(thanks Living Colour for providing the name of the column)
Quincy Jones, God bless him, is 77 years old. He has been the driving force behind some of the greatest music made in the past 50 years. From “It’s My Party” to his work with Aretha, Chaka and Michael, there’s no denying that he is a genius. He also makes very pretty offspring. But is it possible that, at his advanced age, the man has lost his mind?
The fact that Q is making an album featuring some of today’s hottest stars destroying remaking his classics is one thing. It’s a stab for relevance at a time when Quincy should probably be just basking in the glow of his legacy, and that would sit badly with me even if it wasn’t for the fact that the first single is a remake of Shuggie Otis’s “Strawberry Letter 23” (later remade and popularized by The Brothers Johnson and produced by Quincy) featuring Akon.
Read that again: a remake of “Strawberry Letter 23” featuring AKON. I won’t go into how many degrees of wrong that is, except to say that it’s just plain wrong. Granted, now that I’ve heard it I can say it’s not a total disaster, but I can also say that it’s totally unnecessary. Does Akon have anything to offer to enhance this new version? Absolutely not! Especially when Quincy and co. were so damn lazy that they SAMPLED THE BROTHERS JOHNSON VERSION OF THE SONG!!!
I think my head just exploded.
Anyway, I’m including Akon’s current remake in this post as well as the Brothers Johnson version, so you can compare. Some people should stay retired (and Akon shouldn’t be allowed to make records in the first damn place).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oaKhjG_7-E