THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

143-Parliament-Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’)

1978-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.36. If music is a universal language then ‘A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’ is a bit hard to fathom.

In 1968 George Clinton formed two bands simultaneously due to contractual problems with his record label, they were the ‘Funk,’ ‘R&B,’ and ‘Psychedelic Soul’ orientated ‘Parliament,’ (see also best songs 612) and the more ‘Rock’ based ‘Funkadelic,’ (see also best songs 340 and 26) their sound was to become known as ‘P-Funk,’ achieving a large following. ‘Funkadelic’ were active between 1968-1982, and reformed again in 2014, while ‘Parliament’ were active from 1968-1970, and then again between 1974-1980, and then reformed again in 2018. In total there have been 41 different members come and go during those time periods.

‘Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’) was the first of two singles released from Parliament’s seventh studio Album ‘Motor Booty Affair’ from 1978, and although only reaching Number 89 on America’s Billboard Hot 100, it did achieve four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. The song was co-written by the band members George Clinton, Bootsy Collins (see also best songs 850-612-340 and 88) and Bernie Worrell, (1944-2016) who had also been a founding member of ‘Parliament-Funkadelic.’

Worrell who was considered a child musical prodigy had begun formal piano lessons at the age of three, and had already written a concerto by the age of eight. One of his first musical collaborations was as a college student where he played with a group called ‘Chubby & The Turnpikes,’ which would eventually evolve into ‘Tavares’ (see also best songs 514.) When Parliament-Funkadelic went on hiatus in 1982 Worrell recorded and played live with the American Rock band ‘Talking Heads,’ (see also best songs 540) although he never became an official member. He also released 12 solo Albums between 1978-2016, as well as contributing to many more artists work including the Funk band ‘Mtume,’ where he played keyboards on their 1983 Billboard R&B Number 1 song ‘Juicy Fruit.’ In 1997 along with 14 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.’

A ‘Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’ is actually (not surprisingly) a word made up by George Clinton, in an attempt to create his own ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, as heard in the 1964 film ‘Mary Poppins,’ as Clinton is telling us that the life that you are living is like a movie, and you are starring in it. Although many people think that ‘Aqua Boogie’ is a song about having a party, or dancing underwater, it isn’t, the water imagery is actually a metaphor for how people have to bend and jump through hoops in order to deal with everyday life.

‘Aqua boogie baby, never learned to swim. Underwater boogie baby, can’t catch the rhythm of the stroke. Aqua boogie baby, why should I hold my breath, underwater boogie baby, feelin’ that I might choke.’