The Old, Old, Old, Oldies

Most cities with a lot of black people have at least two or three radio stations that play oldies. The classics. The good stuff. But why do oldies stations primarily play music from the 70's, 80's and 90's? Soul Train was great but soul music existed way before the decade that brought us black power. Here are a just a few examples of great music your grandparents may know something about.

Papa Chele played Ben E. King's greatest hits album for at least twelve years straight. For an album that includes Spanish Harlem, you could imagine why. Many of you are familiar with King's song, Stand By Me. A former lead singer for The Drifters, he scored his first hit in 1961 with Spanish Harlem.

She was taken from us too soon but Dinah Washington left behind plenty of music for us to treasure. She passed away at the age of 39 from an accidental overdose. Despite such tragedy, Dinah is remembered as one of the most successful female singers in the 1950's. Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby is a 1962 recording but it was first written by Louis Jordan in 1944.

Speaking of Louis Jordan, it is only appropriate that he be included in this list, and heard on our radio stations today. Tell me this isn't soul you hearing! Not just soulful, but The Father of Rhythm of Blues was often comical and political. I first heard Beans and Cornbread on the Malcolm X soundtrack but other songs of his including What's the Use of Gettin' Sober, That Chick's Too Young to Fry and  Pettin' and Pokin'. Beans and Cornbread was recorded in 1949.

 

I really don't think this wonderful woman needs an introduction. Ms. Lena Horne, ladies and gentleman. 

Do ever wish for TV One's hit television show Unsung to make an episode about a certain artist you love? With his incredible career and many gifts, it would be great for younger generations to learn about Johnny Mathis and the contributions he made to music. Chances Are was recorded in 1957 and a year later, Mathis compiled a selection of chart-topping single he made with Columbia Records and created a Greatest Hits album, the first ever in history.

It's important to may homage to all the soul musicians that gave music we have learned and loved. Let us not limit our appreciation to music simply because it is more familiar to our ears. Artists mentioned above and their contemporaries laid the foundation for all of the sounds we groove and bop our heads to. So call your local classic soul stations and make the disc jockeys dig deep for those old, old, oldies!

La Vida de La Lupe

It was in high school when the Spanish language first sparked my interest. Outside of class, I would listen to the radio station La Mega while trying to pick up the language through song. I enjoy merengue and bachata, the two most popular styles of music in the Dominican Republic but I prefer salsa, especially the good, Fania shit. Fania Records was essentially the Motown of Latin music that housed salsa pioneers like Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, and Ray Barretto. Salsa music was instrumental in introducing the larger world to the sounds of Caribbean oriented music, musica tropical. 

But before there was salsa, there was Puerto Rican bomba. There was cha-cha and mambo. Though salsa music is huge, it still is a fairly new genre of music, originating in the 1960's and 1970's. The aforementioned styles of music, as well as many others, were the components of musica tropical and La Lupe was the champion of them all. I can't pinpoint when I first discovered her music, but I promise that I have not listened to music the same way since.

Brash, flamboyant, witty and fiery, the Cuban-born singer was dubbed the Queen of Latin Soul but has been largely forgotten over the years. La Lupe's music was just as much sexy as it was political. Exiled from Cuba, she kicked off her shoes after each performance as a form of protest against Castro's regime.

She started her career singing traditional Cuban music with an orchestra led by Latin jazz great Mongo Santamaria. Impressed with her rich voice, she caught the attention of Tito Puente and together they had a string of hits including her most famous song, "Que Te Pedi." Her mastery of tropical rhythms along with her over-the-top persona, gave her performance an edge never seen before by Latin audiences. She would erratically hit her face, clap irregularly to the beat or at times, even slap her breasts while shouting "Ahi Nama!" With an act like none other, she was on top of the world in the sixties. But it wouldn't last for much longer.

La Lupe's life soon became consumed by alcoholism and drug addiction. Her drug-addict husband, who was later diagnosed as a schizophrenic, became abusive towards her. Between his hospital bills and her endless donations to Santeros, she went broke. The despair that now defined her life began to taint her professional life as she became more and more of a burden to her associates. According to Tito Puente, she her refusal to convert to salsa music and sticking with traditional musica tropical would soon make her a hasbeen. He decided to part ways with her.

In "Oriente," she beautifully emotes her falling out with Tito Puente as she shouts "Ay ay ay, Tito Puente me botó!"- a loose translation of 'he kicked me out.' She died from a heart attack at the young age of 52. How did this happen? She was the first Latin singer to sell out of Madison Square Garden, but some how once ended up homeless and destitute. She traveled around the world, wowing audiences with her musical genius but is relatively unknown to many fans of Latin music. La Lupe was as much passionate and talented as she was troubled. Once loved, but now forgotten, she lived a life free of apologies or restrictions. It may have worked to her detriment but that's what makes her legacy so incredible.

