More Rico today, following up on yesterday. The first track is from the 1982 compilation Music And Rhythm, which was a benefit album for WOMAD (World of Music, Arts & Dance). I believe the release of the album was tied to the very first WOMAD Festival, held that year. Rico contributed “What You Talkin’ Bout,” [...]
“Oh, oh, oh, oh… We are gonna tell it to the (one-two) kids!”
Earlier this week, I ranted — at length — in reaction to an essay that fretted about kids today and their behavior. In this instance, it was about the rising rate of oral sex among teenage girls, but this is an old discussion. The Youth of Today are always going to Hell, and have been [...]
“If there’s a mental health organization that raises money for people like you, be sure to let me know. “
You know what’s great about those people who write for The New York Times? They are prone to blithely confessing things that if heard from someone sitting next to you on a cross-country flight would make you wish you could change your seat. The kinds of things that make you think: freak. In today’s Online [...]
J-Horror of It All.
Have you heard of Roy Lee? He’s this Korean American guy who has cornered the market on securing American remakes of Asian horror films (sometimes referred to as J-Horror, as in Japanese). There was a profile of him in 2003 in The New Yorker. There was an article on him last Sunday in the L.A. [...]
“A message to you…”
Emmanuel “Rico” Rodriguez has been playing trombone professionally since 1956. He’s one of the most direct connections between the Jamaican ska of the Sixties and the Second Wave 2 Tone movement of the late Seventies and early Eighties, having played with both Prince Buster and the Specials. In fact, the popular song “Rudy, A Message [...]
“Backbeat, the word was on the street…”
Alright. I wasn’t going here, but I can’t stop myself. It’s V-Day. The Day of Love. Yes, utter tripe. Hallmark-manufactured nonsense. Okay, I don’t mean that literally. The celebration of Valentine’s Day, complete with cards, goes back 300 years. I just mean that it seems kind of dopey to have this arbitrary day. Love your [...]
Kiss Me Ass, Cait
I like reading different people’s takes on the same thing. That’s why blogs are great. At their best, they represent individual points-of-view and the Internet allows access to a whole lot of those points. Sadly, many people seem to like to read a lot of blogs that are very close in outlook. They like to [...]
R.I.P., Jay Dee
I just found out that hip-hop producer J-Dilla has passed away at the age of 32. His record company Stones Throw has this note on its front page: It is with great sorrow that the Family and Friends of J Dilla announces his spiritual transition on the morning of February 10th, 2006 in the loving [...]
C’est Magnifique!
Longtime readers will know that I’m a big fan of the American version of The Office. Here’s some news. This spring, Canal+ in France will launch Le Bureau, the first non-English language version of the hit comedy The Office. Le Bureau has just finished filming with a French cast and the original script adapted into [...]
“There’s only music, so that there’s new ringtones…”
Revisiting Arctic Monkeys… See earlier post here. They’re being billed in some circles as the first music superstars of the iPod era. That’s because they held off on signing a record contract and relied more on live dates and their MySpace page to build their following. But look for backlash to their growing popularity. For [...]