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Music like the mothership

the mothership

The P Funk Mothership, otherwise known as The Holy Mothership is the arcane space vehicle of Dr. Funkenstein aka George Clinton and his agents of Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication. An integral part of the P Funk mythology, the Mothership existed both conceptually as a fictional vehicle of funk deliverance, and as a physical prop central to P Funk concerts. Powered by unknown means, presumably The Funk and simple stagecraft, the Mothership appeared over the Planet Earth many times during the second half of the Twentieth century, and was even seen to physically land at a number of live music venues in the United States during the 1970s in order to disgorge its Funk to the people.

During their heyday in the mid to late 1970s, following the success of their platinum-selling album, 1975's Mothership Connection, George Clinton and his band Parliament Funkadelic - the Funk Mob - engaged in a series of high profile, no-expenses-spared stadium tours around the United States, culminating in the famous P Funk Earth Tour. At these gigs, the much referenced Mothership was seen to land on stage amongst the band and before a baying and expectant crowd. The Mothership was summoned down by the vocal tones of P Funk singers/guitarists Glenn Goins and later Garry Shider, and was represented in the form of a full-scale model complete with light and sound effects as well as pyrotechnics. At this point in the show George Clinton would emerge from the Mothership in the form of Dr. Funkenstein, the "cool ghoul with the funk transplant", in order to better administer funk to the audience.

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