12/5/2023 0 Comments Atomic dog album![]() So the Old Funky General could still get down with da kids, despite being in his 40s. The closing track, “One Fun At A Time,” is a memo to self that excess is not best served to excess. It’s not much of a song, or, if it is, it’s hidden in layers of vocals and a groove a like Donald Fagen’s “IGY” – released a month earlier – only more anarchic. Funk, cast as a tailor, promises to dress you in love. Calming down, it’s followed by a mock-reggae ballad, “Free Alterations,” in which Mr. Time for another smash, so “Atomic Dog” swaggers in, tail wagging and leg-shagging. The title track opens with mock classical lines played on the thinnest synthesizer setting imaginable, as if from a ZX Spectrum game then Funkadelic spank kicks in, like something from Uncle Jam Wants You – only more brittle, like Clinton pinching Prince’s Minneapolis sound. It segued into “Loopzilla,” followed by “Pot Sharing Tots.” A swing ballad in which one toddler romances the other in an innocent but scatological way, “Tots” sticks in your head like a misthrown dart. “Man’s Best Friend” could have come from any of the later Funkadelic records, except they didn’t make many singing the praises of Rover. The mad humor still rattled throughout, but it was time to work, as the opening track, “Get Dressed,” set backstage where Clinton fretted about not messing up amid gags galore, made clear. Long-standing fans would recognize the sleeve, designed by Pedro Bell. Both 45s featured on Computer Games, unleashed on an unsuspecting world on Novem– appropriately, Fireworks Day in the UK.Įverything on Computer Games was different and modern – yet the same. Its tale of life as a mutt – or a human with tail-draggin’ tendencies – was potty, hilarious, and stupidly catchy. The next single was “Atomic Dog.” This time the approach was slower, heavier, even more electro. It was also a bigger club hit than its modest chart status suggested. ![]() “Loopzilla” was as repetitive as a reversing truck’s warning message, and utterly danceable. He referred to Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” in “Loopzilla,” and added, it will “drive you nuts”: correct. Clinton, a hunter, had been captured by the (computer) game. He had evidently been tuned into contemporary radio: there were extemporizations of antique Motown hits on it, used like samples. While it was clearly P-Funk, it was also electronica buffed to a blinding finish like a gleaming robot. The first fruit was the single “Loopzilla,” released in September 1982. Returning as Parliament or Funkadelic was contractually impossible, so Clinton signed to Capitol as a solo artist. In 1982, Morrison and Clinton started figuring out a fresh fusion of P-Funk and electronics. The arrival of former Ohio Players’ keyboard boffin Junie Morrison in Funkadelic’s line-up, in 1977, delivered extra synth power. From the early 70s, Sly & The Family Stone, from whom Parliament-Funkadelic had drawn inspiration, had included a drum machine in its armory. P-Funk never feared synthesizers or electronics. Listen to George Clinton’s Computer Games on Apple Music and Spotify. If only he could channel his new habit into something productive… Hmm, those cute little synthesized tunes… what if that could be tied to super-heavy phunk? So his debut solo album, Computer Games, was born. Funk was addictive, as were the substances that went with it, and so was a new entertainment phenomenon: computer games. ![]() It gave him time to rewire his frazzled brain. It was time to regroup, but how? George Clinton, leader of P-Funk, knew what to do. And music was moving fast, with rap and electro trouncing funk as the kids’ choice, while even mainstream dance music was growing increasingly electronic. Parliament, Parlet, Funkadelic, Brides Of Funkenstein, Bootsy, Sweat Band, Philippe Wynne, the aborted project with showman-guitarist Roger Troutman… there was only so much Uncle Jam could cope with. Could the old funkateer still deliver the goods? Parliament-Funkadelic, the 70s masterfunkers, ran out of road as the 80s arrived, caught in a traffic jam of contractual hassles, personnel problems, personal problems, and overstretch. ![]()
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