Follow The Leader
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Follow The Leader (Dub)
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Released in 1988

OK, I’m trying out a new feature, 12″ Gems. I gots fat stacks of phat tracks to share.

Take this one: Eric B. & Rakim’s 5-star classic single “Follow The Leader.” It killed in the later, hazy hours of house parties in San Francisco during the late 90s — nearly a decade after its 1988 release. It continues to be an invigorating dancefloor choice for certain kinds of parties.

I have an MP3 of this track that I got from one of the online music services. It completely neuters the bass, and sounds hollow. To me, Eric B.’s complex, moody beat is what drives the track and keeps it relevant. I spent some extra time on my encoding to try and capture it, but digital music can’t quite match the big thumping rhythm that only vinyl can deliver. Pump it through some good speakers and turn it up, and you’ll get a taste.

Lyrically and musically, the Long Island duo were an atom bomb that forever changed the landscape of hip hop in the late-80s. Sounds like a hyperbole, but if you know your hip hop history you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Take this stunning couplet from Rakim:

Music makes mellow, maintains to make
Melodies for MCs, motivates the breaks

If his wordplay wasn’t enough, Rakim was also deep:

In this journey, you’re the journal, I’m the journalist.
Am I eternal or an eternalist?

Eternalism is a philosophical construct proposing that the past, present, and future are all equally viable.

Rakim isn’t just being blasphemous by nicknaming himself The God MC; you don’t hear Chamillionaire rapping about existentialism.

I also included the b-side “Dub” version, which is borderline unlistenable, except perhaps if you’ve ingested some sort of amphetamine. In a nutshell: Eric B. experiments with reverb.

Oh, and as I said, I played this record out; it’s scratchy, it has pops and hisses… sorry about that, but it still sounds better than the CD.

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
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Slow Love
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If I Was Your Girlfriend
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Adore
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Album: Sign O’ The Times (1987)

Most casual Prince fans would peg Purple Rain as their favorite of his albums. But those that have followed Prince’s career would probably pick Sign O’ The Times, his double LP from 1987. I play this record all the time, and picking only a few tracks to share was challenging.

I was fortunate enough to see Prince on the Sign O’ The Times tour in 1988. My high school friend, Adrian, and I had spent the day in Manhattan and we were approaching Penn Station to take the train home to Long Island. A scalper approached us and offered us tickets to that night’s show for $60 each. We were typical broke high school students and bargained him down to $60 for both. Amazing seats, right on the floor. Here are my memories of the show: it was in the round, there was a basketball court on the stage, a huge pipe organ was lowered from the ceiling, Eric B. and Rakim was sitting close to us, and a car actually drove him on and off the stage (talk about extravagant!). Overall, it was among the best live performances I’ve ever seen.

Back to the record. As I wrote earlier, it’s chock full of 5-star classics, so I tried to pick ones that folks may not know as well. And just to be really OCD about it, I selected one song from each of its four sides.

First up is the bouncy “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker,” a story-song about a dude with relationship problems who takes a bath with a waitress. Prince’s songwriting is adventurous, with tone and key changes that flow magically from one passage to the next. Apocryphally, Prince didn’t know anything about Dorothy Parker (the writer), he just liked the name.

The next selection is “Slow Love,” which has a great retro feel to it. Based on the title, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was another one of Prince’s dirty songs but it’s actually a sincere and romantic groover. Throughout the LP — but especially on this track — Prince deploys his horn section in counterpoint to the melody.

For sheer cojones, it’s hard to beat “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” where the purple one reimagines his relationship with his ex-lover as her female best friend. At first, it’s all about picking out clothes, washing her hair and such. But this being a Prince song, he/she soon begins to fantasize about hot girl-on-girl action. This song is hilarious yet deep, and I gotta believe Prince is in on both the joke and the novel concept he concocted.

The final selection may be the most straightforward love song Prince has ever written (“Love is 2 weak 2 define; Just what u mean 2 me”) though of course, Prince can’t help himself from bringing a touch of the profane to it (“In a word, U were sex; All of my cool attitude U took”). Vocally, Prince offers up his most expressive falsetto, swooping into his uppermost register with full command.

For reals, you should really just go out and purchase this one.