ROCK Sex says, Refine the past to redefine the future.
This is the catalyst for all culture and creativity.
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In 1969, a Funky Soul group called The Winstons had a Top 10 hit with their song "Colour Him Father". The B-side was an instrumental called "Amen, Brother", and its drum solo became the basis for at least 1500 songs across the following decades!
You've heard it in everything, and you don't even know it.
Nate Harrison breaks it all down in his excellent video thesis.
"I find this quite interesting. Hundreds of tracks, dozens of DJs, a number of clubs and events, in effect an entire subculture- based on this one drumbeat. I mean, based on six seconds from 1969."
- NATE HARRISON
-"Video explains the world's most important 6-second drum loop" (2004)
(excerpt:)
"During the '80s, when DJs plundered old Jazz and R'n'B records looking for samples, HipHop music in particular and Electronic music in general were not the Pop phenomena and moneymakers we know them as today.
There seemed to be a brief few sort-of glory years back then, when the novelty of sampling and the rate at which it was being employed as a new technique proved faster than the rate at which any sort of copyright bureaucracy could maintain the law. Older bits of sampling were appropriated, perhaps under the assumption of their being able to be freely used, in the spirit of a pledge to new forms.
In other words, sampling was not seen as simply rehashing past sounds, but as an attempt to make new from something old, an artistic strategy as time-honored as creativity itself.*
Only when these Urban forms started receiving a lot of attention and making a lot of money did people and -more importantly- Corporate bigwigs who held the copyrights to much of the back catalog of contemporary American music start cracking down on copyright violation."
LADIES FIRST spotlights another classic song that 'she did first'.
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The original "What A Man" is by Southern Soul singer Linda Lyndell. It was released by the ever-wonderful Stax Records on their Volt label, and produced by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, hot off of creating all the hits of Sam And Dave.
LINDA LYNDELL -"What A Man" (1968)
It was first remade by Atlantic Records' Soul great Laura Lee, most known for "Dirty Man", "Women’s Love Rights", and "Crumbs Off The Table".
LAURA LEE -"What A Man" (1972)
The song reached its biggest fame when adapted by Rap dynamos Salt-N-Pepa, backed up perfectly by En Vogue at their peak.
What may have kicked it off is this song by Lalo Schifrin for the DIRTY HARRY (1971) soundtrack. The villain 'Scorpio' was a clear swipe of the notorious serial killer, Zodiac, who terrorized San Francisco in this period. Schifrin's score merges some Funk moments with some musique concrete firmly in the style of Ennio Morricone's thriller scores, even down to the wordless female vocal emulating his muse Edda Dell Orso.
(This song was later sampled by N.W.A.'s "Approach To Danger" and General Electric's "Facing That Void".)
LALO SCHIFRIN -"Scorpio's Theme" (1971)
At the same time, Dennis Coffey broke out with his FunkRock monster, "Scorpio", which may've been as much about Astrology as anything. Dennis had been laying down the Funk and Rock for all of Motown's psychedelic era hits, and this lit him in his own spotlight.
Dennis' song is firmly in the 'Cop Rock' style of the hip film scores from the time, merging Rock riffs, Funky rhythms, and conga percussion into a imagined car chase of the mind.
DENNIS COFFEY & The Detroit Guitar Band -"Scorpio" (1971)
The first act to respond to his killer groove was himself! This is basically a sequel theme to a movie that didn't exist.
DENNIS COFFEY & The Detroit Guitar Band -"Son Of Scorpio" (1972)
Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" was one of the secret weapons in AFRIKA BAMBAATAA's arsenal of groovy breaks in the dawn of HipHop. As if the scratch guitar and horn blasts weren't enough, it had that ferocious drum and bass throwdown in the middle for two minutes. A new generation soon heard it spliced into club mixes everywhere they danced.
Vibing off that but going the Kraftwerk route with their own jam, here's the original HipHop cutmaster and crew to spin some ElectroFunk.
GRANDMASTER FLASH & The Furious Five -"Scorpio" (1982)
The unparalleled architects of sample assault, Public Enemy, use Coffey's beat almost subliminally in this classic...
PUBLIC ENEMY -"Night Of The Living Baseheads" (1988)
With bass chops from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, here's Marvin Young with one of the biggest breakthroughs into the mainstream that Rap had ever had.
YOUNG MC -"Bust A Move" (1989)
Much more explicitly, here's Coffey's song as the basis of one of LL's standards...
LL COOL J -"Jingling Baby" (1990)
Taking an almost Ambient approach is this take on Coffey by Moby.
