Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
Next in my ongoing series of bands relegated to Electric Purgatory is Nicklebag - not to be confused with that other Nickle... band - which features Rolling Stones Backup Singer Bernard Fowler and former Sass Jordan guitarist (and Native-American) Stevie Salas. The rythym section was a rotating lists who who's who, from Dave Abbruzese of Pearl Jam to T.M. Stevens.
During the Mid 90's the they released 2 albums, ("12 Hits and a Bump","Mas Feedback") both of whom are essentially masterpeices of grooving hardrock, which included a ton of cool covers from a funked and rocked out version of Garbage's "I'm only Happy When it Rains" to this - a cover a Funkadelic's "Hit it and Quit it".
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions attempts to challenge the Bias of Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the basis of her past statements doubting that two "wise judges" will always reach the same decision.
In this section Judge Sotomayor denies the interpretation of her statements as presented by Sessions, and further states that her underlying point was that equally wise and richly experienced people - just might disagree.
First a quick Refresher on exactly who Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III really is.
In 1986 Jeff Sessions failed in his bid to become a Federal Judge himself because he thought the NAACP - the organization formed to fight Lynchings - was a "Anti-American/Communist" association. He also called a fellow White Lawyer who defended Black people a "Traitor to his Race" - and yet he presumes to Judge the bias of Judge Sotomayor?
Like. Wow!
Now a question, as Litigator Mom posted today - who said this?
"Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown."
Who said this?
Judge Sonia Sotomayor in the statements immediately following her comments where she HOPED a "Wise Latina with the wealth of experience" would come to better conclusion on a discrimination case than (a Wise someone) without that experience. Clearly she was saying she doubted that this was a foregone conclusion. And in the hearings today she underscore this meaning to her original comments.
She did NOT say that she couldn't see a case from the perspective of people whose experience different from her own, rather she truthfully stated the difficulty in seeing and fully appreciating circumstances of others that our outside our own experience and that "neutrality and fairness" is not our natural state, instead it is some we must work hard to achieve and maintain. In fact, I think Sessions seems to embody exactly what he's attacking since he seems completely incapable of reading and understand all of Sotomayor's statement simply because it's a perspective that is so far different than his own experience.
ie: "Boy. Better Watch Yourself. Traitor to your Race. The Klan is not to so bad... except for The Pot!"
In this section Beauregard challenges Sotomayor on the Ricci Case.
Sotomayor correctly points out that she didn't make this decision on her own, she was part of a panel - and that other appelate courts (the 6th Circuit) have come to similar conclusions on similar cases based on the standing precedent on the Disparate Impact standard under Title VI.
Disparate Impact: Even where an employer is not motivated by discriminatory intent, Title VII prohibits an the employer from using a facially neutral employment practice that has an unjustified adverse impact on members of a protected class.
That is the Law. It has been the Law for 40 years.
The question in the Ricci case was whether or not the City was Justified in scraping the test and starting over in the likelihood of a potential Disparate Impact Suit - the Supreme Court has now determined and set a New Standard which says that in similar cases the employer would need to determine that they were likely to Lose a Disparate Impact Suit, not simply that one is likely to be filed.
I personally don't have a problem the new standard, but it is unreasonable to blame Sotomayor and the 2nd Circuit for following existing precedent, rather than changing the standard in an Activist Way.
Sotomayor followed the Law, The Robert's Court -Changed it.
Ra featuring Sahaj Ticontin on lead vocals/guitar with "Do You call My Name", one of their two medium level hits so far the other being "Rectifier". Clearly influenced by modern "Alternative Metal" with a sound reminiscent of Crossfade and 30 Seconds to Mars this band has done reasonably well with their five CD's so far (although each has been on a different label)
Not a band I've ever seen live, their new CD "Black Sun" was released in late 2008.
