Funk would never be the same after Bootsy Collins entered the scene in the ’60s. Even before he stepped out as the frontman of his own Rubber Band, he was making musical waves with the likes of James Brown and George Clinton.
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Collins is a star and he makes sure it’s known by everyone in the room via his star-shaped sunglasses and bass. His funky riffs are era-defining and endlessly influential. On top of his bass skills, Collins is also adept at giving well-earned advice. Find 15 pieces of wisdom from the funk icon, below.
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1. “The secret to walkin’ on water is knowing where the rocks are.”
2. “If you fake the funk, your nose will grow.”
3. “Funk is the absence of any and everything you can think of, but the very essence of all that is. And saying that, I’m saying funk is anything that we create in our minds that we want to do, what we want to be, but we don’t have the resources.”
4. “I come equipped with stereophonic funk producin’ disco inducin’ twin magnetic rock receptors.”
5. “I used to draw stickmen with star glasses when I was at school. I didn’t realize that would end up being me! The whole idea was that the glasses had mirrors, and if a youngster looked at me, they’d see themselves. Everybody is a star.”
6. “Happiness is a side effect of doing something that has nothing to do with it.”
7. “Yeah, because what it all boils down to is at the end of the day, we are all riding on the same boat and we have to learn how to deal with each other. I think that the music and what we do in our actions is what can kind of bring us together, hopefully.”
8. “Recording wasn’t as important to me as actually to get on stage and act the fool.”
9. “The smartphones and the computer separate everybody, makes you think that you don’t need nobody else.”
10. “We are all human and I want to relate that message to all people.”
11. “It’s very important that people realize: the air is being taken away, the oceans are being taken away, the room is being taken away, but we’re so worried about gas prices that we don’t even see this stuff.”
12. “I try to bring it across on my record, in my dress, in what I do and what I say because to me humor is important. You should have a dose of that and I guess giving it is what I’m here for.”
13. “I’d like to have younger people around me and that I’ll be involved with them a lot more now, as opposed to me being the main focal point.”
14. “We learn a lot, but the actions we don’t put behind those things that we learn and we continue to make the same mistakes.”
15. “During the course of the day, I write things down, things I don’t do anything with. Then, when I get ready to start recording, I just look through my books and I see if I can find something that stands out. That’s how I come up with the off-the-wall-kinda-strange-indirect-stuff.”
(Photo by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)
