TS Monk - Bon Bon Vie

[antoinegabby]

I likes this.

[islyrogers]

I'm 38 and at some point of time in my younger days I heard this and liked the groove and here I am now bringing it back to life.. I love old school and I guess it comes from my aunties and uncles cause its 14 of them. 8 girls and 6 boys and they use to rock all of this good music when we were kids

[dot4design]

It was BON BON VIE during the eighties....MORE FANTASTIC ´80´s music at my channel!!! Take a look....

[healhurt]

Drummer-singer too sexy!

[bigazzpimp407]

Classic, bouncy, funk! Props to NYC.

[ILUHVGIRLZ]

this jamz the shit cruzin san gabrial park in BURQUE NEW MEXICO in the 1980 'z me & my homie RON MILLER . FUCKEN OLD SCHOOL ROCKS (TATTOO DAN ) #505 - 304-1852

[BedStuyBro]

OK. so let me get this straight, 1980 was 31yrs ago?

That's messed up.

[RIhannaPrettykakes16]

I feel so good after I listen 2 it!! :D Im 15!

[RIhannaPrettykakes16]

I'm 15 & I lovee this song!! (:

[crysjumar1]

I always feel good after I listen to this song and watch this video. These were good times.

[RIhannaPrettykakes16]

@crysjumar1 I lovee it 2



[millfordsange]

NY Classic!!

[cartique]

why does the lead singer look like the rock dwayne johnson?

[ajsimpso]

This is creative clean music. Real quality sounds.

[tdgerst]

I REALLY LUV NEW YORK CITAYYYYYY!!!

[o0R3stless0o]

I've been looking for this damn song for 4 years but i kept typing bump bump beep! lmao! no wonder I couldnt find it!

[TheDAPPERdad]

@o0R3stless0o That's funny! You gave me the best laugh tonight! LOL

[RIhannaPrettykakes16]

@o0R3stless0o I know right!! I kept putting bom bom beat!! Lmfao!! :D Im 15 & I like dhis song!!

[Meela234]

Was a kid when this song was out. I remember walking thru my neighborhood hearing the song blasting out of people's houses. This is my first time seeing what TS Monk looks like. Thanks for posting.

[Dashland13]

my fav are the two girls dancing in this video!

[Scorpion1054]

This was when music was fun - people having a good time.

[ColorSplashGirl]

Those are my cuzins

[KINGWYCO]

heard this yesterday on the music channel

[anaahebek]

Today's music and artist suck. Hip Hop all that bs music sucks.

[BKrystall]

cali's all that by def jef

[sonofyah2726]

This was my joint then...an still today!!!!

[tanyatmr]

I went to a comedy show tonight at York College and they played this video on stage, you had to tell the host what the name of the group was along with the title of the song. I always thought it was "Give me the good life". This song brings back memories of living in brooklyn as a teenager, I was either 13 or 14 years of age.......where has time gone?

[carterboy66]

this is truly the 80's. I can't believe kids want to bring this fashion back. I guess I thought I looked good when I had a high top and pink pants.

[carterboy66]

this is truly the 80's. I can't believe kids want to bring this fashion back. I guess I thought I looked good when I had a high top and pink pants.

[jenja718]

damn,,, i remember this group cuz this and cant keep my hands to myself was one of my favorites amongst others.... i just dont remember him bein kinda sexy...lol

[dburse66]

One of my All Time Favorite Songs

[chuck57don]

what can I say thanx 4 finding this site IT'S GREAT all this good music when I was young WOW!!! To all my homies tat I partied with thanks 4 da memories......FUN TIMES.....

[ShioriAkyrou]

Despite being 18 and having everyone think you're musically uncultured,

I LOVE this song.

Thanks to my Dad introducing all these oldies to me from young,

I have all these nostalgic feelings for it.

[bakanbi]

wow according to the date on this video Monk was still alive when this came out. I wonder what he thought of this music of this era

[19ccj65]

First off, five people apparently aren't interested in the good life.

Second, thank you for posting this gem!!

