James Brown Is Dead

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"James Brown Is Dead" and "James Brown Is Still Alive" are two of the earliest and best known of a series of electronic dance music references to iconic American entertainer James Brown. One basis for these lyrics is the widespread sampling of Brown's music, particularly the rhythmic breaks in "Funky Drummer", possibly the most sampled piece of music of all time.^[1]

[edit] L.A. Style

The James Brown memorial in Augusta, Georgia was decorated by fans after the artist really died on Christmas 2006. An assertion that an incorrect 1992 news report of Brown's death spawned the various "James Brown is dead" and "James Brown is still alive" music references seems to be an urban legend.

The Dutch duo L.A. Style (founded and produced by Wessel van Diepen who later helped create Vengaboys) released "James Brown Is Dead" in 1991. It appeared on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart and was the first techno song to hit the Billboard Hot 100. Despite the lyrics and title, James Brown was alive at the time of the song's release and did not die until December 25, 2006. ^[2]

While remixes of this song often include the words "James Brown Is Dead" as the only discernible words, the song has other lyrics including:

I checked up on the late great J.B.
His death is said on national TV
Now memory, man are you with that
James Brown is dead
Total chaos, man it's resurrected
I'm confused that things are gettin' hectic
In my brain, what is happenin'?
Could this be a big misunderstanding? It is
The hardest working man in show biz is alive so
Don't be misled, cause the newsman said
JAMES BROWN IS DEAD^[3]

Some sources report that the basis for the song is a 1992 broadcast that falsely reported the singer's demise and that a sample of that broadcast became the basis of the recording. Because the song was released in 1991, this cannot be true.

Although a false report of the singer's death may have been made on the airwaves at some time before the song was released (or perhaps at a later date with origins as a prank inspired by this song), this entire assertion may fall under the category of an urban legend.

[edit] Holy Noise

In the wake of "James Brown Is Dead", the song "James Brown Is Still Alive" was released that same year by Holy Noise, a techno group also from the Netherlands. Although the first song's lyrics do actually assert that "the hardest working man in show biz is alive", the Holy Noise song is regarded as an answer to the L.A. Style song.^[4][5]

This song begins with the lyrics:

James Brown's down
Who the funk do you think you're fooling?
For me the man's still ruling
Stop the nonsense
Stop telling lies
James Brown is still alive^[6]

Like "James Brown is Dead", "James Brown is Still Alive" has been remixed innumerable times. Often, the two songs have been blended together so that they form a sort of conversation.

[edit] Traumatic Stress

Also in 1991, Traumatic Stress (a third Dutch techno group) released a song called "Who the Fuck Is James Brown?" which may have been a response to one or both of the above songs. The lyrics of this song may be interpreted as cryptic and/or poor English and include:

Move your do's, goose
Then you move to the beat
Doin' the do
Here with beat so deafen by the hands of the master
Who the fuck is James Brown?
My name is Brown
James Brown^[7]

Note that this excerpt contains what appears to be a reference to the well-known phrase "Bond, James Bond" from the works of Ian Fleming.

[edit] Pop Will Eat Itself

Predating the three Dutch offerings, the 1988 single "Not Now, James, We're Busy" by the English electronica group Pop Will Eat Itself is a reference to Brown's arrest in the 1980s. The song contains a sample of Brown's vocals from "Funky Drummer" and has prominent scratching.

Pop Will Eat Itself made several other song references to Brown including "Augusta Georgia, late September" (the site and time of Brown's police chase and subsequent arrest), "Faster, Soul Master" ("Godfather of Soul" is Brown's well-known sobriquet) and "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Son" (referencing the song "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter").^[8]

[edit] Other artists

• In the quickly-evolving world of techno music, "James Brown Is Dead" was already considered a "rave classic" by the late 1990s when artists such as DJ Irene would mix it into their sets.^[9]

• "James Brown Is Dead" was sampled by German techno group Scooter on their 1999 single "Call Me Mañana"', taken from the 1998 album No Time To Chill.^[10]

• In 2001, Wessel van Diepen and Arista Records released "James Brown Is Dead 2001", a new version of the L.A.Style original.^[11]

• The "James Brown Is Dead" refrain is also heard in the "I Love Techno" track on Nite Versions, a 2005 album from the duo known as Soulwax.^[12]

• Void released a remix to L.A. Style's song "James Brown Is Dead" in their 2006 album The Angry Brigade.^[13]

• Danish DJ James Braun released an edit of this track called "James Braun Is Dead".

• Other electronic dance tracks that can be seen as references to "James Brown Is Dead" include:
  • "Who the Hell is James Brown?" by Big Boss
  • "James Brown Est" by DJK
  • "James Brown Is Queer" by Organ Donors
  • "James Brown Has Sex" by Raimundo Navarra
  • "Michael Jackson Is In Heaven Now" by Obscure FM
  • "Helmut Kohl Ist Tot" by Kranz

Many of these appeared on the compilation album James Brown Is Dead Or Alive!?!? released in 1992 by Avex Trax.^[14]

[edit] References