MOBY -"Mobility" (1990)
Though not as widely sliced as the evergreen Beat "Apache", this groove continues to be re-dug: West Coast All-Stars' "We're All In The Same Gang", Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth's ("Keep It Flowing"), and The Fugees' "The Score", among others.
This is a culture relay where one song ends up very different on the other end, splicing with others through various styles.
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"It takes two to make a thing go right /
It takes two to make it out of sight!"
Let's put our mental mettle to the pedal.
"Think" was first done by The "5" Royales in 1957. (The "5" was a joke because there were actually six of them.)
Typically, this Rock'n'Roll band was catagorized/segregrated as R'n'B because they were all black, but Lowman Pauling's fiery guitar leads tell the real tale. Just check out his driving and stinging leads in songs like "Say It", "Slummer The Slum", and "Messin Up". Steve Cropper of Booker T And The MGs sure did, and he credits Pauling as the main man who inspired him to take up guitar.
THE "5" ROYALES -"Think" (1957)
Another label mate of The Royales at King Records was the young James Brown. James' remake of the song completely transformed it, revving the tempo and intensifying the shuffle into a precision tap workout. This rhythmic lockstep of syncopation became the first blueprint of the Funk to come later on.
JAMES BROWN -"Think" (1960)
James' version is so definitive, it is routinely thought of as his song.
In the mid-'60s, Marvin Gaye had a run of classic duets such as "It Takes Two", with Kim Weston. Soon after, he made the best duets ever with Tammi Terrell, who was a former protege of James Brown.
MARVIN GAYE And KIM WESTON -"It Takes Two" (1966)
Never one to be left out of the action, James re-remade "Think" as a duet with new ingenue Vicki Anderson in this slinky revamp. Notice how Vicki's tough repeats of the title will anticipate the next song.
JAMES BROWN And VICKI ANDERSON -"Think" (1967)
Then things start to intersect.
James' new diva, LYN COLLINS The Female Preacher, made a different song called "Think (About It)". It takes the sentiment of the original "Think" and puts a female empowerment upgrade on it, while calling up Marvin And Kim's "It Takes Two" in the bridge.
After the 30 second intro, you'll recognize it immediately as one of the most sampled songs in HipHop history.
LYN COLLINS -"Think (About It)" (1972)
The first Rapper to sample it was Roxanne Shante, but this song a few months later stole the show on that, using whole sections of it in one of the biggest breakthrough Rap hits ever.
ROB BASE & DJ E Z ROCK -"It Takes Two" (1988)
MTV was, as was their conservative custom, skittish about Rap music in the '80s. It had barely played any black acts at all in its first two years, despite angry pressure from artists like David Bowie. They finally caved in when the monster successes of Michael Jackson and Prince forced their hand.
Though hit singles by RUN-DMC and The Beastie Boys brought Rap into the radio mainstream by 1986, more political acts like Public Enemy still scared the video network. It was the parallel outbreak of HipHop acts with intensely dancable tracks based on samples that turned the tide, such as MC Hammer, Tone Loc, and Young MC. Bending to the changing wind, in 1988 MTV alotted 30 minutes to "Yo! MTV Raps". It became the biggest hit show they had ever had.
(The other) Doctor Dré, Fab 5 Freddy, and Ed Lover
Rap became a dominant part of the mainstream for the next three decades. Nowadays every dance-pop hit by anyone is a child of that breakthrough. But as usual, synthesis and mutation is the creative path that got us here. It transcends all imposed barriers.
The song "I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" was first done by The Ikettes, the back-up singers for Ike & Tina Turner. Fronted by the powerful belting of Dolores Johnson, this single was meant to expand the Turner brand into the market.
THE IKETTES -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1962)
Here's ingenue Sylvie Vartan blasting it out in French. SYLVIE VARTAN -"Gong Gong" (1962)
Here's a refreshingly genderless take shortly thereafter...
THE NEWBEATS -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1964)
It was rewritten by this Garage band who all met serving on a US military base in West Germany.
THE MONKS -"We Do Wie Du" (1966)
True to form, The Shangri-Las bring moody production and their underrated Soul to it.
THE SHANGRI-LAS -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1966)
Mexico brings new resonance with this hip version.
THE ROCKIN' DEVILS -"La Pequeña Marilú" (1969)
The Shangri-Las version was sampled in this massive HipHop hit.
