The Gap Band - Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)

"Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" is the Gap Band's second appearance on ERV ("Party Train" was posted back in May 2012).  While this song is less well-known, it is yet another classic Gap Band tune, with a funky bass line and a catchy melody.  "Burn Rubber on Me" was off the poorly titled Gap Band III (it was actually the group's fifth LP), which many critics consider to be their strongest album.

The Gap band was made up of the Wilson brothers (Charlie, Ronnie and Robert) and was named after the streets of their neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street).  While they only had two top 40 hits on the pop charts ("Early in the Morning" and "You Dropped a Bomb on Me"), they were mainstays on the R&B charts, where they had 24 top 40 hits.

Although "Burn Rubber on Me" only reached #84 on the pop charts, it was the Gap Band's first #1 hit on the R&B charts.  Gap Band III reached #16 on the main charts (also #1 on the R&B album charts), firmly establishing the group as funk stars.

The video is a simple performance piece full of pure funky cowboy wonderfulness.

As we mentioned earlier, the Gap Band remained popular through the 1980s, and continued performing until Robert Wilson passed away (heart attack) in 2010.