The Spaghetti Western films were an interesting cultural phenomenon of the 1960s and 70s. Hollywood tales of the old West inspired European filmmakers, especially Italians, to create their own films of rugged individualism and masculinity. Sergio Leone led the charge with his box office hits starring Clint Eastwood. Just as the films seemed a little eschew of their American predecessors, with their lower budgets, dubbed dialogue and Italian and Spanish desert backdrops, the soundtracks had their own idiosyncrasies. Ennio Morricone in his work with Leone established an unorthodox aesthetic adding strange vocal phrasing and sound effects to more traditional elements such as acoustic guitar, harmonica and string sections. Here is a great example of the style, repleat with non-native speaking lyrics.
It is hard to think of many tunes that exude the hot and sweaty height of summertime quite like this reimagining Sly Stone gave one of his biggest hits. Murky, sludgey funk from the armpit of a drug addled reality.
The Cure’s seventh album, “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me” is their most ambitious and sprawling release. Bandleader Robert Smith set up a more collaborative songwriting system for the songs. He requested band members to submit multiple ideas for tunes. The results led to one of their strongest efforts and subsequently led to greater success for the act. Here is a rare example of a “funky” songs by the poster boys for Goth.
The Pet Shop Boys rejuvenated 60's singer Dusty Springfield’s pop career with this big hit back in 1987. It’s success was undoubtably due to them bringing in the big guns for writing it. Allee Willis, who had co-written some of Earth, Wind and Fire’s biggest hits (“September” and “Boogie Wonderland”) has her hands all over this deadpan banger!
Having been an independent music producer in Kingston for the last ten years, by the late 70s Lee “Scratch” Perry was probably starting to feel the effects of burnout. By 1978 he had been recording in the studio he built in his own backyard: The Black Ark. In that year he recorded his first solo album of original vocal tunes, “Roast Fish Collie Weed and Corn Bread”. Despite a couple of tunes that focused on physical health, there were a few songs on the album that displayed an unstable and paranoid mental state. This starting track is a great example. The notion of your soul being on fire and there not being any natural remedy is definitely disturbing! Do try to keep tabs on your mental state and engage in some self care, folks.
Wendy Carlos is an electronic music producer whose early works helped gain public awareness and acceptance of the form. Her “Switched On…” series translated classical music works into electronic music pieces and were a huge commercial hit. Later, she worked with Stanley Kubrick to create haunting soundtracks to his classic films “A Clockwork Orange” and “The Shining”. She is also a transgender pioneer, having started her transition in 1968. Frustratingly, there is precious little of her musical output on Youtube, but there are a goodly amount of interview where she speaks of her process:
While exactly who The Last Poets are varies depending on whom you speak to, one thing is clear: they are pro-Black, anti-establishment and proto-Hip Hop.
Throughout the 80s Al Jourgensen made huge strides in electronic music. Starting out with Ministry as a synth-pop group for a major label to taking industrial dance music and the Wax Trax! label to dizzying heights, Al was seemingly an unstoppable force. During this astronomical climb came some curious collaborations and along with those some wild stories of Al’s demeanor, particularly when it came to do weird stuff in the studio bathroom The second Ministry album found Jourgensen working with UK reggae and samping whiz Adrian Sherwood:
Fellow Jourgensen related musician Luc Van Acker later told of Al’s bathroom shenanigans:
“I was in London at Southern Studios when Al was mixing Ministry with Adrian Sherwood, and Al would go to the toilet and copy down the studio settings Adrian used for his effects on toilet paper and put them in his trousers. When we got back to the hotel Al would take all this toilet paper out of his trousers and shout numbers at me, like ‘37, 43’ and I would take notes. But Al would not remember what those numbers were for anymore. I still have this notebook full of the numbers of Adrian’s settings. Al was an absolute big fan of Adrian Sherwood, and they were really good friends. But of course Adrian Sherwood was not so happy Al started to use all his tricks.”
In 1987 Jourgensen had the opportunity to collaborate with straight-edge punker Ian McKaye and form the project Pailhead.
