Got music?

Its been awhile since I shared some old music with yall.

This first one was on the soundtrack to the movie "Car Wash" (1976)--which I once reviewed for the (very) long-defunct Focus Rock Entertainment, back in the day. I wrongly predicted it would be a hit; instead, the theme song "Car Wash" was the big hit. (sigh) But it did become a funk classic and was popular in the discos, as the B-side of the hit ballad from the film, "I wanna get next to you."

Produced and written by the late, great Motown-powerhouse, Norman Whitfield, this song features the legendary funk bass of Lequeint 'Duke' Jobe--an amazing groove. All punctuated with beautiful big brass noise, which defines 70s funk for me.

To this day, now and forever, when someone says "put your money where your mouth is"... I mentally finish the sentence: "or you ain't said a damn thing"...

Yep.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - Rose Royce



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I know I have played this here before, probably more than once. Its one of my favorite pieces of instrumental music, ever.
(PS: Link for those who missed the old instrumentals post! I never did get around to posting part 2, so consider THIS part 2.)

Although I love the original studio version (and most live renditions), the Allman Brothers video clips currently on Youtube have some fuzzy audio and are not as good as simply listening to (Allman Brothers guitarist) Dickey Betts play it as an 8-minute guitar lesson (with his son Duane) for Guitar World magazine... elegant, spare, and oh so lovely.

They have to slow down at around the 3:45 mark (the "second theme"), where it gets somewhat complicated and psychedelic. Other than that, this version is almost good enough to stand on its own.

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - Dickey Betts



Aside: I didn't know Betts had named his son Duane, which gets me rather choked up.

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Time for working class proletarian bluegrass. You can blame the election. Class consciousness uber alles!

This is an old union song I grew up with. The Blue Diamond mines in Kentucky are still going strong, in case you didn't know. The union? Not as strong.

You old black gold you've taken my soul
And your dust has darkened my home
And now that we’re old you're turning your back
But where else can an old miner go

It’s Big Leatherwood and it’s Algoma Block
And now it’s Blue Diamond too
The pits they are closing - get another job
But what work can an old miner do

John L. had a dream but it’s broken it seems
And the union is letting us down
Last night they took away my hospital card
Saying why don’t you leave this old town.

The union didn't let you down, the Rockefellers did. Now they have decided they were wrong; they are divesting and fast-dissociating themselves from fossil fuels. And how many miners died to make them rich?

A day late and a dollar short. Not our dollar, though.

Blue Diamond Mines - Jean Ritchie

Soulful Saturday

Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas (1972)



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Slippin Into Darkness - War (1971)

Got funk?

Great Ohio Players documentary, if you have 40 minutes to spare.

If not, just skip on down to the song.

~*~

UNSUNG (documentary)- The Ohio Players



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My January 2nd post (about the infamous Ohio Players album covers) featured the fabulously-sensuous studio version of this song, which runs closer to 8 minutes... unfortunately it has since been yanked by awful capitalists.

Trying again.

Skin Tight (TV 1974) - Ohio Players



This video, introduced by Wolfman Jack, appears to be from the Midnight Special broadcast, which means it may also get yanked eventually, so LISTEN NOW! I am somewhat shocked to discover that my post of the New York Dolls on the Midnight Special is still intact. Of five songs on that post, only one has been removed since (Carole King), and that is much better odds than most of them.

Unfortunately, YouTube is constantly yanking videos, rendering many of my old posts DEAD as a DOORNAIL... and for those interested in which corporations/individuals are behind this nefarious scheme to deny us our online fun, check out the invaluable YouTomb for details.

Soulful Saturday

So very hard to go - Tower of Power (Soul Train, 1973)



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All Day Music - War (1971)



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If you want me to stay - Sly and the Family Stone (1973)



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Freddie's Dead - Curtis Mayfield (from the film Superfly, 1972)



We're all built up with progress
But sometimes I must confess
We can deal with rockets and dreams
But reality, what does it mean?

~*~

And a Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone!

Radio podcast is up!

Where do we go from here?

At left, our Occupy film series is pretty well-attended for Republican Greenville! Last Wednesday we viewed the historical account, A Force More Powerful (Part 1). This coming Wednesday evening we will be featuring Part 2... be there or be square!

These will be at the Hughes Library in downtown Greenville, SC.




