Album of the day. 1978 ought to go down as the P-Funk empire's creative peak. Parliament went underwater with their aqua-themed funk opera Motor Booty Affair. Funkadelic waved their acid-drenched funk flag freely and garnered huge crossover success with One Nation Under a Groove. Offshoot acts like The Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, and keyboard whiz Bernie Worrell all cut stellar debuts. And Bootsy Collins along with his Rubber Band continued to ride high with their third crown jewel in a row, Bootsy? Player of the Year. As with previous offerings, the ever-prolific Collins showed no signs of fatigue on this one, which is staggering when thinking about his affiliation with numerous P-Funk related projects during this period. Blistering and freaky funk goes into overdrive across rubbery bass-helmed monsters like the album opener "Bootsy What’s The Name Of This Town," "Bootzilla," and "Roto-Rooter." But one aspect that often goes overlooked is how great of a writer Collins was as demonstrated in his distinctive ballads. Slow jams like "Very Yes," "May the Force Be With You," and the closer "As in (I Love You)" are part tender soul-bearing confessions and part musical cartoon vignettes, showing the more romantic side of P-Funk. Then there's "Hollywood Squares," a multi-layered funk strut that's so damn smooth and street that it anticipates the G-Funk craze to come. What more can be said? Happy 75th to one of funk's first generals, William "Bootsy" Collins.

Album of the day. It's hard to believe Shuggie Otis was only 18 years old when he recorded this, his second solo album, Freedom Flight. He had long cut his teeth as a veteran guitarist, both on the road and in the studio, thanks to his father, R&B and blues legend Johnny Otis. So his skills were already well-developed by the time he made this monster psychedelic-blues-soul-funk opus, highlighted by the original version of his best-known song, "Strawberry Letter 23" (which became a huge smash when the Brothers Johnson covered it six years later on their 1977 release, Right On Time). A true "musician's musician," Shuggie plays a bunch of instruments (very well) and shows himself to be a great bassist as he is a guitarist. Also, heavyweights like George Duke, Wilton Felder, and Aynsley Dunbar guesting on here doesn't hurt at all. While Shuggie may have not been a household name in his heyday, any true music aficionado will agree that this classic reinforces the idea of Shuggie being the true missing link between Sly Stone and Prince.