Mother's Finest has been Rocking The shit since the 1976, and have managed to keep it going for over 30 years so far. Although they can hardly get arrested for anything besides "Rocking While Black" in America, they've become a huge - I mean HUGE - band in Europe and England and they haven't Stopped Rocking' Yet. This 2003 performance from a German TV Show, featuring "Hard Rock Lover" and "Niggaz Groove/Like A Negro" makes that point very clear.
Like a lot of other Black Musicians, they've faced pressure to do a "Straight" R&B and in 1989 actually gave into the pressure to produce "If Looks Could Kill" , which essentially went Plywood. They responded to that with a blazing Hard Rock Record that would make Ozzy Blush called "Black Radio Won't Play this Record" which includes the original version of "Like a Negro". I actually managed to catch a copy of this the one time - and I do meant ONE TIME because I watched every week - that the video was shown on Head Bangers ball on MTV. I sent a copy of to DuG Pinnick of King's X because the guitarist was wearing a "Faith Hope Love" King's X T-shirt, just like the one Hal Sparks wears all the time. Amazingly, on their next record they had a song that went "Huh!" on the downbeat too - but Dug always denied that it was inspired by the MF Video I sent.
I've seen MF Live twice, the first time was at the Palace in Hollywood - across from the Capital Records Building (The Label that made them do the Lame R&B Album), at one point Jean Kennedy (Co-Lead Singer with her Husband Glenn Murdock) actually put down her Mic at one point and managed to Sing Over The Band and still be heard - her voice is THAT powerful. I managed to meet them, and Angelo Moore (Of Fishbone - who hosted the show) backstage after the gig.
The Second Live MF show I saw was at the Coconut Teaser during their "Black Radio" tour with a Lineup that included the legendary Spacey T (Sound Barrier/Fishbone/Year of the Dragon) on Guitar. That was a Show I'll NEVER Forget, they Rocked the SHIT outta that place. and I'd seen a lot of bands at the Teaser before it was eventually shutdown - the only band that came close to MF that night was Total Eclipse (which featured 2 members from Sound Barrier - Bernie and Dave - and 2 from The Bus Boys - Victor and Andre). TE played like a Machine they were so tight - my friend (bassist/multi-instrumentalist) Les July used to joke "Is It Memorex"? - it sounded that good.
Legend has it that when the Teaser used to be called the Starwood in the 70'[s it was the club where Gene Simmon's originally discovered Van Halen, it's also the place whose former owner had been robbed of a bunch of drugs aided and abetted by none other than Porn Star John Holmes. (A creepy scene similar to this real event was included in the Film "Boogie Nights") Lots of History in that part of Hollywood.
One of my personal favorite groups for a very long time, this Atlanta based five man crush-a-thon is headed by Lajon Witherspoon - who legend has it was discovered singing with a Living Colour cover band. This tight and heavy unit has so far produced 8 Albums since 1998, yet haven't quite gotten their due even though the last two discs Alpha & Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow have scored in the top 20 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts.
I've seen them about three times, the last time which was about 5 or 6 years ago in Downtown Sacramento I was actually sitting outside the Crest Theater before their show with an Acoustic Guitar playing for Quarters. Lajon came walking by the with Local Rock DJ Kylie Brooks and listened for awhile, then asked if I was going to the show. I wasn't because I couldn't afford it at the time - hence the guitar and the quarters - so they gave me tickets which was Hella Cool.
I eventually had to Hock that Acoustic Guitar for Food and Rent, now some of those songs are on my new CD.
Following up on my recent article on the documentary Electric Purgatory which explores the difficulties of Black Artists who dare to defy conventional wisdom and genre-restrictions by playing Rock and Alternative Music I will now be posting Videos of some of these artists both to highlight their talent and to counter those who would claim the only reason for their lack of greater noteriety and success is because they someone fail to "Measure Up".
First : King's X from Woodstock '94, Fifteen Years ago with a Cover of Jimi Hendrix Manic Depression between performances by Sheryl Crow and Blues Traveler.
