[From All Music.com-Andy Kellman] George Clinton revolutionized funk and R&B at large as the mastermind of Parliament and Funkadelic. Versed in gospel, doo wop, and soul, Clinton -- a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and master conceptualist -- scored his first hit as co-writer and lead vocalist of the Parliaments' "(I Wanna) Testify" (1967), a fiery if 
tame precursor to what he and his ever-changing collective unleashed the following decade, highlighted by a clutch of animated and everlasting funk classics that topped the R&B chart. While P-Funk temporarily laid dormant, Clinton went solo with Computer Games (1982), the source of another number one R&B hit, "Atomic Dog," leading to three additional albums for Capitol and sporadic solo affairs during the following decades with Epic, Paisley Park, and a series of independents. A hip-hop godfather, his P-Funk and solo recordings have been sampled innumerable times, and he has worked in the flesh with many of those whose creativity he has fueled, from Digital Underground and Snoop Dogg to OutKast and Kendrick Lamar.
The original video performance was The Commodores tribute to R&B icons Marvin Gaye and Jackie Robinson. The Commodores version features lead vocal from drummer Walter Orange, who had sung lead years earlier on "Brick House". Lionel Richie's replacement, J.D. Nicholas, sings the second verse and then Orange and Nicholas share lead vocals 
on the remaining choruses. This was 1985, The Commodores first pop hit after Lionel Richie left for a solo career.
The first verse mentions Gaye's song "What's Going On", while the second verse mentions Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" ("Say you will"), "Baby Workout" and "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher".
Enjoy Springsteen's take on The Commodores Nightshift the music video and his concert performance in Dallas, Texas.
"I just have to say how honored I am to see this version by my hero, and fellow New Jersey native (I'm from Paterson and saw you in Asbury Park numerous times). An obvious homage and tribute to both The Commodores and our music video, right down to the lightbulb microphone, the fade ups, certain cuts to the keyboard player and background 
vocalist. Gave me chills, Bruce. And to date, I have directed and produced a 160 plus music videos for major and indie artists, from Linkin Park and LL Cool J to Squeeze and The Black Crowes. But "Nightshift" was my very first and it skyrocketed to the top of MTV rotation for a year. And the story behind the video is not one I'm sure Bruce knows. In short, Motown was about to let band go post Lionel Ritchie's departure, but the band believed in their new album and this classic song. They were introduced to me by a mutual friend, and when I heard the track I was blown away. They had no money and literally had to dig into their own pockets to fund the video. Because it was my first, I agreed to produce it for less than $19,000, hence the simplicity of the concept and shoot. I brought in a TV commercial director who never did a music video before, but we made it work, even though the director referred to them several times during the shoot as The Temptations. None of us expected to be the iconic video it would become.