weird video of the week

Just watch. The track is pretty good too.

Not Your Typical '80s Jam Pt. 1

This came up today while my iTunes was on shuffle. I did this mix to be given out at a party I did back in 2004. This was recorded at about 10am on a Wednesday in one session with just a stack of some of my favorite records from the '80s. The theme of the party and the mix was to highlight some of the '80s joints that get overlooked when people talk about "80s music" and to put in context with some of the more familiar classics. Enjoy!

Also, go download Not Your Typical '80s Jam Pt. 2 if you haven't already. > HERE <


Not Your Typical '80s Jam Pt.1 (©2004)


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Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know this is a little late but I wanted it to be proper and not just a sentence or 2 and 1 song. Nothing against those that did that but as a blog with a main focus on music I think this post deserved more attention.

For most of us soul music fans, aficianados and DJs the last few weeks has been somewhat emotional to say the least. I just wanted to take a couple minutes to reflect. I'll start by saying that I wasn't an obsessed fan like some people are but that I appreciate good music for what it is no matter who it's by. I can say that Michael did have a considerable influence on me as a young kid and of course as a DJ. When I was 6 years old I remember trying to recreate the video for 'Bad' with my friends and play that album back to back on my friends' boombox that was literally about the size of us.

As a DJ of course Michael got PLENTY of play. I think most DJs would agree that the MJ requests did get a bit ridiculous at times and you wished you could go a few gigs without playing anything by MJ. But at the same time you loved making all the ladies happy and also loved playing the forgotten MJ & Jackson 5 songs or just playing their classics in different ways. Don't lie..you know you've played New Edition's 'Candy Girl' just before or after 'I Want You Back'. The point is that there was no escaping the genius of Michael Jackson, he was THAT good! Most of you DJs reading this have probably worn out at least 2 copies each of Off The Wall and Thriller. The constant stream of excellent remixes also kept him at the forefront for many DJs and admittedly, I usually only played remixes of certain songs more than the originals. The 4 Hero remix of ♪"Get It Together", the Todd Terje remix of ♪"I Can't Help It" and the Sean Smith vs. Karu remix of ♪"The Mirrors" are a few of my favorites.

There is no denying that Michael Jackson was a weird guy and struggled with a lot of inner conflict and pain. Yet through all of his personal pain he always gave back to the world. Essentially, he sacrificed his life to giving enjoyment to others through music. No matter what he did, he always gave a lot too the world and was genuinely a good person. Perhaps to his disadvantage he was not too good at explaining himself in interviews. True, he shouldn't need to explain himself but when in the spotlight he was very different off stage. Unfortunately the American tabloids and 'news' media helped to crush his main stream popularity here in the US which caused him to spend a lot of time in other parts of the world.

From the first allegation in 1993, the child molestation charges damaged him severely and I think hurt him immensely. I never believed it. As weird as he was, he was no child molester. Michael Jackson is a man that devoted millions of dollars and thousands of hours of personal time to do good things for children and especially children who had special needs. Children meant the world to him and he truly just wanted to help kids to be kids and prolong a period of innocence. He was often critical of the media for corrupting children too young and honestly just wanted to do for others what he was not able to have as a youth. Every sunday at his Neverland ranch was a free day for children, often from hospitals and charities, to come there and just be kids and feel loved. No individual has personally donated more and been involved with more charities than Michael Jackson. (most famous people are not donating personal money) The American media usually neglected to speak of all the good things the man did around the world...good news isn't really 'news' in America anymore. I can't imagine how hurt I'd be knowing that I only did good in the world and to then be villified. Behind the plastic surgeries, drug addiction and stardom was a good human suffering inside.

The man was a musical GENIUS..absolute prodigy. Most brilliant minded people experience some suffering so maybe it's no surprise that Michael Jackson was a bit 'out there'. It's well known that, similar to Motzart, he heard entire songs in his head before they were recorded and would tape record himself beatboxing, humming and describing every nuance. Even more amazing was his humility and respect for people he worked with and is also known as being one of the best people in music to work with.

Selfishly, most of us would like to have seen MJ live a full life. At the same time people can find solace knowing that he is not suffering. Michael Jackson dedicated his existence to the world through music and humanitarian efforts and we can all learn from his examples, both the good ones and the bad ones. On that note, here's some of the hundreds of great examples of his musical genius.

A great forum of people sharing stories about Michael Jackson > HERE <

Here's a good clip of MJ showing his process of how he starts a song and his writing/anti-writing process...dude was an ILL beatboxer! check it out > HERE <

?uestlove's 132 Michael Jackson memories is good too. Check it out HERE.

