JamFanHot said:

SoulAlive said:

This was one of the best Unsung episodes I really enjoyed this one.

I can't believe that the guys didn't like "Got To Be Enough" when Michael Cooper presented it to to them that's one of their hottest jams!

Interesting story about the recording of "Love's Train".

IKR..I was like "You've GOT to be kidding me...."

That's probably because the raw demo which they heard first sounded totally different than the final mix with the orchestrated horn and string arrangements by Skip Scarborough, and Danny Thomas from Con Funk Shun even explained about that as well in the unsung episode. Skip assured the guys to let him take care of the final mix and when the band heard it, their jaws dropped lol. So they fairly admitted that their less favorable song became a loved anthem after Skip's take on it.

[Edited 7/12/12 5:38am]

a few months ago,I got this excellent set that contains three of their early-80s albums on 2 discs Very pleased with this compilation.

^ great set! and still on my list of future purchases

Shango said:

^ great set! and still on my list of future purchases

You will love it! In addition to the three albums,you also get some cool 12" versions.The best one is the "Lady's Wild",a kickass track from Touch that sounds even better in its extended version.

Aw man, an extended "Lady's Wild"? Looking forward hearing that! Thanks again

[Edited 7/12/12 5:59am]

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

that's actually one of my least favorite Con Funk Shun songs.To me,it sounds like a weak Cameo knock-off (with the rapped verses,similiar to what Larry Blackmon did on "She's Strange").But yeah,it should have been mentioned since it was a successful single.

SoulAlive said:

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

that's actually one of my least favorite Con Funk Shun songs.To me,it sounds like a weak Cameo knock-off (with the rapped verses,similiar to what Larry Blackmon did on "She's Strange").But yeah,it should have been mentioned since it was a successful single.

That's precisely why I think it should have been mentioned. I wonder if the record company made them do the rap? Or were they experimenting with some new instruments for that album?

daPrettyman said:

SoulAlive said:

that's actually one of my least favorite Con Funk Shun songs.To me,it sounds like a weak Cameo knock-off (with the rapped verses,similiar to what Larry Blackmon did on "She's Strange").But yeah,it should have been mentioned since it was a successful single.

That's precisely why I think it should have been mentioned. I wonder if the record company made them do the rap? Or were they experimenting with some new instruments for that album?

Michael Cooper told in the ep that the company executives advised the band to go into that direction of what other groups were recording. That might've been a reason for losing their focus and maybe not being so inspired anymore as before. Plus the music publishing drama that happened, which prior to those issues was what kept the band together in the first place, because of the equal share for all their royalties. Felton Pilate didn't want to share his royalties anymore and that was it, because Felton was an important part of the group when it came to songwriting.

[Edited 7/12/12 13:46pm]

daPrettyman said:

SoulAlive said:

that's actually one of my least favorite Con Funk Shun songs.To me,it sounds like a weak Cameo knock-off (with the rapped verses,similiar to what Larry Blackmon did on "She's Strange").But yeah,it should have been mentioned since it was a successful single.

That's precisely why I think it should have been mentioned. I wonder if the record company made them do the rap? Or were they experimenting with some new instruments for that album?

very good point

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

I bought their UK greatest hits collection because it's the only one that has this song on it!

I'd also like to get that 3-CD set but I heard those are weaker albums of theirs. Is that true??

MidniteMagnet said:

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

I bought their UK greatest hits collection because it's the only one that has this song on it!

I'd also like to get that 3-CD set but I heard those are weaker albums of theirs. Is that true??

No,those three albums are GREAT Touch is the strongest of the three.

MidniteMagnet said:

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

I bought their UK greatest hits collection because it's the only one that has this song on it!

I'd also like to get that 3-CD set but I heard those are weaker albums of theirs. Is that true??

In the 90s, PolyGram records released 2 "Best of" compilations for Con Funk Shun. "Electric Lady" was on volume 2. It also has a few 12in versions of some songs. Here is the tracklist.



1	Lady's Wild See All 6	4:35	$0.99
	2	Ain't Nobody, Baby See All 2	5:31	$0.99
	3	Candy See All 4	5:13	$0.99
	4	Happy Face See All 2	3:51	$0.99
	5	Too Tight See All 13	7:09	$1.29
	6	Da Lady See All 3	3:47	$0.99
	7	Lovin' Fever See All 2 with Con Funk Shun	4:25	$0.99
	8	Body Lovers See All 5	4:40	$0.99
	9	Electric Lady See All 3	3:54	$0.99
	10	Who Has The Time See All 2	4:44	$0.99
	11	Pretty Lady See All 4	4:56	$0.99
	12	Honey Wild See All 5	4:08	$0.99
	13	Make It Last See All 4	5:01	$0.99
	14	Promise You Love See All 6	7:30	$0.99
	15	Give Your Love To Me See All 5	4:59	$0.99
	16	Everlove See All 3

daPrettyman said:

MidniteMagnet said:

I bought their UK greatest hits collection because it's the only one that has this song on it!

