Strictly Old School

Summertime Music

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Listen to these summertime tunes in your iPod, you'll have it made in the shade. Here's the Strictly Old School summertime music list, again. Just in time for the Fourth of July. Songs added to the list this year are in bold. Last year's complete list with commentary is included. . Groove on!

1. Isley Brothers, Summer Breeze
2. Sly & The Family Stone, Hot Fun in the Summertime

3. Chic, A Warm Summer Night
4. War, All Day Music
5. Kool & the Gang, Summer Madness
6. Billy Stewart, Summertime
7. Martha & the Vandellas, Dancing in the Streets
8. Fifth Dimension, Stone Soul Picnic
9. Rascals, It's A Beautiful Morning
10. Quincy Jones (featuring Valerie Simpson) Summer in the City
11. Martha & the Vandellas, Heat Wave
12. Okasions, Girl Watcher
13. Fresh Prince, Summertime

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14. Friends of Distinction, Grazing in the Grass
15. Roy Ayers, Everybody Loves Sunshine
16. Drifters, Under The Boardwalk
17. Prince, Little Red Corvette
18. Jill Scott, A Long Walk
19.Frankie Beverly and Maze, Golden Time of Day
20. Chic, Good Times
21. Rascals, Groovin' On A Sunday Afternoon
22. Alicia Keys, Teenage Love Affair
23. Stevie Wonder, I Was Made To Love Her
24. War, It's Summer

Holla back with your tales of summer romance, hanging with the fellas, or kicking it with your girls. Travel stories are welcome.

Vibe gone; Tiny & Toya live

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0500

IThe latest victim of the publishing industry downturn is Vibe, which shut its doors on June 30 after 16 years. It saddened me to see another publication bite the dust.

Vibe was founded by Quincy Jones and was the gospel of all things hip hop, including music, fashion and trends.

Vibe's editor Danyel Smith is a friend who did great work as a reporter for a San Francisco weekly newspaper back in the day. She turned me on to hip hop. But I was too Old School to get it.

Don't get me wrong. I have some love for hip hop. I am a big Outkast fan; always dug Public Enemy and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I'm liking Snoop Dogg these days because I love the line "Got my mind on my money and my money on my mind" from Gin 'n' Juice.

I just wish these hip hoppers could/would spell better.

Where will you get your hip hop news? What sites do you read online?

Speaking of hip hop, did you see the BET reality show Tiny and Toya? It debuted Tuesday night and I watched the sad story unfold as Toya searched the streets of New Orleans for her drug-addicted mother while Tiny took care of her dad, a former member of The Tams, who suffers from Alzheimer's.

Tiny is the self-proclaimed king of hip hop T.I.'s woman. He's in jail for a year and a day. Toya was married to Lil Wayne, who rules the charts these days. He's expecting two babies by two different women and neither of them is Toya.

I grew up on The Tams, an Old School soul band that also was played on the jukeboxes on the beaches of Carolina.

What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am was one of their more successful songs. They were very popular in the Southeast.

What did you think of Tiny and Toya? Will you continue to watch?

Holla!

Old School song of the day: Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy by The Tams.

Save these musicians, please

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Thanks to all who responded to the blog plea to help Strictly Old School select future members of the music Hall of Fame.

Several of the responses were interesting. All were taken to heart. As a result, y'all decided that Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson were too new school and The Drifters and The Shirelles were older than Old School.

They are off the list. Twenty (20) artists were purged from the list. One (Wilson Pickett) was enshrined in June.

Sade could be out because she's not Old School enough. But Nikki believes her voice is unique and definitely belongs. Sade may be the cut-off point for artists, which keeps Anita Baker as a possible inductee in the future.

Nikki doesn't know: Intruders, Last Poets, Martha and the Vandellas, Righteous Brothers,
Billy Stewart, Temprees, Joe Tex, Rufus Thomas, Tower of Power, Junior Walker and
Bill Withers.

I've tried to make some of their songs jams of the day during June so Nikki could be exposed. No knock on Nikki. She's cool with me and a loyal reader. Still, I think we have to retain Intruders, Martha and the Vandellas,, Joe Tex, Rufus Thomas and Bill Withers.

Billy Stewart, a personal favorite, died young in a car accident and may not have enough records to be considered. Unless you want to save him. Last Poets were deep. Does anyone want to save them?

You want to add Brothers Johnson, George Benson, Rick James. So they are added to the list for consideration.

