Just Pokin' Fun

Phew, back at it. Last post was Bill Withers, who really lets you know how he feels about things. Doesn't really mince words lyrically, that guy.
"Use Me"? Tells you that you can keep on usin' him, cuz he's sure 'nuff using you, to do the things you do.


That track "Who Is He, And What Is He To You" (which you can download here), from the last post?

"When I add the sum of you and me
I get confused when I keep coming up with 3,

You're too much for one man
But not enough for two,
Dadgummit
Who is he and what is he to you?" Yeah, Bill said that.

Bill also tells you that grandad used to whup him a bit, when he was acting up. Same song: says grandma used to help the young girls who got knocked up. In "You", he disses his girl for the kinds of parties she goes to
,
and her headshrink. Bill doesn't need any of that hooey.

So callin' 'em like he sees 'em; pullin' no punches.
Reminds me of a mix series that will be coming out soon. (On this here blog, see.)
Called Real Talk. Selections will drop lyrical bombs, leave snares of nasty talk, destroy friendships, ruin lives. Words that cut and run. Descriptions of human behavior that will make you say, "Man is a wolf to man", but, hey, we've all seen it before.

Now if this sounds depressing or cruel- it's not. The series got inspired by R Kelly's Real Talk, and you will recall: that song is nothing but funny.


Most of the songs are just pokin' fun.
Aretha Franklin praises Dr. Feelgood. A Kurtis Blow production ponders the "Games Females Play"; other females have a "Meeting in the Ladies Room" (by Klymaxxx), where they either put on more makeup to seduce a man, or do some cocaine.
Not the only song that will discuss drugs in blunt terms (cough), or sex in a non-sentimental fashion.

The whole mix: just people being real. Really Real.

Other in utero mixes right now are Poker Jams, where I cull and collect songs from old records, songs that both Ben and Sue would want to listen to in her kitchen. Not an easy task- Ben likes shit that nobody's ever heard of, and Sue likes it fun. She does not think that the Frogs are fun.
(whoa, Myspace link! Haven't seen one of those in a while!)
She's probably not interested in songs on 78 wax cylinders. He's probably not interested in bands where girls sing about boys.


Another called "Talky Singy". Songs with spoken bits at some points, or lyrics that are barely sung. Not going to focus on rapping, because that would be cheating, yes?

Another one selecting ONLY songs that have some sort of sound effect in them. The roaring, and wrecking, bike of "Leader of the Pack": Check!
The occasional train horn: oooh, sounds lonely.
Click-clack of guns: M.I.A., any B'more track, NWA?: Abbrev's!
The crack of the whip, in "Ox Driver" or the O'Jays "Ship Ahoy"?: Oh, Snap!
etc, etc
You are all so vitally enthused right now! Patience! Any recommendations, directions, suggestions, emendations, rejections, pretensions, gesticulations, and such: drop a comment. Tell me which mix you'd prefer I get finished first.

I Made it Good to Myself (but Michael Jackson did not, b/c he's dead)

Got back from Portland, where the weather was about as good as it has been lately in Philadelphia. Surprisingly, I only got two (2) (!) CDs while I was there. I meant to go by Everyday Music, still my favorite ever CD shop, but didn't really have time. (Didn't get to Prineville's Neat Repeat either).
That's okay, for two reasons- 1) saved $40-80; 2) I can go in a few weeks if I go back for the Beer Festival: odds are about even on that.

Make It Good To Yourself - James Brown

BREAKING NEWS: James Butler has reported that E! has reported that Michael Jackson is reportedly dead! Reports are reporting that it was cardiac arrest (aka a BROKEN HEART!).
(not to be selfish, but does this mean that I can finally claim the title of King of Pop?!?!? ALL HAIL the NEW King of Pop!!! Three Cheers for meMeME!!! YEA ME!!!)
Related reports report that Farrah Fawcett also finally succumbed to her long bout of cancer... ANAL cancer!
NJK! Look it up!

(related connection: a famous beer expert is also named Michael Jackson, and is also dead. It's a F A C T ! Also, James Brown is dead- sad but true!)


Got them (them: James Brown "Black Caesar" sdtk.; Jesus & Mary Chain hits/best) at some resale shop near Alberta, or near Mississippi (ask Emily which it was).

You know that James Brown is called "the Godfather of Soul", of course. What you DID NOT KNOW is that he gave himself this nickname via the score/soundtrack he did for "Black Caesar". "Whuh?", you say. Cos' "The Godfather" came out around the same time, and since both movies deal with godfathers/Caesars/gangsters, he piggybacked on the other, already successful, movie. So sayeth the liner notes. IT BE FACTUAL!

While I was there, these things happened:
I almost hit a bear with my parents' car. On a mountain, obviously: my parents don't live (quite) that far out.
Talked firearms etc. with Jeffrey et al ("reasonable people", the lot of them).
I mass-texted a rape joke. It met with laughter (text laughter) (in most cases).
I got a flat on another person's bike. (For consistency's sake, yet retaining a certain air of variety via a clever inversion, I got two flats when I returned, on my own bike while going to a house which is not my own.)
I received a subpoena* for James Brown.**


it says: 'my heart tells me that you will not listen to my words and this is the cause of my tears and my cries'. This sums up my blog.

*subpoena, like Caesar, is hard for me to spell. I'll never get to be the new King of Latinists if I can't get them right!
**this DID IN FACT HAPPEN, although when I lived in Portland before. One of the children who mugged Adriel when I was with her was, evidently, named James Brown. "Godfather of Soulful Muggings"? "Hardest Working Boy in tha Game"? Maybe even "New King of Robbery"?

Sidenote: I am listening to some of the mixes posted earlier on this blog, and man, THEY ARE GOOD! Find the list of blogs with full mixes HERE.