Kiddo was a

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) 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. Their distinctive ...

offspring group at

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, formed by

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) 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. Their distinctive fu ...

guitarist

Michael Hampton Michael Hampton (born November 15, 1956) is an American funk/rock guitarist. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Career Hampton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, a ...

and writer

Donnie Sterling Donnie Sterling is a musician brought in by Parlet's Mallia Franklin in 1978 as Parlet's band leader and bass player. After writing three songs on Parlet's second album, ''Invasion of the Booty Snatchers'', Sterling and Franklin both left Parlet ...

, in the early 1980s.

History

In 1978, one of Kiddo's founding members,

, was a member of

Parlet Parlet was a female spinoff group from P-Funk formed by veteran background vocalists Mallia Franklin, Jeanette Washington and Debbie Wright. Washington and Wright were the first female members in Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadeli ...

, a P-Funk

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

created by George Clinton. As Parlet's band leader and bass player, Sterling wrote three songs on Parlet's second album, ''

Invasion of the Booty Snatchers ''Invasion of the Booty Snatchers'' is the second studio album by the P-Funk spin off group Parlet. Released on May 15, 1979, this was the final Parlet album to feature Mallia Franklin and the first to feature Janice Evans. The album was produced ...

'', then became a P-Funk writer for producers Clinton and

Ron Dunbar Ronald Dunbar (April 15, 1939 – April 3, 2018) was an American songwriter, A&R director and record producer who worked closely with Holland–Dozier–Holland, and with George Clinton. His co-writing credits include the hit songs "Give Me Just ...

. Sterling wrote songs for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the late 1970s, and is best known for his vocal performance on "Agony Of Defeet" on the 1980 album ''

Trombipulation ''Trombipulation'' is the ninth album by the funk band Parliament (see 1980 in music). It was released by Casablanca Records. It was the last album of original material produced by the group for 38 years until '' Medicaid Fraud Dogg'' in 2018. Un ...

''. Sterling and his then-wife and Parlet bandmate,

Mallia Franklin Rosalind Mallia Franklin (March 1, 1952 – February 5, 2010), also known as The Queen Of Funk, was a vocalist of the American funk band Parliament-Funkadelic. She introduced friends George Clinton and Bootsy Collins in 1971, and brought ex- Ohi ...

, left the group in 1979 to form a P-Funk offspring group called Sterling Silver Starship. The group recorded an album that was never released. Some of those tracks can be heard on the George Clinton Family Series. Franklin continued to do studio work with P-Funk and Zapp, while Sterling partnered with Funkadelic guitarist

, and both continued to work with Clinton. Hampton had been recruited as Funkadelic's guitarist in 1974 at the age of 17, first appearing on ''

Let's Take It to the Stage ''Let's Take It to the Stage'' is the seventh album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released in April 1975 on Westbound Records. The album charted at number 102 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 14 on the R&B Albums. Music and ...

''. In 1981, financial and legal difficulties led Clinton to disband Parliament-Funkadelic. After the disbandment, Sterling and Hampton formed Kiddo in 1981. They partnered with Arthur Brown, Willie Jenkins, Leon Goodin, Fred Johnson, Tony "Strat" Thomas, and Leroy Davis, who led a band that included Hazel Payne. Kiddo went on to record two successful albums for

, producing hits like "Try My Lovin" and "She's Got the Body".

Discography

*1983 - ''Kiddo'' - A&M Records *1984 - ''Action'' - A&M Records

References

External links

Donnie Sterling at DiscogsSterling Silver Starship at DiscogsKiddo at Discogs
{{Authority control American funk musical groups American soul musical groups P-Funk groups A&M Records artists