What The? No 1: dude standing in front of me in the record shop - he's in shorts and a sweatshirt, and he has a large tattoo on the back of his ankle. It's a tattoo of boxing promoter Don King, with his wild wavy hair spiralling up the guys leg. Not your average NZ style tattoo.
What The? No 2: Young Polynesian guy with big afro walking up the street, wearing black tshirt with white lettering that says "Black eye for the queer guy", which could be taken several different ways. Odd.
Jarret Keane is ajournalist for Las Vegas publication City Life. He recently got a copy of a CD by soul singer Bettye Swann in the post, a compilation of her work, out on Honest Jons. When he read the liner notes, he discovered that Swann was living in his town, so he tracked her down. Read the interview here.
She had several big R&B hits in the late 60s and toured the chitlin circuit alongside singers like Candi Staton..."Staton has many stories of bedlam on the chitlin circuit, including public sex and straight-up murder. She carried a gun for protection, and to ensure that she got paid after each performance. "People like me - a good Christian girl from the country -- had to grow up fast," says Staton. "I had to start cussin' right away. You had to cuss 'em out ... to let 'em know you mean business. That's the only language they understood."
Check out Battle Stations this Saturday night 12 March, KFM vs BaseFM, some wicked tunes going down. inna soundclash stylee. It's on at the Pinnacle Club, St Benedicts St Newton from 8pm. I'm on the mix, dropping fx and samples.
On Sunday, I'll be DJing at the Great Blend 2: Public Address Live. at the Grey Lynn Bowling Club. "It kicks off at 4pm, and the programme will feature an introductory speech from Russell Brown, David Slack talking about and reading a little from his next book, a media panel discussion featuring John Campbell, Gemma Gracewood, Noelle McCarthy and Damian Christie, and a performance from The Checks." More at Public Address.
ADDED: via Coolfer... "Kelefah Sanneh's piece in today's NY Times (registration req'd) compares and contrasts how Usher's "Ride" and Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right" sing their way around beats by producer Rich Harrison and a sample of "Soul Power" by Maceo and the Macks."
Harrison is behind Amerie's fantastic "One Thing" tune which is gonna be everywhere in a minute. If you don't feel like registering, check archived copy of article here.
3 comments:
Candi Staton's playing London's Jazz Cafe next month. I'm so excited and there with bells on, even if it means I have to pay for someone to accompany whose only knowledge of Ms S is from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack... ;)
Hey there,
I ummed and ahhed about your comment about my last post and though I would dearly like to be fired in some ways, I decided to take your advice and make it friends only. I guess it would be better to leave the job with a good record intact and at a time that suits me better rather than suddenly and unceremoniously. I often forget that people aside from yourself and other friends might read my journal. It seems Noizyland has linked me now which is unfortunate timing since I now have very little to say!
Anyway, thanks for that advice, might see you on Sunday...
gareth
How was the Battle Stations gig? I went to Fleet v. Base, which was a great night. And I went to KFM v. Fleet, which was also a cracking night. I'm gutted to have missed this one. Would love to hear how the event went. Cheers.
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