Stevie Wonder singing Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song.’ I figured that having my favorite artist salute my other favorite artist (they’re tied for my affections) by covering one of his most important songs was a fitting way to honor his memory. Had he lived to see today, Bob Marley would have been 65 years old.
I remember how excited I was when I first bought this CD: Song Review: Greatest Hits and heard this remake. It’s at the very end of the second CD and it’s just perfect — the perfect way to do a remake. Because I believe that if you’re going to bother, you should take the song and make it your own somehow. What’s the point in singing someone’s song exactly how they did it? This is so rich and one of best remakes of a classic of ALL TIME — though I’m admittedly biased. :)
I heard on the Today Show on Friday morning that a study showed that Louisiana was the ‘happiest’ state to live in. And after the fun I had this weekend in NOLA, I wouldn’t argue that one bit! I went to Louisiana to see BFF Jenny (excuse me — Dr. Jennifer Pinder Ellis) receive her Ph.D. from LSU!!! YAY! Sooooooo proud of you, J!
Jenny’s husband is from New Orleans and threw her a big graduation party at a great restaurant there on Friday nite.
And after a short program and a fantastic dinner, the party really got started. There was a great DJ who played line dances that I’ve never even heard of — in fact, I’m pretty sure Jen’s husband and his sister made at least 2 or 3 of those up on the spot ;) At some point we realized that some of the people from the holiday party across the corridor (where there was no DJ) were coming out into the hall to dance to the music at Jen’s party. The bartender even came to ‘notify’ us that they were mooching off our DJ ;) Tee hee ;) Continue reading ‘How to NOT miss your blessing’
I am going with my friend Jo-Ann to an old skool party tonite — which I’m pretty sure means the DJ will be spinning 80’s & 90’s classic hip hop and R&B joints and people will be wearing horrible outfits they should have thrown away years ago… Sounds like big fun, but I’d settle for a guy offering to buy me a drink…
So me and BFF’s Joie and Kellz went to a BBQ at new buds Chris and Zach’s house on the 4th. And boy did they do it up. They had kegs of whatever you wanted to drink and tons of food — they roasted an entire pig! Zach said it took from about 6am to 3pm to cook it. WOW!
We like big sunglasses.
By the time we got there, they’d already sliced up the pig. But the face and the ears were just chilling on the picnic table… Because boys think it’s funny to gross girls out. Pighead aside, it was damn tasty though. Shout to whoever made the special bbq sauce for the sandwiches. YUM! Good job guys ;)
Ugly Thrash Demon
Chris found a band made up of high school kids to perform at the BBQ. They were actually pretty good. There were just a lot of them… Think Earth Wind and Fire — except the exact opposite. Tee hee ;) Their name was Ugly Thrash Demon, but they weren’t a metal band. Because you can’t be a metal band with a ukelele. Or an accordion. Or maracas. Or a cello… Should I continue?
Oh why the hell not?… Or a trumpet.
I’m assuming the name was supposed to be ironic. And well, I think it was except I’m still not clear exactly what ironic means. I always use it wrong…
Moving on.
Zach’s parents were in town, and his mom is kinda the best — she’s southern and adorable, AND she convinced me to participate in my first ever game of beer pong. Well, kinda… I’m not a big beer drinker so the other players were nice enough to bend the rules for me… I just wanted to see if I could get the ball in the cup ;) Check out my follow through!
Thanks fellas for the invite! We had so much fun ;)
2. “King of Sorrow” - Sade (I’m crying everyone’s tears/And there inside our private war/I died the night before) Need I say more?
3. “Bruised But Not Broken” - Joss Stone (Doesn’t the title say it all?)
4. “I Told You So” - Randy Travis
5. “I Believe” - Stevie Wonder (In my version I just replace “with you” and “this time” with “next time” and it becomes a pretty hopeful song… or maybe I just love Wevie Stunder so much it doesn’t matter ;)
Well, those are my top 5. You guys have any other suggestions? I could use them right about now.
I don’t know how many of y’all would remember this theme song… Shoot, I doubt most of you even remember the show, but Damon Wayans had a TV show about 10 years ago called “Damon” and he was a detective… Yeah. The show was terrible, I’m sure it didn’t even last an entire season. But it had the best theme song ever for a TV show ever. And every now and then it pops into my head… I was trying to get my boy to remember it but he didn’t… So I dug and dug and found it online.
