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 recognize who it would be, although he’s definitely lip syncing to it in the music video. The rest of the album continues the same style of electro-funk mixed with new wave. The backwards bass and flute in “Pleasures of Exhaustion” make an otherwise by the numbers dance song somewhat interesting. “Bodyguard” is a catchy pop-funk song. “Bangladesh” is a boring pop ballad complete with a string section that is still worth a listen to hear Blackbyrd kill it on guitar. “Thrashing” is another anti-war pop-funk song with some very funky bass and trippy keyboards. The last song and title track is the best song on the record. Clinton and Dolby trade lead vocals with Wimbish playing some very funky bass. Lots of political and social commentary with thought provoking metaphors. Overall, this record has some really high points but also some mediocrity. The moments of brilliance and funkiness make up for the utilization of corny synth pop. Nowhere near as good as the first two Clinton records but a lot better than the next two. I give it a low 4 out of 5.
4/5
Jimmy G & the Tackheads - “Federation of Tackheads” (1985)
The Tackheads are a P-Funk side project fronted by bassist and Clinton’s little brother, Jimmy Giles. Nepotism aside, Giles is a fairly decent bass player and singer. This record is very much a mix of funk with keyboard heavy pop and new wave like on Clinton’s last record. “Clockwork” is a very catchy funk meets new wave song that starts to feel redundant till Blackbyrd’s guitar solo kicks in about 2/3 of the way in. “Break My Heart” is decent funk pop.
The ballad, “All Or Nothing” is fluff. “Lies” is ok rap-funk with Blackbyrd shredding on guitar. “Slingshot” and “Family Funk” show off Giles’ bass playing while “I Want Yo Daughter” sounds like it’d be an early Prince song. This is a decent, underrated, and little known funk record. Not a classic by any means but worth checking out.
3.5/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Freaky Stylely” (1985)
At the time the Chili Peppers were a punk-funk band. They felt like their first record was completely neutered by its producer who wanted it to be more pop-oriented. He was one of the guys from the British post-punk group, Gang of Four. Being big fans of P-Funk they decided to bring Clinton in as a producer and creative consultant. I consider this a P-Funk project because it features Benny Cowan, Maceo, and Fred on horns along with George, Clip, Pat Lewis, Steve Boyd, P-Nut, Gary Shider, Gary Shider’s 7 year old who would later join the band as an adult, and others on background vocals. Clinton brings out the funk in this band. They cover Meters and Sly but the originals are great too. Just energetic funk with its roots in punk rock. Flea’s bass playing is absolutely killer. I’m not a fan of the Chili Peppers, personally but listening to this album is starting to make me a fan. Ironically, Clinton’s production is more raw and funky here than on some of his own records at the time. Clinton had the band stay with him and they reportedly were on a nonstop coke binge, even letting Clinton’s dealer read a rap on the intro of a song as payment.
3.5/5
George Clinton- “R&B Skeletons In The Closet” (1986)
Skeletons is Clinton’s most blatantly commercially ambitious sounding record. Pedro Bell’s album art pokes fun at black musicians who sell out by crossing over into pop and new wave. Were Clinton and Bell playfully poking fun at this album or accusing other artists of being sell outs? Either way, this is the same mix of electro-funk and synth pop as on the last album but with less musicianship and less interesting ideas. “Hey Good Looking” and “Do Fries Go With That Shake?” are notable for being Vanessa Williams’ recording debut. They’re both bangers and “Fries” was a minor hit in the r&b charts but after over abundance of synthesizers and drum machines wears thin after a while. “Mix Master Suite” is an interesting experiment featuring Clinton sampling various records but the rest is standard pop-funk. The highlight is the sleazy “Cool Joe” about a pimp who loses everything from buying too much blow. Overall, an ok record with a few moments but mostly just ok.
3/5
Mico Wave - “Cookin’ From the Inside Out” (1987)
Typical 80’s pop funk. Kind of a Zapp rip off at times. Not really P-Funk but Bootsy was heavily involved and Catfish, Mudbone, Maceo, and Bernie pop up on here. A lot of P-Funk alumni appear on various other records. I won’t include most of these. The reggae band, Sly & Robbie started experimenting with funk around this time and bring in a lot of P-Funk members to collaborate. Clinton even pops up on various songs on other albums. Bernie plays with the Talking Heads. It’s difficult to determine whether to even include these records. I’ll include this because Bootsy’s involvement is extensive and Mico Wave pop up on the P-Funk Family Series compilations. Not much to say about this one. If you’re way into the 80’s funk sound or want to hear anything Bootsy is involved in then check it out. Otherwise, it’s just ok.
