Song of the Day 6/23: Ohio Players, “Funky Worm”

Have you seen any stories about this invasive species of Asian “jumping” earthworms that’s tearing up forest land in the Midwest? Check the link and prepared to be creeped out. But do it while you listen to the Ohio Players’ first charting single, from their 1973 LP “Pleasure.” It was a No. 1 R&B hit, No. 15 on the Hot 100.

The track grew directly out of keyboard player Walter “Junie” Morrison’s love of new electronic gadgets, an easy jones to satisfy in the early ’70s. “I found an ARP Soloist in a shop somewhere in New York City. Immediately, it sung to me and I heard an Arabian-style riff that had ‘worm’ written all over it. I bought this synth and went into the studio with it. During the session, I remember everyone staring through the control room glass with puzzled looks on their faces, that was, until I recorded the Granny voice to cement the track together. It was lots of fun and the rest is history.” Morrison used that voice in skits the band performed during their days playing nightclubs. It should come as no surprise that he left the Ohio Players the next year and was soon playing with George Clinton.

Hip-hop gave the track a long afterlife — Morrison’s “wormy” sound has been sampled for dozens of songs and became foundational in West Coast rap in the ’80s. Unfortunately, the Asian jumping worms could be here for even longer.