We Want The Funk

There's a movement that has just be initiated to make Funk a Grammy category. I know this because I was invited to join the movement's official Facebook Page.

When I visited the Make Funk A Grammy Category Page I found that the page was first posted on January 20th, 2014. There's not much information, nor is the identity of the page's founder given. There are however, several posts from the page's founder as well as a few from the 2,613 followers who have liked the page so far.

Given those facts one is pretty much left with their own opinion of this idea. My first thought was that this is not only a great idea, but one that is long over due. After thinking it over for a while, it occurred to me that long over due was an understatement. In fact it's at least forty years overdue.

Rap came onto the scene in 1979 and received it's first Grammy 10 years later in 1989. Funk came to life in the guise of James Brown's, "I Feel Good (I Got You) in 1964. 10 years after that in 1974, Funk was merely a sub genre of R&B that was represented by the Isley Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, Commodores, Ohio Players, and Average White Band. In the mist of that growing Funk evolution, Disco, which some considered to be European R&B, arose.

1976 saw Disco rise and then begin to wain as Funk continued to gain new converts. The Parliament, Bootsy's Rubber Band, and ConFunkShun were pushing Funk to new boundaries. However, the release of the movie, Saturday Night Fever in the fall of 1977, breathed new life into the Disco scene. The movie's success caused major labels, at the time, to sign as many new Disco artists as they could. Clearly, Funk had been upstaged.

It was only a fan revolt that took place at Chicago's Comiskey Park on July 12th, 1979 that stalled the Disco onslaught. By that time many major label recording artists across all genres were already jumping onto the band wagon. Going forward into the 1980s as major labels scrambled to recover, Disco was quickly absorbed temporarily into Funk to briefly become Dance or what some had called Disco Funk. In 1982, Rap was taking off and slowly but surely, Funk artists either added one of the new sounds to their own or decided not to record for a while.

By the time Rap received its first Grammy in 1989, Funk had gone underground. Only a hand full of R&B and Jazz artist were still doing the music with any authority. Through the 1990s on into the 21st century, Funk has scarcely been played on radio, except for what might be heard on R&B oldies stations. However, there are many artists out there who have never given up on the music. Now, one of those artists who still believes is trying to rally the Funketeers. Can it be done after all this time? Anything is possible. We'll all just have to stay tuned to see just how far the movement goes.