BEST OF/20TH CENTURY

Con Funk Shun includes: Michael Cooper (vocals, guitar); Felton Pilate (vocals, trombone); Karl Fullert, Paul Harrell (horns); Danny Thomas (keyboards); Cedric Martin (bass); Louis McCall (drums). Producers include: Skip Scarborough, Con Funk Shun, Eumir Deodato. Compilation producer: Harry Weinger. Recorded between 1977 and 1983. Includes liner notes by Amy Linden. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Universal's "20th Century Masters The Millenium Collection" series. Liner Note Author: Amy Linden. Arranger: Con Funk Shun. In the 1990s, the major label PolyGram released four hits compilations by the 1970s/'80s pop-funk band Con Funk Shun in the U.S., the full-priced The Best of Con Funk Shun and The Best of Con Funk Shun, Vol. 2 (both on the Mercury imprint) and the budget-priced Ffun (on the Special Music label) and Greatest Hits (on PolyGram Special Markets). (There was also an anthology with the self-explanatory title The Ballads Collection.) Now, this entry in Universal's 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection series presents a midline-priced Con Funk Shun best-of, so there's a compilation for every pocketbook. But there still isn't a Con Funk Shun hits album that contains all their major hits. Six R&B Top Tens the band scored between 1977 and 1983 are featured here: "Ffun," "Shake and Dance with Me," "Chase Me," "Got to Be Enough," "Too Tight," and "Baby, I'm Hooked (Right into Your Love)." (All six are also on The Best of Con Funk Shun, and the first five are on both Ffun and Greatest Hits.) But their final two, "Electric Lady" and "Burnin' Love," are not. Nor are these unusual omissions; "Electric Lady" has appeared only on The Best of Con Funk Shun, Vol. 2, while "Burnin' Love" has yet to be anthologized. One can only assume that the band disowns these later hits or that, since the tunes were outside songwriting efforts and the group does not stand to earn publishing fees, they would rather fill up their compilations with admittedly well-received album tracks like "Make It Last" and "Love's Train." Nevertheless, when an act has put out six compilations at various price points, you'd think that one of them (or even the bunch of them taken together) would contain all of its biggest hits. ~ William Ruhlmann