Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

Two Steps Forward Six Steps Back


How say I lacist? Hmmm, ret me latiocinate…

Hey fam, the summer continues and so does the blogging at PBS. Today’s entry is Part 1 of an interview with John Jay, the creative director of advertising giant Wieden + Kennedy.

If you didn’t know, W+K is the famous firm responsible for the Spike Lee + Michael Jordan ads that changed representations of race forever, and has been a pioneer in the globalization of hip-hop.

We’re continuing the thread about race images in the hip-hop era. Despite what you might think, John is a second-generation Chinese American of late baby boomer age, and he has a lot to say about hip-hop and images of Asian Americans. I think you’ll find this one fascinating.

On a related tip, our man Mosi Reeves sends us this link wherein Dave Kehr waxes on, but mostly off, about Charlie Chan:

In a medium founded on action, Charlie Chan remains one of the few heroic figures in American film to function proudly as an intellectual. Chan’s adventures in ratiocination were first recounted by Earl Derr Biggers in a series of six successful novels and eventually in 47 films made from 1926 to 1949 (as well as in a few parodies and semi-parodies that came after).

This courtly detective — an employee of the Honolulu Police Department on seemingly permanent leave — stands as one of the best-loved characters in American movies, a tribute above all to the warmth and gentle humor that the Swedish-born actor Warner Oland brought to the role during his 1931-to-1938 tenure as Chan…

Are the Chan films racist? Not, I think, by the standards of their time. Mr. Biggers is said to have created Chan (based on a real detective, Chang Apana, who worked for the Honolulu police) to counter the negative images of Asians being fueled by the Hearst papers’ “yellow peril” campaigns and embodied most repellently by Sax Rohmer’s sadistic “Oriental” villain, Dr. Fu Manchu.

Oh yes, we so happy to have “best-loved character” once again. We love him long time!

(Actually, we’d be dancing in the streets if it weren’t for these rickshaws. To think our clients only used to have Dr. Fu. How did they ever trust us?)

As Billy Bragg once said, still waiting for the Great Leap Forward.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Oliver’s take on F&F: Tokyo Drift, it’s worth the time.

posted by @ 2:51 pm | 1 Comment

Wednesday, June 14th, 2006

At PBS: An Interview with Reginald Hudlin of BET | PBS

Hey yall, just another thank you to my regular readers who have been checking out this June blog at PBS.org. Keep on commenting! We continue today with
an interview with Reginald Hudlin of BET, as he talks about the changes that have occurred in representations of race in the pop landscape during the hip-hop era. Check it…

posted by @ 7:20 am | 1 Comment

Tuesday, June 13th, 2006

Everyone Loves Ronaldinho


The $100 million man.

It just rolls off the tongue better than “Everyone Loves Kaka.”

SI.com asks “Any Chance For Croatia?” Uh, no. Watching Brasil is like watching the American League in the All-Star Game. Yes, my baseball jones has been complicated by World Cup fever. (The Mavs already have it.) Here’s my summer reading.

And by the way, how great are these Adidas Jose+10 ads? Part 2 is here.

posted by @ 11:30 am | 1 Comment

Monday, June 12th, 2006

Cham: "This is my real ghetto story"

Cham’s “Ghetto Story” has been banned in Jamaica. This isn’t the first time–previous releases written by Cham and the great Dave Kelly, including “Desperate Measures” and “Ghetto Pledge”, and Bounty Killer’s “Anytime” were banned during a period of pre-millennial upheaval over the Jamaican government’s gas tax.

You can see the video for “Ghetto Story” here.

Here’s the lyrics to “Ghetto Story” from Jacquie:

GHETTO STORY
(85 Riddim by Dave Kelly)

I remember those days when Hell was my home
When, mi & Mama bed was a big piece a foam
And mi never like bathe & ma hair never comb
When Mama gone a work, me guh street guh roam
I remember when Danny dem tek mi snow cone
An mek him likkle bredda dem kick up Jerome
I remember when wi visit dem wid pure big stone
An di bwoy Danny pop off sup’m weh full chrome
I remember when wi run, Fatta get him knee blown
An mi best friend Richie get two inna him dome
I remember a suh di avenue turn inna war zone
An Mikey madda fly him out caa she get a loan
But Mikey guh to foreign & guh turn Al Capone
Mek whole heap a money & sen een our own
Now a we a lock di city & that is well known
Yesterday Mikey call mi pon mi phone, Mi seh “Mikey…

Wi get di ting dem, dem outta luck now
Mi squeeze seven & di whole a dem a duck now
Wi have whole heap a extra clip caa wi nuh bruk now
Raa, raa, raa, raa!
Wi get di ting dem suh, dem afi rate wi
Caa wi a tek it to dem wicked of lately
An now di whole community a live greatly
Raa, raa, raa, raa!”

