Wiser and ... Nastier?

Now, more than ever, folks need “Super Freak.” At least, that’s how it seems to veteran funk-rocker Rick James, who will perform his very kinky 1981 hit and more when his tour arrives at the Greek Theatre on Friday.

“[The song] came during a time when all people wanted to do was party, get dressed up and go to the disco,” says James, 54. “Right now people want to revert back to that simpler time. There’s a lot of negativity going on, and our music [can] take people’s minds off of it. For an hour and a half or two hours, you don’t have to hear about the Taliban, and the racism, and the economics, and George Bush, and all that. It’s therapeutic.”

In his late-’70s and early-’80s heyday, James helped resuscitate Motown Records with a blend of bass-heavy funk, squealing synthesizers and gritty salaciousness he called “punk funk.” Where younger rival Prince tended to be sexually explicit yet romantic, the brash and boastful James was all about just getting down ‘n’ dirty.

Back then, he lived as large as any decadence-oriented rock star could, surrounding himself with scantily clad women, dreaming up outrageous stage shows with pyrotechnics and wild costumes, and partying heavily with drugs and alcohol. In addition to scoring pop and R&B; hits, he wrote and produced hits for such artists as the Temptations, Teena Marie and Eddie Murphy. Even when his own records stopped making the pop or R&B; charts, his sound lived on in M.C. Hammer’s 1990 hit single “U Can’t Touch This,” which cribbed the bass line from “Super Freak.” (You can bet James got paid--eventually.)

But by the ‘90s, the L.A.-based singer-songwriter’s wild ways had taken their toll, as he and his then-girlfriend, now his ex-wife, served prison time for charges stemming from cocaine use and two sexual assaults on women. His 1997 album, “Urban Rapsody,” got little notice. In 1998, he had a stroke that derailed a comeback tour.

These days, James is in some ways older and wiser for his travails.

“I have a desire and a purpose now,” he says. “Before, I was really on drugs [when] I went on stage. Now I can remember the cities I’m in and the songs I’m singing.”

Last fall, Universal, which now owns Motown, re-released James’ biggest-selling album, 1981’s “Street Songs,” with extra tracks and a bonus live disc. “They’ve only done that for a certain amount of [people], like Marvin Gaye or James Brown,” James says, flashing his old braggadocio. “So I’m among an elite few.”

He is focused on his legacy to a degree, citing long-held plans to release a biography titled “Memoirs of a Super Freak,” but James says he has written a lot of new songs. “At one time I was going to put out an acoustic album,” he says. “But I changed my mind.” Now he plans to make another recording that incorporates “rock, jazz, funk--a potpourri of different styles and sounds.”

Although he enjoyed working with such younger artists as Snoop Dogg, who appeared on “Urban Rapsody,” James feels there’s a lack of innovative musicianship today.

“The government took music out of the schools, and kids have no way to learn an instrument or theory and harmony,” he says. “So they have to resort to sampling. If music were taught in schools, kids would learn how to create on their own.”

He is fonder of collaborating with older acts he respects, such as Ike Turner for a 1998 track on “Chef Aid,” an album stemming from the “South Park” comedy series. “That was a thrill,” he says. “The highlights of my life were working with Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Chaka Khan or Stevie Wonder.”

Khan will share the bill with James on Friday, but he’s not sure they’ll perform together on stage. He promises some surprises, however, as well as a return to bawdy form.

“I’m the ringleader!” he says. “I’m Caligula. [The stage show] is very decadent, and I’m filthier and nastier than ever. Nasty boy is back!”

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Rick James, with Chaka Khan, Cameo, the Ohio Players and Lakeside, Friday at the Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Canyon Road, L.A., 6 p.m. $33.50 to $71.50. (323) 665-1927.