(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog please CLICK HERE)
Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"
Hit Number 1: September 18, 1976
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
The story in "Play That Funky Music" is so ridiculous, it's almost funny. A bunch of rock and roll dudes in a band are content with life and continuing to play their music but something's not right. It almost seems as if people are starting to get bored with their music and are moving onto something else. The narrator tells us he decided to "disco down" and check out a different show where everyone's "dancing, singing and grooving to the music." This is then followed by an assumedly black concert goer yelling at the narrator to "play that funky music 'til he dies!" This is a turning point for the narrator and his band. At first, they were unsure about this transition from rock to funk, but wind up embracing it, and things are "so much better." You might think the story is fun and makes for a lighthearted, friendly sing-along, but there's no way something like that could've happened in real life, right? Nope. What we hear in "Play That Funky Music" is based off of something that really happened to Wild Cherry.
Rob Parissi was the lead singer/songwriter for the band, and no shit, got the idea for the band's name from some wild cherry flavored cough drops he saw while in the hospital. (To be fair, those are, without a doubt, the best kind of cough drops) Wild Cherry were strictly a rock band, and they did a lot songs based off of other hit singles that were high up on the Hot 100. Parissi would use these songs as inspiration, and to help him come up with his own songs, just changing around the melodies enough to where he wouldn't get taken to court and sued. They never had any hits of their own, but apparently were pretty big in the Ohio River Valley area and people there loved going to their shows. They were especially loved at the 2001 Club in Pittsburgh. That was until thier sound became to be outdated. Sometime in the mid-'70s when disco and funk were beginning to take over mainstream pop music, Parissi was the only one in the band that seemed to notice what was going on. Less people were showing up to their shows, and Parissi told the other band members that if they didn't change their sound, they'd begin to lose popularity. But at first, the band resisted the change, and they continued playing only rock music.
One night while performing at the 2001 Club is when everything changed for the band, and honestly, changed for the better. The band were still performing their usual rock music, and this time their audience happened to be mostly black. They wrapped up their show, but before leaving the stage one of the audience members reportedly yelled "Play some funky music white boys!" Parissi knew that that's where the band officially needed to switch up their music style, and it's said that he wrote "Play That Funky Music" in just five minutes. It's easy to see why; the entire song is based off of what they had all just been through. The narrator in the song is truly Parissi himself. He's singing about himself. For so long I never knew that, but now I can gladly say that I do. That kind of stuff is just awesome to me.
It also helps that "Play That Funky Music" is an awesome song in its own right. Part of the reason is its longevity. So many times I review songs on here that give me different reactions. Obviously, I either love the song, I'm indifferent or I hate the thing. It's the same for everybody, but no matter what I or anybody else thinks, a lot of songs are tied to the era they're in. "Play That Funky Music" probably should be that way, considering it's about a bunch of white guys getting commanded to play funk music by a black audience member, but nearly 45 years after hitting #1, the song is still relevant in 2022. I can't explain entirely why some songs like this one stick and others don't but I can take a guess. In this case, I think it's cause of how easy it is to get into the song. The song has a wicked bass line, combined with a sly horn section and a truly awesome guitar pattern that helps shoot the song skyward. The pre-chorus shouts of "They were dancing! And singing! And movin' to the groovin'!" are enough to get anybody moving themselves. But it's also Parissi. Parissi tells everyone his insane story (and a true one!) and he's having the time of his life doing so. It really feels like a friend of yours at a bar or something relaying this crazy thing that happened to him just the other day.
And there's ad-libbing everywhere (I'm talking about the "How could I" and the "You know I won't" among others) with Parissi even reaching for some big notes here and there. He's not taking himself too seriously on the song, and there's no need to. It's just a fun song telling a fun story about something that really happened to him, so why not go for it? It all worked out, and suddenly Wild Cherry went from a struggling rock band to an immensely popular funk band, all because of "Play That Funky Music."
Somehow this wasn't enough to propel Wild Cherry into super-stardom, even though the song was #1 for three weeks. Wild Cherry broke up in 1979, and they never had another hit after "Play That Funky Music." They're just another one of those one hit wonders that made it big with a song, never to be heard from again. However, Parissi still remains active in music, writing and recording smooth jazz of all things. But in 1976, these white boys proved to everyone that they could, indeed, play that funky music.
GRADE: 9/10
JUST MISSED:
We're officially starting to creep into the yacht rock era now. England Dan & John Ford Coley's blissful, breezy "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" peaked at #2 behind "Play That Funky Music." It's an 8. (I'm gonna say right now that even though a lot of people make fun of what we describe as "yacht rock" for some reason, I consider myself to be a huge fan of the genre)
IN POP CULTURE:
You know how I said Rob Parissi would change around song's melodies so he wouldn't get sued? Well, Vanilla Ice covered "Play That Funky Music" and made the fatal mistake of not crediting Parissi at all. So Parissi took him to court and got himself a nice large settlement, the exact thing he tried to avoid happening to him twenty years earlier. Guys, if you're gonna cover or sample someone else's song, you gotta give them songwriting credits. Anyway, Vanilla Ice's cover actually did really well, and it made it to #4. His version is a 6.
(Vanilla Ice will eventually appear in this blog, and I think we all know what song that's going to be)
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