I remember bout ’80 Jamaica explode
When a Trinity & Tony Hewitt dem a run road
Dat a long before Laing dem & even Bigga Ford
When Adams dem a corporal nuh know di roadcode
I remember when wi rob di Chiney shop down di road
An rumour have it seh di Chiney man have a sword
But, wi did have a one pop weh mek outta board
Suh yuh know di next day mama pot overload

I remember when wi stick di poll clerks
An dump di ballot box pon Tivoli outskirts
An hold a plane ticket & guh chill over Turks
When mi come back a still ina di hole mi a lurks
I remember those days when informer Derks
Get one inna him face & wi nuh get nuh perks
Caa di bigga heads dem are a couple of jerks
Cuz a dem a get di money when a we mash di works (but)

Wi get di ting dem, dem outta luck now
Mi squeeze seven & di whole a dem a duck now
Wi have whole heap a extra clip caa wi nuh bruk now
Raa, raa, raa, raa!
Wi get di ting dem suh, dem afi rate wi
Caa wi a tek it to dem wicked of lately
An now di whole community a live greatly
Raa, raa, raa, raa!

Jamaica get screwed true greed & glutton
Politics manipulate & push youths button
But wi rich now, suh dem caa tell man nutt’n
Caa a we a mek, mama nyam fish & mutton
Hey, over deh suh mek mi tell unu sup’m
True mi deh a foreign now a guy kill mi cousin
Yo mi hear seh T did deh deh but him seh him wasn’t
Anytime mi fly down him a get bout dozen
(Caa)

Wi get di ting dem, dem outta luck now
Mi squeeze seven & di whole a dem a duck now
Wi have whole heap a extra clip caa wi nuh bruk now
Raa, raa, raa, raa!
Wi get di ting dem suh, dem afi rate wi
Caa wi a tek it to dem wicked of lately
An now di whole community a live greatly
Raa, raa, raa, raa!

I remember those days when Hell was my home
When, mi & Mama bed was a big piece a foam
And mi never like bathe & ma hair never comb
When Mama gone a work, me guh street guh roam
I remember when Danny dem tek mi snow cone
An mek him likkle bredda dem kick up Jerome
I remember when wi visit dem wid pure big stone
An di bwoy Danny pop off sup’m weh full chrome
I remember when wi run, Fatta get him knee blown
An mi best friend Richie get two inna him dome
I remember a suh di avenue turn inna war zone
An Mikey madda fly him out caa she get a loan
But Mikey guh to foreign & guh turn Al Capone
Mek whole heap a money & sen een our own
Now a we a lock di city & that is well known
Yesterday Mikey call mi pon mi phone, Mi seh “Mikey!”

posted by @ 8:49 am | 1 Comment

Sunday, June 11th, 2006

Damon: "We Stink"

That’s what Johnny “There’s No ‘D’ In Yankee” Damon said yesterday. Then he went out and gave up like 17 hits and an in-the-park homer (after “Steel” Damon collided with Melky “Magnet” Cabrera in left center) today. Well, you certainly stink, homeboy, all by yourself. Hey, I’m not complaining! S-W-E-E-P. 2-1 A’s for the season. Get used to it! And welcome Mike Rouse, wait to show the Small Unit…

posted by @ 4:08 pm | 0 Comments

Thursday, June 8th, 2006

The Definitive Desmond Dekker Post

Peter Scholtes does it again, placing the great Dekker against the backdrop of Jamaican history. Ample links, photos, and music!

He also revives an old National Review piece from 1977 (!) that labels punk a thoroughly conservative music. More belly laughs ensue.

posted by @ 9:05 am | 0 Comments

Tuesday, June 6th, 2006

Election Day In CA

Here’s some handy hip-hop gen voter guides:

+ The League of Pissed Off Voters Guide

+ Jane Kim’s voter guide (San Francisco-specific)

Yes on Prop 82 and Prop A!

posted by @ 8:41 am | 0 Comments

Monday, June 5th, 2006

Me On PBS.com: Hip-Hop And American Identity

Hey fam, PBS.com’s Border Talk series has given me a chance to blog on the topic of Hip-Hop and American Identity this whole month. Who knows if that was such a good idea, but hey! You get to decide.

(Apologies to the great Nelson George, BTW, because it looks like they bit your book title for the blog. Sorry for that.)

Over the next month, we’ll hear from people like Reginald Hudlin, president of entertainment at BET, and Cristina Verán, Rock Steady Crew member turned UN writer on indigenous people’s movements, and many more.

Here’s a teaser from today’s entry:

Is it strange for an Asian Pacific Islander who grew up in the suburbs of Honolulu to be writing about hip-hop? I didn’t think so.

