Betty Davis: Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him

It’s funky Friday! Continuing my list of the Top 20 albums of 1974, coming in at #5 is They Say I’m Different by Betty Davis. This record was ignored 50 years ago by all but the most ardent funk fans, but the last decade has found Davis slowly moving into the list of great funk artists. I’ve only known about her during that renaissance. This is my favorite Davis record, although her 1973 debut is also incredible. No one sounded like Davis before or after. I’ve written several times about Betty Davis on past Faux Shows. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote back in March of 2022, not long after she died.

Subjectively speaking, I think that the music of Betty Davis is what funk music is supposed to sound like. More importantly, the lyrics of Betty Davis never wavered in her presentation of female empowerment and pure fuck you energy. People say that she was ahead of her time, but we still haven’t gotten to a time at which a woman is allowed to present herself like Betty Davis did. Many current female artists are heralded as the embodiment of female empowerment, but fifty years ago, Betty Davis presented a truly empowering female icon whose strength scared the shit out of the men of the time, and still does. She was so ahead of her time that she was pushed out of the industry and ignored for decades. Women are still not allowed to show the strength and individuality that Betty Davis presented without being questioned and attacked. The story of Betty Davis is inspiring, but also tragic and sad. Now that she has died, the most important thing we all can do is to celebrate her music as an incredible piece of American history that was improbably allowed to exist.

To learn more about Betty Davis and her incredible life as a groundbreaking model, Miles Davis’ ex-wife, and funk revolutionary, read her Wikipedia article. If you like funk music, you should search out the documentary Betty: They Say I’m Different.

To check out all of the old Faux Show Best of the Year Shows, visit The Year In Review Series page.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

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