[DAPEACHEE1]

DIS WUZ MY JUNK BACK N DA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gahan101]

Blackstreet's "Good Life sampled this joint.

[26Deacon]

this may be a NYC song but its still a Chicago house classic! CHI-CITY!!!

[Dashland13]

I love that sista dancing in the yellow shawl! She is getting down!!

[yshoulducare76]

U see those rolla skate moves on the intro!

[DUANESKEE]

This was the jam back in the day!!!!!

[Scorpion1054]

Damn, this is rare - wow

[titanus49]

wow I never thought I would see this on Youtube, I actually bought the LP in 1980 (still have it),and back then this was ultra cool,and very joyful. Sadly music went all pear shaped after the rap crap,took over as music. Sigh,now where did I put my time machine,maybe I should contact Dr. Who,ask him for a special favour

[Peter1999]

First album is by far the best..

what a rare gem is this video

[fff3k]

@Peter1999 the second album is awful, even the band thought so. 'human', the third and last, is really good tho...

[keefieT]

I remember this music! Excellent joyful stuff unlike alot of stuff produced today

[borvans123456789]

Old Skool!!!!! Glad to see some peeps who know their Shizit!!! Still think "I Can't keep My Hands To Myself" iz their best Hit!!! Ray "old Skool"

[Soulthinker2007]

It is the first time in 31 years that I last heard that song and now seeing this video. I did not know he was the son of Thelonius Monk. It is one of my fave songs about New York City.

[fritshits77]

is that P.Diddy on da drumz ?? ... LOL !!!!

[Scorpion1054]

LOL It looks like it!

[RedboneLadyT]

song is the biznesss!!

[anacondanoir]

This song envelopes the truest meaning of family prodigy. A funk classic that will live on forever. The Good Life indeed!

[4threconmarine]

Remember the tall light skinned brother dancing the line to this on Soul Train.

[chessminimalist]

Had my first Electric Boogaloo dance battle to this song back in the day, March of 1981 I think at a houseparty. What memories!!

[TheFallinOfficer971]

@chessminimalist ....OMG...I can remember the days of the house parties....the 50 cents hotdogs and the 40oz Old English 800 in the brown paper bags....

[MrTaz081]

This song rings out at all of my roller skating or 80's jams parties

[2525manoel]

bons tempos heinnnnnn.........

[satorni1432]

omg this is an old video!!!

[ed69netherlands]

this song reached # 23 in the dutch charts. diddy-a-dee!!!!!!!!!

[gold95]

5 mentally retarded Lady Gaga fans left THUMBS DOWN!! Morons... they will never learn what real music is... THIS IS IT!!

[solesirching73]

Teddy Riley and Blackstreet would later record their own remake of "Bon Bon Vie" simply entitled "Good Life" around 1993

[BKrystall]

def jef sampled this song. Cali's All That.

[sluna1966]

WOW

[2godio]

A true jam. Gimmie the Good life

played on world vibe radio wvrvibe.com vibe it up with internet radio

[DancingSpiderman]

Heyyy... itsn't that Capt. Sully parking the airplane on the river in the background?

[thegoodkidd]

that white guy is jamin !

[ElectricBlueOil]

this was sampled by public enemy in welcome to the terrordome.

[TheAteeyah]

There goes another great 80's song.Was 15 why can't I find that time machine????????

[TheLanard]

LOVE THIS SONG!!!!

[afrocentriclady]

Funky!!

[Silvvana]

Uauuuuuuuu! Essa eu dancei muitooooooooooooooooooo! Pop Corn Disco Club!

[soulking112]

yeah funky dope!!!

[Man18Colts]

@mikper7 MTV wouldn't play it or sad top 40 stations in Indianapolis

[primus628]

10 year old white boy in the suburbs. I was the only one jammin the old school jams. This brings it back. Haven't heard this in at least 20 years. Excellent!!!!

[kdemonde]

I don't even remember there being a video to this song WOW! great post Thanks

[Jmi3579]

I never knew the name of this early 80's song....True Funk. Remember the skating rink y'all!

