ROCK HALL OF FAME Museum will celebrate groove style

By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CLEVELAND -- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is getting the funk out -- or bringing the funk in -- during February as it focuses on this groove-oriented style during the celebration of Black History Month.
For years, the Rock Hall has dedicated Black History Month to a different genre -- girl groups, gospel and R & amp;B -- but Warren Zanes, vice president of education, said that well was running dry pretty quickly. However, someone suggested funk and, well, the groove took a life of its own.
"What attracted me to it is funk on some level, you can say it is a genre, but it exceeds the bounds of genre," Zanes said. "Funk is used so widely to describe so many things. You could say Bootsy Collins, Parliament, George Clinton, that's funk. But funk goes much wider than that, and I like the looseness of it. I like how difficult it was to nail down just what funk was."
He added, "It also offered us an opportunity to look at the roots of hip-hop, because with funk, one of the things that is happening is the groove is becoming the primary matter of interest."
Common bond
Funk takes on varying forms to many people: James Brown's seminal beginnings, Parliament's ostentatious theatrical outfits and stage antics, and modern day descendants such as Outkast and its Southern flair. If there is a common bond among them all, it's the fact that funk has a swagger, funk has a life of its own and funk refuses to be defined.
From country to hip-hop to emo and rock, funk is the one adjective that doesn't seem like an oxymoron when used to describe other styles. One person who staked his whole career on funk is musician/producer Nile Rodgers, who is the featured speaker of the "Black History Month edition of From Songwriters to Soundmen: The People Behind the Hits" program, taking place Feb. 15 at the Rock Hall.
As co-leader of '70s disco outfit Chic to highly sought-after producer (Mick Jagger, Madonna, INXS, David Bowie), Rodgers interprets the idiosyncrasies of funk.
"Everyone thinks about funk in terms of music and groove and band and image; they never think about the poetic side of funk, the lyrics or the message of what the poets were saying," said Rodgers during a phone interview from his Connecticut residence. "I feel the funk poets have been grossly underrepresented in the annals of rock-'n'-roll history. You don't think of how important some of these lyrics are because everybody just associates it with some of the obvious stuff like dancing and partying."
Societal implications
Rodgers goes on to cite the empowering societal implications of James Brown's "Hot Pants Pt. 1" or the overcoming adversity message of Funkadelic's "Cosmic Slop" to prove his point that funk isn't just platform shoes or far-out grooves. Well, it's that, but there's more to it.
In some ways, funk acted as the alternative R & amp;B of the late '60s and entire '70s.
"I think alternative in the sense that they got to go to places that you wouldn't or couldn't if you were square in the mainstream," Zanes said. "Willing to go to edgy places that make people uncomfortable, yes. But the party is always on. I think the creation of the name itself embodies the spirit of funk. It's like let's take things, turn them over, change their meaning. The carnival is on, and nothing means what it means in everyday life. That aspect of funk I find extremely engaging."
Essence of rock
Whether it's a case of the Rock Hall's saving the best genre for last or perhaps funk's nearly falling between the cracks, Rodgers offers his own opinion why it's important for the Northeast Ohio institution to celebrate this influential style.
"It's the essence of rock 'n' roll," Rodgers said. "All of us come from the same mother or the same parents. It really is the truth. It just seems like a real ... I won't say oversight, but certainly seems like we have the power to educate people, and I think that with that power comes a certain amount of responsibility to educate people, and people can decide whether it's relevant or valid or whatever."
Rodgers acknowledges that his successful producing career has been built around the notion that he brings a certain level of funk credibility to the table. He told a story about producing David Bowie's 1983 album "Let's Dance," the biggest of the singer's career, that truly epitomizes the role of funk in modern music.
"When I was working on 'Let's Dance,' he had written a song that really for all intent and purpose sounded to me like a folk song," Rodgers said. "When I changed the groove of it to the 'Let's Dance' that we sort of know, I asked David, 'Is this too funky?' And he looked at me and said, 'Nile, is there such a thing?' and I just thought 'Damn David, you're right, that is the perfect answer.' Can you ever get too funky? Is there any musician on earth that can ever achieve being too funky? Can that event happen? Or is that like nirvana? Once you reach too funky, you go to heaven or something."
Admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is open daily, is $20 for adults, $14 for seniors and $11 for children with those under 8 free. For more information, visit: www.rockhall.com.