So here are three things to note about this month's edition of the "'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month". First and foremost, given the lack of girl power on the November edition of "In Heavy Rotation", I apologize to the ladies and don't want y'all to think I'm slighting y'all one bit; however, the songs which rule my brain space unfortunately control me and not the other way around. Trust me, y'all will be better represented later this month. Second, I have developed a more-exact-but-still-inexact science for tracking all of this: I simply note the amount of times a song comes to mind and about how long I'm thinking about it. It ain't perfect, but it's a much better system to make sure folks don't get cheated out of the opportunity to make this countdown like no other. (I doubt most of these folks care that much, but still.) Third, this edition will feature songs either belonging to "The Blame Game" in which I blame specific people and/or things for my mental repetitiveness, "NPT HitstoryMakers" for artists and songs who and which boldly go where no others have gone before or stand on their own two category-less feet. Since you have been prepared and briefed probably more than you wanted to be, let's get to the madness...
With so much on my mind during the month of October, music was the John Stockton to my Karl Malone of adversity and dished a much needed assist. For a while, most of the songs which made the list at the beginning of the month seemed like they would prevail. Alexander O'Neal tried to do like his entry attempt and "Hang On" by virtue of The Original Quiet Storm nostalgia and a "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" post. Composer Vangelis' "Love Theme" from Blade Runner possessed more sparkle within the song than its possibility of withstanding the challenge from its future competitors. George Benson tried to sneak in a second entry (spoiler alert) with "Turn Your Love Around," but couldn't reverse his fortune. With appearances in commercials and made-for-TV biopics, Chance The Rapper and Michel'le both had late pushes with "No Problems" (featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz) and "Something in My Heart", respectively. However, with the passing of a legendary producer, songwriter, musician and singer as well as brand new music surfacing, it created the following playlist inside of my head which ended up more like a predominantly 80s version of Black Music Month...
Whenever Party City runs their annual Happy Halloween advertisements featuring "Thriller", the man responsible for the original musical arrangement and lyrics to one of pop's most iconic songs is Rod Temperton. When I heard about him succumbing to a battle with cancer weeks before his 67th birthday, I was befuddled after I was singing Temperton's praises for his work with Quincy Jones on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall album a day before hearing of his death. He was part of the reason why I was excited to get a copy of the Thriller album because the liner notes put me front and center with his genius. Making his claim to fame as the keyboardist and songwriter for British R&B band Heatwave, Temperton's pen has part of hits like "Stomp!" by The Brothers Johnson, "Baby, Come to Me" by Patti Austin with James Ingram, "Yah Mo B There" by James Ingram featuring Michael McDonald, the Oscar-nominated "Miss Celie's Blues" from The Color Purple (co-written with Jones and Lionel Richie) and the original lyrics for "You Put a Move on My Heart" by Quincy Jones featuring Tamia (originally recorded by Mica Paris in 1993). The rest of his impressive resume includes work for Rufus, Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Klymaxx, Jeffrey Osborne, Aretha Franklin, The Manhattan Transfer, Siedah Garrett and Stephanie Mills. So although 2016 continues to be the worst year ever, New Problem Tuesdays takes this opportunity to do what we've done all year long: celebrate the best from our fallen heroes. If you knew nothing about "The Invisible Man" before, then get ready to sing along...
