2 October 2016, No. 196, Parliament, ‘Flash Light’

By total coincidence, our three P-Funk tunes are in reverse order both chronologically and as ranked by peak chart position on the Billboard Hot 100. Yesterday’s “Aqua Boogie” was the most recent of the three singles to be released and topped out at No. 89 on the main Billboard list (though it hit No. 1 on the R&B chart).

Today’s cut, “Flash Light” at No. 196 on our list, is the most recognizable Parliament song, and the charts back that up pretty well. Tomorrow’s tune hit No. 15 on the Hot 100, whereas “Flash Light” achieved only No. 16, but “Flash Light” was No. 1 on the R&B chart while tomorrow’s joint climbed to the five spot and no further. When I think of the Parliament song that everyone knows, I think of this one. I’m odd, though, and probably wrong on this count. The Wikipedia page for tomorrow’s tune has a way longer “in popular media” section than does the entry for “Flash Light.”

Bernie Worrell, not Bootsy Collins, covers bass duties here with a bunch of Minimoogs. Worrell died earlier this year, but having achieved Funkentelechy long ago, he’s now sweeping filters and bending pitches in the stars.

Grab your bop gun and we’ll go fight the spread of unFunkiness under Sir Nose’s Placebo Syndrome. Everybody’s got a little light under the sun. Even the Philae lander on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko gets shined on once in a while.