Artie Wayne, life long friend of Michael Jackson and all around everything man (seriously, Artie Wayne has done more than you ever will) has posted some good stories and even a lost song he did with Michael.

The Jackson 5 “Body Language” video

In no particular order:

I Want You Back by The Jackson 5


I Wanna Be Where You Are by Michael Jackson


It's Great To Be Here by The Jackson 5


The Mirrors by The Jackson 5


Workin' Day And Night by Michael Jackson


Baby Be Mine by Michael Jackson


I Can't Help It by Michael Jackson


Human Nature by Michael Jackson


We're Almost There by The Jackson 5

Love Light in Flight

I didn't even know there was a video for this until just now. If I ever saw it as a young'n I don't remember and probably didn't even like it back then. This has become one of my favorite songs by Stevie though...too bad the sound quality sucks here because the mix and mastering on this is phenomenal.



Ok...I'd feel bad if you couldn't actually hear the song so I took the time to add this for you.

Stevie Wonder "Love Light In Flight

Momma's Boy

Diggin' At Home (digital edition: Modernization)

Over the last few weeks I've added a MASSIVE amount of new music to my fairly large digital collection (over 10gb to the existing 35k songs) As I have time I'll be sharing some of these new gems with you and continue to share a little of my existing collection. I just imported some deep funk/soul stuff and one of the first songs I clicked on was this monster disco gem taken from Keb Darge's Legendary Deep Funk volume 2. It's funny because I've actually had the 7Samurai edit of this for about 6 months and only played it a few times and forgot about it until now. The original is where it's at though:


Sons Of The Kingdom "Modernization"


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This next tune is a new song that addresses the similar issues but after we've been 'modernized' for more than 30 years since the release of the previous song. This whole album by Beck is definitely worth the money. Maybe one of the best albums of 2008?


Beck "Modern Guilt"


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Another live session to download...

A couple of years ago my man Lil Dave (of Illvibe..click that giant link on the side of this page!) & I tried doing this party called 'High Postin'. Unfortunately, we didn't do the party for more than a couple of months but we have fun spinning together and we did get some good recordings.
Here's a short clip of me finishing out the night. I was more than a little tipsy by that point in the night so, maybe it's amazing that I could even operate turntables without spilling my drink on them!!


High Postin' : Live! October 11, 2006 (end of the night)
Download this mix

Diggin at home -BIG music post

I have A LOT of records. Waaaay too much for any normal person. But, for a vinyl obsessed music addict like myself, there is no such thing as too much when talking about music. I know some of you understand but for those of you who don't: it is us that keep music alive and have allowed for some music to finally be heard by the world. Think of us as librarians doing a public service for the good of humanity.

Having a lot of music also means that, unless you stop acquiring more, you always have a lot to reacquainted with. Sometimes we get so busy with other things that we don't have time to listen to new things we buy or only get to listen once every couple of years. So, from time to time, it's good to go back and check out some of the things you've forgotten about or just wanted to hear again. After a year of living in my current house I've finally started to resort my collection since it got all messed up during moving and settling in. While going through this process I'm rediscovering a lot of things I forgot I had or have just never listened to. So, I figured it would be a good starting point for a new series of posts. There will be some obscure & rare things here as well as some familiar records I just haven't listened to in a while and don't have mp3 for yet.

This will be an all vinyl series and will not include recent digs- only stuff that's been sitting on my shelves for at least a few months.

ENJOY!

Exile One - Fism (1976 Barclay)


Ole Ole


He Never Knows


Move Mama Move

Terry Callier - 12" single (Talkin' Loud)


Love Theme From Spartacus (4 Hero main mix)

Jessica Lauren - Siren Song (1994 Soul Jazz)


Serengeti

Shaft's Big Score! (MGM)


Move On In









Black Heat - self-titled (1972 Atlantic)


The Jungle

Hot Butter - More Hot Butter (1973 Musicor)


Space Walk

Sunbear - self-titled (1977 Soul Train)


Mood I "L.O.V.E. Love"


Mood II "Love At First Sight"

Gene Harris - Hot Lips (1982 J.A.M.)


Hot Lips

Swamp Dogg - 12" single (1979 Atomic Art)


Come On And Dance With Me (snippet)

Phil Upchurch and Tennyson Stephens - self-titled (1975 Kudu)


Don't I Know You?

Open Door - Limited Edition Remix EP (2001 Sole)


Get Into You


Fallin


Lights

New Sector Movements - The Sun 12" single (2001 Virgin)


The Sun (Kenny Dope main remix)

(NO! I will not be posting this much music in a single post anymore. Just wanted to give a solid intro.)