"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, To all of you who like sweet sophisticated Funk with a driving beat, the kind that got the whole world on its feet, I give you... Instant Funk."

The story of Instant Funk began in the mid sixties at Trenton Junior High School in Trenton, New Jersey, where Raymond Earl (bass and guitar) met Scotty Miller (drums). Together they formed a little band they called The Music Machine, which, with a temporary, pick-up guitarist and keyboard player, gigged extensively around New Jersey, in hopes of being discovered and offered a record contract. After some three years of hard work, a new and promising vocal group, The TNJ's (the "T" stood for Trenton and "NJ" for New Jersey") approached Earl and Miller. The Music Machine became the TNJ's backing band and as they played many local dances and venues, built quite a reputation for themselves. Jackie Ellis, The TNJ's manager, introduced the band to Philly Soul artist/producer and writer Walter "Bunny" Sigler. An impressed Sigler (who would go on to write classic sides for Joe Simon, The O'Jays, Billy Paul, Wilson Pickett, The Chambers Brothers and many, many others), took the group under his wings and produced two singles on The TNJ's, "She's Not Ready" for the Newark label and ""I Think I'm Falling In Love" on Cameo-Parkway Records (the same label where Bunny enjoyed a massive hit with his "Let The Good Times Roll & Feels So Good" in 1967). By the time The TNJ's singles were issued, around 1967-68, Scotty Miller's guitar-playing younger brother Kim, had joined the Music Machine and the band had changed its name to Instant Funk. Kim studied music in school and both he and Scotty were encouraged to practice their instruments by their grandmother, whereas Raymond's biggest musical influence was his mother, who played the piano. According to writer Edward Hogan, who interviewed Kim Miller in the late 70's, the name Instant Funk came naturally to the band. Kim explained: "We would just be able to jump right into a funky groove".

None of the TNJ's singles charted, but thanks to Bunny Sigler, who hired them to be his backing band, Instant Funk was starting to get work in Philadelphia's recording studios. Bunny was a top staff writer and producer over at his old buddies Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff's PIR (Philadelphia International Records) and TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) operation and in 1974, Instant Funk and The TNJ's (James "Big Jim" Gist", Elijah "EJ" Jones and Greg Jamerson) backed Bunny on vinyl for the first time. His "Keep Smilin'" LP contains gems like "Shake Your Booty" (where Instant Funk really lived up to the "Funk" in their name), the bluesy "Sweeter Than The Berry", "Love Train" and "Keep Smilin'". ("Keep Smilin'" was later included on the 1976 Bunny-produced/Instant Funk-backed "Nightflight" LP by the late guitarist Gabor Szabo). In addition to playing with Bunny, Instant Funk became an in-house band at TSOP and backed numerous artists, including The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, Archie Bell & the Drells, The Jones Girls, Jean Carne, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and Lou Rawls. Sometime during this period, guitarist T. (Theodore) Life and keyboardist Dexter Wansel became members of Instant Funk. Both would find great success, as artists in their own right, but also as producers, writers and musicians for a number of people, including Evelyn "Champagne" King, Phyllis Hyman and Vicki Sue Robinson (T. Life), The Jones Girls, Jean Carne and Teddy Pendergrass (Wansel). The rhythm section of Instant Funk (Raymond Earl, Kim and Scotty Miller) also played on both T. Life's ("That's Life", RCA 1978) and Wansel's ("Life On Mars", PIR 1976) solo outputs and frequently backed artists outside the Gamble and Huff empire, as well. Among those were South Shore Commission (on the now much sought-after LP which includes "Free Man", 1975) and Carl Carlton, who Instant Funk submitted the musical back-drop to on his Sigler-produced 1975 masterpiece "I Wanna Be With You".

Instant Funk's first single was "Float Like a Butterfly" and in 1976, they released an LP entitled "Get Down With The Philly Jump". Like virtually every record the group would make in the future, it was produced by Bunny Sigler, or Bundino Siggalucci, as he jokingly liked to refer to himself. None of Instant Funk's TSOP recordings were successful, which must have left Bunny terribly disappointed. His enthusiasm and faith in the band is apparent on the sleeve notes of "Get Down With The Philly Jump" where he wrote: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, To all of you who like sweet sophisticated Funk with a driving beat, the kind that got the whole world on its feet, I give you... Instant Funk".

Bunny, who in every interview with members of Instant Funk has been described as "our biggest influence", thought an expansion of the line-up, in order to spice up their sound, would be a good idea. Raymond Earl, Kim and Scotty Miller agreed and so Dennis Richardson (piano) and Charles Williams (percussion) were added. Still, the group needed a strong easily-identifiable lead vocalist. Shortly after the expansion of the group, around 1976-1977, after the formation of Bunny Sigler's production company (Bundino Productions Unlimited, Limited), both he and Instant Funk departed from TSOP. Bunny signed with the Philly-based and Salsoul distributed Gold Mind Records, which was Norman "The Harris Machine" Harris' label, and Instant Funk with Salsoul proper. Norman Harris, who died in 1987, was a brilliant guitarist and together with Ron Baker (bass) and Earl Young (drums), formed the prominent production/song writing/arranging/musician team of B-H-Y and made up M.F.S.B.'s rhythm section. Harris was also an integral part of Salsoul's response to M.F.S.B., The Salsoul Orchestra.

