Kate:
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Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation,
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a show about living our purpose and lifting
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our vibes for ourselves and the world.
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I'm Kate Jones here with a tribute to
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Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins,
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an original member of the influential musical collective
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Parliament-Funkadelic.
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This is one of 44
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short
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yet illuminating episodes
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about significant figures in the music industry who
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passed away in 2023.
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My guest Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime writer and
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newspaper editor, wrote these tributes and recorded them.
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Here's what he says about Haskins, who died
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on March 17th last year.
Sheldon:
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There was nothing fuzzy about Clarence Haskins,
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only his nickname.
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Fuzzy Haskins was a founding member of the
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Parliaments
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and then became part of the combined Parliament-
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Funkadelic,
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one of the most influential bands of the
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1970s.
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Haskins died March 17th in Grosse Pointe Woods,
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Michigan, from diabetes complications.
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He was 81.
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Haskins got his musical start in the late
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1950s
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when he and George Clinton started a doo-
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wop group in a barbershop in Plainfield, New
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Jersey.
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Clinton named the group the Parliaments
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after a popular cigarette of the day.
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He later changed it to Parliament.
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The Parliament
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were a successful group doing R&B
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and soul when they went on tour in
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1970,
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backed by a five-member musical group called
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the Funkadelic.
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They morphed into the Parliament-Funkadelic
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or P-Funk.
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They had a split personality:
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two groups with the same members.
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When they played more soulful rhythm and blues,
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they were the Parliament.
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When they turned to psychedelic
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rock, they were the Funkadelic.
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Haskins was a showman on stage.
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Sometimes he would dress in long johns
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for live performances
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and gyrate with the microphone stand.
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He wrote or co-wrote many of the
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Funkadelic
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songs in the early 1970s.
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He wrote our Song of the Day, “I
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Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everyone's
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Got a Thing,” for the Funkadelic's
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first album.
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The song reached number 30 on Billboard's Hot
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Soul song chart.
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Haskins left P-Funk in 1977
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for a solo career
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but eventually returned to play with several members
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of Funkadelic.
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Parliament-Funkadelic
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were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
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of Fame in
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1997.
Kate:
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This is Kate again.
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Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a
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music-related story sent daily to an email
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list of subscribers.
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All of those stories and these tributes include
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links to the featured songs.
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In this episode's description,
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you can link
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to “I Got a Thing, You Got a
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Thing, Everyone Got a Thing” on YouTube,
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as well as get information on how to
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join Sheldon's
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subscriber list.
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If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out
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the next one about April Stevens, who had
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plenty of hits, including her biggest, “Deep Purple,”
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a duet with her brother.
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Please share the tributes with anyone who might
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appreciate these well-researched glimpses into the lives
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of the people
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who created some of the music we love.
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Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.
