Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright recently caught up with FOGHAT guitarist Bryan Bassett for a career retrospective interview. He comments on the interview that follows:

"Bryan Bassett may not be a household name, yet the guitarist has managed to stay in the music business for the better part of 35 years. He is a performer, producer, engineer, and songwriter and has a Billboard Pop Chart #1 hit on his resume.

Even those who were burning disco records in the 1970’s owned a copy of WILD CHERRY’s debut album. 'Play That Funky Music' is one of those songs that has grown from being a hit single to becoming part of America’s vernacular culture. The song has been remade countless times and has been featured in dozens of television shows and movies and it features Bryan Bassett on guitar."

Jeb: If you were so into the blues then how did you end up breaking into the business with a disco band?

Bryan: "We were actually a rock band first. 'Play That Funky Music' is actually a very autobiographical song. We were playing LED ZEPPELIN and ROBIN TROWER in the clubs at the time when THE BEE GEES and KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND were coming out. We were playing in these bigs clubs that had a thousand people and we were rocking out while all these people were just looking at us. We would take a break and the deejay would come on and play all these new dance songs and the dance floor would immediately be packed. Literally, one guy actually came up to us and said, 'You better start paying some funky music, white boy.' We were still a covers band so we went out and learned the hits of the day.

We actually recorded that album with our own money on our own time. We just wanted to up our stock in the local market so we could go from five hundred bucks a night to eight hundred bucks a night. It was one of those things where a record executive heard it while we were in the studio and we went from the bars to the arenas in about six weeks time."

Jeb: That made it to # 1. Are you surprised that song has had such staying power?

Bryan: "It was a surprise to me that it ever was a hit. I remember hearing it on the radio for the first time and I completely went nuts. I had no expectation that it would break so fast. We were on a small record label that was made up of a couple of guys in Cleveland. They had an independent guy whose job it was to call up radio stations. We owe the song breaking to them as they did all the work. When it started going it really went fast and we were shocked. It was a really fun song to play. We would play that song in the clubs right after we wrote it and even guys who didn’t like to dance were dancing."

Jeb: You wrote the guitar riff.

Bryan: "I have played a million notes in my life but those are the seven notes that people will remember. I have heard so many different versions of it… George Michaels did it and the band Extreme rocked it up a bit. I have heard marching bands do it. I have heard it done in airport lounges. A lot of bands play it to this day, as it is a great club song. To have it still be so popular is just crazy. My kids just love it."

Go to this location for the complete interview.