History Music / GeorgeClinton

Signed with Westbound Records, they released several records starting in 1970 and gained a small following. The same year, Clinton decided to expand with an off-shoot group named ''Parliament'', which featured most of the musicians from Funkadelic, and originally covered much of the same musical ground before both groups moved away from psychedelic rock and became more funk-oriented. More spinoffs, including ''The Brides of Funkenstein'' followed. And later Bootsy Collins started his own career with ''Bootsy's Rubber Band''.

* '''William Collins''' (better known as "Bootsy") - bass, vocals, guitar, drums. Initially a member of Music/JamesBrown's band, came to P-Funk with his brother Catfish circa 1972. Famous for his basslines, his "space bass", his cartoonish suits (complete with top hats) that would later be seen on Music/PublicEnemy's Flava Flav and rapper T-Pain, and his instantly recognizable, goofy voice. Later formed Bootsy's Rubber Band. Average listeners probably know him for the vocals he contributed to Deee-lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and cameo in the video (''Deee-lite have definitely been known to smoke... on stage that is!'' *slide whistle*).

* 1976 - ''The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein''

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "We love to fu[[spoiler:n]]k you, Funkenstein!" They use this play on words more than once.

* IronicNurseryRhyme: Clinton likes to take nursery rhymes and turn them into drug references, and it's all PlayedForLaughs instead of scary. For instance, Funkadelic's "Let's Take it to the Stage" offers us this warped take:

* ThePowerOfRock: Er, {{Funk}}. Refer to mythology.

* {{Sampling}}: G-funksters and gangsta rappers lifted bits of the music for their own tracks in the early 90s.

George Edward Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is a famous and acclaimed {{Funk}} musician. If Music/JamesBrown was the [[TropeMaker pioneer]] of funk, George Clinton is the man who arguably [[TropeCodifier fulfilled its potential]] as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside Music/JamesBrown and Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone), he's also the second or third most {{sampl|ing}}ed musician, depending on who's counting.

* WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes: Theme quoted in "Sir Nose D'Voidofunk"

* HeroicArchetype: Starchild, Mr. Wiggles.

George Clinton was born in 1941 in Kannapolis, North Carolina (near Charlotte) and grew up in Plainfield, UsefulNotes/NewJersey. After some time in a barber salon, he became a staff songwriter for Motown, while fronting a small-time {{Doowop}} group named The Parliaments, which had a hit in 1967 with "(I Wanna) Testify". But this band disintegrated, and Clinton instead formed Funkadelic, a band which played a combination of psychedelic rock and funk, influenced by other famous musicians such as Music/JimiHendrix, James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone.

* '''Music/ThomasDolby''' - vocals, keyboards, synths. Dolby was a frequent collaborator with Clinton, including co-producing some albums including ''ome of My Best Jokes Are Friends''.

* 1975 - ''Mothership Connection''

* CloudCuckooLander: Oh yeah. Listen to some of his lyrics, read his song titles... hell, just look at his hair. "Eccentric" is putting it mildly. Probably because of all the drugs.

* {{Crunchtastic}}: Oh, man, Clinton - and his "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" - loves long compound funny words - "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication", "Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop", "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)" from ''Music/OneNationUnderTheGroove'' (longest compound song title ever?).

* PopStarComposer: ''Film/MuppetsInSpace''.

** WordOfGod seems to be very ''supportive'' of sampling saying on a recent podcast that it's been one of the only things keeping his bands on the radio and heard in recent years.

* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: Try reading the full mythology ''without'' experiencing this or WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs.

George Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is a famous and acclaimed {{Funk}} musician. If Music/JamesBrown was the [[TropeMaker pioneer]] of funk, George Clinton is the man who arguably [[TropeCodifier fulfilled its potential]] as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside Music/JamesBrown and Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone), he's also the second or third most {{sampl|ing}}ed musician, depending on who's counting.

* {{Afrofuturism}}

* IntercourseWithYou: "Loose Booty", "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Miss Lucifer's Love", "Nappy Dugout", "Trash A-Go-Go", "Red Hot Mama", "Alice in My Fantasies", "Sexy Ways", "No Head No Backstage Pass". Those are just the ''Funkadelic'' songs.
** "Loose Booty" is actually about the aftereffects of taking drugs that have been cut with laxatives.

* Funkadelic - "One Nation Under a Groove", "(Not Just) Knee Deep", "Maggot Brain", "Cosmic Slop", "Get Off Your Ass and Jam", and others.

George Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is a famous and acclaimed {{Funk}} musician. If Music/JamesBrown was the [[TropeMaker pioneer]] of funk, George Clinton was the man who arguably [[TropeCodifier fulfilled its potential]] as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside Music/JamesBrown and Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone), he's also the second or third most {{sampl|ing}}ed musician, depending on who's counting.

* 2007 - ''By Way Of The Drum''

* InTheStyleOf: "Maggot Brain" from ''Music/MaggotBrain'' somewhat imitates Music/JimiHendrix. Early albums (1970-1972) owed quite a bit to the influence of Motown's psychedelic soul bands and hard funk.

* LastChorusSlowDown: [[SubvertedTrope A bit of a subversion]]: "Nappy Dugout" speeds up the drumbeat at the end.

* TakeThat: "Let's Take It to the Stage" contains jokes at the expense of various funk bands like [[Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone Slick and the Family Prick]], [[Music/{{Rufus}} Sloofus]], [[Music/KoolAndTheGang Fool and the Gang]], or [[Music/EarthWindAndFire Earth Hot Air and No Fire]]. Also insinuates that the 17 minute gap in the Watergate tapes was erased because that's where UsefulNotes/RichardNixon recorded himself doing drugs.

The 1975-1979 period is widely considered Parliament-Funkadelic's "classic period", when they released a string of concept albums full of bizarre spacey imagery and their own [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-Funk_mythology mythology]], which were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, backed by an elaborate stage show that rivaled Music/PinkFloyd. The same period resulted in a stream of side-projects and more off-shoots, out of which only Bootsy's Rubber Band earned any comparable success or visibility.

* '''Lucius Ross''' aka "Tawl" - rhythm guitar between 1968-1971. Played on the first 3 Funkadelic albums.

* ContemptibleCover: ''Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow'', ''Cosmic Slop''

* MoneySong: [[SubvertedTrope Subversion]], as most of their songs criticize materialism. Best known examples: "Funky Dollar Bill", "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" and "Cosmic Slop" (the last two are about poverty).
* MindFuck: The title track from 1971's Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow. The lyrics are almost completely nonsensical, mostly consisting of the title and "The King Of Heaven Is Within", the song itself is as Psychedelic as Soul can be, going into Music/JimiHendrix territory, and probably the most accurate representation of taking LSD. George himself did say the album WAS to see if they could make a whole album while tripping on acid, and it shows very well.

* ProtestSong: "Funky Dollar Bill", "Better By The Pound", "The Placebo Syndrome" and "Wizard of Finance" criticise the American society's materialism and complacency. "March to the Witch's Castle" is about scarred Vietnam War veterans returning to America[[note]]a lot of which have become drug addicts and have been abandoned by wives who thought they were missing in action or died in combat[[/note]] and questioning their involvement in the war. "If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" from ''Music/MaggotBrain'' is a call for unity among the disadvantaged. "Cosmic Slop" is about a mother who becomes a prostitute to feed her children.

** WordOfGod seems to be very ''supportive'' of sampling saying on a recent podcast that it's been one of the only thing keeping his bands on the radio and heard in recent years.

* SillyLoveSongs: "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You", "Can You Get to That", "Let's Make It Last", "Baby I Owe You Something Good", "I Misjudged You".

George Clinton (July 22, 1941-) is a famous and acclaimed {{Funk}} musician. If Music/JamesBrown was the [[TropeMaker pioneer]] of funk, George Clinton was the man who arguably [[TropeCodifier fulfilled its potential]] as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside Music/JamesBrown and Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone), he's also the second or third most {{sampl|ing}}ed musician, depending on who's counting.

George Clinton was born in 1941 in Kannapolis, North Carolina and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey. After some time in a barber salon, he became a staff songwriter for Motown, while fronting a small-time {{Doowop}} group named The Parliaments, which had a hit in 1967 with "(I Wanna) Testify". But this band disintegrated, and Clinton instead formed Funkadelic, a band which played a combination of psychedelic rock and funk, influenced by other famous musicians such as Music/JimiHendrix, James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone.

The period of 1975-1979 is widely considered Parliament-Funkadelic's "classic period", when they released a string of concept albums full of bizarre spacey imagery and their own [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-Funk_mythology mythology]], which were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, backed by an elaborate stage show that rivaled Music/PinkFloyd. The same period resulted in a stream of side-projects and more off-shoots, out of which only Bootsy's Rubber Band earned any comparable success or visibility.

* DeaderThanDisco: Clinton and co. invoked this trope by taking shots at disco in the late seventies, even declaring their mission to be "rescuing dance music from the blahs" on ''Uncle Jam Wants You''.

'''George Clinton''' (July 22, 1941-) is a famous and acclaimed {{Funk}} musician. If Music/JamesBrown was the [[TropeMaker pioneer]] of funk, George Clinton was the man who arguably [[TropeCodifier fulfilled its potential]] as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside Music/JamesBrown and Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone), he's also the second or third most {{sampl|ing}}ed musician, depending on who's counting.

* '''William Collins''' (better known as "Bootsy") - bass, vocals, guitar, drums. Initially a member of JamesBrown's band, came to P-Funk with his brother Catfish circa 1972. Famous for his basslines, his "space bass", his cartoonish suits (complete with top hats) that would later be seen on Music/PublicEnemy's Flava Flav and rapper T-Pain, and his instantly recognizable, goofy voice. Later formed Bootsy's Rubber Band. Average listeners probably know him for the vocals he contributed to Deee-lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and cameo in the video (''Deee-lite have definitely been known to smoke... on stage that is!'' *slide whistle*).