Gettin’ down just for the funk of it!

One Nation Under a Groove

Released: September 23 1978

Warner Brothers

1978 was quite a wild year for popular music with disco, reggae, punk, new wave, rock and jazz-fusion dominating the radio waves. Abba’s ‘The Album’, Talking Head’s ‘Fear of Music’ and The Clash’s ‘ ‘Give ‘em enough rope’ amongst others were the chart toppers at the time who all reshaped the music scene for the next decade at least. The R&B world in the US was also going through a change where the sounds of funk and poetry of The Last Poets amongst others would later on form hip-hop. No-one really outside James Brown can be mentioned synonymously with funk except for George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic (P-Funk) and in ‘78 they released a bomb shell.

The P-Funk name had already existed for more than a decade before the release of One Nation Under a Groove where they pretty much re-wrote the rules of Rhythm & Blues by not only incorporating modern (late 60s – mid 70s) rock into their sound but also using blunted out and synthesized bass lines instead of drums and the wah-wah to create their rocky-funky sound. By the late seventies, George Clinton and his band, although by no means mainstream, were considered bedrock in African-American culture and music. In ’78 they released arguably their best album: One Nation Under a Groove which in short encapsulates all of their previous albums both as Parliament as well as Funkadelic.

Thirty years has passed since the release of ‘One nation…’ and George Clinton still plays a strong part in modern Afro-American music with his presence on rap albums (Blackalicious, Snoop Doggy Dog, Wu-Tang) and has truly put music fans under his groove. Why his name is not as a house-hold name as James Brown, Isaac Hayes and Quincy Jones I do not know.

Main LP:
"One nation under a groove" – 7:29
"Groovallegiance"– 7:00
"Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!" – 6:18
"Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo-Doo Chasers)"– 10:45
"Into you" – 5:41
"Cholly (Funk Getting Ready To Roll!)"– 4:27


Bonus EP:
" Lunchmeatophobia (Think!...It Ain't Illegal Yet!)" – 4:12
"P.E. Squad/DooDoo Chasers ('Going All-The-Way Off' Instrumental)"– 4:18
"Maggot Brain" – 8:28