Happy 80th birthday to Starchild aka Dr. Funkenstein aka Mr. Wiggles aka Atomic Dog aka head funkologist George Clinton.
Known for his outlandish stage costumes based on the wacky space-age characters he created in his songs, Clinton led a motley crew of funk musicians in two different bands—the groovy, horn-accented Parliament and the psychedelic soul of Funkadelic—on stage and on vinyl from 1970 to 1980. The huge P-Funk mob included bassist Bootsy Collins, saxophone player Maceo Parker and keyboardist Bernie Worrell.
In the ’80s, Clinton released a string of solo albums containing funk gems such as “Atomic Dog” and “Do Fries Go with That Shake.”
He’s taken off the multicolored wig and has sported a relatively earthly look over the past several years, but Clinton continues to bring the funk party to music venues around the world, even though he said he would retire from performing by May 2019.
And if it wasn’t for the corona virus pandemic, Clinton probably would have finished his farewell tour by now. But according to his website, there are still upcoming dates in Georgia and the Midwest in September.
