Funkytown

For other uses, see Funkytown (disambiguation).

"Funkytown"
Side A of US 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Lipps Inc.
from the album Mouth to Mouth
B-side"All Night Dancing"
ReleasedMarch 11, 1980[1]
StudioSound 80 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Genre
Length
  • 7:50 (album version)
  • 3:59 (single version)
LabelCasablanca
Songwriter(s)Steven Greenberg
Producer(s)Steven Greenberg
Lipps Inc. singles chronology
"Rock It"
(1979) 		"Funkytown"
(1980) 		"How Long"
(1980)
Music video
"Funkytown" on YouTube

"Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's 1979 debut studio album Mouth to Mouth.

The track was met with immediate commercial success, reaching number one on various record charts in different countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, the United States and West Germany.[7][8][9] It quickly became the group's signature song, selling over eight million copies worldwide and becoming their most successful song.[10]

  1. ^ Nite, Norm N. (1985). Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock n' Roll : The Video Revolution, 1978-present. Harper & Row. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-06-181644-4.
  2. ^ a b Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2024. The Minneapolis Sound jam that makes moving to another city sound about 10000x more fun than it is in practice, and proof that disco didn't go the way of the dodo as soon as the calendar turned to 1980.
  3. ^ Huey, Steve. "Lipps, Inc. – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Pickow, Peter; Appleby, Amy (1988). The Billboard Book of Song Writing. Billboard Publications. p. 146.
  5. ^ Breihan, Tom (March 25, 2020). "The Number Ones: Lipps, Inc.'s "Funkytown"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 15, 2023. ...but it does bridge eras in a similar way, connecting the dying embers of disco to the bleepy synthpop that was still taking shape in 1980... yet the song's chilly sparseness...look[s] forward into the coming synthpop explosion of the '80s.
  6. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 141. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BEL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference CAN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lipps Inc. awards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "New Design". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 38. September 20, 1980. p. 4. ISSN 0006-2510.