Old School Fridays: Rock Songs

The theme for Old School Fridays this week is rock songs. My selection is by a band that caused eyebrows to arch when they came on the scene in the late 1980s... the Black rock combo Living Colour. Although Chuck Berry and Little Richard helped lay the groundwork for rock and roll in the 1950s, the advent of soul music saw the number of Black rockers dwindle (Jimi Hendrix being one of the rare exceptions). When Living Colour's Cult of Personality blasted over the airwaves in 1989, there were some who considered them almost a novelty based solely on their skin color. That's too bad because Living Colour was one of the tightest bands around. I got the chance to see them live in Kalamazoo back in the early 90s and it was one of the best shows I've witnessed. Below is the video for my favorite tune by Living Colour, Type (from their 1990 album Time's Up).

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.

Living Colour - Type
Uploaded by jpdc11

Toby Keith Enlightens Us With His Thoughts On the Black Community

During a July 30th 2008 interview on Glenn Beck's radio show, country singer Toby Keith gave his thoughts on how he thinks the Black community views Barack Obama. Below is a transcript of that portion of the interview. You can also listen to it in the You Tube player below. For those who want to read the complete transcript, where Keith discusses a variety of other topics, click here.

TOBY: The racial issues just never ever seem to change. We can't get past them. And so I really don't know what the answer is.

GLENN: Wait a minute. Hang on a second. Haven't we gotten past it. Isn't Barack Obama possibly the next president of the United States and you don't see people, you know, saying, oh, he's black. I don't know any of those people. I'm sure they exist, but I don't know those people. Don't you think that shows that, I mean, look at the great distance we've come in just the last 20 years.

TOBY: Okay, but, also, I think that the black people would say, he don't talk, act, or carry himself as a black person.

GLENN: What does that even mean?

TOBY: I don't know what that means, I'm saying that's what I think that they would say. Even though the the black society would pull for him, I still think that they think in the back of their mind that the only reason that he is in is because he talks, acts and carries himself as a Caucasian.

Toby Keith, thank you for setting this wayward brother straight. All this time, I thought the primary reasons that Obama is the Democratic candidate for the President of the U.S. is because of his intelligence and leadership qualities. This weekend when I see some of the Blacks I know who support Obama, I'll be sure to share your incisive commentary with them.

Toby or should I say TAFKAK (The Artist Formerly Known As Kunta), until you actually talk to Black people and find out why they think Barack Obama is in the position to possibly be the next U.S. President, don't guess at what you "think" we would say. It shouldn't be too hard for you to get a feel of what we think now that I think about it. Considering that you have a Black fanbase that rivals Lil' Wayne's, I'm sure that quite a few of us attend your concerts. Just set up a backstage meeting after one of your shows and find out what's really on our minds. If that doesn't work out, call up Charlie Pride and/or Cowboy Troy to get their take on Sen. Obama's Presidential candidacy.

Thanks to Thembi (who writes the blog What Would Thembi Do?) for writing about the Toby Keith interview. You can read her thoughts on the matter by clicking on the title of her blog in the previous sentence.

Hey Natalie, where can I get one of those T-shirts?

Silence Is Golden

For the month of August, Turner Classic Movies is doing their annual "Summer Under the Stars" festival in which they devote an entire day to one star. This past Saturday, that star was the legendary Charlie Chaplin. At first I was indifferent and didn't have plans to watch TCM that day. I then had to call myself out. For awhile now I've been meaning to check out some silent movies and since a majority of Chaplin's work falls into that category, this was an excellent opportunity to do so.

Early that morning, TCM aired Chaplin's 1921 classic The Kid co-starring Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester from the TV series The Addams Family). That movie really blew me away... it was equally hilarious and touching. Because it's so commonplace now, I found it interesting that The Kid was the first film that attempted to combine comedy and drama. Later on that afternoon, I watched Chaplin's 1931 silent film City Lights. I enjoyed this film for the reasons as The Kid. Because "talkies" had become the norm a couple of years earlier, it was daring for Chaplin to make a silent film in 1931. Although Chaplin may not have foreseen this, I think that the silent pics he made after the introduction of sound actually play better today than some of the early "talkies" because the dialogue in some of those films can be awfully stilted. Along with some of his silent movies, TCM's 24 hour marathon also showcased a few of Chaplin's "talkies" as well as a comprehensive documentary.

