Although I'm not someone who vehemently resists change, my subconscious somehow didn't get that memo. Out of the ten songs from last month's countdown, five of them have returned for this month's list in their original form while another one has haunted me in an alternative form. Out of those six songs, the beginning of this month's cycle began with a three-horse race between Ralph Tresvant, Silk and Sherrick for pole position, but if Simone Manuel's historic accomplishment taught us nothing, the initial leaders or favorites don't always win in the end. (I know...hella dramatic.) Of course, we always have to talk about the losers. Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" greeted me ferociously one morning as I reminisced about the summer of 1990, but she didn't make it past noon. Even with Jermaine Jackson's "Two Ships" hitting me at two different points of the month, perhaps the waves from the passing ships didn't make enough of a splash in my mind. "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes harassed me at work for a day or two, but my brain may have lost love for it. Finally, discussing Babyface's brilliance on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack immediately brought Mary J. Blige's "Not Gon' Cry" to mind. However, her awkward rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "American Skin (41 Shots)" to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a promo for her upcoming series on Apple TV, The 411, may have quickly unseated one of my faves from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul from the rotation. So enough of the rambling about nonentities and on with the cut makers...
#10 PLAYA, "I'll B 2 C U" (Cheers 2 U, Def Soul, 1998). If I were to comprise a "Rave & Favorite Five" of slept-on R&B groups, then Playa would rank highly on my list, but what's interesting is I nearly didn't give the Louisville, Kentucky trio a chance. Don't get me wrong, "Don't Stop the Music" had that bounce, but it was one of my favorite songs of all time in "Cheers 2 U" which prompted to purchase their debut (and unfortunately last) release, Cheers 2 U. At a time when Timbaland was still my favorite producer in the whole wide, I felt like this album couldn't miss with him doing most of the production and it didn't disappoint Whenever I play this album, I have always enjoyed singing along with "Everybody Wanna Luv Somebody", "Together", "I-65", "Cheers 2 U" (of course), "Push", "Buggin' Over You" and "Gospel Interlude". (I know I shamelessly plugged most of album and it's supposed to be about one song. It's that good, slim.) However, I never realized until recently how much I enjoyed singing along with "I'll B 2 C U". Never mind how I sampled it for one of my old beats, which frankly sprays wack juice all over the game in hindsight; it has a bit of a pocket (understandable since Timbaland is only hours away from D.C.), great harmony, a dope concept and a catchy hook. I was honestly cheering for this song to rank higher, but trust and believe this won't be the last time a Playa song makes the countdown...
#9 SYSTEM OF A DOWN, "Psycho" (Toxicity, Columbia, 2001). After going down memory lane about this album in the August edition of "In Heavy Rotation", the energetic ebb and flow of "Psycho" apparently had a residual effect. It wasn't enough for me to play it in my car and blast it with the windows rolled down on 295 like it was 2001 all over again--or 2004 when I was actually put on to the Toxicity album during my time at Tower Records. My brain wasn't satisfied with getting to work that same day, listening to it in my headphones to tune out the barrage of distracting chatter and frequent complaining and envisioning myself in a mosh pit in lieu of a drab cubicle. Whether it was reviewing cases, going down to the bar for a quick drink or watching sports, I would randomly blurt out, "PSYCHO! GROUPIE! COCAINE! CRAZY!/Psycho, groupie, cocaine, crazy/Psycho, groupie, coke/Makes you high, makes you hide/Makes you really want to go, stop!" The worst part about it is my outbursts would be within earshot and other System of a Down fans would finish the rest of the lyrics. If you haven't realized it by now, then sharing the insanity is one of the things I do best. You're welcome...
