I Got Ants in My Pants

Last updated
"I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 1"
Single by James Brown
B-side "I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 15 & 16"
ReleasedNovember 1972 (1972-11) or January 1973 (1973-01)
RecordedOctober 10, 1971, Capricorn or Bobby Smith Studios, Macon, GA
Genre Funk
Length
  • 3:02(Part 1)
  • 3:58(Part 15 & 16)
Label Polydor
14162
Songwriter(s) James Brown
Producer(s) James Brown
James Brown chartingsingles chronology
"What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"
(1972)
"I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 1"
(1972)
"Down and Out in New York City"
(1973)

"I Got Ants in My Pants (and I Want to Dance)" is a funk song by James Brown. Recorded in 1971 and released as a two-part single in November 1972 [1] or January 1973, [2] it charted #4 R&B and #27 Pop. It did not receive an album release. A remixed version was included on the 1988 compilation album Motherlode , Part 1 to Star Time and the whole cut again in Make It Funky: The Big Payback.

Later uses

The song was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US #31).

A guitar riff from this song was sampled by Public Enemy on their track "Don't Believe the Hype" from the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back .

Related Research Articles

"Soul Power" is a song by James Brown. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features backing vocals by Bobby Byrd. It charted #3 R&B and #29 Pop.

"There Was a Time" is a song written and performed by James Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother Popcorn</span> 1969 single by James Brown

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit, it was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance the Popcorn which Brown made that year, including "The Popcorn", "Lowdown Popcorn", and "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn". The "mother" of the song's title was, in the words of biographer RJ Smith, "[Brown's] honorific for a big butt".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Bad (song)</span> 1970 single by James Brown

"Super Bad", originally titled Call Me Super Bad, is a 1970 song by James Brown. Originally released as a three-part single, it went to #1 on the R&B chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's lyrics include the refrain "I've got soul and I'm super bad." The positive use of the word "bad" is an example of linguistic reappropriation, which Brown had done before in "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Pants (James Brown song)</span> 1971 single by James Brown

"Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)" is a funk song by James Brown. Brown recorded the song in 1971 and released it that year as a three-part single on his People Records label, which was then distributed by his primary label King. It was a number-one R&B hit and reached number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in the U.S. along with reaching number ten on the Cashbox magazine charts. "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he (and the People label) moved to Polydor Records. The song's lyrics are an ode to the captivating power of the title garment, which members of the band first saw on their 1970 European tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get on the Good Foot</span> 1972 single by James Brown

"Get on the Good Foot" is a funk song performed by James Brown. It was released in 1972 as a two-part single that charted #1 R&B and #18 Pop. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of Brown's record labels to certify sales of his previous hits, "Get on the Good Foot" was his first gold record. Billboard ranked it as the No. 99 song for 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make It Funky</span> 1971 single by James Brown

"Make It Funky" is a jam session recorded by James Brown with The J.B.'s. It was released as a two-part single in 1971, which reached No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart and No. 22 on the U.S. Pop chart.

"Papa Don't Take No Mess" is a funk song performed by James Brown. An edited version of the song released as a two-part single in 1974 was Brown's 17th and final number one R&B hit and peaked at number thirty-one on the Hot 100. The full-length version, nearly 14 minutes long, appeared on the double album Hell.

"Licking Stick – Licking Stick" is a song written by James Brown, Bobby Byrd, and Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis and recorded by Brown as a two-part single in 1968. Byrd provides backing vocals on the song. It was the first stereo single release by King Records. The song was included on the album Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud.

"My Thang" is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. Unlike most of his songs, this song was released not as a two-part single, but instead issued with three different B-sides. It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart - Brown's second #1 in a row, following "The Payback" - and reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974. The song also appeared on Brown's 1974 double album Hell.

"Hot " is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in December 1975, it reached #31 on the R&B chart. It uses the main riff from the David Bowie song "Fame", released earlier the same year. Guitarist Carlos Alomar, who created the borrowed riff and was a co-writer on "Fame", was briefly in Brown's band in the late 1960s. Alomar said, "[Bowie] was extremely flattered that James Brown would take one of his songs." The song also appeared as the lead track on Brown's 1976 album Hot.

"King Heroin" is an anti-drug song by James Brown, David Matthews, Manny Rosen and Charles Bobbit. Brown recorded this poem set to music at a studio in New York with session musicians in January 1972 and released it as a single in March. It was his fifth single for Polydor Records and reached number six on the U.S. Hot Soul Singles chart and number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring. The song was included on Brown's 1972 album There It Is.

"Maybe the Last Time" is a song written by James Brown and recorded by Brown and the Famous Flames in 1964. It was released as the B-side of "Out of Sight" and was also included on the Out of Sight album. Brown described it as "a heavy gospel-based number, all about appreciating friends and everything while you can because each time you see somebody may be the last time, you don't know." It was the last studio recording Brown made with the Famous Flames, although the singing group continued to perform live with him for several more years.

"Let Yourself Go" is a 1967 song by James Brown.

"Bodyheat" is a song recorded by James Brown. It was released in 1976 as a two-part single on Polydor Records and also appeared on an album of the same name. It charted #13 R&B and #88 Pop. It was Brown's last song to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 until "Living in America" in 1985.

"I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing " is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. It was released as a two-part single, which charted #3 R&B and #20 Pop. The single version of the song did not receive an album release until Foundations of Funk: A Brand New Bag, but a live recording was included on Brown's 1970 album Sex Machine.

"I'm a Greedy Man" is a song recorded by James Brown in 1971. It was released as a two-part single on Polydor Records, which charted #7 R&B and #35 Pop. The song also appeared on the album There It Is.

"I Got a Bag of My Own" is a funk song by James Brown. It features an arrangement by Dave Matthews. Released as a single in 1972, it charted #3 R&B and #44 Pop. It also appeared on the album Get on the Good Foot.

"Stoned to the Bone", titled "Stone to the Bone" in some releases, is a song written and recorded by James Brown. Released as a two-part single in 1973, it charted #4 R&B and #58 Pop. It also appeared on the album The Payback.

"Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)" is a song performed by James Brown. It is a disco reworking of his 1974 song "The Payback". Released as a two-part single on TK Records in 1980, it charted #46 R&B. It also appeared on the album Soul Syndrome.

References

  1. Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
  2. Weinger, Harry (2003). Motherlode [CD booklet]. New York: Universal Records.