Marking
it’s 45th anniversary today is the 6th LP, under the Parliament banner,
from George Clinton’s P-Funk collective. It's Funkentelechy vs. the
Placebo Syndrome, which was released on November 28th, 1977. It is
arguably the most hit loaded jam to come from Parliament during their
peak. While merely 6 songs take up its track listing, it still boasts
some of the gang’s most infectious grooves and one of its biggest hits.
The LP is a loose concept album continuing the story of
Starchild’s battle against the Placebo Syndrome and Sir Nose
d'Voidoffunk. The narrative is effectively Clinton’s comment on the
emergence of disco music in the late ‘70s, which he saw as a “dumb’d
down” version of dance music for undiscriminating masses. The original
vinyl release contained a 22″×33″ poster of the character Sir Nose
D'Voidoffunk, as well as an 8-page comic book that explains the concept
behind the LP. Both the poster and the comic book were illustrated by
Overton Loyd.
The album is near wall to wall with foot stompin'
funk, kicked off with Bop Gun (Endangered Species), about a weapon which
makes anything it shoots funky, and then heading straight into another
killer, Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention – B3M). Side two features
the singles, Funkentelechy and, what has to be the standout centerpiece
of the LP, Flashlight. The latter features a booty bustin’ baseline
played on Mini-Moog by Bernie Worrell, who creates an unstoppable groove
that defines one of the P-Funk gang’s most iconic songs.
Flashlight
was the first P-Funk related single to hit #1 on the R&B chart and
peaked at #16 on the pop charts. The song’s distinctive baseline was
originally intended for Bootsy, but he turned it down and opted to play
drums instead. Worrell decided to take it on by reportedly chaining
together three MOOG synths, which he layered to create the bass sound.
The song began as a loose jam and eventually evolved through layers of
recording, with up to 50 voices being overdubbed to create the complex
layers of chanting and choruses.
The song ended up having a
legacy far outside its original recording as various members of the
P-Funk collective recycled elements of it in future recordings. Outside
of the group, it seeped into the collective consciousness of hip-hop
culture where it was sampled, quoted and referenced over and over again
throughout the ensuing decades. Its message of light radiating from
every individual makes this song shine with its own illumination as it
inspires generation after generation.
The album was a
significant hit, becoming the group’s fourth consecutive gold LP and
second platinum, reaching #2 on the R&B charts and #13 on the
Billboard top 200. It’s definitely the most consistently thumpin’ dance
album from the Parliament Mothership to land on this funky planet.
