Other than Prince and The Time... is there any other Minneapolis funk worth checking out?

As far as funk goes, not many made it big. There's the following little ditty which is more disco and it's about getting the hell out of Minneapolis and to a "funky town."


Lipps Inc - Funky Town

Then there's...


Ta Mara and the Seen - Everybody Dance (even this is Prince connected - production courtesy of Jesse Johnson)

Other acts here did very well for themselves (Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum...) but most of the funk stuff that made it through is Prince-associated. Wikipedia's entry on the Minneapolis sound is pretty accurate.

Umm... aren't we forgetting...




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Puttin' the 'fun' in 'funky.'

jillybean said:

I ain't callin' em funky, but yes...fun.

My brother and I saw them appear in a talent show at the MN State Fair back in the late 80's. My brother bought their first album on cassette. We actually liked the song "My Love Umbrella." If my org account becomes deactivated, I understand.

Don't feel bad cause i will man up and admit i liked
Rock it 2 you and cross my broken heart back in the 80's.

jillybean said:

I saw them at the MN state fair too, with Limited Warranty. Mazarati was supposed to headline that show but they never showed up (claimed they got stuck in traffic). This must have been back in 1985. I was mad cause it was the 2nd time I was unable to see Mazarati - they played the Prom Center in St. Paul earlier that year and my friends and I went but we couldn't get in because we were too young!

Were The REplacements from Minneapolis or did I make that up? O_o

guitarslinger44 said:

Indeed. I just didn't mention them as a funk band.

The Jayhawks to me were the best band out of Minneapolis and though werent BIG in terms of mainstream, they had a REM type following, especially critically.

RipHer2Shreds said:

which requires a Dylan mention, too! Husker Du!

But on topic, how about Alexander ONeal? isn'e he from MPLS?

NDRU said:

Another Prince-associated act.

Yeah, Alexander Oneal is back in MPLS and is still doing one off gigs around town. I've often wondered how The Time would have been had he been on lead vox..

Greazy Meal is another (now defunct) band worth checking out.

As far as other non-funk:
Soul Asylum
Rembrants
Honey Dogs
Macey's Playground
The Suburbs

Atmosphere is probably the "biggest" mpls act out there now.

Edit cause, duh; I forgot to mention Mint Condition!
[Edited 6/29/08 13:50pm]

Isn't Mint Condition from Minneapolis too? I've seen their guitarist play a blue Cloud guitar a few times.

Sorry simm0061..You mentioned them in your post.

I also thought that "Semisonic" was also from MPLS.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...dmLmIArqWM
"Closing Time"

FiveFootNine said:

They are. The original post asked about FUNK acts.

simm0061 said:

Mint Condition played at my high school back in either '91 or '92! Woo hoo!!

I LOVE Soul Asylum and The Jayhawks and Golden Smog (my favorite band involved in Golden Smog is Wilco, which isn't a local band, though those guys (and Jeff Tweedy as a solo act) have played here quite a few times).

Semisonic have said that Prince is their favorite artist of all time.

Oh, and Michael Bland is Soul Asylum's current drummer.

Flipp is another band that made it slightly big locally.

That's all I got.

Anyone remember The Wallets?

simm0061 said:

I do. My coworkers husband was in the band.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Ha! Cool!! What was their hit...Totally Naked? They were a fun band.

simm0061 said:

I remember them as well...