6B - The Michigarr Daiy Weekend Magazine - Thursday, November 19, 1998

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The higan Daily Weel




Clinton, P-Funk founding fathers
roll through third decade of funk

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George Clinton, the
P-Funk all-stars hit
Detroit tomorrow
By C.is Kula
For the Daily
"We need the funk! Gotta have
the funk!"
With those lyrics from his 1976
song "Give Up the Funk," George
Clinton summed up the feelings of
the American public: We are a
nation that craves the funk. And
over time, few individuals have
meant more to this most righteous
form of music than the founder of
Parliament-Funkadelic himself,
George Clinton.
Fans will once again get the
chance to hear and see funk in
motion when George Clinton hits
the Majestic Theater stage tomor-
row with the P-Funk All Stars. But
the origin of funk can be traced to a
holy trinity of innovators. James
Brown was the first performer to
explore the combination of soul and
R&B that would eventually evolve
into the trademark funk sound of his
most successful years. Sly Stone -
and his Family of the same name -
expanded upon Brown's model,
mixing into the funk recipe ele-
ments of pop and rock 'n' roll;
Stone's music crossed over into
mainstream audiences, reaching
previously unintroduced listeners to
the funk. Clinton followed suit by
taking the funk to places it had
never been before -- and has yet to
be since.
Clinton began his ascent to musi-
cal fame in the early '60s with a
singing group called The
Parliaments (later shortened to sim-
ply Parliament). The group was
backed by a tight rhythm section
dubbed Funkadelic. Clinton saw the
potential for a wide musical diversi-
ty between the two groups, and they

began cutting records under both
names. Parliament albums were
R&B-based with a strong focus
upon keyboard- and vocal-driven.
songs, while Funkadelic projects,
being heavily guitar-oriented, bor-
dered more along the lines of rock
music - funk and roll, if you will.
Eventually, the two bands began
sounding more and more similar,
until eventually they became, for all
intents and purposes, a singular
entity that's commonly referred to
as Parliament-Funkadelic or, sim-
ply, P-Funk.
Clinton was the brainchild behind
this assemblage. He worked hard to
gather the funkiest musicians
around him to craft his ideal sound.
While Sly Stone injected his music
with pertinent social rhetoric,
Clinton infused P-Funk songs with
spacey humor. Rather than focus
directly on black markets, he
embraced the white, hippie counter-
culture of the times. In fact, by
playing at the volume levels of rock
and sharing the same care-free atti-
tude toward mind-expanding drugs,
P-Funk became wildly popular
among members of this group.
Clinton created a musical experi-
ence that was, both in terms of
music and spirit, like nothing else
of this world.
But Clinton's vision stretched far
beyond the music. He saw P-Funk
as his own version of the sound then
being produced by Motown: a large,
self-contained stable of artists
releasing similar-sounding records
with which to corner the funk mar-
ket. Successful offshoot groups
such as Bootsy's Rubber Band, the
Brides of Funkenstein, the Horny
Horns and numerous others had
roots within the P-Funk tradition.
In fact, many of the Parliament-
Funkadelic musicians employed by
Clinton would go on to fame of their
own; among the notable names are:

Bootsy Collins, who essentially
defined funk bass; keyboardist
Bernie Worrell, the man who revo-
lutionized funk arrangements; and
saxophonist Maceo Parker, also a
former James Brown sideman who
became a major player in the evolu-
tion of funk (and a performer at the
most recent Ann Arbor Blues and
Jazz Fest).
The various incarnations of the P-
Funk mob had their best successes
in the mid-'70s with the popularity
of such songs as "Flashlight,"
"Mothership Connection" and "P
Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)."
By the early '80s, though, hip-hop
was on the rise and the public's
interest in funk waned. P-Funk dis-
banded, the various members going
their separate ways and Clinton
embarking upon a prolific solo
career.
P-Funk's influence, however, is
strongly evident, even today. In the
world of rap, P-Funk is widely con-
sidered the most heavily sampled
artist; recognizable melodies and
beats from the P-Funk catalogue can
be heard in the music of everyone
from Doctor Dre and Digital
Underground to Kriss Kross and the
legendary MC Hammer.
The newest incarnation of the P-Funk
legacy, George Clinton and the P-Funk
All Stars, was formed in the mid-'80s by
Clinton himself and various members of
past P-Funk groups. They continue the
classic tradition of heavy funk and wild
stage theatrics across the nation (it is not
unusual to see up to twenty band mem-
bers roaming on and around the stage
during an All Star show).
Even in the exceedingly fast-
paced decade of the '90s, the
American people need the funk.
And, amazingly, George Clinton,
thirty-odd years after his beginning
in music, is still ready to tear the
roof off the sucker and give it up to
all those in need of the funk.

By Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
"What was Lloyd Carr thinking?"
is a question that went through the
minds of quite a few fans at
Saturday's clash with Wisconsin.
Trying a fake field goal on fourth and
seven during his team's first posses-
sion of the game? And running
instead of passing? Well, second
guessers looking for an answer had to
look no further than Sunday's broad-
cast of "Michigan Replay."
On the show, which airs every
Sunday during Michigan's football
season, coach Lloyd Carr breaks
down the game for fans and even
offers up explanations for the occa-
sional botched play.
"All great calls don't work," was
Carr's defense of Saturday's fake field
goal play call.
Fans have been tuning in to
"Michigan Replay" since 1975, for
what show producer Bob Lipson calls
"the most in-depth analysis of a given
game." Joining Carr for the show is
host Jim Brandstatter, former
Michigan football player and current
Wolverine football announcer on
WJR. Brandstatter, who has been
working on the show for 19 years has
teamed up with coaches Bo
Schembechler, Gary Moeller and
Carr throughout his stay with the
show.
Brandstatter said the show "gives
you a good half hour of the high-
lights where the coach comments on
the highlights as opposed to a post
game press conference where you
ask about a certain play. He actually
gets to get into and involved in the
game itself, because we do eight
minutes of highlights, all the big
plays. I think it gives the opportunity
for the fans to see the coach com-
ment on why a play was run, why
they did this, why they did that, over
the course of the full game."
"Michigan Replay" is divided into
four segments, all but the first of
which are introduced and concluded
with short locker room comments
from players. The first two segments
consist of Carr commenting on high-
lights from the first and second half
of the game as they are shown on the

Photo courtesy Ryko
Super-funky Bootsy Collins. Yes, he's very old. Yes, he's done a lot of partying In
his life. Yes, he still has more funk in his left big toe then most of the rest of the
world has in its whole body. Yes, he will make an appearance at the Majestic
Theater tomorrow with George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars.

screen.
One of
the strong
points of.;
the show is
that big plays
from the opponent are included so
that through the clips shown, audi-
ences can get an accurate idea of the
how the game really went.
The third segment is a feature on a
member of the football team or some
other important aspect of the program.
Often times this segment allows audi-
ences to see a different side of the
players. "It (Michigan Replay) offers
the fans a behind the scenes look at the
kids themselves as human beings, as
students and as people on our fea-
tures," Brandstatter said.
The fourth segment provides a
scouting report for the next week's
upcoming opponent. The report is
thorough and always goes beyond the
well-known skill position players, let-
ting fans know what players to fret
about the next Saturday. And while
most members of the audience are
familiar with big time players like
David Boston or Ron Dayne, the
report is extremely important for less-
er-known teams such as Eastern
Michigan or Minnesota.
During the past year, "Michigan
Replay"'s taping location has moved
from Southfield to Crisler Arena,
which simplifies the process of mak-
ing the show.
"Once the investment was made,

the decision was made to put the
investment into the cameras and the
tape machines and all the equipment
that was necessary to support the
video boards both in the football sta-
dium and the basketball arena. It
became a simple decision to add a lit-
tle more equipment, create the studio
in what used to be the media lounge."
Lipson said.
Fans who have missed out on the
previous installments of "Michigan
Replay" shouldn't despair, because
four more shows are planned to air
.this season. After Sunday's Ohio State
show, "Michigan Replay" will relo-
cate to Hawaii to cover the
Wolverines tropical tussle with the
Rainbows. A season wrap-up show
will be followed by a bowl preview
episode, which is scheduled to air the
Sunday prior to the Wolverines' bowl
game. So whether the war with the
Buckeyes yields Roses or something
a little less attractive, all true
Michigan football fans should tune in
to "Michigan Replay" on Sunday
morning for the perfect compliment
to Saturday's game.
"Michigan Replay" with Coach Carr
airs every Sunday at 11 a.m. on CBS.

®~ Classic VC
'Raisi
good
By Geordly Gantso
Daily Arts Writer
The Coen Bro
"The Big Lebow
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"Raising Arizona'
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he turns to armed
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After H.I.'s rele
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The opening seq
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In prison we ar
of H.I.'s buddies,
Evelle (John Goc
Forsythe). Goodr
sU

............... "

I


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