Never let it be said that
George Clinton wasn't a busy man in the late '70s. In addition to leading
Parliament and
Funkadelic (which were essentially the same band with two different names), Clinton produced or co-produced
Bootsy's Rubber Band, the
Brides of Funkenstein, the
Horny Horns, and
Parlet. In 1978, he produced
Parlet's debut album,
Pleasure Principle, which is a solid P-Funk-oriented outing, even though it isn't the female trio's best. This LP finds the
Jeanette Washington/Debbie Wright/
Mallia Franklin edition of
Parlet joined by a lot of familiar P-Funk faces, including
Bootsy Collins on drums,
Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and
Fred Wesley on trombone. Not surprisingly, infectious tracks like "Cookie Jar" and "Love Amnesia" are very Clinton-sounding. But
Pleasure Principle is far from predictable. Clinton opts for variety, producing everything from the moody "Misunderstanding" and the sentimental Northern soul ballad "Mr. Melody Man" (which would not have been out of place on a
Love Unlimited or
Three Degrees album) to more disco-minded offerings such as "Are You Dreaming?" and the title song. For the most part, Clinton wasn't a disco artist -- hardcore funk was his primary focus in the '70s -- but these club-friendly tunes successfully combine P-Funk with disco gloss. "Are You Dreaming?" even has a bit of a Euro-disco outlook, which wasn't the sort of thing that one expected from Clinton in the late '70s. But then, the leader of
Parliament/
Funkadelic wanted to stretch himself on this LP -- and he did. [The album was finally released on CD in 2013.] ~ Alex Henderson