From the album that kickstarted the “Madchester” Britpop period of the 1990’s and helped The Stone Roses win four British NME awards in 1989: Band of the Year, Best New Band, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year. But when they tried to sign to a major label afterwards and their label, Silvertone, would not release them, legal battles delayed their second album’s release and prevented the band from consolidating its success.
Stone Roses were England’s “It” band for a brief time, but never made much of a mark in America. Their sound seems to owe a lot to 60’s garage rock.
Here’s one of those instances where I’ll go ahead and say some things that make me sound like an old guy, and not apologize for it. If I sacrifice some cred to bring a great soul band of yesteryear to your attention, it’s well worth it.
I live at an intersection in a suburb where, as the drivers pause at the stop sign, they’re thoughtful enough to share their gangsta rap with you, behind your closed window on the second story across the street. Sometimes they even sit there awhile as if it’s a red light, just so more raptastic, expletive-rich sentiments can waft across the summer air. And I believe it’s the same song every time, even if the car or driver change. So I’m sitting across the street thinking, “I know, I know: you just wanna hit that, you just wanna git that, or whatever”.
This kind of rap is like that friend you have who never emotionally graduated–from eighth grade. You know, the guy you really can’t take anywhere classy, and wonder why he’s your friend at all. He’s full of stories of his exploits with women, and brags about his money but seldom reaches for the check. Most of all, he’s a backward sexist pig and no one calls him on it. But he does have a certain way with words, and kind of makes you look cool by association.
Or maybe that’s just what I think.
I also think, frequently: God save us from people who like one kind of music. They’re living in a type of poverty and don’t know it. And their intolerance of anything more artful or genteel influences some people–especially some young people–to follow a similar course.
But I come here to praise music, not to bury it. And I feel the need to pull on your coat about a band many seem to have overlooked. Con funk Shun, whose peak years stretched roughly from 1977-85, were an extraordinary soul-funk band whose pop chart performance fails to reflect the quality and diversity of their output. Their hook-filled pop-funk tunes (“Too Tight”, “Ffun”) put them squarely in Earth, Wind & Fire territory. The falsetto ballad “Straight From the Heart” could be right from Thom Bell’s Stylistics songbook. Few bands did both types of soul as well.
“Love’s Train”, which somehow missed the top 40 even on the R&B charts, is a ballad that perfectly tells of one of love’s dilemmas, and the complexities of relationships that aren’t quite over. It’s delivered casually, over a slow burner of an arrangement, but has real lyrical depth. I think it’s one of the true little-known treasures of “old school” soul. And the kind of song I wish the guy at the stop sign was familiar with.
“Electrofunk”. Did we need one more subgenre of dance music? If you listen to Giorgio Moroder’s music from the 70’s you’ll hear very similar sounds, except we just called it disco then.
Anyway, not a lot going on here lyrically, but that’s not the point. It moves your body and makes you feel good. It has a nice guitar solo and a sweet hook or two. It’s dance candy.
Quoting their Wiki page:
The duo met in the mid-1990s at Collège Stanislas in Montreal. Considering their backgrounds, the two childhood friends jokingly describe themselves as “the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture”.
The singer behind one of the internet’s most beloved viral videos has died, reports RIA Novosti. Eduard Khil, singer of what is commonly called the “Trololo” video, passed away in St. Petersburg on June 4th. He was 77.
The song, titled “I Am Glad, ‘Cause I’m Finally Returning Back Home,” hit internet fame after a Russian TV clip of Khil performing the song went viral. The song, written by Arkady Ostrovsky, originally had lyrics describing cowboy imagery, but the former Soviet Union wanted the words changed to squelch possible associations with America. Instead, Khil delivered his now-famous nonsense vocal of “tro-lo-lo’s.” The 1976 video found an adoring audience online a few years ago, with over 12 million views gathered on a November 2009 YouTube upload.
Every Moment Has A Song 