Part I - Isley Brothers

  Green Onions - Booker T. &
The MGs
  Land of 1,000 Dances - Wilson Pickett

Funk music is sometimes overlooked and usually lumped with

disco music. However, funk music has its own style and culture
and was here before disco's birth, born in the mid-1960s by James
Brown. Funk music is usually heavily syncopated with
polyrhythmic rhythms, horn and percussive sections, and features
the guitar. Funk music is known for its breaks (making it a sample
pool for much of hip hop and electronic dance music) and obscure
classics known as "rare grooves". Important pioneers include
James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, The Meters, and Dyke &
The Blazers.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, some disco and funk music
shared blurred lines. This list excludes purely disco records and
includes funky psychedelic soul, go-go, Afro-beat via Fela
Kuti,and jazz funk. The latter subgenres that spun off from funk
(such as electro funk and G-funk) are given their own sidebar lists.

1. Double Dutch Bus (early 90s gangster West

6/10
    - Frankie Smith Coast Hip Hop)

1. Nuthin' But a G-Thang

    - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy

2. In My House Dogg
    - Mary Jane Girls

2. California Love
3. Candy Girl     - 2Pac and Dr. Dre
    - New Edition

3. Regulate
4. Rumours     - Warren G. and Nate Dogg
    - Timex Social Club

4. It Was a Good Day

5. Pull Up to the Bumper     - Ice Cube
    - Grace Jones

5. Keep Ya Head Up
6. Jump to It     - 2Pac
    - Aretha Franklin

6. Gin and Juice

7. When I Think of You     - Snoop Doggy Dogg
    - Janet Jackson

7. What's My Name?
8. Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll     - Snoop Doggy Dogg
    - Vaughn Mason & Crew

8. Funkdafied
9. Get Down Saturday Night     - Da Brat
    - Oliver Cheatham

9. Fuck Wit Dre Day (And

10. Somebody Else's Guy Everybody's Celebratin')
    - Jocelyn Brown     - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy
Dogg

Soul 10. Thuggish Ruggish Bone

Makos     - Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony
sa

7/10
    - Manu DiBango

11. Me Against the World

    - 2Pac

Good Times
    - Chic

12. Let Me Ride

    - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy

Dogg
Let's Groove
    - Earth, Wind & Fire

13. Deep Cover

    - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy

I'm Every Woman Dogg
    - Chaka Khan

14. This DJ
I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little     - Warren G.
Bit More, Baby
    - Barry White

15. Black Superman

    - Above the Law

8/10


(ranked in terms of influence on 1. Give it Away

funk music as a whole)
Peppers
    - Red Hot Chili

1. The Message
    - Grandmaster
Flash & The

Furious Five 2. Epic

No More
    - Faith

2. Planet Rock

    - Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul 3. Gett Off

Sonic Force     - Prince
& The New Power
Generation

3. White Lines (Don't Do It)

    - Grandmaster Flash & Melle 4. Cult of Personality

Mel     - Living Colour

4. Looking for the Perfect Beat 5. Freddie's Dead

    - Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul     - Fishbone

Sonic Force

6. Renegades of Funk
5. Jam On It

    - Rage Against the Machine

    - Newcleus

9/10


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