‘Play That Funky Music’ is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records. The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the song's verses.
The single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976; it was also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records and eventually sold 2.5 million in the United States alone. The song was listed at No. 93 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Top 100 Songs" in 2018. It was also the group's only US Top 40 song.
Wild Cherry was a hard rock cover band; Rob Parissi got the idea for the group's name from a box of cough drops he saw when he was in the hospital. The advent and popularity of the disco era began to make it difficult to get bookings because audiences wanted to dance. Parissi told the band that if they wanted to get bookings, they were going to have to start to include dance tunes in their sets, but the band resisted becoming a disco band. While playing at the 2001 Club on the North Side of Pittsburgh to a predominantly black audience, a patron said to band member Beitle during a break, "Are you going to play some funky music, white boys?" Parissi grabbed a pen and order pad and wrote the song in about five minutes. The lyrics literally describe the predicament of a hard rock band adjusting to the disco era.
Label – Epic
Songwriter – Rob Parissi
Producer – Rob Parissi
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]A-hey, do it now, huh
Yeah, hey
[Verse 1]
Hey-ah, once I was a boogie singer
Playing in a rock and roll band
I never had no problems, yeah
Burning down the one-night stands
Then everything around me, yeah
It got to start to feeling so low
And I decided quickly, yes, I did, heh
To disco down and check out the show
[Pre-Chorus]
Yeah, they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted
[Chorus]
"Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right
Play that funky music, white boy
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die", heh heh
'Til you die, yeah (What?)
Hear, hear, heh
[Verse 2]
A-heh, I tried to understand this (Yeah)
Heh, I thought that they were out of their minds
Heh, how could I be so foolish, how could I
To not see I was the one behind?
So still I kept on fighting
Well, losing every step of the way (Hey, what'd you do?)
I said, "I must go back there", I got to go back
And check to see if things still the same
[Pre-Chorus]
Yeah, they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted
[Chorus]
"Play that funky music, white boy (Yeah)
Play that funky music right, oh
Play that funky music, white boy
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die", heh
'Til you die (Yeah)
Whoa, 'til you die
Gonna play some electrified funky music, yow!
[Guitar Solo]
Ah ha ha
[Verse 3]
Hey, wait a minute, now first it wasn't easy
Changing rock and roll and minds
Yeah, things were getting shaky
(Yeah) I thought I'd have to leave it behind, uh
Ooh, but now it's so much better, it's so much better
I'm funking out in every way
But I'll never lose that feeling, no, I won't
Of how I learned my lesson that day
[Pre-Chorus]
When they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted
[Chorus]
"Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right
Play that funky music, white boy
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die", heh heh
'Til you die (Yeah)
Oh, 'til you die, yeah
Come on, let's go!
[Outro]
(They shouted, "Play that funky music") Play that funky music
(Play that funky music) You gotta keep on playing funky music
(Play that funky music) Play that funky music
(Play that funky music) Come on and take you higher
Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right, yeah
Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right, yeah
Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right, yeah
Play that funky music, honky
Play that funky music right