Proclamation

I’ll be honest with you. I RARELY watch music videos and I hate 106th and Park. Yea, I said it, hate. Why, you ask? Maybe it’s because when I did watch it, it was co-hosted by Free, one of the most down-to-earth media personalities you ever did see. Sorry AJ. You gets no love. I just couldn’t get past the predator braids, but I digress… Music videos are all the same nowadays. All you need is a half-naked, exotic-looking chick as the “star”, some smoke and fog, a few dudes with tattoos, wife-beaters and skinny jeans (insert vomit sound), a club scene, a shower scene,  a bunch of almost naked women, and a slow motion effect.  I can’t even watch a Beyonce (I refuse to call her “Bey”) video without seeing a butt cheek or two or six. As you can imagine, when I found out that Lil Wayne made a video for his debut love song, “How to Love” I didn’t think it was anything special. To be honest, I wouldn’t have known about the video if I didn’t read an article about it. But I have to admit, Lil Wayne surprised me with this one. The video was actually…. good….. actually really good. (there I go using those SAT words again. )

To be fair, the song isn’t exactly terrible. I thought it was catchy when I first heard it. But when I heard it a second time, and specifically listened to the lyrics, (this was particularly difficult because Lil Wayne sounds like drunk Uncle Pete, that crazy uncle who always tells stories about the good ole’ days when he used to play spades with his buddies and squeeze ladies booties and run) I was surprised by its message.

Lil Wayne actually addressed a huge  problem in the African American community – the cycle of sexual promiscuity and abuse that plagues African American women in poverty. How to love is just a title. To some degree, the issues brought about in the song and video have a huge impact on a woman’s ability to love, but it goes deeper than that. Our ability to make choices, ones that affect the lives of people around us, is was determines whether we end up unmarried, pregnant, broke, and uneducated – or intelligent, successful, married  (or in a stable relationship) and overall happy. Wayne caught a lot of flack when this song debuted, mostly from his fans wanting that old thing back -songs about weed, liquor, money, cars, clothes, hoes, blah, blah, blah, – it’s been done before. I’m glad he made this song. While I don’t appreciate the technical details of the song (*cough, auto-tune, cough*), the lyrics and the message make up for it. And this video puts a little something extra on it.   So what do you think? Should Lil Wayne stick to rapping? Does this song and video do justice to the social epidemic of single women looking for love in all the wrong places? Should Rihanna sue the woman in the video for stealing her forehead and lips? (Okay, I threw that one in there for fun) But seriously, what do you think of the video?

Happy New Year!

Hobo told me to say Happy New Year to everyone, I just want to thank you all for an amazing year and for your continous love, support and smiling faces. You’re the best. I think ‘09 is going to be a year to remember.. I could only come up with one resolution this year and it is this: Be better. What were yours?

R

R is for….The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones-Street Fighting Man

“Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boycause summers here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boyBut what can a poor boy doExcept to sing for a rock n roll bandcause in sleepy london townTheres just no place for a street fighting manNoHey! think the time is right for a palace revolutionBut where I live the game to play is compromise solutionWell, then what can a poor boy doExcept to sing for a rock n roll bandcause in sleepy london townTheres no place for a street fighting manNoHey! said my name is called disturbanceIll shout and scream, Ill kill the king, Ill rail at all his servantsWell, what can a poor boy doExcept to sing for a rock n roll bandcause in sleepy london townTheres no place for a street fighting manNo”

Seems just as relevant to me now as it could have in 1968. I’m pretty sure this is what rock and roll was supposed to sound like.

Thats it for now, try something though. When you look in the mirror, smile.

-RR

Christmas

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I hadn’t had a home cooked meal or played, and lost so badly to a seven year old at wii, in quite sometime. Onward though, I bet you didn’t think i’d come up with one for U. I almost didn’t, but I remembered someone that everyone knows, probably without knowing.

U is for…Ukulele Ike

Ukulele Ike – “I’m a bear in a lady’s boudoir”

Even Though his real name was Cliff Edwards he went by Ukelele Ike for quite sometime in his professional career. He sung such classics as “Singing in the Rain” and “When You Wish Upon a Star”. He was also the voice of Jiminy Cricket. Told you you’d know him.

I picked this song though because of the lyrics, in the 1930s this stuff was considered to be pretty risque, here’s the first verse:

“You may talk about your colleges, fair Harvard and old Yale, And all the universities who’s banners brave the gale,And all the football heroes, their glory and renown;I never went to college, but I know I’ve been to town.I may not be a football hero,But I’m a star with the beautiful girls;You never see me in the thick of a fight,‘Cause I do my scoring mostly at night.”

