Parliament - Clones of Dr Funkenstein
List Price:
Our Price: $2.53
You Save: $3.45 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.98 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: ParliamentBrand: PARLIAMENT
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1994-04-01
Music Label: Island / Mercury
Soundtracks:
- Prelude
- Gamin' On Ya
- Dr. Funkenstein
- Children Of Productions
- Getten' To Know You
- Do That Stuff
- Everything Is On The One
- I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)
- Funkin' For Fun
Music reviews of Clones of Dr Funkenstein
Music Review: Partyin' On The Mothership!!--The Next Chapter!!
Rating: 4 Stars
After Parliament's platinum breakthrough, late 1975 /early 1976's
"Mothership Connection" had got P-Funk on the tongue and in the wigglin'
booties of mainstream black audiences, George Clinton had no intentions of letting his
"Parliafunkadelicment Thang" go back into underground obscurity!
He had envisioned a bomb-azz concept, and it had worked!
Late summer of 1976 saw the sequel to "Mothership"..."The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein",
which had an amazing album cover of G.C. in his funked-out space duds playing several
different characters in Dr. Funkenstein's lab. If you're a true P-Funk aficianado,
you will know that there was a very clever promo commercial made for this album
with everything that you see on the album cover, but like a mini movie!
--It's a rare find today! (-:
Anywayz, the funk mob was at this time gearing up for what would become known as
the "P-Funk Earth Tour", which was a huge outlandish glam "funk opera"
which cost a whopping $275,000 (in 1976/77 dollars) to create!
At the same time, Parliament's alter-ego band, Funkadelic, had just released
"Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic" (see my review on that one!) in the spring of 1976,
and it's single "Undisco Kidd" was doing well and getting lots of airplay.
Also G.C. had just signed P-Funk alumni and bassist/songwriter extraordinaire,
the ever-colorful & infinitely funky, Bootsy Collins & His Rubberband, to a deal
with Warner Bros. Records, and their debut, the classic "Stretchin' Out In Bootsy's Rubberband"
was zooming up the R&B charts as well!
WOW!!--Talk about saturating the marketplace and building a whole
P-Funk Alternative Aesthetic in the height of the emergerging disco era!
Disco was taking funky elements and trying to make them into a formulamatic one beat drivel,
while P-Funk, the alternative music of that time, was trying its damndest to pump
the funk back in and keep things interesting! (-:
Too bad that all this basically went under the radar of the white pop establishment!
Only the most ultra-hip whites of this time had the slightest clue of what the P-Funk was about!
P-Funk was mostly a black underground phenomenon during this time.
This album wasn't as solid in its flow as "Mothership" was, but it was still
funky and original for that time and has some good funk gems on it.
The opening "Prelude" set the stage for the whole P-Funk ethos...
"Missing funk upon a time...in the days of the funk-a-pus, the concept of
specially designed afronauts, capable of funkatizing galaxies, was first laid on manchild!
..But it was later repossessed, and placed among the secrets of the pyramids,
until a positive attitude towards this most sacred phenomenon!!---CLONE FUNK!!"
(LOL!!--I still know it by heart!)
In hindsight, the live version of "Gamin' On Ya" (from Parliament LIVE) is a much more
rawer and driving version of the song that I prefer more today than the original slower
version on here, but at the time it worked! (I Love the vocal interplay of the late great
Glenn Goins and Garry Shider on the outro!--As well as the horn arrangement.)
The title cut, "Dr. Funkenstein" is a slinky-funky-trippy-groovy exercise in
P-Funk's polyrhythmic genius with instrumental parts all playing off of each other
perfectly with George's nonsensical laidback rapped delivery, and the group's droned
call & response chant to the love of their hero...DR. FUNKENSTEIN!!
I used to play the grooves off of this song back then!--A definite gem.
"Children Of Production" is another song in which I prefer the stripped down live version
(also on Parliament LIVE) to the original on this album.
