Flashback Friday: Cameo

Do I really need to say anything to preface this one? We all liked Word Up — yeah, I’m talking to you. The synthesizer overload reeks of the ’80s, and Larry Blackmon’s nasaly and somewhat over-the-top vocal style was more than slightly irritating. Yet here I am, posting on it. What the hell did the song mean anyway? “Word Up everybody say / when you hear the call you’ve got to get it on your way.” And apparently it was the “code word”; for what, I’m not exactly sure. If any Cameo fans would care to enlighten us …

What I really like about this 45 single is the B-side, Urban Warrior. It seemed like a grab at street cred with the old-school beat and lyrical stylings. Love the dramatic chorus: “He’s an urban warrior.”

Alas, All Music has everything you wanted to know about Cameo but were afraid to ask.

Cameo | Word Up
Cameo | Urban Warrior

Flashback Friday: Goin’ Back to Cali.

Well, I’m headed off to LA today for the weekend and figured this would be a perfect time to bust out this vinyl 45 flashback: LL Cool J’s Goin’ Back to Cali.

When you’re talking about greatest rappers of all time, LL’s name has to come up, and I’m speaking strictly pre-Mr. Smith era (though I’d guess LL could take out any young whipper snapper … hello, Canibus). For raw beats and brash lyrics, LL’s Radio and Bigger and Deffer are hard to top. Radio stands atop my hip-hop collection with the likes of Run-DMC’s Tougher than Leather and A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory.

As for Goin’ Back to Cali. (on Walking With a Panther and the Less Than Zero soundtrack), it’s interesting to note the cultural influence the title alone has. If you google the title, you’ll find a lot of links to newspapers that used the headline “Goin’ back to Cali.” for some story relating to the state. I’ll never forget the video, all black and white with LL rollin’ in his ride when he drops the line: “Bikini small / heels tall / she said she likes the ocean.”

The B-side to the 45 single is Jack the Ripper, which I don’t believe appeared on any studio albums (but does show up on multiple Best of Def Jam compilations). It’s classic LL: in your face with a funky James Brown guitar sample and production by Rick Rubin.

LL Cool J | Goin’ Back to Cali.
LL Cool J | Jack the Ripper

(Note: Vinyl to digital conversion completed using Audio Hijack Pro.)

See y’all Tuesday, and get your captions in for the Rex Grossman photo below!

The Stop the Violence Movement: Self-Destruction

Once I discovered the blog/photo journal of old-school rapper D-Nice, I couldn’t help but click through his archives. He was (is) one of my favorite rap artists. I came across one of his posts about the single Self-Destruction, a track recorded under the Stop the Violence Movement that featured some serious hip-hop heavyweights from the East Coast and was produced by D-Nice at the tender age of 18. (Read his post for more on that.)

Anyway, it got me digging into my vinyl because I own the 12″ single and I thought I’d revive it here. Recorded in 1989, it seems pretty incredible (perhaps in a sad way) that the track still carries a worthwhile message. I didn’t find a whole lot about it on the Internet, other than this one line at Wikipedia that tells how the Stop the Violence Movement originated. You might also remember the West Coast All-Stars’ similar project We’re All in the Same Gang. (If anyone has this, I’d love to hear it again.)

Besides the strong message it carries, Self-Destruction is just a great song with a singable chorus. And all proceeds of the record were donated to National Urban League “to support and develop programming dealing with Black on Black crime and youth education” (taken from record cover).

Here’s a rundown of the emcees (in order they appear):
KRS-One, M.C. Delight, Kool Moe Dee, M.C. Lyte, Daddy-O and Wise, D-Nice, Ms. Melodie, Doug E. Fresh, Just-Ice, Heavy D., Fruit-Kwan, Chuck D and Flavor Flav.

I’ve included three of the four mixes from the single (excluded the “single edit”). Still trying to decipher the difference between the “extended mix” and the “special remix.”

Stop the Violence Movement | Self-Destruction (extended mix)
Stop the Violence Movement | Self-Destruction (special remix)
Stop the Violence Movement | Self-Destruction (instrumental)

Bloc Party remixes — going, going … GONE

OK, I’ve left these Bloc Party remix tracks active because they were quite popular. However, they are now for sale on the iTunes music store as the Dimmakified! EP: four remixes for four bucks. Soooo, I’ll be taking down these tracks later tonight. That said, I’d highly recommend taking four bucks out of your weekly allowance and simply buying them. That’s chump change for some really cool remixes — even if Ryan says Bloc Party has sold out.