I'd also like to get that 3-CD set but I heard those are weaker albums of theirs. Is that true??

In the 90s, PolyGram records released 2 "Best of" compilations for Con Funk Shun. "Electric Lady" was on volume 2. It also has a few 12in versions of some songs. Here is the tracklist.



1	Lady's Wild See All 6	4:35	$0.99
	2	Ain't Nobody, Baby See All 2	5:31	$0.99
	3	Candy See All 4	5:13	$0.99
	4	Happy Face See All 2	3:51	$0.99
	5	Too Tight See All 13	7:09	$1.29
	6	Da Lady See All 3	3:47	$0.99
	7	Lovin' Fever See All 2 with Con Funk Shun	4:25	$0.99
	8	Body Lovers See All 5	4:40	$0.99
	9	Electric Lady See All 3	3:54	$0.99
	10	Who Has The Time See All 2	4:44	$0.99
	11	Pretty Lady See All 4	4:56	$0.99
	12	Honey Wild See All 5	4:08	$0.99
	13	Make It Last See All 4	5:01	$0.99
	14	Promise You Love See All 6	7:30	$0.99
	15	Give Your Love To Me See All 5	4:59	$0.99
	16	Everlove See All 3

I've never seen this before! Thanks!

Be sure to get Volume 1 too,so you'll have a complete overview of their career

SoulAlive said:

MidniteMagnet said:

I bought their UK greatest hits collection because it's the only one that has this song on it!

I'd also like to get that 3-CD set but I heard those are weaker albums of theirs. Is that true??

No,those three albums are GREAT Touch is the strongest of the three.

I like 7 best but have grown to like Touch more over the years. I just

recently got into the To The Max album. I like side 1 and Love Train on side 2 but

the other tracks on side 2 takes ConFunkShun out of their element a bit with new wave.

Candy is my favorite followed by Spirit Of Love

[Edited 7/12/12 17:48pm]

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

No,those three albums are GREAT Touch is the strongest of the three.

I like 7 best but have grown to like Touch more over the years. I just

recently got into the To The Max album. I like side 1 and Love Train on side 2 but

the other tracks on side 2 takes ConFunkShun out of their element a bit with new wave.

Candy is my favorite followed by Spirit Of Love

Candy is a masterpiece.....probably their most consistent album.I agree with you about To The Max.There are several highlights ("Ms.Got The Body","Love's Train","Ain't Nobody Baby") but I'm not really crazy about those New Wave-styled tracks.Still,a great album.

SoulAlive said:

daPrettyman said:

The only thing I didn't like is that they glossed over "Electric Lady" (the song). It was one of their biggest hits and was a different sound and style for them.

that's actually one of my least favorite Con Funk Shun songs.To me,it sounds like a weak Cameo knock-off (with the rapped verses,similiar to what Larry Blackmon did on "She's Strange").But yeah,it should have been mentioned since it was a successful single.

There's also a synth loop in "Electric Lady" which appears for the first time around 00:49 minutes and keeps coming back. It sounds inspired by the returning hook from "She's Strange".

MidniteMagnet said:

daPrettyman said:

In the 90s, PolyGram records released 2 "Best of" compilations for Con Funk Shun. "Electric Lady" was on volume 2. It also has a few 12in versions of some songs. Here is the tracklist.



1	Lady's Wild See All 6	4:35	$0.99
	2	Ain't Nobody, Baby See All 2	5:31	$0.99
	3	Candy See All 4	5:13	$0.99
	4	Happy Face See All 2	3:51	$0.99
	5	Too Tight See All 13	7:09	$1.29
	6	Da Lady See All 3	3:47	$0.99
	7	Lovin' Fever See All 2 with Con Funk Shun	4:25	$0.99
	8	Body Lovers See All 5	4:40	$0.99
	9	Electric Lady See All 3	3:54	$0.99
	10	Who Has The Time See All 2	4:44	$0.99
	11	Pretty Lady See All 4	4:56	$0.99
	12	Honey Wild See All 5	4:08	$0.99
	13	Make It Last See All 4	5:01	$0.99
	14	Promise You Love See All 6	7:30	$0.99
	15	Give Your Love To Me See All 5	4:59	$0.99
	16	Everlove See All 3

I've never seen this before! Thanks!