Because of my experience watching The Kid and City Lights, I plan to make an effort to watch more of the silent films that TCM airs. Even if some of the films turn out to be disappointments, what's the harm in me giving them a chance?

It's easy to dismiss things that we know little or nothing about (I know I've been guilty of this in the past). However, it can be rewarding getting out of our comfort zone when the opportunity arises. Even if you go in with an open mind and watch a couple of silent films but decide they aren't for you, at least you made the effort.

Not counting Mel Brooks' 1976 homage to the genre (Silent Movie), have you ever watched a silent film? If so, what did you think? If not, would you ever consider watching a silent film?

Below is a scene from The Kid where The Tramp and The Kid go about their daily hustle in order to make a living.

The Retro Mix Playlist For 8/1/08

12 midnight hour

Synchronicity II- The Police
Ride In the Sky- The Brand New Heavies
Jungle Love- The Time
Suspicions- Eddie Rabbit
Pick Up the Pieces- AWB
Georgy Porgy- Eric Benet
Walls Came Tumbling Down- The Style Council
Cream- Prince and the New Power Generation

With or Without You segment's feat. artist: Cher
Good Combination- Sonny & Cher
Dark Lady- solo

Chorus- Erasure
Run's House- Run DMC
Dial My Heart- The Boys
Badge- Fanny

1 am hour

Now That We Found Love- Heavy D. and the Boyz
Paying the Price of Love- The Bee Gees
Waiting For A Girl Like You- Foreigner
The Best Disco In Town- The Ritchie Family
Do That Stuff- Parliament
The Stroke- Billy Squier
In My Dreams- Dokken
Groove Thang- Zhane
Rub You the Right Way- Johnny Gill
I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)- Gary Glitter
Little Willy- Sweet
Love Is In Control (Finger On the Trigger)- Donna Summer
Rock Lobster- The B-52s
Around the Way Girl- LL Cool J

The Retro Mix video of the week: Groove Thang by Zhane

Please Take A Moment To Vote In the Current Reunion Poll

Old School Fridays: Motown

The theme for Old School Fridays this week focuses on the label originally known as The Sound of Young America. However, I think it has evolved to become the Sound of Damned Near Everyone. Although I know that they exist somewhere, you will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like even just a little Motown.

The artist that I chose to spotlight is one that sometimes gets overlooked when people talk about Motown, The Marvelettes. Although they slipped down Berry Gordy's priority ladder once The Supremes rose to prominence, the Marvelettes still managed to churn out top-notch material throughout the 1960s. Below is a clip of them performing their late 1964/early 1965 hit Too Many Fish In the Sea on the Detroit-based music variety series Teen Town.

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.

Thursday Thirteen #52: What's the Name of That Song?

Thirteen Songs Whose Titles Are Not In the Lyrics
Below are examples of 13 songs whose titles do not appear in the lyrics. When I originally came up with the idea for this T13, I was going to give the song titles, the artists, and sample lyrics. During lunch today I decided to make a game of it and therefore omitted the song titles. Without using the Internet to find the answers, how many of these songs can you identify? Unlike other trivia quizzes that I post, you can go ahead and put your answers in the comments section for this one. On Friday I will update this post to include the song titles for each song.

Here is the updated post with the titles in parentheses. Thanks to all who took part in this little trivia game.

1. The Band: Take a load off Fannie, take a load for free. (The Weight)

2. The Beatles: Christ you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be. (The Ballad of John and Yoko)

3. Chuck Berry: Up in the mornin' and out to school. The teacher is teachin' the golden rule. (School Day)

4. Mary J. Blige: Come on baby just party with me. Let loose and set your body free. Leave your situations at the door. So when you step inside jump on the floor. (Family Affair)

5. Bob Dylan: You've gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend. When I was down you just stood there grinnin'. (Positively 4th Street)

6. 4 Non Blondes: And I say, hey hey hey hey. Hey hey hey. I said hey, what's going on? (What's Up?)













