Freaky Styley
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Jungleman, Nevermind, The Brother’s Cup
From: Freaky Styley [EMI, 1985]
I’d like to try something kinda new here on Earfuzz: spotlight the work of a major-label, multi-platinum, globe-trotting, model/actress-dating, Billboard Chart-topping, cash cow juggernaut of an artist – Red Hot Chili Peppers. I think most anyone (fans & haters alike) would agree that it’s a bit surprising this band weathered such drama and devastating lineup changes to last 25+ years and become a household name. 9 albums. Wha? How did this happen?
Well, let’s take a trip back in time to the band’s retrospectively “classic” album #2 – Freaky Styley (1985). Oh, the 1985 pop charts: ‘Careless Whisper’, ‘We Are the World’, ‘Like a Virgin’… Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack… no mention of any Red Hot Chili Peppers. No, the Chili Peppers had not yet worked their way into the center lens of the pop-culture overmind, they were busy fighting to make a name for themselves and scrapping for their piece of the pie. One can hear this vitality and lust for life in the music. It’s an exuberance not yet touched by the tragedies to come.
Freaky Styley: 14 songs comprising a singular statement: the style and music of this band is “freaky”.
George Clinton handles production while Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker handle horn arrangements; so, it’s no surprise to read quotes like this from Jason Birchmeir of Allmusic: “Freaky Styley is the closest the Red Hot Chili Peppers ever came to straight funk. [it] is the quirkiest, loosest, and most playful album in their long and winding catalog.” Birchmeir continues, “It’s also one of the best if also one of their least heard.”
This lineup is a real treat. Aside from the long-standing core of Anthony Keidis and Flea, we get founding guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Cliff Martinez fully fostering the “freaky”. Slovak’s influence on the band is the subject of much writing (much of it more informed than anything I could draft), so, I won’t get too deep into it here. Instead, I will take a moment to give Cliff Martinez props. His drumming really stands out for me here. There’s something uniquely funky about his playing that liberates this music in a way that would slowly change as the band migrated from punk/funk club jams to FM funk/rock with Jack Irons and then stadium arena heavy with the awesome powerhouse that is Chad Smith.
I’ll stop here. Hope you dig.
Good choice. Not much of RHCP's catalogue has aged well for me, and I certainly dont care for their current stuff. But this record is really good.
I always credited George Clinton for the great horn arrangements; thanks for passing along the info that Wesley and Parker deserve the kudos.