How to Succeed in the Music Biz, by Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu is a really funny lady.

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Prince at Coachella

Jim Real, "The Master of Would You Rather" called me from Coachella today to tell me that last night, he saw the greatest performer in the world.

Above video (1999) via BrooklynVegan, who have some great photos, too.

Below: Radiohead's "Creep"

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Podcast: TSOYA Classic: Dream Boogie - Peter Guralnick on Sam Cooke

We continue our journey into The Sound of Young America's vast audio archive with this program from The Sound of Young America Clasics.

This week, Grammy-award winning music writer and historian Peter Guralnick talks about the legendary soul singer and songwriter Sam Cooke. Cooke is credited by many for introducing gospel singing styles to R&B, and in so doing helping to create soul music.

Please share your thoughts on the show in the comments section!

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Bilal & Terence Blanchard - A Change Is Gonna Come

Bilal's "Love For Sale" LP has been sitting on the shelf for about two years now... I'm just happy the man is working. And with a big, useless orchestra, too.

Here's one of the unreleased tracks: Bilal - Hollywood (Prod. Sa-Ra Creative Partners)

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Podcast: Soul Music Legend Swamp Dogg

Jerry Williams recorded several hit records in the 1950s and 60s, before re-christening himself Swamp Dogg at the end of the latter decade. His albums, starting with 1969's "Total Destruction to Your Mind" merged social concerns, humor and the psychadelic spirit of the times into a beloved chapter in soul music history. When Swamp wasn't recording himself, he wrote hit records for artists like Betty Wright and even country star Johnny Paycheck. His new album, "Resurrection," has received rave reviews in The New Yorker and Rolling Stone.

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<embed src="http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf" quality="high" name="audio_player_standard_gray" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="audio_id=1069086&valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://media.libsyn.com/media/tsoya/tsoya080122_swampdogg.mp3" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="52" width="300"></embed><br /><a style="font-size: 9px; padding-left: 110px; color: rgb(255, 51, 153); letter-spacing: -1px; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.maximumfun.org">The Sound of Young America: Swamp Dogg</a><br />

You might also enjoy these past interview programs:
Betty Davis
Oliver Wang of Soulsides
Sa-Ra Creative Partners
Swamp Dogg, circa 2002

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Ike & Tina

RIP to one of the men who invented Rock & Roll and made immeasurable contributions to making soul music BAAAAAAAD.

And thank God we've still got Tina, kicking out the fucking jams as above. She may match James Brown in my book for greatest music performer of the 20th Century. Wow! Above she's singing "River Deep, Mountain High," which was produced by Phil Spector and discussed on our Phil Spector episode.

Below, check out Tina's fucking dance moves. Holy shit. And listen to Ike rip into that guitar.

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Oh shit! Swamp Dogg on Fresh Air!!

The always-great Fresh Air rock historian Ed Ward has a piece on Swamp Dogg on Fresh Air today. Swamp is one of the Great Heroes of The New Sincerity, a brilliant musician and a really wonderful guy. When Nick Hornby was over there, he saw my autographed picture of Swamp and we fell into a convo about soul's most outrageous man.

Previously on TSOYA:
Jesse and Jordan interview Swamp
An introduction to Swamp
Swamp Dogg Live in Europe Video

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Is the Arruh a joke, or is he joking?

Some “Trapped [in the Closet]” fans may think they’re flattering Mr. Kelly by praising his alleged insanity or naïveté, but that’s the kind of praise that can easily sound like condescension, especially when directed (as it often is) at African-American performers. And some IFC viewers might not know that Mr. Kelly is deploying some of the same dramatic devices you can find in the world of urban theater, sometimes affectionately or derisively called the chitlin circuit.” Many of his stock characters (the pastor with a secret, the nosy neighbors, the semireformed ex-con, the stuttering pimp) and melodramatic revelations would be at home in a play by Tyler Perry, Shelly Garrett, Angela Barrow-Dunlap or David E. Talbert.

kelefa sanneh investigates!

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Living with Baduizm

Going to a lot of poetry slams lately? Do you find yourself preternaturally obsessed with rimshots? Do you keep talking about playing Jimi Hendrix in a movie? Is your rap album on sale at Starbucks?

