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Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

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  • Infatueighties: #75: Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back”

    When “Rumours” and “Tusk” were popular in the late Seventies,I don’t think anyone imagined Stevie Nicks hitting the dance floor, but 1983’s sizzling “Stand Back” did just that, with the help of a little man dressed in purple whose name you might know: Prince.

    So, here’s the deal. Stevie wrote the song, whose tempo and overall sound were influenced by the then-new sounds of “1999” and “Little Red Corvette”. At some point during the recording of the song, Prince magically appeared in the studio, improvised and recorded the song’s memorable keyboard part (allegedly only with two fingers), then with a click of his Cuban heels, magically exited the studio. Do I buy that? I’m not sure. (according to wikipedia, Stevie called Prince the night she wrote the song and that’s how Prince ended up in the studio). Either way, the song has a heavy Purple influence and was one of the best dance/rock tracks in an era of many, many great dance rock tracks.

    And like all the rest of you, i assume, I have no idea what the hell Stevie’s singing about either.

  • Friday Throwback – Juicy

    I’m going to piggyback on Money Mike’s post about the trailer to Notorious, the movie about Biggie Smalls. I’m not convinced that it’s going to be good, but thankfully, good actors like Angela Bassett and Derek Luke are involved. I’m also quite worried about how the movie will handle the situation with Tupac.

    My introduction to The Notorious B.I.G. was through his song Juicy. I don’t remember hearing him on the remix to Mary J. Blige’s Real Love out here on the West Coast. There was a certain familiarity to the song because of the Juicy Fruit sample, as if the song had been on the radio forever when I had only heard it for the first time. And everyone loves a rags to riches story, and Biggie told that story so well with witty, yet very real lines. I also loved how he littered his rhymes in this song with pop culture references (Robin Leach?) without sounding corny.

    – It was all a dream …

    – Big’s look worked for him. Had he been this good lookin’ dude with all the floss, you wouldn’t have had to listen to him.

    – I love the back and forth between showing him at the pool living the life, and then flashing to the jails.

    – Please dismiss the text in the right corner that says, “Sisqo Unleashes Hip Hop’s Sexiest Videos”. It was a long time ago y’all.

    – “Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke, man I couldn’t picture this.” I wonder what Big would have to say about PS3s, Wiis, and XBox 360s.

    – That is really Biggie’s mom in the video too.

    – And if you don’t know, now you know.

  • Notorious: The Trailer

    Being a Brooklyn kid only 2 years younger than the Notorious B.I.G. would have been if he was still alive, I’m looking forward to the premiere of the movie “Notorious” in January. The trailer, which you can find here only increases my excitment.

    I’ve gotta take my hat off-it looks like the folks behind the movie did a good job. Gravy isn’t exactly a Biggie lookalike, but he got the voice and mannerisms down pat. Angela Bassett was a great choice as Voletta, Biggie’s mother, but I don’t hear an accent in her voice, and anyone who’s heard Ms. Wallace speak knows that she has a heavy, aristocratic Jamaican accent befitting her career as a schoolteacher. Hell, even the chick who plays Faith looks ridiculously similar to the actual Faith.

    Anyway, check the trailer out and let us know if you like what you see.