Bootsy Collins produced an exclusive, original theme song that sets the mood for 2K Sports’ “Don King Presents: Prizefighter” videogame, due in stores June 10.
To accurately capture different eras of the boxing atmosphere, more than 70 songs appear on the soundtrack, either in their entirety or in truncated ring walk versions. Indelible rock, rap, metal, soul and funk cuts are rampant, from Survivor’s iconic “Eye of the Tiger” to Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Tricky,” ws well as James Brown’s “Turn Me Loose, I’m Doctor Feelgood” and Parliament’s “Give Up the Funk.”
“Doing the game track was very exciting,” Collins tells billboard.com. “It’s for Don King, a hero of mine from way back, so I took it very personal when asked to get involved. I felt musically and vocally that this song would place you right in the middle of the game, in a front row seat. I told Mr. King, ‘We gonna punch um! Just to make their hair stand straight. Then punch um again, to see the look on their face!'”
“The game has a lot of old school funk, so what better way to marry the past with the future by tapping an icon like Collins to create something fresh like our theme song?,” says Denby Grace, producer, 2K Sports.
“Don King Presents: Prizefighter,” initially available for Xbox 360 and later this year on the Wii and Nintendo DS systems, promises to deliver the deepest, most authentic and entertaining boxing experience available by focusing on a boxer’s career and his rise to stardom.
As for Collins, in addition to the James Brown tribute tour he has in the works, he just released “The-Official-Boot-Legged-Bootsy-CD” and is working on another album with Buckethead and Brain called “Science-Faxtion,” due in August. He also has a song, “Funkin’ Like My Father,” featuring some of his artists, on the new Brian Culbertson CD, “Bringing Back the Funk.”
Meanwhile, opening in October in his Cincinnati home base is a new restaurant, Bootsy’s Produced by: Jeff Ruby, a high-profile Midwest restaurant businessman. The first floor will include a Hall of Fame exhibit for King Records, where legendary artists including James Brown, Hank Ballard, Bill Dogget and the Isley Brothers got their start.
Source – Billboard.com
