George Clinton’s imagination knew no bounds and, defying normal music industry convention, by 1978 had five bands signed to three different record labels. One of these comprised of three other Parliament/Funkadelic female backing singers working under the name of Parlet, whose debut single, ‘Pleasure Principle’ was released on Casablanca Records in March 1978.
It was Clinton’s idea that two other backing singers, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, become the Brides Of Funkenstein, a character he invented for the 1976 Parliament LP, “The Clones Of Dr Funkenstein”. “I have to be honest – at first, I hated the name and I thought George was kidding,” Mabry told Blues & Soul, “But I have gotten to like it – especially just the Brides.”
Clinton got the Brides signed to Atlantic Records and their first single was ‘Disco To Go’ / ‘ When You’re Gone’. The A-side was written and produced by Clinton and Bootsy Collins and had originally featured in live shows by Collins’ live band. Clinton was asked by Black Echoes why the song was recorded by the Brides rather than Bootsy. “He could, and it would have been a smash too,” he replied. “But we thought it sounded too much like James Brown, so we gave it to the girls. Now it don’t sound like James Brown.” It certainly did not and this electronic bass and horn-powered banger – complete with an Old MacDonald nursery rhyme refrain – debuted on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart at #80 on 30th September 1978. By the time the P-Funk crew were flying across the Atlantic in early November it had peaked at #7. Sadly for UK fans, ‘Disco To Go’ was only available on import although a Black Echoes review stated it was a “Slow chunky handclapper. It sounds not unlike Funkadelic’s own ‘Coming Round The Mountain’”.
‘Disco To Go’, went gold in America selling over 500,000 copies. It was the perfect springboard for the Brides debut LP, “Funk Or Walk” which quickly climbed into the upper reaches of the R&B chart and even saw the duo embark upon a signing tour of record stores. All of the songs on “Funk Or Walk” were written by legends of P-Funk, such as Bootsy Collins, Rodney Curtis, Bernie Worrell, Gary Shider and Clinton. “George has got thousands of tracks,” Mabry told Black Echoes. “When we go into the studio he says, ‘Like this track?” And we go‘Aaaaaahh naa.’ ‘Like this one?’ ‘Well, yeah.’ He’s got thousands of tracks. He’s got a whole cupboard full of them. He’s got enough tracks to keep him in albums for two years.” Clinton himself told Blues & Soul how his busy production line worked, “How do we do it? Real simple: we lay down rhythm tracks all the time and just decide who should have what.”
“Funk Or Walk” kicked off with the dancefloor filler Disco To Go’ while elsewhere the nine-minute ballad ‘Just Like You’ showed another musical side of the group. ‘Birdie’ was a prime slice of word-playful danceable horn-powered funk arranged by Fred Wesley. ‘Amorous’ and the ethereal intergalactic ‘War Ship Touchante’ splattered with electronic and vocal effects – a close encounter of the P-Funk kind – were released as the Brides’ second single and peaked at #76 on the Hot Soul Singles chart in February 1979. “I especially like ‘Amorous’ and ‘War Ship Touchante’”, Silva told Blues & Soul, “because they convey a real message and I like that. And that message is happy and it is important to us that people get happiness from us. We really get upset when we don’t win over an audience.”
“Funk Or Walk” peaked at #17 on the Billboard R&B album chart and #70 on the Hot 100. It was also released in the UK and Germany to tie in with UK and European dates at the end of 1978 and early in 1979. Blues & Soul gave it a positive review, “If you like Parliament/Funkadelic, then it’s easy – you’ll lap this up.”
The album has not been reissued on vinyl since 1976 and Ace are delighted to put it out again. It comes with an inner sleeve with notes written by Ace’s Ian Shirley.