[Mixxersmix]

i liked candidate for love better- but this is pretty rare - its a great song too

[newnanbro1]

Love this song like nothing else, i still own the vinyl! So sad that both the female vocalists have succumbed to cancer, but they will live on in our hearts forever!

[fuzzcentralage]

god damn this is an awesome song. lyrics are a little strange but the funk makes up for that.

[ChokeD2184]

...classic!!...this song get me everytime!!!

[bootsamou]

I still have this 12" vinyl as well as Candidate for Love & I Shoulda Known Better.

Brilliant stuff.

[24Adrian24]

damn...never knew this was a vid to this...nice post....

[mikper7]

Funk yeah, funkin A, this is a great find. The kind of stuff early MTV would never, ever play.

[fff3k]

i just found all 3 ts monk albums out on cd, after ALL THESE YEARS!! i got them on amazon... 'house of music' and 'human' are the ones to get (the second cd, 'more of the good life' is worth skipping)... FINALLY AVAILABLE!!

[TheBOOM909]

@fff3k YEAH and to inform you those t.s. monk cd's you got off amazon, are all bootleg if there on funky town grooves.

[fff3k]

@TheBOOM909 am checking that out, was told there were legitimate licenses..

either way (to tell u the truth), am glad to have these albums on cd...

[TheBOOM909]

@fff3k ok done deal for you,just letting you know and i wont go back and forth believe when i say there bootlegs.To make a long story short If you every heard of a group called the numonics one of the artist is my brother and funky town had put out there cd with out permission copy this Numonics Time Brings About Changes

[TheBOOM909]

@fff3k and heres one more site to check out keep in mind that this group is called THE NUMONICS and the reason my brother called the album THE NUMONICS PLUS IS BECAUSE FUNKY TOWN GROOVES ARE PUTTING OUT BOOTLEGS HERE CHECK IT OUT.Yeah i collect cd's since 1997 all original out of print i got well you can only imagine.

[funkytowngrooves]

@TheBOOM909 - Releases are Legit - Not Bootlegs

[karameldreem]

Thelonius S. Monk .........

Give me the Bon Bon Bon Bon Vie.

Give me the good life....

[cmo2011xoxo]

T.S. Monk. Son of the great jazz pianist Thelonius Sphere Monk.

[fff3k]

@cmo2011xoxo

and (the late) Barbara "Boo Boo" Monk, on the right, Monk Sr's daughter.

[deljean]

@fff3k which one with the yellow or pink?

[mookeychase0907]

@cmo2011xoxo I never knew he was his pops...

[fff3k]

you could google this... but anyway,

it means the "good good life" (it's french)...

[Sub0wins1]

Just a feel good groove....classic

[cottoncandy1004]

Wow! This takes me waaayyyy back! Great memories....good old college days! :-)

[crysjumar1]

alright everybody, get your skates out....we're going down to Venice Beach the way we used to!

[acedaface954]

@Sungod3161 sad part is you cant really buy this song anywhere.

[26Deacon]

this is a Chicago classic!

[crysjumar1]

Used to listen to this on the 8-track, dawg! This was a serious good time in my life ( I might have been all of 10)

[bobobrandy]

P.E. Terrerdome intro.

[maceo28]

Wow!! Never ever saw a video for this!! Memories of Illinois State University and coming home to Chicago and partying downtown....The Gazebo, The Hideout, The Golden Fork....

[BKrystall]

Def Jef along with Tone Loc sampled this jam with their hit "Cali's All That" back in 1991.

[fff3k]

wow, never heard that one! thanx...

[maggied52]

i love it and it takes me back to a fun time. Wish I could go back to those days.

[jonblizaze]

I remember watching Soul Train, and the dancers jammed to this one on the line. Great memories, man!!

[daryl138]

CLASSIC

[scarfather2001]

Good good music famlee. The memories that I'm gettin' back from hearin' this... Wish the early '80's were still here. You know?