Our Occupy Greenville meeting yesterday was endless. It was rainy and cold, so we went to the Coffee Underground and had one of those interminable "What Is To Be Done" meetings. (The Yippies, goofing on Lenin, used to name these meetings, What Is To Be Undone.) Although I feel that I must attend such meetings, I have never particularly enjoyed them. (Note: I described the meetings-glut period of my life in this post.) Why can't we just DO THINGS and come up with ideas as we go along? Damn, I miss the Yippies with every fiber of my being... we never had to have mountains of meetings.* We made shit up in the car, by the time we arrived someplace, we were ready. All this verbiage, all this dithering, all this arriving at consensus (sorta) and stuff, argh.

Just do it. (Apologies for stealing an advertising slogan, which by the way, they stole from ordinary basketball players and NASCAR drivers.)

Speaking personally: I would like to physically occupy foreclosed homes, something Occupy Atlanta has been doing. Others seem to eye this concept with skepticism, and would actually prefer to confront rich CEOs personally, as the Verizon strikers so memorably did. My consigliere confides in me that he is skeptical of that approach; he worries that the right-wing will successfully paint us as whiners, jealous of an individual's wealth, rather than successfully connecting-the-dots to an unfair system that denies workers the fruits of their/our labors (while making CEOs so untouchably rich). We would have to depend on the mass media to make that point. Can they do that? We have been surprised at how the media has used Occupy's talking points, for instance, the now-well-known "60 Minutes" piece on the robo-signing of mortgages would likely never have happened at all, without the force of Occupy Wall Street.

And the Beat Goes On. Please show up at the film series, we need you to get involved! (commercial) And what do you think we should be doing at this juncture? COMMENTS WELCOME!



*Yes, admittedly, this is because we were all alike and thought the same, as I said in this old comment a couple of years ago.

**PODCAST of Saturday's radio show is up, have a listen.


~*~

Yesterday, driving down the street in the awful cold rain, I suddenly heard "Far East Mississippi" on WPCI, the most amazing radio station in the universe, and I was suddenly happy happy happy as the proverbial clam.

Last month's piece on the infamous Ohio Players album covers is here (CAUTION: they were something else). This incredible piece of music comes from Contradiction (1976) (warning: another naked lady on the album cover, feeding a horse this time).

If you listen, you can hear the Great God of Funk, who decided to come down from funk heaven (in George Clinton's Mothership, one assumes!) and consecrate this music, which is how it got to sound like this: Unbelievable!

Enjoy!

Far East Mississippi - Ohio Players

Ohio Players album covers

... were amazing, proudly artsy and pretty dirty, too. (I'm so glad Tipper Gore and the fabled PMRC wasn't around to police us in the 70s.) Did the powers-that-be know about these album covers?

Although pioneering-funk band The Ohio Players (whom I was wildly fortunate to have seen live in 75, rocking the proverbial house!) had #1 hits, these eye-popping album covers seemed to stay under the radar. I remember seeing one of them in a very conservative, old-school Midwestern drug store, another at a truck stop that sold lots of coffee mugs with Bible verses on them. You just had to wonder.

At left, the cover of PAIN, which when opened up, looked like THIS. Coupled with PAIN was, of course, PLEASURE. Finally (and what did you expect?) there was both ECSTACY and ORGASM. That last one, with the metal (is it metal?) dildo popping out of the guy's back, blew my little mind.

Enjoy the linkage-gallery of nostalgic, nasty images; beware questionable taste, probably NSFW.

~*~

And now we go to the video!

Although we are given to believe "skin tight" refers to a woman's jeans, I don't think it does... or rather, I don't think that is the only thing he is talking about. Just a lucky guess!

I remember an interminable ride on the Interstate, primarily saved by these fabulous jams. For this reason, I prefer the long version of this funk masterpiece, which I play in heavy traffic or late at night. Therefore I insist on foisting the original long-ass version on all of you. This is what funk is supposed to sound like! (Yes, you really should listen to all eight-and-a-half minutes for the full 70s experience.)

PS: The guy making this video can't resist showing us the album cover, LOL.

Ohio Players - Skin Tight



Gone, gone, gone with your bad self.

Tuesday Music, better late than never

Bloggers often call it "Monday Music" (on Twitter, it's reversed: Music Monday), but I never have time to post Monday Music... so can't we change it to Tuesday Music?

Ahh, no alliteration.

In any event, I hope the following are arcane and interesting enough for all of you. I had originally believed they were in chronological order, but now that I am carefully checking the dates? I discover, hm, no they aren't. Sorry about that!

~*~

Ann Peebles is too great for mere words.