45: Come Together/Soundgarden cover

Another trip to the record store this weekend, another vinyl 45 score: The Beatles Come Together for 99 cents (B-side is Something). It even had (what I think is) the original Apple Records sleeve. The collection for the jukebox gets sweeter by the day.

So I thought I’d share, along with a Soundgarden cover from Loudest Love, a seven-song Japanese import from 1990. I’ve always had an affinity for Soundgarden, and I won’t apologize for that.

The Beatles: Come Together
Soundgarden: Come Together

45 Selections of the Week

Being on a singer/songwriter kick last week with the Richard Buckner/Anders Parker andBrendan Benson shows, I plucked these two well-known tracks from the 45 jukebox collection. When I took on the 45 stash from my dad, I was hoping to turn up more Bob Dylan. Alas, Like a Rolling Stone single was the only one of the lot. No matter, it’s a fine track. And according to this Calgary Sun story, July 24 was the 40th anniversary of the song’s appearance on rock charts. Rolling Stone recently named it the greatest song of all time in a list of 500. Here’s a brief history of the tune.

The second choice is Jim Croce, of whom I admittedly have little knowledge except that he kept turning up in my dad’s music collection when I was young. As my tastes matured, I was patient enough to sit down and listen. And enjoy. My research tells me the opening piano bars of Bad, Bad Leroy Brown were lifted from Bobby Darin’s Queen of the Hop, which also resides in the 45 stash. It’s included for comparison’s sake.

(Note: Songs are recorded from turntable into computer using Audio Hijack Pro. Recordings are then edited/filtered/toiled over using Audacity.)

Flashback Friday

South of Mainstream has offered up a beauty of an idea — and being grammar geeks here, we love the alliteration: Flashback Fridays. I was all agog this week with SofM dusting Hum off the shelf. I’m not sure I can keep up every week, but I’ll give it my best.

So, my first Flashback offering is (drumroll please) … Gwen Mars. This three-piece outfit formed in LA in 1995 and released “Magnosheen.” There was a bit of an underlying glam-rock aura about Gwen Mars but the music owed an undeniable debt to the grunge era and, in my opinion, the crunchy guitar riffs of the Smashing Pumpkins.

Honestly, I’m not sure why I liked this band or why I ever purchased “Magnosheen.” It was/is a guilty pleasure. Oddly enough, I saw them open for Catherine Wheel, the most unlikely of openers for CW. I also once saw them at Boston’s, a scrappy little club in Tempe that is no longer (R.I.P.). It was almost like Gwen Mars couldn’t decide if they wanted to go grunge or try the hair-rock route and got caught somewhere in between. But damn it if I don’t love those opening riffs on “Cosmic Dick.”

Lucky for me, I stumbled across a white-vinyl 45 of “Cosmic Dick” in Tucson. The B-side, “Shrink,” is also off “Magnosheen.” Apparently, the group resurfaced in 2001 with the full-length “Driving a Million.” I’m guessing it might be another six years before we hear from them again, if at all. Here’s to hair spray and lipstick on lead singers.

Gwen Mars: Cosmic Dick
Gwen Mars: Shrink

Digable Planets remixes

Chris at gorillavsbear.net has me all geeked out about Digable after reading his review of Lollapallooza in Chicago this weekend. I was gonna save these gems for a future date, but I couldn’t hold out any longer. These are from the vinyl stash: A 9th Wonder (Slicker this Year) Mad Slicker Remixes promo 12″ and a Dial 7 12″.

Digable Planets: 9th Wonder (Amina remix)
Digable Planets: 9th Wonder (Dania remix)
Digable Planets: 9th Wonder (Accapella)
Digable Planets: Dedication

Super Bowl Shuffle

It’s almost August, which means NFL teams are reporting to training camp, which means it’s never too early to start thinking about the Super Bowl. It’s like spring training, when every team thinks they have a shot. Only I’m a Bears fan and I KNOW they don’t stand a chance.

Ah, but memories. We can always milk the 1985 domination. Payton, McMahon, the Fridge. What about those linebackers? Singletary, Wilson, Marshall. Then there’s Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent. That team should have turned into a dynasty. Alas …

Yes, I’ve digitized my 12-inch vinyl of the Super Bowl Shuffle, which was in vogue long before the Ickey Shuffle. I could never decide whose verse I liked the most, but what I really could never figure out is how backup QB Steve Fuller ever got on the song.

