Published on Jul 13, 1998
No. I didn’t pick this up. A friend of mine did. So, no laughing
at him now.
Actually, there is no reason to laugh. While granted, most of
these compilation albums are nothing more than cheap ways of
getting your money, they sometime serve the purpose of introducing
you to a whole new genre of music you haven’t heard.
Thus enters
Pure Funk. From the people who brought you
Pure Disco 1,
Pure Disco 2, and
Pure Polka (kidding ’bout the last one!) comes a new
Pure CD full of the biggest 70s funk hits. How can you tell
they’re the biggest hits? Well, ask your parents or your older
siblings (if they were alive) if they danced to them on the dance
floors. (Just imagine: Your parents in full polyester!!)
Why cringe? In here you’ll find the ultra-cool “Jungle Boogie”
by Kool and the Gang – before they did “Cherish” (laugh if you got
that reference) – The Commodores’ “Brick House” and Parliament’s
“Flashlight.” You will dance to Rose Royce’s “Car Wash,” Carl
Douglas “Kung Fu Fighting” and Rick James’ “Super Freak.”
On top of that, you also get two of the biggest soundtrack hits
from blaxploitation films ever. “Superfly” by Curtis Mayfield and –
let me clear my throat – the Academy Award-winning “Theme From
Shaft” by Isaac Hayes. Let’s be honest here. You cannot top “Shaft”
for coolness.
Then there’s a few tracks that really do nothing for me. For
example, Patti Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” and “Patrice Rushen’s
“Forget Me Nots.” Yes, they were hits and, yes, one was remade into
one of the biggest hits of last year – “Men In Black” – but that’s
no guarantee I’ll like them. Oh well, with 21 songs available, if
you are not pleased with three or four, that’s still a good
ratio.
Overall, I wouldn’t pay fifteen bucks for it – nor the eighteen
that they ask in their commercials – but if you find it, give it a
try. Sometimes the doom and gloom needs to get funked up too. And,
to quote the master himself, “We want the funk. Give up the funk.
We want the funk. Gotta have that funk.”