2/5
Next up ‘88 & ‘89
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 recognize who it would be, although he’s definitely lip syncing to it in the music video. The rest of the album continues the same style of electro-funk mixed with new wave. The backwards bass and flute in “Pleasures of Exhaustion” make an otherwise by the numbers dance song somewhat interesting. “Bodyguard” is a catchy pop-funk song. “Bangladesh” is a boring pop ballad complete with a string section that is still worth a listen to hear Blackbyrd kill it on guitar. “Thrashing” is another anti-war pop-funk song with some very funky bass and trippy keyboards. The last song and title track is the best song on the record. Clinton and Dolby trade lead vocals with Wimbish playing some very funky bass. Lots of political and social commentary with thought provoking metaphors. Overall, this record has some really high points but also some mediocrity. The moments of brilliance and funkiness make up for the utilization of corny synth pop. Nowhere near as good as the first two Clinton records but a lot better than the next two. I give it a low 4 out of 5.
4/5
The Tackheads are a P-Funk side project fronted by bassist and Clinton’s little brother, Jimmy Giles. Nepotism aside, Giles is a fairly decent bass player and singer. This record is very much a mix of funk with keyboard heavy pop and new wave like on Clinton’s last record. “Clockwork” is a very catchy funk meets new wave song that starts to feel redundant till Blackbyrd’s guitar solo kicks in about 2/3 of the way in. “Break My Heart” is decent funk pop.
The ballad, “All Or Nothing” is fluff. “Lies” is ok rap-funk with Blackbyrd shredding on guitar. “Slingshot” and “Family Funk” show off Giles’ bass playing while “I Want Yo Daughter” sounds like it’d be an early Prince song. This is a decent, underrated, and little known funk record. Not a classic by any means but worth checking out.
3.5/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Freaky Stylely” (1985)
At the time the Chili Peppers were a punk-funk band. They felt like their first record was completely neutered by its producer who wanted it to be more pop-oriented. He was one of the guys from the British post-punk group, Gang of Four. Being big fans of P-Funk they decided to bring Clinton in as a producer and creative consultant. I consider this a P-Funk project because it features Benny Cowan, Maceo, and Fred on horns along with George, Clip, Pat Lewis, Steve Boyd, P-Nut, Gary Shider, Gary Shider’s 7 year old who would later join the band as an adult, and others on background vocals. Clinton brings out the funk in this band. They cover Meters and Sly but the originals are great too. Just energetic funk with its roots in punk rock. Flea’s bass playing is absolutely killer. I’m not a fan of the Chili Peppers, personally but listening to this album is starting to make me a fan. Ironically, Clinton’s production is more raw and funky here than on some of his own records at the time. Clinton had the band stay with him and they reportedly were on a nonstop coke binge, even letting Clinton’s dealer read a rap on the intro of a song as payment.
3.5/5
George Clinton- “R&B Skeletons In The Closet” (1986)
Skeletons is Clinton’s most blatantly commercially ambitious sounding record. Pedro Bell’s album art pokes fun at black musicians who sell out by crossing over into pop and new wave. Were Clinton and Bell playfully poking fun at this album or accusing other artists of being sell outs? Either way, this is the same mix of electro-funk and synth pop as on the last album but with less musicianship and less interesting ideas. “Hey Good Looking” and “Do Fries Go With That Shake?” are notable for being Vanessa Williams’ recording debut. They’re both bangers and “Fries” was a minor hit in the r&b charts but after over abundance of synthesizers and drum machines wears thin after a while. “Mix Master Suite” is an interesting experiment featuring Clinton sampling various records but the rest is standard pop-funk. The highlight is the sleazy “Cool Joe” about a pimp who loses everything from buying too much blow. Overall, an ok record with a few moments but mostly just ok.
3/5
Typical 80’s pop funk. Kind of a Zapp rip off at times. Not really P-Funk but Bootsy was heavily involved and Catfish, Mudbone, Maceo, and Bernie pop up on here. A lot of P-Funk alumni appear on various other records. I won’t include most of these. The reggae band, Sly & Robbie started experimenting with funk around this time and bring in a lot of P-Funk members to collaborate. Clinton even pops up on various songs on other albums. Bernie plays with the Talking Heads. It’s difficult to determine whether to even include these records. I’ll include this because Bootsy’s involvement is extensive and Mico Wave pop up on the P-Funk Family Series compilations. Not much to say about this one. If you’re way into the 80’s funk sound or want to hear anything Bootsy is involved in then check it out. Otherwise, it’s just ok.
2/5
Next up ‘88 & ‘89
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