This is a band I've actually following and personally known since before this video was shoot - I met this guys in Sacramento after a performance at the Boardwalk in Orangevale, my first time there, while they made a stop during the Gathering of the Tribes Tour, which also featured Fishbone and Primus.
Fans on the GOTT tour hadn't been treating the band well, I specifically recall lead singer dUg Pinnick calling out in comment to one guy who was very obviously reading a newspaper during their performance. In response the guy made a big show of turning the pages and continuing to ignore them.
At the Boardwalk it was different, it was swelteringly hot - somewhere around 120 degrees that Summer - and incredibly humid. The club was packed literally to the gills making the entire place one big Mosh, and the band was totally energized to have a crowd so INTO what it was they do - and believe me they were.
To. This. Very. DAY. I don't think I've had and seen a more intense - near religious - musical experience. It was frankly Amazing.
After the show we met the band in the parking lot next to the trailer park and they talked with all the fans for hours and hours... totally enjoying everyones company. They were cool, smart, funny, completely unpretensious and fantastic musicians.
I've considered them friends of mine ever since. A couple years later, in 1992, during their next tour we had one friend of our fly out from England to L.A. to join us (me, my wife and step-son) following the band on as many of their tour stops as possible - we did four of them. L.A., Fresno, San Francisco and Denver. It got to the point where their Bus Driver knew who we were, and at one stop where we had planned to drive all night long the band - actually dUg - offered to let the four of us stay in his hotel room, while they slept on the bus since they only rented the rooms to take a shower after the gig. So we did, then followed them on the next town to another great show. When we arrived the venue said it wouldn't honor our tickets - because the show had moved from another location at the last minute - and that we'd have to fix it at "The point of sale".
Well, that was 200 Freaking Miles Away - we'd pretty much miss the whole show driving their and back.
The band stood up for us, first Ty the Guitarist, then Dug, and then finally their Road Manger Jay Feebus said something to the club owner that completely chilled his shit - and got us into the gig. That's why I say these guys are my friends, because they've proven they are.
I have a connection to this which is not the usual one as a Musician. For example my Wife (also a Musician) used to take Drum Lessons from Joe Porcaro at Musicians Institute in L.A. Through that connection and others she eventually ran the Official Fan Club for the band his kids put together with their friends from Grant Hight, otherwise known as Toto.
Most of the members of Toto played on Michael Jackson's Thriller LP, in fact Steve Porcaro actually wrote "Human Nature" and his dad Joe used to Joke around about his "Son the Millionare" based on the Royalties that song generated. The funny thing is that Toto only gave that song to Michael because they were expecting to play Stadiums after the success of Toto IV, and didn't think that soft song would work in that setting.
Then Micheal went and played it in Stadiums. Figures.
On a personal level I find a lot of this spectacle really disgusting and crass. My day job is doing graphics for Websites and one of my primary clients is with a Silkscreen Company - in "Jimmy Jam" (as shown in the CBS Report) is one of my primay clients - and I've been really torn about doing graphics on the job. I was even on site during the segment taping, but I preferred not to be on camera consider my ambivilence about it all.
Yes, it's a paycheck. Yes, it has clearly created a mini-boom in the Local Los Angeles Economy that is in desperate need for a boost.
But as a Musician, as a person who in my own case spent Four Years in a Trademark Dispute with another band, fighting against a former member of Dream Theater who actually DARED to provide a falsified affidavit and phony flier to try and prove his band had been in place before my Band - I know the value of Copyrights and Trademarks in a way that most people don't.
During the time that the Original MP3.com existed, my old group (the Original) Planet X made some real money purely from listeners streaming our songs, but after Napster and other sharing services shut that site down, that revenue stream dried up. Why should advertisers pay for something that everyone can simply Take?
