Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five Special Edition: A Tribute to Rod Temperton

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...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #4 Ohio Players

When I think of a band that epitomizes funk, you'd be hard pressed to sell me on many other bands than the Ohio Players.  Probably like most people from the tail end of the Generation X spectrum, my first introduction to the Dayton, Ohio band was "Fire" and, even as a young boy, I realized quickly that the song lived up to its namesake.  However, like everyone else in my "Rave & Favorite Five", I began digging deeper into their catalog, hearing more of their songs and falling more in love with their sound with each new discovery.  Not to mention that as a teenager with a growing penchant for crate digging as well as an eye for anything and everything aesthetically pleasing (or what can also be seen as "raging hormones"), I was convinced that no one was touching their album covers...well, at least "touching" in the sense of being as dope.  Ultimately, although they jammed on their most popular uptempo songs like "Skin Tight" and "Rollercoaster", I gravitated more towards their ballads as you will see in the revelation of my top five favorite songs by the Ohio Players.  Let's roll...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #2 Earth, Wind & Fire

Everybody has a top five list of something.  Sports cars...TV girlfriends...sitcoms...rom-coms...cartoon characters...sneakers...candy bars...you think of it and I guarantee that you have it.  Even if you have to sit around and think of it for hours on end like the madman that you are, you can come up with several lists nevertheless.  Because I am that obsessive madman-slash-nerd, I have been pondering for the past week as many top five lists as I possibly can and I'm nowhere near finished.  My formula is very simple: if I'm stuck on an island for at least the next five years and I'm only stuck with five particular people, artists, albums, songs, movies and the like, then these are the five that I choose pursuant to the subject.  Note that there will be times when I break down the technical quality less often than I will speak on how the subject of my affection makes me feel or transports me to a certain place and time.  Hence, I bring you my new weekly series, "Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five", and begin with my favorite R&B bands of all time.

In a time when it seems like people in the spotlight and even producers often prefer to be lone rangers, listening to a good band reminds me of the beautiful synergy that can occur between different personalities to make one sweet sound.  There are very few bands in the annals of music history who have made music at the elite level of harmonious fusion as Earth, Wind & Fire.  With legends like Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and Dionne Warwick hailing EWF as their favorite band of all time, it's hard to deny their spirited sound, vivid imagery and cultural influence.  Now, the most astute reader might have noticed their rank and thought two things: 1) why are you doing your No. 2 band before your bottom three and 2) if Earth, Wind & Fire is your No. 2, then who the heck can you possibly have as your No. 1?  First, considering that the late, great Maurice White passed away last Thursday at the age of 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, I had to disrupt the order a bit.  Second, you'll have to wait until the March 10th edition of New Problem Tuesdays to find out who's the top dawg.  Anyways, with a catalog of music that spans over 40 years, there are so many great songs from which to choose, but it was fairly easy to do so.  Without further ado, let's see what songs make my cut...

Scribbler's Throwback of the Week: War, "Galaxy"

So remember the "Been Around the World" video where Puff Daddy and J. Lo quite possibly ignited their much-documented romantic history with a dance for the Shiny Suit Rap ages?  Yeah...this was the song playing--a gem delivered by the legendary Long Beach, California funk band from their 1977 album, Galaxy.  The opening bass line alone may be one of the nastiest introductions to ever grace a song--and I wouldn't be surprised if Rick James was inspired by that same movement when composing "Give It To Me Baby."  Not to mention that the marriage of the bass, the piano chords and the percussion is signature War, but on a different tip because it rhythmically makes minced meat out of most disco records of its time.  So if you find yourself listening to this and decide to tap into your inner Diddy or Jenny From the Block, I promise that I will not judge you...to your face.