When it comes to Marvin Gaye, I have to confess that if I had to choose, I’m more of a What’s Going On guy than a Let’s Get It on guy. I’ll take social realism over romance and seduction every time. (more…)

The cowbell is not an instrument you naturally associate with funk. And cowbell solos are as rare as hens’ teeth… unless you’re listening to this smooth groove by British funksters Cymande. (more…)

James Brown invented funk in 1965 with Papa Got A Brand New Bag, a song he memorably described thus: “The title told it all – I have a new bag.” (more…)

Not being of an overly religious persuasion, gospel has never been my go-to musical genre. But this exuberant fusion of gospel with soul and funk is irresistible. Especially on a quintessentially English summer’s day like today (ie. wet). (more…)

With its slinky, sinuous groove and rattling percussion, Pusherman offers a fly-on-the-wall trip through the inner-city ghetto, guided by Curtis Mayfield’s inimitable falsetto. (more…)

Sound Experience brought their uptempo funk grooves to Boogie Nights and deserve to be more widely known than they were, even in their 1970s heyday. (more…)

New York vocal group The Persauders had their only UK hit with Thin Line Between Love And Hate long before before The Pretenders. (more…)

Sometimes a bassline just hits the spot – right there in the gut – and carries the whole song. (more…)

Undiscovered for decades, here is the full 33-minute version of Isaac Hayes’s psychedelic jam Do Your Thing. (more…)

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…)