Funky Friday – Episode 50: From Thin Air To Signal Fire

🎧 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

Add to Google Calendar

• 9 PM KCSM HD2

Add to Google Calendar

🎶 Catch the Replay → Comming Soon

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Episode Teaser

Airdate: 1.16.26 - 9 AM Pacific Time on KDOG & 9 PM Pacific Time on KCSM HD2

Happy Funky Friday, Renegades of Funk!

Funky Friday – Episode 50: From Thin Air To Signal Fire doesn’t pause to look backward.

It doesn’t replay highlights.

It doesn’t frame itself as a victory lap.

It broadcasts.

This is what fifty episodes of pressure, discipline, and listening sounds like when it finally ignites. Not louder. Not faster. Just clearer.

Signal over noise.

Groove over spectacle.

Motion over memory.

From thin air to signal fire - this episode is the sound of momentum that has learned its own weight.

No novelty.

No filler.

No apologies.

Just funk that everyone recognizes - because it earned that recognition.

Funky Friday – Episode 50: From Thin Air To Signal Fire setlist below:

🔥 SETLIST + RENEGADE NOTES

Opening Transmission — The Journey Declared

Lakeside — “Fantastic Voyage” (1980)

Personnel: Mark Wood (vocals), Fred Lewis (keyboards), Marvin Craig (bass), Fred Alexander (drums), Stephen Shockley (guitar), Norman Beavers (synthesizers).

Renegade Note: Not an intro — a declaration. Movement as identity. Funky Friday doesn’t wait at the station. It departs.

Stevie Wonder — “I Wish” (1976)

Personnel: Stevie Wonder (vocals, keyboards, harmonica), Nathan Watts (bass), Raymond Pounds (drums).

Renegade Note: Joy with precision. Playful on the surface, disciplined underneath. Funk that smiles without losing force.

Parliament — “Flash Light” (1977)

Personnel: Bernie Worrell (synth bass), Bootsy Collins (bass), George Clinton (vocals), Jerome Brailey (drums), Michael Hampton (guitar).

Renegade Note: Minimal and authoritative. A bassline that doesn’t decorate the groove — it commands it.

WAR — “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” (1975)

Personnel: Lonnie Jordan (keyboards, vocals), Lee Oskar (harmonica), Howard Scott (guitar), B.B. Dickerson (bass), Harold Brown (drums).

Renegade Note: Groove as common ground. Strength without posture. Funk that invites without yielding.

Commodores — “Brick House” (1977)

Personnel: Lionel Richie (vocals), William King (trumpet), Ronald LaPread (bass), Thomas McClary (guitar), Walter Orange (drums).

Renegade Note: Structure and weight. A groove engineered to stand indefinitely.

Chic — “Le Freak” (1978)

Personnel: Nile Rodgers (guitar), Bernard Edwards (bass), Tony Thompson (drums), Norma Jean Wright (vocals).

Renegade Note: Discipline disguised as celebration. Rhythm guitar as architecture, not ornament.

Marvin Gaye — “Got to Give It Up” (1977)

Personnel: Marvin Gaye (vocals, keyboards), Odell Brown (saxophone), Frank Blair (bass), James Gadson (drums).

Renegade Note: Human funk. Loose, breathable, intentional. Proof that imperfection can still be exact.

Zapp — “More Bounce to the Ounce” (1980)

Personnel: Roger Troutman (vocals, talk box), Lester Troutman (drums), Terry Troutman (keyboards), Bobby Glover (bass).

Renegade Note: Electricity bends to funk. Forward-looking without abandoning soul.

The Gap Band — “Outstanding” (1982)

Personnel: Charlie Wilson (vocals), Ronnie Wilson (keyboards), Robert Wilson (drums), Calvin Richardson (bass).

Renegade Note: Pocket mastery. Everything exactly where it belongs — nothing rushed, nothing late.

Aretha Franklin — “Rock Steady” (1972)

Personnel: Aretha Franklin (vocals, piano), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Chuck Rainey (bass), Bernard Purdie (drums).

Renegade Note: Command without force. The groove aligns itself around her presence.

Earth, Wind & Fire — “Shining Star” (1975)

Personnel: Maurice White (vocals, kalimba), Verdine White (bass), Philip Bailey (vocals), Al McKay (guitar), Fred White (drums).

Renegade Note: Affirmation without excess. Funk that recognizes inevitability rather than announcing it.

McFadden & Whitehead — “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” (1979)

Personnel: Gene McFadden (vocals), John Whitehead (vocals).

Renegade Note: Not a slogan — a condition. Forward motion encoded in rhythm.

Prince — “Kiss” (1986)

Personnel: Prince (vocals, guitar, bass, drums), Eric Leeds (saxophone).

