1. Prelude 2. Gamin' on Ya! 3. Dr. Funkenstein 4. Children of Productions 5. Getten' to Know You 6. Do That Stuff 7. Everything Is on the One 8. I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body) 9. Funkin' for Fun
Partyin' On The Mothership!!--The Next Chapter!! Submitted on: 2009-08-02
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!
Funkin' For Funkenstein! Submitted on: 2009-03-27
Just about any funk band would be very hard pressed to follow up an album like Mothership Connection and not make a huge fool of themselves in the trying. Not only did Parliament keep the momentium going but did so with plenty of gusto to spare.From the mid 1970's until early into the next decade there was a huge ammount of P-Funk out there. As far as the Parliment side of things...this is right about the center of their peak musically. Everything from the grooves,the harmonies,the musicians,the concept just said everything;here was THE most commercial band within a huge funk kingdom led by George Clinton and the sound is about as "uncut" as they come,whatever pace is kept or whether or not the song is more soul,funk,pop or whatever mutant hybrid usually comes out of it.Generally speaking though this is the hard funk Parliament made famous with their excellent string of concept albums,all of which are excellent.Everything is out there and upfront.You get an intro starting out the whole affair-that whole Bernie Worrell's-gothic-keyboards-with-a-Clinton-Narration talking about Dr.Funkenstein,the clones and all that before these bongos bring you into "Gamin' On Ya",some seriously heavy jamming that proves once and for all that Parliament were DEFINATELY not the singles act they were often painted out to be compared to the more AOR/funk sound of Funkadelic!There are some unquestioned funk classics here for sure with the title track,'Children Of Productions",the version presented here a lot more filled out and chunky then the chant-like live version heard on Live: P-Funk Earth Tour and "Do That Stuff",a monster that almost beats out "Give Up The Funk" as Parliament's theme song;again it was often used as such at concerts but it sounds great here in it's proper context. What really brings this to life here is how you don't get any filler songs at all.As a matter of fact you are getting pretty much nothing but anthems like the burning "Everything Is One The One".On "Funkin' For Fun" the approch is more tuneful and...almost crafted.The same thing happens on "Gettin' To Know You".It's definately interesting how all the monsterous funk Clinton and the who P-Funk crew put out how once and awhile their doo-wop/soul/pop influence often creeps into the production in a not so sudtle way.It makes P-Funk what it is.And it makes the music even more full of surprises then it already is. "I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)" has a certain slower burning quality.It's not by any means a ballad of any sort but at the same time....there's a bit of an Isaac Hayes influence on the tune that is much more common to the Funkadelic sound then Parliament's.But that's the interesting thing;shortly after this came out the sound between P-Funk's "doppelganger" bands began to blur,culiminating in the whole thing falling apart after the new decade arrived.Either way you look at it this is also continuing proof how much P-Funk touched musicians outside their world. Along with the usual musicians the Brecker Brothers play in the horn section on this album along with Fred and Maceo.I imagine that must've been a huge kick,as well as being a good mark on their already great resume for Michael & Randy to have this session on their resume'. That kind of enthusiastic spirit is something that will certainly infect the heart and mind of the people who hear this special funk treat!
Just a slight notch below "Mothership" and "Funkentelechy" Submitted on: 2008-12-19
Parliament made three fabulous albums from 1975-1977, two of them high concept classics that define the group and establish their enduring legacy and one that is a little bit less serious. That would be this one. Sandwiched between two monstrous classics, "Clones Of Dr. Funkenstien" could be forgiven for falling short. It does fall short, but only relative to the profundities of it's predecessor and it's successor. Standing well on it's own, this is a fantastic record in it's own right. Outside of the wonderfully humorous and irresistable title track and the somewhat foreboding "Children Of Productions", "Clones" steers clear of the established Parliament concept of "Mothership" and sticks to more lighthearted, tuneful fare. The horns of Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and The Brecker Brothers are amazing on this record and the album is absolutley dominated by the shocking power of vocalist Glen Goins who delivers jaw-dropping performances on the deliciously nasty "I've Been Watchin' you (your sexy body)" and the warm and celebratory "Funkin' For Fun" ... "Do That Stuff" is, along with the title track, the most well known P-Funk song here and it is a great one, catchy and joyous. The whole album is a great time, the band is phenomenal and the singing is first-rate. It works as sort of a nice breather between the two more heady Parliament masterworks. A great album all by itself, well worth hearing.
George Clinton wins again! Submitted on: 2008-10-05
First, the concept. It is revealed that Star Child is an agent of Dr. Funkenstein, who prescribes funk throughout the universe. He hid the secrets of Funk in the Pyramids, feeling that mankind was not ready to claim them yet. Funkenstein assigns Star Child and his "afronauts" (who I think are the titular clones) to return to Earth and unlock those secrets, feeling that the people are now prepared. Probably their strangest concept.
Ironically, this moves the group into more mainstream territory, which makes it a slight regression from the last album - while a lot of it is still characteristically eccentric, there are also a few undistinguished songs that could've been the work of any funk group if it weren't for the presence of Mr. Bernie Worrell, Dr. Woo himself. Granted, none of it is bad, and even those slight songs have their moments ("Everything is on the One" contains a fascinating variety of synthesizers that raise it slightly above the funk-by-numbers it could've been; "Funkin' for Fun" is mediocre and routine, probably because it doesn't have any Bernie at all on it, but Bootsy's bass playing makes it serviceable).
And besides, there are a lot of superb songs contained herein. "Dr. Funkenstein" was a hit, and it's laid-back, jazzy funk at its finest. Worrell's array of keyboards are at the peak of their powers, George's rapping is charismatic as always ("Kiss me on my ego!"), and the horns are in the pocket. Plus it's funny as usual. "Do That Stuff", the other single, is one of the Bomb's catchiest concoctions, though the real driving forces behind it are Bootsy and the horns. "Gamin' on Ya!" adds a weird Eastern guitar riff to the funk jambalaya, "Gettin' to Know You" is a bit overlong but is made up for with fantastic horn and keyboard arrangements; "Children of Productions" has the band at their most lovably loopy; backmasked vocals and synthesized strings make "Prelude" a good time; "I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)" is an entrancing slow jam like "I'll Stay", only with more of the Woo.
The only reason why this didn't get a higher rating is because it doesn't really break any new ground for Parliament - it's pretty much an extension of Mothership Connection, only it doesn't soar as high as that one does, and most certainly isn't as even. I mean, I'd love to see someone like Chris Brown move out of his faux-Michael Jacksonisms, take advantage of his admittedly nice voice, and put out an album as good as this. So judged against anyone else, this would've been a nine. But I hold Parliament to a much higher standard than many other groups. I mean, it's still an essential album, but not as essential as the other three albums surrounding it. Those are awesome.
More like MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION II, but stiil pretty good. Submitted on: 2008-08-16
First of all It great to read youngsters discovering the funk through P-funk. I'm almost 50 and have been a P-Funk fan since the first Funkadelic album in '69 and have owned (mostly hand-me-downs from my brother) nearly every vinyl LP. While regard this album more of a continuation of the MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION album it still shines on it's own with the classic title track, GAMIN' ON YA, DO THAT STUFF and GETTING TO KNOW YOU, all which got airplay back in the day. Event he lesser are tracks (EVERYTHING IS ON THE ONE, ...MOVE YOUR SEXY BODY) while not great are still pretty good on their own.
Partyin' On The Mothership!!--The Next Chapter!!
Funkin' For Funkenstein!