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Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music

  • Friday Throwback – Ooh La La (I Can’t Get Over You)

    In the comment section of one of Money Mike’s latest posts, I made reference to a young R&B group from the early 90s named Perfect Gentlemen. They were put together by Maurice Starr and put on tour to open up for the New Kids On The Block (thanks Wikipedia).

    (By the way, I swear that when it’s all said and done, we’re going to have the most New Kids/New Edition mentions of any blog on earth.)

    Mike told me that we might be the only two folks reading the blog who even remember the group. I said that I’d have to change that. I’m changing that. I apologize for the quality of the video. It’s all that is out there right now.<p>

    – That dude was dunking on a 7 foot rim.

    – Look at that puffy little duck tail.

    – The charm to this song was the hushed singing/talking that made you feel the pain of teenage heartbreak.

    – Ok, maybe the true charm to the song is the “Ooh La La, ooh la la” part. That’s definitely the part I remember.

    – For the longest time, I didn’t know that they sang, “I can’t, can’t get over you.” I thought it was, “I can’t get it over you.” Where were lyric sites in 1990 when you needed them?

    – “I had a dream, me, myself, and I. You were my girl and of course I was your guy.”

    – I wish I could get my hair to have levels like that.

    – When she kissed the window and left the lipstick mark and then he touched it with his cheek, you have to admit, that was legit cute.

    Sadly, it looks like Perfect Gentlemen is no more. There will be no more “Ooh La La”, but someone needs to sample that chorus.

  • Viva Le Jacko: The Ultimate MJ Mix

    Michael Jackson's Off The Wall

    Here at MHW, we have two absolutely diehard Michael Jackson fans on the team. Aside from almost sharing a birthday (we were born 48 hours apart), me and GG have a shared Jackson obsession. That’s why, when he threw down the challenge for me to make the ultimate Michael Jackson mix CD, I accepted it with relish. I knew he understood that trying to narrow down my favorite MJ songs would be like trying to pick my favorite kids…if I had kids.

    Can you narrow Michael Jackson down to 80 minutes? Well, I tried my best. Out of something like 160-something MJ songs in my iTunes (cobbled together from his Motown anthology and all of his Epic albums, including the hits compilations and the box set…and various guest appearances), I deleted, organized, organized and deleted until I felt I’d come up with the perfect Michael primer. I also searched Youtube for a couple of cool clips instead of posting the standard videos.

    So…how much of an obsessive am I? A month or so ago, rummaging through the used bin of a local record store, I found a copy of “Off the Wall” on CD. Not just any copy, mind you, but a copy of the CD with the original cover (which Michael eventually changed, I guess because he didn’t to be reminded of his original skin color). Needless to say, I bought it. This despite the fact that I already own three copies of the same album (1 each on vinyl, cassette and CD). If I found an 8-track copy somewhere, I’d probably pick that up too.

    Oh, AND I have the “E.T” Storybook Soundtrack. Neener.

    Anyway, I stretched out the time limit a bit, but here’s my Ultimate Michael Mix. Scream at me about what I left out in the comment section. Oh, and I decided not to include any J5 or Jacksons stuff-that’s another mix for another time.

    (more…)

  • “Why Don’t You Stay?”: Does This Mean There’s Gonna Be a “House Party V”?!?

    Ha. And how many of you knew that there was a “House Party 3” or “4”?

    Anyway, I was home on Saturday evening, flipping through channels while waiting for a friend to drop by so we could go to dinner. As I flipped through the video channels (MTV2, MTV3, VH-1 Soul, Fuse and VH-1 Classic are all next to one another), I recognized a very familiar face.

    It was Christopher Reid, AKA “Kid” from Kid ‘n Play, the rap duo who scored a hit movie with “House Party” back in the day (and briefly had their own Saturday morning cartoon..I remember watching the New Kids on the Block cartoon and then flipping over to Kid ‘n Play. I think “Hammerman” started a year later).

    At any rate, while Play soldiers on in gospel plays (he’s a born-again Christian), Kid had carved out a reasonable career as a stand-up comedian. However, the music bug came calling again…

    …and lo and behold, it’s not that bad? While KNP weren’t the greatest of emcees during their heyday (even catching a couple of disses from Vanilla Ice), Kid’s sound is refreshingly old-school (which it should be…after all, the dude is 44).

    How come Full Force isn’t singing the background vocals on this?