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

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...

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

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...

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

You never know how a month's worth of random songs being lodged in the corners of your mind will work.  Once the last batch of brain invaders left the scene of the crime, the first culprit looking to raid was "In My House" by the Mary Jane Girls.  Truth be told, I can't even tell you what made me think of that song recently because as much as I've always liked it, I don't think about it very often.  Hence, I had a feeling neither "In My House" would make the cut nor "Put It In Your Mouth" by Akinyele, "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack", "My Dad's Gone Crazy" by Eminem nor "The Lovers" by Alexander O'Neal.  Guy's "Goodbye Love" had three opportunities to make the list--twice on its own and once via sampling on Mary J. Blige's "Don't Go"--but still didn't make it despite a strong resurgence.  Of all people, Rihanna nearly made "Get Out of My Brain!" history with three entries including "Sex With Me" and "Needed Me", but you will soon see which one endured.  Now that the losers have been accounted for, let's talk about the winners...

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

So in yet another attempt to expand my blog and include as many facets of myself as you can stand, I thought about how songs frequently get stuck in our heads for hours, days, weeks and even months.  There are some that we absolutely love, some that we are in like with and nails scratching on a chalkboard might pale in comparison to the rest.  Most times, they're renting out brain space because we associate them with a memory, a place or a person; other times, it's completely inexplicable.  Hence, I bring to you all a new monthly posting series: "Scribbler's 'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month."  Now before we begin, two things.  First, I don't have an ASCAP or BMI representative in my head tracking every single spin in my own head, so these are totally metric-less estimations.  Second, y'all know that I can't kick off the inaugural post of a series like this without naming the songs that got bumped out like "Grateful" by Hezekiah Walker & LFC, "Hold On (Change Is Comin')" by Sounds of Blackness, "5 Steps" by Dru Hill (which almost came back into the countdown), "Truffle Butter" by Nicki Minaj and "Splackavellie" by Pressha (which some of y'all either don't remember, have never heard or haven't heard since it was out, so that would've need a nice throwback to '98).  It would've been nice to include those songs--all of which I fool with--but they didn't flood my brain as much as these ten little numbers...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: The Gifts of Prince, Part 2

If I may be so bold as to make the following statement, then this might be the "Rave & Favorite Five" that I hate to do the most.  Not because I take any issue with (now) the late, great Prince's illustrious catalog full of masterpieces.  It's only because outside of my all-time favorite three songs of his, I abhorred bumping out or excluding other faves like "Scandalous", "Insatiable", "The One", "Take Me With You", "Purple Rain", "Diamonds and Pearls", "International Lover", "Raspberry Beret" and "Little Red Corvette".  I mean, that was just ten songs right there and there are plenty more where that came from because Prince just made that much dope music.  Furthermore, it was even more difficult leaving off "Computer Blue"--a song that transforms around the 1:45 mark into one of the most awesome portions of music that I've ever heard and that has subconsciously inspired a significant amount of my style as a music producer.  Bloviating aside, it's called the "Rave & Favorite Five" for a reason and, thus, I continue with the second and final part of "The Gifts of Prince" that unveils the five gifts/works of art that he left with me--and perhaps many of you as well...

Scribbler's 2-for-1 Tuesday Special: Kendrick Lamar, "untitled unmastered."

If you don't know how big of a Kendrick Lamar fan I am by now, then you haven't been following this blog very long.  (Catch up here and here.  No excuses now.)  So when I get a TIDAL notification on March 4th at 1:24 a.m. saying, "New music from Kendrick Lamar. Listen now," my immediate reaction was, "Wait a minute...is this another instance where I'm the last to know about something?!?!  How come no one told me of this momentous occasion until this very moment?!?!"  Then I thought, "'Listen now'???  Uhhhh duhhhhh...of course I'm gonna listen now!  What else would I be doing at 1:24 in the morning except playing Madden, watching Knight Rider reruns or, I don't know, actually sleeping?!?!"  So after seeing a few Facebook posts from people who were baited into doing the same thing, I listened to what were clearly the songs that didn't make Lamar's critically-acclaimed, Grammy-award-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and guess what?  I didn't eeeeeem care.  This was still new music to me and, more important, new Kendrick Lamar music.  So it wouldn't be true to my integrity as an avid music lover if I let a week go by without sharing my two cents about untitled unmastered. in this "2-for-1 Tuesday Special"--giving you all an "In Heavy Rotation" special edition as well as my "Rave & Favorite Five" post for the week. (I know...I'm so generous...I shouldn't have.)  Let's get at it, kiddies...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #1 Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

