I wrote fairly extensively about “Other Ray” in I’m Back (And I’m Backin’ It Up!) – the last time he showed up. I can’t say specifically what prompted this track, but I can tell you that I was procrastinating so hard. I really didn’t want to write any music. I wrote a blog post, I surfed the web, I looked at my archival process…
With midnight fast approaching, I finally knuckled down and tried to find something interesting to do. I had a basic drum loop going and was futzing around with some synth patch when I correctly (and accidentally) played the main riff of the chorus. While it wasn’t quite the lightning-strike complete-picture-in-my-mind inspiration I had in Falling, as soon as I had gotten the muscle memory down for the riff, Other Ray showed up. That was at about 11:30. I went to bed at 3:00, having finished the lyrics and a rough sketch of the track.
- Don't Fight the Funk Ray Toler 5:53
The Cold Light of Morning
I woke up fairly early and immediately went back to work. Perhaps foolishly, I thought that since it was now just a matter of executing the plan and recording parts, I might be done by early afternoon, but Other Ray had other things in mind. There weren’t too many surprises along the way, it just took longer than I thought.
After recording the chorus background vocals and male party shouts, I brought Mary in to do the female parts. She was a total trooper: a bit apprehensive at first, but really nailed it after I painted more of a scenario. This type of track is really just another form of acting, and visualizing the entire environment (the overworked bartenders, the bitchy waitress, the bachelorette party…) goes a long way toward getting it right.
More is Less or Less is More?
From an instrumentation point-of-view, the track is really pretty simple. Drum kit, electric bass, synth bass, synth “horns,” clavinet, and guitar. It’s a six-piece band at most. This is in contrast to George Clinton’s the-funk-is-exponentially-proportional-to-the-number-of-people-in-the-studio philosophy. I guess I made up for that with 8 background vocalists, 17 party vocalists, 8 hand clappers… MOTU’s POLAR really is a killer feature in Digital Performer.
One thing that became incredibly clear to me is how important the drummer is. Much of modern music is very loop-driven, but if I’d used a drum machine or loop on this, it wouldn’t be nearly as impactful. And it’s the small things… a ghost kick or snare hit, just a small fill here or there, changing where the ride cymbal is being played…
The guitar was a small sticking point – I didn’t have time to set up an actual guitar and learn how to play this, so I started off with AAS Strum. It was ok, but just barely. Then it became less and less appropriate, and even seemed to be competing with the clavinet for sonic space. I switched to a guitar sample in one of my Roland romplers, the Integra-7. I recorded the parts, and then used amp and pedal plugins to make it sound at lease somewhat realistic. It’s probably the weakest thing in the track, so if I ever redo it, guitar will be one of the first things I fix.
I learned another great lesson. The “horns” sound of Minneapolis funk is that cheesy analog brass type of sound. By itself, it’s incredibly weak and sounds… well, bad. But in the mix, even without me doing a single thing to it, it just magically has that sound from the early 80s.
What Time is It?
If I’m Back (And I’m Backin’ It Up) was my love letter to Parliament, this track is quite obviously a product of my love for Minneapolis Funk. Ultimately it all flows back to Prince, but in this case The Time was more in the forefront for me. In fact, at one point, I was worried that I had inadvertantly simply recreated Jungle Love, and there are some definite “just different enough not to get sued” moments and almost-direct quotes, but that wasn’t my intent. I think it’s more from simply being familiar with the inspiration tracks at a near-molecular level. Other Ray and Morris Day share some traits, to be sure.
I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. It’s a bit more structured, but I still made up nearly all of Other Ray’s lines as I went along. It’s incredibly liberating to put on a mask.
Lyrics
One, two, three, four…
Oh yeah!
We are back! It’s been a few years but I just can’t stop.
Tried to duck me by moving to the west coast,
But I can’t be fooled.
So you go stand over there, take the day off.
Stand up! Get Ready! Let’s go!
Ladies and gentlemen, as always,
Herbert Finkelstein on bass!