“I’m a bear in a ladies boudoir”

-RR

Neptune

N is also for Neptune. Here I am taunting him. Thanks to you all and Jon for keeping this thing going while I was away. A little Nat every now and then never hurt anyone.

M now, M. There are so many mmmm. I’m gonna go ahead and give you two cause I was gone for a week.

First, The Merseys – Sorrow. This song was covered by Bowie i’m pretty sure, and I think some others did it too..You can hear George Harrison singing a melody from this tune at the end of “It’s all Too Much” from Yellow Submarine if you listen real hard at the end. Oh you might have to sign up for the website to hear it, sorry it was the only place on the internet I could find the song.

Second, Marc Bolan & T. Rex-Metal Guru

On my iTunes T.Rex/Marc Bolan has so many different names, they make us taking the exclamation point out mute. Marc Bolan. Tyrannosaurus Rex. T Rex. T. Rex. Marc Bolan and T. Rex. etc…But alas! So many great songs, I may have linked you to a playlist with two of them because I didn’t know which to put, so if you have 6 or so minutes, maybe try both.

and lastly, something to ponder.

“To be nobody but yourself-in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you somebody else-means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

– e.e. Cummings

-RR

Halloween

Just wanted to say that “Almost Halloween” is now up for download.

Ne just wanted you to be able to put it on your mixtapes for your halloween parties this weekend. pass it around.

to take a look at that. I’m sure someone smart will figure out how to put it on YouTube but until then you’ll have to watch it through there…

X???

So I’ve run into a problem…Can’t think of any band or artist I listen to that begins with the letter X. Maybe you know of some? I’ll take your recommendations on this one. Also thanks alot for your D-Land advice, hope I can use it soon.

And while I wait for a band beginning with X, I’ll give you TWO for W. Just because I feel a little embarrased that my idea already isn’t working out.

W is for… We All Together!

We All Together – Cloudy Night

 

From Peru, and you can hear it. Such good tropical feel. I’ve been listening to the songs they’ve got on myspace now for a few months, impossible to find their albums anywhere, but I finally have! Amazon never lets me down. Anyway give them a listen.

 

The Who – I Can’t Explain

Sure you can find this one just about anywhere. Put it on a mixtape for your next party. Or don’t, but I will.

Hope you all have a good holiday, maybe I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow. We can complain about the lines being too long and people acting like real animals. Ever noticed the airport is where people usually display the least amount of compassion for others?

“Not trying to cause a big sensation, just talking about my generation.”

-RR

The Yardbirds

Y is for Yardbirds!

The Yardbirds – For Your Love

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page were in this band, crazy hmm?

oh, and dig this.

And i’ve been watching a show about Disney World and how it was created.. I’ve never been there, what’s the best non rollercoaster part about it? We’re going to florida next month..maybe I’ll get to see it

-RR

Vegas

Apparently I missed this… Looks like Vegas may be great, maybe for the first time ever. Pretty, but I thought I lived in the desert for a reason. Anyway, Jon’s music post inspired me to try something, I’ll post the name of a song from one band for each letter of the alphabet, going backwards. Starting with the letter Z of course.

And Z, is for Zombies.

The Zombies- Care of Cell 44

I’m sure you can listen to it on that fancy website. That’s it for now, more songs soon.

-RR

Update, update, update!

Hello world. Jon Walker here, letting you know what is going on with life. I am in chicago right now, hanging with friends and family, talking about the world and freezing my knees off.  Cats are good, they are going to have a new friend soon, more on that later. I am really excited for the holidays and even more excited to start working on our new album.  We have been writing songs all year about the places we’ve been, the things we’ve seen and the games we’ve won. We are planning on working on those songs as well as writing some even newer ones after the holidays are over. Excitement sets in. By next springtime we will be back in your town, eating your food and drinking your drink. Hope you miss us as we miss you. Thanks for a wonderful year, heres to the next..

Great songs from bands that start with S: Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel Turn Me On – The Shins Cotton Teeth – The Snake The Cross The Crown Cupid – Sam Cooke

S.O.S.

We’re shooting a video ourselves for an upcoming Halloween song we wrote, and need supplies/suggestions, drop them off tomorrow and you might see them again before the end of October.  Just a few months until Halloween!!

edit: we will be in St. Louis so bring any halloween stuff to the show, the video will be shot tonight and monday. more info on the song soon…