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Monday, February 20, 2012

Love George Clinton Needs Your Help And Face It, You Probably Owe Him One

Posted by on Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 2:56 PM


I hate how squares* have ruined funk: the word and idea. You can't even say the word or call something "funky" without feeling self-conscious or somebody smirking at you, because, you know: funky! Douchey frat bros, Dr.Seuss-hat slappa-da-basss bros (possibly the #1 offenders), "cool dads", and the post-sincere dickheads that hate them all have ruined the linguistic signifier for a beautifully bizarre form of black expression. Folks with no funk have funked this shit all up, and gotten the game twisted like a towel stuck in the goddamn dryer door. This is simply part of the culture shuffle we apparently have to live with, and everyday I'm somehow reminded of this dynamic, but this shit is ridiculous:

Because a Florida judge ruled last month that iconic funk king George Clinton doesn’t own the rights to any music he created from 1976 to 1983, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is now seeking help from fans online to preserve his recording studio. Clinton, the former leader of Funkadelic, has set up a $50,000 fund-raising campaign on leading “crowd-funding” Web site IndieGoGo, and he’s giving supporters autographed CDs and T-shirts for contributions as low as $35.




1976 to 1983? So that's only, like, everything the Funk god is popularly known for, from Up For The Down Stroke to "Atomic Dog". Ah, c'mon!

I don't know about you and y'all folks, but I'm going to kick in. The funk is very close to my heart. Save the music, y'all.

*Yes, it would be so easy to just say "white people" here and get a bunch of high-fives, but one, that's not entirely accurate, and two, it's rude and racist—two things I certainly acknowledge myself to be (but am working on).

 

Comments (8) RSS

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Estey 1
That ruling is so fucked up. Damn YES we should help out! And the funk never fades.
Posted by Estey on February 20, 2012 at 3:06 PM
2
Dr. Dre should be covering this expense ... about five times over.
Posted by make my funk the G funk on February 20, 2012 at 3:18 PM
3
What @2 said. And get Cube to chip in some $.
Posted by Dave Segal on February 20, 2012 at 5:32 PM
4
Attention all fakers. Sly Stone lives in a van. George Clinton needs help, sure, but the "save old soul musicians" boat left the dock a while ago.
Posted by roche on February 20, 2012 at 6:51 PM
Dean Fawkes 5
Cripes.

But wouldn't raising money to get his music-rights back be a better move?

I know nothing about law.
Posted by Dean Fawkes http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author?oid=479789&section=Blogs on February 20, 2012 at 7:01 PM
Larry Mizell, Jr. 6
@ 4
“I like my small camper,” Stone says, his voice raspy with age and years of hard living. “I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving.”

Stone records music on a laptop computer inside the van. The Post reports Stone is paranoid and thinks the FBI is after him.

-via

Just saying. Sly isn't looking for help so why not save some of that sunshine of yours for Dr. Funkenstein?
Posted by Larry Mizell, Jr. on February 20, 2012 at 7:49 PM
Larry Mizell, Jr. 7
@ 2 & 3
i totally agree but didn't Dre already have to pay for those samples? im sure he thought he was helping the P-Funk then.
Posted by Larry Mizell, Jr. on February 20, 2012 at 7:52 PM
Estey 8
@4 'The "save old soul musicians boat" left the dock a while ago'? Really? I think there's still plenty we can do to help them, considering how they've richly and deeply contributed to our culture. I was sort of thinking we haven't been doing nearly enough to help them.
Posted by Estey on February 21, 2012 at 8:22 AM

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