With Flip Maynard on guitar!
Jerome Skaskagagrachi and
Camille Spotzenhaffle on keys
And on drums, introducing Mr. John Smith!
Ten years ago I was losing sleep
But I knew back then wanted to move your feet
So just give it up cause I’m here to play
And it’s all because I wrote a song a day
I’m gonna get it right
I’m gonna get you out your seat
You’re gonna see the light
You’re gonna wanna steal this beat
But don’t you try to run
Don’t you try to be a punk
We’re gonna have some fun
Just don’t try to fight the funk
Aww yeah!
Hey, I need hand claps, where the handcl…
Aww, Herbie, I can always count on you.
Who we got?
The world-famous Persnickity and Proud
Portland Post-Pandemic Keep-It-In-The-Pocket
Percussive Parade.
I don’t see how I could ask for anything more.
There’s no stopping us now
There’s no turning back
You know the groove is tight
And there ain’t no slack
Cause I got the juice
And I got the knack
Gonna make you dance
Like a maniac
CHORUS
CHORUS
Oh, that is a breakdown.
That’s what you call a breakdown, right there.
That’s… I can’t… I can’t do any better than that.
That’s…
Oh, but look…
Ray’s over there in the corner bein’ all mopey
‘Cause he doesn’t get to play his solo
C’mon boy, get on the keys, let’s go!
Yeah!
Oooh!
Aww, that is the stuff!
Unnhh!
Well, not…
Not so good now.
O… Ok, you know what?
Just…
Let’s go back into the chorus!
CHORUS
CHORUS
Hey… Hey I’m gonna go talk to the ladies…
Hey, Ladies! (Yeah?)
Get out your seat.
Get out on the floor and move your feet
I said Ladies (Yeah!)
Get out your seat (Ok!)
Get your ass out on the floor and feel the beat .
Ah now, fellas! (Yeah!)
Get out your seat
Get up off the wall and try to feel the beat
I said, fellas! (Yeah!)
Get out your seat (Ok!)
Get out with the ladies and move your feet!
All right, everybody:
Hey (HEY!) Don’t be a punk!
I said hey! (HEY!)
Don’t fight the funk
(DON’T FIGHT THE FUNK!)
I said hey! Don’t be a punk!
Hey! (HEY!)
Don’t fight the funk
(DON’T FIGHT THE FUNK)
Oh, this is going great!
I cannot believe it!
It’s going great!
I said hey! (HEY!)
Don’t fight the funk!
(DON’T FIGHT THE FUNK)
Oh, you can’t fight the funk
You cannot fight the funk
I don’t know what anybody’s tryin to do
If they tryin to fight the funk
It just can’t be done
I just…
We gotta keep goin!
CHORUS
All right, one more time,
Let’s turn it around!
Let’s go!
CHORUS
Don’t you try to be a punk!
I don’t want to see any punks around here!
Hey, I got somethin to say:
Hey! Don’t be a punk!
I said hey! Don’t fight the funk!
Hey, everybody, let’s sing it together!
Hey! Don’t be a punk
I said hey! Don’t fight the funk
That sounds amazing!
You, you guys keep going! Keep going!
Uh, you know, I better not see…
I better not see anybody tryin to fight the funk
That’s just a fool’s errand
Eh, ‘cause if you try to fight the funk
You gonna lose
The funk has more power than
You can possibly understand
The funk is… it’s uh, it’s everywhere…
Oh, I… I guess we’re gonna fade out now
But don’t worry, the party’s gonna keep going
You gotta go about your day
We’re gonna keep partying
We gotta… we gotta say
Hey! Don’t be a punk!
I said hey! Don’t fight the funk…
Copyright © Ray E. Toler, Jr. All rights reserved.
www.raytoler.com
Colophon
Instruments & Samples
Superior Drummer 3, Trilian, Keyscape, Tal-Pha, Integra-7
Effects, Mixing & Mastering
FabFilter, Gullfoss, MOTU POLAR, Custom ’59, and Masterworks EQ