Bunny's first LP on Gold Mind was entitled "Let Me Party With You" and the title track -an over twelve minutes long Dance-Funk jam (co-written by Raymond Earl with Kim and Scotty Miller)- became a Top 10 R&B hit in January 1978. The album was filled with solid, Dance-orientated Funk and Sigler's slick balladry. The next two singles were "I Got What You Need", followed by "Don't Even Try". One of the most interesting albums cuts, "Love Is So Good", featured a guest performance by an extraordinary singer named James Carmichael. Carmichael, who was yet another of Sigler's "finds", had previously sung with the little-known groups Tapestry and Bittersweet and would shortly thereafter become Instant Funk's lead vocalist. Ex-Ritchie Family Larry Davis (trumpet), Johnny Onderlinde (sax), George Bell (second guitar) and Eric Huff (trombone) were also drafted during this period.

1978 was an extremely busy year for Instant Funk. In between backing several of the top names on Salsoul and other labels, they were working on their own album. Instant Funk submitted the music to The Pips "Callin'" LP (recorded without Gladys Knight!), O'Jay's ("So Full Of Love", 1978), and Raymond Earl, Scotty and Kim Miller played behind Evelyn "Champagne" King on both her 1978 "Smooth Talk" LP (which includes her million selling gold singles, "Shame" and "I Don't Know If It's Right") and "Music Box", which was released in '79. (Both produced by former band member T. Life). Instant Funk naturally continued to work closely with Bunny Sigler too, and in 1979, Sigler issued his second Salsoul album; "I've Always Wanted To Sing...Not Just Write Songs". Always thought of as mainly a balladeer, Bunny got seriously funky on "I'm Funkin' You Tonight" (co-written by pianist Dennis Richardson and guitarist Kim Miller) and "Let's Get Freaky Now" (written by Bunny and drummer Scotty Miller).

Early '79 saw the release of the now ten men strong Instant Funk's debut on Salsoul. The first single was the irresistibly groovy and highly percussive track "I Got My Mind Made Up", which became an immediate success. It blasted off to the number one spot on the R&B charts in January and held that position for a total of three weeks, even landing at #20 on the Pop charts. It was a hit in Europe too and made it to a Top 50 position in the U.K. The eponymously titled LP (#12 on the American Top 40 Album list) included the amusing "Dark Vader" plus the all-too short Funk work-out "Don't You Wanna Party". It sold 500.000 copies, earning Instant Funk a well-deserved Gold record. The 45 of "I Got My Mind Made Up" did even better. It sold a staggering one million copies and 400.000 of those had been sold in the New York area alone, which led Manhattan Borough President Andrew Stein to proclaim May, 22 1979 as "Instant Funk Day".

By now, the group had built its own, unique formula which consisted of James Carmichael's powerful and Gospel-laden tenor, thick bass-lines from Raymond Earl, Larry Davis' busy percussion and an unusually tight rhythm and horn section. Although Instant Funk was not to repeat the success of "I Got My Mind Made Up", not even release another Top Ten hit, they would continue to cut many great records. Records that deserved a bigger recognition than they received.

In June 1979, the danceable "Crying", was issued as a single and showcased some fine vocal harmonizing from Carmichael and band. Before 1979 ended, Instant Funk released a second album entitled "Witch Doctor". Originally, the album was issued as both a single pocket (the whole album on one disc) and as a double pocket (the album split between two discs) for the club DJs. The group photo on the sleeve depicted the members with voodoo-style painted faces, standing around a huge cauldron, where some strange potion was boiling. The title track was a straight up Funk offering, whereas the follow-up "Bodyshine" introduced a slight rock influence. (The B-side, a trademark Instant Funk party-jam called "Scream and Shout" was one of the best tracks on the album). The second single, "Slap Slap, Lickedy Lap" was an exquisite piece of Disco-Funk and although it made the Billboard Disco charts, it never charted R&B. The hard, almost "rockish" edge to Instant Funk's sound was even more evident on their third album "The Funk Is On", from where the title track (written by Brass Construction's Randy Muller) was drawn as the first single. It struggled to a disappointing #87 R&B in November 1980. The drive and energy of rock, mixed with raw Funk and Disco continued on such outstanding album cuts as "You Want My Love", "Everybody" and "Funk-N-Roll" (complete with hilarious yodeling). Before "The Funk Is On" was issued, trombonist Eric Huff had departed from the band and during the two year period that followed until Instant Funk recorded their next album, sax man Johnny Onderline left too.

