Militant said:

It's imitation almost to the point of parody. Sounds like a mish mish of The Time, Cameo, P-Funk and The Gap Band.

Roger Troutman and Zapp...

Guitar, Bassline....It's Zapp...mostly..

It's like Mars and Ronson were on Youtube.com listening to people posting their favorite songs 1 weekend. "Since everyone is doing the 50-60-ish R&B.."Let' do funk for 1 song!"

Longs chords sound like Minni-sound.., but Prince did not start all of that until "1999"...

He was on a New Wave Rock Jagger/Bowie thing around the time of "Uptown".. (Except for "Let's Work"..

[Edited 2/4/15 7:12am]

Militant said:

Noodled24 said:

^ Yeh but these guys put funk back on the radio. Nobody else is doing it these days.

Why does it take a white British guy who clearly didn't grow up on funk (and hasn't even seen Purple Rain!) to get funk back on the radio for the first time in 20 years with a weak imitation track like this one, when the originators who have actually been making funk the whole time, keep getting told by the majors that "this kind of music doesn't get played on the radio"? Am I missing something? Plenty of people, from members of P-Funk to members of Cameo, people who played with Rick James, Zapp etc, have produced far better funk songs than this in the last decade and major labels won't touch them. I just find it a bit weird.

I wish Ronson would have done what Daft Punk did with Disco, when they paid respects by actually getting people like Nile Rodgers on their songs, who is now enjoying a huge career resurgence thanks to that.

Ronson should have got Jimmy Jam or Bernie Worrell or David Frank to play the synths, then they wouldn't be so thin and weedy, and he should have got Jesse Johnson or Al McKay on guitar, because that weak attempt at chicken scratch is laughably poor. Or any members of the Stone City Band.

It seems like an angle to work...A new style...It's a funny song...

Funk is something they can tap into while-everyone else is really doing:

EDM, Etta James, Trap-Hop R&B pop (Katy Perry, Rhianna, Beyonce), and the the 1950's-1960's R&B and Pop ("Happy", "All about that Bass"--which had no bass)...

Mars is in a zone where he is young and establsihed, but not too established and old to seem lame to the Yuppie Kiddies...So, he had try this on Ronson's CD/Download.. Now it will be leading-of his CD...

I don't think that they can actually re-define funk..Because real funk fans arw not who is scremaing about this record on Twitter...It's the suburban Yuppies who like most over everything he does now..

Linn4days said:

Mars is in a zone where he is young and establsihed, but not too established and old to seem lame to the Yuppie Kiddies...So, he had try this on Ronson's CD/Download.. Now it will be leading-of his CD...

I don't think that they can actually re-define funk..Because real funk fans arw not who is scremaing about this record on Twitter...It's the suburban Yuppies who like most over everything he does now..

I'm not sure anyone can redefine the funk genre, but if anyone can revive it as a genre it's Mark Ronson. "Feel Right" is destined for the top 10, and I suspect by the summer we'll see a lot more funk on the charts.

Noodled24 said:

Linn4days said:

Mars is in a zone where he is young and establsihed, but not too established and old to seem lame to the Yuppie Kiddies...So, he had try this on Ronson's CD/Download.. Now it will be leading-of his CD...

I don't think that they can actually re-define funk..Because real funk fans arw not who is scremaing about this record on Twitter...It's the suburban Yuppies who like most over everything he does now..

I'm not sure anyone can redefine the funk genre, but if anyone can revive it as a genre it's Mark Ronson. "Feel Right" is destined for the top 10, and I suspect by the summer we'll see a lot more funk on the charts.

I haven't listened to Uptown Funk closely, just when someone's playing it in public or whatever, but what stands out to me is the bland to average musicianship. I'm hesitant to clasify it as funk.

It's good, albeit highly unoriginal, pop-funk. It's not going to bring funk into the pop charts in any proper way and thank god for that. We might get a few more funk-lite hits but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

funksterr said:

Noodled24 said:

I'm not sure anyone can redefine the funk genre, but if anyone can revive it as a genre it's Mark Ronson. "Feel Right" is destined for the top 10, and I suspect by the summer we'll see a lot more funk on the charts.

I haven't listened to Uptown Funk closely, just when someone's playing it in public or whatever, but what stands out to me is the bland to average musicianship. I'm hesitant to clasify it as funk.

