Who’s ready to take a break? Me too. Here’s a mid-day jam from One Way to get you re-energized for the rest of the day.
Oh yeah. Another bass jam from way back that I could play all day long. Save it in your YouTube favorites and pull it out whenever you need a good funk infusion.
This week’s theme for the Old School Friday meme is songs with the word “baby” in the lyrics. Well my choice is from the Purple Man, Prince Rogers Nelson, and it starts off with “Baby, baby, baaa-by”. The song? “The Beautiful Ones”.
I always thought this song was waaaaay cool. Prince covers his full range from falsetta to low tenor in this piece. His dynamic vocal changes add emphasis at just the right times through out the piece.
What really made the song so entirely cool is the melodic way that Prince pours his heart out to some girl telling her what he really means and how he really feels about her. This was one of those fantasy songs for guys like me who were actually mush mouths and fraidy cats when it came to talking to girls in high school. I always pictured myself crooning this one to the fine chicks in my mind though.
If you really think about it he’s giving the girl a type of ultimatum. He can’t take it anymore and wants to know where she stands so he’s telling her very clearly where he’s coming from. And he’s doing it like it was perfectly alright for a dude to to lay it on the line honestly like it was all or nothing for this one-and-only honey dip who had him in the palm of her hand – if she would have him and him alone.
The orchestration of the song was tight too. It pulls you in with that understated, rambling, mid tempo drum beat intro with the space agey sound effect weaved into it and the tinkling high octave piano line laid in on top of it that leads into the first verse.
The last line ties it all up when he tells her how it has to be: “Do you want him? (guitar and keyboard crescendo) Or do you want me? (drums pulling up and adding to the crescendo) Cuz I want you! (synthesizers filling out the flourish)”. Hey repeats this line with a couple extra verses thrown in for emphasis and then it ends with the same easy groove that introduced the song. Man, for my money, it is still one of the best rock/R&B endings in pop music history .
Unfortunately Prince’s people have pulled all of his stuff off YouTube (What’s another source for clips people?) so here are some guys who try to give you a feel of this classic from the Purle Rain album from 1985 if I recall correctly.
I was really having a hard time for some reason thinking of remakes yesterday so I’m making up for it now. I’m not a criminal but I love “I Shot the Sheriff”.
The first track is the Eric Clapton arrangement that I first heard on the radio as a kid. Here’s a concert version of one of his 70′s hits.
It wasn’t until I was grown that I realized he had remade a Bob Marley jam. Here he is at his rasta best.
Enjoy these and save them on your YouTube favorites list.
This week’s theme for the Old School Friday meme is ‘Too Hot For Radio’. If you never listened closely to the lyrics of my pick for the day you wouldn’t have realized that the Police classic, Roxanne, was a song about a prostitute. The refrain, “you don’t have to put on the red light” refers to the way legalized prostitution is done in Northern Europe.
Sting and the boys would, no doubt, have walked through the red light districts in certain countries, at least out of curiosity, and noticed how the ladies of the night would pose in brothel display windows – yeah, like human manequins in a department store display – and turn on their red light in the window to indicate that they were ready for business.
Unfortunately the group known as polydorclassics who is apparently responsible for all of the Police’s YouTube material has disabled the embed feature so click on this YouTube link to listen to Sting try to convince Roxanne to give up her career of selling her body to the night.
Check out Villager, Mrs. Grapevine and others to see what they chose to carry you into the weekend. Click on her OSF MEME button on her menu bar across the top in case you’d like to see the rules for joining in the meme. Enjoy.
As heard on the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning, another great St. Louisan, Michael McDonald. Didn’t know the lead singer of the Doobie Brothers was from the Gateway to the West did you? Enjoy the track.
Welcome to Old School Friday, a meme created by the MarvelusOne and MsGrapevine. This week it’s your favorite song from your high school graduation year.
For me that means Senior Prom in 1986 and the theme was Luther’s “If Only For One Night”. Brings back memories of the Academy of Math and Science H.S. in St. Louis. Lean back, close your eyes and enjoy this live clip.
Want to join in on the fun? Hey, we want you to. Here are the rules on Ms. Marvelus’ site. Find your favorite track and hit us all back.
Readers do you remember Derrick Ashong who became blog famous for his interview outside an Obama campaign stop earlier this year? Refer back to my February 28th post on the young guy who gave answers to an impromptu street interview. Guess what? Homeboy is a singer and he’s pretty good too. Actually he’s the leader of the trio Soulfege.
Soulfège (‘sOl-fezh) is an Afropolitan Fusion band. The best way I can think to describe their sound is a combination of American styles and Afropop sounds. You can definitely here some African and Carribean contemporary influences throughout their tracks.
Well the band is releasing their newest beats today. According to band member, fam, “On July 15th our band is releasing the digital version of our new record “Take Back the Mic,” which is our statement on the power of music with meaning.” fam afforded me the opportunity of a sneak peak of the new release with a MP3 download link. I like the sound.
Here’s more on Derrick’s background.
Check out the increasing amount of press and critical acclaim the crew is garnering. Let’s pump these guys up and pass their name and links around the blogosphere. Send an email to fam and ask for a link. Check out their Clear Channel Network,Facebook, MySpace, ReverbNation and Eventful links as well.
I had the privilege of previewing the tracks and I’ll give you a personal review of the eleven selections.
