bootsy collins Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Parliament “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome”

sfilzen — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 17:01:27 +0000

Parliament “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome” 1977. Today, October 26th, is Bootsy Collins’ 70th birthday (b. William Earl Collins, 1951). Bootsy co-wrote all but two tracks on Parliament’s 6th studio LP (those were “Wizard of Finance“ and ”Placebo Syndrome“) and plays bass on most of the album. While known for being the funkiest of funky bassist, Bootsy did not play bass on one of Parliament’s most famous songs that appears on Funkentelechy – “Flash Light,” which was Parliament’s first #1 R&B chart hit; it also went to #16 on the pop chart in the US. That song’s bass line was, rather, a synthesized bass played by Bernie Worrell and Bootsy plays drums on “Flash Light.” Parliament released two other singles from Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome: “Bop Gun (Endangered Species),” the album’s opening track, and the title track “Funkentelechy,” which went to #27 on the R&B charts. The song is so long that for the 7″ single it had to be split between the A and B sides.

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Parliament “Mothership Connection”

sfilzen — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 14:34:00 +0000

Parliament “Mothership Connection” released 45 years ago today, December 15th, 1975. So kick back, dig, while we do it to you in your eardrums and make my funk the P-funk, I wants to get funked up! Parliament’s fourth album is one of the best funk records of all-time and rates high on best album of any genre of all-time; the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. Relentlessly groovy, infectious and hilarious, Mothership Connection includes the epitome of funk single “P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)” along with “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” which gives us for the first time George Clinton’s alter ego as well providing main sample for Dr. Dre’s Grammy winning “Let Me Ride” (1993): “Swing down, sweet chariot, stop and let me ride.” And of course there’s “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)” which went to #15 on the Hot 100 chart and to #5 on the Hot Soul chart; it remains one of Parliament’s most well-known songs and gave the world the oft-repeated lyric “…turn this mother out.” Best song title goes to “Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication“ followed closely by “Night of the Thumpsorus Peoples.”

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Deee-Lite “Groove is the Heart”

sfilzen — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:32:46 +0000

Deee-Lite “Groove is the Heart” 1990. 12″ single. One of my favorite dance songs of all-time, infectiously funky with the added of bonus of Bootsy Collins (Parliament/Funkadelic) on guest vocals along with a mid-song rap by Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest). The 12″ has two versions of “Groove is in the Heart” – the Meeting of the Minds Mix and the Peanut Butter Mix. Both are fairly similar to the single, which hit #4 on the US single chart, #1 on the dance chart and #2 in the UK, with the Meeting of the Minds Mix slightly longer than the single; the Peanut Butter Mix is about the same in length but omits Bootsy and Q-Tip entirely. (The Peanut Butter mix was the version released in the UK.) The track consists of a lot of different samples including a few of the following: Herbie Hancock’s “Bring Down the Birds,” Vernon Burch’s “Get Up,” Ralph MacDonald’s “Jam on the Groove,” The Headhunters “God Make Me Funky” and theme from Green Acres. In 1990 I had no clue about any of those samples and didn’t know who Q-Tip was (I did know about Bootsy, though!) but still danced my ass off at many house parties that fall while at college in Madison. The B-side is “What Is Love” with two versions, Holographic Goatee Mix and Rainbow Beard Mix. It’s more of a slow-groove, hypnotic dance track for later in the evening after the adrenaline high has worn off at the club.

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