Anyway, be sure to check out the pure cheesiness of the “Extended Vocal Mix.”

Well, without further ado, we present the Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew:

Vocal Mix
Extended Vocal Mix
Instrumental

Let it rain

In this wonderfully oppressive hot state of Arizona, temperatures have reached 115 recently. Our annual monsoons — thunder and lightning storms galore — have arrived (sort of) to “cool down” things to a mild 104. It sprinkled a bit tonight, and so rain is the theme of these two songs, plucked from my 45 collection.

As I’ve said before, my dad passed on to me a beautiful Wurlitzer jukebox to me, along with about 250 45s. We lugged this thing from Chicago to Phoenix when we moved when I was about 8. For the better part of our time in Phoenix, though, the jukebox was nothing more than a household decoration: “Oh, cool, a jukebox. Does it work?” “Uh, no.” Well, I paid a pro to get it working and I cleaned and covered all the 45s and I’m working on cataloging them into the computer.

Shopping for records is fun, but sorting through all these 45s and playing them and pulling out some 40-year-old pop gem is the best. The catalog is loaded with some Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Sly and the Family Stone (I’ve added from my own collection, including a stash of James Brown singles and more modern indie/hip-hop tunes).

What’s interesting about the records is the generation gap they present. That’s why I want to mix it up: Righteous Brothers with Whodini in the same jukebox. That said, I’ve come to gain a valuable appreciation for the music my parents enjoyed.

Anyway, let’s get to the differing opinions on rain: Eddie Rabbitt loved it; the Carpenters were saddened by it (maybe they were my parents’ version of emo?: “What I’ve got they used to call the blues / Nothing is really wrong / Feeling like I don’t belong.”) I used to really love this Eddie Rabbitt song as a kid and I was thrilled to find it on 45.

 

Bloc Party — fine vinyl find

Went record shopping Wednesday night at Zia, a splendid used CD/record chain in Arizona where I spend much time and money. Digging through the vinyl, my ever-observant wife spotted Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm used for $8.99. (That was almost as great as finding Neil Young’s Decade — six sides! — for $1.99.) Anyway, the Bloc Party 12″ contained three records, including one — The Dim Mak “Dimmakified” 12″ — with two remixes apiece of Positive Tension and Price of Gas.

Not sure if I’m behind the curve on these, but I thought I’d share all the same. I especially enjoy the Jason Clark mix of Positive Tension and the Jus Ske mix of Price of Gas (that bassline … dang).

Bloc Party: Positive Tension — Jason Clark remix
Bloc Party: Positive Tension — Johnny Whitney remix
Bloc Party: Price of Gas — Automato remix
Bloc Party: Price of Gas — Jus Ske remix

45 RPM

I’ve got no central theme tying my selections together on this post, other than that they all were converted from vinyl 45s, a process at which I’m slowly getting better. I basically cobbled together any and all information I could on the Internet about it.

Briefly, this is how it works: I have a Technics 1200 turntable (yea, I had designs on wanting to be a DJ years ago) hooked to a preamp mixer. The mixer is connected to an analog-to-digital converter (I use Griffin’s iMic), which is then hooked up to the computer via USB. Then you’ll need some sort of sound-editing program: I use — and highly recommend — Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack Pro, which also works to strip audio from applications like Real Player, Quick Time, DVDs, etc. Audio Hijack has a ton of filters to enhance the sound. There’s also Sound Studio, Amadeus and Audacity, to name a few. (If you have any other questions, e-mail me and I’ll be glad to help as much as I can.)

It’s really a trial-and-error process, but the best part about it is shopping for records. My dad passed along an original Wurlitzer jukebox to me we’ve had since I was about 8. With it, I took on roughly 250 45s — mostly ’50s, ’60s and ’70s pop and rock. I’ve gone a bit nuts shopping for records, especially 45s. You can find some serious gems, especially those with the picture covers (just look at that Jermaine Stewart!) The jukebox also is the inspiration for the jukebox tag links.

So, enjoy the selections. I apologize for any static; again, I’m still working out the kinks (any feedback about how the audio is sounding on your end is greatly appreciated). Anyway, a little crackle and pop adds some warmth to the sound. I think you can clean the sound up too much to the point of diminishing returns.

(That little John Cougar Mellencamp acoustic ditty is for Dodge, who went all Authority Song on us a coupla weeks ago.)

Jermaine Stewart — We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off
The Fixx — One Thing Leads to Another
John Mellencamp — Small Town (acoustic)
Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls