A bunch of handsome black men singing a love song with no irony. The clothes make total sense. It's a great fucking song - but, if it wasn't for YouTube, you'd never hear it.
Not to get too racial on you (you know we won't) but this is what's wrong with letting white folks have too much control of determining what's cool nowadays. They always have to remind us of some shit they laughed at, like The Brady Bunch singing or cheesy '80s New Wave nostalgia, when America has a legacy of greatness that they'll overlook (probably because they were never exposed to the good stuff, or - if they were (Thanks, Barack!) "a typical white person" of that time - they were laughing at it, because it was what blacks were into, while whites were worshipping at the feet of Led Zepplin and claiming blacks didn't make good music - a cultural line they kept up all the way through to Rap's destruction of their entire world.
The fact music like this is overlooked is why so much of what's made today sucks - it's informed by a history of crap. Crap white people think is clever when, really, it's just a mirror of their oh, so boring lives. Sorry to say it but, seeing and hearing this again gets the emotions all worked up, and reminds us of how much this country is willingly missing, overlooking, and holding back. Anyone or anything that says we have (and can) do better than what white devise is shunned. Don't get us wrong - we're not saying there's anything wrong with white people - love y'all to death:
But, to the detriment of all, you are (and have been for decades) the masters of cultural marginalization.
And that's a crying shame.
Major MOFO flashback!
ReplyDeleteHere ya go, crack!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05M_oz7lZA&feature=related
Oh my Gawd - did you ever wonder (like I did) where in the hell they got those outfits?
ReplyDeleteI mean, who sold those things - and then, to add insult to injury, suggested to a bunch of black men they wear sashes around their waists?
The 70s were amazing.
Hey speaking of no play, you NEVER hear the Isley Brothers anymore.
ReplyDeleteRonnie and Ernie Isley! GOOD GOD!Ernie Isley could melt a guitar while Ronnie melted the panties of every woman in the house.
They did a song Summer Breeze! OMG!
You don't hear that great shit anymore.
those outfits
ReplyDeleteAt least they are dressed nicely. I went to a concert in Memphis and the first singer was this white kid in a dirty t-shirt, torn jeans and tennies. The next guy was an older black man in a suit and a hat. He just looked at the kid like, "Really?" I appreciate a musician who thinks enough of his audience to make an effort to wear clean clothes.
Crack,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to disagree big time here. I'm white, and I grew up listening to Motown and Philly Soul, which my (white) parents and (white) parents' friends all listened to when I was growing up (and still listen to).
Working class whites, blue collar whites, and middle class whites have listened to "black" music for decades.
They just don't engage in music criticism or make specials and documentaries about the cultural impact of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
It's not the whites who have been the masters of cultural marginalization, it has been one small segment of whites.
Youngblood,
ReplyDeleteBy now it's clear to me you and I are on the same page. And, if what I wrote offended you (or Joaquin) it wasn't intentional:
I rail against the fabric that's laid over "real" American life.
Crack,
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I'm mostly in agreement with you. When Michael Jackson died a little while back, I remember people gushing that he was the first "crossover" artist...
I was (genuinely) furious, because it was a ridiculous attempt to rewrite history. What about The Supremes, where were international superstars? What about the Temptations? What about the Motown hit parade? What about Philly Soul? What about Tina Turner?
I wasn't offended by what you said at all, and what you're pointing to is something that really does piss me off, too. And I have a huge problem with attempts to rewrite musical history.
And let me apologize for coming across as so hostile! I'm sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I really hate, though? I don't hate the way that people recycle shit that they laughed at. I hate when people recycle shit that people didn't laugh at in order to laugh at it today.
Do you know what I mean? I'm talking about the way that (mostly white "elite" types) recycle old school rap ironically. Or even the way that (mostly white "elite" types) recycle hair metal ironically to laugh at it.
That's the sort of thing that I'm talking about. When did things like self-confident optimism become a punchline?
That is some seriously sexy music, right there. Listening to the vocal harmonies is like falling backwards, in slow motion, into a vat of velvety chocolate mousse.