Facing Execution: The Story of Reggie Clemmons

I gather that most of you are unfamiliar with the story of Reginald Clemons and that is okay. I did not learn about his case until earlier today. He is convicted of being an accomplice in the murders of Julie and Robin Kerry. Anti-death penalty activists are fighting his execution on priciple but also because this case involves accusations of serious judicial misconduct, including allegations of police brutality and ineffective counsel.

The following excerpt is an official report from Clemon's report:

Reggie Clemons was sentenced to death in St. Louis as an accomplice in the 1991 murder of two young white women, Julie and Robin Kerry, who plunged from the Chain of Rocks Bridge into the Mississippi River. Two other black youths were also convicted, including Marlin Gray (executed in 2005). Clemons has consistently maintained his innocence. His case illustrates many of the flaws in the U.S. death penalty system.
Shortly after a 2009 execution date was stayed, the Missouri Supreme Court assigned a judge (a "Special Master") to investigate the reliability of his conviction and proportionality of his sentence. Amnesty International urges the state of Missouri to recognize the serious problems with Reggie Clemons' case and to commute his death sentence.

From Amnesty International:

"Reggie Clemons was sentenced to death in St. Louis as an accomplice to a 1991 murder. There was no physical evidence and since allegations have arisen of police coercion, prosecutorial misconduct, and a ‘stacked’ jury in the Clemons case. Despite so many lingering questions, Missouri is still planning to execute Reggie Clemons."

Last week Wednesday, we witnessed another state execute a brother by the name of Troy Davis despite a serious case that could be made for reasonable doubt. Millions gathered either in Georgia or in front of our computers and televisions, standing in allegiance with Troy Davis as he became the victim of our country's cruel and unusual interpretation of "justice." Execution has little to do with obtaining justice and a whole lot to do with getting revenge. It's justice from the viewpoint of a vindictive, thirteen year-old girl.

Unfortunately, people are always going to be wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit. It's a sad reality. But there is a difference between having a person sitting in a cell for 20 years when wrongly convicted and having him, oh I dunno, PUT TO DEATH! To be honest, I'm not sure if Troy Davis or Reginald Clemons are completely innocent. But isnt' that the point? If intelligent people can debate their innocence then it is reprehensible to execute them.

Since 1973, more than 130 people have been released from death row because of evidence that they were wrongly convicted. And while black people make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, we make up more than 40 percent of the nation’s death row prisoners. A 2001 University of North Carolina study found that killing a white victim is 3.5 times more likely to lead to a death sentence than killing a black victim.

Troy Davis: The Death of My Brother

We have all witnessed a great injustice tonight.

Did you know that on his death certificate, Troy Davis' cause of death will be listed as a homicide? A HOMICIDE. They are killing a man, whether innocent or not, to justify the death of another. How can anyone just ignore such an egregious situation? And yet as I continued to read all the tweets regarding Davis, I also noted that #youknowyoughetto was also trending (in the Philadelphia region at least) and X-Factor was also popular. Once again human life is carelessly thrown away. Troy Davis, the 52nd person to be executed in the prisons of Georgia. But we know that he is only one of the many strange fruit whose life has been taken needlessly.

As I look at this photo and listen to the @democracynow live stream the tears leak down my face. I am weeping. I have never been so hurt over a stranger. No he is no stranger. He is my brother. Troy Davis is my brother.

He is being executed right now, sitting on a gurney waiting as the cocktails of drugs take his very breath away. 7 of the 9 witnesses recanted their statements. There was no other evidence that put Davis as the murderer other than the 2 last witnesses. If that isn't reasonable doubt, I just don't know what is. If this isn't a misuse of justice. Just sickening.

I never supported the death penalty and I never will. An eye for an eye does indeed make the whole world blind. And right now too many of us have turned a blind eye to a system of justice that continues to instill injustice. 

I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense everyone. I am just so distraught that I just don't know how I can look at the government and continue to take it seriously.

Troy Davis said: They may take my body, but they can never take my spirit. Because my spirit belongs to God. 

God be with you Troy Davis. God be with his family. God be with the family of Officer MacPhail. God be with all of us. Because strange fruit continue to hang from the Poplar trees. 

