Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It’s a small world when you got a big dick.

I haven’t had much to say about the Tiger Woods sex scandal. I thought it was pretty boring from jump street.

(Yes, I want to see Tiger continue to destroy opponents on the golf course. But I don’t give damn if he keeps his endorsement deal with Gatorade.)

Now guess what? One of the women claiming she had sex with Tiger Woods... is somebody I’ve blogged about before!

She’s Holly Sampson. Remember that name?

I blogged about Holly Sampson in January 2009 in a post titled “Before They Were Porn Stars.” (One of my personal favorite posts of all time.)

According to Us magazine, Holly Sampson wants to make a parody porn video based on her one-night stand with Tiger.

Ain’t that a mess?

Tuesday 12-inch Flashback: ‘The Groove Line’

I like the thought of songwriters getting rich. Rod Temperton, an Englishman, wrote his first hit records – including this one – when he was in the funk band Heatwave.

Then he fell in tight with Quincy Jones and wrote such tunes as “Stomp!” (for the Brothers Johnson), “Give Me the Night” (for George Benson), “The Dude” and “Razzamatazz” (for Q himself), and “Rock With You,” “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” for Michael Jackson.

No surprise that Mr. Temperton reportedly owns homes in L.A., France, Switzerland and Fiji.

Monday, December 14, 2009

A free Dwayne Dopsie download

Dwayne Dopsie, youngest son of the zydeco legend Rockin’ Dopsie, has a new album out. It’s called “Up In Flames.”

Click here to hear “Better Go Get It” on my Vox blog. To download a FREE MP3, click the song title below.

“Better Go Get It” (MP3)
Album available at iTunes Music Store

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Saturday morning cartoon

Friday, December 11, 2009

Random blackness

Thursday, December 10, 2009

My Tiger Woods joke

Q: What’s the most annoying thing about having sex with Tiger Woods?

A: The guy who keeps yelling “GET IN THE HOLE!!”

A star is born

I like those Best Buy commercials with the Christmas carolers. Aren’t those cute?

One caroler in particular I really dig. And I bet you know which one I mean. She just pops off the screen every time.

Ladies and gentlemen... meet Valerie DeAngelo:

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Random blackness

Not so random, actually.

This 12-minute movie from the early ’60s – produced by the U.S. government for foreign audiences – will give you a taste of why I’m in New Orleans right now, working on “Treme.”

The decayed condition of the film print only adds to its dream-like quality. Fabulous jazz-funeral footage at the end.

And I didn’t even know who Kid Sheik Cola was.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tuesday 12-inch Flashback: ‘Funkytown’

Twenty-one years ago, I visited Minneapolis to report on the music scene there. Met a popular nightclub singer named Cynthia Johnson. She gave a great interview.

Ms. Johnson had been the lead singer of a local funk band called Flyte Tyme... which used to compete directly with Prince’s local funk band, Grand Central.

Flyte Tyme included “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Terry Lewis and Jellybean Johnson, while Grand Central included Morris Day and the artist soon to be known as AndrĂ© Cymone. (How’s that for a couple of high-school bands?)

Look at the photo above. That’s Cynthia Johnson fronting Flyte Tyme... with Terry, Jellybean and Sue Ann Carwell in the background. (Remember Sue Ann?)

Irony of the story is... in 1980, Cynthia Johnson was a bigger deal in the music business than Jimmy & Terry, Morris Day and AndrĂ© Cymone put together. Because she was the voice on the international smash-hit disco record “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Random whiteness

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Coming attraction: ‘Death at a Funeral’

Hat-tip: Shadow and Act.

A free Ronnie Dyson download

I dig Ronnie Dyson for two of his early-’70s hits: “(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You” and “One Man Band.” But he recorded a lot of good soul music that I’m just catching up to.

This includes, to my surprise, the original version of “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely”... a song I hailed in a recent post about Cuba Gooding, Sr. (Check out Dyson’s rendition by clicking here.)

Underground beatmaster DJ Spinna has resurrected a 1983 Ronnie Dyson club track for his new compilation album, “The Boogie Back,” which drops on Tuesday. The track is available right now as a FREE MP3.

Click here to hear “All Over Your Face” on my Vox blog. To download it, follow this link to Amazon.com.

“All Over Your Face” was the last Ronnie Dyson single to reach the Billboard R&B chart. The singer died in 1990 at the age of 40. He was a huge talent and didn’t get his due.