ReplyDeleteAs for the fashions of the period, I blame the rampant drug use.
Mustard,
ReplyDeleteIt's safe to blame the drugs. Everyone was obviously doing them.
Also, I checked out your blog and your most recent entry is right on!
True story:
When I lived in New York, I was talking to a camera operator. She was saying that she took jobs with Fox News, but she hated doing it because they were fake news and they're so shitty and blah blah blah.
So I said to her, "Oh, I don't know about that. When the Second Battle of Fallujah started, I had some friends over there and I really wanted to know what was going on. CNN and MSNBC were covering the celebrity story of the day, and Fox had footage of the battle and a journalist reporting from the scene."
That not only shut her up, but it left everyone else speechless.
It's really annoying how everyone assumes that, if you're an artist, you must also agree with their cliched and trite politics.
"And, if what I wrote offended you (or Joaquin) it wasn't intentional:"
ReplyDeleteHUH? Me offended?
Youngblood, the video at your link set off a wave of nausea that I will likely be battling for the next three days. And the accompanying soundtrack had me seriously contemplating taking an ice pick to my ear drums. What have I ever done to you?
ReplyDelete(Just kidding, don't be offended. hehe)
Your story is all too familiar for me. The dimwit hypocrites don't mind profiting financially from the very same people/policies they scoff at.
A guy I know, who won't shut the fuck up about the wonder that is Obama, started a company and is setting up the entire production in China. Why? It costs too much to do business in the US.
I have now reached the point where I refuse to discuss politics with anyone. At gigs, when talk turns to the evil Republicans and long-suffering Democrats, I immediately become fascinated with the rug pattern or the ceiling fixtures.
Mustard,
ReplyDeleteThe not discussing politics thing is generally a good idea. I wish that I could do that myself!
When I got out of the Army in 2007, my dentist thought that my service in the Army meant that I was the "Bitch and Moan About the War Department".
In any case, yours is a good policy.
And, oh, if the US Information Agency video left you gibbering, never, ever, under any circumstances watch Vince Collins' Malice in Wonderland. I won't even offer a link to it on Youtube (even though it's there) so you can more easily avoid the temptation.
Don't watch it. And if you do, please remember that I told you not to!
Youngblood,
ReplyDeleteYou are terrible. Terrible, I say!
What was your special training in the army, the Make Them Crazy with Reverse Psychological Heavy Suggestion Forces?
I hope you know that, thanks to you, I'll be sitting on my hands for the rest of the evening.
Also, real thanks to you for serving in our military. :)
Mustard,
ReplyDeleteCuriously enough, my specialty was Psychological Operations! (Which sounds really awesome, but I was really just kind of like a marketer with a gun.)
I did warn you about Malice in Wonderland, though. I really did. You went into that one with your eyes wide open!
Oh, and you're welcome! Thank you for... let's see... my pay, my ammo, my weapons, my training, my transport, and my benefits. I mean, I'm getting ready to go back to school, and I'll be going for three years for free. (Actually, I'll be getting paid!)
So, thank you! ;)
Oh, Youngblood. It seems you have more to learn. For you see, I did not watch the video you so strongly (yet subtly) suggested to me.
ReplyDeleteWow, I paid for a lot of stuff you enjoyed. I was wondering why my bank account was looking kind of anemic lately. So, you're to blame. Good. Now I know in which direction to point my accusatory finger.
Oh! I should've realized that you didn't watch it when you actually responded. If you had watched it, you would have certainly ended up whimpering in the corner with tears streaming down your cheeks.
ReplyDeleteAnd you would have viewed your computer with deep suspicion for days, if not months (or even years).
And, yeah, I am basically the reason that the country is in such crappy financial straits! If I die or move to another country, the budget will be balanced and the nation's children won't have to be enslaved to China.
Which is why I plan on staying. I figure that indentured servitude will toughen the little bastards up.
And, in a refreshing turn of events, someone actually takes responsibility for the shithole in which we find ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI bow before you, Youngblood. :)