I watched with interest the other night the PBS documentary We Want the Funk! Part of the of the Independent Lens series, it is a journey through the history of the genre, spanning from African, soul, and gospel music, to its explosion into mainstream music and attitudes. It features James Brown as the “Godfather of Funk,” Sly and the Family Stone and George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic who featured interracial bands, female cool with LaBelle and Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat.

It describes funks rise as a dance and culture that brought community to American life as people gathered to move and dance together. And the story continues today with its influence on new wave music and hip hop. I will talk about my own journey growing up with this beautiful music and how it became the soundtrack of my youth.

Get the Funk Out of My Face

First of all, it’s true confession time. I am a white man in my 60’s who is neither a singer, musician, nor music critic. My story is about myself and a group of my friends who fell in love with the sound and beat of this music. Our high school days were full of listening to records by and going to concerts performed by the best funk artists of our era. For us, it was Earth, Wind, and Fire (EWF); P-Funk, Heatwave; Average White Band; The Brothers Johnson; and Bootsy Collins among others.

We were certainly aware of James Brown, and we also enjoyed other rock and pop groups, but this music was the heart and soul of what we listened to. Maybe it’s the fact that it made us white middle-class boys feel cool, but we genuinely enjoyed it and still do to this day. This and other cultural phenomenon like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and some of the popular movies of our era were not just entertainment to us but influences that crept into our everyday actions and speak.

Cake 20

We called ourselves Cake 20 after a post bake sale sign that was left on the floor at our high school alma mater, Murray. We showed our adoration for the music and culture of funk by buying the albums of our favorite artists and attending their concerts. Some of us tried to imitate the styles of the day, although my boxy frame was not a good candidate for this venture. And some of our friends formed a band and performed songs like “Brick House” right along with “Stairway to Heaven.”

But we did not stop there. No. We wanted to spread the word of funk to our friends and classmates. So much so that in our junior year, my good friend to this day, Kris Lou and I as class president and vice-president respectively, devised a new way to share our addiction with others. Tasked to choose the theme for our upcoming prom, we chose “That’s the Way of the World” by EWF. And a darn popular choice it was.

The Music Never Dies

As we progressed into college, marriage, and children of our own, most of the bands we loved in our teens either lost their popularity or disbanded. But the love for funk never died. It merely got transferred to our admiration for Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kool and the Gang and other more contemporary funk artists. And as we gather to play cards tonight, there’s a good chance that these sounds will fill the evening air. For we still march to the words of one of the patron saints of the genre, George Clinton as we sing his endearing words.

“Ow, we want the funk. Give up the funk. Ow, we need the funk. We gotta have that funk.”