From my perspective a lot of these Michael Chotchke's are RIPPING Michael and his Family off. I've heard the arguement that - "Oh, he's got MILLIONS - why shouldn't I get some" - I've heard "Well, the FANS want it" and oh, the "Family isn't doing it = why shouldn't we"? and I find all of this completely unconvincing.
I don't think once the dust settles that Michael's Attorney's are going to find it very convincing either. That kind of Raw Naked Greed is frankly the same thing that drove the selfishness behind predatory lending, the sub-prime mortgage crisis the relentless pumping up of stock prices and exportation of American Jobs overseas to the determine of the American Worker and Economy.
It's high time we turned away from that as a people, society and country and once again began to embrace - well - Values.
You can't really fault fans for wanting a momento, but from my perspective - head down in the midst of the grind to get all this stuff made. It's a Crazed Feeding Frenzy. One of our guys says that one woman bought the shirt Off His Back on Hollywood Blvd.
And still I have mixed feelings about it all.
I saw this same kind of Frenzy to make Obama T-Shirts during the Campaign, and even though as my day job I was actually helping make designs - i didn't even KEEP one of those shirts for myself. I felt then, and still feel that the proper thing to do was to make a donation to the campaign and get an OFficial Shirt, not a bootleg. We actually did make Official Shirts for the McCain/Palin Campaign when they made their local swing through at Cal State Dominguez, and it was so funny to think all those people shouting Neo-Racist Slurs while wearing "McCain/Palin '08" on their shirts imported from Haiti and printed by a bunch of Black Guys and Mexicans in South Central.
That was kinda hilarious.
But this Michael thing to me is still kinda sad. All the drama is just so pathetic and ridiculous with his kids and the drugs and his own personal history with the law, his own personal quirks with plastic surgery and body modification. Ugh! To me, and this remains to be determined, he died much like Elvis. Drained of all functional cash reserves, he essentially Had to go on Tour or else begin liquidating his catalogue to pay his $500 Billion in Debts. To my mind, depending on the final autopsy results, it's is very likely that he Worked Himself To Death - trying to prevent that from happening.
And now people are doing everything they can to make a buck off his image and name - and we all supposed to just smile and nod and go "Well, it's good for the economy..."
Yeah... ok.
The services is starting as I type this, and the thought of thousands of hucksters around Staples trying to Hawk all this stuff - just doesn't feel right.
They even asked me at work if I wanted to make a few bucks out there - and even though my personal finances suck, I'm two or three days from having my Cable/Phone and Internet Shutoff I said "FUCK NO!"
I can't do it. I can't disrespect Michael that way. The thought make me sick.
He was far - FAR from my favorite Artist. I would say I like Prince much more, but I knew his career going all the way back to ABC. I watched as he grew up - as he was just 5 years older than me. I learned the Jackson 5 dance moves as a kid. I remember when they left Motown and Jermaine had to go solo because he was married to Barry Gordy's daughter and decided to stay with their original label. I remember the Triumph and Destiny albums long before Michael would explode with the Thriller Album into both a phenomenon and and many ways a "Freak".
Today he will be laid to rest, and hopefully he can rest in peace.
This Documentary from 2006 details the difficulties trials and tribulations faced by Black Rock Musicians in an industry that is far more interested in exploiting the current body image biases of the Rock Audience, than promoting the best and brightest artists.
As a personal confession, I actually know quite a few people in the documentary - including Reggie McFadden, Mike (Maggot) McGinnes of Bozaque (The Original Rap Metal Band), Bernie K. (Sound Barrier/Total Eclipse) and Oscar Jordan who I was very briefing in a band with. In the lat 80's and early 90's I joined the Los Angeles Chapter of the Black Rock Coalition, an organization dedicated to addressing this very issue which had originally been formed in New York by Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Greg Tate (Writer for the Village Voice) and Artists Manager Konda Mason.
