Rick JamesCollected

Punk-funk across four vinyl sides from the man who coined the term. 'Super Freak' is the universal ignition key to any party — that bass line later became MC Hammer's 'U Can't Touch This.' 'Give It to Me Baby' grinds with lascivious energy. 'Mary Jane' is a tender slow-funk ballad with a sly double meaning everybody understood. Rick James grew up in Buffalo surrounded by jazz, went AWOL to Toronto where he played with Neil Young in The Mynah Birds, and became Motown's only major star of the 1980s. New wave keyboards, palpitating bass, whip-smart arrangements, and a sense of humor as sharp as the grooves.