The Fiore Scott Files: Retro Video Games (Part 1)

I was talking to my father about how my 14 year old brother hadn't been able to play his video games since he began high school just two weeks ago, when it hit me, I've been playing video games since my motorskills where advance enough to do so. Now I'm only 23, so I've never even seen an Atari up close, but I'm been appreciating the gamer side of myself since my father
bought us our first system, the Sega Genesis.

I can only remember good times with this system. I would sit next to my brothers for hours just playing Terminator, Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden '93, and my favorite Decap Attack. And yes I did just spend 30 minutes searching the internet trying to figure out the name of my favorite game. I enjoyed it that much.


Sega Megadrive Collection Trailer Decap Attack by objectifsega

My older and I also realized that we only ever where able to complete Decap Attack, while the upper levels of Sonic 1 and 2 and Terminator always alluded us. But at that time, for most of us "gamers", a term that I didn't even recognize I fell under until a few years ago, winning and progressing through all the levels of a game was never the main goal. It was about having fun. My brothers and I never had a problem being stuck on the casino level in Sonic or getting killed on the 2nd level in Terminator. We just started over.

Those wonderful days lasted for many years until the advent of the CD and the creation of the Playstation.  Man how we loved our playstation. Of course my father bought it for my brothers, seeing as I was a girl and didn't do such things, but I considered it mine because I enjoyed playing it as much as they did.

And we definitely played the hell out of system. Especially when we saw just how awesome and upgraded the games where compared to our Genesis after playing the demo disk. I just know you remember those. Those disks contained my first taste of playing a first player snowboarding game, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Spyro, and Gran Turismo 2 (that wasn't in an arcade). It was also our first time experiencing such gorey video graphics with Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Now if those aren't some beautiful but crazy graphics, I don't know what is. Seriously people, who thought that up?

The number of games we had drastically went up from the 5 or so Genesis games we had to at least 30 Playstation CDs. I could never get into the Final Fantasy franchise but I also wanted PaRappa theRapper. I would let me brothers spend hours playing Madden or Tekken and wait for them to allow me to get on so I could play my Crash Bandicoot. And God forbid if I ever won against my brothers in Mortal Kombat. It was on then.

But I can't forget about my favorite excuse to leave the table at Denny's, Arcade games. Whenever I got a chance, at it was rare, to go to an arcade the one game that I always made sure to save quarters for was the Simpsons game.

I was usually either Bart (everyone wanted to be Bart!) or Marge with her vacuum. This is the only arcade game I was able to beat, I'm pretty proud to say. And it took many tries and many quarters, but I was always entertained.

And then there was the fighting arcade games: Marvel vs. Campcom and X-Men.

I would jostle with the boys to get a joystick so that I could play. I was usually a female character in both games (I'm looking at you Chun-Li and Storm) and was able to hold my own against anyone who played. Yeah I mostly button-mashed, but it did its job.

I've been gaming since I was 7 and at 23, I'm still plugging away on both consoles and computers.Clearly, my gaming started early and it still has shown no signs of stopping. But that's a story for Part 2.  

What were your favorite old school Genesis, Playstation 1, and Arcade games? 

 

I Found Lovin'

I know it is mad bootleg for me to be posting this week's Throwback! late into Tuesday evening and for that I apologize. To make it up to y'all, I brought my A-game with this week's edition:

The Fatback Band is often slept on, in my opinion. More known for their hits "Do The Bus Stop" "Let's Do it Again" "Spanish Hustle" and "Backstrokin," they made a lot of good quality funk and disco jams in the 70's. The Fatback Band is also credited recording the first rap song entitled"King Tim III" on the B side of "You're My Candy Sweet" in the spring of 1979. (Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" came out later that summer.)

"I Found Lovin" was one of their later singles, topping the charts in 1984. It's my favorite song by them. I like the swing and the obvious influence of the funk style of the 80's. While most of Fatback's hits came in the previous decade, they proved their talents by beautifully molding into the sound of the 80's but also still staying true to their funk and disco blend. For those of you hosting a BBQ this weekend, you better remember to include this jam on your playlist.

Throwback Tuesdays! Philly Soul Edition

Sis Le Chele finally let me have my way with Throwback Tuesday. I had been asking her since she had started if I could do one and had been giving her suggestions which she ignored. (Yes Le Chele I am throwing mad shade.) But she finally acquiesced, so here I am. This weeks Throwback Tuesdays takes a brief look into Philly Soul.

This is definitely my favorite genre, and yes Philly Soul gets a genre all by itself. It is not regulated just to current heavy weights like Jill Scott or Musiq Soulchild, but more importantly, Philly Soul was epitomized in the 1970s by huge groups and artists which created the Philly Sound.