7. Green Day: Do you have the time. To listen to me whine. (Basket Case)

8. The Mamas and Papas: Broke, busted, disgusted. Agents can't be trusted. (Creeque Alley)















9. The Monkees: And the sun with a kiss, begins to dismiss. The memory of my life without you. (Good Clean Fun)
















10. Nelly feat. Kelly Rowland: No matter what I do, all I think about is you. Even when I'm with my boo, ya know I'm crazy over you. (Dilemma)













11. The Notorious B.I.G.: They heard about the Rolex's and the Lexus wit the Texas license plate outta state. They heard about the pounds you got down in Georgetown, now they heard you got half of Virginia locked down. (Warning)

















12. Wilson Pickett: Na na-na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na na-na-na-na. (Land of 1000 Dances)
















13. Little Stevie Wonder: Just a little bit of sou-ou-ou-ou-oul. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Clap your hands just a little bit louder. Clap your hands just a little bit louder. (Fingertips-Pt. 2)
















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Special Time For This Week's Radio Show

Since I will be attending the 6th annual MEATA event in Plymouth this coming Friday afternoon/evening, I won't be doing my radio show at its regularly scheduled time of 7 pm EST. Instead, my show (The Retro Mix) will air later that night starting at midnight. For information about The Retro Mix and how you can listen online, click here.

Tuesday Tunes- Week 42

Tuesday Tunes - Week 42

This week is word associations (my answers are below). If you'd like to play, list the first song, artist, album, instrument or other musical thing that comes to mind when you see the words.


Cat: Cat Stevens













Fish: Fish Ain't Bitin' by Lamont Dozier
















Dog: Atomic Dog by George Clinton
















Comical: Rappin' Rodney by Rodney Dangerfield
















Pretentious: Bono
















Intelligent: John Lennon
















Park: Saturday In the Park by Chicago
















Make-up: Make-up by Vanity 6
















Box: The Box Tops















Toy: The Toys












If you'd like to participate, please visit the Music Memoirs site. Be sure to leave the link to your blog in the comments section so that others can check out your list.

Final Results of the Recent Heath Ledger Poll

In last week's poll, slightly over half of you felt that Heath Ledger would get an Oscar nomination (but not win) for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Had I voted, that's the way I would have gone as well. With all of the stories that came out in regards to the ratings of the most recent Oscar telecast (they were the lowest in history), an Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger would definitely cause people to tune in to next year's ceremony who normally wouldn't. Having said that, since the Oscars are meant to be a joyous celebration, some voters might think that awarding Ledger may lend a bit of gloom to the proceedings.

Thirty-nine percent of you felt that Heath's performance WILL win. If that happens, it will be only the second time in Oscar history that an acting award is given posthumously. When Peter Finch won the Best Actor Oscar in 1977 for his role in Network, the proximity of this death to the ceremony may have played a role in his victory. He died on January 14th, the Oscar nominations were announced on February 10th, and the telecast was on March 29th. Then again, the Powers That Be may take the opportunity to not only honor Heath's performance as The Joker, but also make up for not awarding him the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain.

Just a fraction of you felt that he won't even receive an Oscar nomination. In the comments section, one person remarked, "Yeah, no, he's not my cup of tea." That's an honest answer, but it's not the kind that'll lead you to victory in your office's Oscar pool. Personal preference regarding actors and actresses aside, I can see how some might feel that Heath won't get nominated. Often, the Academy overlooks big budget summer blockbusters in favor of high-minded "cinema" such as Out of Africa and The English Patient. Maybe if the makers of those Hollywood blockbusters set them during the 19th century and had the performers all speak in British accents, they would fare better at the Oscars. Then again, that would be a classic Catch-22 because the movies probably wouldn't make as much money.

At any rate, I am looking forward to seeing how this all plays out when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday January 22nd, 2009 (date subject to change).

Here are the final results:

He'll get nominated, but won't win- 55%
He will win the Oscar- 39%
He won't even get nominated- 5%

Below is a scene from The Dark Knight where The Joker crashes a party looking for Harvey Dent.