Funky Friday – Episode 41: ScorpioSonic

The funk runs deep this week. Scorpio season in full effect — seductive, defiant, and dangerous on the downbeat.

Airdate: 11.14.25 - 9am Pacific Time on KDOG & 9pm Pacific Time on KCSM HD2

🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 Listen live on KDOG  9am Pacific Time→ Here

🎧 Listen live on KCSM HD2 9pm Pacific Time→ Here (On mobile scroll down to the KCSM HD2 player)

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

🎟 RSVP to Episodes → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Happy Funky Friday!

🔥 Welcome to Episode 41: SCORPIOSONIC — Funk That Stings Back

Forty-one shows deep, the signal slithers into darker waters.Scorpio season.Where rhythm turns magnetic, grooves smolder slow, and every note hides a little danger.

This week, Funky Friday channels the zodiac’s most mysterious sign — seductive, intense, and transformational.Because funk, like Scorpio, doesn’t always shout. Sometimes it whispers, stares you down… and then hits you with the sting.

🦂 Setlist + Renegade Notes

Act I — The Spark: Identity and Defiance

Betty Davis – “They Say I’m Different” (1974, New York via Pittsburgh)

• Personnel: Betty Davis – vocals | Larry Johnson – bass | Fred Mills – guitar | Buddy Miles – drums

• Renegade Note: The original funk renegade, self-produced and unstoppable. Betty doesn’t just open the door — she burns the frame. Every word drips autonomy and danger; the perfect invocation for Scorpio season.

Lettuce – “King of the Burgs” (2019, Boston via Brooklyn)

• Personnel: Adam Deitch – drums | Eric Krasno – guitar | Neal Evans – keys | Ryan Zoidis – sax

• Renegade Note: Horn-heavy precision with a modern pulse. Lettuce doesn’t imitate the old masters — they extend the lineage with swagger.

  
  

Act II — Heat Rising

Mother’s Finest – “Baby Love” (1977, Atlanta)

• Personnel: Joyce “Baby Jean” Kennedy – vocals | Glenn Murdock – vocals | Jerry Seay – bass | Moses Mo – guitar | Wyzard – keys

• Renegade Note: Funk-rock from the deep South with soul that could melt asphalt. Female power, electric tone, and the bite of a band that demanded the spotlight on their own terms.

Dennis Coffey – “Scorpio” (1971, Detroit) 🦂

• Personnel: Dennis Coffey – guitar | Bob Babbitt – bass | Uriel Jones – drums | Earl Van Dyke – keys

• Renegade Note: The namesake groove of the sign itself — fierce, funky, and built for transformation. Coffey blends Motown precision with psychedelic swagger, creating a hypnotic instrumental that launched a thousand hip-hop breaks.

  
  

Act III — Transformation and Groove

The New Mastersounds – “Josus” (2015, Leeds via New Orleans)

• Personnel: Eddie Roberts – guitar | Simon Allen – drums | Pete Shand – bass | Joe Tatton – keys

• Renegade Note: No words, no problem. The British funk ambassadors channel Booker T. and The Meters, proving the groove speaks fluent Scorpio.

Curtis Mayfield – “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go” (1970, Chicago)

• Personnel: Curtis Mayfield – vocals/guitar | Richard Tufo – keys | Lucky Scott – bass | Master Henry Gibson – percussion

• Renegade Note: Social prophecy wrapped in a slow-burn funk sermon. Curtis Mayfield’s masterpiece warns, grooves, and hypnotizes in equal measure. The unedited album version opens with an explicit spoken word intro — this broadcast uses a clean radio edit starting at 0:13, preserving every ounce of tension without losing message or mood.

Graham Central Station – “The Jam” (1975, San Francisco Bay Area)

• Personnel: Larry Graham – bass/vocals | Hershall Kennedy – keys | David Vega – guitar | Gaylord Birch – drums | Patryce “Choc’Let” Banks – vocals

• Renegade Note: The Bay strikes back. Slap bass thunder and audience call-and-response turn this one into a communal exorcism of groove.

Ohio Players – “Fire” (1974, Dayton, OH)

• Personnel: Sugarfoot Bonner – vocals/guitar | Clarence Willis – keys | James Williams – drums | Marshall Jones – bass

• Renegade Note: Sirens, heat, and attitude — funk as combustion. If Betty lit the match, the Players deliver the blaze.

  
  

Act IV — The Ascent: Liberation and Flight

Soopasoul – “It’s Just Begun Pt. 2” (2008, UK)

• Personnel: Danny Bennett – producer/drums | Soopasoul Horns – brass

• Renegade Note: A breakbeat resurrection that bridges eras. Classic foundation, modern grit — the sting reborn in stereo.

Orgōne – “The Big Escape” (2019, Los Angeles)

• Personnel: Sergio Rios – guitar | Dan Hastie – keys | Adryon de León – vocals | Dale Jennings – bass

• Renegade Note: Cinematic funk — a getaway car with a wah-wah engine. Scorpio slipping the restraints.

Morris Day & The Time – “Jungle Love” (1984, Minneapolis)

• Personnel: Morris Day – vocals/drums | Jesse Johnson – guitar | Jimmy Jam – keys | Terry Lewis – bass

• Renegade Note: Seduction in synth form. Morris struts through the jungle, equal parts predator and showman — the perfect closer for a sign that always gets the last word.

🧭 Why SCORPIOSONIC?

Because Scorpio is transformation in motion — the sign that burns down to rise again.This episode dives into the depths of funk’s shadow side — fierce independence, creative power, and rhythm that refuses to play nice. It’s the season of heat, metamorphosis, and music that bites back.

ScorpioSonic is the sound of that sting — funk that seduces, scorches, and liberates.

🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 Listen live on KDOG  9am Pacific Time→ Here

🎧 Listen live on KCSM HD2 9pm Pacific Time→ Here (On mobile scroll down to the KCSM HD2 player)

🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here 

🎟 RSVP to Episode → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Funk Facts

---

🎸 “They Say I'm Different” – Betty Davis (1974)

Before there was Prince, there was Betty. A self-produced, genre-breaking artist who wrote, arranged, and delivered her music with unapologetic ferocity. Her influence on artists like Chaka Khan and Erykah Badu is immeasurable — and this title track remains one of the fiercest declarations of independence in funk history.

🎤 “The Jam” – Graham Central Station (1975)

Larry Graham, the Bay Area’s bass prophet, literally invented the slap technique heard across modern funk and hip-hop. “The Jam” captures that moment when funk became a communal act — call, response, and thunderous groove. It’s no coincidence Graham was once Sly & The Family Stone’s secret weapon.

🔥 “Fire” – Ohio Players (1974)

That iconic siren? Real — sampled from an actual fire truck outside the studio. The Players built this hit on syncopation, swagger, and pure showmanship. It went #1 on both R&B and pop charts, proving that unapologetic funk could ignite the mainstream.

💋 “Jungle Love” – Morris Day & The Time (1984)

Written and produced by Prince and The Time’s own Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, “Jungle Love” blurred the line between band and alter ego. Every scream, synth stab, and mirrored-glass stare was designed for one thing: control of the room. Morris Day didn’t just perform funk — he personified it.

⚡ “Baby Love” – Mother’s Finest (1977)

Funk meets rock with power vocals and arena-level grit. Joyce “Baby Jean” Kennedy’s voice roars through a wall of guitars, making “Baby Love” a feminist anthem wrapped in heavy groove. Mother’s Finest broke boundaries on both the R&B and rock charts — long before genre fusion was fashionable.