Scribbler's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown of the Month (July 2016)

Poor The Last Dragon soundtrack. You did your best to stay in my consciousness.  I wrote a solid post about your movie and constantly had you on my mind because, like The Last Dragon itself, you're pretty friggin' awesome.  You had a firm leg up on such competition as Miki Howard's "Baby, Be Mine"--which was only holding on until recently because of the TV One movie, Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story--by having not one but two songs stuck in my brain: Willie Hutch's "The Glow" and DeBarge's "Rhythm of the Night".  In the end, however, you got beat out by party records, indie artists, originals and remakes, Philly soul and children's songs.  This was your best shot to make this countdown, but you blew it.  Maybe if I watch The Last Dragon again sometime soon, then you'll make the cut.  Okay...so now that I've effectively dragged a soundtrack as if it were a real person--yes, I'm a bit touched--let's get to the songs that harassed me even more...

#10 PUBLIC ENEMY, "Fight the Power" (Do the Right Thing Soundtrack, Motown, 1989).  If it were up to me, "Fight the Power" would be on the countdown every month.  What I wouldn't have given to be in Brooklyn when Spike Lee shot this video and to be a part of the Black pride energy of the late 80s and early 90s, particularly spearheaded by hip hop groups like Public Enemy.  The million dollar question, however, is how did this make the countdown?  So while moonlighting as a DJ and preparing for an upcoming birthday party with an 80s vs. 90s theme, I was trying to figure out what I was going to wear.  I considered going for either a Kid 'n Play/House Party-inspired look or, after watching a good episode of Unsung, bring about a resurgence of the Kwame-pioneered polka dots.  For a split second, I saw a guy walk down the street in an all-white suit and thought Rico Tubbs from Miami Vice, but I quickly decided against that because I know I'd never wear it again.  Hence, after much deliberation, I decided to stay true to who I am, keep it hip hop and go with a classic style inspired by one of my favorite hip hop groups of all time as well as my favorite filmmaker of all time.  Naturally, my mind went to Do the Right Thing and couldn't escape the infectious clutches of "Fight the Power".  If I weren't on a bus right now as I write this, then I'd probably find Radio Raheem's boombox, turn it up full blast and bust out my best Flavor Flav moves.  Speaking of Brooklyn and empowering music...

#9 PATH P, "The Outside" (Indigo, PATH P Music, 2016).  So if you read last week's Black Music Month edition of "In Heavy Rotation", then you already know a lil' sumthin' sumthin' about this brother right here.  Since his debut album, LifeInTheRealestHue, PATH P has made a living off of not only making music that challenges and ignites the listener, but having those one or two songs that really stick with you.  On his Indigo album, "Gone" could've easily made this list based on the hook alone, but "The Outside" was the one that I couldn't get out of my head for days.  It's one of my favorite beats by producer Thre3 and P lyrically delivers per his usual in the verses, but the message in the hook is what remained with me the most:

When looking from the outside/Trying to find where I went wrong/Found the things that I believed/Were holding me back for so long/Then I changed my vision/I see different/Now those chains are gone/When looking from the outside/Now I can move on...

When you've only listened to a song a few times and don't have to play it out loud in order to frequently hear it as clear as day, that's when you're doing something right as an artist...

#8 D.R.A.M., "Cha Cha" (#1 Epic EP, #1EpicCheck LLC/EMPIRE, 2015).  So about that party that I mentioned...there always has to be a bit of new music no matter what the theme is because we live in the here and now.  When the soon-to-be birthday girl sent me the playlist, "Cha Cha" was on it and proceeded to roll around my brain for at least an entire day.  I mean, come on...any song that samples Koji Kondo's "Star World" from Super Mario World has "indelible" written all over it.  Granted, D.R.A.M., short for "Does.Real.A--.Music," doesn't necessarily sing down the house, but his vocals work for the spirit of the song, the beat knocks like the ATF, the hook is exceptionally catchy and the overall song is just so playful and energetic.  Now what third favorite blogger of yours does that last part sound like?!?!

#7 TLC, "What About Your Friends" (Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip, LaFace, 1992).  Keeping with the theme of this same party, I hadn't thought of "What About Your Friends" in years until having to organize the playlist and I honestly forgot how much it cranks.  Reminds me of being in the basement of our Halley Terrace apartment, watching BET and TLC was absolutely dominating the airwaves in 1992.  I couldn't even say that I had a clear-cut favorite TLC song at the time, but this could've been in the running before 1994's CrazySexyCool and my immediate love affair with "Red Light Special".  I just love how Dallas Austin started this beat off so smooth before bringing in those booming drums paired with TLC doing what TLC did best by playing to each of their strengths as a trio, not overdoing it and working in concert with each other to make a classic hit.  What makes this song particularly interesting is how songs of this era snuck in several elements that only a keen ear can pick up, and I never really paid attention James Brown's  frequently-sampled "Blues and Pants"--think The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Just Playin' (Dreams)"--gallivanting all throughout this beat.  Now I stand a chance of either the Godfather of Soul or the King of New York being brain squatters next month.  Thanks, TLC...