Quite a few different people were supportive and involved in the early days including members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Tom Morello just before he formed Rage Against the Machine and some members of Body Count. Although it should seem quite obvious if you simply ask yourself "Where did all the black people in Rock n' Roll go?" there are still those who want to deny it's any kind of issue and instead basically blame the victims.
this is not a race issue as this is portayed (along with many other issues). these guys have talent, but black rock bands are not money makers. why are the majority of rap artists black? same reason. people just need to accept the cold hard facts. if you have a good band, people will listen no matter your race. its not uncommon for a great band to be unsigned.
Or this...
They portray this as a race issue, but it is not. Most people have never heard of my favorite band, they have been around since the mid 90's, but they are not black, so they can't use the race excuse. The music industry is here to make money. Who makes money? Whoever 13 year olds like. Apparently, it is not black people making shitty rock music. The people in this movie want to be rich and famous. They are not content with making music that they love.
They contend that the music industry is somehow racist, but they overlook the impetus of greed on the situational dynamic. Doing so allows them to absolve their greed and blame someone else for their lack of success, on an unrelated basis. The music business is a business. The only color that matters is green. There is no racism involved. If a group of 4 black guys came out with a record on par with "Master of Puppets", they would be unbelievably fucking famous.
Let me tell ya, if it wasn't about race - why was it that the very first BRC Shows in Hollywood received Bomb Threats? Who threatens to BOMB a Rock Show? Country/Western Fans?
And this wasn't in the 60's, or the 70's - it was 1989!
But here's the thing Greed is exactly the point and exactly the problem. It's not about what is the better art, or who is the greater artist, with the challenges that the music industry has been facing, particularly with free downloading, they have no desire or courage to challenge any existing status quo no matter how biased and/or bigotted it may be. They just give in to it.
This is not just an issue that affects these artists, it affects anyone who doesn't fit a very molded, easy to market Body Image. An artist that is too old, or not slim enough, or has the wrong kind of hair, not puffy enough lips, not wide enough eyes - faces all the exact same things. Sure, a lot of these people can GO ON A DIET, but then in far too many rather extreme cases, this has led to Anorexia, Bulimia or even plastic surgery to change their appearance.
We all know that we've seen the affect of Body Image on many Hollywood and Music SuperStars, some like the Late Michael Jackson have even clearly come down with Body Dismorphic Disorder, where they've become literally addicted to having procedure after procedure to satisfy their desire for acceptance and visual "perfection." That's not an option for artists who are either unwilling or financially unable to transform themselves into Skeletor the way Micheal did, or be willing to Shuck and Jive with Rap-style "Bling Bling" as ?uestlove of The Roots points out during his interview just to be able to have their music heard.
Being expected to give in to someone elses bigotry by descending into self-parody, self-loathing and self-destruction is not exactly my idea of a solution. Some prices are just too high to pay.
I think it's going to far to expect everyone to cowtow to stereotypes rather than challenge the basis for those stereotypes. America is supposed to be land of the "Free", not land of the "Wannabe's!" This issue has affected all of Rock, particularly Women Rockers from Pat Benatar to Heart who were basically forced out of the business because Nancy didn't fit the "Image" they thought she should project. Or to put it another way - She Got FAT. It had nothing to do with her ability to write or sing, they just didn't think she looked cute girl in the videos anymore - y'know like Madonna or Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers? And please, it's not like any of those Miley (Spawn of the Original Billy Ray Vyrus) or one of those Jonas chicks are the greatest musicians in the world or have ever released an album as AWESOME as "Master of Fucking Puppets" dude. WOOO!
We all know damn well they haven't, but we keep smiling at the American Idol/Disney Assembly Line of SUCK anyway.
This "Image" issue (which he saw as inherently racist and sexist) was a driving force behind much of Kurt Cobain's music, however the end result of his efforts were that a skinny stringy hair drug addicted white-guy in spandex was replaced by a skinny stringy haired drug addicted white-guy in a flannel shirt and mohair sweater. Again, not much of an improvement IMO.
