Rick James ~ You & I Will Dance On The Funk 1978 Funky Purrfection Version

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Rick James grew up in Buffalo, NY as a budding athlete like his hero, James Brown. He soon realized that it was not in the cards so he turned to music starting with the drums.

He moved to Canada where he met Neil Young and Bruce Palmer and they formed the Mynah Birds for a short time. Rick learned how to write music and play guitar from Neil and then the band signed with Motown. Once the label found out that James was AWOL from the Navy, they told him to come back face the music and then return to Motown.

He did all that, but by the time he was done, the Mynah Birds had flown the coop, with Neil Young joining Buffalo Springfield and having great success. James went back to Motown as a writer/producer working with The Marvelettes and The Spinners. He was not confident in his vocal abilities until he heard Bootsy Collins sing and he realized that if Bootsy could be a star so could he.

He took a trip the to the UK and upon his return to the US in 1977 when Motown producer Jeffrey Bowen heard James working on his demos. Bowen took "You & I" to Motown brass who agreed to sign and release the song as a solo single from James. Rick did not think the song, which was written for his wife would be a hit, but the sexual double entendre lyrics with the bouncy beat drove the song to be a #1 R&B single for three weeks! It peaked at #13 on the Hot100, not a bad showing for a debut single.
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Funky