You may be living with Baduizm. Luckily, the good people at Oh Word have scanned a wonderful pamphlet that can help you in your struggle with this debilitating disease.

I am fucking loving it.

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Podcast: Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: Mick Brown on Phil Spector

Before he was an alleged murderer, Phil Spector was a mad genius of pop music. His productions, marked by a style known as "the wall of sound," bridged the gap between Elvis and The Beatles. His first hit song, "To Know Him is to Love Him" was as a performer, but he quickly transitioned into production, producing hit records for artists like Darlene Love and the Ronnettes. Even after his career crested in the early 60s, he produced seminal records for John Lennon and The Ramones. Mick Brown was the last journalist to interview the reclusive super-producer before the night in 2003 when he allegedly killed a young actress. His new book, "Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector," documents Spector's life.

Please share your thoughts on this program on our forum!
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<embed src="http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf" quality="high" name="audio_player_standard_gray" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="audio_id=1069086&valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://media.libsyn.com/media/tsoya/tsoya070813_philspector.mp3" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="52" width="300"></embed><br /><a style="font-size: 9px; padding-left: 110px; color: rgb(255, 51, 153); letter-spacing: -1px; text-decoration: none;" href="http://odeo.com/audio/1069086/view">The Sound of Young America: Mick Brown on Phil Spector</a><br />

Our intersititial music is provided by Dan Wally

You might also enjoy these past interview programs:
Soul Sides with Oliver Wang
Ted Leo
Andrew WK

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Sly is back, and he's reppin the Yay.

Fuck the haters, Sly is back, and stooped though he may be, he's nearly as bad as ever.

"If You Want Me To Stay," my favorite song of all time, performed with a very solid band this past Sunday, followed by "Sing a Simple Song" and a shortened version of "I Wanna Take You Higher." Sly's moving pretty well for a guy with as pronounced a hunch as he's displaying here. As you'd imagine, his upper register isn't as strong, but his lower register is rich and sounds wonderful. I'm just happy he's back. We lost JB, nice to see Sly stepping back into the spotlight.

And did you check out his Bay Area lid? REPPING THE YAY.

(via The Soul Imperialist)

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Spinning Wheel Gotta Go Round

For those who remember my recent interview with Dr. Oliver Wang, we had a discussion of "Spinning Wheel," an example of a song O-Dub is so intruiged by that he'll buy records blind just to hear a cover of it.

Today over on Soul-Sides, Oliver posted a set from his old KALX show The Ozone featuring a mini-set of Spinning Wheel covers.

Above you can watch my favorite Spinning Wheel cover, by Mr. Hank Kingsley on the Larry Sanders show. It starts a minute and a half into the clip.

"What can I say, Hank? You're a quadruple threat. You're a singer, a dancer, a raconteur... ... ... and a singer again because you're just that good." - Bob Odenkirk as super-agent Stevie Grant

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Sean Kingston - "Beautiful Girl"

Went up to the Bay Area about a month ago, and drove home my aunt's El Camino. Well, my El Camino, now. Anyhoo... AM/FM radio, no AC, and I'm on 5 south in the middle of an 85-degree day. I listened to Central Valley pop radio for about four hours, and heard this song about three times. And I liked it every time. Ben E. King and the vocoder (or maybe just heavy pitch correction) on the assist with this one. All hit songs should be this pleasant and charming.

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Podcast: TSOYA: Betty Davis

Betty Davis is a legend of soul and funk music. The one-time wife of Miles Davis introduced the jazzman to Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and the broad world of electric music, leading him to create "Bitches Brew." She recorded three albums of her own in the 1970s, full of raw, sexy, outrageous funk. The first two, "Betty Davis" and "They Say I'm Different" have been re-released by the Seattle label Light in the Attic Records. Davis left the music industry in the late 1970s, and has been completely absent from the public eye since -- at one point, a fan had to track her down in the suburbs of Pittsburgh to get her $40,000 in songwriting royalties. This is her first radio interview since her performing days.

Please share your thoughts on this program on our forum!