SALT-n-PEPA -"Shoop" (1993)
The original was featured int John Waters' HAIRSPRAY (1988), but it got its biggest fame blasted out Garage Rock style by The 5.6.7.8.S in their showstopping preformance in the film KILL BILL, Vol. 1.
Today's culture relay is about the classic Surf rocker "Misirlou".
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The song originates from Greece in the 1920s as "Misirlou", first performed by MICHALIS PATRINOS' band and then recorded in 1930. He then did a New York recording the next year. It quickly became a standard within the Greek, Turkish, and Arabic immigrant communities in America.
Wikipedia informs us that "the Greek word Misirlou refers specifically to a Muslim Egyptian woman (as opposed to a Christian Egyptiotissa); thus this song refers to a cross-faith, cross-race, relationship, a risqué subject at its time." That makes the song even better.
MIKE PATRINOS -"Misirlou" (1930)
Here's a terrific overview of ensuing versions compiled by Joe Graziosi on YouTube:
Includes:
• TETOS DEMITRIADIS (1940)
• MARIA KARELLA-ROUMEL ('41)
• DIMITRIS 'BEBIS' STERGIOU ('62)
• DEMETRIOS PAPPAS & The Amphion Choir ('60)
• GUS VALI ('60)
• HRACH YACOUBIAN ('61) -"Misirlou"
KORLA PANDIT, the organ maestro and early television pioneer, did an amazing version. Watch him give Grandmaster Flash and Jimmy Smith a run for their money with his deft moves at 1:14:
KORLA PANDIT -"Misirlou" (1951)
And then of course there is the champion. DICK DALE was familiar with "Misirlou" from his Lebanese family members, and when a fan dared him to play a song on one string, Dick unleashed this tsunami:
DICK DALE & The Del Tones -"Miserlou" (1962)
Catching the wave, The Beach Boys released a Dale-inspired cover. The session work is by 'Wrecking Crew' stalwarts, an informal gathering of the L.A. studio sessionists that at times included guitarist Glen Cambell, pianist Leon Russell, bassist Carol Kaye, and drummer Hal Blaine:
But Surf fans love his ferocious live take on "Misirlou", especially the freeform climax.
BOBBY FULLER FOUR -"Misirlou" (1964)
If you want to sing along, here's a really fun vocal version by Connie Francis!
CONNIE FRANCIS --"Misirlou" (1965)
Surf ferocity energized much of Punk, particularly in Los Angeles, as proven by this cover version.
AGENT ORANGE -"Misirlou" (1982)
And of course the song was catapulted to world fame by its use in the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino's film PULP FICTION.
Tarantino equated the mediterranean melody and stinging Surf of Dale's version with the Spaghetti Western soundtracks of Ennio Morricone, such as THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. In truth, the Surf songs with international riffs had inspired Ennio's approach to Westerns in the first place.
Opening Scene: PULP FICTION (1994)
A sample of this rode another wave in HipHop Pop.
BLACK EYE PEAS -"Pump It" (2006)
"My Miserlou, has lit a flame in my heart,
Your two lips are dripping honey, ah!"
*(The Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)
Featuring:
Julie London, Elvis, LaVern Baker,
Ella Fitzgerald, Ramsey Lewis, John Coltrane,
The Everly Brothers, Aretha Franklin,
The Ronettes, The Surfaris, The Beach Boys,
Jimmy Smith, The Sonics, Stevie Wonder,
Booker T & The MGs, James Brown, The Who,
Isaac Hayes, Jimi Hendrix, Donny Hathaway,
The Temptations, John Lennon and Yoko Ono,
Laura Nyro, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Cash,
Big Star, David Bowie, The Damned,
Kurtis Blow, Fear, Al Green,
Monty Python's Flying Circus, Queen,
Prince, Fishbone, Run DMC, The Bangles,
U2, Los Lobos, Ramones, El Vez,
Luscious Jackson, The Fall, Reigning Sound,
The Flaming Lips, William "Bootsy" Collins,
The Smithereens, The Hives, Bob Dylan,
Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, 45 Grave,
Jeff Buckley, The Black Keys,
and many more!
ROCK Sex is all about the throughline that runs through everything.
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Chic conquered Disco with a tight propulsive rhythm section [Bernard Edwards (b), Tony Thompson (d), and Nile Rodgers (g)] and bright pop harmonies (Norma Jean Wright, Luci Martin)...
CHIC -"Good Times" (1979)
Sugar Hill Records used that as the backbeat for THE breakthrough Rap song emceed by The Sugarhill Gang. The music was played by Keith Leblanc (d), Skip McDonald (g), and Doug Wimbish (b), who went on to become the avant-Funk group Tackhead.
