THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

26-Funkadelic-One Nation Under a Groove.

1978-Number 9 single.

Best Bit-At 1.04. Funkadelic had just finished playing a gig in Washington DC when two young girls approached George Clinton’s car and told him it was the best concert that they had ever seen, they said ‘It was like one nation under a groove.’ The girls in question were called LaTanya and Darlene, their names appear in the credits on Funkadelic’s critically acclaimed Album ‘One Nation Under a Groove.’

‘One Nation Under a Groove’ is also the title track of the 10th studio Album released by the American Funk/Rock band Funkadelic (see also best songs 340) in September 1978. The song was co-written by the bands members George Clinton, Walter Morrison, (1954-2017) and Garry Shider, (1953-2010) with the production credited to Clinton. George Clinton was born on July 22nd, 1941, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States, he is a pioneering figure in the genre of Funk Music. He will be best remembered for forming two bands concurrently, the Funk band ‘Parliament,’ (see also best songs 612 and 143) and the Funk/Rock band Funkadelic. The songs other two writers were Walter ‘Junie’ Morrison, who was born on June 28th, 1954, in Dayton, Ohio, United States, he died on January 21st, 2017, at the age of 62, his death was reported the following month, but the details remained private. Prior to joining ‘Parliament-Funkadelic’ in 1977, he had been a member of the ‘Ohio Players,’ (see also best songs 506) and after leaving them in 1974 he released the first three of his seven solo studio Albums. In total Morrison issued seven solo studio Albums between 1975-2004. Garry Marshall Shider was born on July 24th, 1953, in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, he died from cancer of the brain and lungs on June 16th, 2010, at the age of 56. Shider who had known Clinton since his teenage years became an official member of the ‘Parliament-Funkadelic’ collective in 1971. In 1997 Morrison and Shider, and 15 other members of the group were inducted into ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.’

The discography of Funkadelic includes 13 studio Albums released between 1980-2014, and 25 singles issued between 1969-1981. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,’One Nation Under a Groove’ was their only top 40 hit, when reaching Number 28, while in the UK, the song also remains their only charting single. In the guise as ‘Parliament’ many of the same musicians also played on the 10 studio Albums released under that name between 1970-2018, there were also 20 singles issued between 1971-2018. On Billboard two of those singles reached the top 20, while they never charted in the UK.

Having decided that ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ would make a great title for a song, George Clinton has explained how he came up with some of the songs other wonderful catchphrases.’So high you can’t get over it, so low you can’t get under it” was used by the Temptations in ‘Psychedelic Shack,’ but it actually goes back much earlier, to Gospel. I also took a catchphrase used by the Mantan Moreland chauffeur character in the Charlie Chan movies, when he was ready to run from the ghost: ‘Feet, don’t fail me now!’ And the line ‘Dance your way out of your constrictions,’ is about people’s hangups, you can deal with them by being grumpy, or with a smile.’

‘Here’s a chance to dance our way out of our constrictions. Gonna be groovin’ up and down hang up alley way, the groove our only guide, we shall all be moved, Feet don’t fail me now.’