Parliament in session

Press, 22 June 1978, Page 11

Parliament in session

RECORD REVIEWS

by

Nevin Topp

PARLIAMENT “Funkentelechy Vs . The Placebo Syndrome” (Casablanca NBLP 7084): . and it came to pass that upon his return, Dr Funkenstein did find the planet to have completely lost the beat of the funkentelechy, and had fallen prey to the placebo syndrome, spread throughout the galaxy by the infamous Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk.

“Driven by the genius of desperation, Funkenstein sends Starchild to do battle, armed with the greatest invention of all time —the Bop Gun.”

This is the story behind ‘‘Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome,” which if you have New Zealandmade album covers you fail to find out. Starchild, P-Funk’s superhero was first thought of two years ago on probably Parliaments’ best album the “Mothership Connection.”

All this space jazz, as it were, is all from the fertile imagination of one George Clinton, who wanted to depart from the traditional black American sound, and so mastered a Frank Zappish world full of LSD and heavy rock. He even divided the group off into ttvo halves, Parliament <.nd Funkadelic, each with its own recording c mtract, and in the early years Funkadelic reigned with a crazy rock act designed to outrage audiences. - However, with the signing of Bootsy Collins, former bass man for James Brown, to the ever-chang-ing line-up of musicians, Parliament came into its own, as P-Funk, a garish mixture of extended basslines, crazy keyboards, and an equally mad horn section, which together put out a black funky sound. "Mothership Connection” was the highlight of the P-Funk career, for in a way “Funkentelechy” is not as brilliant as the earlier albums. Indeed, for the uninitiated the best way to find out about P-Funk is to get hold of the P-Funk live double album, for “Funkentelechy” really does not show how "crazy” Clinton and crew are in this endless funk trek or funk wars. COMMODORES "Natural High” (Motown STML 6176): I wish I could say this is a brilliant new album by the Com-

modores, but through no fault of the music I cannot. It sounds good, what I heard of it. A lot slower than the previous Commodore albums, with the “Mean Machine” backing group pumping quietly away in the background. The reason why I cannot say this album is mar-

vellous is that my copy is a Demonstration Record. Not Available For Sale; Broadcasting, Or Public Performance. This is lucky because the record behaved on my carefully weighted turntable as though it had the hiccups, on every track. On the pieces of songs I did hear, I would say that the album seems consistently better than any of the previous two studio albums, but don’t take my word for that. WILD CHERRY “I Love My Music” (Epic ELPS 3858): The trouble with Wild Cherry is that once they got their teeth into “Play That Funky Music White Boy” in 1976, they never let go, particularly since these boys are all honkies, you know, playing the black man’s beat." The only other white group that does it better than any black soul band is the Bee Gees, and Wild Cherry are just fruit in comparison. In fact, to try and overcome some rather weak

lyrical and musical songs the band have to rely on two Holland/ DozierHolland songs, “It’s the Same Old Song” and “This Old Heart of Mine.” The former the Supremes did better, and the latter has been improved by Rod Stewart. “Don’t Stop. Get Off” tries to do “Play That Funky Music White Boys” all over again, with a full horn backing and an occasional synthesizer thrown in. The best on the album are the opening tracks, “I Love My Music” and “1 2 3 Kind of Love,” but even these pale beside the cover versions.

TAVARES “Future Bound” (Capitol SW 11719): Tavares have two things to be thankful for. One, meeting the former Mowtown producer, Freddie Perren, who put them on the right disco road.

Second, the Gibb brothers, otherwise known as the Bee Gees who wrote “More Than A Woman” for them, and gained them more fame through “Saturday Night Fever.” Perren, has managed to lead the group in the right direction. His use of effects on “The Ghost Of Love” and “Slow Train To Paradise” are good, making full use of Tavares’s professional approach.

The start of “Slow Train To Paradise” sounds like something out of Dr Buzzards Original Savannah Band, before chugging off into its own tune. I don’t know why, but I much prefer the Bee Gees’ version of “More Than A Woman” to the Tavares cover, even though they sould alike. Other than the three tracks mentioned, nothing stand out on “Future Bound” to make it a funky album above others.