Though I'd heard the odd track here and there and knew some standouts that I'd always perk up to when they hit the speakers, it wasn't until sometime in the early 1990s when I came across a 2nd hand copy of Parliament's "Tear the Roof Off" best of compilation that the floodgates of P-Funk fandom fully opened and gushed forth the groove into my musical life. As I say, Clinton & crew had been on my radar for some time and I even had a couple of pieces of vinyl in my stash, but this compilation managed to put the scope of what they were doing out there for me to appreciate in some breadth, enough for me to eventually start assimilating anything to my collection that had the "P-F" stamp of approval.
What fascinated me the more I started to dig into the Clinton canon was the mythology he'd built into his works. It wasn't just a bunch of music to dance to. It was stories and fables and allegories and there were messages of struggle and triumph and spirit overcoming oppression. And it was all laid atop some of the fiercest grooves in the kingdom of funk. Back in the 1970s, it was sort of a magical time for this genre as massive ensembles roamed the touring landscape, bringing the beat to the masses. These groups were as majestic as dinosaurs and they've become just as extinct in the world of DJs and digitization. None were more spectacular than Parliament/Funkadelic, The P-Funk All-Stars. This amorphous array of aliens would descend from the heavens to impart their syncopated sermons of sublime funkitude.
What was happening during the peak of their activities in the 1970s and 1980s was totally inspiring in that Clinton had assembled this free-wheeling circus of virtuoso musicians and dazzling performers who could reconfigure themselves like Transformers from one musical incarnation to another. One minute they were Parliament, then they were Funkadelic, next a fragment would break off and become Parlet or The Brides of Funkenstein or someone would shoot out into orbit for a solo like the incomparable Bootsy Collins. It wasn't fixed, it was trans-dimensional and transcendental. This kind of flexibility would be a key guiding principal in several projects I'd undertake over the years.
I wish I could point out one of their original albums for this, but I just can't narrow it down when there are so many great ones and they all deserve some level of acknowledgement, which is why I felt this "greatest hits" package would be appropriate as an umbrella to cover them all. As the song says, "I like my funk uncut" and you ain't gonna find none more pure than the "P".
What fascinated me the more I started to dig into the Clinton canon was the mythology he'd built into his works. It wasn't just a bunch of music to dance to. It was stories and fables and allegories and there were messages of struggle and triumph and spirit overcoming oppression. And it was all laid atop some of the fiercest grooves in the kingdom of funk. Back in the 1970s, it was sort of a magical time for this genre as massive ensembles roamed the touring landscape, bringing the beat to the masses. These groups were as majestic as dinosaurs and they've become just as extinct in the world of DJs and digitization. None were more spectacular than Parliament/Funkadelic, The P-Funk All-Stars. This amorphous array of aliens would descend from the heavens to impart their syncopated sermons of sublime funkitude.
What was happening during the peak of their activities in the 1970s and 1980s was totally inspiring in that Clinton had assembled this free-wheeling circus of virtuoso musicians and dazzling performers who could reconfigure themselves like Transformers from one musical incarnation to another. One minute they were Parliament, then they were Funkadelic, next a fragment would break off and become Parlet or The Brides of Funkenstein or someone would shoot out into orbit for a solo like the incomparable Bootsy Collins. It wasn't fixed, it was trans-dimensional and transcendental. This kind of flexibility would be a key guiding principal in several projects I'd undertake over the years.
I wish I could point out one of their original albums for this, but I just can't narrow it down when there are so many great ones and they all deserve some level of acknowledgement, which is why I felt this "greatest hits" package would be appropriate as an umbrella to cover them all. As the song says, "I like my funk uncut" and you ain't gonna find none more pure than the "P".
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