Trouble Funk is an American R&B and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The group helped to popularize funk and the subgenre go-go in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. Among the band's well-known songs is the go-go anthem "Hey, Fellas". They released several studio albums including '' Drop the Bomb'', '' In Times of Trouble'', ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'', and '' Trouble Over Here Trouble Over There'' (UK No. 54), and two live albums, ''Trouble Funk: Straight Up Go-Go Style'' and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. In 1982, they released a single "So Early in the Morning" on D.E.T.T Records, later reissued on diverse labels as 2.13.61 and Tuff City. Trouble Funk sometimes shared the stage with

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

bands of the day such as

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C., by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guita ...

and the Big Boys. Trouble Funk's song "Pump Me Up" was sampled by many other artists, including Dimples D.'s one-hit wonder " Sucker DJ", which went to No. 1 in Australia,

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

's " Fight the Power",

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapping , rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major rec ...

's song "If I Ruled the World" and M.A.R.R.S.'s song " Pump Up the Volume". The song is also featured in the film '' Style Wars'' and on the fictional old-school hip hop radio station Wildstyle in the game, '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City''. Keyboard player Robert "Syke Dyke" Reed died at the age of 50 on April 13, 2008, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. Trouble Funk remains active in the Washington, D.C. area live-music scene.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (also titled as ''Straight Up Funk Go Go Style'') (Jamtu Records, 1981) *'' Drop the Bomb'' ( Sugar Hill, 1982) *'' In Times of Trouble'' (D.E.T.T. Records, 1983) *''

'' (

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, 1983) *'' Say What!'' (

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, 1986) *'' Trouble Over Here'' (

, 1987) *'' Early Singles'' (Infinite Zero, 1997) *'' Droppin' Bombs'' (Harmless, 1998) *'' E Flat Boogie'' (Funky Delicacies, 2000) *'' The Complete Collection of Trouble Funk'' (TF Records, 2015)

Charted songs

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Go-go musical groups Musical groups from Washington, D.C. Island Records artists Musical groups established in 1978 1978 establishments in Washington, D.C.