Play That Funky Music

"Play That Funky Music"
Single by Wild Cherry
from the album Wild Cherry
B-side	"The Lady Wants Your Money"
Released	1976
Format	7"
Recorded	1975
Genre	Funk rock[1][2]
Length	5:00 (Album version) 3:12 (Single version)
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Robert Parissi
Certification	Gold (CRIA) Platinum (RIAA)
Wild Cherry singles chronology
"Get Down" (Brown Bag Records) (1972) "Play That Funky Music" (1976) "Baby Don't You Know" (1977)

"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The performers on the classic recording included the members of the band at the time: lead singer Parissi, guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Ian Bridle (keyboard and backing vocals), Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the track's verses. The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976, and was also number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart.^[3] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records, eventually selling 2.5 million in the United States alone.^[4]

The song listed at no. 73 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.^[5]

Chart performance

Vanilla Ice version

"Play That Funky Music"
Single by Vanilla Ice
from the album To the Extreme
B-side	"Ice Ice Baby"
Released	April 25, 1990
Genre	Hip hop
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Vanilla Ice singles chronology
"Satisfaction" (1989) "Play That Funky Music" (1990) "Ice Ice Baby" (1990)

Vanilla Ice later released a song featuring an interpretation of "Play That Funky Music". Songwriter Robert Parissi was not credited. Parissi was later awarded $500,000 in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Although it did not initially catch on, its B-side, "Ice Ice Baby", gained more success when a disc jockey played that track instead of the single's A-side.^[27]

Following the success of "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky Music" was reissued as its own single (with new lyrics), and peaked at no. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and no. 10 in the UK.^[28]

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

• George Michael sang the song on several dates of his Faith World Tour.
• Prince did the song several times on tour 2011 and in Montreux 2013.
• A tribute version of the song was arranged and recorded by Gordon Goodwin and his Big Phat Band on their 2006 record The Phat Pack.
• A spoken word version of the song, deliberately done in an unflattering manner, was used in the early 1990s in a Pioneer Electronics commercial for their automobile audio products. The "song" was performed by comedian Kathy Griffin.
• A cover version in 1988 by the pop rock group Roxanne peaked at no. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Bubonique, a musical comedy side project of the Fatima Mansions and Sean Hughes, included a parody entitled "Play That Funky Music Irish Guy" on their 1993 album 20 Golden Showers.
• UK pop punk band Cranial Screwtop recorded a cover of the song for the 2006 album "Too Fast for Technology".
• Alexei Sayle included a parody, "Play That Funky Music Jewish Boy", on his 1986 album Panic.
• The song is one of many covers the accordion-based comedy rock band Those Darn Accordions have performed live.
• The Leningrad Cowboys issued a cover version on their 2006 album Zombies Paradise.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their album Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes.
• Adam Lambert covered the song on March 31, 2009 on the TV show American Idol.
• B*Witched covered the song in 2001 as a US-only release, but it failed to chart. It was their tenth and final single.
• Thunder's cover version appears on their 1999 album Giving The Game Away.
• Paul Di'Anno covered this song on several albums, including Beyond The Maiden.
• Canadian saxophonist Warren Hill covered the song on his 2005 album PopJazz.^[46]
• Extreme performed it live.
• There is an edited version of "Play That Funky Music" without "white boy" that was released for radio airplay around the Boston area, as the original version was briefly banned in that area upon its original release. Instead of "white boy," the words, "hey, funky music" were substituted (Epic cat# AE7 1107). That version is now a collector's item.^[47]
• Eleveno made a dance floor, electro funk version in 2012.
• Taylor Hicks sang "Play That Funky Music" on American Idol a week before he won.
• British singer/songwriter Olly Murs covered the song in a medley with "Rapper's Delight", "Le Freak" and "Uptown Funk" on his 2015 arena tour in support of his fourth album Never Been Better.

Usage in other media

This song has been used in the films Evolution (2001), The New Guy (2002)^[48] and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). A rap version is played in the film Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), while an instrumental version of the song is played on bagpipes by Matt Stifler in the direct-to-video movie, American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005).

The song appears in the video games Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero, Rocksmith 2014 (as a playable track), Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 (a cover version), Don King Presents: Prizefighter and Shaun White Snowboarding.

The song was used as Craig Kilborn's entrance music when he was the host of The Late Late Show on CBS.

In the sitcom Friends, Phoebe, who wants Ross to play his own compositions on his keyboard, encourages him by saying, "Play that funky music, white boy!". The song appeared in "Patch Boomhauer", an episode of the animated TV series King of the Hill. The song is also heard in a Season 3 episode of the US TV sitcom The Office.

Robin Williams used the song title, delivered in a Lawrence Welk impression, as a one-liner.

Intel used the song as part of a 1997 television advertising campaign for their Pentium MMX line of processors.

The International Game Technology (IGT) manufactured a video slot machine called "Super Cherry" which features the song during a bonus round in the game.

Duracell used the song during a 1999 television commercial for their batteries. The character's car has a mechanical breakdown and is stranded on the side of the road. Installing batteries into his cell phone, he calls a tow truck company for assistance. The music on hold is "Play That Funky Music" and the character dances to the music in the middle of the road. As the caller on the phone returns, the character asks to be put back on hold (to listen to more of the song).

On an episode of The Oblongs, Bob Oblong sings the tune "Play that funky music, white boy. 'Till you die!"

In the last episode of Home Improvement (Backstage Pass), there is a montage of the Taylor family dancing to "Play That Funky Music."

On the third season of NBC's show The Voice, Coach Cee Lo Green sang "Play That Funky Music" along with contestant Nicholas David Mrozinski.

It also appear on the open show "Ces Gars-Là", a French-Canadian show on V Télé featuring the stand-up comic Sugar Sammy and Simon-Olivier Fecteau.^[49]

This song is also featured in Dennis the Menace Strikes Again during a dance off scene in the film.

The song is also referenced in the season 8 episode 19 of American sitcom The Big Bang Theory, when Sheldon uses the phrase "Play that funky music, white boy", without his knowledge of the reference to the song.

References