1980 Funkytown

Time for another round of Throwback Thursday!

This is where we get to listen to some great music from days gone by. 

Today’s music comes to us from 1970

Wikipedia tells us this about today’s tune:

"Funkytown" is a song by American disco act Lipps Inc. from their debut album Mouth to Mouth (1979). It was released as the album's lead single in 1980.

"Funkytown" reached the top spot in the United States, West Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Australia, among many others.

Written by musician, composer, and record producer Steven Greenberg and sung by Cynthia Johnson, the song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keep me groovin' with some energy". Steven wrote the song while the band was living in Minneapolis with dreams of moving to New York.

"Funkytown" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on March 29, 1980 and spent four weeks at number one, from May 31 to June 21, 1980. It also hit the number one spot on the disco chart in 1980. It also reached no. 2 in the United Kingdom, and Sweden, as well as on the U.S. soul chart.] The song was Lipps Inc's only American Top 40 hit.

VH1 ranked the song at number 36 in their list of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s in 2009.

Time Out listed the song number 44 in their list of The 100 best party songs in 2018, adding:

(…) 'Funkytown' expresses a simple, repetitive yearning for the pulse of a bigger city, goosed by a killer ten-note synth riff. 'Gotta make a move to a town that's right for me,' sings Cynthia Johnson in a robotic, vocoderized voice (a precursor to the Auto-Tune sound) before busting out an unmodified, soulful wail, pleading for a trip to the party destination of her dreams. Released in 1980, 'Funkytown' came late to the disco party, but gave it a jolt of electricity.

ThoughtCo placed the song at number 7 in their list of "25 Best Dance Pop Songs of All Time" in 2018.

See you again soon! Share with me your thoughts about this theme.  If you have a favorite oldies song or artist, let me know and I’d be happy to feature them.