I just think it has more atmosphere to it live. But, again...I love the horn arrangement
and that horn flourish & bass groove in the bridge of this version is killer!
"Getten' To Know You" is a funky midtempo that swings like a mug!
It doesn't get as much mention today as some of the other classic P-Funk songs,
but I think it's an unsung gem!---I love everything about it, from the attitude
of the background vocals to Garry Shider's angst-filled tenor in the lead to
Maceo Parker's sax solo to Bernie Worrell piano and synth work!
And was Bootsy smokin' it on that bassline or what?--Dayyyyyuuummm!! (-:
"Do That Stuff" was the lead single from this album and did okay on the R&B charts.
It too is more slowed down and deliberate in it's approach than the live version
from Parliament Live, where Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey was kicking those drums
so hard that they were about to come off the stand!--That version is scorching
and has so much energy!---But this version is tasty in it's own way too!
Just slower than I think it should be for my taste.
It became a staple at P-Funk concerts to get the crowd rockin' and doin' their stuff!
"Everything Is On The One" is a funky little filler track that was more
a cute funk ditty to me than a full-fledged song.
But it keeps the head bobbin' just the same!
"I've Been Watchin' You Move Your Sexy Body" is, next to Funkadelic's
"You Scared The Lovin' Outta Me", one of the baddest slow jams to come out
of the P-Funk catalogue! I can't tell you how many times this song was playing
in the backdrop as I got my freak on during my teen age years! (-:
It has a vibe that just grooves you along!---The soft hornlines & the
overall "mack-ness" of it! (-:
The track is so mellow but rife with desire, and George Clinton's clever
lyrics are delivered with zeal, conviction, and just barely controlled passion
by Glenn Goins and his haunting tenor voice with it's church-like squawls and manic shouts!
---Damn, that was a sangin' brotha!
He also sung lead on the aforementioned "You Scared The Lovin' Outta Me" with even more fire!
If you haven't heard either song, check them out!---Unsung funk slow jam classics for sure!
Closing out the album is another fave of mine...."Funkin' For Fun"!!
I just love everything about this song, and even though it wasn't chart hit,
true P-Funk Headz from the time all love this one!
Glenn and Garry just straight up went to church on this one vocally!
Howlin', squealin', squawlin' and testifying to the power of the P-Funk, aka Da' Bomb!!
"If you see my mother, tell her I'm alright!--I'm just funkin' around, for fun!"
Great track, great players, great vocal arrangement, perfect outro for the album!
"The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein" was the second installment in the Mothership saga
and went on to be certified gold in it's time. It is a 4-star album & a funk classic!
Description of Clones of Dr Funkenstein
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: PARLIAMENT
Title: CLONES OF DR. FUNKENSTEIN
Street Release Date: 04/01/1994
Genre: SOUL/R & B
Blues CDs
Music Genres
Similar CDs
Funkadelic - Uncle Jam Wants YouRelease date: 2006-02-28; Music CD
Best price: $13.26
Price in other shops:
Funkadelic - Cosmic SlopRelease date: 2005-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops:
Funkadelic - Maggot BrainRelease date: 2005-10-18; Music CD
Best price: $12.26
Price in other shops:
Parliament - Up for the Down StrokePARLIAMENT; Release date: 2003-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Parliament - GloryhallastoopidRelease date: 1990-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $2.25
Price in other shops:
Parliament - Chocolate CityPARLIAMENT; Release date: 2003-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Funkadelic - One Nation Under a GrooveRelease date: 2003-02-04; Music CD
Best price: $15.73
Price in other shops:
Parliament - Motor Booty AffairPARLIAMENT; Release date: 1990-05-18; Music CD
Best price: $2.73
Price in other shops:
Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo SyndromePARLIAMENT; Release date: 1990-02-21; Music CD
Best price: $2.68
Price in other shops:
Parliament - Mothership ConnectionPARLIAMENT; Release date: 2003-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops: