George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic on Saturday Night Live (1986)

IMHO, this is one of the best P.Funk performances ever shown on TV:

This video brings back very nice memories:

The Saturday Night Live show took place a few weeks after I did my George Clinton home story (here’s the German version).

On the Saturday afternoon before the show, I visited George Clinton in his hotel room (on 6th Avenue, near NBC). He was interested in shopping for some stage clothes. I suggested the Forbidden Planet branch which was located on 57th Street at the time. He picked up a few monster rubber masks (Frankenstein was one of them), but nobody dared wearing them on the show.

Next stop was the Antique Boutique next door (nice motto: “Be a Legend in Any Time”). We found tons of clothes we considered appropriate for the occasion (SNL). GC paid about $800 in cash for all of our favorites.

I only saw the show’s rehearsal live and witnessed the live taping in the Green Room. Thomas Dolby (who played on some of the best tracks of GC’s album “Some of My Best Friends Are Jokes”) was present during the entire evening. GC told me that, due to some union rule, Thomas wouldn’t be allowed to officially join the SNL P.Funk performance.

To get around this rule, Thomas Dolby was placed in the audience, with a wireless keyboard in his lap. During the live taping, GC called him on stage (as you can see in the video). At this point, GC correctly reckoned, nobody would interrupt the live broadcast for such a minuscule violation of union rules. 😉

As I said before, the above clip is one of my favorite P.Funk TV performances. Parliament/Funkadelic were even hotter than usual, and the Baltimore version of the Rhythm Twins (Rodney “Skeet” Curtis and Dennis Chambers) sizzled.

The open-air after-show party on top of one of the NBC buildings was nice as well, but I don’t remember too many details. 😉

Antique Boutique Jacket, as worn by Garry 'DooWop' Shider

P.S., talking about Antique Boutique: While shopping with GC, I fell in love with a jacket only available at this store. At the time, I found the price tag – $150 – a little too steep. Whenever I was in Manhattan after May ’86, I stopped by at the Antique Boutique to check whether the jacket was still available.

About two years later, I finally treated myself to this special jacket. I’ve held it in high esteem ever since, although there only have been two occasions on which I’ve actually been able to wear it. But I still love it! 😉

If you look at the above video: During the second P.Funk set of the night (starts at 4’37“), Garry „Diaper Man“ Shider is wearing the jacket GC & I bought at Antique Boutique …

Peter Jebsen

More on George Clinton, Parliament/Funkadelic and P.Funk

• Video des Tages: “Paint the White House Black” (20.01.2009)
• N.A.S.A.’s “Spirit of Apollo” Is a Contender for Best Hip Hop Album of the Year (02.02.2009)
• George Clinton Goes Nashville (11.02.2009)
• 15 CDs With Some Effect on My Life (21.02.2009)
• Meine 15 Lieblingsalben (1/3 – 1973-1977) (04.03.2009)
• Meine 15 Lieblingsalben (2/3 – 1978-1982) (04.03.2009)
• Meine 15 Lieblingsalben (3/3 – 1987-2004) (04.03.2009)
• Funky Farmer George Clinton (German version, 21.05.2009)
• The Funky Farmer: George Clinton Home Story (1986) (English version, 27.05.2009)
• R.I.P., Garry Shider! (Interview from the New Funk Times Archive) (17.06.2010)
• With my Palm Prē, I seem to be in good company (as in “GC”) … 😉 (09.02.2010)
• Question to Bootsy Collins: Did The J.B.’s Understand James Brown? (24.09.2011)
• R.I.P., Jack Bruce! (George Clinton on patching up things with Cream)