So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the theme song to “Damon” as voiced by the lovely and talented Ms. Erykah Badu:
You know what I mean? Christmas songs that were created for the sole purpose of pushing the artist’s latest Christmas CD. I don’t know, I guess I’m a Christmas carol purist. Oh Holy Night. The First Noel. O Come All Ye Faithful… That’s more my speed. I don’t wanna hear what “you and your baby” did by the fire on Christmas Eve. Sorry.
I get that there are only a limited number of Christmas classics and that hearing every artist do the same songs could get tired quick. But think about it… Have you ever bought a Christmas CD where the artist sang original songs that you enjoyed?…
Well, have you?
I’m just saying, you at least gotta mix it up. Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas” is — if I’m not mistaken — the best-selling Christmas album of all time.
My dad has bumped that CD every year from Thanksgiving Day thru New Years since 1994. Promise. (BTW, if you’ve seen the act lately, that bit I do about Mariah Carey and my dad’s funeral is COMPLETELY true ;) I can’t recall if there are any original Christmas songs on this album — but I do know that if there are, she had enough sense to bury them deep between “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World.” And I’m not saying that all Christmas songs need to come straight out of a church hymnal. There are plenty of secular songs that I think we can all agree are a part of The Christmas tradition. And yes I’m aware of how “secular songs” being part of the Christmas tradition sounds… Probably wasn’t the best choice of words, but you know what I mean. “The Christmas Song” is not a religious song but it’s probably the most famous one. And even the most devout, anti-Christmas-commercialism Christians tap their feet when they hear Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.”
That song can make you feel good in the middle of July.
I’m just saying I heard an awful ”Christmas” song on the radio a few minutes ago. And I don’t know who sings it, but when I find out, I’ll be sending him a very opinionated note!
OK, so I thought we’d give this another try! The first go-round was fun but I thought maybe this would be an easier entry to comment on. I’m a sucker for a great love song. Lyrics in any music are always my main focus, and this morning I was listening to the “Superfaves” playlist on my iPod and I thought it’d be cool to share some of my all-time favorite love songs with y’all, and see if you guys out there on the Internet.com had any great love songs on your iPod that you’d like to share with the rest of us. Some of the greatest music I’ve ever come across has been the result of someone else’s recommendation.
So here are a few of mine… in no particular order (except that #1 is my favorite of all time):
Nothing Can Change This Love – Sam Cooke Feels Like Home – Chantal Kreviazuk Can’t Get Over You – Maze The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra Orange Moon – Erykah Badu Heaven Must Be Like This – Ohio Players Make Me Whole – Amel Larrieux Just Call My Name – Alyson Williams He Loves Me – Jill Scott So Amazing – Luther Vandross I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will be Forever) & Golden Lady – Stevie Wonder It’s Been You – Anita Baker Never Felt This Way – Brian McKnight
Oh Eldra… Could that really be you in both of these photos? Say it ain’t so.
El DeBarge, the love of my life from like 1985 thru 1997, has been arrested yet again on drug possession charges. He’s been in trouble a lot in recent years, and I’m really hoping he can get it together and make a comeback! Hahaha… I am so kidding. Although a few years ago when he was performing at this little lounge in DC, me and a couple of my girls were super geeked to go out to see him. But we only wanted to hear the old stuff. His stuff was classic, Rhythm of the Nite, I Like it, You Wear It Well, All This Love… El DeBarge (and DeBarge as a whole) is one of those artists you don’t want to hear anything new from, because if it’s not fantastic it could taint their near-perfect discography. I feel the same way about Frankie Beverly and Maze. Just keep touring with the hits — put out another greatest hits album with the songs arranged in a different order and I’ll buy it. Just don’t go back into the studio!!!
El was clearly hopped up when we saw him… but he sounded damn good. It’s so sad to see your favorite artists go thru tough times, but then you remember they’re just normal people. Everyone has an addict relative that can’t get their stuff together. My friend Herbie does a joke about how we need to stop being outraged when athletes commit crimes and recognize that criminals sometimes have other skills. (I’m paraphrasing here… but it goes something like…) “We need to stop saying ‘I can’t believe that basketball player assaulted that woman’ and start saying ‘Wow, that rapist has a great jumpshot.’”
And it’s so true. We don’t know how long he’s been at this. I’m sure he didn’t start getting high the first night he was arrested… Perhaps we shouldn’t look at El DeBarge (or any other artist in his situation) as a singer with a substance abuse problem. Maybe we should look at him as a drug addict with a nice falsetto.
OK, so I thought we’d give this another try! The 
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