Ferreted far back in the stacks tonight and found Parliament’s First Thangs, one of the more laudable Fantasy reissue choices of ’98 and a nearly exemplary time capsule of an epochal band at its genesis. Out of a sweet sixteen, the tune that keeps pinging the replay synapse in my cranium is “Come in Out of the Rain”. It’s the perfect early Seventies jukebox joint mixing pointed political commentary with a groove that just won’t quit. George Clinton leads the vocal charge, running down a soulful rap that simultaneously indicts as it inspires. Handclaps and an pocket-locked backbeat by “Tiki” Fulwood braid with “Billy Bass” Nelson’s bottom-dwelling bass to mobilize an edifice of monster funk, but it’s Herr Eddie Hazel’s fret fortitude that dominates the studio stage, all Hendrixian wah-wah and flexing Afrocentric sex. Bernie Worrell brings the church counterpoint with a shimmering, understated organ backdrop and the ensemble builds to suitably florid release. This is a track I can play on continual repeat whether washing the dishes or cruising with the windows down in the car. Hyperbole? Maybe, but it’s still a “2:55” that never fails to convey an explicit urban consciousness upon whomever cues it up, right along with a rump-shaking thump.
Curious to learn the identities of other folks perfect “2:55”’s, “3:23”’s, etc.
Posted by derek on January 16, 2008 8:16 PMWell, for pleasant reps, there's this maybe five-minute scene in this movie (I forget the name) where a girl....
Never mind.
Posted by: walto at January 17, 2008 4:12 PMI don't get it.
Posted by: derek at January 17, 2008 8:12 PMThe perfect three-minute pop song, you mean?
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell "You're All I Need To Get By" (2'38")
Richard Hell & the Voidoids "Love Comes In Spurts" (2'04")
Beatles "Drive My Car" (2'25")
Buzzcocks "Boredom" (2(57" as I recall)
that's four for starters
(No I didn't understand Walto's post either)
Bo Diddley "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover" (3:13)
Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs "Wooly Bully" (2:20)
Patsy Cline "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" (2:33)
Tony Bennett "The Best Is Yet To Come" (2:30)
Big Joe Turner "Well All Right" (2:31)
Wilbert Harrison "Kansas City" (2:22)
Stevie Wonder "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (2:53)
Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey "I'll Never Smile Again" (3:10)
Duke Ellington "Take The A Train" (2:54)
The Beatles "I Feel Fine" (2:23)
Dinah Washington "Mad About The Boy" (2:47)
Hugh Masakela "Grazing In The Grass" (2:40)
The Coasters "Little Egypt" (2:54)
Sly & The Family Stone "Hot Fun In The Summertime" (3:03)
Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan & Joe Williams "Teach Me Tonight" (2:53)
Willie Nelson "Funny How Time Slips Away" (2:37)
I guess that's enough
Posted by: djll at January 18, 2008 12:13 AMLooks like we’ve got the makings of a mellifluous mix tape, gents.
Here’s another baker’s dozen from my corner [parameters of “pop” only in the broadest sense]:
Castles Made of Sand (2:46) – Jimi Hendrix
Ladybird (2:52) – Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra
At the Movies (2:55) – Bad Brains
Advice for Medics (2:02) – Sun Ra
The Glory of Man (2:55) – Minutemen
It’s Just Begun (3:43) – Jimmy Castor Bunch
Your Love is Amazing (2:55) – Robert Ward
Burning Hell (2:42) – John Lee Hooker
Forget (2:44) – Mission of Burma
Sweet Buns & Barbecue (3:05) – Houston Person
It Takes One to Know Me (3:14) – Johnny Cash
Celebrated Summer (3:59)– Hüsker Dü
Little Darlin’ (2:29) – Gladiolas
Now you're making me all nostalgic for that day when being the truly most incredible thing ever was your best grounds for gaining a recording contract, and it does seem the farther back I remember, the harder it is to pull just one, and here's just the four foremost that pop to mind:
Little Willie John - Fever
Little Willie John - Need Your Love So Bad
Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
Smokey Hogg - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
but that's just a scrape off the tip of the iceberg.
What I think is a far more interesting and daresay a more important question is this:
what are the 'perfect moments' recorded since 2001?
You really didn't??
Posted by: walto at January 18, 2008 6:42 AM"what are the 'perfect moments' recorded since 2001?"
I'm guessing this could be better answered on a board serving a younger demographic.
Posted by: Joe at January 18, 2008 6:54 AMYou really didn't??
Really. Truly. Sometimes you’re just too cool for school.
Perfect songs… perfect moments… whatever your pleasure. I’m with Joe though, “since 2001” is probably going to be a problem, at least in the realm of “pop”.
Posted by: derek at January 18, 2008 7:49 AMI’m with Joe though, “since 2001” is probably going to be a problem, at least in the realm of “pop”.
How about Stephen Colbert's speech of 2006 in front of (P)resident Chimpy McWaterboard & the Washington press corps(e)?