Friends of Distinction, Tower of Power, Bill Withers. Carol spoke up for those musicians. So if they were cut before, they are back on.

My cousin Christopher forwarded a long list of who should be enshrined. His choices made a whole lot of sense. I guess it runs in the family. A love of Old School music and good sense. LOL.

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Old School jam of the day in honor of Black Music Month is Funky Stuff by Kool and the Gang.
And because somebody special requested it, Strictly Old School will continue to give you a song of the day until we run out of jams.

Hall of Fame enshrinement will continue weekly in July.

Holla back!

Old School jam of the day: You Beat Me To The Punch by Mary Wells.
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Jet and Ebony magazines in trouble

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

II grew up reading Jet and Ebony.

So when I read Richard Prince's column on line about the trouble Johnson Publishing is facing. I worry about the future of the magazines. I can't image a world without Jet, the weekly black news magazine, and Ebony, the monthly oracle of all things black and beautiful.

Black folks of all economic backgrounds keep copies of Ebony and Jet on their coffee tables in the living room. Even "snooty" black folks read it, even after they have moved on up and moved on out of the 'hood.

In this crazy economy, in which advertising in newspapers and magazines is declining rapidly. Let's hope that Jet and Ebony are not lost in the downturn.

Do you read and subscribe to Jet and Ebony? If you don't and have thought about, now is a good time to do it.

Holla!

Voting Rights and Uncle Tom

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

The U.S. Supreme Court kept the Voting Rights Act of 1965 alive last week in an 8-1 vote.

Guess who was the one opposed to keeping the act in force?

The only black person on the court: Clarence Thomas He argued that Section 5 of the act was no longer needed because of the kind of progress Chief Justice John G. Roberts cited in his majority opinion.

Section 5 requires officials in jurisdictions covered by the act to receive U.S. Justice Department or Washington, D.C., federal court approval before any changes can be made to voting procedures -- including polling places.

This Old School provision was created to prevent jurisdictions from using devices, such as literacy tests, to discourage people from voting. When the Civil Rights Act of 1965 passed, it was a watershed moment in the civil rights movement. The act was renewed by Congress in 2006.

The law applies to eight states, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas; most counties in Virginia and townships in California, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina and South Dakota; and three New York City boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The Supreme Court ruling on Monday allows those places covered under the act to "bail out" of preclearance by suing in federal court in D.C. and proving the place has been problem-free for 10 years.

I don't know how Clarence Thomas can look himself in the mirror when he wakes up. He is a beneficiary of the very things, such as affirmative action, that he now opposes. His respect among white conservatives and self-hating blacks probably increased greatly.

But I can't figure how a man with black skin could vote against his own best interests and against those who look like him.

I don't criticize Uncle Thomas as a joke or to be funny. In fact, it pains me to watch a black man who is obviously not comfortable in his own skin. For anybody who doesn't understand or know what an Uncle Tom looks like, I give you Justice Clarence Thomas.

Holla!

The Old School jam of the day in honor of Black Music Month: James Brown's I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door And I'll Get It Myself)

Remembering Old School Michael Jackson

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:21:57 -0500

My homeboy Bone (real name Lacardo Means) who turned me on to the Jackson 5. I I Want You Back was an instant hit in our minds. Bone (short for Redbone because Lacardo was light-skinned) flipped the 45 over to the B-side. Michael Jackson was leading his brothers in a remake of a Smokey Robinson tune Who's Lovin' You.

We proclaimed them superstars on the spot. And we were right on.

Then I saw the J5 perform on Ed Sullivan and Michael, 11, acted out Who's Lovin' You, telling his brothers he offered the girl his milk and cookies in the lunchroom. It was classic. It was Old School innocence, a sharp contrast to what guys say to girls today in real life and in music.

Jackson 5 records had to be flipped over because usually both sides were good. Remember I Found That Girl?

I Want You Back is still my favorite Jackson 5 song.

Now Michael Jackson is dead at 50. It reminds me how vulnerable we all are. How time marches on and we must live each day as if it's our last. Prince is 51 and needs two hip replacements. Natalie Cole just underwent a kidney transplant.

Forty years of Michael Jackson singing and performing is not enough.

So many songs come to mind that I like besides what I've already mentioned. I saw the Jackson 5 perform live twice. I never saw Michael Jackson sans brothers live. But I remember dancing to Billie Jean and Don't Stop Til You Get Enough and Workin' Day and Night.

