As a child I remember trying to figure out what in the world was going on with Sir Nose’s shenanigans in this song… what was going on with Sir Nose period… but I bobbed my head to the beat anyway. I get now that he was being baptized by the funk… “Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)” from the 1978 Parliament album Motor Booty Affair.

“Flash Light” is guaranteed to get a party started. One of the funkiest jams ever, it’s been my experience that this song has been played during at least one party I’ve gone to in each of the four decades of my life. It’s that timeless and tough. “Flash Light” was the first #1 R&B hit for any of the P-Funk groups and it went to #16 on the Pop charts. It’s also the group’s second certified platinum-selling single. “Flash Light”, from the 1977 album Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome.

Great to see D’Angelo back doing what he does and what better way to close out this month of covers than with this live performance from Amsterdam back in January. Special shout out to GFM writer extraordinaire DJKKC for putting me on to this Enjoy!

This track will definitely get you over the hump today! This is beyond music, this is a straight movement and the energy on both the studio version and live recording is undeniable. Make sure you check out the personnel for the studio version after the jump. You wanna know what the problem is with some music, I’m not talking industry because quite honestly don’t know what that is and when I hear a lot of that industry talk I keep checking my hip to see of my skypager is going off… nevertheless, I’m talking about the phenomenon of collective energy.

The title of the song is “Children of Production” plural, not “Child of Production”. The music of our AOM has a recurring thread and that is the collective. As George has often stated he would put a little “P” on the production and let others do the same and through that you end up with a sound that is for the ages. Not the half-baked redundant output of hobbyists. It’s not that P-Funk didn’t have songs that were chants or songs that were one or two chords, the difference is that they were saying something and playing something. In order to reach that level you have to remove the “cobwebs from your mind” and align yourself with a movement of music.

I actually heard the live version first in my late teens and it truly blew my mind… your homework today is to listen to the interplay between Bernie Worrell’s synth bass and the horn section from the 1:33 – 1:51 mark. So many great lessons in that little section on how to write and arrange, unison octaves are very powerful and then when you burst into divisi(harmony) in spurts it creates a feast for the ears.

Checkout the personnel after the jump (more…)

Slow and funky… “I’ve been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)” by Parliament. From the 1976 album The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein.

Posting this song is a treat and a trip for me. 1. Because my parents had this album (and wore it out). 2. This song is still played today on the radio in every old school mix, and 3. Dr. Dre’s sampling of this song for “Let Me Ride”. Funny how this song has been with me most of my life, yet I never knew its name. “Mothership Connection (Star Child)”, from the Parliament album, Mothership Connection.

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When you have a body of work that has been sampled over 800 times that is no small feat. In fact it is mind blowing to think of that amount of influence, but as our AOM George Clinton so aptly put it: The Funk (or more precisely George’s Brand of Funk) is in the DNA of Hip Hop. You don’t have to take my word for it, just follow this link and check the credits… Now for a few faves in no particular order. (more…)

I realize that with our AOM we do the song of the day but I believe I might make a motion at the next GFM meeting whereby we can have special consideration for songs like this for song week! Of course we are going to have tons of great funk coming up this week from our AOM it’s just something with this classic from Mothership Connection that when it comes on you are compelled to hit the floor. Here’s to a funky week.