Released April 1976 Genre Funk rock | Format 7-inch single Label Epic | |
B-side "The Lady Wants Your Money" Length 5:00 (album version)
3:12 (single version) | ||
"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first release 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, 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 number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976, and was also number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart. 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.
Contents
The song was listed at No. 73 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Top 100 Songs" in 2008.
Vanilla Ice version
American rapper 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.
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.
Other cover versions
Usage in other media
The song appears 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.