Con Funk Shun on Unsung

[chidrummer]

The folks at TvOne finally got around to one my favorite unsung acts, Con Funk Shun. It's amazing to me why they weren't bigger than they were. Listen to Chase Me, So Easy, By Your Side, Ffun or Baby I'm Hooked, those songs are classics.

The show filled in some holes I'd never heard about. It's sad, and I'm sure there's a lot more to it, but some ways it's the same old story. The band starts out together as unit and slowly the business of the music business finally tears the group apart.

For those of you who don't receive TvOne watch the episode here:


http://www.soultracks.com/unsung-confunkshun

The saddest part, of course, is what happened to their original drummer and founding member, Louis McCall. For McCall to become just another stat in the murder tally for '97 is just wrong.

[Jerry Oz]

Con Funk Shun was a fantastic band. They're a group like Cameo, that when you listen to volume 2 of their Rhino collection, you realize every song could have been on volume 1. My favorite tune by them was an instrumental "Play Widit" [[which wasn't on either volume, BTW). I remember seeing Michael Cooper on "Video Soul", telling Donnie Simpson that he and Felton Pilate did a lot of the writing and that they were the two who endured a lot of hardship in their love lives. He mentioned how one song [[I believe it was "I'm Leaving, Baby") was inspired after his girlfriend left him for another member of the band. It has to be hard to put up a good front and work and perform with people who are capable of doing something like that, but he took it kind of matter-of-factly, although it obviously bothered him.

[chidrummer]

That was Love's Train, Jerry. I'm noticing a peculiar method of revenge within groups of making band members sing/play on hit songs that are about them.

Fleetwood Mac's, You Can Go Your Own Way is about Stevie and Lindsey's deteriorating relationship.
Angel Bofill's, I Try is about her relationship with drummer Buddy Williams, who plays on the record.

And there's a couple of others I can't recall right now, but this has got be kind of unique trait among musicians.

[soulster]

Thanks for this Chi! I'm also a big fan of Con Funk Shun up until 1981. I'll watch the show when I get a chance.

Favorite albums: "Secrets", "Loveshine", and "Candy".

[Ngroove]

Seen last nite - Sure, when thinking "Con Funk Shun" - I instantly think "Love's Train - wow, "Shake and Dance With Me", "Chase Me", "Too Tight" - they were regular staples on the classic soul station I used to listen to. Wow - their sound - about as melodiously funky and in sync as Earth, Wind, and Fire and the Commodores. Another fun episode start-to-finish, with almost no drama until the end.

[Jerry Oz]

Con Funk Shun was truly unique in their blend of instruments. They incorporated a flute quite often and had a horn section that rivaled Cameo and EW&F's. I believe that "Candy" is the first album that I bought and it set me on a path of music appreciation that shaped my life.

What I miss about the "old days" more than anything is the ability of a really good band to create funky dance songs as well as well-written, beautiful ballads. "Make It Last" is one of my all-time favorite ballads just as "Shake and Dance With Me" and "Ffun" are among my all-time favorite dance songs. All three songs are on the same LP and that was when the group was still young. They only got better from there.

[P-Shark: The Revenge]

Linda Lou posted in the old forum a few yrs ago
http://faac.us/adf/messages/165088/1...tml?1208854799

[marv2]

It's kinda hard for me to think of Con Funk Shun as being unsung. They were so EXTREMELY popular when I was a high school teenager. Even our marching band played "FFUN" and you would hear their music at just about every party. I am interested in learning more of what they are up to lately.

[Jerry Oz]

I buy the fact that so many of our favorite artists are "unsung" from the standpoint that platinum certifications were probably few among them. Today's artist make some odd mix of sounds that translates to Pop and Urban radio, but I can assure you that the pop stations in Columbus, Ohio [[my hometown) never considered playing Con Funk Shun, Cameo, Heatwave, etc; back in the '70s and '80s. So, whereas they are favorite bands of ours, they are largely unknown to 80% of America that didn't tune in to R&B radio stations. Just a thought.

BTW, I can imagine a band would love playing "Ffun". The horns in that song and the flow of the song itself lend themselves incredibly well to a marching band.

[chidrummer]

Whoa, it's been that long since Linda appeared on the forum. Man, time flies.

You're absolutely right, Jerry. The main reason I would consider Con Funk Shun unsung was that they were never that well known outside R&B circles and they should have been.

