"Atomic Dog" | ||||
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Single by George Clinton | ||||
from the album Computer Games | ||||
B-side | "Loopzilla", "Man's Best Friend" | |||
Released | December 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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George Clinton singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Atomic Dog" on YouTube |
"Atomic Dog" is a song by George Clinton, released by Capitol Records in December 1982, as the second and final single from his studio album, Computer Games (1982). It became the P-Funk collective's last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. The single failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 although it has attained a level of stature since then, partly due to having been sampled in several hip hop songs.
George Clinton's P-Funk reached its commercial and conceptual height during the late 1970s after the release of Mothership Connection in 1975 and a series of spectacular concert tours. Each of these concerts ended with a climactic descent of a giant spaceship from the rafters. However, as the band and their concept of funk grew, the organization became entangled in internal dissension, legal disputes, and creative exhaustion. [1] "Atomic Dog" was the P-Funk collective's last single to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B chart.
According to Clinton, most of the song's lyrics were ad-libbed during the recording process. [2]
"Atomic Dog" is regarded a classic in black popular music. [3] The song's music video was nominated for two Billboard Video Music Awards, one for best special effects, and another for best art direction. [4] However, the video lost to Billy Joel's "Pressure" and Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", respectively. [5]
Chart (1983) [6] | Peak position |
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UK Singles Chart | 94 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 | 1 |
“When I created Atomic Dog in 1982, I had no idea how it would’ve connected to Omega Psi Phi. Now that I’m a part of this iconic brotherhood, it is only right to celebrate the only funkin’ way I know how.”
"Atomic Dog" is considered the unofficial theme song of the fraternity Omega Psi Phi. Fraternity brothers are "known to take over any space, anytime, anywhere when 'Atomic Dog' is being played." [8]
The song has been included in trailers and TV spots for many films (many dog-related), including 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians , Rugrats Go Wild , Hotel for Dogs , The Shaggy Dog , Finn on the Fly , Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde , The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , Boomerang , Scooby-Doo , Menace II Society , Trolls World Tour , Turner & Hooch , and Joe Dirt . The song also appears in a 2019 TV commercial for Etrade. [9]
"Atomic Dog" was the subject of Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. UMG, Inc., et al. (Case No. 07-5596, 6th Cir. 2009), [10] a lawsuit filed in 2007 by Bridgeport Music, the holders of the composition rights to "Atomic Dog" against Universal Music Group and the producers of "D.O.G. in Me", a song recorded by the R&B and hip-hop group Public Announcement and included on their 1998 album, All Work, No Play. In its complaint, Bridgeport claimed that "D.O.G. in Me" infringed its copyright by repeating the phrase, "Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yea" and the sound of rhythmic panting throughout the song, and by repeating the word "dog" in a low tone of voice at regular intervals as a form of musical punctuation. A jury found that the defendants had willfully infringed Bridgeport's rights and awarded statutory damages of $88,980. In a November 2009 decision affirming the lower court ruling, Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit described the circumstances surrounding the creation of "Atomic Dog":
The court further described the "Bow Wow refrain" as the best-known aspect of the song – "in terms of iconology, perhaps the functional equivalent of 'E.T. phone home'" – and held that the jury did not act unreasonably in concluding that there was substantial similarity between the two works.
George Edward Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and bandleader. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on Afrofuturism, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. He launched his solo career with the 1982 album Computer Games and would go on to influence 1990s hip-hop and G-funk.
Parliament-Funkadelic is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. With an eclectic style drawing on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor, they have released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work has had an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology has helped pioneer Afrofuturism.
Cosmic Slop is the fifth studio album by Funkadelic, released in July 1973 on Westbound Records. While it has been favorably reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, producing no charting singles, and reaching only #112 on the Billboard pop chart and #21 on the R&B chart. The album was re-released on CD in 1991.
Uncle Jam Wants You is a concept album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released by Warner Bros. Records on September 21, 1979, and was later reissued on CD by Priority Records. It was produced by George Clinton under the alias Dr. Funkenstein. It is the first Funkadelic album since America Eats Its Young in 1972 not to sport a cover illustrated by Funkadelic artist Pedro Bell, though Bell did provide artwork for the album’s back cover and interior. Uncle Jam Wants You was the second Funkadelic album to be certified gold. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Garry Marshall Shider was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
Play Me or Trade Me is the third and final studio album by the P-Funk spin off act Parlet. The album was released by Casablanca Records in May of 1980 and was produced by George Clinton and Ron Dunbar. Like many albums released by the label during this year, it would be totally ignored in terms of promotion due to the label being bought by Polygram Records. The vocal line up for this album remained the same as the previous album. Play Me or Trade Me failed to enter on the Billboard R&B album charts.
Computer Games is the debut album by American funk musician George Clinton, released by Capitol Records on November 5, 1982. Though technically Clinton's first "solo" album, the record featured most of the same personnel who had appeared on recent albums by Parliament and Funkadelic, both formally disbanded by Clinton in 1981. Conceived in the aftermath of a period marked by financial and personal struggles for Clinton, Computer Games restored his popularity for a short time before P-Funk fell victim to renewed legal problems and scant label support in the mid-1980s.
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