I bought a cheapo best of Rick James CD the other day, and it is real good, but it only has nine tracks- not enough funk 4 me

Any Rick James fans suggest other CD's I should buy?

Bustin' Out Of L Seven has always been my fav.

Go ahead and pick up Street Songs too... the deluxe edition if possible.

psykosoul said:

I'm with the others! Bustin Out of L Seven and Street Songs...I would mention the Come Get It CD, but that may be out of print now...but there is a 2 disc anthology out that does a better job of covering his career...

I actually think "throw down" is rick at his peak. many people will say otherwise but there are just so many jams on that album it's always been one of my favs of rick's. other than the song cold blooded, it was all down hill after throw down.

sermwanderer said:

be sure 2 check out "Throwin Down" 'cause that has the underrated but funky "Hard To Get" and "69 Times" (btw rumor has it that "69 Times" was written about Teena Marie...lol) then "Cold Blooded" 4 the classic Smokey Robinson duet Ebony Eyes...

crazyhorse said:

that's hot..."fool on the street" and that "high on your love suite" is the shizumnizums....

I say if you can pick up all his lps except Garden Of Love , The Flag and Urban Rhapsody. Those suck!


Come and Get It
Bustin' Out
Fire It Up
Street Songs
Throwin' Down

are the lps to look 4

Thumparello said:

U forgot Glow & Wonderful. I'd skip those too.
[This message was edited Tue May 4 13:24:28 2004 by intha916]

I remember when "Bustin LOOSE" came out, I hated the song, ONLY because it wasn't "Bustin Out"... I kept wishing the DJ's would just lose the "Bustin Loose" song and replace it.

Retarded, I know, but relevant.

What did the 5 fingers say to the face?

*SMACK*

I'M RICK JAMES BIYTCH!

sermwanderer said:

Funny you should start a Rick James thread.I've been listening to his music alot lately.In fact,I was gonna start my own Rick James thread the other day (lol),but I was having trouble picking a particular song or album to discuss.But anyway,if you're looking for a great compilation,may I suggest the 2-CD set "Bustin Out: The Very Best Of Rick James",which came out in 1994.It has everything you need...


DISC ONE---
"You And I"
"Mary Jane"
"Dream Maker"
"Bustin Out"
"Love Gun"
"Big Time"
"Give It To Me Baby"
"Super Freak"
"Ghetto Life"
"Fire And Desire" with Teena Marie
"Standing On The Top" with the Temptations
"Hard To Get"
"69 Times"
"Dance Wt Me"

DISC TWO---
"Teardrops"
"Cold Blooded"
"U Bring The Freak Out"
"Ebony Eyes" with Smokey Robinson
"17"
"You Turn Me On"
"Glow"
"Moonchild"
"Divine Love (So Fine)"
"Serious Love (Spend The Night)"
"Starship"
"Down By Law"
"Medley"

intha916 said:

You know,I was listening to the 'Throwin Down' album the other day and I was thinking the same thing! It really is an excellent album,and it's a shame that it's currently out of print.Songs like "69 Times","Hard To Get",the title track and "Standing On The Top" are superb.The slow jam "Teardrops" is another gem.

The 'Cold Blooded' album found Rick changing his sound completely.More synths,less horns and the use of drum machines resulted in a more electronic sound which he took to the extreme by the mid 80s.Still,there were some great songs from this period...remember "17"?

I just ordered Street Songs, so should get that soon. But others are hard to find (I live in Scotland), so I'm just gonna have to keep an eye on Ebay

Many of his albums are hard to find here in the States too.Instead of releasing his old albums on CD,Motown would rather release compilation after compilation,with the same damn songs over and over.

psykosoul said:

The Deluxe Edition of 'Street Songs' is incredible! The first disc contains the entire album (remastered and sounding GREAT) plus hard-to-find 12" extended versions of "SuperFreak" and "Give It To Me Baby" (the 12" version of "SuperFreak" is a MUST-HAVE,it will make you totally forget the short,overplayed album version).As if all that wasn't enough,the second disc contains a 1981 concert that was taped in July of that year,when James was at the top of his game.It even includes Teena Marie singing "Square Biz".A funk lover's dream! The whole package is nice,with rare photos,lengthy liner notes and commentary,chart positions,etc.

crazyhorse said:

I've never heard that album,but other fans insist that it's one of his best.For a short time in the mid-90s,it was released on CD but it now out of print.That pisses me off!

DavidEye said:

U have never heard that album?

DavidEye said:

Thank for the heads up. I will definately be checking this one out! The 12" of Superfreak IS the shit! I havent heard it in years, but I remember that funky ass keyboard riff thats kind of an undercurrent on the edit, but on the 12" its more prominent. totally makes the song. Rick was very good at putting the funk down on wax. Mary Jane, You & I , High on your love suite(one mo hit) are all headphone treats.Too bad that cocaine and jherri curls are a hell of a drug.

Thank for the heads up. I will definately be checking this one out! The 12" of Superfreak IS the shit! I havent heard it in years, but I remember that funky ass keyboard riff thats kind of an undercurrent on the edit, but on the 12" its more prominent. totally makes the song. Rick was very good at putting the funk down on wax. Mary Jane, You & I , High on your love suite(one mo hit) are all headphone treats.Too bad that cocaine and jherri curls are a hell of a drug.


Street songs 2cd is a must.I got lucky and picked it up for $6.99!

intha916 said:

Nope,I never heard that album and the one that came after it,'Fire It Up'

I Liked Rick James' Music alot. SuperFreak and Give It To Me Baby were Really good and he looked Fine back when in the videos. Even Glow and Bustin Out were cool. Rick was and Is a very Talented Musician. It's Too Bad about the Drugs. He Needs to Step out Of That Mess for Good!

13inchshoe said:

"Superfreak,the girl's a superfreak...Superfreak,the girl's a superfreak...yow yow"

I still remember in the summer of '81 when this song took off.It was DA SHIT,the one jam that everybody was going crazy over.You couldn't go anywhere without hearing it.I heard a critic say that Andre3000's song "Hey Ya!" is the "Superfreak of 2003"...lol

DavidEye said:

"Hey Ya!" is no "Superfreak". "Superfreak" was and is baaaaad. "Hey Ya" is just baad.
[This message was edited Thu May 6 8:16:42 2004 by Shapeshifter]

Shapeshifter said:

Very true