And just for arguments sake, the CFS horn section could smoke Cameo's. I was lucky enough to see them do it back in the day. Now, the Phoenix horns....that's another story

[Jerry Oz]

Although I loved Con Funk Shun's horn section, I was absolutely blown away by how tight Cameo's horns were. I don't know if they did anything in the studio to make them as crisp and in sync as they were, but when I bought "Feel Me", I thought that the horns were a major reason as to why that LP blew me away. I am a Cameo junkie, BTW.

And Phoenix was a seamless part of EW&F. I'll disagree with you on the exact ranking, but I'll consider them 1, 1A, and 1a without telling you which horns were #1 for me.

[StuBass1]

Funny I hadn't heard of Con Funk Shun in a long time until last month when a friend of mine texted me from where she was vacationing with her family in Northern California telling me that Con Funk Shuns Michael Cooper flipped her off his tricked out jet ski at 50+ MPH...Didn't even know this classic rock chick even knew who Con Funk Shun was lol...

[the_classic_master]

i only knew confunkshun from the jet top 20, cause they never got any play here in new york, except for ffun, baby i'm hook and love's train.

[timmyfunk]

You know, I was going to declare that ConFunkShun does absolutely nothing for me outside of "Ffun" and "Love's Train". But after watching this Unsung installment, I may have to re-examine their catalog.

CM, that's the downside of living in NYC. Funk is and has always been in short supply on NY radio.

[the_classic_master]

timmyfunk, that's true.

[Jerry Oz]

I used to compile my own "greatest hits" CDs for parties. I'd usually burn about 14 to 16 of them for each outing. Cameo usually accounted for more than an entire CD, with about 15 songs or so [[and leaving some off) and Con Funk Shun easily accounted for another one. They had so many songs that I loved and some of the best went under the radar. My brother hipped me to "Let Me Put Love On Your Mind" from their "Candy" CD and it's now one of my favorite songs. It has my favorite lead guitar solo of any soul/R&B/funk song, which is indicative of a band that could just put it all together. I'm going to watch the episode this weekend but I hope they earned a lot of fans due to this show. They deserve it.

[marv2]

You know, I was going to declare that ConFunkShun does absolutely nothing for me outside of "Ffun" and "Love's Train". But after watching this Unsung installment, I may have to re-examine their catalog.

CM, that's the downside of living in NYC. Funk is and has always been in short supply on NY radio.

They don't play Funk on NYC radio. There are no outlets. They do however play it in Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati for starters.

[chidrummer]

I can vouch for that, marv2. In Cincinnati WCIN and WDAO was all the way Funky back then.
Hey TFunk, while you are reconsidering Con Funk Shun's credentials, check this:



The visuals are wack, but check the groove.

[chidrummer]

Oh, and these two were killer too. first:

[chidrummer]

..and then:

[paladin]

Great group and their ballads were killer.......the also have a live CD which is pretty cool. They toured for several years with a great combo of bands , The BarKays and Dazz Bands respectively, wrote and posted about them at the time on the old forum. I think it was called something like The United We Funk Tour, but during that period I saw them in Chicago twice and they rocked. The Unsung episode was well done.

[splanky]

I'll have to check the unsung this weekend bu I have to say I'll always loved ConFunkshun. The band's name was taken
from an all Niteliters [[ New Birth's root band) track. I once mixed I'm Leaving Baby for my walkman and enjoyed traveling
around with my near 30 minute jam!.....

[Jerry Oz]

This is my very favorite Con Funk Shun song. Totally out of the normal for them, especially being instrumental. It showcases their horn section [[rivaling "Ffun" in this track, IMO), great percussion, and overall musicianship. I'd love to have been around when they decided to put this jam on tape and then the album.

[destruction]

Back in the day......most people that I knew liked Sly, P-Funk and EWF. But your individuality showed in how you ranked bands like ConFunkShun, Cameo, Brick, Brass Construction, and other self contained groups.

[Jerry Oz]

Watching the episode, it just amazes me continually how group dynamics always subject themselves to ego. It's incredibly difficult to remain friends [[and friendly) when a band is successful. That theme is played out continually on "Unsung" and it goes back to the beginning, when groups of musical individuals were first recognized by the public as being good. I mean, seriously: Felton Pilate was writing really good songs and they were all making money, so what if he wanted to keep a larger cut? And Louis McCall punched him? Over that?!!

It's always something, though. Somebody's doing drugs. Somebody's missing practice. Somebody wants more royalties. Somebody wants extra solos on the albums. Somebody doesn't appreciate being listed in alphabetical order anymore, especially since Bobby Zaharias changed his name to Anthony A. Ali. Why can't they just enjoy their success?