#7 SERIOUS BEATS, "Rumble in the Chi" (Rumble in the Chi, ProdBySerious.com, 2016). Remember I said last month how my alter ego twin A.J. Throwback was struggling to write his feature for "The Inspiration Part 3"? Well, as I was going through one of the roughest months of my life, A.J.'s writing slump somehow magically disappeared into thin air and his resurgence pushed me to write more. He finally penned the second set of 16s for a 32-bar verse to a conceptual song called "O.G." he had been sitting on for over a year and also pieced together some of his wittiest lines for his verse to "King Slayers" with his homies Gladiator, Ransom Rellic and Whitefolkz, which he had the hardest time writing on the fly at the studio. However, he was determined to finish "The Inspiration Part 3" once the slump ended the most and Chicago native Serious Beats' "Rumble in the Chi" (the first of the six return entries) provided the perfect amount of...well...inspiration. Much like "The Inspiration Part 2", the timing for his completion of the final part of this trilogy couldn't have been any better because it was similarly therapeutic in helping him overcome his personal strife. Granted, I was naturally bombarded with the beat as he finished and practiced his verse ad nauseam, but when you have somebody as dope as Serious Beats on the production constantly in your ear, the repetition is certainly welcomed...
#6 RIHANNA, "Kiss It Better" (ANTI, Westbury Road/Roc Nation, 2016). Maybe it's the irresistible and edgy combination of synthesizers and guitars, somewhat reminiscent of the 80s with a modern day twist. Maybe it's the fact the production sounds like something my alter ego twin would do. Maybe it's the self-assured way Rihanna delivers her verses or the scintillating manner in which she spills her sexuality into the hook. Much like "Psycho", maybe it's as simple as listening to her ANTI album for my last edition of "In Heavy Rotation" as having another case of the residuals. Among all of these maybes, two things are for certain: 1) my prediction was correct about her returning to the countdown and 2) she was ultimately higher on the countdown this time around--by only one slot, but higher nonetheless. RiRi nearly gave the rest of the competition on the countdown a scare because she was threatening to make it a four-horse race and this is one of the few times I wanted any Rihanna song to rank higher on any of my lists. While this might be the final time "Kiss It Better" graces this page, my brain hasn't been offended by Ms. Fenty circling around the block with this joint blasting...
#5 SHERRICK, "Just Call" (Sherrick, Warner Bros., 1987). At the beginning of the month, it looked like Sherrick might be the first back-to-back #1 Stunna in "Get Out of My Brain!" history. One day in particular, I came back from taking Baby Boy Scribbler for his two-year checkup and that slap bass sound which opens up the late crooner's biggest hit wouldn't stop playing in my head. Granted, "Just Call" was duking it out heavily with two of the top three songs on this month's countdown, but that day alone nearly solidified a repeat performance. However, much like my hopes were dashed for Desiigner's "Timmy Turner" remaining the top dawg between August and September--although most of y'all are 1) mad "Timmy Turner" was on my list at all, 2) even more upset it was ever No. 1 on anybody's countdown and 3) glad it or anything by the Brooklyn "mumble rapper" fell off completely--"Just Call" unfortunately met the same fate. If anybody is as in tune with the history of my peculiar music tastes as he or she thinks, then the difference between "Timmy Turner" and "Just Call" is I don't ever mind being harassed by late 80s R&B. Don't be surprised if he becomes the first artist to make a third straight appearance next month...
#4 ANITA BAKER, "Talk to Me" (Compositions, Elektra, 1990). As the fourth consecutive resurgent track, the reasoning behind "Talk to Me" returning to the countdown is threefold. First, this song constantly makes me think of the enjoyable part of the summer of 1990 before it took a turn for the worst. (Ironically, "Vision of Love" makes me think of some of the best music from that summer as well, but she might not have made the list because it's connected to "the turn".) Second, after listening closely to her diction (or lack thereof) in the song for the intro to the September 20th edition of "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!", the songstress had me really listening to the lyrics like, "I didn't hear that before...or that...or that either! Anita Baker is making me think I need to get my hearing checked STAT!" Third and finally, in a conversation about good singers with poor enunciation skills, I mentioned the whole "hacienda" thing and had my in-laws rolling. (Granted, the alcohol we had flowing may have contributed to the hilarity a bit, but you gotta admit...that's still some funny stuff, slim.) Put it all together to slow cook in a crock pot of ingemination and I have days worth of reminiscing about being in front of Momma Scribbler's oversized entertainment center, watching BET and waiting with baited breath for this world premiere. Anita Baker can come back to my countdowns any time she well pleases...