Renegade Note: Minimalism as power. Every note intentional. Every absence deliberate.

KC & The Sunshine Band — “Get Down Tonight” (1975)

Personnel: Harry Wayne Casey (vocals), Richard Finch (bass), Jerome Smith (guitar), Robert Johnson (drums).

Renegade Note: Pure transmission. No translation required.

A Taste of Honey — “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (1978)

Personnel: Janice-Marie Johnson (vocals, bass), Hazel Payne (vocals).

Renegade Note: Joy as closure. A smile earned through motion, not excess.

📡 WHY EPISODE 50?

Because repetition builds gravity.

Because discipline creates freedom.

Because signal only emerges after enough noise is stripped away.

Fifty episodes isn’t an ending.

It’s ignition.

The mic is live.The needle drops.The signal holds.

Funky Friday continues - recognizable, deliberate, and fully 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

Add to Google Calendar

• 9 PM KCSM HD2

Add to Google Calendar

🎶 Catch the Replay → Comming Soon

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Funk Facts

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🚀 Lakeside — Voyage as Momentum

“Fantastic Voyage” doesn’t introduce funk — it moves it. Built on buoyant synth lines and a bass groove designed for travel, the track treats motion as the point, not the payoff. Lakeside understood that funk doesn’t need to build tension to justify release. Sometimes the journey is the groove.

✨ Stevie Wonder — Joy With Structure

“I Wish” is playful without being loose. Stevie layers precision beneath exuberance, turning childhood reflection into rhythmic authority. The bassline snaps, the drums stay disciplined, and joy becomes a controlled force. This is funk smiling while keeping perfect time.

💡 Parliament — Leadership by Frequency

“Flash Light” proved that a single idea, executed with confidence, can move everything around it. Bernie Worrell’s synth bass doesn’t embellish — it commands. Parliament distilled funk to its essence here: signal strong enough to reorganize the room.

🤝 WAR — Unity Without Posture

“Why Can’t We Be Friends?” frames funk as common ground. Its laid-back groove carries an unforced message — strength without aggression, solidarity without slogans. WAR shows that funk can invite rather than confront, and still remain authoritative.

🧱 Commodores — Groove as Architecture

“Brick House” is built, not decorated. Every part reinforces the structure: bass as foundation, drums as load-bearing beams, vocals as framing. This is funk designed to last — solid, balanced, and unapologetically grounded.

🕺 Chic — Discipline Disguised as Dance

“Le Freak” is often remembered for its celebration, but its power lies in restraint. Nile Rodgers’ guitar locks the grid while Bernard Edwards’ bass carries the room. Chic demonstrates that dancefloor funk succeeds when discipline leads the party.

🫀 Marvin Gaye — Human Timing

“Got to Give It Up” breathes. The groove feels alive because it allows imperfection to exist inside intention. Marvin’s approach reminds us that funk doesn’t require polish to be precise — it requires honesty and trust in the pocket.

⚡ Zapp — Electricity Learns the Groove

“More Bounce to the Ounce” marks the moment funk absorbed technology without losing its soul. The talk box doesn’t replace emotion — it redirects it. Zapp bends electricity into rhythm, expanding funk’s vocabulary while staying rooted in feel.

🎯 The Gap Band — Pocket Mastery

“Outstanding” is the sound of everything landing exactly where it should. Nothing rushes. Nothing drags. The groove holds steady, proving that confidence in funk comes from knowing when not to move.

👑 Aretha Franklin — Command Without Force

“Rock Steady” doesn’t chase authority — it assumes it. Aretha’s delivery pulls the rhythm section into alignment, not through volume, but through certainty. This is funk responding to leadership it recognizes immediately.

🌟 Earth, Wind & Fire — Affirmation in Motion

“Shining Star” affirms without excess. The groove lifts, but never floats away. Earth, Wind & Fire frame success not as arrival, but as alignment — rhythm, message, and movement working in balance.

🔁 McFadden & Whitehead — Forward as Condition

“Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” isn’t motivational — it’s declarative. The groove doesn’t promise progress; it assumes it. Funk here operates as momentum already in motion, not something that needs ignition.

🧠 Prince — Power in Absence

“Kiss” strips funk down to its negative space. Every sound matters because so much is removed. Prince proves that restraint can be louder than excess, and that confidence doesn’t require reinforcement.

🌴 KC & The Sunshine Band — Pure Transmission

“Get Down Tonight” wastes no time. Its groove is immediate, universal, and unburdened by explanation. This is funk as delivery system — press play and the message arrives intact.

🎉 A Taste of Honey — Joy as Closure

“Boogie Oogie Oogie” closes with warmth rather than weight. Its buoyant bassline and open smile remind us that funk doesn’t always end with impact — sometimes it ends with satisfaction. Movement complete. Signal sustained.