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Funky Friday – Episode 48: Moving into 2026

Updated: Jan 6

🎧 Quick Links:

🎧 Listen live on KDOG 9 AM Pacific Time→ Here

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


📆 Add to Calendar — Funky Friday (Weekly):

• 9 AM KDOG

• 9 PM KCSM HD2


🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here


Episode Teaser



Airdate: 1.2.26 - 9 AM Pacific Time on KDOG & 9 PM Pacific Time on KCSM HD2


Happy Funky Friday, Renegades of Funk!


For Episode 48, we cross into a new year — but not with a countdown, not with confetti, and not with borrowed hype.


This is 2026:


a reset set built on forward motion, steady rhythm, and funk that knows when not to flinch.


The calendar turns.


The signal stays locked.


And the groove?


It doesn’t panic — it keeps moving.


No fireworks.

No novelty.

No midnight sugar rush.


Just funk with direction.

Funk with endurance.

Funk that understands the value of staying the course.


🐎 SETLIST + RENEGADE NOTES


Act I — Setting the Posture


War – “Low Rider” (1975)

Personnel: Lonnie Jordan (keys), Howard Scott (guitar), B.B. Dickerson (bass), Harold Brown (drums), Papa Dee Allen (percussion).

Renegade Note: West Coast cruise control. “Low Rider” doesn’t rush the moment — it glides. A perfect entry point for a year that values momentum over noise.


Eddie Kendricks – “Keep On Truckin’” (1973)

Personnel: Eddie Kendricks (vocals), produced by Frank Wilson.

Renegade Note: Forward motion as philosophy. Kendricks delivers optimism without gloss — a reminder that movement itself can be the message.


B.T. Express – “Give It What You Got” (1974)

Personnel: B.T. Express rhythm section, Mark Fisher (bass), Michael Jones (drums), Dennis Rowe (guitar), Carlos Ward (saxophone), Louis Risbrook (trumpet); produced by Jeff Lane.

Renegade Note: No excess, no apology. Tight bass, locked drums, and pure intent — funk that earns its confidence.


Act II — Stay the Course


Tower of Power – “Don’t Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)” (1973)

Personnel: Lenny Williams (vocals), Emilio Castillo (tenor sax), Stephen “Doc” Kupka (baritone sax), Rocco Prestia (bass), David Garibaldi (drums).

Renegade Note: The thesis. Not about stubbornness — about trust. Trust in the groove, the work, and the direction you’re already moving.


Act III — Mid-Stream America


Roy Ayers Ubiquity – “Running Away” (1977)

Personnel: Roy Ayers (vibes), Edwin Birdsong (bass), Harry Whitaker (keys).

Renegade Note: Tension in motion. The groove moves forward while the lyrics wrestle with escape — a familiar American contradiction.


The Temptations – “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” (1970)

Personnel: Dennis Edwards (lead vocals), Melvin Franklin (bass vocals), Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams (background vocals);James Jamerson (bass), Benny Benjamin and Uriel Jones (drums), with Motown’s Funk Brothers driving the rhythm section. Norman Whitfield (producer).

Renegade Note: Chaos with clarity. Funk as commentary, rhythm as anchor. Fifty-plus years on, the questions still land.


The Isley Brothers – “Work to Do” (1972)

Personnel: Ronald Isley (vocals), Ernie Isley (guitar), Marvin Isley (bass). Chris Jasper (piano/keys), produced by The Isley Brothers.

Renegade Note: Labor as groove. No shortcuts here — just effort, repetition, and payoff.


Act IV — The Stride


Curtis Mayfield – “Move On Up” (1970)

Personnel: Curtis Mayfield (vocals), Johnny Pate (arrangement), Chicago session musicians including Rich Tufo (keyboards) and Phil Upchurch (guitar), with a driving rhythm section supporting the extended arrangement.

Renegade Note: Aspirational without naïveté. Movement powered by belief and sweat — a cornerstone of forward-facing soul.


Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – “Express Yourself” (1970)

Personnel: Charles Wright (vocals), Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Melvin Dunlap (keyboards), James Gadson (drums), Al McKay (guitar), David Johnson (bass).

Renegade Note: Identity with backbone. Funk that asserts presence without asking permission.


Act V — Higher Ground


The Stylistics – “People Make the World Go Round” (1971)

Personnel: Russell Thompkins Jr. (lead vocals). Ronnie Baker (bass), Earl Young (drums), Norman Harris (guitar) — core members of MFSB, Philadelphia International Records’ house rhythm section. Thom Bell (producer),

Renegade Note: Systems, cycles, and humanity. Soft on the surface, sharp at the core.


