June 1976 - Wild Cherry and Play That Funky Music

A few weeks since my last release, a new band joins my library briefly when Wild Cherry released their debut album in June 1976, "Wild Cherry", which contains the only song I have by this band, "Play That Funky Music". But who are Wild Cherry? They were a 4-piece funk rock band from Mingo Junction, Ohio consisting of drummer Ronald Beitle, bassist and keyboardist Allen Wentz, guitarist Bryan Bassett, and lead singer/guitarist Robert Parissi. Wild Cherry are a one-hit wonder if there ever was one, but this one hit is quite a catchy tune. It opens with a funkadelic guitar riff that drives the whole song, but it does sound pretty damn cool. Parissi cues the rest of the band coming in as they form a cool beat. Parissi's voice is a little eccentric and perhaps not the most ideal lead vocal, but I think it does fit the mood of this song well as he strains and drones his lyrics. The lyrics are pretty simple party rock stuff but once they reach the chorus it does sound very emphatic. It's hard not to sing along and follow the easy instructions: "lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die". They definitely succeeded in making a very catchy song, but unfortunately could not replicate this kind of grooviness. We hear a pretty sweet guitar solo and the horns in the background sound great as well as they play one final verse. They jam out the chorus several times at the end of the song but it never gets old as these guys really bring the energy in this fun ending. No other song of theirs would come close to this level of awesomeness and it's too bad because this song is pretty cool. Oh well, it's obscurity for Wild Cherry as they are gone as quick as they came in.

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