Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome is the sixth studio album by the American funk band Parliament, released in 1977.
| Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Parliament | ||||
| Released | November 28, 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1976–1977 | |||
| Studio | United Sound Systems, Detroit, Michigan, and Hollywood Sound, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Funk, disco | |||
| Length | 44:22 | |||
| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Producer | George Clinton | |||
| Parliament chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome | ||||
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It is a loose concept album warning the listener of falling into the "Placebo Syndrome," which according to George Clinton is consumerism, and listening to disco music, which he saw as a simplification of funk music in attempt to gain commercial success. The album spawned the R&B number No. 1 single in "Flash Light", which features a funky synthesizer bass line played on a Minimoog by keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The album became Parliament's fourth consecutive gold album and second platinum album. The song "Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention – B3M)" contains nursery rhymes "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and "Three Blind Mice"; the lyrics were changed to refer to drug use.
The original vinyl release contained a 22″×33″ poster of the character Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk, as well as an 8-page comic book that explains the concept behind the LP. Both the poster and the comic book were illustrated by Overton Loyd.