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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/georgeclinton.jpg]]
2
3->''"There's a good time waiting for you, come on and let's get free!"''
4-->-- '''Funkadelic''', "Good To Your Earhole"
5
6->''"Make my funk the P-Funk, I wants to get funked up''\
7''I want the bomb, I want the P-Funk, I want my funk uncut."''
8-->-- '''Parliament''', "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)"
9
10George 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. He was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1997 as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic.
11
12George 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 Creator/{{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.
13
14Signed 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, Music/BootsyCollins started his own career with ''Bootsy's Rubber Band''.
15
161975–79 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.
17
18The P-Funk collective began disintegrating at the start of the 1980s as a result of Clinton's drug problems and financial problems stemming from the two groups' unwieldy size. They were disbanded as a result of complicated label politics, and Clinton started a solo career, gaining a 1982 hit album in ''Computer Games'' and the #1 single "Atomic Dog". He has continued to tour and record since with many of the same musicians under the name "P-Funk All Stars", largely due to legal issues preventing him from using "Parliament" or "Funkadelic" after 1980. The "P-Funk All Stars" nowadays contain both old P-Funk standbys and new musicians.
19
20Not to be confused with UsefulNotes/BillClinton (''Magazine/TheOnion'' ran quite a few stories during TheNineties that played on the similarity), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clinton_%28vice_president%29 vice president George Clinton]], or the decidedly white and not-very-funky soundtrack composer [[http://www.last.fm/music/George+S.+Clinton George S. Clinton]].
21
22Had an appearance AsHimself in ''Film/{{PCU}}''.
23
24The most famous songs recorded by the collective include:
25* Parliament - "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", "Flash Light", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)", "Funkentelechy", "Dr. Funkenstein", "Chocolate City", "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)", and others.
26* Funkadelic - "One Nation Under a Groove", "(Not Just) Knee Deep", "Maggot Brain", "Cosmic Slop", "Get Off Your Ass and Jam", "Super Stupid", and others.
27* George Clinton - "Atomic Dog", "Man's Best Friend/Loopzilla", "Do Fries Go with That Shake", and others.
28
29An almost certainly unfinished list of all the personnel who were part of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and offshoots throughout its history:
30* '''George Clinton''' - vocals, keyboards, synths, RecordProducer, mastermind. P-Funk just wouldn't exist without him. Famous for his outlandish costumes and rainbow dreadlocks. [[WebComic/{{XKCD}} Randall Munroe]] tried to start a rumour that he had a Ph.D in Mathematics. ''Magazine/TheOnion'' are also fans.
31* '''Music/ThomasDolby''' - vocals, keyboards, synths. Dolby was a frequent collaborator with Clinton, co-producing some albums including ''Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends''.
32* '''Eddie Hazel''' - guitar. Considered one of the most influential black guitarists ever. Later left the band, returned, toured sporadically, died in 1992.
33* '''Michael Hampton''' aka "Kidd Funkadelic" - guitar. Joined the band in 1976 as a replacement for Hazel. Has a slightly heavier rock style.
34* '''Phelps Collins''' aka "Catfish" - guitar. Joined the band alongside his more famous brother Bootsy. Former member of Music/JamesBrown's band.
35* '''[=DeWayne=] [=McKnight=]''' aka "Blackbird" - guitar. Joined in the late seventies, largely serves as lead guitarist in live shows. Retired in 2008. Once joined the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers, but that didn't pan out and he got replaced by John Frusciante.
36* '''Lucius Ross''' aka "Tawl" - rhythm guitar between 1968–71. Played on the first 3 Funkadelic albums.
37* '''Clarence Haskins''' aka "Fuzzy" - vocals, guitar, drums. Founding member of Funkadelic, left in 1977 along with Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas due to financial disputes with Clinton.
38* '''Garry Shider''' - vocals, guitar. Known for his "Diaper Man" persona on stage, lead vocalist on some of the ensemble's more famous songs like "Cosmic Slop". Died in 2010 of cancer.