Thriller was the all-time best video and the greatest-selling album. My kids love Remember the Time, a video that includes Magic Johnson.

Michael Jackson was a kind and gentle soul. I don't believe he ever harmed a child. I believe he was too tormented by his own father to want anyone to experience what he did.

He was a musical genius. And like many geniuses, he was different from us so-called normal folks. We thought some of the things he did was strange. They were to us. But how strange is it to own most of The Beatles music catalogue? Don't just brand him a freak.

I was moved watching the Michael Jackson special on television Thursday night. I thought about the cartoon show. Do you remember he had two pet mice : one named Ray and the other Charles?

Remember his hair catching fire filming the Pepsi commercial? Can't forget when he did the moonwalk at the Motown 25 television special.

Michael Jackson broke racial barriers on MTV. His videos were among the first by a black artist to appear on the music video network. He went international. He appealed to audiences of all colors,cultures and ethnicities and ages.

He transcended race before Barack Obama.

Before you dismiss the significance of music and musicians, think about where we were as a country in 1969 when the J5 had their first hit. We were still socially segregated, school integration was still new, Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 music was something we could all agree on

You could enshrine Michael Jackson with Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks and others who opened doors. It is not easy work and Michael Jackson worked hard on his music and brought us a lot of joy, though he led a troubled life.

Michael Jackson has earned his rest.

Michael Jackson joins the ancestors

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:57:11 -0500

I am not believing this. Michael Jackson, the king of pop, dead. IHe was only 50. Five years younger than me. Younger than me.

Michael Jackson was the greatest entertainer ever. His Thriller video remains the best ever done. The album of the same name sold more than any other. He could dance his booty off. One word: Moonwalk.

I just can't believe he's joined the ancestors.

I interviewed Michael Jackson in the late 1970s. The Jacksons publicist called the Greensboro Daily News on a Saturday afternoon and I answered the phone. He invited me to interview Michael and the newest edition to the family musical group, Randy.

The Jacksons had departed from Motown. Jermaine, married to Hazel, Barry Gordy's daughter, stayed with the Detroit record company. Barry Gordy even kept the groups name The Jackson 5.

I walked directly to Michael Jackson's hotel room, knocked on the door and the publicist opened it. In the room was Michael, Randy and daddy Joe Jackson. Michael was sitting on the bed, talking on the telephone and giggling like a normal young man. He still had an Afro and his God-given nose.

The publicist introduced us. I sat in a chair and started the interview with the wrong questions.
"What's the deal with the family and Jermaine? Is there any chance he will rejoin the group?Are you angry at him because he stayed at Motown?"

Michael started to answer, saying that the family still loved Jermaine when Papa Joe jumped in front of me and began screaming. "Don't ask them no s--- like that. If you want to ask them something ask them 'How they like their new record company/' "

I got even more stupid.

"I didn't come here begging for an interview. Would you like to conduct the interview?" I said to Joe Jackson.

I thought he was going to punch me. He spit all kinds of hostilities at me, in my face. The publicist separated us and took Joe out of the room.

Michael was gracious in the interview. He gave me a scoop. He told me it was Gladys Knight and Bobby Taylor, an obscure Motown singer, who discovered the five brothers at a talent show in Gary, Ind. Not Diana Ross as we all had been led to believe.

We were getting along well when Jackie and Tito Jackson came in the room and told Michael "Joseph said you have to go to the store. Now, Michael. Now! Don't p--- Joseph off. The interview is over."

Michael looked at me, apologized and offered to autograph a picture for me. I had him make it out to my sister, Candy, who used to say she was going to marry the superstar singer.

My sister was 12. I took her to the Jacksons concert that night in the Greensboro Coliseum. Afterwards, I gave her the autographed picture

She still has it.

Michael's gone. I hope his soul is blessed. It must have been quite a spectacle when Michael's idols James Brown and Ray Charles met him at the Pearly Gates. I bet they didn't expect him so soon.

Neither did we.

Go back to sleep Dick Cheney

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

I think former President George W. Bush deserves some props.

I know I have been a big critic, but I try to be fair. So I am giving him his props for refusing to criticize President Barack Obama as he tries to get a handle on the mess Dubya created.

In response to a question from a group of business leaders in Erie, Pa. about whether he thought President Obama's plan to close Guantanamo Bay would compromise security, Bush simply said, "I certainly hope not."

