I guess the equivalent these days would be to give Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood a variety show? Back in the early Eighties, Barbara Mandrell was one of country music’s leading lights. Aside from seeing her a time or two on “Solid Gold”, I can’t really recall any of her music-making pursuits. However, I do recall that she and her sisters had a well-received variety show that ran on NBC. This was towards the end of the period when it […]
Hump Day Flashback
Hump Day Flashback: Casey Counts ’em Down
This week’s Hump Day Flashback takes a look back at “America’s Top Ten”, hosted by Casey Kasem.
Hump Day Flashback Has a Sad Christmas
This week’s Hump Day Flashback looks at a couple of sad holiday tunes from Breathe and Prince.
Hump Day Flashback: “Teenage Love”
Today’s Hump Day Flashback comes to you courtesy of Slick Rick. His “Teenage Love” was one of the first, and is still one of the best rap ballads.
Hump Day Flashback: “Sanford & Son”
I’ve never been anywhere near a junkyard in my life, never lived in (or even been near) Watts, never known anyone named Lamont, and never tasted ripple. Matter of fact, I don’t know what ripple (or it’s distant cousin, champipple) even is. However, “Sanford & Son”, the show that introduced me to all these concepts, remains a favorite of mine three decades after I first started watching it (via rerun). Black characters in main roles on TV was still a […]
Hump Day Flashback: “My Wave”
I don’t really watch a lot of late night TV, know what I’m saying? Since Arsenio went off the air in ’94, I don’t feel as though there’s been a late night host that represents me. But I got swept up in all the team CoCo brouhaha and I’ve watched the first two episodes on TBS-both of which have been pretty good (I wish I could say the same for George Lopez, who has good guests but is absolutely horrid […]
Hump Day Flashback: “The Gas Face”
What do we think about Hammer? MC Hammer’s ascendancy (however brief) to hip-hop’s commercial apex had plenty of detractors. Not only did “Let’s Get it Started”, one of his first hits, call out Doug E. Fresh (who he later signed), LL Cool J AND Run-DMC, but his lack of lyrical skills and his reliance on dancing did not go over well with most “legit” hip-hoppers, and he was widely labeled as a sellout. The first widely-circulated Hammer diss came courtesy […]
Hump Day Flashback: What’s Up Doc? (Can We Rock)
Who’s the only dude in the NBA with a platinum album? Shaq, of course. So in commemoration of the beginning of what promises to be a ridiculously exciting basketball season, it’s only right that I take it back to the birth of Shaq-Fu, courtesy of the Fu-Schnickens’ “What’s Up Doc?” This Top 40 hit briefly gave both the Fu-Schnickens and Shaq a moment in the spotlight. The Schnickens were riding high off of a Gold album and the near constant […]
Hump Day Flashback: Of Time, Clocks and Hearts
Reading my friend Mike’s Back Tracks column on Culture Club on his website The Second Disc got me thinking about how it’s a shame that Boy George will probably be remembered more for his outrageous image, general bitchassness and criminal behavior than for his beautiful voice. Although that voice has grown a bit of a rough edge over the years (see his recent turn on Mark Ronson’s album for proof, in his heyday, he was one of the smoothest pop/soul singers around, with a voice that […]
Hump Day Flashback: “You Can’t Change That”
I discovered music in the late Seventies/early Eighties, which might explain why one of my most meaningful celebrity encounters just happened to be meeting Ray Parker Jr. three or four years ago. The Detroit native lit up the charts with a string of pop and soul hits. He was also an in-demand producer (working with artists like Cheryl Lynn and Diana Ross) and cut his teeth as a guitarist for artists like Stevie Wonder and Barry White. Before he was […]
