Play That Funky Music

"Play That Funky Music"
Side A of the 1976 US single
Single by Wild Cherry
from the album Wild Cherry
B-side"The Lady Wants Your Money"
ReleasedApril 1976
Genre
Length
  • 5:00 (album version)
  • 3:12 (single/video version)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Rob Parissi
Producer(s)Rob Parissi
Wild Cherry singles chronology
"Get Down"
(1973) 		"Play That Funky Music"
(1976) 		"Baby Don't You Know"
(1977)
Official audio
"Play That Funky Music" (album version) on YouTube

"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records.[4] The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric 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 No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976; it was also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.[5] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records and eventually sold 2.5 million in the United States alone.[6]

The song was listed at No. 93 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Top 100 Songs" in 2018.[7] It was also the group's only US Top 40 song.

  1. ^ Gould, Elizabeth (2017). "Queer Transversal: The Spectacle Adam Lambert". In Moisala, Pirkko; Leppänen, Taru; Tiainen, Milla; Väätäinen, Hanna (eds.). Musical Encounters with Deleuze and Guattari. Bloomsbury. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-5013-1675-3.
  2. ^ Eames, Tom (June 6, 2023). "The 100 greatest songs of the 1970s, ranked". Smooth Radio. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Breihan, Tom (September 13, 2019). "The Number Ones: Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 30, 2023. But 'Play That Funky Music' is an exceptional piece of heavy R&B.
  4. ^ Scott, Jane (April 30, 1976). "Discotakes". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Billboard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Platinum Singles Top '76–'77 Years". Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 34. August 26, 1978. p. 114. ISSN 0006-2510.
  7. ^ "Greatest of All Time – Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2018.