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  • The Sunday Seven 10/12/08: The Train To Happytown

    This was supposed to be the week where the whole guest columnist thing kicked off, but due to…uh, technical difficulties, let’s just say that ain’t happenin’. So you’re back to checking out my music collection this Sunday evening.

    It’s been a good musical week for me.I finally located a copy of Ryan Adams’ “Heartbreaker” at a Best Buy in Virginia, I snagged the new Metallica CD, I saw my buddy Mitch Hood play a kick-ass show, and I relived my teenage years by watching VH-1’s Hip Hop Honors, only minus the pimples and the awkwardness.

    For those of you new to the Sunday Seven, I place my iPod on shuffle and discuss the first seven songs that randomly pop up. I anticipate being able to do this for a while, as said iPod contains over 18,000 songs. However, again, I am entertaining offers for contributors, so if you think you have something interesting to say about your music collection, drop me a line. I’ll shoehorn you in as quickly as possible.

    OK, enough of me blabbing. Let’s put the machine on shuffle and see what comes up:

    Track 1
    : I’m the Magnificent by Special Ed (from Youngest in Charge, 1989)

    Edward Archer, the rapper who went by the stage name Special Ed grew up mere blocks from me in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. When he hit with “I Got it Made” at the beginning of ’89, there was a definite sense of hometown pride. “Maginificent” is a remixed version of a song from his debut album. The video was directed by and features Malcolm Jamal Warner, who you probably know as “The Cosby Show”‘s Theo. Speaking of Cosby, Special Ed wound up appearing on several episodes of the sitcom as a rapper that Rudy snuck into a nightclub to see.

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  • Chart Chat 10/12/08: T.I., T.I., and…Did I Mention T.I.?!?

    Image by Carla.We’re back. I think doing these every two weeks is probably the way to go. Gone are the days when the charts changed dramatically every week. This way, it takes me twice as long to recycle the jokes!! Anyway, here’s this week’s charts, provided by Billboard magazine.

      Top 20 Singles:

    01-Live Your Life (T.I. feat. Rihanna)
    02-Whatever You Like (T.I.)
    03-So What (Pink)
    04-Disturbia (Rihanna)
    05-Let it Rock (Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil’ Wayne)
    06-Hot N Cold (Katy Perry)
    07-Keeps Gettin’ Better (Christina Aguilera)
    08-Can’t Believe It (T-Pain feat. Lil’ Wayne)
    09-Paper Planes (M.I.A.)
    10-Gotta Be Somebody (Nickelback)
    11-Miss Independent (Ne-Yo)
    12-Closer (Ne-Yo)
    13-Love Story (Taylor Swift)
    14-Better in Time (Leona Lewis)
    15-Love Lockdown (Kanye West)
    16-I’m Yours (Jason Mraz)
    17-Light On (David Cook)
    18-Forever (Chris Brown)
    19-Mrs. Officer (Lil’ Wayne feat. Bobby Valentino and Kidd Kidd)
    20-Got Money (Lil’ Wayne feat. T-Pain)

      Top 20 Albums

    01-Paper Trail (T.I.)
    02-Jennifer Hudson (Jennifer Hudson)
    03-Something Else (Robin Thicke)
    04-Covers (James Taylor)
    05-Death Magnetic (Metallica)
    06-Year of the Gentleman (Ne-Yo)
    07-Rock ‘n Roll Jesus (Kid Rock)
    08-The Glass Passenger (Jack’s Mannequin)
    09-Kellie Pickler (Kellie Pickler)
    10-Fearless (Jazmine Sullivan)
    11-Way to Normal (Ben Folds)
    12-The Recession (Young Jeezy)
    13-The Surrender (Anberlin)
    14-Tha Carter III (Lil’ Wayne)
    15-A Little Bit Longer (Jonas Brothers)
    16-Don’t Forget (Demi Lovato)
    17-Doll Domination (Pussycat Dolls)
    18-L.A.X (The Game)
    19-Good Girl Gone Bad (Rihanna)
    20-Only by the Night (Kings of Leon)

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  • Infatueighties: #80: “Can You Stand the Rain”

    Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, along with their mentor/former boss Prince, brought funk into the 1980s. With angular synthesized rhythms and large heapings of attitude, they hit their stride around mid-decade, scoring hits for Cheryl Lynn, The.S.O.S. Band, Alexander O’ Neal, and of course, Janet Jackson. 1986’s “Control” turned Janet from Michael’s cute little sister who starred on TV to Janet-Miss Jackson if you’re nasty, and set the standard for kid stars looking for a quick and safe jump into adulthood.

    Somewhere in Boston, the members of New Edition were watching and listening. Around the time the “Control” campaign wound down in 1987, the boy group had lost/kicked out founding member Bobby Brown, were in danger of losing lead singer Ralph Tresvant to a solo career and had hired vocally talented Johnny Gill as a potential replacement. After Tresvant reconsidered and decided to stay, the gentlemen hooked up with Jam & Lewis in Minneapolis to begin work on the product that would transform them from boys to men (the name of the resulting album, “Heart Break”‘s final track and also the name of a group that NE member Mike Bivins would discover just a few short years later).

    While “If It Isn’t Love” was the album’s biggest hit (charting at #7 pop), it was “Can You Stand the Rain” that proved to be the album’s most lasting song. An anthemic ballad with a mature lyric, it was the first NE track to successfully combine Tresvant’s boyish tenor with Gill’s chesty baritone. All the candy girls finally had a grown and sexy song to get down to. Like most of Jam & Lewis’ ballads (there are at least two more in this countdown), the song features a touch of melancholy as well. Despite narrowly missing the pop Top 40, this song spent 3 weeks at #1 on the R&B charts at the top of 1989 and sealed the deal on the longevity of New Edition’s career, a career that is now in its’ 25th year. Slow jams from the decade of excess don’t get much better than this…