Play it Again, Sam #10b - "Higher Ground"

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As promised, Play it Again, Sam is high energy tonight, and it doesn't get much more energetic than this. We are at #10b, the "cover" portion: the Red Hot Chili Peppers' cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground." Before they hit success as a mainstream, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, Los Angeles' Red Hot Chili Peppers were an alternative punk/funk group, with emphasis on the funk. So their cover of "Higher Ground," a funk classic, was a no brainer. The lead single from their 1989 commercial breakthrough album, Mother's Milk, "Higher Ground" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but did reach numbers 11 and 26 on that magazine's Modern Rock Tracks, and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively, and charted in a total of five countries. The single's success was aided by a flashy, energetic video. I remember reading an interview (SPIN Magazine, if my memory serves me right) with Motley Crue bassist/leader Nikki Sixx. During the interview, the "Higher Ground" video came on TV, after which Sixx cranked it up, pointed out how muscular the Chili Peppers were, and declared that this was what he wanted his own band to be. This was the final song, back in the early 90's, that my buddy and I would crank up before we headed out to the Denver clubs in an attempt to score chicks. It's definitely a tune that puts one in the right frame of mind! (Info verified by Wikipedia)