There's a moment in 'The Mighty Boosh' when Vince says "Jazz-Funk? That's Funk's retarded cousin," The same thing could easily be said about Funk-Metal. There was a whole movement toward crossover (witness Anthrax teaming up with Public Enemy to produce a tune which was less than the sum of its parts) as if metal was slightly ashamed of itself and seeking to gain legitimacy but melding with other, more respectable genres (Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit et al would do something very similar ten years later with similarly dreadful results)
The prime movers of this genre were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who, unlike most of those who came after (I'm looking at you Urban Dance Squad, Freaky Funkin' Wierdos and many more) were actually really cool.
My copy of Mother's Milk - the album that first broke them - was ill-gotten. It was stolen from a party at the house of someone we didn't like. There are dim memories of being drunk on cheap cider, petty vandalism, booze being stolen, the whole thing. And when I got home I had this tape in my pocket. I could never listen to Higher Ground without feeling vaguely guilty. I could take this opportunity to confess, but rather sadly, I can't remember the name of the kid who's party it was, so my deed will have to go unpunished, apart from my whole self loathing thing.
The first 4 Chilis albums were a lot different to the ones that came after their big hit 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' and are a lot more funky, often sounding like a different band. I was much more of a fan of this early stuff, which was my first real taste of musical snobbery - when everyone else was raving about 'Under The Bridge' and 'Give It Away' I was acting like a proto-hipster, quietly remarking that I'd been into them for years and their early stuff was way better. Sometimes I can be such a jerk...
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