In March 1982, Instant Funk returned to the R&B charts with "Why Don't You Think About Me", one of two tracks on the "Looks So Fine" LP that had been produced by the band themselves. "Why Don't You Think About Me" settled at R&B #59 and it's a mystery why it didn't become a bigger hit, as it's irresistibly catchy. The B-side "Slam Dunk The Funk" (written by Bunny Sigler and veteran producer/singer/songwriter/arranger Harvey Scales, the man who co-penned "Disco Lady" for Johnnie Taylor) was one of the strongest cuts on the album and featured guest vocalist Cubby St. Charles. (The song should not be confused with "Slamm Dunk The Ffunk" by Ohio Funk group Sun, issued that same year). The title track, "Looks So Fine" (with lead vocals from Bunny Sigler) was another strong cut. Following the release of the LP, George Bell (guitar) and Larry Davis (trumpet) left the band. Also in 1982, Scotty Miller and Raymond Earl played on an Salsoul album by The Jammers, a studio group assembled by Richie Weeks.

Producer Bunny Sigler, Raymond Earl, Dennis Richardson, James Carmichael, Scotty and Kim Miller were clearly influenced by the current electro-breakdance craze during the recording of Instant Funk's fifth Salsoul LP, which used the Roman numeral "V" as its title. February 1983 saw the release of "No Stoppin' That Rockin'", a quirky, almost melancholic track, flavored with fashionable vocoder. It was a fairly big singles hit and got to R&B #32. Some three months later, the heavy "Who Took Away The Funk" landed at #70. Besides the uptempo album cut "Easy Come, Easy Go", "V" appeared rather uninspired and mediocre, like it had been hastily put together. It even included a not too interesting "funktified" version of Lennon/McCartney's "Hard Days Night".

Instant Funk's last album (at least on Salsoul) "Kinky" came out in late 1983. By that time, lead vocalist James Carmichael was gone and had been replaced by Elijah "EJ" Jones (from The TNJ's, the vocal trio Instant Funk had backed in the sixties). Donald Lamons (piano) and Michael Gist (congas) were added to the personnel (Gist was TNJ "Big Jim's" brother). One of the additional musicians listed was Reginald "Reggie" Griffin (Linn drums and sax). Griffin, a multi-instrumentalist and recording artist, was an omnipresent figure in the music business during the mid eighties. Among other things, had been the leader of Funk group Manchild (which also contained Babyface) and had sung lead with Sugarhill act West Street Mob. The worst techno elements from the previous "V" LP was thankfully missing from the Dance-Funky "(Just Because) You'll Be Mine" single, which charted at R&B #71 in October 1983 (incidentally, it was to be the group's last record to chart). But the strongest uptempo cut was undoubtedly the Bunny Sigler-penned "Don't Call Me Brother", where lead singer Elijah Jones' superb voice really was showcased. The song also offered some good old-fashioned vocal harmonizing from the group and a rap by Donald Lamons. "Funkiest Party In The World" was yet another highlight.

When Salsoul was sold off and stopped issuing new product, Instant Funk (without Bunny Sigler as their right-hand man) released a 12" single called "Tailspin" on Philadelphia independent label Pop Art Records in 1985. (Pop Art also had rappers Steady "B" and Roxanne Shanté, plus Soul man Major Harris on its roster and is famed for issuing the cult classic "The Show Stoppa"; Salt 'N' Pepa's first single, recorded under the name Super Nature). "Tailspin" featured a Yves Sterling on a -more or less spoken- lead vocal. The track sounded nothing like the Instant Funk who had made such classics in the seventies and early eighties and is best forgotten. The band toured for a few more years but eventually broke up.

Raymond Earl decided to get into production, using Scotty and Kim Miller's mother's basement as the start-up location for his studio. Along with promoter Henry Page, Raymond formed Ray Ray Productions and the music publishing firm, Ray Ray Music. In 1987, Raymond cut a demo on an old family friend, Terrence Reed nee True Love (whose father was a member of the TNJ's ). The demo resulted in "Love Rap Ballad", which came out on Critique, through a distribution agreement with Atlantic Records. " Love Rap Ballad" became a #63 hit on Billboard's R&B chart towards the end of 1987. Bunny Sigler is also still a force to be reckoned with in the music business. Earl and Sigler have collaborated on a number of recordings including Patti Labelle's "If I Didn't Have You" (from the gold 1994 "Gems" album on MCA) and on "Hasty Decisions" by The Wootens (A&M). They've also worked together on an off-Broadway R&B revue called "20th Century R&B" and reportedly finished a couple of exciting projects that should be released soon, including sides for Philly-legends Lou Rawls and Billy Paul. Like Raymond Earl and Bunny Sigler, most of the other members of Instant Funk are active in the music field. According to reliable sources, it's very possible that they will record as a unit again. Keep your eyes and ears open.