But when I went out to promote my door-stopper of a book last year, I found out differently. Seemed like everyone wondered how someone of my background might have come to write a 500-plus page biceps-enhancer on the topic. (Thankfully, I never met the ones who didn’t think there were 500-plus pages worth of the topic.)

I mean, did they live on the same planet as me?

When I got over being so defensive, I realized that unpacking that question could actually be quite interesting…

Read it all here. And definitely comment if you feel the spirit.

posted by @ 12:39 pm | 0 Comments

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

R.I.P. Desmond Dekker


Music like dirt. For your money’s worth. Yeah!

Desmond Dekker & The Aces: Unity
Desmond Dekker: Intensified ’68
Both available on Israelites: Anthology 1963-1999
BONUS BEATS! Tanya Stephens: Power Of A Girl

The Israelite has passed. Tom Breihan already has a playlist up at the Voice. But of course he missed a bunch. 10 Desmond Dekker songs only gets you so far. Even 2 full CDs only get you so far.

So here are two more of my favorites. “Unity” is from 1967, a period that saw the the fraying of Jamaica’s post-independence euphoria into urban turmoil. Bios of Dekker note that this is the point when he recorded “Tougher Than Tough” and the “Israelites”, turning to “rude-boy themes.” Like he suddenly was getting his thug on. It’s important to note that such themes included heartfelt calls for peace like this one. Trivia: Queen Latifah lifted it for her less-memorable-than-you’d-think Top 40 hit in the late 90s. I was going to use the exuberant chorus as an epigraph at the beginning of Chapter 3, but decided it was a bit out of context. Still it remains in heavy rotation around these parts.

“Intensified” was the title given to two seminal 1979 ska collections curated by Steve Barrow, which gripped a new generation of bluebeat fans. It was also the refrain of Dekker’s lighter 1968 hit, also known as “Music Like Dirt”, which may contribute to the idea of Dekker being called “king of ska”, even though history shows his big successes didn’t come until he was doing rocksteady. By this point, the tempos had slowed a bit, the instrumental parts streamlined quite a bit from the raucous virtuosity. For years I was confused by the difference between the two, and now I know why. The post-punk neo-ska revival blurred the historical lines, kinda the same way all these wack W’burgers have forever twisted the term “electro.” Another rant for another time. Anyway, this is a fantastic song, with Desmond singing the heck out of the track.

Bonus track: this 45 from a few years back was produced by German reggae star Gentleman and voiced by the incomparable irrepressible Tanya Stephens (check for her new album this summer), and in its spirit and execution stands as a living tribute. RIP Desmond Dekker.

posted by @ 10:19 am | 2 Comments

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

The South Berkeley Guide To The Conservative Guide To Rock


Who’s Right?

Hilarious article in today’s NY Times by Ben Sisario on a guy named John Miller’s attempt to list the Top 50 Conservative Rock songs of all time. Yes, The National Review has turned into Blender, and rockism has eaten itself.

Great quote by American Dave M. in there: “What happened was my side won the culture war…once you lose that battle, you lost the war and then a different kind of battle begins: the battle over meaning.”

Of course, the music geek/South Berkeley rad in me was drawn in like a fly to a shitpile. So here’s some of the list:

50. “Stand By Your Man,” by Tammy Wynette.
Because conservative editorial wouldn’t be conservative editorial without a gratuitous Hillary dis.

49. “Abortion,” by Kid Rock.
I guess “Yodelin’ In The Valley” didn’t qualify.

38. “I Can’t Drive 55,” by Sammy Hagar.
Their comments: ‘A rocker’s objection to the nanny state.’
My comments: It’s a rocker’s objection to driving 55.

37. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” by The Band.
The National Review’s Southern strategy. What would Stephin Merritt say?

35. “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
An anti-war song, which can’t be very conservative unless you happen to be a four-star general these days, I guess. Wonder what they think of D. Boon’s version?

34. “Godzilla,” by Blue Oyster Cult.
Their comments: ‘A 1977 classic about a big green monster — and more: “History shows again and again / How nature points up the folly of men.”‘
My comments: Uh, like this list?

29. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Iron Maiden.
Their comments: ‘A heavy-metal classic inspired by a literary classic. How many other rock songs quote directly from Samuel Taylor Coleridge?’
My comments: Yes, and let’s ban all those raps inspired by that multiculti fraud Toni Morrison.

25. “The Battle of Evermore,” by Led Zeppelin.
Their comments: ‘The lyrics are straight out of Robert Plant’s Middle Earth period — there are lines about “ring wraiths” and “magic runes” — but for a song released in 1971, it’s hard to miss the Cold War metaphor: “The tyrant’s face is red.”‘
My comments: But maybe he was drinking some of that Communist vodka.

24. “Der Kommissar,” by After the Fire.
Conservatives dance! But only to really old Germanic pop songs.

