Con Funk Shun

[b]American soul funk disco band[/b], active mainly between 1976 and 1986. They have produced several hit records, including "Ffun", a Billboard magazine "#1 With A Bullet" Top R&B Single. The group recorded a total of 11 albums with Mercury Records. Con Funk Shun was formed in Vallejo, California in 1969 by high-school classmates Louis A. McCall and Michael Cooper. With Louis on drums and percussion and Michael providing lead vocals and lead guitar, the group went on to include Karl Fuller (trumpet), Paul Harrell (saxophone/flute), Cedric Martin (bass guitar), Danny Thomas (keyboards), and Felton C. Pilate II (trombone/lead vocals). They moved to Memphis in 1973 and got a major record deal with Mercury Records in 1976. Their first albums were produced by Skip Scarborough and in the '80s they collaborated with such producers as Eumir Deodato, Maurice Starr, Attala Zane Giles, Billy Osborne, Leon Ware, Billy Valentine and Bryan Loren. During their 10 years with Mercury, the band received four RIAA gold album awards and other industry accolades, while performing on major national tours and overseas. The group disbanded in 1986 after lead singers Michael Cooper and Felton C. Pilate II left for solo careers. Cooper had a few moderate hits while signed to Warner Bros. Records, and Pilate went on to be the musical director and producer for rap superstar MC Hammer. In 1994, they started appearing together as Con Funk Shun again with sidemen in the place of the original members. The new band appears at old school festivals and nostalgia shows throughout the country. Co-founder Louis A. McCall was murdered in 1997 in a home invasion robbery in Stone Mountain, GA.