American soul funk disco band, active mainly between 1976 and 1986. They have produced several hit records, including Ffun, a Billboard magazine "#1 With A Bullet" Top R&B Single. The group recorded a total of 11 albums with Mercury Records. The band was formed in Vallejo, California in 1969 by high-school classmates Louis A. McCall and Michael Cooper. With Louis on drums and percussion and Michael providing lead vocals and lead guitar, the group went on to include Karl Fuller (trumpet), Paul Harrell (saxophone/flute), Cedric Martin (bass guitar), Danny Thomas (keyboards), and Felton C. Pilate II (trombone/lead vocals).
Starting out as artist they released one single in 1972, then recorded two albums' worth of material in 1972-1973 which were later released as material by Con Funk Shun, named after a 1970 Nite-Liters track. (The exact timing of the name switch is unclear but is "mid-1970s".) They moved to Memphis in 1973 and got a major record deal with Mercury Records in 1976. Their first albums were produced by Skip Scarborough and in the 1980s they collaborated with such producers as Eumir Deodato, Maurice Starr, Attala Zane Giles, Billy Osborne, Leon Ware, Billy Valentine and Bryan Loren. During their 10 years with Mercury, the band received four RIAA gold album awards and other industry accolades, while performing on major national tours and overseas.
Con Funk Shun (sometimes abbreviated as CFS) disbanded in 1986 after lead singers Michael Cooper and Felton C. Pilate II left for solo careers. Cooper had a few moderate hits while signed to Warner Bros. Records, and Pilate went on to be the musical director and producer for rap superstar MC Hammer. In 1994, they started appearing together as Con Funk Shun again with sidemen in the place of the original members. The new band appears at old school festivals and nostalgia shows throughout the country. Co-founder Louis A. McCall was murdered in 1997 in a home invasion robbery in Stone Mountain, Georgia (USA) but the band still functions.