Once again, Al took to the studio bathroom to act like a weirdo:
“I was a little nervous about working with Ian, who is this real straight-edge icon. He doesn’t drink or do drugs. I didn’t know how we’d get along. I had a stash of cocaine and heroin that I had been doing and I kind of couldn’t stop… I didn’t want Ian to know I was doing drugs because I had heard he was really pompous, so I told him I had a bladder problem. Then I’d go to the bathroom, shoot up or snort, and come out either sniffing or with blood trickling down my arm. After about the 10th time I came out of the bathroom with white circles under my nose, Ian said, “Dude, I know what you’re doing. It’s okay. Do what you have to do. Just don’t lie to me about it.” I thought that was so cool of him.”
So, if you ever find yourself faced with a studio session with Mr. Jourgensen and the bathroom door is locked, assume the worst!
One of the great tragedies of jazz is the untimely death of the great trumpet player Clifford Brown. In his early twenties he was a member of one of the most famous iterations of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His quintet with Max Roach set the bebop world on its head. In four years he made an indelible impression on the jazz world and died in a car crash at the tender age of 25. RIP.
In 1988 the Slovenian/Yugoslavic band Laibach recorded a subversive version of The Beatles final full length release, “Let It Be”. Unsurprisingly, there are some curious moments in the world clashing project. However, the dissent band’s take on John Lennon’s “Across the Universe” may trump the original in terms of sheer beauty!
Original Hamster is the brainchild of Santiago, Chile based artist Vicente Sanfuentes. This moniker always Sanfuentes the ability to cover well known songs in curious and hilarious ways. Here he mashes and mangles up a sweet Paul McCartney ode he wrote for his dog.
As an original member of The Skatalites trombonist Don Drummond is one of the cornerstones of Jamaican popular music. Drummond was taught at the Alpha Boys’ School, a Catholic boarding school for wayward youths. In addition to learning trades kids could also learn to play music there. Many of the main musicians in the Kingston studios during the development of ska, rocksteady and reggae were taught there. Drummond’s life was cut short in tragic fashion at the ripe age of 36 with a tale of murder, madness and possilbe institutional neglect. Despite the darkness surrounding his life’s end, the music Don Drummond left behind is sweet as evidenced by this groovy cha-cha styled number.
Georgia Anne Muldrow exemplifies Black Excellence. She is a singer/songwriter/MC/producer. She strives for social justice as well as creative freedom. She makes rap songs and funk songs and r ‘n’ b songs. She excels at singing, rapping, drum programming and synthesizing. She is prolific and inspring. Rock on, Georgia!
Dexter Romweber was a true rock ‘n’ roller. He devoted to the form of the music, playing mostly covers of long forgotten songs played on ancient jukeboxes. He adhered to the form’s inherent lack of perfection and played with wild abandon on his electric guitar. His band, The Flat Duo Jets, made a barnburning appearance in the documentary “Athens, GA” in the early 80s, but didn’t put out a record until much later. Hype and glory were never the emphasis, only the rocking and the rolling. He passed away on February 16 of this year and joined the great jam in the sky. RIP Dex!
The experimental vocalist Damo Suzuki has passed away. Suzuki’s impromptu vocal stylings have helped the band Can come into worldwide prominence. In his later years Suzuki toured extensively, even through sickness, almost always playing with unique bands put together with whomever was available for the gig. Going all the way back to 1973, here we can hear him with Can going at full strength. Rest in power, Damo!
Jeff Mills is a legendary Detroit Techno producer and DJ. His DJ performances often include multiple decks and a Roland TR-909 drum machine. Here Mills demonstrates his ability to program the machine on the fly in a way that comes off very much like a performance. Amazing!
In North America, electronic music was pioneered by Black artists. In Chicago, DJs utilized bits of gear designed by Roland as accompaniment to more traditional instruments to craft a new subgenre of music: Acid House. Acid Tracks is regarded as a cornerstone of which the entire subgenre was formed. If you’re curious about more of this squelchy music, check Ed DMX’s recommendations here.