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Our intersititial music is provided by Dan Wally

You might also enjoy these past programs:
Soul Sides with Dr. Oliver Wang
Southern Soul: Devin the Dude and Stax Records (MP3)
The College Years: Swamp Dogg

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Hendrix at Newport '69

Thanks to LA Observed for this amazing Jimi Hendrix performance before 200,000 spectactors at Devonshire Downs near Northridge. Spectacular.

Later today I'll post my interview with Betty Davis, funk and soul legend and a close friend of Jimi's.

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Dungeon Family Celebration

This post is for the folks who think the Dungeon Fam is the Outkast and, uhm, Gnarls Barkley.

Cool Breez et al "Watch for the Hook"


Dungeon Family - Trans DF Express


Youngbloodz f. Big Boi - "85"


Cee-Lo - Closet Freak


Joi - Ghetto Superstar


Outkast f. Goodie Mob - Git Up Git Out


Sleepy Brown - Sunday Morning


Killer Mike - AKshon


Cherokee f. Andre 3K - Nectarine


Backbone - Five Deuce, Four Tre

Society of Soul - Pushin'

Slimm Cutta Calhoun f. Andre 3K - It's OK

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Podcast: TSOYA: Soul Sides with Oliver Wang

Oliver Wang, PhD, is the man behind the popular soul and hip-hop blog Soul Sides. He's also a professor at the California State University at Long Beach, and a long-time club and radio DJ (as DJ O-Dub). He recently produced the second of a series of CD compilations of classic soul: "Soul Sides Volume Two: The Covers." It collects classic and contemporary cover tunes by soul artists both well known (Al Green performing the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand") and more obscure (Bill Withers' classic "Kissing My Love" performed by Spanky Wilson). We discuss a few of the tracks with Dr. Wang as well as his new career in academe.

Please share your thoughts on this program on our forum!

Download This Show (MP3)
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Our intersititial music is provided by Dan Wally

You might also enjoy these past programs:
Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Pop Music
Southern Soul: Devin the Dude and Stax Records (MP3)
The College Years: Swamp Dogg

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Summertime!

Some Max Funsters are having a passionate discussion about summer plans and summer tunes on the forum. It inspired me to put together a couple of summertime mix tapes for you, my dedicated listeners. One is for summer jamming, one for summertime cooling out.

You may also notice that they are a bit heavy on Snoop Dogg and the Dungeon Family. Well, if your summer isn't heavy on Snoop Dogg and the Dungeon Family, it's probably not going to be very awesome.

Enjoy!

Summer Fun
1. Roscoe feat. Kurupt - I Love Cali (In The Summertime) (3:36)
2. 213 f. E-White and DJ Quik - There She Goes (3:19)
3. Suga Free - Thinkin' (3:33)
4. Dj Quik - Pitch In Ona Party (4:06)
5. Kardinal Offishal - Everyday Rudebwoy (4:19)
6. Lyrics Born - Callin' Out (3:34)
7. Kool & The Gang - Kool's Back Again (2:57)
8. Big Tymers feat. Baby & Mannie Fresh - This Is How We Do (4:20)
9. Bubba Sparxxx - Wonderful (3:42)
10. Scar feat. Big Boi - U Got Me (5:05)
11. Outkast - Rosa Parks (4:24)
12. Pharoahe Monch - Push (2:59)
13. Pete Rock - Appreciate (feat. C.L. Smooth) (4:33)
14. Ceelo - Ill Be Around (Radio Mix) (3:41)
15. Janelle Monae - Lettin' Go (4:28)
16. Sleepy Brown - Me, My baby And My Cadillac (3:51)
17. R.Kelly - happy people (10:12)
18. (Bonus Track) The Free Design - Kites Are Fun (2:41)

Summer Evening
1. 213 - Another Summer (4:11)
2. Suga Free - So Fly (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Katt Williams) (4:17)
3. Knoc Turnal - LA night and day (4:00)
4. Devin The Dude - What A Job (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000) (5:32)
5. 213 - Im Fly (4:12)
6. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Just Vibe (4:00)
7. Masta Ace - Beautiful (4:36)
8. David Banner - Cadillac On 22s (4:22)
9. Cee-Lo & Field Mob - All I Know (5:27)
10. Reflection Eternal - The Blast Ft. Vinia Mojica (3:06)
11. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It- (4:12)
12. Memphis Bleek - Dear Summer (feat. Jay-Z) (2:53)
13. D'Angelo - Africa (Acoustic) (3:42)
14. Eddie Hazel - California Dreamin' (6:25)

And while you're at it, check out the New Sincerity Summer episode of TSOYA, with guest Mike Veeck, minor league baseball empresario.

