Discography
Ultra Wave

Ultra Wave


Artist: Bootsy Collins
1980
The title is an homage to the Detroit-based studios where Bootsy collaborated with core Rubber Band contributors Phelps "Catfish" Collins (guitar), Robert "P-Nut" Johnson (vocals), and the superbad dynamic horny horns of Fred Wesley (trombone) and Maceo Parker (sax). Not missing from these -- or any other Bootsy affairs for that matter -- is the unapologetic party atmosphere Collins' infuses within every pulsation of his full-bodied and self-proclaimed "Space Bass". The catchy and sexually tweaked opener "Mug Push" quickly became a dancefloor favorite and garnered a short but significant run on the R&B charts... The shuffling "Is That My Song?" is an arguably lightweight entry. But to its credit, Collins, influenced by Sly & the Family Stone and especially funk-bass originator Larry Graham, gives it a respectable degree of listenability. "It's a Musical" drives hard with brassy and sassy horn arrangements that have the feel of something Quincy Jones might have charted for Michael Jackson circa Off the Wall (1979). The slinky and rubbery backbeat on "Fat Cat" hearkens to the loose booty of former Bootsy's Rubber Band tracks with Johnson's falsetto likened to the shrill warbling often utilized on Prince's seminal sides. The obligatory ballad "Sacred Flowers" also bears trademarks of the Bootsy of old. While that in and of itself is great, it is likewise symptomatic of Ultra Wave's inherent deficiencies. The pseudo-novelty closer "Sound Crack" would probably have more going for it had Collins ditched the dated opening dialogue. Once it gets up to full steam, it roars with an intensity fuelled by the same bounce behind such P-Funk staples as "Up for the Downstroke."  ~ Lindsay Planer
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