Friday, October 17, 2008

Old School Fridays: Duets

When I saw the theme for OSF was duets, I was like Della Reese in Harlem Nights after Eddie Murphy punched her in the gut ("Ooh yeah... that's what I'm talking about"). By the way, that movie didn't deserve all the pans it got, but I digress...

Since the theme is duets this week, I decided to maximize the limit according to the rules and go with two selections. The first is a team up between two of my favorite vocalists from the pop/R&B genre... James Ingram and Michael McDonald doing their hit from 1984, Yah Mo B There. I'm not sure why the beginning of this music video features James and Michael working as cooks; but it doesn't matter 'cuz this is a helluva song!

The second selection this week is a remake of the theme to the 70s Saturday morning cartoon Josie and the Pussycats by alterna-rock queens Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donelly. This cut was recorded for the 1995 compilation CD Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits. If you are a fan of both 60s/70s Saturday morning TV and alternative rock, I highly recommend it.

This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participants

If you want to join in on the fun, click here.

You can watch the videos for both Yah Mo B There and Josie & the Pussycats in the player below.

14 comments:

Hagar's Daughter said...

Hey Malcolm,

Josie & the Pussycats theme song took me way back...made me think of Saturdays spent with my sisters and brothers.

Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Hey Malcolm.

Good choice! I've always been a big fan of Michael McDonald's voice going back to the days when he was with The Doobie Brothers. Another great duet is Michael McDonald with Patti Labelle.

Pop Art Diva Enterprises said...

Sorry I've been missing a bit - I'm in the midst of a big ad campaign AND getting ready to move (ack!).

I always think of The Righteous Brothers when I think of duets, then there's always Sonny and Cher that comes to mind too.

Stuck back in the sixties, lol!

PopArtDiva

pjazzypar said...

Cool! Excellent pick! When I hear James Ingram, then I think about the great duets he sang with Patti Austin. By the same token Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle sang an awesome duet. Have you noticed that duets are almost always good songs? What about Robert Flack and Donny Hathaway? So many duets and so little time.

Candy Minx said...

Those were great. I found myself trying to analyse the storyline of the Ingram McDonald duet...maybe they were short order cooks and it was a meaningless job reflecting on their feelings. So to find out who they were...they quit and went on a raod trip to get their dreams and prioroties straight. They met characters along the way and found out what is important in life.

I don't know...but it was fun to think about watching the video.

LOVE the Josie and Pussycat version.

clnmike said...

Now that was some left of center picks, good choice.

Old School Fridays said...

Did you go digging in the closet for this song. I never realized they were saying Yah Mo B There, I thought they were saying I will be there...

Happy OSF!

Edirin said...

wow, u really took us back, those were excellent choices

have a nice weekend

Unknown said...

I always loved Josey & The Pussycats! That was my favorite cartoon, matter of fact I named my first pet Josey!

Vivrant Thang said...

Another OSF participant thinking outside the box! Josie and the Pussycats?! You took a sista back. I wasn't familiar with this duet b/t MM and JI. Nice picks.

John Holland said...

Good selections. I'm not sure if it's on the same cd you mentioned or not but I have a Saturday Morning Cartoon cd with the Ramones doing the Spiderman theme song, really cool cd.

Marvalus said...

Very nice choices...you put a sister way back in time!

Cooper said...

I'm not that familiar with these dueter's so I'm glad I happy you gave me the chance to hear them.
Great choices. Thanks.

Malcolm said...

Hagar's Daughter: I wish that my cable company carried the Boomerang channel so that I could check out Josie and the Pussycats again.

Team Owens 313: Although I liked them before he joined the group, I think the Doobie Brothers were at their best when Michael was a member. As I type this, I'm singing "Taking It To the Streets".

Pop Art Diva: Moving sucks... you have my sympathy.

The Righteous Brothers are one of my favorite duos. One thing that's frustrating is that oldies radio neglects some of their hits like "He", "Go Ahead and Cry", and "Just Once In My Life".

Pjazzy: Roberta and Donny were a good call on your part. "Back Together Again" and "You Are My Heaven" are two of my favorite duets, period.

Candy: You might be on to something with your breakdown of the "Yah Mo B There" video.

I didn't even know for sure if there was a video for Tanya Donelly and Juliana Hatfield's version of "Josie and the Pussycats". I just did a You Tube search and voila!

Clnmike: Thanks man. I wanted to pick two songs that I not only enjoyed, but no one else would likely feature.

Mrs. G: Luckily, I didn't have to dig too hard. When I hear "Yah Mo B There", I am taken back to when I used to listen to "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem".

Fresh & Fab: Thanks!

Regina: CBS had a pretty good Saturday morning lineup back in the early 70s. Along with Josie and the Pussycats, I also watched Scooby Doo, The Harlem Globetrotters, the various Archie cartoons, and Fat Albert just to name a few.

Vivrant Thang: Even though "Yah Mo B There" was a sizable hit, it doesn't get much play these days and that's a shame.

Johnh985: Yes, you and I have the same CD compilation. Along with the Tanya/Juliana duet, some of my other favorite tracks on the CD are: "The Tra La La Song" by Liz Phair w/Material Issue, "Go Speed Racer Go" by Sponge, "Jonny Quest/Stop That Pigeon" by Reverend Horton Heat, and "Hong Kong Phooey" by Sublime.

Ms. Marvulus: Thank you!

Cooper: Thanks for stopping by. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed my lesser known selections for OSF.

 
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