One of the commenters, just like those people who have attacked Judge Sotomayor for applying current judicial precedent in the Ricci case, want to automatically assume that the White Guys must be better, and the Black Guys who didn't get the promoted in that case - MUST HAVE BEEN SHITTY - which is a typical defensive response to people's passive inaction in the face of bigotry.
Yeah, ok. If you're a Rock/Metal fan Check these videos out.
If you don't know, one of the Videos is this selection includes a song by the band Wicked Wisdom which features Jada Pinkett Smith as lead singer - yes - Will (Independence Day/Wild Wild West/MIB) Smith's Wife Jada who just started a brand new TV series. Even with his and her considerable Fame her participation in this band is practically A Secret - even after they toured with Ozzfest last year.
Another featured video is Dionne Farris of the Rap group Arrested Development who basically had to quit the industry after she scored a #1 Hit on the Billboard Top 40 with the Medium Rock Song "I Know" because they wouldn't let her do ROCK anymore, and insisted she only sing R&B. Let me repeat: After she had a #1 HIT ROCK nd her label refused to let her sing ROCK!
Frankly, I hope to God that was Racism because if not it's just Frakin' Crazy!
Farris’ return comes after a nasty parting of ways with her former label, Columbia, which wanted her to produce black-radio-friendly, neo-soul tracks, even though her post-Arrested Development breakout single, “I Know,” was a mainstream video pop hit. At a creative impasse, she requested and gained a release from her contract.
That was more than a decade ago.
Some people assume that everything in America is a perfect Meritocracy at the same time they admit that the situation, particularly with music is inherently unfair - and that's supposed to be "Just fine."
Crazy Much?
If one of these bands had made "Master of Puppets" or an album as good they would be naturally be HUGE just because right!? Not exactly. A lot of the hype around that album came from the fact that it was one of the first American Band that reflected the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. It was a bunch of guys that people could easily relate too, and the fact that it was different from everything else around it that helped propel that album forward as much as the music itself.
Living Colour is a Multi-platinum, Multi-Grammy Winning Band. "Shitty?" Fuck no!
It would be easy to argue that Fishbone's "Reality of My Surroundings", King's X "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska", Living Colour's "Time's Up", Mother's Finest "Black Radio Won't Play this Record" and 24-7 Spyz "Strength In Numbers" and the debut album by Sevendust if not match that challenge, they surpass it.
But they weren't made by the right (looking) people at the right time.
Another couple examples would be the arguemetn Guns N Roses "Appetite for Destruction" and Rage Against the Machine's debut CD are equally as good as Master - but the one big difference between those records and the others is that practically no one at the time knew - and some still don't know - that Gun's guitarist Slash and RATM guitarist Tom Morello Are Both BLACK.
Ok, technically half black, like Barack, but still Black. Except both of them can and did pass for White since they're both fairly light-skinned. See - Look White Enough and the problem is solved. No biggie, just borrow MJ's old Skin-cream, he's not gonna need it anymore.
The point serious, is that if it's not something that's obvious, and it's not in your FACE, it doesn't become and issue. In order to duck and dodge the issue - the first couple Living Colour singles and their originally album cover didn't include a image of the band, just so people wouldn't automatically assume they were an R&B or Reggae group.
Not a problem?
Not hardly.
These bands and these artists are going to keep fighting this injustice, and eventually they're going to win. The funny thing is - it's going to help every other artists whose fighting against being Prejudged based on their Image just as much as it will help themselves.
All the rest of you are already welcome. Just remember who did you the Solid. Again.
Ra featuring Sahaj Ticontin on lead vocals/guitar with "Do You call My Name", one of their two medium level hits so far the other being "Rectifier". Clearly influenced by modern "Alternative Metal" with a sound reminiscent of Crossfade and 30 Seconds to Mars this band has done reasonably well with their five CD's so far (although each has been on a different label)
