Hows’
it goin’ friends! The Dial has picked up another great track from radio’s past
for your enjoyment! This time, we examine the curious case of a one hit wonder
covering a one hit wonder! Put on your dancing shoes for Pseudo Echo’s top 10 new
wave version of the disco classic “Funky
Town”!
“Gotta make a move to a town that’s right for
me…”
Originally a #1 smash hit by R&B/disco
outfit Lipps Inc in 1980, Australia’s Pseudo Echo recasts the iconic dance floor theme
as an energetic rocker with a generous helping of new wave flavor and a mid ‘80s
sound comparable with other acts like Oingo Boingo and Robert Palmer.
Pseudo
Echo’s remake topped the singles charts in a few countries (Canada, New
Zealand, and their native Australia), but not in the states. Here in the U.S.,
the song still did quite well, landing a position in the top 10 at US #6. It
also reached #8 in the UK, and was featured on their Love an Adventure LP, and the soundtrack to Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise - a true cinematic tour
de force!
“Town to keep me movin’, keep me groovin’
with some energy…”
Funky
Town is a lyrically simple tune, but in reviewing the lyrics online for both
the original and this cover, I found a curious discrepancy.
All
websites list the opening line for the Lipps Inc version as:
“Gotta make a move to a town that’s right
for me…”
Which
I have no argument with, as these are the correct lyrics. However, a large
number of sites list the same line of the Pseudo Echo version as:
“I don’t need to move to a town that’s
right for me…”
Which
makes no sense, given that the entire point of the rest of the lyrics is that
the singer wants to move to an upbeat positive town, then asks the listener
to assist them in relocating to this “Funkytown”. There would be no way the
first line would say that they aren’t interested in moving, then have the rest
of the song contradict that.
I
thought maybe that Pseudo Echo accidentally sang the wrong words, so I listened
to it over and over, but I still don’t hear it. To my ears, it sounds exactly like
they are singing the correct lyrics. Unless one of the guys from Pseudo Echo can confirm here, I’m
assuming that they are singing the correct line, and all those websites reporting
alternate lyrics are full of horse-puckey.
“Well, I talk about it… talk about it… talk
about it… talk about it…
talk about… talk about… talk about…
movin’.”
Further examination of these two one
hit wonder acts reveals that Lipps Inc only charted one other single on the hot
100, 1979’s “Rock It”, which managed
a US #64 peak the year before “Funky Town” was released.
Similarly, Pseudo Echo only hit the
hot 100 one other time, and just like the earlier group, it was with a single
released the year before their big smash. In this case the Australian group previously
charted with 1986’s “Living in a Dream”,
with peaked at #US 57. This means that both bands missed the top 40 with their
first singles as well. Seems there are some strange parallels between the chart
careers of Lipps Inc and Pseudo Echo!
I
still hear Lipps Inc’s version frequently on the radio, especially on dance and
retro themed stations and blocks of programming, but it’s been years and years
since I’ve heard Pseudo Echo’s rendition over the airwaves.
So
check it out below! Will the groove make you start dancing, or rock out with an
“air guitar”, or perhaps a combination of the two? However you dig it, I’m glad
you continue to tune into the Dial for the songs that jog your memory and take
you back in time.
Kyle’s
Radio Dial… The more you listen… the MORE you remember!
“Won’t you take me to… the Funkytown… won’t
you take me to… the Funkytown?”
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