4 Non Blondes

Can't help it. Part II.

So upon deeper exploration, I found that one of my favorite Blondie songs is actually a COVER!

The Tide is High is not an original Blondie production!! It's actually a song written by John Holt in 1967, for his band, The Paragons!

The Tide Is High - The Paragons

According to wikipedia, "the song... was popular in Jamaica and became popular amongst West Indians and skinheads in the UK when a deejay version by U-Roy was released in 1971."

West Indians and SKINHEADS...

Cray (x2). I'd like to know more. And yet, from where can I garner such information? Where did wikipedia generate such knowledge?? I'd like to know!

What about the song's lyrical content and melody appeal to these two (distinct?) populations of peoples...

It's not the things you do, that really hurts me bad
But it's the way you do the things, you do to me
I'm not the kinda man who gives up just like that oh no

So then... in 1980, Blondie jazzed it up, and reached an audience beyond solely West Indians and skinheads apparently, and went straight to Number Uno on the Billboard Hot 100!

WARNING: GRATUITOUS DEBBIE HARRY LOVE SESH APPROACHING:

Anywhooo... Blondie hasn't been immune to thirsty fans and tribute covers. Slash sampling and interpolations! Holla!

Check these girls out. My South Asian sisters, covering Blondie's 1999 comeback single, "Maria"!!! I know the audio is a bit spotty, but its totes worth it, to see these ladies killin it!




And the thing that brought me back to "The Tide is High" in the first place... a reggae song by Kardinal Offishal just released this past Oct. called "Numba 1 (The Tide is High)." It appears that Kardinal tried on many leading ladies to sing the hook and bridge on this sortof addictive track, including Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls and our fave tonedeaf but beautiful belle, Rihanna. My fave is definitely the one that made it to the official single... KERI HILSON: fierce, talented, and so gorg! I'm like, kiiiindof obsessed with her. Love it! Love her.

The thing I DON'T love about this song are the whack lyrics! "she just my trophy piece or me hot, hot gal/never ever would I call her mrs. Offishall /never ever would I bring her around my fam /she be cryin' on the phone when she knows who I am." LAME SAUCE WOMPZ

Hey Kardinal - stop being a misogynistic jackass and put somethin out there that we can respect! In the meantime, I will fast forward to the parts that feature Ms. Hilton, all the while wishing that the song was hers and hers alone!


Numba 1 (Tide Is High) feat. Keri Hilson - Kardinal Offishall

And because the title of this post was a shout out to Linda Perry's finest:


haaaayaaaayayaaayaya. I said hey! What's goin on!

The Tide is High...

...but I'm holdin on! I'm gonna be your Number One!

Hi friends!


fierce fierce fierce

I love her. She's definitely on my list.

I'm not a hundred percent sure where my love for her or the band originates... but I'm pretty sure it stems from my early childhood, when little first grader Promas and big sis used to create elaborate fake music videos and dance choreography for various melodies on the Parallel Lines album.

Now arguably, my personal connection to this album makes me feel as though it is Blondie's best... and it's the most successful, thus the most mainstream, but I truly love each and every track on it. From the upbeat and effervescent "Pretty Baby" and "Picture This" (Both of which are included in my lovetunes playlist!), to the haunting tones of "Fade Away and Radiate," all the songs do well to showcase the versatile appeal of Debbie's sultry voice and the supporting dudes that make the music pop! Not to mention the unique lyrical content, that make the songs intriguing to listen to, and easy to love! :)

My espesh fave is when the guys (Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante) join in on some of the background vocals like circa 2:14 during the quintessential and enduring "Heart of Glass," a song I can never ever ever tire of. Check their kicks!

heart of glass - blondie

Got me through some timez. Even though it's sortof a departure from the band's New Wave beginnings into a distinctly disco-ish vibe... I'm all about genre blending and experimentation when it comes to music! Ridin high on love's true bluish light...

Quickly back to Debbie before I bid ya'll adieu... She was born in 1945, worked in a Dunkin Donuts and was a Playboy Bunny before joining a girl group where she met her future epic love and Blondie guitarist, Chris Stein. I love that dude too. They started Blondie and named it after the cat-calls foxylady Debbie would get walkin down the street. Don't hate her because she's beautiful. It's painful to be that hot. yikes!

Note that I have avoided all discussion of "Rapture," Debbie's attempt at paying homage to a genre of music she admired and loved, but probs shouldn't have really delved into. Save the rap, I love that song, even though that's whyy it's so famous. *toe to toe dancing very close barely breathing almost comatose* Poo to those who credit Blondie as being the reason for rap's mainstream success. Let's not diminish the power, strength and pure talent of the brown bodies and voices that actually made that happen. Holla!

Shouts to my neww roomie(!), who fulfilled my fantasy of wearing Blondie paraphenalia, by letting me borrow a ferocious black miniskirt with the silhouetted likeness of Dirty (Deborah) Harry in pink, blue, and purple. Sigh...

Just a Reminder:

As of late, this blog has become EXTREMELY 90s heavy! I just want to state for the record that it was not my intention to create a nineties blog, but rather, one invoking general nostalgia for various things that I love!

Having said that (and also since my imeem isn't being my friend and allowing me to embed music properly onto my blog! wompz (x3)), here's some quick lovin' from my boys, the O'Jays, a recording of "I Love Music."



Something for you to nibble on: The bongo drums in the intro of the song were played by everybody's favorite fake dad... Bill Cosby! holler!

Also, this song appears on the CARLITO'S WAY soundtrack. Mayb not my favorite movie, but it would be a lie to say that after I watched it last winter that I didn't go ahead and download all the songs that I heard on it... yikes!

90s Schnineties!

I recently attended a 90s Mix Cd Exchange Party. Shouts to Charley for this totes brill and boisterous party idea! Success!!