You're welcome.

Shango said:

daPrettyman said:

That's precisely why I think it should have been mentioned. I wonder if the record company made them do the rap? Or were they experimenting with some new instruments for that album?

Michael Cooper told in the ep that the company executives advised the band to go into that direction of what other groups were recording. That might've been a reason for losing their focus and maybe not being so inspired anymore as before. Plus the music publishing drama that happened, which prior to those issues was what kept the band together in the first place, because of the equal share for all their royalties. Felton Pilate didn't want to share his royalties anymore and that was it, because Felton was an important part of the group when it came to songwriting.

Yeah,it's clear that,after 1983 or so,the record company was pushing them to go in another direction.Their 1986 album featured outside songwriters and producers....sounding very formulaic and run-of-the-mill.

This was a great episode, Confunkshun is truly Unsung!

This was an enjoyable episode. Aside from Love's Train, I was unfamilar with most of ConFunkShun's work, or just didn't realize it was them that performed certain songs. Louis McCall's story was sad and infuriating. I felt that the band did him wrong and after his tragic death, the justice system slapped his family in the face. The story behind Love's Train was an eye-opener.

Also a random obversation from the episode: Peter Michael Escovedo looks like Scott Baio's twin.

[Edited 7/15/12 12:03pm]

KemiVA said:

a random obversation from the episode: Peter Michael Escovedo looks like Scott Baio's twin.

SoulAlive said:

KemiVA said:

a random obversation from the episode: Peter Michael Escovedo looks like Scott Baio's twin.

Most days I know how to spell observation

That's probably because the raw demo which they heard first sounded totally different than the final mix with the orchestrated horn and string arrangements by Skip Scarborough, and Danny Thomas from Con Funk Shun even explained about that as well in the unsung episode. Skip assured the guys to let him take care of the final mix and when the band heard it, their jaws dropped lol. So they fairly admitted that their less favorable song became a loved anthem after Skip's take on it.

If there's ever a box set put out by the group, I'd like have a disc dedicated to outtakes, demos and alternate versions of some of their most popular hits.

This was one of the better Unsung episodes because ConFunkShun never truly got the recognition they deserved as a dynamic funk band that was tight as hell! I had no idea about most of the stuff that was revealed.

It brought back a lot of memories for me too, because my ex was crazy about Love's Train...maaan, when that song came on,

Ahem...anyway, I felt that McCall actually died the day he found out he was no longer welcome in the group. It seems like his whole identity was gone after that...sad.

About the songwriting, I think that even though Felton carried more of the load, he could have been more flexible with working out some type of deal percentage wise. I'm sure the others contributed other things that they never got any credit for.

Shame that he got punched for it though,

UncleGrandpa said:

I have not watched this episode yet but I have a high school classmate that is the current touring drummer with band, Brian Collier. He also spent some time working with Tony, Toni, Tone. We haven't spoken to each other since then but I'm glad he's getting steady work. [Edited 7/11/12 17:49pm]

That's cool!

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

I'm gonna pull out my Wattstax DVD and watch it again I didn't know they were in that movie,either.

Oh yes. I knew ConFunkshun cut their teeth at Stax. Jeff Osborne also played drums for

Rufus Thomas and some of the members of LTD backed Sam & Dave at Stax. We know

the Barkays backed damn near everybody at Stax. A lot of talent walked through the

doors of Stax.

Wattstax is truly classic...one of my favorite dvds of all time.

babynoz said:

This was one of the better Unsung episodes because ConFunkShun never truly got the recognition they deserved as a dynamic funk band that was tight as hell! I had no idea about most of the stuff that was revealed.

It brought back a lot of memories for me too, because my ex was crazy about Love's Train...maaan, when that song came on,

Ahem...anyway, I felt that McCall actually died the day he found out he was no longer welcome in the group. It seems like his whole identity was gone after that...sad.

About the songwriting, I think that even though Felton carried more of the load, he could have been more flexible with working out some type of deal percentage wise. I'm sure the others contributed other things that they never got any credit for.

Shame that he got punched for it though,

I think this is the part that is a little misconstrued. Louis actually had his hand in the business after ConFunkShun as a talent manager and promoter and he joined his wife

in business ventures too so he was actually pretty busy but not being invited to reunite

with CFS and problems with his wife may have lead him on a downward spiral but Michael

Cooper can't be blamed for his death.