Con Funk Shun

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Con Funk Shun
Origin Vallejo, California, U.S.
Genre(s) R&B, funk, soul
Years active 1969–1986
Label(s) Mercury, Fretone

Con Funk Shun is a former American R&B and funk band popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed by a pair of high schoolers in Vallejo, California, drummer Louis McCall and singer/guitarist Michael Cooper. The two got their start as a backup group for the Soul Children under the name Project Soul. They began working with Stax Records staff songwriters, and while recording at Audio Dimensions, a Memphis, Tennessee sound studio, producer Ted Sturges both named the group (after an instrumental recording by The Nite-Liters) and produced their first album, Organized Con Funk Shun.

In 1976, Con Funk Shun signed to Mercury Records, releasing eleven albums over a span of ten years. The group's 1978 LP, Secrets, was certified gold in the US, as were 1979's Loveshine and Candy, and 1980's Spirit of Love.[1] They scored a string of top ten hits on the Billboard black singles chart, including 1978's "Ffun" (#1) and "Shake and Dance with Me" (#5), 1979's "Chase Me" (#4), 1980s "Got to Be Enough" (#8), and 1981's "Too Tight" (#8). Tensions from within the group built over the 1980s, and the group's last album, Burning Love, was recorded without songwriter and vocalist Felton Pilate. After leaving Mercury, the band broke up in 1986, but some members of the group reunited alongside touring musicians for concerts in the 1990s.

Original drummer Louis McCall was murdered in a robbery on June 25, 1997.

[edit] Legacy

Con Funk Shun continues to receive airplay on US soul radio stations that play music of the 1970s and '80s. Additionally, their back-beats have been repeatedly sampled by later artists in hip hop and R&B.

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Organized Con Funk Shun (1973), Fretone
  • The Memphis Sessions (1973), Fretone
  • Con-Funk-Shun (1976), Mercury
  • Secrets (1977), Mercury
  • Loveshine (1978), Mercury
  • Candy (1979), Mercury
  • Spirit of Love (1980), Mercury
  • Touch (1980), Mercury
  • Con Funk Shun 7 (1981), Mercury
  • To the Max (1982), Mercury
  • Fever (1983), Mercury
  • Electric Lady (1985), Mercury
  • Burnin' Love (1986), Mercury
  • Live for Ya Ass (1996), Intersound

[edit] Singles

  • "Sho Feels Good To Me" (1977) - #66 Black Singles
  • "Confunkshunizeya" (1978) - #31 Black Singles
  • "Ffun" (1978) - #1 Black Singles, #23 Pop
  • "Shake And Dance With Me" (1978) - #5 Black Singles, #60 Pop Singles
  • "So Easy" (1978) - #28 Black Singles
  • "(Let Me Put) Love on Your Mind" (1979) - #24 Black Singles
  • "Chase Me" (1979) - #4 Black Singles
  • "By Your Side" (1980) - #27 Black Singles
  • "Got To Be Enough" (1980) - #8 Black Singles, #20 Club Play
  • "Happy Face" (1980) - #87 Black Singles
  • "Bad Lady" (1981) - #19 Black Singles
  • "Lady's Wild" (1981) - #42 Black Singles
  • "Too Tight" (1981) - #8 Black Singles, #40 Pop Singles, #25 Club Play
  • "Ain't Nobody, Baby" (1982) - #31 Black Singles
  • "Straight From The Heart" (1982) - #79 Black Singles
  • "Baby I'm Hooked (Right into Your Love)" (1983) - #5 Hot R&B, #76 Hot 100
  • "Ms. Got-The-Body (1983) - #15 Black Singles
  • "You Are The One" (1983) - #47 Black Singles
  • "Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold" (1984)- #33 Hot R&B
  • "Electric Lady" (1985) - #4 Hot R&B, #32 Hot Dance
  • "I'm Leaving Baby" (1985) - #12 Hot R&B
  • "Tell Me What You're Gonna Do" (1985) - #47 Hot R&B
  • "Burnin' Love" (1986) - #8 Hot R&B
  • "She's a Star" (1986) - #80 Hot R&B
  • "Throw It Up, Throw It Up" (1996) - #84 Hot R&B

[edit] References

  1. ^ Search for "Con Funk Shun" performed at RIAA.com on December 10, 2007.

[edit] External links

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