Then he added, "I told you I would not criticize my successor."

I am not opposed to criticism of President Obama but geez, give the man a chance to see what becomes of his policies and actions.

I commend the former president for his good sense, which is more than I can say about former Vice President Dick Cheney.

I guess the former second-in-command has gone back to sleep. Somebody must have told him that he was no longer in the White House and that he didn't have to talk to the press.

Until recently he's been running off at the mouth, saying more about the Obama Administration than he said about anything when he was in office.

He didn't talk to the press when he was vice president.

I still can't figure out what was up with Cheney?

After spending eight mostly silent years as Vice President of the United States, now he was out there talking a bunch of smack about President Obama, defending torture and supporting gay marriage.

Holla!

Old School jam of the day in honor of Black Music Month is Gil Scott-Heron's H2Ogate Blues.

Apology for slavery...Not so fast

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution last week apologizing to African-Americans for slavery. That cruel institution prevented blacks from reaching our full potential in this country, putting us permanently behind in a number of areas, including economically.

The resolution has opposition in the House from an unlikely source: the Congressional Black Caucus. The caucus is opposed to the apology because of a disclaimer that does not authorize or support restitution or reparations.

Individual members of the black caucus said a 1988 apology to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II was issued with no such disclaimer.

I am proud the black caucus, led by my former representative Barbara Lee, D-California, is opposing the resolution. The U.S. government should be held responsible for enslaving blacks and exploiting them for cheap labor from 1619 to 1865.

President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not free all the slaves. Slavery continued to be in effect in the Southern states that had left the Union, and Lincoln was not those states' president.

Now the reparation question is a difficult one to answer. How do you compensate enslaved African-Americans' descendants? Who gets paid? How much?

What do you think? Do descendants of slaves deserve reparations from the U.S. government? How does the government distribute reparations? Is an apology for slavery enough?

Holla!

The Old School jam of the day in honor of Black Music Month isPeople Got To Be Free by The Rascals.

A hospital show with a strong black woman

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Don't forget to watch Hawthorne tonight on TNT at 9 p.m.

Jada Pinkett Smith is Christina Hawthorne, a tough-yet-caring Chief Nursing Officer at the fictional Richmond Trinity Hospital. She prides herself on standing up for her patients and preventing them from falling through the cracks of hospital bureaucracy.

Here's a video preview of the TNT show.

While there are too many hospital shows on television, I think Hawthorne is going to be a hit. It is well-written and Jada is up to the role.

Did you watch the premiere episode last week? What did you think of the show?

Holla!

Sheryl Flowers, Rest in Peace

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

I am still hurting more than a week after Sheryl Flowers joined the ancestors. She was only 42.
She had a two-year battle with breast cancer.

There must be some trouble in heaven. So God called her up to help Him solve the crisis. Why else would He call her number so soon?

I've known Sheryl for nearly 20 years. We met when we were both members of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association in San Francisco/Oakland. Sheryl and I would later be talked into being co-chairs of the organization and hoodwinked into running that organization for three years. A by-law change we were unaware of extended our terms.

Not only did we become friends, but she became a part of my extended family. She babysat my kids. She was very popular with them because she always took them interesting and fun places rather than just sitting around with them. My son was in her sister Lori's wedding.

We could never pay her for her babysitting services.

As you can see she was a gorgeous woman and whenever I'd see her. I would teasingly say to her, "Hey, baby. You sure is fine. What your name be?" in my best country boy voice. She would respond, "ChanDRA!" That's my wife's name. And we would both laugh. It was our running joke.

She left us in the Bay Area and went to work for Tavis Smiley. She made him shine on public radio. She was the intellect behind Tavis becoming a cottage industry. I know because she was the intellect behind the success the Bay Area Black Journalists Association enjoyed during our tenure as co-chairs.

When we moved to South Florida in 2001, Sheryl made time in her busy schedule to come by and see us at our new home. She sent us pictures after her triumph as a marathon runner.

And of course, we lost touch, as is common with busy people.

I was surprised she was sick. I was shocked that she passed. I wish I had told her how much she meant to me and my family. She was as good as her name: Flowers. She gave them to everyone she encountered.

Now here's what you could do, if you are so inclined: Please donate money to breast cancer research in memory of Sheryl Flowers. This disease is affecting too many women -- and men suffer from it, too, but not as often as women. We've got to find a cure, a way to beat this disease.