39* '''Glen Goins''' - vocals, bass, guitar, drums. Known for calling in the Mothership at the start of P-Funk shows. Left the band over disputes with Clinton (seeing a pattern here?) in 1978, but died the same year before being able to release any solo material.
40* '''William Collins''' (better known as "[[Music/BootsyCollins 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*).
41* '''William Nelson''' aka "Billy Bass" - bass, guitar. Original member of Funkadelic, first to leave the band in 1971 over financial disputes with Clinton.
42* '''Cordell Mosson''' aka "Boogie" - bass. Joined Funkadelic circa 1972 and became the ensemble's second bassist after Bootsy.
43* '''Prakash John''' - bass
44* '''Bernie Worrell''' - keyboards, synths. Played an important part in arranging the ensemble's songs, known for his high-pitched spacey Minimoog lines that tend to be ripped off so often by gangsta rappers. Also played for the Music/TalkingHeads in TheEighties, appearing in ''Film/StopMakingSense''.
45* '''Walter Morrison''' aka "Junie" - keyboards, synths, vocals. Former Ohio Players member, came to P-Funk in 1977, served as musical director in some capacity.
46* '''Jerome Brailey''' aka "Bigfoot" - drums, percussion. In the ensemble between 1975-1978.
47* '''Ramon Fulwood''' aka "Tiki" - drums, percussion. Part of Funkadelic's original lineup until his dismissal in 1971. Died in 1979 of stomach cancer.
48* '''Maceo Parker''' - alto and baritone saxophone, flute. Joined in 1975. Also played for Music/JamesBrown and Music/{{Prince}}.
49* '''Fred Wesley''' - trombone. Bandmate of Parker's with Music/JamesBrown, came along with Parker in 1975.
50* '''Ray Davis''' aka "Stingray" - vocals. Known for his distinctive bass voice. Later left P-Funk and joined Music/TheTemptations circa 1995. Died in 2005. Please don't confuse him with the guy from Music/TheKinks.
51* '''Calvin Simon''' - vocals. Original band member since way back in TheFifties when they were The Parliaments. Left in 1977 over financial disputes.
52* '''Grady Thomas''' - vocals. Member of The Parliaments, left in 1977 with Haskins and Simon.
53* '''Phillippe Wynne''' - vocals. Formerly of The Spinners.
54* '''Mallia Franklin''' - vocals.
55* '''Lynn Mabry''' - vocals. Member of The Brides of Funkenstein.
56* '''Dawn Silva''' - vocals. Member of The Brides of Funkenstein.
57* '''Jeanette Washington''' - vocals.
58* '''Debbie Wright''' - vocals
59* '''Shirley Hayden''' - vocals
60
61Funkadelic discography:
62* 1970 - ''Funkadelic''
63* 1970 - ''Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow''
64* 1971 - ''Music/MaggotBrain''
65* 1972 - ''America Eats Its Young''
66* 1973 - ''Cosmic Slop''
67* 1974 - ''Standing on the Verge of Getting It On''
68* 1975 - ''Let's Take It to the Stage''
69* 1976 - ''Hardcore Jollies''
70* 1976 - ''Tales of Kidd Funkadelic''
71* 1978 - ''Music/OneNationUnderAGroove''
72* 1979 - ''Uncle Jam Wants You''
73* 1981 - ''The Electric Spanking of War Babies''
74* 2007 - ''By Way of the Drum''
75* 2014 - ''first ya gotta Shake the Gate''
76
77Parliament discography:
78* 1970 - ''Osmium''
79* 1974 - ''Up for the Down Stroke''
80* 1975 - ''Chocolate City''
81* 1975 - ''Music/MothershipConnection''
82* 1976 - ''TheClonesOfDrFunkenstein''
83* 1977 - ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''
84* 1978 - ''Motor Booty Affair''
85* 1979 - ''Gloryhallastoopid''
86* 1980 - ''Trombipulation''
87* 2018 - ''Medicaid Fraud Dogg''
88
89George Clinton solo discography:
90* 1982 - ''Computer Games''
91* 1983 - ''You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish''
92* 1985 - ''Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends''
93* 1986 - ''R&B Skeletons in the Closet''
94* 1989 - ''The Cinderella Theory''
95* 1993 - ''Hey Man, Smell My Finger''
96* 1993 - ''Dope Dogs''
97* 1996 - ''Testing Positive''
98* 1996 - ''T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M.''[[note]]The Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership[[/note]]
99* 2005 - ''How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?''
100* 2008 - ''George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love''
101
102----
103!!The P-Funk collective provides examples of the following tropes:
104* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: "March to the Witch's Castle" (Justified in the line, "Help him understand that when his loved one remarried, they were truly under the impression that he was dead and would never return").
105* {{Afrofuturism}}: Utilize a lot of space and sci-fi imagery in their music and shows, such as in the cover for ''[[http://www.subwaybaby.dj/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MOTHERSHIP-CONNECTION.png Mothership Connection]].
106* CarefulWithThatAxe: A few times in "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)".
107* {{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.
108* ConceptAlbum: An entire P-Funk mythology, as a matter of fact.
109* ContinuityNod: Clinton has a habit of recycling his older melodies in new contexts. For example: The Funkadelic song "Red Hot Mama" borrows the melody from their older song "I Bet You", and the Parliament Song "Do That Stuff" takes a riff from "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure" by Funkadelic. And we haven't mentioned how many lines he recycles between albums as a MythologyGag.
110* CoverAlbum: ''George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love''
111* CoverDrop: The title tracks of ''Music/MaggotBrain'' and ''Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow''.
112* {{Crunchtastic}}: Oh, man, Clinton - and his "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" - loves long compound funny words - "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication", "Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop", "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)" from ''Music/OneNationUnderAGroove'' (longest compound song title ever?).
113* DenserAndWackier: MUCH more than name-brand Funk musicans and bands like the Music/OhioPlayers, Music/EarthWindAndFire, Etc. The goal of Parliament/Funkadelic is to be weird as hell.
114* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Clinton started off doing DooWop, then gained his first success with a Creator/{{Motown}}-influenced sound; his first hit "(I Wanna) Testify" is like a grittier Temptations song.
115* EchoingAcoustics
116* EpicRocking: "One Nation Under a Groove", "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?", "What Is Soul", "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow", "Maggot Brain" from ''Music/MaggotBrain'', "Promentalshitbackwashenemapsychosis Squad (The Doo-Doo Chasers)" from ''Music/OneNationUnderAGroove'', "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)", "Flash Light", "Aqua Boogie (Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)", "Deep" ...and that's just a few.
117* FakeOutFadeOut: In "Bop Gun".
118* GratuitousPanning
119* IceCreamKoan: Is there funk after death? George Clinton says... "Is Seven Up?"
120* ImageSong: "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?"
121* IntercourseWithYou: "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.
122* InTheStyleOf: "Maggot Brain" from ''Music/MaggotBrain'' somewhat imitates Music/JimiHendrix. Early albums (1970–72) owed quite a bit to the influence of Motown's psychedelic soul bands and hard funk.
123* IronicNurseryRhyme:
124** 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:
125-->''Little miss muffet sat on her tuffet snorting some THC''
126-->''Along came a spider, slid down beside her''
127-->''Said, "What's in the bag, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]]?"''
128** And Parliament's "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk" has:
129-->''Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?''
130-->''Yes sir, yes sir, a nickel-bag full'' ([[DontExplainTheJoke that's drug slang for... something]])
131* LastChorusSlowDown: [[PlayingWithATrope A bit of a subversion]]: "Nappy Dugout" speeds up the drumbeat at the end.
