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  • 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.

  • Out There!- “Stay The Night” by Benjamin Orr

    Ric Ocasek is probably the most recognizable member of legendary rock group The Cars thanks in part to MTV giving him a lot of exposure during the early 80s and the fact that he’s also married to a super model. Most rock fans know that the guy who really gave the band substance was Benjamin Orr.  Originally born as Benjamin Orzechowski (which is as good a reason as any to change his last name), he was the bassist who also happened to share lead vocal duties and write many of the hits.  If you listened to the tunes without knowing the band’s history, you would think that all songs were sung by one guy.  When I was young and learning about rock & roll, I always assumed Ric Ocasek sang lead on every song. It wasn’t until years later that I realized Benjamin Orr actually sang lead vocals on many of the songs I assumed were sung by Ocasek. Many of the Cars biggest hits including Let’s Go, All That You Needed, and their biggest hit Drive (peaked at #3 in 1985 on the Billboard Top 100 chat) were sung by Orr.   He was the band member that brought the ladies to the shows.  With his moppy blonde hair, dimpled chin and baby face rock star image, he was the best looking guy in the band.  It was a shock that most of the videos that showed on MTV featured Ric Ocasek instead of Orr.

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  • Infatueighties: #76: Super Freak

    Rick James’ autobiography, “Memoirs of a Superfreak”, isn’t exactly an award-winning piece of writing. However, it gives you an idea of how much the title of “super freak” actually fit Rick. Somewhat shamefully, those freaky antics (immortalized in the legendary Dave Chappelle skit) have obscured the fact that Rick made some pretty good music.

    “Super Freak” is one of those near perfect fusions of rock and funk. While Rick (if he was still here) would say that Prince got much of his style from Rick (the two toured together in 1980), the fact is a) how the hell could Prince have followed Rick when their debuts came out the same year? (1978) and b) doesn’t “Super Freak” sound somewhat reminiscent of Prince’s “When You Were Mine”, which came out a year before “Super Freak” (and would have placed pretty high on this chart if I included tracks that were never commercially released as single A-sides)? Then again, Prince never had The Temptations sing background on his biggest hit. Either way, this song’s hard to knock. If the B-52’s met Parliament/Funkadelic, the result would have been “Super Freak”.

    I love the way Yahoo! Music follows “Super Freak” with “Trapped in the Closet”. Ladies & gentlemen, it’s the Sick Fucks of R&B playlist!!