Rebuilding Rob

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

This prompt is timely, since we did one of those “icebreaker” activities during a work meeting earlier this week. I will re-tell one of my stories from the meeting.

Whenever I hear people tell their interesting anecdotes about themselves, I feel a little bit lame by comparison. I haven’t met lots of celebrities, or travel to really exotic places, but here is on interesting nugget about me….

In the summer of 1994, I went to see Lollapalooza – which was then an annual summer tour instead of a weekend-long event held in Chicago.

George Clinton and the P Funk all stars were one headlining acts that summer. I only knew a handful of their songs, and most of those came from hearing them being sampled in Dr. Dre’s music. Even then, as a white kid from the suburbs, I knew who George Clinton was and his undeniable contributions to music.

I think of all the acts I saw at that concert, George Clinton & The P Funk All Stars were really the one that exceeded my expectations. At roughly 1 dozen performers on stage, the band reminded me of some other more popular contemporaries like Earth, Wind and Fire or Kool & The Gang. This was quite a visual for a show where most acts consisted of anywhere from 3 to 5 members at most.

The other thing that really struck me about George Clinton & The P Funk All Stars was the sheer volume of their performance. They were, by far, the loudest act we saw that day. The funny part is that they weren’t even one of the main headliners. There were two or three other acts that went on after them.

I’ve never been one to be easily impressed. Something has really exceeded my expectations in order to impress me. That night, George Clinton & The P Funk All Stars blew me away. it left a far longer lasting impression upon me than the headliners, Smashing Pumpkins, did.

After the show, one of the local clubs that I used to frequent was having a “lollapalooza after party”. It wasn’t anything official. It was essentially just another night at the club that happen to be the same night as the concert. There was always speculation that maybe one of the performers from the concert would show up at night, but nothing set in stone. As it was, the guys I went to the show with, and I were going to go to the club that night anyway; if nothing else just to go and hang out with other people who have been to the show.

Looking around the venue at one point, I saw Mr. Parliament Funkadelic himself, George Clinton. There were just a handful of other people around him. This kind of surprised me because I thought that even if people didn’t know who he was, they would probably just assume that he was somebody famous by his appearance. For those of you who aren’t familiar with George Clinton, let’s put it this way… He’s a rather unique, looking dude and hard to miss in a room

I’m not usually one to flip out at a celebrity sighting. That’s not to say that I don’t want to meet celebrities. But I always feel really awkward going up to a stranger and being starstruck by them. Even at the few Star Trek conventions I’ve attended, I felt like a real dork asking for someone’s autograph. Yes, I know: Not only am I a dork for admitting that I like Star Trek; I’m also a dork for admitting that I’ve been to multiple Star Trek conventions.

Anyway, this was a exception. I completely marked out like some starstruck teeny bopper. I remember thinking to myself holy shit! It’s George Clinton! Why isn’t there a huge crowd around him? Don’t these people know who he is?

There were some couches set up in some of the little alcoves near the back of the club. Clinton, and a few of his other fans made their way over there. So I looked at my buddies and I said “I’ll be right back“ and made way over.

I borrowed a Sharpie from one of the bartenders. I didn’t have anything else to write on, so I just pulled out my ticket stub from the show. Remember, this was in the time before cell phones, let alone, camera phones. Selfies were not an option; unless someone happened to have a disposable camera on them.

To my surprise, Clinton was really cool . He signed autographs for me and the other guys who were there. I spoke to him briefly, telling him that I was really blown away by their set and that they really stole the show for me.

One of the guys in the hastily-assembled collection of male groupies, pulled out a joint, lit it and started passing it around the group.

At this point in time, I think I had tried pot maybe once or twice previously. I didn’t even smoke cigarettes, so, if I was to take a hit off of this, I would’ve started coughing uncontrollably. My biggest fear was looking like a fool.

I wasn’t into the stuff; but I have to wonder if I wasn’t into it only because I had said no often enough that there was really no appeal before it to me. The Old Man was still the Police Department at this point . I still heard his simple, but absolute directive of if you try drugs, I will kill you running through my head. Bear in mind, aside from extremely limited medical use marijuana, pot was still illegal. Having grown up in the Reagan 80s, there was this constant paranoia of drug use. In my mind, I thought there was a narc hiding behind every corner, waiting for an opportunity to see arrest someone. Two years prior, people were blown away that Bill Clinton would publicly admit, while running for president in 1992, that he had tried marijuana once in college “but didn’t inhale“. All of this was going through my mind as the joint was making its way around the circle.

I wasn’t afraid to “just say no“. I just really wasn’t into the stuff. I had been at parties and concerts where people pass a joint around; only for me to turn it down. Life wasn’t like all those back to-school-specials of the time that tried to make you feel like you would be overwhelmed with peer pressure.

But it’s George Clinton! The King of Funk! A guy whose very name is synonymous with pot!

Fortunately, for me, there was a guy to my right, who turned it down. Suddenly, wouldn’t feel loke “the buzz kill” if I passed on it.

But it’s George Clinton… Dr. Funkenstein. Mr. Wiggles. I may never get an opportunity like this again!

“ I’m good.” I said. And the joint made its way around the rest of the circle, finally ending with The Star Child himself who took a massive hit. He coughed pretty heavily. You could tell he liked it. Only then did I realize that I wouldn’t have looked like a total idiot if I was coughing uncontrollably myself after a hit.

But I really was good. I stayed a few more minutes talking about music in general, I think. I don’t really remember much of the conversation after that moment. I’m sure I ended up with a pretty good contact. Buzz all the same. But I left shortly afterwards to get back to my friends.

Looking back, sometimes I could just kick myself. I could’ve smoked pot with George Clinton. I would be telling that story forever as my 15 minutes of fame.

On the other hand, I’m able to tell people that I had an opportunity to smoke pot with George Clinton, and I turned him down.

What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you? A brush with fame? Something unusual that you’ve accomplished?

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
• The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie

The article “Rob Meets The King of Funk” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.