#3 SILK, "Girl U For Me" (Lose Control, Elektra, 1992). Maybe I'm feeling super nostalgic lately and want to go back to my teenage years more than ever. Maybe I want to relive listening to the radio at night on that cherry red boombox we had in the basement of our Halley Terrace apartment. Maybe I want to be fresh over the phone like I'm thirteen. Maybe I still want to do the whole eating popcorn off of cleavage in the movie theater on the back row since it never happened with my girlfriend at the time. Maybe I've finally settled the debate regarding my favorite Silk song between "Lose Control", "If You (Lovin' Me) and the No. 3 song of this month's countdown and have decided "Girl U For Me" wins by a frog hair. Maybe this song is just that dope because 1) it's the perfect blend of romantic sentiments and sex appeal and 2) it captures the soul and the musical vibes from one of the greatest decades of R&B music of all time. No matter what the reason is, this was on my mind early and often as I played it everywhere I got the opportunity over the past month. Unlike Musiq Soulchild's "Love" last month, I had no problem keeping the windows rolled down as I blasted "Girl U For Me" as if it were the summer of '93 and sang it like I was trying to win the heart of a young lady all over again...
#2 RALPH TRESVANT, "Stone Cold Gentleman (Rizz's Interlude)" & "Do What I Gotta Do" (Ralph Tresvant, MCA, 1990). Ah, you gotta love the 80s and 90s when R&B artists made "musical strip teases" (b.k.a. interludes and reprises) you wish either would've been full-length songs or instrumentals. So when I was on YouTube looking for "Stone Cold Gentleman (Rizz's Interlude)", a few of the comments echoed something I felt for years: why wasn't "Rizz's Interlude" either a track on its own or included as the intro to "Do What I Gotta Do"? Why attach it to the end of a song to which it has no conceptual or musical connection? Don't get me wrong, "Stone Cold Gentleman" always makes me think of being in my momma's basement in the sixth grade on a Saturday afternoon while drawing; however, once I discovered "Rizz's Interlude", nothing else mattered in life after that. Link my infatuation with this minute of melodic heaven with my recent obsession with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' work from the late 80s and early 90s (see this edition of "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" for insight) and you have the makings of a song easily staying in my brain rotation for over a week. (Speaking of random, can I say how "Do What I Gotta Do" is one of the few times when I liked the album version far better than the "remix" or "single version"? Like seriously...if they didn't play the album version on the radio back in the day, then I don't know if I would've liked the song at all.) Anyway, on to the Mine That Bird who threw a monkey wrench in this three-horse race...
#1 GAIL JENSEN, GLEN A. LARSON & DAVID SOMERVILLE, "The Fall Guy (Alternate Closing Theme)" (The Fall Guy, 20th Century Fox, 1982). Back when I was rediscovering The Fall Guy in 2010, I was watching the last episode of the series, "The Bigger They Are", and heard this music in the closing credits like, "Wait a minute...I don't remember this version! I know about the country jawn, but this? This effing GOES, slim!" It immediately put me in the mind of T.J. Hooker--also one of my favorite throwback shows on the low--and reminded me of why I wholeheartedly believe the 1980s was the best decade for television. With the Glen Larsons, the Stu Phillips, the Mike Posts and Pete Carpenters of the world, the themes and scores were on another level--although these guys began sharpening their swords in the 70s--and this alternate closing is a fine example. In the end, there's one good reason why it's taken over the top spot: like last month, I've been watching a lot of Fall Guy reruns. (Because fall TV has returned with some dope new shows like Atlanta, Queen Sugar and Speechless, Colt Seavers and Fall Guy Stuntman Association have taken a backseat.) If I stayed on my original trajectory of my biannual Knight Rider marathon, then maybe a Stu Phillips or Don Peake composition would've been in this place instead. For now, I'll keep cranking to this and if you're anywhere near as enthusiastic about 80s TV show themes as I am, then you will, too...
Got a song or two or ten that have been nagging you like crazy?!?! PLEASE share some of the songs that have been on your mind lately in the comments. Don't forget to come back on November 1st for the next random edition of "Scribbler's 'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month"!!!
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