55. "Super Freak" by Rick James
It's funky! It's sexistesty! It's Supery! It's Freaky!
The part of this song that I love to sing the most is the "Blow Danny" command at the very end of the song. This cues a sax solo by yet another invisible saxophonist.
This is one of the most sampled songs in all of music history, and Rick James happens to be one of the most sampled artists. It's also been covered by several famous musicians, including...
Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs!
And the song has been included in many a movie soundtrack. My favorite use of the song was in "Little Miss Sunshine." Here's the gist. The girl has been coached by her grandfather in how to dance for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. No one paid any attention to what the grandfather was doing, so when the girl starts dancing to "Super Freak," it's a shock to her entire family. The grandfather is dead at this point in the movie, so that's why you don't see him in the clip below. The contest organizers try to stop her from dancing, but the family intervenes and joins the girl in what may be Steve Carell's finest dance sequence ever.
Of course, the most famous sampling of this particular song has to be "You Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
But while MC Hammer only sings "You can't touch this," Rick James says it and he means it!
He's super freaking out!
Temptations sing!
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