I thank my friend Susie for pointing me to this YouTube video by singer Mark Stewart, a.k.a. Stew. The song is “Black Men Ski.” It’s a bone-dry satire about racial stereotypes.
Stew earned a rep in L.A. with his rock band, The Negro Problem. Nowadays he seems to be focused on theatrical and cabaret-style writings and performance. Hey, whatever it takes...
As for this vidclip, please suffer through the cryptic commercial at the beginning.
"Black Men Ski" sort of has this "Chocolate Rain" thing about it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the "Walden Pond" reference and the pun on Thoreau when Stew goes something like: "The cleansing blood of Jesus, but he couldn't do a thorough job."
Speaking of racially evocative band names, earlier today I came across a band called "Bigger Thomas." How can you NOT think about "Native Son" when you hear it?
the Times or some such paper did a piece on him fairly recently I want to say
ReplyDeleteI saw The Negro Problem several times back in the day and they were fantastic. Not as fond of Stew's solo work, though.
ReplyDeleteIn my fantasy world, I own a cabaret where I book acts like this.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, in my first job out of law school, I got this guy Super Bowl tickets through my best high school buddy who was an NFL player.
ReplyDeleteA few months later, this guy organized a ski trip and didn't invite me. When he was confronted on his ingratitude his no-sh*t answer was "I didn't think Puerto Ricans would be interested in skiing."
Brought back memories, UBM.
^ When he was confronted on his ingratitude his no-sh*t answer was "I didn't think Puerto Ricans would be interested in skiing."
ReplyDeleteWhat did he think you were, Mexican? ;^)
I sure hope he expressed his gratitude some other way, eventually.
Hey, man, this here Mexican skis (not well, but still). Of course, since I'm only half-Mexican, maybe I don't count.
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