[1357972640]

Everybody! I loved all of your comments.  Takes me back to college. Man, my brothas and sistas would tear the floor up on this and others like it. Disco was closing down, but the early 80s funk, was straight ahead, pulsating and hot! REMEMBER-LOVE INJECTION?! Then thriller and purple rain messed up the funk groove. I'll never forget it. Somebody please tell the industry to bring back real funk-hand claps, horns, cymbal crashing and the bridge.

[fff3k]

exactly!

[PARRAVISION]

DOPE! I use to roller skate to this song! it was a big hit back then, I was looking for this song for a long time.

[kakimiller]

This is sooooo beyond awesome!!! The skyline of NYC, the dancing, talent and performance of the band.......oh be still my beating heart!! LOVE IT!

[acedaface954]

this has me wanting to head out to ny. man i loooooove this record.

[kell7wlt]

"Parents just dont understand" LOL!

[cbmuzik]

YOOOOOOOOO! This track is cold dugga str8 ICE HOT!!! I never knew this was TS Monk!!! Dude was str8 banging on this track!

but trust me, his jazz drumming is just as wicked. I had an album by him he did....very nice. He didn't stray too far from his roots.

Remember, Branford Marsalis did the exact same thing. His fam beefed on him for it, he came right back to his roots.

[Hughie521324K]

MMM I love this song

[fnkdrmmr]

It's hard to believe that Theo Monks' father was an abstract Jazz genius - that's after listening to his "pop" R&B hit. Funky track...

[RoW2606]

oh yeah, now it's party time

gimme the good life

[MrMann1264]

takes me back to the skating rink when people actually went to have a good time rather than mean -mugging @ somebody to jump on afterwards

[thedrknghtno1]

its still around...just have to find a rink that still plays music like this...and there are still a few around....

[mauriciomesquita]

Esse som é demais!!

[cronicjhonez]

this song makes my soul feel ecstatic and all orangiee

[ColdBeerKen]

blackstreet sampled this cut in the mid 90's they call it tha good life check it out..

[darganx]

Welcome to the Terrordome!!

[Biggladman]

YEAH BABY! Love summertime in NYC

[acedaface954]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW YEAH!!!!!!!!!! this...is..my SONG!!!!!!!

THANK YOU MICHAEL BAISDEN FOR BRINGING THIS TO ME!!!!

[thefourthfunkateer]

bought this on 12 inch back in '79, still sounds as good as it ever did !!

[acedaface954]

@thefourthfunkateer most definitely. this is one of those records that grow legs and just takes off.

[DODOSMACK]

bad mother

[jebrilus]

Always fun to hear some french words in an American song! :D

But normally they should say "Bonne Vie" for "Good Life" , don't know why they sing "bon vie" lol

By the way the gir in the backl well say "Ce soir!"

[FrazierEmmanuel]

this is a REALLY RARE track !!!!

[Globalfaction]

My School dayz......

[tygaelement]

can someone please reveal how so many funky groups like skyy,zapp,george clinton ,tom browne chic rose royce etc etc etc got that clap sound.

Did they attach a device over the snaredrum or was it all handclaps overdubbed in the mix?

[ELRANDY11]

SupeRB .. Old School Funk at it's Best ... really jams .. Thanks donnab4real for share .. Peace=} Fine post .. Xlnt

[ilovemyfamilyg83]

Why can't i find this CD anywhere?. i want this song so bad.

[fff3k]

never was released on cd... but try googling, there are some bootleg cds out there for sale (of the 'house of music' album, that contains 'bon bon vie"...

[ilovemyfamilyg83]

Not even on a compilation album released on CD?. wow that's sad. this song is timeless so i don't understand why it would'nt be released on cd. i know theres LP Records of this but(and don't laugh when i say this)i don't know how to use a record player. plus i would want a cd for the car. oh well thanks for letting me know and thanks for the upload as well. much appreciated. hope this gets released on cd in the future some day.

[ericbuchanan]

look for it on a compilation cd called phat trax......there are alot of volumes...cant remember what volume its on and its the long version also......good luck......