Given that the party's attendance included some of NYC's most intelligent and most knowledgable of minds, especially in the pop culture realm, the presh was on...


The night was so much fun! There were cameos made by Mariah Carey and Gin Blossoms... Biz Markie and Garbage, Crystal Waters and the Beastie Boys among others. Good times.

Here's My List
entitled, "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything. - Julie Newmar: Not Really, But a Disc of Nineties Goodness!):

Dance Tonight - Lucy Pearl
Vasoline - Stone Temple Pilots
Groove Thang - Zhane
You're All I Need - Method Man and Mary J. Blige
Are You Gonna Go My Way? - Lenny Kravitz
Freak Like Me - Adina Howard
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Gotta Get You Home - Foxy Brown feat. Blackstreet
Today - Smashing Pumpkins
Tell Me - Groove Theory
Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison
Comedown - Bush
Creep - TLC
All My Love - Queen Pen
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Coolio - Fantastic Voyage
Clarissa Explains it All Theme Song

Loves to Branny whose mix yielded the title of this post, as well as some goodies from Dishwalla, Orgy and Toad the Wet Sprocket!

What would be on yours?

RIP TRL

Last night truly marked the end of an era. The era of Total Request Live. Now I know many of you do not share my teeny bopper past... but either way, during the late nineties TRL was totes a main fixture in the face of popular music and culture.

Carson Daly was one of the most recognizable faces for a minute... Constantly having to engage with teeny boppers like Britney Spears and *Nsync, but gallavanting on the side with Fred Durst and Kid Rock. The rockers that made it on the countdown were supposedly more legit than the teen idols, but ten years later, no one knows what their tired asses even look like. And then there was the random cameos made by various Rap and R&B artists - Mya, P.Diddy, Brandy and Monica (the NAMESAKE), among others. I guess I'm talking about the golden age of TRL, when I used to watch religiously, every single day, when fans used to take over Times Square to the point where the place that is already the most annoying on the planet became even more unbearable... the huge window, the waving, the naked Cowboy... it all felt so familiar and so close. But despite living in New York, I never made it to a single taping of the show. And thats totes fine. Except now that chance is officially and completely dunzo, I have to wonder, did I miss out on participating in history?

I'm pretty sure the answer is no. By the end of its run, TRL barely even showed its videos, having the VJs talking straight through them. The show always got me with the sensory overload: the celebrity guests, the screaming fans, the scrolling requests on the bottom of the screen (PLz PLz play J.Lo's "All I Have" bcuz me and my boyfriend Eddie are going thru a rough patch but i want him to know that I still lubs u Babee").

I didn't even mind the middle phase of TRL with Brian McFadden (Nikki Hilton's ex) and Quddus running the show, or that chick Hilary Burton who they found on the street and way later ended up being the star of One Tree Hill (also the Secret Life of Bees, homegirl makes a cameo as young Dakota's mother). But by the end, TRL became unwatchable, and maybe part of that was the fact that I grew up, and no longer had the attention span to watch for 1.5 hours.

Anyway, I didn't actually watch last night, but apparently they brought Carson Daly back home to host... what is that guy up to these days? Besides hosting that late night show "Later" and not being engaged to Tara Reid or dating Jennifer Love? I had an inappropes dream about Carson once in 7th grade, and it was so awkward for me, that I stopped watching TRL for about a week. And in that week, my friends made it seem like i had missed EVERYTHING. What losers. In reality, we all know that back then, that show was nearly identical every single day until videos got "retired." Except that one day that New Kids on the Block was No. 1. Classic Shiz.

Enjoy this video of some of the orig TRL titans (and my personal fave) the Backstreet Boys taking it back and bringing it home for the end of a show that stopped mattering a long time ago, but quite poss was one of the catalyzing forces behind my obsesh with this time period. Also, BSB lookin kinda good again. yikes.

Listen and revel in the power and beauty of the T.

I always come back to her when I'm in need of a loveburst. And sister always always delivers.

Young Hearts Run Free!

This song is just too good. Keeps making a comeback into my life! Mark it!
Kim Mazelle remix of a Candi Staton classic!

BaRacking da House! Slash Vote!

Happy Election Day!!!
I just arrived at work, after trekking out to my hometown to vote this morning (holla Pomona Village Hall!)!!! The line was short, the ancient little voting booth was efficient, and it all went smoothly, except for my pops popping in while I was voting to make sure I figured out the lever properly and my subsequent loud gasp/yelp. Gotta love Baj.

According to some people, my last post featuring the scantily clad Eddie Cibrian has made my blog unviewable in certain environments. Soo... in honor of election and as a shoutout to this particularly bashful friend of mine, I offer this:

Say what you will about the man, and I have my own issues with Obama's foreign policy and stance on marriage equality, but he truly is an example of the type of vision and strength that this country has been aching for. I'm not that old, but I can't think of any other point in my lifetime when I've witnessed firsthand a cross-generational and widespread movement of hope of this magnitude among people. And not the sort of hope that is born out of desperation or fear, but the deepest type of hope that ignites people toward action, and makes them dream bigger. Obama brought the human back into American politics.

Okay. so did any of ya'll check out the presidential playlists on imeem? Basically, they are the top ten songs that each candidate has chosen to represent themselves and what they stand for. Not gonna lie, I was totes groovin to the playlists at work yesterday. My man, Obamz's list is pretty impressive, from Marvy Gaye and Nina Simone to a surprise (and uhmazing!) appearance by da BOSS, (Bruce!), it was love all around. McCain's was a bit McPainful... starting off bad with ABBA's "Dancing Queen." And I love ABBA! But I wouldn't "take a chance" on McCain. Though Orbison and Sinatra rub me right... it doesn't change that Homie is delusional.



also - Bono's pet project, seven years ago: