Unfunky UFO

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 11: 1988-89 Bootsy Collins - “What’s Bootsy Doing?” (1988) Bootsy’s comeback album after laying low, playing on other group’s records, is both exciting and disappointing. Bootsy’s playing, songwriting, and singing are top notch. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell as most of this is buried in the production with drum machines and synth cranked way up. Some of the Rubber Band and Godmoma play on here and help fill up the sound a little. “Party On Plastic” is the highlight and has a cool music video. The rest is hit or miss but overall a fun, yet flawed album. 3.5/5 INCorporated Thang Band - “Lifestyles of the Roach & Famous” (1988) A side project for P-Funk bassist/vocalist, Lige Curry and guitarist/vocalist, Andre Foxxe. Most of the songs are written by Clinton and various members of P-Funk. Lige is a great bass player with a good voice. This is similar to other P-Funk recordings of the time with overuse of keyboards a...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 10: 1985-87 George Clinton - “Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends” (1985) Clinton’s 3rd studio album finds him collaborating with new wave keyboardist, Thomas Dolby (his big hit was “She Blinded Me With Science”), and bassists Doug Wimbish (session bassist on some of the first hip-hop records, played in funk band, Tackhead, and went on to play in Living Color) and Steve Washington (ex-bassist of Dayton funk band, Slave). Most of the usual Funk Mob are here but their contributions are minimal compared to past records as this album is dominated by keyboards and drum machines. The single “Double Oh-Oh” has a decent bass line, groove, and vocals but the 80s keyboards make it sound very dated. The other single, “Bulletproof” is one of the highlights of the album with a very funky groove and anti-war lyrics. Clinton is listed as the lead singer but he’s definitely just a background singer on “Bulletproof” as that’s not his voice and I don’t recogni...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 9: 1982-84 William “Bootsy” Collins - “The One Giveth, the Count Taketh Away” (1982) Bootsy’s second solo album is fairly solid, mostly upbeat funk. The bass lines are killer and there’s nothing simple about them. However, I’d say the musical arrangements on here are mostly simple and straight forward funk. Besides a couple ballads, this is mid-tempo and upbeat. There aren’t any bad songs but there really isn’t any great songs either with the opener, “Shine-O Mite” being the stand out track. Oddly enough, the same year Bootsy released an absolutely killer non album single called “Body Slam”. It bears striking resemblance to “Countrackula” from this record. 3.5/5 Kiddo - “Kiddo” (1982) Kiddo was formed by Donnie Sterling, who played bass and co-wrote for Parlet, co-wrote a few P-Funk songs, and sung occasional background vocals, even taking lead on Parliament’s “Agony of DeFeet”. Michael Hampton is also the guitarist. Fairly standard ra...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 8: 1980-81 Sweat Band - “Sweat Band” (1980) Sweat Band was a short lived project featuring several veteran P-Funk musicians with Bootsy being the main creative force. The opener, “Hyper Space” is a stand out track. It is a mostly instrumental hard funk jam with a deep bass groove and a killer keyboard line played by Bootsy keyboardist, Razor Johnson featuring a great Michael Hampton solo. “Love Munch” is another instrumental with a Latin groove for Maceo and Fred to solo over. The album feels like a mix between Bootsy and Parlet’s more upbeat, dance oriented songs but with a heavier emphasis on the music over the vocals. The vocals are there, just not as prominent. Fairly solid record but certainly not a classic. 3.5/5 Parlet - “Play Me or Trade Me” (1980) Parlet’s final album is their best. “Help From My Friends” is catchy as hell with Bernie killing it in the keys. Del tha Funkee Homo Sapien sampled this on “Dr. Bombay”. “Wolf Ticket...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 3: 1979  Funkadelic - “Uncle Jam Wants You” (1979) Funkadelic’s 11th studio album is their second and last hit record. The album revolves around the hit, “Not Just Knee Deep” which is an epic dance number co-written by Clinton and Morrison but credited to one of Clinton’s sons as a gift. “Knee Deep” is an infectious groove, clocking in at around 15 minutes, featuring over the top layering of vocals, one of P-Funk’s catchiest keyboards, an awesome Hampton guitar solo, and even a scat breakdown by former Spinners vocalist, Phillipe Wynn. The song was famously sampled in several hip hop songs including “Me, Myself, & I” by De La Soul while the bass line is used in several Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and other G-Funk tracks. The opener, “Freak of the Week” is likewise a catchy dance number, sampled by Digital Underground (who are, like Snoop and Dre heavy on the P-Funk sampling). However, the second half of the album feels like studi...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 6: 1978 Bootsy’s Rubber Band - “Bootsy? Player of the Year” (1978) Similar in style to the first two Bootsy records, this one is about half upbeat funk and half ballads. However, this time, rather than all the ballads on the second half, they are mixed in. The record opens with an introduction of the band with chants of “we want Bootsy” while band jams. This was a studio version of their live intro and Bootsy’s entrance. Every song is solid with Bootzilla and Hollywood Squares being the best known. The psychedelic ballad, “May the Force Be With You” is the highlight with excellent, trippy guitars and phenomenal vocals by Mudbone Cooper. “Roto-Rooter” is another highlight, a faster, catchy hard funker. The record sleeve features a cardboard cut out of oversized Bootsy Star glasses.  4/5 The Brides of Funkenstein- “Funk or Walk” (1978) The Brides of Funkenstein were two female vocalists who had previously worked with Sly Stone ...

Parliament-Funkadelic discography Part 5: 1977 Bootsy’s Rubber Band - “Ahhh.... the Name is Bootsy, Baby!” (1977) Bootsy’s second album and P-Funk’s first to top the soul/r&b charts with Clinton and Bootsy splitting the songwriting duties along with Mudbone Cooper, Gary Shider, and Maceo Parker contributing as well and basically the same lineup as the last record. Side A is all upbeat funk while side B are ballads. The records starts introducing Bootsy and his band while the band jams before Bootsy joins in on bass. The following two tracks are classic with the concept of “fake the funk and your nose will grow” being expanded on by Parliament later on and the chant of “fly, won’t you come fly” still being used by P-Funk live. The star of the show is Bootsy but every vocalist and musician is top notch with Mudbone and P-Nut really killing it on vocals, particularly on the ballads like “What’s a Telephone Bill” and the psychedelic soul masterpiece, “Munchies For...