Recently, some obviously crazy dudes asked me to sing in their band. I was honored, but it’s a little known fact that I hate doing lead vocals and writing lyrics. The super trooper lights of being center stage don’t do shit except blind me. I really enjoy being off to the side, with an instrument in hand, and supplying all the necessary hoots and howls. I play an online game called League Of Legends and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my favorite role is ‘support’. With all that said, I don’t like to shrink away from challenges so I accepted the offer. Along with not shrinking away from challenges, I also don’t like to do a bad job. Too many times people have to suffer through some egomaniac lead singer throwing a temper tantrum. A lot of times people will actually sit through it and like it. That’s just not who I am. I feel that even with the lights out and it being less dangerous, the people are saying, “Here we are! ENTERTAIN US, MOTHERFUCKER!” Real entertainment requires real effort, so I decided my first order of business was to look at some footage of lead singers doing their thing. As I went through YouTube video after video of wonderful live performances, I realized that in honor of Black/Blackout History Month it would be fitting to make a playlist showcasing African-Americans. This is where the strings/hard part comes in…
With traditional music videos, it’s fairly easy to find an upload with both great audio and visual quality. Live performances are a totally different bag. There are a lot of videos with bad audio and shaky video. It’s like skimming through a whole bunch of soft focus self-shots on Instagram with a buzzy guitar blaring at you. Unfortunately, the pain didn’t end there. As I started finding some good videos, I noticed that they weren’t fitting neatly into a theme and I had way more videos than I needed. Revisiting the theme of not backing down from a challenge, I decided to do something unprecedented in this blog’s long illustrious history. TWO MOTHERFUCKING PLAYLISTS, BRUH.
Blue Note Records put out these great double disc compilations with fantastic titles like ‘Saturday Night/Sunday Morning’. The ‘Saturday Night’ disc would feature party songs and the ‘Sunday Morning’ would have some nice background music for you to get your lover some aspirin to. I wanted to do something similar so I made ‘Live Wire’ and ‘Live Is Life’. If you recognize those song titles, good for you. They vaguely have something to do with the composition of these lists.
The first playlist I made fast and exciting like its namesake “Live Wire”. To ‘S’ my own ‘D’ for a second, I think this playlist is the best yet. It transitions almost seamlessly, has some hidden gems, and most importantly goes hard in the motherfuckin’ paint. It starts out with some of the best dance moves ever seen (James Brown “The Payback”), has a sexual synth solo on a Moog Liberation (Kool & The Gang “Get Down On It”), and ends with one of the dirtiest songs I’ve ever heard (Marvin Sease “Candy Licker”). I recommend checking out the original version of “Candy Licker” so you can truly appreciate what a wild dude Marvin is. His schtick is DTMFA (Dump The Motherfucker Already) and call me up for oral sex. Obviously, I couldn’t include that in a playlist with Nina Simone and Dinah Washington. Although, I did put Bootsy Collins in the mix with those classy ladies.
The second playlist “Live Is Life” is also pretty good, but much more subdued in its tone. It’s more likely to give you goosebumps than those unexplained Valtrex-controlled ones. The musical genres are also more varied, but what they share in common are powerful statements about the lives we lead and emotions that come along with that. James Brown’s “Sunny” video is a little hard to see, but the performance is amazing even though it mostly looks like loose silhouettes. Funk connoisseurs will notice that Rick James’ “Big Day” is included. It’s easily his best ballad and unfortunately you can only hear it on the ‘Superfreak 1982’ DVD. If there’s one video you watch in this playlist, watch that one. Lastly, all you 90s enthusiasts will really appreciate D’Angelo “Lady” Live on the Chris Rock show. It might make you cream your JNCO jeans. Alright, nerds.
Here’s the beef…
Live Wire
1. James Brown “The Payback”
2. Sly & The Family Stone “Dance To The Music”
3. Billy Preston & Ray Charles “Double O Soul”
4. Arthur Conley “Sweet Soul Music”
5. Ohio Players “Skin Tight”
6. Earth, Wind, & Fire “Evil”
7. Isley Brothers “Who’s That Lady?”
8. Kool & The Gang “Get Down On It”
9. Bobby Womack & Peace “Lookin’ For A Love”
10. Marvin Sease “Candy Licker”
Live Is Life
1. Howlin’ Wolf “How Many More Years”
2. D’Angelo featuring Spanky, Saadiq, Ali Shaheed, and ?uestlove “Lady”
3. Dinah Washington “All Of Me”
4. Ella & Duke “Satin Doll”
5. Lightnin’ Hopkins “Lonesome Road”
6. Nina Simone “Ain’t Got No, I Got Life”
7. James Brown “Sunny”
8. Bootsy Collins “I’d Rather Be With You”
9. Rick James “Big Day”
10. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly “Joy & Pain”
11. Lenny Williams “‘Cause I Love You”
mixed emotions. 