THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

645-Armand Van Helden-The Funk Phenomena.

1996-Number 38 single.

Best Bit-At 1.00. For those who feel more comforted with repetition in their lives, then this ones for you.

Armand Van Helden (see also best songs 138) was born on February 16th, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he is a music producer, songwriter, remixer, and DJ, in the genre of ‘Electronic Dance Music,’ and it’s sub-genres, including ‘Speed Garage,’ and ‘Garage House,’ of which he is a pioneer. Armand Van Helden whose father was of Dutch and Indonesian descent, (Indo) and his mother, who was French, has recorded and performed under several different aliases, including ‘Deep Creed,’ ‘Wizzards of Wax,’ and ‘Duck Sauce.’ Armand Van Helden finally broke big in 1996 with his remix of the Tori Amos song ‘Professional Widow,’ which became a worldwide hit, and reached Number 1 in the UK, due solely to his remix. This led to many of the worlds top artists, including the Rolling Stones, and Janet Jackson, requesting remixes from him.

The discography of Armand Van Helden, using his own name, includes nine studio Albums, released between 1996-2016, and 62 singles, released between 1994-2014, there are also 11 official compilation Albums available. In America he has never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, but five of his tracks have made the top 10 Billboard ‘Dance Club’ chart. In the UK he has had 12 top 40 hits, as either the lead or featured artist, with ‘You Don’t Know Me,’ featuring Duane Harden, (1999) and ‘Bonkers,’ by Dizzee Rascal featuring Armand Van Helden, (2009) both reaching the Number 1 spot.

‘The Funk Phenomena’ can be filed under the genre of ‘Garage House,’ which was originally known as ‘Garage,’ or ‘New York House,’ or ‘New Jersey sound,’ that was developed alongside ‘Chicago House’ music. The genre was popular in the 1980’s in the United States, and the 1990’s in the United Kingdom, where it developed into ‘UK Garage,’ and ‘Speed Garage.’ ‘Garage House’ which was developed in the ‘Paradise Garage’ nightclub, in New York City, and Club Zanzibar, in Newark, New Jersey, United States, in the early to mid 1980’s, is recognisable by it’s gospel-influenced piano riffs and female vocals, and has a more soulful ‘R&B’ derived sound than ‘Chicago House’ music. When ‘Garage House’ became popular in the UK in the early 1990’s, it acquired the name ‘UK Garage.’

‘The Funk Phenomena’ was released as a single from Armand Van Helden’s debut studio Album ‘Old School Junkies: The Album,’ in 1996, the song is credited as being co-written by Armand Van Helden, and Method Man, (see also best songs 359 and 166) with the production being by Armand Van Helden. Like many ‘Dance Music’ tracks, ‘The Funk Phenomena’ has many official and unofficial remixes. On ‘The Funk Phenomena’ there are three significant samples, the endlessly repeated chant of ‘The Funk Phenomena,’ is taken from the 1995 ‘Hip-Hop’ song ‘How High,’ (1995-Billboard Number 13) by ‘Method Man & Redman,’ and that is why Method Man receives the songwriting credit. It is the voice of the American Rapper ‘Redman’ that can be heard saying ‘The Funk Phenomena.’ The main sample on ‘The Funk Phenomena,’ is lifted from the 1973 track ‘Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?’ (1973-Billboard Number 69) by the American ‘R&B’ group ‘Creative Source,’ but none of that songs writers receive song writing credits on ‘The Funk Phenomena.’ The other song sampled is ‘Don’t Throw My Love Around,’ by the American Funk band ‘Cooly’s Hot Box,’ who also receive no writing credits.

‘The Funk Phenomena.’