I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles (1974)



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Excellent early-70s funk stylings, featuring terrific trumpet work by Cynthia Robinson. Also, a great song about drug addiction! (I realized this even in junior high school, which probably wasn't a good sign.)

Look at you foolin you...

Running Away - Sly and the Family Stone (1971)



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Love the Bruce Lee doll that materializes out of nowhere!

I'm the Man - Joe Jackson (circa 1978)



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Pylon is the band from Athens that was inexplicably left behind as all their friends became mega-famous. Life isn't fair.

Video footage is from the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

Danger - Pylon (1980)



~*~

About time for another Black Swan event, isn't it? I used this song in my "Black Swan" post titled It should be obvious, but it's not (from the lyrics).

**Note: Repeated usage of F-word if you are at work or school or otherwise being monitored!**

Black Swan - Thom Yorke (2006)

[via FoxyTunes / Thom Yorke]

Party on the Patio, pt 2

Fall for Greenville last night! I am very pleased with the overall quality of these photos, which somewhat compensate for my bad photos of the candlelight vigil this past week.

Guess what I figured out? Floodlights and stagelights make night photos so much nicer!

Below:

First, fabulous Wanda Johnson, whom I have wanted to hear forever! She's utterly fantastic ...and she deserved a bigger stage.

Only one of my photos was good enough to include here, and this is it. This in no way reflects on Wanda's magnificence. (She inspires so many dancers that I got lots of photos of people gyrating rather than photos of Wanda.)

Second, Charleston's Sol Driven Train, who aren't bad, but seemed rather distracted and uninspired. I think Greenville might be a bit too conservative for them.

And finally, I saw the Lee Boys at Bele Chere last year, and enjoyed them immensely. Unfortunately, my photos of them at Bele Chere weren't too good.

I am SO pleased I heard them again, a truly mighty noise... and check these photos out, she bragged.

(More photos at my Flickr page.)

I hope your party on the patio was good, too!

~*~

Birthday jams

I think it's vaguely creepy how Blogger features birthday cake today when I log in. You're a BOT, dude!

Thanks to all my Twitter friends who wished me a happy birthday when I threatened to become hysterical! I love you!

Below: stuff that makes me feel particularly old, in no special order.

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If you are drinking heavily and/or involved with bikers, this is a great break-up song. Famous guitar riffs at the end (by the late Duane Allman), sound just like a whip. WALLOW IN THAT PAIN, people!

Whipping Post - Allman Brothers Band



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Speaking of Twitter, there is hashtag titled #Iwish, and I bet them whippersnappers don't even know where that came from.

Turn it up!

I Wish - Stevie Wonder



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One of those songs that when you search for it on YouTube, you get every single damn amateur troubadour from here to Luckenbach, thinks he can sing it.

We received our education in the cities of the nation...

Me and Paul - Willie Nelson



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Montage of early Who clips. Roger had not yet discovered his trademark flashy Elvis-on-acid outfits, and sometimes appears as if he had just emerged from bad job interview. (He shows his incipient fashion sense at approx 1:02, dons sunglasses.) John, age 21, looks about 14; Keith Moon was all of 19 years old, appears 12. Pete was working on his pseudo-alienated, "I'm too good for mere rock and roll" major artiste pose, which would serve him very well throughout his life.

Check out those 60s mods and their strange amphetamine-inspired dance moves!

I Can't Explain - The Who



~*~

Captain for Dark Mornings - Laura Nyro



Enjoy, and happy birthday to me!

Instrumental oldies, pt. 1

As some of you have undoubtedly figured out, the problem with purely-instrumental songs is: No lyrics, so you can't look them up online.

And so, I've decided to play some instrumental oldies ... chances are, you've heard these tunes your whole life and never knew the titles.

One of the most pleasant parts of aging is knowing these arcane remnants of pop-culture. Young people I work with invariably call me on the extension: What's the name of that? (I am regularly called on to identify all kinds of music, spanning decades.) I have included a couple of tunes here that I am always asked about, as well as special favorites of mine.

Presented in more or less chronological order! Enjoy!


~*~

Stephen King used this song in his horror movie Sleepwalkers (1992), which is what I once believed the title to be.

Sleepwalk - Santo and Johnny (1959)



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My parents played this in their band. I can't hear the bass line without thinking of my mother...

Walk, Don't Run - The Ventures (1960)



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Before you all object to the bullfighting motif, check the title! The bull has won and is now all alone in the ring... he's a lonely bull.