[youngofasho2]

it's on volume 2

[oliver949oc]

JAMMIN TO THE BEAT!!!

[maxleoncini]

THANK YOU !

[grissoly]

Heard this at a party. I had to see who Public Enemy sampled for Welcome to the Terrordome to find out who made this.

[deeharr1]

first of all, considering that this joint is a classic, don't u think they could've done just a lil better with the video??????, i mean damn, they look stiff as hell! great track though

[fff3k]

u gotta remember, this was before there were a lot of music videos, this was before MTV was born!!

[dcflava74]

Actually when this video was made MTV was just about to come out.

[fff3k]

bon bon vie was 1979, mtv launched 1981...

close, but not THAT close...

[ltinsley2]

A true classic! Was that his sister on the right? This brother had a tough couple of years between 1982-83. His father, the great Thelonious Monk died in '82 then his sister and wife died in '83. This record was his only claim to fame, but whatta great track this was back in da day. Thanks for posting. God bless

[fff3k]

actually, his sister and his ex-girlfriend. also, monk had 2 more albums with this band, then did some solo things, and finally, a true jazz band, which he still maintains.

[kattdaddy38]

Man we whore tight pants back then. I wonder how did we still keep a high sperm count??

[mds3000]

Man they dont make them like this anymore...What happened to the music??

[YourShitStinksToo]

I definitely agree!

[urssus101]

now adays crap music rules, empty words ,when  you have to show how "bitch " you are ,not how funky and creative you can .... copy and paste generation lol unfortunatelly

[urbansoulbrotha]

This joint will STILL rock a party. What happened to good music?

[marco14ortega]

epic

[howardtheman]

This was the jam back in the days when music was just music.

[anacleto42]

Beleza, essa têm uma levada da hora.

Gosto muito dessa.

Thanks

[jabll923]

This was the cut in all major cities back in the day.....I know it was in DC...

[Karole1954]

WOW - This is t he definite Jam - Thanks so much!!!!

[urssus101]

omg definiteely that was a  Gret era T-T

[shariefwat]

where did you find this video ?

" THAT WAS THE JAM! "

[nurvrax]

Fantastic track!!!

[loosestudios]

1980s, he had formed his eponymous band, which featured him on lead vocals and drums. The group's début album, 1980's House of Music featured several hits that placed on the Billboard R&B chart, including "Bon Bon Vie (Gimme the Good Life)" and "Candidate for Love." The band went on to release two more albums throughout the early 1980s, though singles released from these albums did not fare as well as those on the début.

[raystro71]

this joint is more relevent today than it ever was!

[kdp3tim]

I am so happy that I finally found this song. It brings back some sweet memories.

[edeliaba]

I'm dancing!!!!

[pbizo2x4]

HELL YEAH !!!!!

[motownmania]

ok...so the girl with the yellow sashe so looks like kim wayans!!! Like this could be a skit on in living color!!!

[Tiffanie619]

"...but you ain't heard that from me..." LOL

[mistaal]

Wow this brings back such good memories! I wash twelve years old when this came out.

[funderburkebobby]

(C) 1981 Mirage Records Inc.

[Directemark]

Great post thank u

[deelite625]

This song brings back some VERY GOOD memories....THANKS!

[Streamline09]

Thanks so much for posting this tune. It was a popular song that year.

[bookcartpeddlerny]

That Chick in the yellow Shawl is one cool little dancer! Suss Waa!! Great Song,Thank you.

[DramaticSoul77]

Wow this video was recorded out of West New York in New Jersey. Wow.

[gergmoore]

Thanks for the reply mate, but I'm certain the one I'm looking for was rapping over a re-recording of the song , with real instruments (not sampled), and a more 90's sounding production, keyboard and backup vocals. Circa 1990-91 I believe.

And I couldnt find that song by Above The Law either.... weird!

thanks again though.

[fff3k]

if there's another recording, we didn't know about it! let me know if you find it... above the law was 1992...