Trouble Funk
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Trouble Funk was an influential and successful R&B and funk band from Washington, D.C. They helped to popularize the Washington, D.C. funk subgenre go-go. Among their well-known songs is the go-go anthem "Hey Fellas". They released several studio albums including Drop the Bomb, In Times of Trouble, and Trouble Over Here, Trouble Over There, and two live albums, Trouble Funk - Straight Up Go-Go Style and Saturday Night Live. 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 & Tuff City. Trouble Funk sometimes shared the stage with hardcore punk bands of the day such as Minor Threat and the Big Boys. This decision was made by promoters. Unsuprisingly, go-go heads didn't shave down to mohawks and thus ended the failed marriage of the two scenes.
Their song "Pump Me Up" has been sampled by many other artists and is featured in Style Wars and the fictional R&B radio station Wildstyle in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Keyboard player Robert "Syke Dyke" Reed passed away aged 50, on April 13, 2008 from pancreatic cancer.
Trouble Funk continue to remain a figure on the Washington DC area live music scene, and hold a weekly Friday night spot at Alexandria, VA's Holiday Inn.
