"I've been searching, searching," for a soul-funk earworm...

October 28, 2013 6:09 PM

I'm usually pretty good at name-that-tune, but... CHFI-FM's Funky Friday Mix last week had a random song from the 70's with the polished shimmer of a Philly Soul production and a funky mid-tempo beat which hinted at disco, a burbling synth which teased the bass player, and a rousing conclusion where a chorus of backing singers chants: "I've been searching, searching, searching..." or "I've been working, working, working..." intertwined with the lead vocalist in an interesting complex harmonic style. This would have been on AM radio in the 70's, maybe not a big hit, but on the charts. (On Google, "I've been searching" & soul/funk/disco just leads to the record bins. Not the Vandross/Change song).
posted by ovvl to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

I Be Strokin'?
posted by Sara C. at 6:12 PM on October 28, 2013

Best answer: well, if i scrolled back correctly in the playlist, it looks like this was the listing for friday around noon (apparently when funky friday happens):

12:42 pm Early In The Morning Gap Band
12:37 pm I'll Be Good to You The Brothers Johnson
12:33 pm Dancer Gino Soccio
12:30 pm And the Beat Goes On The Whispers
12:26 pm I Can't Wait Nu Shooz
12:17 pm Get Down On It Kool & the Gang
12:13 pm I Feel for You Chaka Khan
12:10 pm Tear the Roof Off the Sucker Parliament
12:06 pm Dance Dance Dance Chic
12:02 pm Dance With Me Peter Brown

could it have been 'i can't wait' by nu shooz?
posted by koroshiya at 6:25 PM on October 28, 2013

Dancer by Gino Soccio has this at the end. ("Keep your body shakin'.") Maybe?
posted by Sys Rq at 7:09 PM on October 28, 2013

could it have been 'i can't wait' by nu shooz

"I Can't Wait" is one of the most '80s songs of the '80s. All Fairlight computers, jangly post-Sheila E electronic percussion, and bloodless white female vox. One of these things is not like the other, fer sure.
posted by mykescipark at 7:09 PM on October 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Workin' & Slavin' by Midnight Rhythm?
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:33 PM on October 28, 2013

Could it be Arts & Craft's "I've Been Searching?" There are two mixes of this song - try version one or two.
posted by stachemaster at 10:52 PM on October 28, 2013

Might be a long shot but could it be Chicago's I've Been Searching So Long? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA4xQPfVopIYour description of a rousing conclusion made me think of this song. Starting at around 3:25
posted by Babushka at 2:12 AM on October 29, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you all. I had checked CHFI for a playlist online but I didn't see it in the fine print, koroshiya came up with that doc. The correct answer is "I'll be Good to You" by The Brothers Johnson, #3 in 1976, (& produced by Quincy Jones!).

The backing vocals at the end are kinda indistinct, listening again it sounds like "I'll be... shirking, lurking, working, murking..."
posted by ovvl at 5:57 AM on October 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I listened to this song again a few times in the original recording, and it's got a really swell groove! The backing vocals are indistinct. Last time around it was sounding something vaguely like: "I'll be flirtin', hurtin', mertin'..."

Probably not a coded message about Thomas Merton, but anything is possible.
posted by ovvl at 5:26 PM on October 29, 2013 [1 favorite]