132* LastNoteNightmare: The crashing effects of "Wars of Armageddon".
133* LoopedLyrics
134* MoneySong: {{Subverted|Trope}}, 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).
135* MindScrew: 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.
136* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Handcuffs". Apparently it's a parody of hyper-macho R&B.
137* ThePowerOfRock:
138** Er, {{Funk}}. Refer to mythology.
139** Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!
140* PopStarComposer: ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace''.
141* ProtestSong: "Funky Dollar Bill", "Better by the Pound", "The Placebo Syndrome" and "Wizard of Finance" criticize 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.
142* RearrangeTheSong: Done very frequently during the early 70s, when Clinton would often record new versions of songs he had recorded with The Parliaments or written for other artists during the mid-60s: "I Bet You", All Your Goodies Are Gone", "The Goose" and "I'll Stay", just to name a few.
143* RevolvingDoorBand
144* {{Sampling}}:
145** G-funksters and gangsta rappers lifted bits of the music for their own tracks in the early 90s.
146** Word Of God 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.
147* {{Scatting}}: "Night of The Thumpasorus Peoples". All together now: "Gaga goo ga, gaga goo ga... Gaga goo ga ga..."
148* 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"
149* [[SingleMomStripper Single Mom Prostitute]]: PlayedForDrama in "Cosmic Slop".
150* SpecialGuest: [[Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone Sly Stone]] contributes lead vocals and instrumentation on "Funk Gets Stronger (Killer Millimeter Longer Version)" from ''The Electric Spanking of War Babies''.
151* SpiritualSuccessor: To Space Jazz pioneer Music/SunRa.
152* SpokenWordInMusic + StudioChatter - So much it's easy to forget there are also sung lyrics.
153* StageNames
154* 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 18½ minute gap in the Watergate tapes was erased because that's where UsefulNotes/RichardNixon recorded himself doing drugs.
155* TitleDrop: Twice in ''Free Your Mind…'''s title track. The first inverts it: "I can't free my mind, so my ass can't follow…"
156* TitleOnlyChorus
157
158!!The P-Funk mythology provides examples of:
159* BigGood: Within the greater mythology, Dr. Funkenstein is this, especially starting with ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''. He creates the Bop Gun and helps Starchild in his battles with Sir Nose. His titular "clones" are also responsible for spreading the force of funk throughout the universe.
160%%* BigBad: Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk.
161%%* BigDamnHeroes: Mr. Wiggles and the citizens of Atlantis.
162%%* {{BFG}}: The Bop Gun.
163* BossBattle: the confrontation on ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''.
164%%* CallBack: Too many {{Mythology Gag}}s to count.
165* FunHatingVillain: Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk hates funk and refuses to dance or swim.
166* IAmSong: "Behold, I am Funkadelic/I am not of your world/but fear not, I will do you no harm..."
167* IWantSong: "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention - [=B3M=])"
168* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: Try reading the full mythology ''without'' experiencing this or What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs.
169* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Sure, he's a sucker who can't dance or swim and wants to impose the Zone of Zero Funkativity on humanity, but Sir Nose is so incompetent you wonder why Starchild even bothers.
170%%* LaughingMad: Sir Nose ''yet again.''
171%%* MadScientist: Dr. Funkenstein.
172* MessianicArchetype: Star Child.
173* {{Narcissist}}: Dr. Funkenstein, whose song gives us lines like, "Kiss me on my ego!" and "Let me hear it for me!". Nevermind that everything his back-up singers say is a barely-veiled euphemism for Dr. Funkenstein being good in the sack.
174* PunnyName: Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (say it out loud).
175%%* RedemptionQuest: Sir Nose traces his ancestry.
176* SuperDrowningSkills: Sir Nose, who is of course too cool to dance or swim.
177%%* VillainSong: "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention - [=B3M=])", "Rumpofsteelskin"

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