23. “Brick,” by Ben Folds Five.
You guys can have this.

20. “Rock the Casbah,” by The Clash.
Give em enough rope!

18. “Cult of Personality,” by Living Colour.
The only Black group on the list. What would Stephin Merritt say?

16. “Get Over It,” by The Eagles.
You can have their entire catalog. Well, except for the opening breakbeat on “Those Shoes”.

15. “I Fought the Law,” by The Crickets.
Their comments: “The original law-and-order classic”.
My comments: Joe Strummer rolls over again.

13. “My City Was Gone,” by The Pretenders.
Their comments: ‘Virtually every conservative knows the bass line, which supplies the theme music for Limbaugh’s radio show. But the lyrics also display a Jane Jacobs sensibility against central planning and a conservative’s dissatisfaction with rapid change: “I went back to Ohio / But my pretty countryside / Had been paved down the middle / By a government that had no pride.”‘
My comments: Hmmm. This one’s interesting–because I’m sure the primary intended beneficiaries of trickle-down economics, low inflation, down-low protectionism, and sprawl–say, developers, bankers, corporate agriculture, music publishers, and the already stupendously rich would object to the lines that follow: “The farms of Ohio had been replaced by shopping malls/And Muzak filled the air/From Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls.” I hope Malcolm Foster is getting PAID off that mealy-mouthed junkie. One of only three songs on the list written or sung by a woman.

8. “Bodies,” by The Sex Pistols.
This should be the closing song at every conservative gala.

7. “Revolution,” by The Beatles.
Their comments: ‘Communism isn’t even cool: “If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao / You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow.”‘
My comments: Yup, and then after writing this, he took up with that longhair Yoko Ono and started singing about Angela Davis, John Sinclair, imagine no religion, and give peace a chance. Filthy Asians.

6. “Gloria,” by U2.
Their comments: ‘Just because a rock song is about faith doesn’t mean that it’s conservative. But what about a rock song that’s about faith and whose chorus is in Latin? That’s beautifully reactionary: “Gloria / In te domine / Gloria / Exultate.”‘
My comments: It’s fun to see people use the word ‘reactionary’ in such a positive way.

5. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” by The Beach Boys.
Their comments: ‘Pro-abstinence and pro-marriage: “Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true / Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do / We could be married / And then we’d be happy.”‘
My comments: I don’t hear the abstinence part, unless you think falsetto is inherently an anti-sexual technique. Truly, though, this song is so gay, it’s a pro-gay marriage anthem.

4. “Sweet Home Alabama,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
See #37. Also, it was an anti-Neil “Anti-War or Pro-War, Depending On The Polls” Young song. These days, I’m anti-Neil Young. Jeff’s editorial wouldn’t be Jeff’s editorial if it weren’t for a gratuitous Neil Young dis.

3. “Sympathy for the Devil,” by The Rolling Stones.
Their comments: ‘Don’t be misled by the title; this song is “The Screwtape Letters” of rock. The devil is a tempter who leans hard on moral relativism — he will try to make you think that “every cop is a criminal / And all the sinners saints.” What’s more, he is the sinister inspiration for the cruelties of Bolshevism…”‘
My comments: They could’ve admitted they chose this song for the triumphant line: “I shouted out who killed the Kennedys/When after all it was you and me.” But this argument is as big a stretch as making “Who’ll Stop The Rain?” an anti-Communist tune. It depends on the idea that the song might make you less sympathetic with the devil. Please. Most people I know who have heard this song–completely influenced by the Meters and New Orleans, and probably the best the Stones ever did–have fallen madly in love. That’s why conservatives lost the culture war, and why progressives are losing the political war now. Americans want the fuck so badly that the art of seduction is always underrated.

2. “Taxman,” by The Beatles.
I give on this one. A great song to listen to, like “Chi Chi Man” was several years ago. Then, oh shit, it means that?

1. “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by The Who.
Their comments: “The conservative movement is full of disillusioned revolutionaries; this could be their theme song, an oath that swears off naive idealism once and for all…The instantly recognizable synthesizer intro, Pete Townshend’s ringing guitar, Keith Moon’s pounding drums, and Roger Daltrey’s wailing vocals make this one of the most explosive rock anthems ever recorded — the best number by a big band, and a classic for conservatives.
My comments: Disillusioned revolutionaries love very long boring introductions…and Nissan Maximas.

posted by @ 8:23 am | 11 Comments



Previous Posts

Feed Me!

Revolutions

Word

Fiyahlinks


twitter_logo

@zentronix

Come follow me now...

Archives

We work with the Creative Commons license and exercise a "Some Rights Reserved" policy. Feel free to link, distribute, and share written material from cantstopwontstop.com for non-commercial uses.

Requests for commercial uses of any content here are welcome: come correct.

Creative Commons License