Hispanic Heritage Month... steady funkin’ on...I know y’all remember this hit by Foxy. Reminds me of my senior year in high school.
The leader of that Miami band – Ish Ledesma – was born in Cuba. His family got out after the Communists took over.
Ish uploaded an amusing video to YouTube where he tells the story behind “Get Off.”
Follow this link to watch, but basically... the band created that song to annoy the hell out of a club owner (in Ocean City, Md., of all places) who hated that “Oowa! Oowa!” chant, which the band was doing onstage already.
I saw the title and immediately thought of Prince. But then realized that his "Get Off" isn't that old, so won't be deserving of a "12-inch Flashback."
ReplyDeleteFoxy is new to me.
Hot number was a jam as well
ReplyDelete^ I like "Hot Number" better, actually.
ReplyDeleteHeck yeah! I've got "Get Off" AND "Hot Number" on my mp3 player!
ReplyDeleteThere were, what, five members? But, I always thought the foxy one was that guy. Don't know his name...the foxy one. :)
that was my song! freaky lyrics.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I didn't realize that the cute guy is Ish Ledesma. Never knew his name. I tried to watch the video, but the stream is choppy. :-/
ReplyDelete"Let's All Chant" had that "ooha-ooha" thing going too. :-)
^ Some enterprising cultural historian oughta investigate how some of those club chants got started -- like which cities -- and then wound up in songs.
ReplyDelete(Ish says on that YouTube video that "Oowa! Oowa!" was something crowds used to do. But he didn't say which city.)
When I was working on my oral history of P-Funk in the '90s, drummer Jerome Brailey says crowds in one city (I think Atlanta) used to chant "Do that stuff, awww do that stuff." So P-Funk built a song around it.
^In NYC we used to chant: "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire/We don't need no water, let the motherf*cker burn/Burn, motherf*cker, burn!"
ReplyDeleteDon't know how far that chant spread.
Anyway, I LIKE your club chant idea, UBM. :-D
Don't know how far that chant spread.
ReplyDeleteIt wound up in a record though, didn't it? Either a hip-hop or underground dance record?
I'm gonna ask my buddy Lorenzo about this. He has a phenomenal memory for stuff like this. Plus he used to be in a roller-skating crew.
:^)
OMG!!!!! I just woke up at a dance in freshman year. You really know how to bring back the memories.
ReplyDeleteI actually liked Whirly Girl (OXO) too.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that it was the same dude.
It wound up in a record though, didn't it? Either a hip-hop or underground dance record?
ReplyDeleteProbably. But, nothing comes to mind. :-/
^ Check it out, bklyn6.
ReplyDeleteRock Master Scott-The Roof Is On Fire and yes that chant was already happening in Canada too, prior to the song.
ReplyDeleteI think there may have been a investigation as to the origins of the crowd chant for Billy Idol's cover of Tommy James-Mony Mony, but don't think a answer has been found.
Astounding how trends were able to travel so far and quick before the dawn of the net.
Even though the Foxy is a little late in the game for me and I cringe when a crowd starts to oooh ooooh(Stacy Q is worse), I still love this track.
Thanks for the link, UBM. I went to LastFM and listened to the song. They don't start the chant until, literally, the last minute.
ReplyDeleteAnother chant I remember is "O-O-O-O-Oh!" Can't remember if we chanted this to any song, or just when Serious Intention's "You Don't Know" came on. (Chant doesn't begin until 5:57.)
:soulclap: