James Brown channels his anger into a revenge fantasy in the influential funk classic The Payback, much sampled by hip-hop artists in later years. (more…)

Headhunters served up this fat slice of funk in 1975, featuring a famous sample that’s formed the basis  of countless hip hop tunes ever since. (more…)

The Chambers Brothers blended their gospel roots with folk and West Coast rock to create a unique take on psychedelic soul in the first Summer of Love. (more…)

There’s something horribly prophetic in the lyric of Gil Scott-Heron’s song The Bottle: “Look around on any corner/If you see some brother lookin’ like a goner/It’s gonna be me.”
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Quincy Jones came up with the song named after the Japanese arthouse porn film that gave me one of my most memorably horrible experiences in a cinema. (more…)

The Meters defined the sound of New Orleans funk on this instrumental back in 1969. It’s still winning new friends in movies today. (more…)

You hear the word ‘classic’ bandied about a lot but Express Yourself is a solid-gold soul and funk classic of the first order. (more…)

If you’re going to be known for just one song, then you might as well make it a great one. Like King Floyd’s solitary hit Groove Me. (more…)

Big lady, big voice, big hair – Jean Knight had it all. Mr Big Stuff was her takedown of that guy all women know, the one who thinks he’s God’s gift. He’s begging to be taken down, and Jean did the job for us all in this stone-cold funk and soul classic. (more…)

The O’Jays exchanged smooth soul for fat funk when they recorded For The Love Of Money at Philly’s Sigma Sound Studios. (more…)