ROCK Sex: "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp

ROCK Sex doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Let's do both singing along with "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh".

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We humans are crazy so relationships tend to go up and down with our emotions. Bill Withers captures the silly seesaw of our lives with this lesser-known Funk classic.

BILL WITHERS -"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" (1974)



I tend to favor DIANA ROSS's funkier, sexier solo songs (e.g., "Love Hangover", "Upside Down"), and here she sways back and forth to Bill's song on the Disco floor.

DIANA ROSS -"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" (1977)



Sly Stone basically invented the entire '70s Funk sound, and everyone followed in his tread. But he often winked at his peers with nods to their songs. Here's an original of his own that bounced off of Bill's song.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"The Same Thing That Makes You Laugh" (1979)

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Sly used voice distortion tricks from 1969 on up, and there's another version of this song with a vocoder vocal that paves the way for Zapp (and the autotune singers of now).

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"The Same Thing That Makes You Laugh" (vocoder version) (1979)



Bootsy Collins introduced the vocoder device to Roger while producing this dance floor smash.

ZAPP -"More Bounce To The Ounce" (1980)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

-SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players


• "Use Me" - Bill Withers > Grace Jones > Jagger/ Kravitz > D'Angelo

• Bill Withers > Me'shell Ndegeocello > Queen Pen


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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LADIES FIRST: "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood!" - Nina Simone > The Animals > KILL BILL

Ladies First = She Did It First

LADIES FIRST wants to clear up any misunderstandings.

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In today's installment of "she did it first", here is Nina Simone with the original version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The song was written especially for her to record.

While it is a metaphor about emotional relationships, her vaunted activism gives it a broader social context.

NINA SIMONE -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1964)



The Animals released their international hit cover version the following year, making it a staple in many Garage bands' set lists. It was propelled by the distinctive vocal of Eric Burdon, the guitar figure by Hilton Valentine, and organ harmony of Alan Price.

THE ANIMALS -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1965)



In the late '70s it took on epic dance dimensions by the Disco group Santa Esmeralda. This version gained new street cred when its instrumental break was used in the film, KILL BILL, Vol. 1 (2004).

SANTA ESMERALDA -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1977)


The KILL BILL soundtrack included the Santa Esmeralda track as well as Nancy Sinatra's cover of "Bang Bang". Perhaps taking their cue from this, here is STRANGEFRUIT combining the guitar sound of Nancy's song along with Nina's version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood":

STRANGEFRUIT -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (2009)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• SHAKE AND FINGER POP! Soul Music and the Interior Truth, with Music Player!

• WOMEN OF ROCK: The 1960s, with 2 Music Players!

• THE BRITISH INVASION!, with Music Player!

• "Misirlou!" -The Deep History of Dick Dale's Surf Classic

• JOHN BARRY: The Influence Of The JAMES BOND Sound On Pop Music, with 2 Music Players!

• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music!, with 3 Music Players!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Let's Dance" - David Bowie > George Clinton > Craig David

ROCK Sex is putting on its red shoes to dance the blues.

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Here's David Bowie's comeback hit "Let's Dance", which helped launch the career of guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan:

DAVID BOWIE -"Let's Dance" (1982)



Here's P-Funk commander George Clinton meeting him back at the turnaround:

GEORGE CLINTON -"Last Dance" (1983)



And here's Craig David putting some new steps in the relay:

CRAIG DAVID -"Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)" (2007)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Fame" - James Brown > David Bowie > James Brown

• "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes > Iggy Pop > The Jam > David Bowie

• "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies, with Music Player!

• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Good Times!" - Chic > SugarHill Gang > Queen > Defunkt > Ting Tings

ROCK Sex is all about the throughline that runs through everything.

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Chic conquered Disco with a tight propulsive rhythm section [Bernard Edwards (b), Tony Thompson (d), and Nile Rodgers (g)] and bright pop harmonies (Norma Jean Wright, Luci Martin)...

CHIC -"Good Times" (1979)



Sugar Hill Records used that as the backbeat for THE breakthrough Rap song emceed by The Sugarhill Gang. The music was played by Keith Leblanc (d), Skip McDonald (g), and Doug Wimbish (b), who went on to become the avant-Funk group Tackhead.

SUGARHILL GANG -"Rapper's Delight" (1979)



Freddie Mercury loved that hard beat and the emerging HipHop so much that he corraled Queen into one of the biggest hits they ever had...

QUEEN -"Another One Bites the Dust" (1980)



Defunkt came out of the NYC PostPunk scene, with an edgy mix of James Brown rhythms, Sonny Sharrock guitar, and Charles Bukowski-esque lyrics. This acerbic deconstruction of "Good Times" contrasts prostitution and addiction against the Reagan whitewash of the American Dream.

DEFUNKT -"In the Good Times" (1981)



And here's that rhythm again in this dance club hit by Ting Tings from England.

TING TINGS -"Shut Up and Let Me Go" (2008)



"I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, ah you don't stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat!"

© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music


• ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Tainted Love" - Gloria Jones > Soft Cell

Gloria Jones and Marc Bolan unveil Rolan.

ROCK Sex "gives you all a boy can give you".

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The original "Tainted Love" was a Northern Soul song performed by Gloria Jones in 1964, responding to the Motown stomp of songs like The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love". Later, she became the partner and muse of T-Rex's Marc Bolan.

GLORIA JONES -"Tainted Love" (1964)



The song was remade in a pretty similar but more Disco fashion in 1975:

RUTH SWANN -"Tainted Love" (1975)



Shortly afterward Gloria Jones and Marc Bolan remade the song:

GLORIA JONES, w/ Marc Bolan -"Tainted Love" (1976)



Marc Almond of Soft Cell heard the original played in a dance club and made it into the Synthpop anthem of all time:

SOFT CELL -"Tainted Love" (1981)



The rhythm of the song (and the intro of James Brown's "I Feel Good") was refashioned into this song.

FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS -"Good Thing" (1988)



From there it has been covered/exhalted/ruined (depending on your bias) by Coil, Inspiral Carpets, My Ruin, Marilyn Manson, The Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Danny Noriega, and Imelda May.



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes > Iggy Pop > The Jam > David Bowie

• LADIES FIRST: "Out In the Streets" - The Shangri-Las > Blondie


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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