Funkytown How Long Lipps Inc.

Funkytown Album: Funkytown (1980)
How Long Album: Pucker Up (1980)
by Lipps Inc.

Lipps Inc. started as a project of Steven Greenberg when he was a wedding DJ who wanted to try his hand at writing disco songs. He had intended to use the name Lip Sync, but it was in use by another group, so instead he chose the homophone Lipps Inc. Greenberg was the sole member of the group until he met Cynthia Johnson while auditioning singers for his song "Rock It". Johnson joined the project, and Lipps Inc. became a duo.

The "Funkytown" is New York City. A songwriter and producer named Steven Greenburg wrote the song when he became bored with Minneapolis and wanted to move to New York, which he called "Funkytown."

Lipps Inc. (pronounced "Lip Synch") was formed especially for this song. The vocals were by Cynthia Johnson, who was Miss Black Minnesota 1976. The group continued to record until 1985 with a changing lineup, but they failed to see the success they'd had with their first hit.

Steven Greenburg became A&R Vice President for Mercury Records, signing Hanson, among other acts. Later he headed the S-Curve Records label, signing the Baha Men and Joss Stone.

The Australian pop group Pseudo Echo had a #1 hit in Australia and a Top 10 hit in both the US and UK with their rockier version of this song in 1986. Earlier that year, they made their debut on the US charts at #57 with "Living in a Dream." Their success in the States was short-lived, but the group did continue to impress in other corners of the world. They won the top prize of $10,000 at the 18th World Popular Song Festival (aka Yamaha Music Festival) in Tokyo for their performance of "Take on the World."
This song has been used in a number of TV series, including:

Everybody Loves Raymond (High School - 1997)
Will & Grace (Will Works Out - 1999)
Malcolm in the Middle (Rollerskates - 2000)
Futurama (Amazon Women in the Mood - 2001)
Friends (The One Where the Stripper Cries - 2004)
Parenthood (Left Field - 2012)
Gotham (Penguin's Umbrella - 2014)

It has also featured in these movies:

History of the World: Part I (1981)
North Shore (1987 - Pseudo Echo version)
Selena (1997)
Shrek 2 (2004)
The Dictator (2012)
A cover by Alvin and the Chipmunks returned this song to the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2008, reaching #86. The Chipmunks version featured in the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks.
St. Vincent released a cover for the soundtrack of the 2022 animated family movie Minions: The Rise of Gru.

The group originally consisted of lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson and a changing line-up of session musicians including guitarist David Rivkin, guitarist Tom Riopelle and bassist Terry Grant. Steven Greenberg, the creator of the act, wrote and produced most of the group's music.

The 'face' of the group in the Netherlands was the British dancer Doris D (Debbie Jenner), who playbacked the song in TopPop with her dancers. Due to the success of this performance, they were invited to perform as Lipps Inc. in other European countries, including Germany. Jenner and her dancers then had success as "Doris D & the Pins" in early 1981.

"How Long" is the debut single by the English band Ace, from their 1974 debut album, Five-A-Side. It reached No. 3 on both the US and Canadian charts, and No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart.

Lipps Inc. covered How Long in 1980, hit No. 4 on the U.S. dance chart, No. 29 on the U.S. soul singles chart, No. 42 in Canada (2 weeks), and No. 44 in Australia. Their cover version sold one million units in Mexico.

In a 1981 issue of Smash Hits, Phil Collins named the song as one of his top 10 favourites, describing it as a "classic single".

Although widely interpreted as being about infidelity, How Long was in fact composed by lead singer Paul Carrack upon discovering that bassist Terry "Tex" Comer had been secretly working with the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver.

The guitar solo is by lead guitarist Phil Harris. Alan "Bam" King was the band's rhythm guitarist, formerly with the Action. Lead vocals are by Paul Carrack.

The band had originally tried to record How Long as a Motown-type single for Anchor Records, but gave up in favour of recording their first album at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The song was recorded for the album.

In March 2020 – 45 years after its original release, and in the weeks following its use in a advertisement for Amazon Prime – the song returned to the charts, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Rock Digital Song Sales chart, selling 4,000 downloads, with 831,000 streams and an increase in sales of more than 2,000%