SUGARHILL GANG -"Rapper's Delight" (1979)
Freddie Mercury loved that hard beat and the emerging HipHop so much that he corraled Queen into one of the biggest hits they ever had...
QUEEN -"Another One Bites the Dust" (1980)
Defunkt came out of the NYC PostPunk scene, with an edgy mix of James Brown rhythms, Sonny Sharrock guitar, and Charles Bukowski-esque lyrics. This acerbic deconstruction of "Good Times" contrasts prostitution and addiction against the Reagan whitewash of the American Dream.
DEFUNKT -"In the Good Times" (1981)
And here's that rhythm again in this dance club hit by Ting Tings from England.
TING TINGS -"Shut Up and Let Me Go" (2008)
"I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, ah you don't stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat!"
Me'Shell Ndegeocello is a monster bassist, underrated singer, and passionate activist. She injected some serious organic Funk into the '90s with her gutsy debut hit:
ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO -"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) (1994)
Her sound and politics hearkens back to the original early '70s Funk. Here's one of her inspirations, the evergreen BILL WITHERS:
BILL WITHERS -"Who Is He and What Is He To You?" (1972)
Me'shell paid tribute to this by covering it with back-up from Billy Preston and Wendy And Lisa:
ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO -"Who Is He and What Is He To You?" (1996)
Me'shell's take on that song clearly opened up the possibilities of the sexual playing field. Soon after, the rapper Queen Pen extended that in this clever rethink of "If That Was Your Boyfriend", with able assist from Me'shell herself, challenging phobic attitudes about love and lust:
QUEEN PEN, with ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO -"GIRLFRIEND" (1997)
The taunting chorus is based on the nyah-nyah singsong of children. That same rhythm was used by Sly And The Family Stone in "Everyday People":
"...and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-doo-bee!"
Here's a great track from the soundtrack of the Italian Western, PREPARATI LA BARA! (a.k.a., Django, Prepare a Coffin), in the fine style of Ennio Morricone and the Italian Western sound:
GIANFRANCO AND GIAN PIERO REVERBERI -"Nel Cimitero Di Tucson" (1968)
And, here's Danger Mouse and CeeLo Green using the melody from that score as a basis for this monster hit:
Creativity is one person who sparks another person who sparks another. This has no boundaries and unites us. Here's a music relay chain that proves it using the classic "Killing Me Softly".
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Folk singer Don McLean had a massive breakthrough in 1971 with his epic "American Pie". This song sold hugely because it chronicled the pop history and emotional arc of its generation.
On a microcosmic level, another song from that album would have the same effect more stealthily. Here's Don's confessional break-up song, "Empty Chairs", done in a reflective Renaissance folk style:
DON McLEAN -"Empty Chairs" (1971)
Folk compatriot Lori Lieberman was so personally moved by seeing him perform this that she wrote a song called "Killing Me Softly With His Blues". After she described how deeply the song had touched her to Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, they wrote the lyrics for what she first recorded in 1972:
LORI LIEBERMAN -"Killing Me Softly" (1972)
Soul singer Roberta Flack loved all forms of music; she had previously broken big with a cover of Ewan MacColl's folk song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", which she put a brilliant spin on. She brought similar magic to this song, such as in the angelic chorales, which became a classic standard forever associated with her:
ROBERTA FLACK -"Killing Me Softly" (1973)
The HipHop group The Fugees were a musical double-threat with multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean and vocalist Lauryn Hill. Lauryn's voice was often compared to the timber of Roberta's, and it should have been no surprise when the group blew up with their update:
THE FUGEES -"Killing Me Softly" (1996)
"Telling my whole life with his words/
Killing me softly with his song"
"Liberation for all. Everything must be rethought." ______________
Two great things hybrid a third great thing. ROCK SEX is a metaphor for the creative connections that link our shared culture together. This Pop Culture hub explores the roots and branches of Music, Film, Art, Comics, and more. _______________
Rock'n'Soul music is a baton relayed by everyone. Learn the holistic history with the most advanced Music Playlists online!:
BLUES, MAMBO, JAZZ, ROCKABILLY, SURF, BEAT, SOUL, GARAGE, PSYCHEDELIA, FUNK, GLAM, PUNK, NEW WAVE, HIPHOP, POSTPUNK, GRUNGE, RIOT GRRRL, ELECTRO, next! _______________
This is our party and everyone is invited!
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