Throwback: Gwen McCrae-Funky Sensation

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Gwen McCrae’s 1981 “Funky Sensation” was the result of her brief stay involvement in dance music and a two-album contract with Atlantic Records. Songwriter/producer Kenton Nix was already having success in dance music with Taana Gardner when he wrote “Funky Sensation.” McCrae’s first time with national success happened in 1975 with the song “Rockin’ Chair” and “Funky Sensation” reinvented her as a dance music artist and gave McCrae trans-generational appeal because of sampling culture. Masters At Work took the song to another era of dancefloor when they remixed it in 1994. The U.K.’s Northern Soul music scene discovered McCrae’s lesser-known catalog and was a catalyst for the two albums she recorded for the Rhythm King label based there in the ’80’s. McCrae recorded for another European record company in the ’90’s and released a gospel album in 2005. The singer suffered a stroke while touring the U.K. in 2012 and a fundraiser was set-up to cover her medical expenses and travel back to the United States.