The song was born from a jam session. Bruno on drums, Ronson on bass and someone who's name I forget on keys. Funny how Prince fans get when young artists cross into Prince's patch. Even when they're 2 or 3 albums deep.

Again. I'm not saying they're terrific live players but this performance just nails it. No Ronson is no where near Prince as a guitarist but the guy works wonders in a studio and does play live.

Noodled24 said:

funksterr said:

I haven't listened to Uptown Funk closely, just when someone's playing it in public or whatever, but what stands out to me is the bland to average musicianship. I'm hesitant to clasify it as funk.

The song was born from a jam session. Bruno on drums, Ronson on bass and someone who's name I forget on keys. Funny how Prince fans get when young artists cross into Prince's patch.

Lol..........let me know when that happens.

I'll be waiting.

Noodled24 said:

The song was born from a jam session. Bruno on drums, Ronson on bass and someone who's name I forget on keys. Funny how Prince fans get when young artists cross into Prince's patch. Even when they're 2 or 3 albums deep.

Again. I'm not saying they're terrific live players but this performance just nails it. No Ronson is no where near Prince as a guitarist but the guy works wonders in a studio and does play live.

It's a cute song. It's fun. I have no problem with it. I wish Prince wrote like that these days. From a songwriting perspective it's awesome for it's time. You would have to forgive them for lifting pieces of probably 3-5 funk classics to form their tune. In the 80's, their song would have been laughed into oblivion for lack of originality. They would have been seen as Milli Vanilli.

From a musicianship perspective, um, well, they aren't up to snuff with just average one-hit wonder types from the funk era. Guys like Carl Carlton or The Reddings. Man especially The Reddings would get in Ronson/Mars asses with that bass/guitar/drum combo:

So for me Ronson/Mars exposed themselves a bit with Uptown Funk You Up. They remain excellent songwriters and producers in my opinion, but as musicians they can't fuck with the b-team acts of the uptown funk era, let alone a Boss-level, tour de force, bass/guitar wiz like Prince.

[Edited 2/5/15 13:55pm]

funksterr said:

It's a cute song. It's fun. I have no problem with it. I wish Prince wrote like that these days. From a songwriting perspective it's awesome for it's time. You would have to forgive them for lifting pieces of probably 3-5 funk classics to form their tune. In the 80's, their song would have been laughed into oblivion for lack of originality. They would have been seen as Milli Vanilli.

I agree with that. I'm not saying it's up there with the funk classics by any means. Sure it owes to what came before it but you can say that about almost any song. People tend to be influenced by what they listened to growing up.

From Wikipedia:
"Feel Right" backing track was recorded on a "whim", before Mark went in studio with Mystikal, in Memphis. However "it worked out to be so well suited to his vocal style". The two met in Baton Rouge with Bhasker and "[legendary New Orleans rap producer]" KLC, thankfully to jazz musician Trombone Shorty, who gave Mystikal's phone number to Ronson

From a musicianship perspective, um, well, they aren't up to snuff with just average one-hit wonder types from the funk era. Guys like Carl Carlton or The Reddings. Man especially The Reddings would get in Ronson/Mars asses with that bass/guitar/drum combo:

So for me Ronson/Mars exposed themselves a bit with Uptown Funk You Up. They remain excellent songwriters and producers in my opinion, but as musicians they can't fuck with the b-team acts of the uptown funk era, let alone a Boss-level, tour de force, bass/guitar wiz like Prince.

Uptown funk is Bruno playing Morris Day. Without doubt its the in your face single. But "Feel Right" is more James Brown funk and Mystikal does a great job. Then there is Dafodills:

As a musician I totally agree. They're likely not in the league of others before them. But Mark Ronson is primarily a producer. There is some funk on "Uptown Special". Stevie Wonder is on there twice.

[Edited 2/5/15 14:47pm]

Graycap23 said:

Noodled24 said:

The song was born from a jam session. Bruno on drums, Ronson on bass and someone who's name I forget on keys. Funny how Prince fans get when young artists cross into Prince's patch.

Lol..........let me know when that happens.

I'll be waiting.

sleeping?

lezama said:

Sure, there are better funk songs, but there are worse. Sure, you can hear a variety of influences including Prince and The Time, but you can hear unsubtle influences in many songs, including many of Prince's.

The best test of funk for me is can you keep still while listening to it? If you are too worried about whether it compares to such and such rather than seeking to enjoy music you will remain still but muisic is for enjoyment

IanRG said:

Sure, there are better funk songs, but there are worse. Sure, you can hear a variety of influences including Prince and The Time, but you can hear unsubtle influences in many songs, including many of Prince's.

The best test of funk for me is can you keep still while listening to it? If you are too worried about whether it compares to such and such rather than seeking to enjoy music you will remain still but muisic is for enjoyment

Thank you! That is what I keep saying.

nusole said:

artist76 said:

lezama said:

I wouldn't say Ronson is lying necessarily, but one of the songs four writers was likely into the Time IMO if only because of the Mars vocalization of the lyrics and the obvious Prince-ish influence on the synths, as someone mentioned above. I don't know the other writers or producers well enough to know who that might be though.

Im not really a fan of the track tbh.. although I like Ronson and Mars in general. To me, from the very first time I heard it, I thought it sounded way too contrived.

In a recent thread, the orger ufoclub said that John Taylor of DD said it was Mark Ronson's idea to use some Prince loops under some DD songs before a concert/interview - that (if true), and other circumstantial evidence, lead me to think Ronson is very familiar with P's work, and the Time too.

That is very true, and not just from what the Duran Duran bassist told me. You can look it up.

[Edited 2/8/15 18:50pm]

This is the epitome of funk....Has nothing to do with Mr. Nelson, Jamie Starr, or The O7..

It has some elements that I like in what The Minni-folks have done, but....This track's just the most complete funk song I've ever heard...

Genius Funk..Un-Cut, but smooth....Clean.."Un-Popped"..."Un Hip-Hopped"...

Blues/Soul guitar over one of the hardest drum beats, and bass...

[Edited 2/8/15 19:54pm]

[Edited 2/8/15 19:56pm]

Another one...Un-Rocked..No-Minni...

Not rock guys who happen to rock-over-funk..No merge..No Funk-Rock..Just bass-driven grooves..

No pop-folks dabbling into funk for an "angle" on thier next CD...

I know...Horrible clothing..,but my ears, and body cares about the grooves..

No long, dance-killing solos...No Rock-out moments..or vibe-out moments..

[Edited 2/9/15 13:52pm]

Linn4days said:

This is the epitome of funk....Has nothing to do with Mr. Nelson, Jamie Starr, or The O7..

It has some elements that I like in what The Minni-folks have done, but....This track's just the most complete funk song I've ever heard...

Genius Funk..Un-Cut, but smooth....Clean.."Un-Popped"..."Un Hip-Hopped"...

Blues/Soul guitar over one of the hardest drum beats, and bass...

[Edited 2/8/15 19:54pm]

[Edited 2/8/15 19:56pm]

Well, leaving aside the fact that any song sounding like that in 1983 has got everything to do with prince, how is this song relevent to the thread?

I doubt..Much Respect to Prince Jamie Starr (Morris and Prince Productions)...Other than a few synths (which a lot of groups at the time had Synth riffs like this), and pissblie the "Everybody-Everybody chant--which is similar to Prince's on "Let's Work"...It's more funky than "Let's Work"...They've all been influenced...Still it has its own life...Not saying Mr. Nelson ain't funky...Not saying that...

Saying that this song has nothing to do with Marz, Uptown Funk, Prince, D'Angelo...There was funk...from others... That was hard, and made people dance (and it is missing).

jaawwnn said:

Linn4days said:

This is the epitome of funk....Has nothing to do with Mr. Nelson, Jamie Starr, or The O7..

It has some elements that I like in what The Minni-folks have done, but....This track's just the most complete funk song I've ever heard...

Genius Funk..Un-Cut, but smooth....Clean.."Un-Popped"..."Un Hip-Hopped"...

Blues/Soul guitar over one of the hardest drum beats, and bass...

[Edited 2/8/15 19:54pm]

[Edited 2/8/15 19:56pm]

Well, leaving aside the fact that any song sounding like that in 1983 has got everything to do with prince, how is this song relevent to the thread?

It has a good beat and I can dance to it.