1. Damoshi – It contrasts the popular imagery of entertainers with no content versus those with a conscious message in their music or a positive vibe in their life. It’s a Diasporic view, “…the time is now.”
2. Do Right – Has a driving rock beat that will remind you of Lenny Kravitz style-wise. “…we’re not the ones to be trifled with…you know we’re gonna get ‘em, so you better do right, do right.”
3. Jonny’s Song – It’s a melancholy sounding song. The message is about how influences can affect the future of a child. Kinda reminds me of the TLC’s Waterfalls from years ago. Johnny is getting closer to going over the edge the older he gets with the bad habits he picks up every few years.
4. To Be Free – Good reggae beat. The trio even sings it with the syncopated Caribbean style. “What would you give to be free?…” The song addresses finding your way in the world.
5. Just Me – Has a 60′s R & B guitar running through out. Kelley will remind you of India Arie when you hear her in this selection. It’s about finding your own identity, “let me be me”.
6. Funkadocious – DNA leads with a rap on this one. As the refrain will tell you they “bring the funkadocious”, the group’s international flair. A respectful reference to Chuck Browne of Jamaica Funk fame is even thrown in there. Kelley joins in to take the second rap verse. Nice song.
7. Once – A forlorn love song of a relationship hoped for but perhaps lost for good. A nice mix of singing and rap riffing with a brass section carrying the song nicely.
8. Beans ‘n Rice – A nice up tempo jam using red beans and rice to flavor the theme. It gives the song a perfect background cultural reference. There are conga sounding drums or some sort of traditional percussion running through this piece. It encourages you to get into the Afropolitan sound.
9. Sweet Mother – This one is simply about PanAfrican pride. The mother of the world, Afrika. If you’re familiar with South Africa’s national anthem, Kosi Sikeleli Africa, then you’ll appreciate this song on that level.
10. From the Soul – Another heritage song. Refers to the souls of the past calling to us to get it right in the modern day. If you’re familiar with the legend of the Sankofa bird you’ll appreciate this song on that level as well.
11. Fight On – The final track tells us to take a look in the mirror to look at what we’ve become. It’s a song of strength encouraging you to fight on through life’s challenges and discouraging moments.
This is a great collection. You guys should definitely buy Take Back the Mic right away. You’ll enjoy it thoroughly so go ahead and jam up those web servers with your downloads and let’s all jam some Soulfège!
So we’ll call this hump day 2 of my tribute to WAR. I’ll throw three more selections at you to carry you thru the week.
This one was their first release back in 1970. Spill the Wine is led by Eric Burdon. And when was the last time you saw a flute in a contemporary band? Jethro Tull is the only other I can recall. Anyway, check out this live version.
One of my favorites of all their songs is about the old Cowboy who’s movies I used to see on T.V. every now and then. This video is grainy but it’s another live braodcast, this time in 1973 and lets you see the band in action. How bout that clarinet and harmonica as featured instrumental parts.
This last one is a silly favorite. Sounds like the guys must have been sitting around hamming it up when they wrote this one. Most groops have a feel good, happy time song and a message song. Why Can’t We Be Friends fit the bill for all those…”I know ya working for the C.I.A., They wouldn’t have you in the Ma-Fi-A…”
Yes indeed, great group and great music. Hope it gives you a smile and a giggle today.
Want to hear one of the first multicultural-multiethnic crossover groups to break out big on the popular music scene in the early 70′s? Tuesday Tunes is a day late but that’s alright. How about we call it a hump day special? We’re going back thirty years so allow me to declare WAR on your earlobes. Not surprisingly Wikipedia gives some great background on the band.
If any bunch of guys had variety and style it was this crew. They fused the Latin sound with Afro-funk and everything in between.
Do you remember jams like…
Here’s the long play version of The World Is A Ghetto
Or hows about…
I know, I know. These dudes were so cool you can’t handle it all in one sitting so I’m going to save ya some for later. Until then though save these in your YouTube favorites file and share them with a friend. What are some of your other favorite War cries? Can you guess which ones I’m bringing to you on Friday?
Anybody else out there have slow jams on the brain? O.K. got a little somethin’ for ya.
I have always loved one particular song by LTD. Jeffrey Osbourne has released a lot of material over the years but Love Ballad is the one that brought him stardom. Here’s a concert track to get you started.
To keep things in context, let me go “unslow-jam” for a minute. Have to show you where Jeffrey came from. Here’s an old LTD clip. Check the brass section throwing down some moves with the beats. Every great 70′s group had a good horn section and this old Soul Train clip shows you how good popular music was actually made more than 30 years ago.
But to get back on the original pace, a slow jam mindset always puts me in an Isley Brothers kinda mood. This is another one I always imagined myself dropping on the girls as a kid if I ever had any rap – I never did. There were few groups who were as smooth as and who’s music matched that smoothness like the Isley’s and Footsteps In the Dark always made me feel cool in my mind. Let me take you back a few years with this soul classic.
Wait a minute. Can’t leave this one hanging by itself. Double shot of Ronnie and bros to continue the theme.
If those album covers don’t take you back nothing will. So what are your favorite LTD, Jeffrey Osbourne and Isley Brothers hits? Share some memories and some vids.
Error: Twitter did not respond. Please wait a few minutes and refresh this page.
© 2012 MartyBLOGs. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by 