Red Hot Chili Peppers - Freaky Stiley


I still have hundreds of albums we could listen to, but not really anything to say about them. Since that's my problem, not theirs, we'll just listen to the crazy second album by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Freaky Styley.

George Clinton produced this album. No, you heard me right, THE George Clinton agreed to produce the album for 25k, let Anthony get through his heroin withdrawls at his house, helped write and arrange the 30% of the album they hadn't written yet, and let his drug dealer do the interjections on Yertle the Turtle as payment for all the cocaine they were snorting. He's the one (Clinton, not the drug dealer) who said take Africa by The Meters, but rewrite it about YOUR Africa, aka Hollywood.

This is pre Frusciante/Smith funk fusion. Not rock with a funk background like the Chili Peppers you know, but funk with a punk attitude and style. Flea and their manager contacted Clinton because a) they hated the way their first album turned out to be watered down and superficial, b) McClaren wanted them to be a watered down commercial rock band centered on Kiedis (you know, like they turned into 30 years later), and c) their fans constantly compared them to Parliament Funkadelic anyway, so why on earth not humbly request the services of the Funkfather himself? 

In my mind i keep mistakenly assume it sounds dated and corny. It doesn't. Juvenile sure, but not at all throwaway garbage. It's actually fun. 

On a personal note, i can't help but make a connection between Catholic School Girls Rule and the Catholic School Girls In Trouble scene from Kentucky Fried Movie. I warned you not to watch that movie if you haven't already seen it. RHCP constantly sings about sex, i assumed you knew that, but not in a particularly offensive way. Thirty Dirty Birds and Yertle The Turtle are the real highlight of the album, but you really need the previous 35 minutes to fully appreciate them. 40 minute album, right in the sweet spot.

I have their other two huge albums too, but this early 2nd album is pretty spectacular in my book. Give it a try, if/when you get the chance.

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