May 2010 Archives

Goodness gracious. This kind of jumping to conclusions could get a little ugly, especially when the Whitman campaign starts running TV ads without clearing the sync rights...

RedCountry.Com: "California Uber Alles and the Dead Kennedys' Coming Revival"

So today's (justly) over-hyped listicle is the "50 Greatest Hip-Hop Samples of All Time" as selected by two guys in Complex magazine.

I'm not here to quibble with the list -- it's worth your time to plow through and enjoy some slamming soul beats and a few back-stories along the way.  Instead, I was struck by hearing #10, a Kool and the Gang jam from 1969 that immediately had me scrambling for the single biggest punch-line used against me in college radio. My question: which band used this core riff first?

 

 

Kool & The Gang - Chocolate Buttermilk

 

 

Chicago Transit Authority - Beginnings

 

Seriously, spend a few hours poking through the originals and the sampled uses... a fantastic-ly old school way to start a weekend.

Yeah, if you haven't heard yet, Unrest is reuniting for a wacky set of shows in July 2010 to help celebrate TeenBeat's 26th anniversary.  All the details are right here... and I am looking into ways to catch at least a couple gigs (particularly the DC show with rotating members and one of the shows with the Ropers).

Others may have live tapes to share, and I may digitize some obscure vinyl this weekend.  But for now, I can certainly share one undignified photo from early 1993 when Unrest crashed in my dorm room after playing a show at Princeton.