Any Con Funk Shun fans out there?




Originally the backing band for the Soul Children, group members Michael Cooper, Fenton Pilate, Louis "Tony" McCall, Karl Fuller, Paul "Maceo" Harrell, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Martin, and Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas originally called themselves Project Soul. Renaming themselves Con Funk Shun (after one of their instrumentals), they broke out on their own in the early seventies, recording their first Lp, "Organized Con Funk Shun" , in 1973.

As their sound developed, and Pilate and Cooper became the primary lead vocalists, the group signed to Mercury in '76, where they remained for most of their heyday. Their first major hit was "Ffun" , which Michael Cooper said was sort of a tribute to the R&B/funk band Brick.They also hooked up with writer /producer/keyboardist Skip Scarborough, who, although he was known for writing hit ballads for artists like Earth, Wind And Fire, LTD, The Emotions, and Patti Labelle, was confident enough in their writing abilities to let them handle their own songwriting, while he helped fine tune the overall sound.



Over the next few years , although they started out as a Funk/Party band, with tunes like FFun, Chase Me, and Too Tight, they eventually began to be more known for their ballads, like By Your Side, Make It Last, Straight From The Heart, and Love's Train...

Felton Pilate, who left the group in 1986 to become a successful producer, eventually becoming (for better or worse) the force behind MC Hammer.) Michael Cooper left soon after for a solo career, and the group disbanded by the late eighties, reuniting again in the nineties for several tours.

...My Favorite Con Funk Shun Tracks:

Got To Be Enough
Ffun
Too Tight
Everlove
By Your Side
All Up To You
Make It Last
Chase Me
Indian Summer Love
Just Can't Say Goodbye
Won't You Give Your Love To Me
Straight From The Heart
Lady's Wild
Happy Face
Juicy
Let Me Put Love On Your Mind
Who Has The Time
Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold
Love's Train
Da Lady
Honey Wild





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[Edited 5/22/05 1:06am]

i'm proud to say that i've grown up with the "candy" album especially the title track and "chase me".....btw which do you think has the funkier bassline cfs' candy or cameo's candy? i say their tied....

maaaaan not to many people are up on Indian summer love that was the b-side to Ffun

One of my favorite funk bands. I never knew they were the backing band for The Soul Children. Thanks paligap.

Some of my favorites are:

Got To Be Enough
Too Tight
Chase Me
Ffun
Shake And Dance With Me
Ms. Got The Body
Bad Lady
Electric Lady
Straight From The Heart
Love's Train

I love Juicy, among other songs.

LOVE'S TRAIN

Luvs me some Confunkshun. I'm also a fan of Michael Cooper's solo work. Felton Pilate is dropping a solo album this year as well. I've heard a few of the tracks and they have that real Confunkshun vide. His title track "Nothing But Love" reminds me of "Let Me Put Love On Your Mind" You can hear samples of some tracks on his yahoo group or check out his web site which is supposed to be fully operation in the next couple weeks.


http://www.feltonpilate.com/

"Straight From The Heart"
was the Jam!!!!

Love's Train
Chase Me
Ffun

Great group. "Let Me Put Love On Your Mind" is very Prince like. "Miss Got The Body" is alot of fun ,too.

Chase Me is such a great driving song. Love's Train makes me horny.

a fan ever since the "Secrets" lp

Ffun
ConFunkShunizeYa
DooWhaChaWannaDoo

i'd also like mention the slow cut
"I'll Set You Out O.K."
i like that sax.

OOPS!
[Edited 5/22/05 1:05am]

Are y'all discussing Con Funk Shun? This is my kinda thread

I saw them in concert in 1996.They performed at a small nightclub in my city.They KICKED ASS! I was right there near the front of the stage,as they played all the hits one after another...."Ffun"..."Chase Me"..."Shake and Dance With Me".They even allowed lead singer Michael Cooper to perform his late-80s solo hit "To Prove My Love" (do ya'll remember that jam?).I was in funk heaven! This is one of those great funk bands who also had no trouble coming up with incredible slow jams too.


Favorite songs....


"So Easy" (1976)
"Ffun" (1977)
"Shake And Dance With Me" (1978)
"By Your Side" (1980)
"Got To Be Enough" (1980)
"Straight From The Heart" (1981)
"Ms.Got The Body" (1982)
"Too Tight" (1981)
"Love's Train" (1982)
"Baby I'm Hooked (Right Into Your Love)" (1983)
"Make It Last" (1979?)
"Let Me Put Love On Your Mind"(1979)
"Chase Me" (1979)
"Lady's Wild" (1981)
"Body Lovers" (1981)
"California 1" (1981)
"Ain't Nobody Baby" (1982)

MrTation said:

Indeed.Prince's song "Shhh" had to have been inspired by "Let Me Put Love On Your Your Mind".

this CD is essential

funkpill said:

I'm surprised that this song wasn't a bigger hit.It's one of their best slow tracks.

Oooooh, I love the jam "Love's Train", that song rocks! I didn't even know it was an 80's song until DavidEye posted it above. Gotta find that song and download it!

psychodelicide said:

Shit, this song is one my stone cold jams from back in the day b/c they used to play the hell out of it on the radio station WDMT. Also, this song used to be one of favorite slow skating jams.

DavidEye said:

I couldn't agree with you more b/c it kind of had an old school Heatwave vibe going.

Hotlegs said:

Hotlegs said:

actually, even more of a Stylistics vibe --it even had the sitar sound in there...in fact, Con Funk Shun co -leader Felton Pilate ended up writing a couple of tunes for the latter-day Stylistics...



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[Edited 5/24/05 13:55pm]

MrTation said:

I doubt Prince had any impact on them creating that song at all. That was out in 1979 so you figure the only album they could have heard by Prince while recording that was "For You". If anything, Prince would have taken the style from Confunkshun who were an established band at that time that already had a couple of hits.

DavidEye said:

vol 2 is even better IMO. The 12" version of Too Tight is on there as well as other gems.

paligap said:

Indeed Pali, this song does have that Sylistics thing going for it. That's deep that the guy from Con Funk Shun started writing for the Stylistics. I saw the guys recently in concert and they still sound pretty damn good.

Man, when I was little, I LOVED "Chase Me" and "Ffun". I bought the 45's cuz that's what they played on the radio. When I got a little older, I checked out all of their albums. yep, I dig that band.

I don't think the radio gave it the airplay it deserved. I never had even heard of this song back in the day or even in recent years after I already had the track on their greatest hits CD. I had someone, that used to live up North, over at my house one night and this person wanted to hear it. I instantly fell in love with the song and it's one my favorite slow jams of all time.....especially since it brings back memories of the filthy activities of the first night I heard it.

vainandy said:

If get a flashback and want to kick those nasty thoughts , you just feel free to org note me . Ms Legs got something for ya.

intha916 said:

I agree.I doubt Confunkshun was influenced by Prince at all. My point was that the song is Prince like ,in spite of being recorded pre-Prince. Whether or not Prince was influenced by Confunkshun , I couldnt say.