Instant Funk
Encyclopedia
Instant Funk were a 1970s disco
band
, best known for their disco classic, "I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)
".
consisting of Raymond Earl, Scotty Miller and guitar
ist Kim Miller. The group was then called The Music Machine and they were very successful as a back-up band for The Manhattans
, Bunny Sigler
and also the TNJs. Throughout their careers, Instant Funk would be the back-up band for many stars, including Lou Rawls
, Loleatta Holloway
, The O'Jays
, MFSB
, Curtis Mayfield
and Evelyn Champagne King
(they are the backing band on the hit single
, "Shame").
The group relocated to Philadelphia in 1976 to release its first album
, Get Down With the Philly Jump, as they started to formulate their own sound. The group followed this album up with a release for former MFSB guitarist Norman Harris
' new record label
Gold Mind, with front man Bunny Sigler entitled "Let Me Party With You".
The Gold Mind label folded, and Instant Funk's new cut "I Got My Mind Made Up" was transferred to the Salsoul
label, which pushed the record
heavily to all of the disco clubs
. The remix
of this song
by club DJ
Larry Levan
and engineer Bob Blank quickly became the talk of Manhattan
. "I Got My Mind Made Up" hit #1 on both the R&B
and disco charts
and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in the spring of 1979. The group's eponymous first album
on Salsoul was also a hit, reaching #1 R&B and being certified gold disc
status.
Instant Funk initially stayed together to tour when Salsoul folded. They eventually disbanded, and Bunny Sigler went on to perform as part of The Trammps
.
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, best known for their disco classic, "I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)
I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)
"I Got My Mind Made Up " was a hit for disco band Instant Funk. Released from their self-titled debut album, the song spent three non-consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart . It also enjoyed success on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number twenty...
".
History
Instant Funk came out of New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
consisting of Raymond Earl, Scotty Miller and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Kim Miller. The group was then called The Music Machine and they were very successful as a back-up band for The Manhattans
The Manhattans
The Manhattans are an American popular R&B vocal group, with a string of hit records spanning four decades. Their best known million-selling songs being "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and 'Shining Star' in 1980...
, Bunny Sigler
Bunny Sigler
Walter "Bunny" Sigler is a pop and R&B songwriter and record producer who has done extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and who was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s. He is nicknamed "Mr...
and also the TNJs. Throughout their careers, Instant Funk would be the back-up band for many stars, including Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway was an American singer, mainly known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation", both of which have been sampled extensively.-Biography:...
, The O'Jays
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...
, MFSB
MFSB
MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...
, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
and Evelyn Champagne King
Evelyn King (singer)
Evelyn "Champagne" King is an American R&B, disco and post-disco singer. Some of her best-known songs are "Shame", "Love Come Down," and "I'm in Love."-Biography:...
(they are the backing band on the hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Shame").
The group relocated to Philadelphia in 1976 to release its first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Get Down With the Philly Jump, as they started to formulate their own sound. The group followed this album up with a release for former MFSB guitarist Norman Harris
Norman Harris
Norman Harris was an American guitarist, producer, arranger and songwriter associated with Philly soul. He was a founding member of MFSB and one-third of the production trio of Baker-Harris-Young...
' new record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Gold Mind, with front man Bunny Sigler entitled "Let Me Party With You".
The Gold Mind label folded, and Instant Funk's new cut "I Got My Mind Made Up" was transferred to the Salsoul
Salsoul Records
This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of...
label, which pushed the record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
heavily to all of the disco clubs
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
. The remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of this song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
by club DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Larry Levan
Larry Levan
Larry Levan was a DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass"...
and engineer Bob Blank quickly became the talk of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. "I Got My Mind Made Up" hit #1 on both the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and disco charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in the spring of 1979. The group's eponymous first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
on Salsoul was also a hit, reaching #1 R&B and being certified gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status.
Instant Funk initially stayed together to tour when Salsoul folded. They eventually disbanded, and Bunny Sigler went on to perform as part of The Trammps
The Trammps
The Trammps were an American disco band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was with their 1972 cover version of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart". The first disco track they released was "Love Epidemic" in 1973...
.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
JPN Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
||
| Instant Funk |
|
#94 | #14 | — | — |
| Witch Doctor |
Salsoul Records This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of... LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
#129 | #23 | — | — |
| The Funk Is On |
Salsoul Records This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of... LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
#130 | #62 | — | — |
| Instant Funk V |
Salsoul Records This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of... LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
— | #38 | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Dance | U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
U.S. Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "It Ain't Reggae (But It Sho Is Funky)" | #24 | ― | ― | ― | ||
| 1979 | "Crying" | ― | #41 | ― | ― | ||
| "I Got My Mind Made Up I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl) "I Got My Mind Made Up " was a hit for disco band Instant Funk. Released from their self-titled debut album, the song spent three non-consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart . It also enjoyed success on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number twenty... " |
#1 | #1 | #20 | #46 | |||
| "Witch Doctor" | ― | #35 | ― | ― | |||
| 1980 | "Bodyshine" | #28 | #41 | ― | ― | ||
| "Everybody" | #22 | ― | ― | ― | |||
| "The Funk Is On" | ― | #87 | ― | ― | |||
| 1982 | "Why Don't You Think About Me" | ― | #59 | ― | ― | ||
| 1983 | "(Just Because) You'll Be Mine" | #21 | #71 | ― | ― | ||
| "No Stoppin' That Rockin' No Stoppin' That Rockin' No Stoppin' That Rockin is a 1982 single recorded by Instant Funk for Salsoul Records. It was produced by Bunny Sigler and written by Dennis Richardson.... " |
― | #32 | ― | ― | |||
| "Who Took Away the Funk" | ― | #70 | ― | ― | |||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | |||||||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
- "Slam Dunk The Funk" - a notable song by the band, but this link is to a song of the same name by a different band.