Five of punk funk music’s most influential artists

I wrote recently about some of the most influential artists who brought together punk and funk in their music. It's still quite a thought-provoking and perhaps unexpected fusion of genres. But it's by no means exceptionally rare or unusual. And as you might expect many of the earlier acts who successfully combined such different styles have influenced other bands to develop their own particular variations.

Last time I reflected on the likes of Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Gang Of Four, Talking Heads, Minutemen, CSS, and of course Rick James. James declared himself as the king of punk funk. That may have been a step too far really. He was much more funk than punk in his sounds, though he acted like a punk with some wild and outrageous behaviour. 

In continuing to build the list of those punky funksters of music there are plenty more artists to consider. Among those, there’s another link to James. There’s also a strong connection between several of them too.  

More influential punk funk artists

Fishbone

First up would be Fishbone. Like many bands with a punk music background, they also include ska amongst their styles. Add in a bit of reggae, some soul, and a thump of metal to the punk and funk and that becomes some mix that Fishbone provide. 

Formed by a bunch of school friends from Los Angeles in 1979, Fishbone has been through a few formations since. The majority of the band got back together in 2010 and now I'm 2024 the band still has three of its original members. The Fish element has been filleted off the bone though, with bass player John Norwood Fisher and his brother Paul “Fish” both missing.

If you want to hear the band covering their widest variety of genres on a single album with punk and funk to the fore then Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe from 1993 is the go-to album. Fishbone is credited with influencing other bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers.