Funkytown

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"Funkytown" is the name of a 1980 song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the pinings for a metaphorical place "that keeps [one] movin', keeps [one] groovin' with some energy" and is considered by many to be one of the last hit songs of the disco era.

The song was recorded in August 1979. The Minneapolis-based band consisted of Cynthia Johnson (singer), Terry Grant (bass), Ivan Rafowitz (keyboards), Peter Johnson (keyboards), Bobby Vandell (drums), Bobby Schnitzer (guitar), and Steven Greenberg (producer/writer). The distinct bassline, use of vocoder and overall sparse production bares an uncanny resemblance to "E=mc2" by Giorgio Moroder. "Funkytown" reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and went platinum the following month. The group continued to record until 1985 with a changing line-up but never saw the success they did with their first hit. The song quickly came to symbolize the energetic, experimental Twin Cities music scene.

The song was a worldwide hit reaching number one in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and West Germany.

In 1987, it was covered by Australian band Pseudo Echo, who gave the song a different direction, moving away from the early eighties' electronica towards later eighties' rock, including a guitar solo in the middle. Pseudo Echo's version spent six weeks at number one in Australia, beating Lipps Inc's record by one week.

Funkytown was remixed by the Belgian alternative rock band Soulwax in its track "NY Lipps", released on the album Nite Versions in 2005.

Funkytown was used in Areva's cel-shaded animation advertising spots.

[edit] In popular culture

The TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch is set in a universe in which the popularity of the song never waned.
The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Shrek 2.
In the TV show Futurama, the song was sung in a karaoke on an orbiting space station by Morbo in the episode Amazon Women in the Mood.
In the special bonus CD called "RJ's Rockin' Songs From Suburbia" from the 2006 animated movie Over The Hedge.
In the TV show Malcolm in the Middle, Hal roller-skates to the song in the episode "Rollerskates."
In the cartoon Doug, there is a theme park called "Funkytown."
On South Park episode #508 ("Towelie"), Towelie uses a keypad from a security system to play the melody of "Funkytown."
In the Parade of Nations at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, the song was played.
Fort Worth, Texas is also known as Funkytown by residents.
The song has also been featured in other television shows, such as American Idol, ER, Friends, The Simpsons, South Park, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Will & Grace, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends and Entertainment Tonight.
The song has also been featured in other movies such as: Contact, Hollywood Homicide, North Shore, Shrek 2, History of the World, Part 1, Dumb and Dumber (trailer), Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, Selena, Pink Panther (trailer), and Revenge of the Nerds 2.

Preceded by: "Call Me" by Blondie	Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 31, 1980	Succeeded by: "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" by Paul McCartney and Wings