Juke Box - Some Songs by Dan Bonow / UNKO FUNKI

This page is for current contemporary work in the NOW. If you're looking for the older, archival pure gold, such as Juggernaut and Vizzion, CLICK HERE. This selection begins with studio songs from Dan's next CD, and below that are some live performances. Check them both out please! These clips are about two-minutes long, but a couple of complete tunes are here too. The comments below are written either by Dan's pithy producer Scott Hawthorn, aka Organfreak, or by The Maestro Hisself.

All music © 2008 Big Muddy Soul Music- ASCAP - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED -

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NO FEAR Very funky tribute to Dr. Lonnie Smith's classic "Move Your Hand" and to your courage to be real! This astounding bass is from Dan's left hand on the organ, as it is on all of these tunes.
NOW! A love song about giving up ego. Unko borrowed Frank Kawaikapulani Hewett's "Niawe" and played it in the Northwest style of old Seattle... Think Polynesian chant filtered through a Leslie at the Spanish Castle!
HOW COME IT TOOK ME SO LONG? UNKO muses on life's ponderous steps and the passage of TIME time t i m e
TOO BLUE Blackie Jo James once asked UNKO FUNKI, "Danny, why you play so many SAD songs? You always be playin' sad songs!" UNKO responded - "I know, I DO play sad songs... I guess to express that in a song is like exercising your emotions or something..."
SAVE OUR SEAS (S.O.S) Our Seas are FILLED with plastic!! GO GREEN If you like Reggae-ish, click here.
NOTHING WITH YOU The best things in life are free... doin' it with Baby and Me.
BUILD LOVE A lovely Ballard written as a reminder to balance passion with pragmatizzm.
RING Riddled with references of unattainable consumer victories juxtaposed with stories of corrupt corporate practices in Africa and around the WORLD! Dance Dance Dance! He seen the ring in the magazine on page 16.
RING (LIVE VERSION) This is the germ of the above tune, with fewer chord changes but a lesson in how ta ROCK. Do The Boogaloo. You must hear both versions or you can't live.
UFO (LIVE) The quirky funky theme song of that alien outfit we call the "Unko Funki Organization."
JACK HORNER THEME SONG(LIVE) A really fast, not half-fast, ass-haulin' rocker, the theme song of that prize-winning 1965 Seattle band, Jack Horner and The Famous Plums.
GUIDING STAR (LIVE) Gorgeous ballad - "No matter where you are, don't forget about your guiding star."
TOPS (LIVE) One of Dan's modern old standbys, featuring his nutty lyrics: "It's not the first time that I drive all night long, to be by your side! We're way way way WAY more than just friends!" (Video is on Youtube.)
MR. LUCKY (LIVE) The newest D.B. tune that we know about. You should be so lucky.
TWO LOVES (LIVE) Classic love triage tragicomed, inspired by a call from a dear friend's wife... cool singalong chorus!
MY CHOICE (LIVE) Simply an inspired jam, played as an ice-breaker first song of the night. This shows Dan's skill at old-fashioned, grinding boogaloo funk. Modulates between A minor and F# minor without at all being like "Light My Fire!" (Video is on Youtube.)
ALL THE PRETTY LADIES!(LIVE IMPROV) OK, here's the thing. The gig was a lively Halloween costume party in a bar somewhere out in....Belfair??? The costumes were superb and the girls were better than that. What song-writing organ-player in his right mind wouldn't make up a song for them? Neither did I, but he did. (Video slideshow is on Youtube.) Here we have the whole tune for you!

LEAVE ME ONE MESSAGE (THE CELL PHONE SONG) (YET MORE LIVE IMPROV)

 

 Another very clever improv. Tuneful and a laff-fest. Girlfriend calls him while he's on the bandstand, he sees who it is but doesn't answer. The melody that begins is the actual ring tone and the song flows out of that. They all nail the key and the ring-tone immediately. Dan holds the phone to his mouth and sings through it in one of those "phone voices." The tune is a one-off so be sure and keep it. It'll never be anywhere again, except we will be GLAD to sell you any of these tunes in complete form!