The glorious story of Funk from James Brown to Off The Wall

The glorious story of Funk from James Brown to Off The Wall

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold June 3, 2026 Duration: 42:54

Old friend of the podcast Lloyd Bradley wrote Bass Culture, the defining account of reggae, and he’s now turned his attention to funk, from its deepest roots and via the jazz, arts, TV, radio and pop culture that flavoured it. The main 10-year focus of ‘Funk Has Its Own Reward’ is from James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud - I’m Black and I’m Proud’ to Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ but free your mind and all this will follow! …

 

… the importance of radio being “colourblind”

 

… Cab Calloway’s Jive Dictionary and the impact of DJs Martha Jean ‘the Queen’ Steinberg and Daddy-O Daylie

 

… how James Brown floor-tested his records and saved a fortune making them  

 

… funk’s deep roots in America’s marching bands

 

… why jazz is funk’s closest relative and what it stole from white rock  

 

… how the Family Stone’s Larry Graham made bass the place

 

… how solo singers gave way to the ‘funk gangs’  

 

… how Richard Pryor gave mainstream America a window on a whole new world.

 

… the influence of Soul Train and Sesame Street (19-year-old Nile Rodgers on guitar!) in bringing funk to the masses

 

… George Clinton – “I can’t dance, can’t play, people tell me I can’t sing … but without me none of this would have happened!”

 

… plus the Chambers Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Funkadelic, Bootsy, Quincy Jones, Parliament and the greatest funk record ever made.

 

Order copies of ‘Funk Is Its Own Reward’ here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/lloyd-bradley-2/funk-is-its-own-reward/9781472123411/


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There’s a particular kind of conversation about music that happens between friends who’ve spent a lifetime immersed in it-not as distant critics, but as participants in the culture. That’s the atmosphere you’ll find in Word In Your Ear, a podcast from Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, and Alex Gold. With a collective eighty years of writing and broadcasting for titles like Smash Hits and Mojo, and shows from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to VH-1, they don’t just recount history; they unpack the stories behind it with the ease of a shared laugh. This podcast grew naturally from their work on the late, great magazine The Word, where they began recording over thirteen years ago, building a dedicated following who found something genuinely special in the mix. Each episode weaves together music, commentary, history, and interviews, moving seamlessly from deep-dive analysis of a seminal album to a frank chat with a surprising guest, all delivered with the warmth and wit of a late-night chat. It feels less like a formal show and more like you’ve been invited to pull up a chair in a room where the anecdotes are plentiful and the expertise is worn lightly. The result is a consistently engaging listen that treats music not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing part of our lives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Word In Your Ear
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