Released January 1978 Recorded 1977 | Format Vinyl 7" 45 rpm Genre Funk | |
B-side "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" Length 10:42 (extended 12-inch (300 mm) version)
5:46 (album version)
4:28 (single version) | ||
"Flash Light" is a song by funk band Parliament, written by George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins and released in January 1978 on the album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome. It was the first number-one R&B hit by any of the P-Funk groups and spent sixteen weeks at #16 on the Pop charts. The track became Parliament's second certified million-selling single, following "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)." "Flash Light" also gave Casablanca Records its first number-one R&B hit.
The song's distinctive bass line is often attributed to Bootsy Collins and was originally written for him. However, Collins rejected the part and Bernie Worrell created the line on at least three, possibly four connected Minimoog synthesizers. Worrell also played all the song's keyboard parts. The New York Times described Worrell's synthesized bass as "[a] descending and ascending chromatic line with a meaty tone and a certain swagger, an approach that would spread through funk, new wave, electro, synth-pop and countless other iterations."
Collins contributed to the track by handling drum duties while his older brother Catfish Collins played rhythm guitar. Lead vocals were by bandleader Clinton. Clinton credited Worrell with the idea of composing the song under a motif. Starting out as a jam, Clinton recorded multiple tracks, layering up to 50 voices within the theme of an inclusive love song. The "Da da da dee da da da" chant was based on a chant from a dance at a bar mitzvah party that Clinton had heard from a friend.
"Flash Light" continued the "Fake the Funk/Your nose will grow/Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk" concept that began with Bootsy's Rubber Band's "The Pinocchio Theory." Its success would greatly influence not only funk music, but also new wave and hip-hop. The Houston Press ranked "Flash Light" as Clinton's most sampled song, finding more than 60 uses, including on Aaliyah's "Back and Forth" and UGK's "Protect and Serve." "Flash Light" was rated #75 in Tablet Magazine's list of 100 Best Jewish Songs. Rolling Stone ranked "Flash Light" #202 on its 2011 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In film and television
Clinton recorded a new version of the song called "Flashlight (Spaceflight)" for the 1999 film Muppets from Space. The original song was featured in the 1996 film Set It Off and the 2005 film Roll Bounce but wasn't included on the official soundtrack for each respective film. However, it is featured both on the soundtrack to and in the 2015 biopic film, Straight Outta Compton. The song was in a scene from the CSI episode "Killer Moves" as well as a commercial for Grand Theft Auto V in 2014.