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Five years ago, the Rock's Backpages posse knocked their fevered crania together and came up with the 50 greatest tracks ever laid down in the name of Da Fonk. Layz'n'gennermen, get on the good foot for our towering Top 10, from Wacko Jackson to, uh, ZZ Top. (No, we ain't kiddin'…)-- Barney Hoskyns, Editorial Director, Rock's Backpages

10 Michael Jackson: "Don't Stop ('Til You Get Enough)," from Off The Wall (Epic, 1979) Easy to forget how electrifying and downright fonkeh this stellar intro to the New MJ was. (Hey, the dude was still black in 1979!) With Quincy's virtual wall of funk behind him – special nods to Louis Johnson on bass, the Jerry Hey-led horns, and Paulinho Da Costa heading up a phalanx of percussionists – Jacko soars superbly over some of the slickest fills ever devised, "melting like hot candlewax". You will too.

9 The Isley Brothers: "It's Your Thing," from It's Our Thing (T-Neck, 1969) An irresistible guitar/piano intro leads into an anthem of personal empowerment that's as much about Women's liberation as Black Pride: "I'm not trying to run your life, I know you wanna do what's right - give your love to whoever you choose ... You need love as bad as I do." As with Sly and the Temptations, the Isleys took as much from whiteboy psychedelia as they gave, not just in their dandified threads but in the intensity of their sound, which merges here with a Stax-style groove and is overlaid by what sounds like Prince's entire lexicon of yelps in one song. Later covered by at least 50 other artists, the song won a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance and became a rallying cry for the 'Me Generation' of the early 1970s.

8 The O'Jays: "For the Love of Money," from Ship Ahoy (Philadelphia, 1973) One of the greatest openings of any R&B record ever, up there with anything by Isaac Hayes or Norman Whitfield-era Temps. First that repetitive, machine-like, echo-laden bass riff – a loop, years ahead of its time – then a phased, metronomic hi-hat, more phasing as congas and disembodied voices drift in and out singing the single word "money" over and over. More than seven minutes of slow-burning psych-funk, this track predates the grooves of electro, acid house and early Detroit techno. But its power comes as much from the vocals as the music: like a slave song screamed through the windows of a low rider car or a hellfire preacher lost in the projects, it updates the gospels for a new generation.

7 ZZ Top: "Cheap Sunglasses," from Degüello (Warner Bros., 1979) If you don't think a l'il ol' Texan blues-rock power trio can funk it up with da baddest of da bad, then it's simple: you ain't heard "Cheap Sunglasses." Penultimate cut from the 1979 album Degüello, "Sunglasses" is not simply a timeless paean to low-rent Americana but one of the most stonkingly fonkeh pieces of music ever "laid down" in the name of... well, rock, actually. Five minutes of crisp wit and lean, mean grooving topped off by squalling guitar harmonics and an evil Dusty Hill bass solo, it's pelvis-grindingly great – the Top's finest five minutes and no arguing.

6 Betty Wright: "Clean Up Woman," single (Alston, 1972) With its irresistible cross-cutting syncopation and counterpoint, this cheatin' soul classic simply oozes slinky, sassy funk. The Little Beaver arrangement is God, with guitars, horns and drums locked in deep, sexy embrace and Ms. Wright snarling haughtily over the top. Impossible not to dance to.

5 Tom Browne: "Funkin' For Jamaica," from Love Approach (Arista/GRP, 1980) OK, riddle us this, fellow funkateers: Where did this suck-kah come from? How come Tom Browne, hitherto and thereafter known as a milquetoast purveyor of Jazz Lite™, managed to drop this particular bomb? Because bomb it is, mainly thanks to the lowest, most shuddering bass line in all funkdom (Marcus Miller, step on down!) Sure, the tune's nice, the girly vox melodious; hell, you can even hear some of Mr Brown's trumpet. But get down? You cannot get further down.

4 The Meters: "Just Kissed My Baby," from Rejuvenation (Reprise, 1974) The bomb. "Cissy Strut" comes a very close second, but this effortlessly spare masterpiece is the Meters' real piece de resistance. Zig Modeliste never held down a more lubricious groove, and George Porter's bass line is a simple three-note ascension of outrageous potency.

3 Prince: "Kiss," from Parade (Warner Bros., 1986) It was 1986. Dinosaur productions bestrode the world, drenched in Lexicon reverb, high on their own Solid State Logic. So Prince releases this. Dry-as-a-bone, stripped-down, lean and mean, and sounding like nothing else on earth. The radio DJ would drop this in between bloated monstrosities like Go West's "We Close Our Eyes" and some horrid Tears For Fears single, and suddenly you were awake. Where the hell did that come from? A simple 12-bar structure, Prince's yelping, playful falsetto, a handful of small percussive noises and keyboard stabs... funky, sexy and fun.

2 James Brown & the Famous Flames: "Cold Sweat," single (King, 1967) As pivotal in its way as either "Brand New Bag" or "Sex Machine," "Cold Sweat" is all about push and pull, orgasmic grunts, and not giving a damn 'bout "the do's and don'ts". Clyde Stubblefield lays down the jerky groove, Maceo and the horns wail that phrase, and the Godfather yelps, screeches and hollers his lusty imprecations. There is no better example of pure funk in living memory.

1 Sly & the Family Stone: "In Time," from Fresh (Epic, 1973) Fatboy Slim calls this "the funkiest record in the whole world", and who are we to argue with Stormin' Norman? It's Sylvester Stewart at his most diabolically wired, laying down hyper-syncopated cocaine funk of the highest order; it's also the first cut on the Family Stone's last truly great album. "There's a mickey in the taking of disaster", indeed. Sly never sounded more imperiously debauched, and the band never played so tautly again.

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