As I've gotten older, four things must happen to complete any given summer: 1) I must take a trip to Hains Point and watch the sunset; 2) I must have a burnt hotdog at somebody's cookout; 3) I must hear "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince towards the beginning of the summer; and 4) I must take a daytime cruise in my car with the windows down and listen to Maze & Frankie Beverly.  That's how intrinsic this legendary group's music is to my life and they have sooooooo many good songs.  "Happy Feelin's" gives you exactly that.  "Southern Girl" was part of the reason that I swore up and down that I'd end up with a thick chick from below the Mason-Dixon line with the most irresistible accent ever.  "Joy and Pain" is just real and dope.  "Can't Get Over You" just takes me back to a good time in childhood.  "Silky Soul" made me miss Marvin Gaye just like The Commodores' "Night Shift" did.  Even lesser-discussed hits like "Love's on the Run" are memorable because they were just catchy and unmistakably Maze.  Of course, "Before I Let Go"...well, you're just not Black if this song doesn't make you get up and dance.  Like seriously...Henry Louis Gates needs to bring you on Finding Your Roots to question everything you ever knew about yourself.

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #3 The Isley Brothers

My love for The Isley Brothers ironically began in 1985 two years after the 3 + 3 lineup formed in 1973 were split into two groups: The Isley Brothers in which only O'Kelly, Ron and Rudolph Isley remained; and Isley-Jasper-Isley, consisting of Ernie Isley, Chris Jasper and Marvin Isley.  The latter trio's most popular album, Caravan of Love (1985), stood out in my memory for three reasons: 1) out of all the records in my dad's extensive collection at the time, the Sahara-inspired cover was the most indelible; 2) their biggest hit, "Caravan of Love," was in constant rotation on the radio and their follow-up single, "Insatiable Woman," captured my attention even more; and 3) as the opening act for Luther Vandross in a 1986 concert at the Capital Centre, they were the first act that I recall seeing live.  (Mind you, Luther never showed, but we won't go there.)  The most memorable part of that concert was the tribute to O'Kelly, who had passed away from a heart attack not long before the show.  From there, I just kept discovering more and more songs to love from all six of the Teaneck, New Jersey  implants by way of Cincinnati because their sound was truly their sound.  It's rock...it's funk...it's soul...it's just a little bit of everything that I love from my favorite bands.  Now here's an honest moment: it took me at least a decade to warm up more to their uptempo stuff because I felt like their strength as a band were their ballads--and I still strongly feel that way.  So let's dig into the five songs that resonate with me the most from my third favorite R&B band of all time...

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, #5 War

Ya know...I'm starting to feel like the old man who always has a story about everything.  However, if you don't have a connection to the people, music and things worth mentioning, then maybe the connection really isn't that deep after all.  So in high school, my homie used to push either his father's Ford Thunderbird or his mother's Lexus ES300, scoop a bunch of us to ride around the city and listen to a bunch of good music.  In between listening to 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Maxwell, Aaliyah, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and the like, we'd bump the classics from Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Sade, Santana and, of course, War.  Between some of their most popular hits like "Spill the Wine", "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends", I had always known about them but never really got into them.  However, as a teenager who was becoming more musically open and inquisitive, taking these cruises put me on notice even more.  After a while, War not only became a staple in my long rides around the city and up and down the East Coast, but the Long Beach-based band also helped to shape my love for the California funk, R&B and soul sound fused with undeniable Latin influence as well as became one of my favorite groups.  So without further ado, allow me to share my favorite five songs from my No. 5 favorite band of all time...

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.

Scribbler's Throwback of the Week: Lyn Collins, "Think"

So I've decided to start this new thing on my blog where I try to feature a song at least once a week that has been sampled in classic hip-hop and R&B songs or gave a much-needed boost to an otherwise dud.  (Keyword: "try".  Although this blogging thing can be highly therapeutic, it can also be time-consuming--especially since I'm a step away from being a windbag.  I know, I know...some of y'all are like, "Ummmm, 'a step away from being a windbag'? Dude, you're already there!")  There might not be a better song to kick off this post than with a song that I mentioned on my Facebook page the other day: "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins.