A Huge Hit Twice, ‘Funkytown’ Is A Minnesota Song
A hit twice in the 1980's, Funkytown crossed the globe in popularity....and it all began with a restless dude dreaming of New York but stuck the Twin Cities.
I dug this up for the show I do on Fun 104.3. It's a One Hit Wonder Wednesday where every hour we feature a hugely memorable hit from a one hit wonder. In this case, Lipps Inc, which, it turned out, was formed JUST to make this ONE song.
The dude that wrote it, Steven Greenberg, a Saint Paul native, wanted to get out of town and go to a fun city...he's gotta make a move that's right for him...to Funkytown (aka, New York!). So that part is VERY Minnesota.
But then the singer, Cynthia Johnson, is another Minnesotan, which makes it ever MORE awesome. She may be best known as 1976's Miss Black Minnesota. But to stop there would be a travesty. She's a singer (currently solo and as a member of 3-time Grammy winning Sounds of Blackness), a songwriter, an actress, and a producer.
And if she needed more cred, in the early days, she was in a band and wrote songs for Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis!
For the record, Funkytown, by Lipps Inc, a huge hit in 28 countries, was released in 1980.
In 1986 Funkytown, by Australian band PseudoEcho, hit #6 in the USA.
Listen to James Rabe 6a to 9a on Y-105 FM