This song is The Sound of Philadelphia by MFSB. And I'm sure you all know what used this and helped make it famous [1]. And if you don't, you should get smacked.

Some of the old school Philly Sound heavyweights have definitely showed the way for black and white soul and r&b artists. They have even given birth to some. One of the best known examples is Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, a key Philly Sound group, who gave birth to Gerald Levert- one of the most soulful r&b crooners of my parents generation. Damn shame both of Eddie Levert's sons passed before him.

The O'Jays are my favorite old school soul/r&b group. I've been sleeping on them for the longest, but once I reopened my mind, I was captivated. I could dance to them all night long.

Another Philly group, that goes down in infamy for having a member more popular than the groups namesake, is Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. It famously spawned the great that is Teddy Pendergrass.

I know Harold Melvin was extra salty that Teddy blew up and that all the ladies in the audience was coming to see him not the group (aka Harold Melvin). And Teddy, oh Teddy, his music will live on as certified baby-makers. That voice can sing to me all night long!

Even more importantly, Teddy Pendergrass spent the years after his dabilitating car-crash, promoting awareness about spinal cord injuries. If you haven't seen his Unsung, you need to. It's fantastic.

And now I have to take a moment out to thank wikipedia. My background searching regarding the Philadelphia Sound led my to find out this beautiful little gem that made my day. The Stylistics was also a part of the Philly Sound. They have had some of the best known ballads of all time and the falsetto of Russel Thompkins, Jr. still gives me chills.

Philly stays winning. New York may have rap/hip-hop. But Philly has soul/r&b on lock. Just saying. And our current soul superstars aren't nothing to sweat over either.

Jill Scott has been holding it down as one of the best soul artists of our generation and Musiq Soulchild quietly keeps belting out stellar songs I will love til the day I die. Both their love songs are some of the most beautiful I've heard. And her sexy time songs aren't anything to sneeze at either. And if you haven't seen Jill in concert, then you are missing out. Seriously. She's on tour now folks, get some tickets. It's worth it. And it doesn't hurt that I've been told I look like Jill Scott more times than I can count. It's a beautiful thing folks.

Philly has made some beautiful music. Our Philly Sound has created some of the greatest songs and musicians ever. They were conscience, spoke of love, and could make a girl or guy ready to make babies. I just gave you a small bite of the large pie that is Philly soul. Don't sleep on our artists folks, and definitely go re-listen to the old school joints if you haven't in a while.

[1] Soul Train...


AN: I'm quite partial to this topic, being a Philly native, and if you don't dig these songs- you are crazy.

A Madman in his Most Incandescent Bloom

There is a lot of thought that goes into my selection for Throwbacks! I'm a music freak and have a wide array of musical tastes. My favorites are neo-soul and funk but I love 90's house, 80's pop, 70's disco, 60's soul and 50's doo-wop. My two step stays steady when the DJ spins Frankie Beverly and Maze and best believe I go in when a hip hop club banger is played. And if I'm looking to be on that conscious tip, I can listen to Nasty Nas, Bob Dylan or Damien Marley.

Or Charles Mingus. Which leads me to my Throwback for this week.

A jazz icon, Charles Mingus was an accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. He is however most celebrated as a bassist and was one of the leading musicians during the 50's, the big band era in jazz music. Mingus apparently was prone to angry outbursts and temper tantrums, earning him the nickname, the "Angry Man in Jazz." However, many of his song themes were reflective of his disgust of the country's racial oppression. Like other black musicians of that time, he incorporated his civil rights activism in his music.

In 1957, the Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus sent the National Guard to Little Rock Central High, blocking nine back students from entry into the racially segregated school even though they were already enrolled. The event further polarized an already divided nation. Hostility sparked from white racists who picketed the school in droves. They made lynch threats to the students and the civil right activists who protested on their behalf. Joining the chorus of those angered by gross racial injustice, Charles Mingus recorded "Fables of Faubus," arguably his most political work. The protest song was recorded in 1959, but Columbia refused to allow for the lyrics to be featured on the album. A year went by before the original recording surface.

What is old is new again. Music is kept alive by message and that is what I had in mind when selecting Charles Mingus' music for this week's Throwback. After a fabulous weekend with Sista Zipporah Pierce at the Gay Pride festivities, I am still celebrating my gay brothers and sisters being granted the right to marry in the state of New York. This was a major achievement for us as a society but the struggle for full equality remains arduous. Songs like "Freedom" and "Fables of Faubus" remind us of the tough path made for us to follow.