The Lonely Bull - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1962)



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Grab that surfboard!

Pipeline - The Chantays (1963)



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You've heard this one in countless TV commercials. Fantastic vintage visuals!

Music to watch girls by - the Bob Crewe Generation (1966)



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Baby-boomers who grew up with the "ABC Movie of the Week" in the 70s, will recognize this as the theme song. Burt Bacharach named the song after his daughter with actress Angie Dickinson, named Nikki, who later committed suicide.

Nikki - Burt Bacharach (1966)



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A big favorite of Mr Daisy's:

The Horse - Cliff Nobles and Co. (1968)



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Love is blue (L'amour est bleu) - Paul Mauriat (1968)



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As star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet snuffed it in Franco Zeffirelli's film, they played this song... and all of us little girls sobbed our hearts out.

A Time for us (Theme from "Romeo and Juliet") (1968)



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Another well-worn TV-commercial tune...you've always wanted to know the name of it!

Outa-Space - Billy Preston (1972)



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Daybreaker - Electric Light Orchestra (1973)



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Big finale! Originally recorded in 1968, this is a live version from 1991. I was looking for the original when I found this, and of course, I simply couldn't settle for less.

I think this might be the greatest organ riff in history. Also check out legendary session musician Steve Cropper on guitar.

Hang em High - Booker T and the MGs (live 1991)



And I hereby promise, one of these days I'll get around to pt. 2 and beyond! :)

Old school Friday: I don't need no cure

Daisy reaches waaaaay back into her already-rusty memory banks this week, for some Old School music.

Enjoy!

~*~

Express - BT Express



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The Love I Lost - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes



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Great "time capsule" video for this one (from 1976), giving you some pretty good visuals from the US-Bicentennial celebration of that year. Lots of forgotten celebrities and commercials also represented!

This is in honor of Michael Jackson's will, leaving his children to Diana Ross in the event his mother can't take them... Also, I belatedly realized that I did not include her in my Diva Round-up last month, and Van would be so upset with me for that...

Love Hangover - Diana Ross



I don't need no cure/I don't need no cure...

Oldies for your Wednesday

I've been pretty busy this week, and consequently, ain't got nothing but some oldies. I know you kids just love that stuff! :P


~*~

Trivia time: How many of you knew that Dionne is Whitney Houston's aunt? I think their voices are very similar, but of course, we know who is first and best.

Walk on by - Dionne Warwick



Speaking of voices, this voice always made me swoon. (You can see Johnny Cash playing guitar in the background.)

I very nearly named my daughter after this song, but I somehow knew that she'd get pissed at me over being named for a country song. (Note: I was right.)

Amanda - Waylon Jennings



The Partridge Family TV-show was based on this band, The Cowsills, also a family. This song is a real gem! I don't mind telling you I think it's one of the best and sweetest pop songs of the 60s! (The ersatz singing TV-family never even came close.)

Trivia: Little Susan Cowsill was 9 years old, making her the youngest singer to sing on a top-ten song to date (1967). I was Susan's age, and wanted so badly to be her!

Barry Cowsill died in Hurricane Katrina, at age 51.

The Rain, The Park And Other Things - The Cowsills



I was upset that this song was used in JACKIE BROWN for the scene where Samuel L. Jackson pulls into a junkyard with a dead body in his trunk. Honestly, does Quentin Tarantino have to ruin EVERY damn thing? Certainly, I would have used the song for some sexy, steamy scene.

Quincy Jones, producer, made this sound super-pretty and dazzling; an aural cotton-candy confection. I'm sure it was quite the disappointment when performed in person! (Although you must admit: the outer space jumpsuits really make the song, too!)

Rainbows and waterfalls run through my mind.

Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson

It's a Family Affair

Left: Ryan and Redmond O'Neal, mug shots.

~*~

Here at Dead Air, we are interested in the hereditary nature of... well, just about everything. But specifically, addiction, alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse. And I admit to a particular, politically-incorrect fascination when people with certain ethnic surnames are involved. And I think I've earned the right to be fascinated, okay? (Joke from my youth: When you get 4 Irishmen together, you always have a Fifth. Ha ha.) I am personally convinced certain families (ethnicities? are we even allowed to go there?) are more prone to addiction, or have the propensity for self-destructive behavior/temperament that might lead to same.

Or is this all learned behavior? Discuss amongst yourselves!

Note: I am also very interested when the bustee was beloved to me as a young woman. I hate to see this to happen to Ryan O'Neal, who has battled both booze and cancer. But like the song says: Mom loves the both of them... you see it's in the blood...

~*~

Ryan O'Neal, son Redmond booked on suspicion of drug possession

By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:06 PM PDT, September 17, 2008

Deputies found Redmond O'Neal, 24, in possession of methamphetamine while a vial of the drug was found in Ryan O'Neal's bedroom, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The father and son later were released on $10,000 bail each, he said.

The O'Neals were detained shortly after 7:15 a.m. during a probation search related to a case involving Redmond O'Neal. The two were taken to the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills station.

Redmond, whose mother is actress Farrah Fawcett, was arrested last year on charges related to carrying heroin and crystal meth while driving under the influence in Malibu.

He pleaded not guilty to drug possession and one misdemeanor DUI charge as part of a deal intended to help him avoid jail. He was sentenced to three years probation and $1,688 in fines for the DUI charge.

In another case from 2005, Redmond O'Neal was placed on probation stemming from an arrest on suspicion of methamphetamine and cocaine possession.

Ryan O'Neal, 67, was arrested last year on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm after firing a gunshot during an argument with another son, Griffin O'Neal.

The actor told authorities that Griffin, 43, picked up a fireplace poker and started swinging it. Griffin grazed him four or five times and "aimed at my head, I ducked, he hit his own girlfriend in the head," Ryan O'Neal said at the time.

The actor said he fired a warning shot intended to scare his son.

The elder O'Neal was nominated for an Oscar for the 1970 movie "Love Story."

~*~

Follow-up: Ryan says he is innocent! (big shocker)

Speaking of family, Tatum O'Neal now seems like the reasonable one!

PS: Has anyone ever seen Tatum's very strange, bizarre, borderline-pedophilia movie (with Richard Burton) titled Circle of Two? Very, very weird. It was made in 1980 when she was 17, but she plays a 15-year-old, throwing herself at 60-year-old Richard. After her book came out stating she was molested, I felt it was even more bizarre than I did initially...

~*~

Family Affair - Sly and the Family Stone

This is not the way we put an end to war: songs for your Monday evening

Some random nostalgia for your Monday evening. This is what I've been listening to today, and decided I'd share it... as idiosyncratic as these tunes are, a few of you should enjoy at least one of these songs.

~*~

Sometimes, you just need to get away:

Earth Wind And Fire - Getaway

[via FoxyTunes / Earth, Wind & Fire]

Slack-jawed, you will now behold one of the greatest blues-guitar players in the history of the world. Also, proof that there is a requirement for MEN to be attractive, although the bar is considerably lower than it is for women. Johnny Winter should be mega-famous, but did not have the good looks of the youthful Eric Clapton.

Also, this performance is footage from WOODSTOCK, originally filmed for the movie. Ask yourself: WHY would no-talent punks like SHA-NA-NA make it into the WOODSTOCK movie, and this incredible performance didn't? It might have something to do with looks. Also, the fact of how completely disorienting Johnny Winter was, in his time; he's so white trash, the joke went, that he is ALBINO! (And as a result, legally blind, and--as is evident in the video--he never focused on the audience or camera during his performances.)

The first time I ever heard him, his Texas-swamp blues was so authentic that I simply assumed he was black. Then I saw a photo of him and thought, not only is he white, he is the whitest guy I've ever SEEN.

I saw him play with Muddy Waters and James Cotton in 1977 and they were absolutely electrifying! And under bright lights, while sweating? He positively GLOWED like neon. Meant in a good way!

They really should have put him in the movie, dammit!

Johnny Winter - Mean Town Blues (Live)

[via FoxyTunes / Johnny Winter]

My mother loved this song, and this is for her. I miss her terribly.

My mother sang this song in her band and said it was hard not to sing it with a Mexican accent, particularly the phrase: I was so lonely/cried for you only. She said she didn't know why, but it needed to 'sound like where it came from.' She had to fight not to sing it that way, since she knew people would think she was mocking and/or disrespectful. (Although nobody thought that about the likes of Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra, when they donned fake-accents for songs, people tend to assume bigotry of country musicians.) My mother said the phrasing "cried for you only," simply wouldn't be in a regular Nashville-based county song, and it wasn't something you usually heard in country music, so you felt you should give it the accent.

A decade later, I would hear California punks who felt it necessary to sing Clash and Sex Pistols songs with a tinge of a British accent, and then I understood what she meant. Songs have a cultural CONTEXT, and wiping that away is also disrespectful.

Freddy Fender - Wasted Days & Wasted Nights

[via FoxyTunes / Freddy Fender]

Finally, if you've never heard this song and you consider yourself progressive AT ALL, it's time to listen. This was a song that inspired your Mamas and Daddys in the cause.

First Buffy Sainte-Marie talks about the writing of her song, and her inspiration, then sings it.

It's just so true.

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier

[via FoxyTunes / Buffy Sainte-Marie]

It's a Celebration!

~*~

There's a party going on right here
A celebration to last throughout the year!

Political partisan note: Yes, I am well aware that Robert "Kool" Bell was a Republican during the Reagan era, but let's hope he'll change his mind now. (And even if he doesn't, I'm still using his song!)

~*~

Kool and the Gang - Celebration

[via FoxyTunes / Kool & The Gang]

~*~

Thanks to Magdalene for the graphic/wallpaper.

Artisphere!

... was this weekend in downtown Greenville. It was a veritable invasion of the artists.



Some of the performers at this year's Artisphere:

Cajun king Marc Broussard, Asheville's popular Firecracker Jazz Band, the fabulous Susan Tedeschi, teenybopper favorite Nathan Angelo, soul songbird Kellin Watson, amazing New Orleans brass-funk masters Bonerama, Spartanburg's own Shane Pruitt, Lowcountry musician Shrimp City Slim, Christian blues artist Marvin King, the voice of South Carolina soul - Wanda Johnson, Asheville improvisational foursome the Nightcrawlers, entertaining blues bands Gas House Mouse, Elliott and the Untouchables and Chicago Joe Jones (click on Joe for some great tunes!) and of course, the Carolina Ballet.

And even more...

~*~

The Dead Air Artisphere Art award goes to my favorite artist of the festival-- Geoffrey Aaron Harris. Below are his pieces Rocket Launch, Supersonic, and my new computer desktop background, the completely irresistible Shrunken Heads of Robotica!


































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Left: The Dead Air Artisphere Music Award goes to Atlanta's bluesy Breeze Kings, who were just right for a relaxed Sunday afternoon by the river. (Click here for some good music!)

~*~

Below, the Reedy River on the west side of the falls. I was writing last week about the extensive development on the river, and this gives you a general idea of what it looks like. This is only a small part of Artisphere, but the prettiest part!



More great photos here!

Dead Air Church: Shining Star

Dead Air Church brings you Earth, Wind & Fire's wonderful Shining Star recorded live (1975) on the old Midnight Special TV show. I recall this fairly well, since I taped it on an ancient RCA tape-recorder with the extremely low-tech microphone propped up in front of the TV. (Many of us regularly taped the show, which was a great way to get live recordings.)

This song is about human dignity and self-respect, and goes out this week to our newly-retired blogger Brownfemipower. I will dearly miss your spiritual writing and fierce insight. Also, to Blackamazon, who is able to bring down the wrath of feminist publishing with three little words! An amazing and powerful woman, whose words command earth-shaking responses. These are the women the world requires!

At the end of this song, unlike the recorded version, there is a "call and response" segment, which first entered mass-marketed popular music (to my knowledge) with the Isley Brothers' Shout. This is a worship style of the African-American church, that evolved from African community-debate tradition:

In Sub-Saharan African cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic participation -- in public gatherings in the discussion of civic affairs, in religious rituals, as well as in vocal and instrumental musical expression. It is this tradition that African bondsmen and women brought with them to the New World and which has been transmitted over the centuries in various forms of cultural expression -- in religious observance; public gatherings; sporting events; even in children's rhymes; and, most notably, in African-American music in its myriad forms and descendants including: gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz and jazz extensions.

Not surprisingly, this song has been covered by Christian artists also, notably the pioneering Christian metal band Stryper.

And before there was Samuel L. Jackson, there was... Maurice White!!! One of the coolest guys ever; the very measure of cool even though people used to call his hair a "half-ro" since half of his hair was gone. Unfortunately, White has Parkinson's disease now and is no longer in the music business. He was quite the marvel in his day, as was Earth, Wind and Fire--inventive, fabulous funk-originators.

And yes, he popularized the sparkly-jacket-with-no-shirt look, imitated by 70s lounge lizards everywhere. Singing effortless harmony with White is multi-talented Philip Bailey.

Enjoy, and live the message!

~*~

Earth, Wind & Fire - Shining Star

[via FoxyTunes / Earth, Wind & Fire]