While it’s clear from my Side Bar podcast with Oliver Wang that I love Althea & Donna’s “Uptown Top Ranking” best of all, it does set up an interesting discussion with the other prominent versions of this riddim. The original was a Studio One cut by the impeccable Alton Ellis, re-recorded by him several times until Joe Gibbs hooked up with Marcia Aitken for a feminine take on the same song. That eventually led to Trinity’s DJ version, full of macho swagger and ultimately to Althea & Donna’s top ranking classic. So what do you think, pound for pound, amongst these three classics, which version is the best? Respond here or on to facebook.
I normally only highlight good music on this blog. While there is a mountain of crap music out there in the world I don’t generally like to spend t0o much time on it. But sometimes a song comes along that is so incredibly bad that it almost defies belief that anyone with any pop sensibilities at all would find it appealing enough to have actually convinced someone to release it. This week Kim Kardashian chose a path that has been far too well traveled in recent years, attempting to parlay her Reality TV “success” into a music career. The result is the laughably bad and hopefully career ending “Jam(Turn It Up)”. My question to you is how does Kim K’s new single rank in the annals of all-time crappy celebutante music creations, up against the likes of Heidi Montag and former BFF Paris Hilton…unfortunately we’ve all lost no matter who’s music is the worst because it will be heard by more people than 90% of the exceptional music that is on this blog and others like it…
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers vote for "We Are the Champions!"
In honor of what was a tension filled and entertaining matchup between two of the truly legendary NFL franchises, (so “Super” that I didn’t do my radio show on KPFK just so I could watch former Cal Bear Aaron Rodgers and former Oakland Raider Mr. Woodson bring back the Lombardi trophy to “Titletown, U.S.A.”), I thought I’d take a time out to consider what is the greatest sports anthem of all time. Being a big sports fan for all my life, and having been to a number of games it was pretty easy to narrow down the list to just a couple of tracks that would deserve to be in the top 5, but it seemed much more intriguing to consider the two songs that were at the top of the list. Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” both come from the same album, 1977′s News Of The World. They follow each other on that album and are generally played together on the radio and were also almost always performed together live. But they are two very different songs, the opening of “We Will Rock You” is one of the most ubiquitous sounds you’ll hear at a sporting event, probably multiple times, whereas “Champions” is a song that really only should be played at the end of the season. However I’m not sure there’s a more satisfying feeling that being on a sporting field having won a championship and having people spontaneously begin singing “We Are The Champions”…so what do you think, pound for pound, which song is THE greatest sports song of all time!
Here’s what I think is probably THE definitive performance of them both:
This one is connected to a post for KCRW I’ll be putting the finishing touches on next week..Each of these records represent the pinnacle of early 1970s Rock’n'Roll and all of them have gotten the reissue treatment recently. Most record critics regard Exile On Main St. (1972) as the Rolling Stones greatest album, many critics regard Raw Power (1973) as the best pre-cursor of punk and underground classic Teenage Head (1971) is a record so good that Mick Jagger himself supposedly admitted that it was better than the Stones’ own Sticky Fingers, also released in 1971.
But is it better than Exile On Main St.? What about Raw Power? Tough decision if you ask me, Teenage Head is the most consistently enjoyable listen, Exile On Main St. finds the Stones at the height of their considerable powers and Raw Power is truly a raw and powerful elemental force of a record with perhaps the best song in “Search & Destory.” So, the question is, of these three exceptional records, pound for pound, which one is the best? Let me know what you think…
I’ve been thinking alot about samples of late as I prepare a post for KCRW’s Top 5 blog on “Most Iconic Hip-Hop Samples.” If you’re gonna put together a list of important samples, you figure it would have to include at least one track from James Brown. But which one should it be? In my mind there are two JB related tracks that stand above the many songs of his that have been sampled, “The Funky Drummer” and “Think (About It)” from Lyn Collins.
Both of these tracks feature absolutely monster breaks, both have been sampled countless times, but pound for pound which of these two James Brown related cuts is the more iconic, the more important sample in Hip-Hop history?
Just in case you need to be reminded…first up is Lyn Collins “Think.” Such a classic song, from start to finish, but the breaks at 1:22 & 2:15 in the video below make it an all-timer.
Probably THE #1 song people think of when they think of the break from “Think” has to be Rob Base & DJ E.Z.Rock “It Takes Two”
Here is one of my favorite tracks that uses a different break within the same song, Slick Rick’s “I Shouldn’t Have Done It”
On the other hand we have James Brown’s “Funky Drummer,” quite possibly the most sampled song of all-time. So many different samples, from all those grunts from JB, the “1-2-3-4 Get It” call just before the drums hit (at about 5:20 in the vid below), and then there are those drums, courtesy Clyde Stubblefield…
In terms of a song that samples “Funky Drummer,” this one might be the only one to rival “It Takes Two” in universal appeal.
This track, Eric B. & Rakim’s “Lyrics of Fury,” is probably my favorite use of those massively funky drums.
I could go on and on with this for days…question is what do YOU think? Which is the more important and more iconic sample???
Here’s two bands that I’m very thankful for, though I don’t even know where I’d begin making a decision on this one…two of the most influential rock’n'roll bands to ever come out of Michigan, maybe two of the most important 60s American bands of all time. Legendary groups, legendary sounds but pound for pound…who would come out on top? The Stooges or The MC5? Let me know what you think!
Here’s some clips of both bands in their prime to help you decide.
Last week as I was driving home from doing my radio show, I was blown away by “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” the first single by the Shangri-Las. Throughout much of my life I would have unequivocally said that the Ronettes “Be My Baby” was the quintessential girl group song, by the quintessential girl group. Getting back into the catalog of both groups, I started to question that, and it seemed like the perfect match-up for pound for pound. Really this could be a three way pound for pound, Which was the best girl group, the Ronettes or the Shangri-Las? Better yet, who is the original bad girl of rock’n’roll, Ronnie Spector or Mary Weiss ? (incidentally, both still perform and record) Or, who was the better producer, Phil Spector of Shadow Morton? (more…)
Personally, I think Jeff was a better guitarist and Tim was a better songwriter, but the real question is, pound for pound between father and son, which of the legendary Buckley’s was the better singer?
With MJ’s passing I know that I’ve been revisiting a lot of his music and I’m sure many of you have as well, so this seems like an apt discussion. Pound for pound, which is REALLY Michael’s greatest record???
1979′s Off The Wall, his first record with Quincy Jones and fully away from the Motown sound, or 1982′s Thriller the highest selling record of all time? I’ll be interested to hear what you think…
Become a fan on Facebook or drop me a line with the icons below