#6 MIDNIGHT STAR, "Slow Jam" (No Parking on the Dance Floor, S.O.L.A.R., 1983).  While Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm" is a huge amount of the reason why WHUR's The Original Quiet Storm and other "quiet storm" shows and formats exist, Midnight Storm firmly placed the term "slow jam" in urban consciousness.  From a personal perspective, three things make this one of my favorites as well as explain my most recent obsession.  First, my initial recollection was riding around with my mom and dad through Oxon Hill around 7 o'clock on what I recall being a beautiful summer evening as this song played and stuck with me for the next 30-plus years.  Second, radio/TV personality Alvin Jones hosted a show on WKYS called "The Slow Jam" at 7 o'clock and, naturally, "Slow Jam" was the theme song.  On many evenings, the sun would peer through our basement window and light up our bedroom as Jones would take his cue from Midnight Star and "play another slow jam".  Third, I put together a four-part evening mix of 80s and 90s music two years ago and "Slow Jam" led off what I called "the 7 o'clock mix" because I have always connected the song with sunset on a spring or summer evening.  Thus, when I took a walk around 7 o'clock on a gorgeous evening a few weeks ago, "Slow Jam" was the first song that popped into my head.  So yeah...the attachment is real.  Now for its successor...

#5 USHER AND MONICA, "Slow Jam" (My Way, LaFace, 1997).  When we got copies of Usher's My Way album, many of us music aficionados were not only excited to see a remake of "Slow Jam", but that he was doing it with one of my 90s TV girlfriends and his '95 prom date, Monica.  (LINER NOTES FANATIC ALERT: the added bonus for me was that Babyface, writer of Midnight Star's original version, produced the remake.  Talk about winning twice.)  When OG Buddy of the Blog Country brought me on with him and our homegirl from D.C. for a slow jam radio show, The Midnight Storm, this got quite a few spins.  However, once the fanfare of My Way died down, so did my momentary infatuation with Usher and Monica's remake.  Honestly, I probably hadn't listened to their version in 18 years and frankly had no desire to because it wasn't the original.  Imagine my surprise when timing and weather triggered my memories of Midnight Star's version, but Usher and Monica's version came to and was oddly on my mind just a wee bit more.  Although I have no problem being taken back to a time when Big Dadi and Momma Scribbler were still together, anything that transports me back to the best four years of my life is even better...

#4 JOHAN VANDEN EEDE, GERT VERHULST, HANS BOURLON, ALAIN VANDE PUTTE AND LOTTE HEUTEN, "Maya the Bee Opening Song" (Maya the Bee, Studio 100 Publishing BVBA, 2012).  Now the real fun begins, ladies and gents, and blame Baby Boy Scribbler for this one.  Granted, compared to Ruff-Ruff, Tweet & Dave, Peg + Cat, Caillou and Dinosaur Train, the reboot of Maya the Bee pales in comparison for the young shuffler.  However, because we flip between PBS Kids and Sprout, this is bound to be on the TV at some point and this opening song made its way into my brain.  It's funny that the lyrics include the words "morning dew" because that's exactly what this gives me: a bright, sunny, really happy, borderline sappy good morning.  There's more to it though...so the way that my brain is set up, it's a randomly interwoven web of memories and ideas.  In this case, the Maya the Bee opening somehow recalled and/or connected me to two things: 1) an obscure memory of being at my maternal grandmother's house in Southeast D.C. and watching Ryan's Hope with her; and 2) a weird idea that I had for an audio commercial "bumper" for my still unrecorded debut album based off of the theme to Ryan's Hope as well as my tentative album cover.  In both instances, they both remind me of sunny skies, butterflies, green pastures and, of course, morning dew just like Maya the Bee.  (By the way, I feel you judging every bit of my life through your computer screen and I honesty can't blame you; I go around singing theme songs to my son's cartoons and not even the best ones.)

#3 THE FUTURES, "Deep Inside of Me," and #2 THE FUTURES, "Ain't No Time fa Nothing" (Past, Present and The Futures, Philadelphia International, 1978).  So unlike the "Slow Jam" pair, this Drake-like back-to-back attack is from the same act.  If you read my aforementioned Black Music Month post, then you get it.  As far as "Deep Inside of Me" is concerned, this one jumped out and stuck with me as I was driving down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway on my way to work one day.  Much like Midnight Star's "Slow Jam" and the Maya the Bee opening song, this is one of those sunny day songs, but a little more plush in nature and more suited for an afternoon walk with the one that makes you all gushy and gooey inside.  As for "Ain't No Time fa Nothing", this was a little earlier in the same ride to work cruising along the Capital Beltway.  There's no "Sunshine and You" (another song off of this same album) moment with this one though; it's just a really good song that has stayed in my cerebral rotation.  These two songs duked it out with each other for two of the top three spots and the latter came so close to being this month's top dawg pick.  However, prepare yourselves for what took the cake, the candles and the balloons...

#1 FRANK OZ, JERRY NELSON, KEVIN CLASH & IVY AUSTIN, "Bert's Blanket" (Sesame Street (Episode #2447), Splotched Animal Music Company/Sesame Street Inc., 1988).  Where do I begin with the story of "Bert's Blanket"...so I have many dear, dear friends who are just as geeky, quirky and random as I am--if not more.  Let's also throw in my theory of how the most successful children's programming must have good music or it's not even worth watching.  So during a conversation about Sesame Street and how much it just rocks in general, I was taken back to 1988 when I was still watching Sesame Street as an actual kid opposed to someone who watches it because my kid does.  As soon as that one girl sheep started wailing "BERT'S BLANKET...WHOA-OH-OH-OH-OHHHH", I was like, "Yoooo, I remember this song...and I definitely remember her going in!!!"  The state of affairs that would ensue was arguably pitiful as I was singing this song to myself for a day...two days...three days...a week...let's just say I had it bad.  Nevertheless, if there's music from any children's show that can frequently harass me other than the Muppet Babies extensive catalog, then pretty much anything from Sesame Street is welcome.  Besides, it must crank if it beats out 70s Philly soul--and y'all know how I feel about my Philly soul.

So what songs have been bugging YOU for the past month?!?!  Feel free to drop one, two or ten in the comments section, please and thank you.  Don't forget to come back next month for the next edition of "Scribbler's 'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month"!