Freaky Styley

Released on August 16 1985, Freaky Styley takes its name from a 1980s phrase used to describe something funky, strange or unique. The album was the first to feature founding RHCP guitarist Hillel Slovak but also marked the last with drummer Cliff Martinez.

For Freaky Styley, the band experimented with more diverse musical genres which resulted in the punk inspired “Catholic School Girls Rule” and psychedelic “Jungle Man”. Additionally, two covers were released with the album – “If You Want Me to Stay” by Sly and the Family Stone and “Africa” by The Meters which was rewritten as an ode to Hollywood.

In a collaboration with producer George Clinton from Parliament and Funkadelic, the album has been described as

the closest the Red Hot Chili Peppers ever came to straight funk.

After travelling to Michigan to record with Clinton, Kiedis became troubled by symptoms of severe heroin withdrawal. In an attempt to counteract his craving for the drug, he began using copious amounts of cocaine instead, which he took with his bandmates and Clinton. Overall, this had a negative effect upon their health as stated by Kiedis in his book, Scar Tissue.

In 2003, Freaky Styley was remastered and rereleased. In the liner notes, bassist Flea commented on the album’s failure to achieve mainstream success:

I know the music on this record was just way too obscure to ever be popular in a mainstream kind of way, but to me it really holds its own as a definitive and substantial musical statement.