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Happy Birthday, Prince!

"Take Me With You" live at the Superdome, 1985


"Automatic" live in 1983


"Computer Blue" from the same show


"Girls & Boys"


Madhouse "10 & 13"


"Fury"

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Podcast: Sa-Ra Creative Partners Interview

Sa-Ra Creative partners are Taz Arnold, Shafiq Husayn, and Om'Mas Keith, three producer/performers out to revolutionize urban music. Mentored by Dr. Dre, Ice T and Jam Master Jay, admired by J Dilla, Kanye West and ?uestlove, and collaborators with Pharoahe Monch, Erykah Badu and Herbie Hancock, they certainly have a resume auspicious enough to do achieve that goal.

Their new CD, "The Hollywood Recordings," was just released by Babygrande Records, and they're currently preparing a major label release with the help of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label.

Please share your thoughts on this program on our forum!

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Our intersititial music is provided by Dan Wally

You might also enjoy these shows:
Rhymefest
Peedi Crakk
Killer Mike

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Lauryn Hill - Lose Myself

Lauryn's got a new track out, and no one seems to care.

It's good, though. I hope she starts making real records again.

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The Arruh strikes again: SEX PLANET

R. Kelly's got a new one coming out, and one of the highlights (I've heard) is his stirring ballad "Sex Planet." Here are the lyrics, I will withold all commentary, except to say that I really liked "Ignition (Remix)," and I am opposed to statuatory rape.

Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, and Saturn
I'm leavin Earth, girl, to explore your galaxy
10 to zero, blast off, here we go
We'll be climaxin til we reach Mercury

I guarantee you'll like it, it'll take your breath away
Gonna get you so excited once I taste your Milky Way

So don't trip, I got a giant rocket
Glidin through, just hittin your pocket

I'm about to take over and touch your soul
Once I enter into your black hooooooooooooooooole

Girl now that you're next to me, we'll be just like satellites
Watching over the Earth, we'll make space our paradise

Girl I promise this will be painless, painless
We'll take a trip to Planet Uranus, anus

Stick a flaaaag on the moon
First couple to ever make love on Planet Neptuuuuuuuuuuune

And if time allow us, we'll be gone for hours
I won't stop until I give you meteor showers

So get ready for liftoff babe
You ready? (yes) Hold on to this, here we go
R minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 3 2 1....
Babe, start our engines
then
blaaaaaaaaaaaaast off!

OOH SAID IT FEELS SO GOOD
WHEN WE blaaaaaaaaaast off

AND MY ROCKET IS SO FULL OF FUEL BABY
YES IT IS

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Swamp Dogg Totally Destroys Your Mind: Live

I was talking to Swamp Dogg on the phone today... seeing if he might be able to perform at a certain event that may be in the works (no comment). Looks like details may preclude a liver performance, but he mentioned to me in passing that he had a full live show on the internet. Not only is that true, but it is GREAT!

Here it is -- Swamp Dogg live in Europe.

You're not up on the Dogg, you say? Well, here's a post on him from a year ago. That one's got some great downloads from Swamp's first couple records. You can also check out our interview with Swamp Dogg -- which was now (I can hardly believe it) five years ago.

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Podcast: The College Years: Guys in Their Underwear

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

This week's dip in the archival river of The Sound of Young America makes you come up with leeches in the form of guys in their underwear. First, the guys talk to the mysterious Inspector #14 of underwear-inspecting fame. After, legendary soul singer Swamp Dogg talks about being a cult artist, his transformation into Swamp Dogg and why his liner notes were so great. Also, some of his hard-to-find, great music is played and discussed.

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