Yes, I am angry. But I'll get it over it. Breast cancer has affected too many women I love. It killed my grandmother Mamie and now my friend Sheryl. Other friends and relatives are survivors.

I don't know what God needed Sheryl for, but He has a good one. In this case the adage is so right on: Only the good die young.

May your soul be blessed, Sheryl..

Is Juneteenth necessary?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Today is Juneteenth, a day that has come to be known as black freedom day.

Its origin derives from a Union general reading a proclamation to black slaves in Galveston, Texas, telling them the war was over and they were free.It was nearly 145 years ago and we;re still celebrating it like it was yesterday.

There are folks who are in Washington, D.C. today partying and petitioning the U.S. government to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Gov. Sarah Palin presented a copy of the book, "Juneteenth a Celebration of Freedom" by
Rev. Ronald Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation
at the 2nd Annual Alaska Juneteenth Conference in Anchorage, Alaska at a Juneteenth book
dedication at the the Z. J. Loussac Public Library.
(photo by Bishop Dave Thomas)

I mean no disrespect to our brothers and sisters in Texas but Juneteenth should not be a national holiday. If you want to hold a picnic, fine, but better yet getting your children to read a book about black history or even you picking up a book would do those slaves proud.

After all, there is supposed to be an educational component to the commemoration.

So while you are chilling and grilling, pull your family together and sit down at the dinner table and talk about where you came from and the ancestors who slaved for your freedom, Just so your kids will know their history. So they will know that education matters. So they understand that some parties come with messages.

Holla!

Black woman Xerox CEO

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:26:12 -0500

Who is this woman who dares to enter the corporate world of white men?

Ursula Burns will take over the reins at Xerox on July 1. When her appointment was announced earlier this month, Xerox stock shot up more than 2 percent in one day.

Burns is entering a world not many women, much less a black woman, have entered. She is at the top of the ladder. Here's wishing her success and hoping she has broken the glass ceiling that's barred all women from reaching the top.

Burns stands on the shoulders of a few women who have been successful in Corporate America. Sisters such as Ann Fudge, who was president of Kraft Foods.

Let's hope more women of color climb the corporate ladder to its top rung.

Holla!

The Old School jam of the day in honor of Black Music Month is It's Been Such A Long Time by New Birth.

The GOP hate is sickening

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0500

There are some things that should not be said out loud even if you think them. Not minding your manners, or simply being intentionally rude, reveals a lack of proper upbringing.

South Carolina Republican activist Rusty DePass on his Facebook page compared First Lady Michelle Obama to a gorilla.

This kind of classless display of behavior will prevent the Republican Party from making any gains with black voters. I once was an advocate for more black people going Republican, to make both Democrats and Republicans compete for the black vote.

But with Neanderthals like DePass and Rush Limbaugh speaking for the Republicans, I couldn't urge any person, especially any black, to join the GOP. In fact, with those guys in the party, I don't know how any self-respecting black person could call himself or herself a Republican.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who is black, cannot make any strides in including African-Americans in his party. He might as well resign and hand the reins over to Rush, the radio talk show host.

As for DePass, his comments reflect more on him than they do on our lovely and sophisticated First Lady. Rusty, go crawl back under the rock you climbed out from under. Don't get crushed under there, now, you hear?

Aren't you tired of these silly white men criticizing Michelle Obama's looks? Don't you think they should be worried about more serious matters, like winning over voters? In 2009, don't they understand race jokes are out like George W. Bush?

Holla!

Queen Latifah on Essence cover

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:00:06 -0500

Queen Latifah (real name Dana Owens) is on the cover of Essence magazine. The black women's oracle always has good stories and tips to live by. It doesn't hurt guys to take a peak at your girlfriend's copy. It might help your relationship.

In this issue, the Queen talks about sexual abuse she experienced as a child and how it has interfered with hier ability to have a healthy relationship.

We don't like to talk about the sickness that goes on in our community. That's not to say that sexual abuse is limited to black folks. Too many women -- and men -- suffer in silence because we're afraid to talk about sex and the taboo of incest and rape.

It'sd like the victim did something wrong. We must allow for healthy dialogue. We must create an atmosphere where the abused can talk about what is happening to them. Please listen to your children when they say these things as tough as it is to listen.

And take legal action. There's nothing worse han allowing someone to suffer in silence.

Holla!

The Old School song of the day in honor of Black Music Month is On The Radio by Donna Summer.