Funkadelic: The Electric Spanking Of War Babies [CHARLY]

Why you'll love it

Charly presses this reissue on 180g vinyl. Sly Stone sings lead on "Funk Gets Stronger (Killer Millimeter Longer Version)" and plays and produces elsewhere, and it's the one Funkadelic album with Roger Troutman aboard.

This edition

• 180g vinyl

About the album

George Clinton originally pictured The Electric Spanking of War Babies as a double album, then trimmed it to one disc of dense, wiry funk. The title takes aim at the Vietnam years and the baby boomers who grew up in their shadow, and Pedro Bell, the band's longtime illustrator, drew the cover.

It brought a wave of newcomers into the P-Funk orbit, many of whom stuck with Clinton for years, alongside originals Ray Davis and Eddie Hazel. Junie Morrison plays everything on the title track except the guitar solo, which belongs to Michael Hampton. "Electro-Cuties" bounces, "Funk Gets Stronger, Part 1" grooves hard, and "Shockwaves" closes in on the electro sound of the 80s. Ray Davis's deep bass vocals anchor the harmonies, and the sprawling cast keeps the energy high right through to "Oh, I."

It was the last Funkadelic album for Hazel, Morrison and Garry Shider, a send-off that sounds anything but tired. Ending a decade-long run by inviting Sly Stone round is, in the trade, what's known as leaving on a high.

Also at Kops: more Funkadelic on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Charly (cat# CHLP3482), a reissue of the 1981 album.