THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

349-James Brown-Bodyheat.

1977-Number 36 single.

Best Bit-At 0.56. In this song James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul’ tells us that even in his tender adolescent years, he was already blessed with ‘THE FUNK.’

James Brown (see also best songs 880-270 and 88) was born James Joseph Brown on May 3rd, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, United States, he died on Christmas Day 2006, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia, at the age of 73. During his 53 year professional career James Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honours, including in 1986 when he was one of the first inductees into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ at its inaugural induction dinner in New York. In 1992 he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award,’ at the 34th annual ‘Grammy Awards,’ and on January 10th, 1997, a ceremony was held to honour him with a star on the ‘Hollywood Walk of Fame.’

James Brown’s personal life was marred by numerous brushes with the law. In 1963, during a concert in Macon, Georgia, while Otis Redding (1941-1967) (see also best songs 712 and 377) was performing, Brown reportedly wielding two shotguns, tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex (1935-1982.) The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed, and since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley ‘and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear.’ James Brown was never charged for the incident. In 1988, and again in 1989 James Brown was arrested on drug and weapons charges, and then again in September 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug related and driving offences. He was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. James Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. On four occasions between 1987 to 1995, he was arrested on charges of assault against his third wife, Adrienne Rodriguez (1950-1996.) In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car.

The discography of James Brown includes 59 studio Albums released between 1958-2002, and 144 singles released between 1956-2024, there are also two soundtrack Albums, 49 official compilation Albums, and 15 live Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, 43 of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘I Got You (I Feel Good,’) peaking the highest at Number 3 in 1965, while ‘Bodyheat’ stalled at Number 88. James Brown had great success on the Billboard ‘Hot R&B Singles’ chart, with 97 of his tracks making the top 40, and 17 of those songs all reaching the Number 1 position. In the UK, James Brown has had 11 top 40 hit singles, with ‘Living in America’ peaking the highest at Number 5 in 1985.

‘Bodyheat’ (sometimes spelled ‘Body Heat’) was the first of two singles released from James Brown’s 44th studio Album of the same name, from December 1976, the other track selected for single release, was the less successful ‘Kiss in 77,’ which peaked at Number 35 on the Billboard ‘Hot R&B Singles’ chart in 1977. ‘Bodyheat’ was written and produced by James Brown, but as with many of his releases from that period the songs writing was credited to his then wife Diedre, and their two daughters, Deanna, and Yamma, as Brown was at that time in trouble with the ‘IRS’ for failure to pay back taxes.

It was around 1967 that James Brown began to define a new sound, with many music critics agreeing that he released the first true ‘Funk’ song with ‘Cold Sweat’ (1967-Billboard Number 7.) Brown is also considered a major influence on ‘Rap’ music, with his style of vocal delivery, where much of his output was not quite sung, but also not quite spoken. He is also the most sampled artist of all time, with many of his songs benefiting the development of ‘Hip-Hop’ music. By 1976 ‘Disco’ music had taken over as the number one genre in black music, and as a consequence James Brown’s record sales were slowing down, so in an attempt to keep up with the times the ‘Body Heat’ Album included elements of ‘Disco’ music. The back of the cover of the ‘Bodyheat’ Album features a text written by James Brown entitled ‘Brand New Sound,’ it reads ‘Sometimes the serpent of the devil is so strong, it takes the body heat of God to keep him away. So do good, think good, and you’ll be good to your fellow man, and to all humanity. Listen to the Album, not only will the spiritual feeling get to you, but the ‘groove’ will too. Undying Dedication to you, James Brown, with the feeling of a new beginning, ‘A New Sound.’

‘When I was a little boy about the age of one, my mother told me that you’re a loving son of a gun. When I was a little boy about the age of two, get myself, then I had to do.’