Sly & The Family Stone – “I Want to Take You Higher” (1969)

Personnel: Sly Stone (vocals, keys), Freddie Stone (guitar), Larry Graham (bass), Cynthia Robinson (trumpet), Jerry Martini (sax), Greg Errico (drums), Rose Stone (vocals).

Renegade Note: Collective lift-off. This isn’t celebration — it’s propulsion. Larry Graham’s bass and the band’s call-and-response energy turn forward motion into something communal, not individual. Placed here, it raises the floor without stealing the summit — setting the stage for Stevie’s final climb.


Stevie Wonder – “Higher Ground” (1973)

Personnel: Stevie Wonder (vocals, keys, drums).

Renegade Note: Forward vision. Urgent, optimistic, and locked directly into the future — a closing statement that doesn’t look back.


📡 WHY 2026?


Because a new year doesn’t require reinvention — it requires intention.


In some calendars, 2026 is the Year of the Horse: motion, endurance, and strength through consistency.


As this country moves toward its 250th year, the lesson remains familiar:


Don’t stall.

Don’t panic.

Don’t change horses mid-stream.


The calendar changes.


The groove continues.


And Funky Friday moves into 2026 —steady, intentional, and still on the ONE.



🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 Listen live on KDOG 9 AM Pacific Time→ Here

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


📆 Add to Calendar — Funky Friday (Weekly):

• 9 AM KDOG

• 9 PM KCSM HD2


🎶 Catch the Replay → Here

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here



Funk Facts


🐎 Tower of Power — Staying the Course

“Don’t Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)” isn’t just a phrase — it’s a philosophy. Released in 1973 at the height of Tower of Power’s powers, the track reflects discipline over impulse. Rocco Prestia’s relentless fingerstyle bass and David Garibaldi’s precision drumming embody momentum without panic — a lesson in trust that still holds.


🚗 War’s “Low Rider” — Motion Without Urgency

“Low Rider” is built on restraint. Instead of chasing speed, War lets the groove cruise — proving that forward motion doesn’t require acceleration. The song’s laid-back West Coast swagger makes it a perfect opener for a year defined by endurance, not excess.


🚛 Eddie Kendricks & Forward Momentum

“Keep On Truckin’” arrived just as Eddie Kendricks stepped fully into his solo identity after The Temptations. The message is simple but durable: movement itself is progress. Disco-adjacent but rooted in soul, the track carries optimism without pretending the road is easy.


⚙️ B.T. Express — Funk as Work Ethic

“Give It What You Got” strips funk down to intent. No extra ornamentation — just bass, drums, and command. This is blue-collar funk: show up, lock in, deliver. A reminder that groove is built, not wished into existence.


🏃 Roy Ayers Ubiquity — The Tension of Escape

“Running Away” captures a familiar contradiction: the body moves forward while the mind looks for exits. Ayers’ shimmering vibes float above a rhythm section that never breaks stride — funk that acknowledges doubt without surrendering momentum.


🧠 The Temptations — Chaos With a Backbone

“Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” remains one of funk’s most effective truth-tellers. Produced by Norman Whitfield, the track channels disorder through discipline — rapid-fire lyrics anchored by a groove that refuses to collapse. Commentary that still dances.


🛠️ The Isley Brothers — Labor in the Pocket

“Work to Do” frames effort as rhythm. Ernie Isley’s guitar and Marvin Isley’s bass turn responsibility into motion, reinforcing the idea that progress isn’t glamorous — it’s repetitive, physical, and necessary.


⬆️ Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” — Aspirational Without Illusion

This isn’t motivational fluff. “Move On Up” acknowledges struggle while insisting on ascent. Johnny Pate’s arrangement builds like a long climb — steady, patient, and earned. Forward motion with eyes open.


🌍 The Stylistics — Systems Over Spectacle

“People Make the World Go Round” sounds soft, but cuts deep. Thom Bell’s production frames global systems — money, labor, inequality — through elegance instead of anger. A reminder that funk can question structures without raising its voice.


⬆️ Sly & The Family Stone — Collective Lift-Off

“I Want to Take You Higher” captures Sly & The Family Stone at their most communal. Driven by Larry Graham’s pioneering slap bass and a call-and-response structure that turns the band into a single engine, the song reframes funk as shared propulsion — not individual escape. Recorded in 1969, it channels optimism, urgency, and forward motion at the dawn of a turbulent era, making it a perfect bridge into the final ascent of Episode 48.


🚀 Stevie Wonder — Higher Ground, Always

Recorded almost entirely by Stevie Wonder himself, “Higher Ground” is propulsion incarnate. Urgent, future-facing, and restless, it closes Episode 48 looking forward — not because the past is irrelevant, but because the work isn’t finished.

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