LP Reviews: Funk This and Hello Happiness
Funk This
Released: 2007
LP Charts: #5 R&B, #15 pop
Maybe Chaka Khan took offense at me calling her an oldies act in my previous album review for ClassiKhan. Or maybe not. Probably not. After all, she has no idea who I am and could not see 15 years into the future. So definitely not.
Whatever the case, Funk This finds Khan not exactly trying to be totally hip for 2007, but she also wasn’t recording an album full of covers, although there a fair number of covers on the album.
Funk This strikes the balance of Khan reveling in the funk and soul that made her famous, while also not retreading the same old ground… for the most part. Honestly, I’m just glad we get real live instruments on this album instead of an armada of programmed instrumentation.
The opener “Back in the Day” is a touch too nostalgic, but “Foolish Fool” has some righteous funk-rock. Sure it’s a cover, but it’s done totally different from the Dee Dee Warwick original, so it’s fine by me.
“One For All Time” is a mellow groove with acoustic guitar filling in the sparse production. “Angel” opens with a soft rumbling bass guitar reminiscent of “If This World Were Mine”.
Chaka drops in another cover with “Castles Made of Sand”. Naturally this version doesn’t have the searing guitar work of Jimi Hendrix, but it’s still a decent listen. Her cover of Prince’s “Sign 'O' the Times” however just reveals how idiosyncratic the original was. Only Prince could make that strange track work cuz Chaka’s take is pedestrian until she finally puts her own touch on it by injecting the vocal wails of “I’m Every Woman” onto the song.
A duet with Michael McDonald (“You Belong To Me”) and covers of her own “You Got the Love” and “Pack’d My Bags” fail to spark the imagination.
Mary J. Blige drops in to aid Chaka on “Disrespectful”. The track has some drumming evoking the break beatin’ chops of the Meters.
But there are some points where the album gets in a rut. Khan needlessly remakes “Pack’d My Bags” and “You Got the Love”. Stone cold Rufus classics that really get no change in arrangement 30+ years after their initial recording. Why listen to these when I can go for the originals?
“Hail to the Wrong” has the makings of a stepper’s tune and “Super Life” is pretty damn fun(ky). I decree it here best song post-1985. Except for maybe “Never Miss the Water”.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Highly respectable album that, as always in the post-1990 music world, could use some pruning on the track list to make a B- album. In the end, Funk This ain’t adding to the legacy, but it’s nice to know Chaka can still throw down.
Song Scores
Back in the Day: 6/10
Foolish Fool: 7.5/10
One For All Time: 7/10
Angel: 7/10
Will You Love Me?: 6/10
Castles Made of Sand: 6/10
Disrespectful: 7/10
Sign 'O' the Times: 6.5/10
Pack'd My Bags/You Got the Love: 6/10
Ladies’ Man: 6/10
You Belong to Me: 5/10
Hail to the Wrong: 7/10
Super Life: 8.5/10
Hello Happiness
Released: 2019
LP Charts: #48 pop
After a looooooooooooong hiatus (12 years!), we have the return of Chaka Khan.
Hello Happiness (at only seven songs and 27 minutes) finds Chaka basically serving as the lead vocalist for English DJ and producer Switch’s musical arrangements. This is my first encounter with DJ Switch, but he seems to base his very much on electronica-juiced disco, so I am predisposed to liking it. Anyhoo, Khan’s vocals are uniformly in service of the groove. Not a bad thing inherently, just noting it for the record.
The title track is classically disco with a fat bass line, while “Like A Lady” hits like early 80s post-disco. It features some sweeping strings that fly over some synthetic bass and video-game keyboards.
“Don’t Cha Know” slows the groove down to a psychedelic rock workout replete with fuzz guitar and an organ. “Too Hot” is just weird. Don’t really like it.
Thankfully the groove is back on “Like Sugar”. It’s a damn good song because it samples the steamrolling bass line from “(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop” by the Fatback Band. It ain’t better than that disco-funk classic, but riding the coat tails of a disco classic ain’t a bad idea.
“Isn’t that Enough” and “Ladylike” close the joyously short album on a much slower note. The former indulges in some reggae, while the latter reminds me of an early ‘70s Willie Hutch styled groove.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Shoulda been a B-, but “Too Hot” is a stinker. Everything else is good fun, though. Unlike most of her contemporaries Chaka managed to go out with some modicum of musical respect. I can dig it.
Song Scores
Hello Happiness: 7.5/10
Like A Lady: 7/10
Don’t Cha Know: 6.5/10
Too Hot: 4/10
Like Sugar: 7/10
Isn’t that Enough: 6.5/10
Ladylike: 7/10