"Play That Funky Music" is a funk rock song written by lead
vocalist and guitarist Robert Parissi and recorded by the rock
band Wild Cherry. The performers on the classic recording
included the members of the band at the time, guitarist Bryan
Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with
session horn players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brandiar, Joe Eckert,
and Rick Singer hired to play the horn riff that runs
throughout the track's verses. The single hit number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976 and was also number one
on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The single was certified
platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for
shipments of over two million records. The song was also the
basis of a top five U.S. hit for Vanilla Ice in 1990.
The autobiographical song was inspired by the times, and the
song's unforgettable title (and chorus) came from drummer Ron
Beitle's observation during a break between sets at the 2001
Club in Pittsburgh. The group was mostly a hard rock outfit,
but the Disco era was really gaining steam and many of the
group's loyal followers were asking for more dance songs. While
taking a break between sets, Ron uttered the now classic line
"play some funky music, white boy". Lead singer Robert Parissi
decided they should, and wrote down the phrase on a bar order
pad. They later recorded it in Cleveland with a Disco
sound.
Originally, it was planned that the song should be released
on the B-side of Wild Cherry's cover of the Commodores' "I Feel
Sanctified"; however, when the owners of Sweet City Records
heard the song, they suggested that the B-side become the
A-side. (Epic Records picked up the record for worldwide
distribution.) The song sold over two million copies, but was
Wild Cherry's only hit.
The song listed at #73 on
Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.
Parissi said he often wrote songs in a similar style as a
song he'd pick out from each new week of the Top 40. After
writing songs in this manner for some time, one of the songs he
wrote was Funky Music. The song that served as inspiration for
the hit was Fire by Ohio Players, which features a similar bass
line and rhythm guitar part.
Part of the song's popularity stemmed from the controversy
surrounding its lyrics. A few listeners thought the lyrics were
"play that fucking music, white boy". At the time, Parissi and
the record label vehemently denied that there was any profanity
in the vocals, though on the full version of the song's fade
out the phrase "play that funky music, honky " is used. The
group did, however, re-record the chorus just for the city of
Boston, which apparently was having some racial tension at the
time. Hence, a version was released in which the chorus is
"Play that funky music right, boy".
Vanilla Ice later released a song featuring an
interpretation of "Play That Funky Music". Songwriter Robert
Parissi was not credited, and was later awarded $500,000 in a
copyright infringement lawsuit.
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.
Following the success of "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky
Music" was reissued as its own single (with new lyrics), and
peaked at #4 on the U.S. Hot 100 and #10 in the UK.
This song has been used in the films,
Evolution(2001) and
The New Guy(2002). A rap version is played in the film
Malibu's Most Wanted(2003), while an instrumental
version of the song is played on bagpipes by Matt Stifler in
the direct-to-video movie,
American Pie: Band Camp(2005).
The song appears in the video games
Guitar Hero 5and
DJ Hero(as a playable track),
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2(a cover version), and
Shaun White Snowboarding.
It also appeared on an episode of King of the Hill entitled
Patch Boomhauer.
Robin Williams has used the song title, delivered in a bad
Lawrence Welk impression, as a one-liner