The track was met with immediate commercial success, reaching number one on various record charts in different countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, West Germany and on the US Billboard Hot 100.

[10] Elsewhere, "Funkytown" was a number-one hit in countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and West Germany, and peaked at number two in Finland, Sweden and on the UK Singles Chart.

"Funkytown" expresses a simple, repetitive yearning for the pulse of a bigger city, goosed by a killer ten-note synth riff.

"Gotta make a move to a town that's right for me", sings Cynthia Johnson in a robotic, vocoderized voice (a precursor to the Auto-Tune sound) before busting out an unmodified, soulful wail, pleading for a trip to the party destination of her dreams.

In 1986, "Funkytown" was covered by Australian new wave band Pseudo Echo in rock form on their album Love an Adventure, including a guitar solo in the middle.

Like the original song by Lipps Inc., Pseudo Echo's version of the track is the band's only US Top 40 hit single.