Bootsy Collins – Ultra Wave (1980)

Bootsy Collins – Ultra Wave
1980 Warner Bros. Records BSK 3433

Since the end of summer I have been toiling away in a pretty consistent cloud of funk.  Not the kind for which William Collins is famous either, but of the variety that leaves a person questioning their life choices while coughing through a miasma of regrets.  To be honest, not even music has brought much pleasure to me lately, nor has putting time I don’t really have into this blog which has stubbornly persisted long past any relevance.   I mean who really needs to hear what I do or don’t have to say about any given music when you no doubt have an algorithm tethered to your digital aura which can recommend you some music with more granular accuracy than one lone, mediocre mortal.

None of this has stopped me from continuing to buy records, in fact – like many people, it seems — I’ve bought more records during this pandemic than I actually have time to listen to, because there has been fuck all else to do.

At the beginning of this month we lost Ronnie Wilson of The Gap Band, but Boosty Collins also turned 80 years old.  So it all evens out, I guess?   This is an under-appreciated Bootsy Collins effort starting of a new decade for the king of space bass.  I had only ever had digital copies of it for some reason until recently stumbling on a pristine vinyl copy in my new favorite record haunt.   I think Side 2 has some of the most out-there stuff Bootsy has ever done. The first side is also pretty great with the possible exception of the tune ‘Is That My Song?’.  As to be expected, the album features a host of the expanded P-Funk family including brother Catfish Collins as well as The Brides of Funkenstein and Parlet on backing vocals.

A1 – Mug Push (03:49)
A2 – F – Encounter (07:35)
A3 – Is That My Song? (03:42)
A4 – It’s A Musical (04:47)
B1 – Fat Cat (07:03)
B2 – Sacred Flower (06:48)
B3 – Sound Crack (07:06)

Total length: 40:50

 

 

More information: https://www.discogs.com/release/224271-Bootsy-Ultra-Wave

Published By – Mash-A-Mug Music
Published By – Rubber Band Music, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
Mastered At – Allen Zentz Mastering

Credits

Arranged By – Casper? Who*
Arranged By [Horn Arrangement By] – Bootsy*, Fred Wesley
Bass [Bass Things] – Casper? Who*
Bass [Space Bass] – Ystoob? Who*
Design, Illustration – R. Bangham*
Drums – Bootsy? Who*, Jerry Jones (2) (tracks: A2)
Guitar – Bootsy Collins, Casper? Who*, Catfish Collins, Rick Evans (7) (tracks: A2)
Horns [Horny Horns] – Fred Wesley, Larry Hatcher, Maceo Parker, Richard Griffith
Keyboards – David Lee Chong, Joel Johnson (tracks: A2 to B3), Mark Johnson (tracks: A2)
Percussion – Carl “Butch” Small (tracks: A2 to B3), Casper? Who*
Photography By, Art Direction – Diem M. Jones*
Producer – Bootsy Collins, George Clinton
Vocals – Brandy*, The Brides*, Casper? Who*, Godmoma, Parlet, Robert P-Nut Johnson*

Notes
This version is the Los Angeles pressing plant variation and can be identified by LW on the runout, and by the pressing ring.

Released with b/w printed inner sleeve with pictures and credits.

 

funny cartoon sign of a butcher with sausages

 

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15 Comments

  1. dont trip my homie
    ur blog is still relevant to me
    i kno the internet sometimes feels like a void
    but we r here and listening
    i trust u much more than any algorithm

  2. Agreed! I’ve followed your blog for like ten years or so and you made me discover great music, to listen by myself, whith my girlfriend, to party to… I usually don’t comment cause I don’t really know what to say. Anyway, I’m thankful for all your great work and I hope you’ll feel better, blog or no blog.

    • Thanks Hakim, it’s good to hear from you. I always appreciate comments and feedback of any nature, though – no need to think it’s required for them to be clever or deep.

  3. hey mr vibes. I never posted something before, but have been enjoying your tunes and descriptions for quite some time now. You’re one fresh horizon widening selector. Love what you come up with, way better and way less predictable than what any algorithm can offer. Thank you for all the hours of musicjoy you’ve brought upon me and a lot of other folks. Keep it up mate, love from Rotterdam

  4. If I didn’t have to work so much to raise two brats I’d gladly spend my days here (and other secret music haunts, admittedly, wink, wink) DLing, commenting, listening, expanding my consciousness, wink, wink again) and so on . . . Why does life always gets in the way? Massive thanks for everything. This place is a treasure trove of knowledge.

  5. Hombre,

    ‘Don’t give up the fight’ as they say. Always enjoyed even though not evreything to my taste – plenty, plenty aural goodies enough. What else is important in life besides health and love? Your texts are as critical as the sounds…Thank you much for all the work.

    A virtual friend.

  6. Bacon Peanut Butter Muffin

    Hey Man – Thank you for the Bootsy – I missed this one back in the day… Hang tough and thanks for sharing the music.

  7. Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of appreciation. I don’t get to visit regularly but I often enjoy deep dives of your blog when I do. Your work is not in vain. Thank you very much.

  8. Bootsy is actually 70 years young! You should check out Bootsy on Funkcronomicon …Cheers!

    • Yes, somebody else pointed that out to me about a month after I posted this and I haven’t corrected myself yet. It does SEEM like he should be 80 but that’s only because he was practically just a kid in James Brown’s band!

  9. That’s Funkcronomicon/Axiom Funk

  10. Don’t give up my mate. Your blog has soul. Your blog is resistance against machines and soulless digital stalking. Taste and feeling are not mathematics. I care about what you have to say and show. Even if I would not agree (maybe exactly because of it). You are not alone. Thanks for this one.

  11. Thanks for this Bootsy Dr V. It’s when we take a chance on listening to what others recommend that we often find stuff that stretches and expands our musical horizons in wonderful ways. You have done that for me more times than I can count. There are receptive ears out here in blog land even if it doesn’t seem that way sometimes. Thanks for sharing your opinions and music. It means a lot to me and to many others. 2021 was a really difficult year for so many of us. I got COVID almost exactly a year ago and lost my Mother-In-Law (who lived with my wife and I for 11 years) among other things. I’m still trying to recover in many ways, especially mentally. Here’s hoping that 2022 brings us much closer to normal, whatever that means. Your blog is appreciated and masterfully curated. Thanks!

    • Thanks, Kovina, for your kind words and sorry to hear about your loss and that you contracted Covid. I’ve been lucky so far, but I have quite a bit of exposure at my job, which just went back into “remote” mode for the next month. I’m also hoping 2022 brings us better things. Cheers!

  12. Late to the party here (and the blog), but the range and perspectives are something that a machine can’t reach.

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