Funky Friday – Episode 30: Dirty 30

All aboard the Funk Train! 

Airdate: 08.29.25- 9am Pacific Time

🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 New! Listen & chat live within Renegade Chronicles → Here

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

🎟 RSVP to Episodes → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Happy Funky Friday!

Welcome to Episode 30: Dirty 30 — a milestone ride on the Funk Train. Thirty episodes deep, and we’re taking it underground. Picture graffiti-splattered BART cars, steel wheels in the tunnel, neon lights flickering, and basslines so raw they shake the rails. This set is built dirty, gritty, and big — a true celebration of funk that’s been riding with us all the way here.

We open with James Brown’s stripped-down Hot Pants, then explode into Rick James’ outrageous Super Freak. From there, the Funk Train barrels through deep grooves by The Meters and Tower of Power, makes an after-dark stop at The Blackbyrds’ Rock Creek Park, and rolls toward a unifying finale with Funkadelic’s One Nation Under a Groove.

Dirty 30 isn’t just another Funky Friday — it’s proof the groove only gets stronger with every stop.

🎧 Track List – Funky Friday 30: Dirty 30

1. Hot Pants – James Brown (1971)

2. Superstition – Stevie Wonder (1972)

3. Super Freak – Rick James (1981)

4. You Got to Funkifize – Tower of Power (1970)

5. Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) – Parliament (1976)

6. Jungle Boogie – Kool & the Gang (1973)

7. Cissy Strut – The Meters (1969)

8. Fantastic Voyage – Coolio (1994)

9. You Dropped a Bomb on Me – The Gap Band (1982)

10. Rock Creek Park – The Blackbyrds (1975)

11. Brick House – Commodores (1977)

12. Atomic Dog – George Clinton (1982)

13. One Nation Under a Groove – Funkadelic (1978)

    
    

🛤️ Why Dirty 30? Episode 30 marks a turning point — funk that isn’t afraid to get loud, dirty, and underground. From James Brown’s stripped-down grooves to Rick James’ outrageous anthems and the late-night vibe of Rock Creek Park, Dirty 30 celebrates the grit, swagger, and raw power that funk was built on.

🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 New! Listen & chat live within Renegade Chronicles → Here 

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here 

🎟 RSVP to Episode → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Funk Facts

---

🎤 “Hot Pants” – James Brown (1971) – James Brown recorded Hot Pants at the height of his stripped-down funk era. Built around just drums, bass, and guitar vamps, the track proved how powerful minimal funk could be. It went to #1 on the R&B charts and inspired an entire wave of fashion slang in the 70s.

⚡ “Super Freak” – Rick James (1981)One of Rick James’ most iconic tracks, Super Freak is outrageous, funky, and instantly recognizable. Its signature bassline was later sampled in MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This, cementing its place as a crossover classic that still feels dirty and bold.

🎷 “Rock Creek Park” – The Blackbyrds (1975)A Washington, D.C. underground anthem, Rock Creek Park was recorded by Donald Byrd’s protégés and became a staple of late-night funk. With its hypnotic bass groove and chant “doin’ it in the park… doin’ it after dark,” the track has been sampled heavily in hip-hop and remains a funk cult favorite.

👑 “Atomic Dog” – George Clinton (1982)Released after Parliament-Funkadelic’s peak, Atomic Dog became George Clinton’s biggest solo hit. The track’s improvised chant — “Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay” — came to him during the session and became one of the most sampled hooks in hip-hop history, from Snoop Dogg to Ice Cube.