Ain't No Romance Around There Welcome, ?uestlove fans.

So this blog is now two clicks away from being seen by 1.8 million people. I guess I should start writing again...

Yes, it's been quite a while since I last posted. I promise I'll get to Part II of my post on time travel. Real life has gotten in the way of my writing the last couple of weeks, but I'm back(!) with another edition of Friday Funk. I've already given you Sly & The Family Stone, one of my favorite bands of all-time. This week and next week will focus on two of the greatest individual funk albums of all-time: Parliament's Mothership Connection and Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome.

I don't know exactly how to introduce 1975's Mothership Connection. It's generally regarded as the best -- or at least, most important -- of George Clinton's catalog -- a collection that includes all the works of both Funkadelic, Parliament, and their combined efforts. Personally, I think Funkentelechy is the better album for a variety of reasons, but I feel something is lost without introducing this precursor.

Mothership Connection is heavy on grooves, gospel influences, and heavy vamping. Oh, the vamping. The opening track consists of George Clinton acting as the disc jockey of a radio station, WEFUNK. He enlightens the listener to his philosophy of funk between refrains of:

Make my funk the P-Funk
I want my funk uncut
Make my funk the P-Funk
I wants to get funked up

Track two introduces us to the character of Star Child, who bestows the Funk on the Egyptians at the Great Pyramids. Seriously. Singer Glenn Goins takes over in the second half of the song with a familiar tune.


The album continues with more dance classics, until you hear Parliament's most commercially successful song up until that date: "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)". Embedding has been disabled, but the linked video embodies everything I love about P-Funk: impeccable grooves, outrageous costumes (including a trombonist in a 3-piece suit), Bootsy Collins, and an absolutely ridiculous number of performers dedicated to creating the best possible experience for the listener. Oh, and Sly Stone makes an appearance at the end as well.

Give Mothership Connection a listen and just try to keep from dancing. If you're somehow able to accomplish this feat, obey one of George Clinton's mantras: "Free your mind, and your ass will follow."

Another new series on Ain't No Romance Around There! In the spring of 1991, my oldest brother was 15 years old. I was 6 going on 7. Growing up in a small midwestern town, my brother may not have been at the very forefront of musical movements, but he definitely caught on. The music in this series was essentially the soundtrack to my childhood. Thank you, Scott.


In the spring of 1990, the music of Seattle began to emerge, if only by word of mouth. Soundgarden had signed to A&M Records and had received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance on Ultramega OK. After touring to support 1989's Louder Than Love, Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell returned home on March 19, 1990 to find his roommate Andrew Wood dead from a heroin overdose.

Wood had been the lead singer of what many had considered the best Seattle band, Mother Love Bone.

Welcome to the first installment of Friday Funk. If you read the introductory post of my blog, you can see me allude to a rant I went on after the release of Freekbass's Notre Dame pump-up video. Ugh. While I won't rehash exactly what I wrote in that facebook note, I plan on using this space every Friday to show you everything I love about good funk.

Let's start at the very beginning.

My tastes often change depending on my mood, but three bands are always listed among my favorites: Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, and Sly & The Family Stone. From the very first time I heard Cynthia Robinson belt out, "Hey! Get on up and dance to the music!" I was hooked.

Last weekend I was sent a link that got me excited about going to the movies again. No, it wasn't an official announcement of the Arrested Development movie that I wrote about on the 6th. No, it was this link to Bill & Ted 3.

Considering that the film has yet to have an imdb.com page made to coincide with its announcement, and that Alex Winter hasn't found live-action work in eons, it's likely that the page in the above link is either a straight up hoax or the dream of a wishful fan. However, Keanu Reeves, star of the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey has apparently been hinting at the production of a third film for the last six months. It makes sense that you and I would have missed it until now; who pays attention to Keanu Reeves' interviews?

While you may remember the original installment as nothing more than a juvenile comedy about two dumb metalheads, I firmly believe that Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is one of the finest time travel movies ever made.

And, oh, how the rumors persisted. During the writers' strike of 2007, AD creator Mitch Hurwitz would finally have time to work on the movie's script. Unfortunately, we found out the next year that Michael Cera's refusal to sign a contract was holding up production. But finally, filming for the movie was to begin in the summer of 2009! Then 2010 rolled around, and Will Arnett told us that they're going to start shooting by the end of the year, and he really means it this time.

In reality, all we've seen of the movie is this:

As if to prove yesterday's thesis, The Roots performed "Friday" last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon with a few special guests. With this kind of energy and musicianship, the song quite as bad.