Posted by: djll at January 18, 2008 8:40 AMDerek,
I've lost your email address and I can't find any links here with it (?). Please reply to
djll@sonic.net and delete this interruption of the pop thread
Sorry, Derek. I just can't bring myself to explain a far from "cool" (basically adolescent) joke of mine.
Somebody help the boys out for me here, please.
Posted by: walto at January 18, 2008 9:05 AMBit longer than a “moment” or "2:55", but here’s the transcript in all its eviscerating brutality:
“Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.'S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.'S and they need to get out.
Wow, wow, what an honor. The White House correspondents’ dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be
this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what; I'm a pretty sound sleeper that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.
Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped. By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their
tables, speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. Mrs. Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it’s my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He's no so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brain backs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the fact (police). We go straight from the gut, right sir?
That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that’s not true. That's because you looked it up in a book.
Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report,
I speak straight from the gut, ok? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the No Fact Zone. Fox news, I own the
copyright on that term.
I'm a simple man with a simple mind, with a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists.
My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot
wait to see how “The Washington Post" spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out in plastic for three cents a unit.
In fact, ambassador, welcome, your great country makes our happy meals possible. I said it's a celebration. I believe the government that
governs best is the government that governs least.
And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq. I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be it Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe our infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it’s not butter. Most of all I believe in this president.
Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us; we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
So, Mr. President, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- it’s important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means its 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn’t drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Folks, my point are that I don’t believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull, before a comeback.
I mean, it's like the movie “Rocky." The president is Rocky and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world. It's the 10th round. He's
bloodied, his corner man, Mick, who in this case would be the Vice President, and he’s yelling cut me, Dick, cut me, and every time he falls she says stay down! Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky he gets back up and in the end he -- actually loses in the first movie.
Ok. It doesn't matter. The point is the heart warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face -- punched in the face. So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it.
I haven’t. I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things. He has stood on things. Things like
aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the
ranch cutting that brush all the time? He's trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite powered
car.
And I just like the guy. He's a good Joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She's a true
lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma’am.
I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're
elitist telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen. What's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I
want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American. I'm with the President, let history decide what did or did not happen.
The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change, this man’s beliefs never will. And as excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is
destroying America, with the exception of Fox News.
Fox News gives you sides of every story, the President’s side and the Vice President’s side.
But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on N.S.A. Wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason, they’re super depressing.
And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, W.M.D. Intelligence,
the affect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those
decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife.
Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know fiction.
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This ship's not sinking.
This Administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on The Hindenburg...
Now, it's not all bad guys out there. Some heroes, Buckley, Kim Schieffer. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be on
my show. I was just as shocked as everyone here is I promise you. How is Tuesday...tonight?
General Mosley, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace. They still support Rumsfeld. You guys aren't retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld. Look, by the way, I've got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble: don't let them retire. C'mon, we've got a stop loss program; let's use it on these guys. If you're strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle.
C'mon. Jesse Jackson is here. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he’s going to say what he wants at the pace that he wants.
It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.
Justice Scalia’s here. May I be the first to say welcome, sir. You look fantastic. How are you?
John McCain is here. John McCain - John McCain. What a maverick. Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn't a salad fork. He could have used a spoon. There's no predicting him. So wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up
when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you've seen the Light.
Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the Chocolate City. Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I would like to welcome you to Washington, D.C.,
The Chocolate City with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption. It's a Mallomar is what I’m describing, a seasonal cookie.
Joe Wilson is here, the most famous husband since Dezi Arnez. And of course he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my God! Oh, what have I said? I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife, Pat Fitzgerald is not here tonight?
Dodged a bullet.
And we can't forget man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret service name, Snowjob. What a hero, took the second toughest
job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq.
Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Scott McClellan too say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card’s children. Mr. President, I wish you hadn't made the decision so quickly, sir. I was vying for the job. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns. In fact, sir, I brought along an audition tape and with your indulgence, I'd like to at least give it a shot. So,ladies and gentlemen, my press conference.”
Posted by: derek at January 18, 2008 9:24 AMWell here's one that does come to mind as maybe not a perfect moment, but a dip in a stream that perhaps contains many very nice moments: I recently heard a recording by Geri Allen with Charlie Haden doing Ornette's "Lonely Woman" and I have to admit that it opened my ears with what is possible with the piano.
My guess is there may be other Geri Allen tracks just as enlightening, but this one, being familiar ground, was the one that told me there could still be truly new jazz music in the twenty-first century.
Another moment that I am still digesting is the track "Before I Die" by Britain's newcomer jazz/funk band The Heliocentrics teamed with rapper Guilty Simpson. I'm not a big hiphop house fan although I've heard bits here and there that I thought not bad at all, but this one? This one I had to play a few times, and maybe it's early to tell if it will stick, but so far, its still with me, and I truly can't say that for a lot of what I've heard off the modern presses.
Posted by: mrG at January 20, 2008 8:11 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................