Pop Song 528 of 1000 'Play that funky music' Wild Cherry 1976

Pop Song 528 of 1000 'Play that funky music' Wild Cherry 1976

Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcYFxU4fMo

Wild Cherry was a hard rock cover band, but with the advent and popularity of the disco era, it began to be 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.

Hey, once I was a boogie singer
Playing in a rock 'n' 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
Yeah, they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted...
"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, uh
Here, here, ha
Well, I tried to understand this (yeah)
Heh, I thought that they were out of their minds
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
Yeah, they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted...