Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo
On The Run (Dirty Untouchable Remix)
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Released in 1992

Ray Bryant
Up Above The Rock
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Released in 1969

I had a thing at work recently where I was overdramatically quoting (sotto voce) that psycho De Niro speech from The Untouchables:

That same day, my iPod shuffle randomly selected a remix of Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo’s 5-star classic “On The Run,” which samples that very same quote. Funny how the universe works sometimes.

For those unfamiliar with Kool G. Rap, he was one of the progenitors of first-person mafioso rap, influencing The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and scores of others. “On The Run” tells the story of a drug courier for the mob who decides to steal from his employers, only to discover the Luciano family isn’t giving up its stash without a fight. Kool G. creates a compelling narrator, and moves the story along without sacrificing flow or rhyme:

The thought alone makes me shiver, damn
What if I get caught? They’ll find me floatin in the Hudson river
But if I escape, I’ll be in shape for my life
but they might, get my kid and my wife

Kool G. and Polo recorded the record in Los Angeles, which was unprecedented for an East Coast hip hop artist. Sir Jinx — a Los Angeles-based producer who worked on Ice Cube’s seminal AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted album — worked with Polo on the beats.

“On The Run,” was built around a minor-key sample from Ray Bryant’s late-60s piano-soul 5-star classic “Up Above The Rock.” It’s a prime example of building and releasing tension, with the melody shifting from Ray’s piano to horn, Grady Tate’s drums maintaining the beat while upping the frenzy, and an occasional piercing “Hey!” jolting the mood to a new place.

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Don’t Leave Me This Way (Dim’s Re-Edit)
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Album: After The Playboy Mansion (Compilation, 2002)

Teddy Pendergrass
You Can’t Hide From Yourself
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Album: Teddy Pendergrass (1977)

This is part one of a two-part tribute to Teddy Pendergrass. part two

This week’s passing of soul legend Teddy Pendergrass hurts a little bit. Few can claim as much authority on the mic as Teddy. During his prime, even his ballads were turned up to 11.

Of course, I dove into the collection on a hunt for all things Teddy. Embarrassed to say, I only had a greatest hits collection and Life Is a Song Worth Singing, Teddy’s second LP. After listening to Life Is a Song Worth Singing from end to end, I decided that it is worthy of LP Classics designation; a full post is forthcoming.

I did have a few Teddy tracks on some compilations, plus Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ Wake Up Everybody, their landmark 1975 LP with Teddy on lead vocals. That record included a bunch of great tracks, chief among them the rousing 5-star classic "Don’t Leave Me This Way." Even though the LP version is a scorcher, I decided to digitize a 2002 “re-edit” from Dimitri From Paris that modestly improves upon the track’s mixability.

The other track I selected is “You Can’t Hide From Yourself,” from Teddy’s 1977 eponymous solo debut LP. As the title might indicate, this became an anthem in gay discos. Philly Soul architects Gamble & Huff threw it down yet again, combining a thomping beat, blaring Philly horns, and a positive message with one of Teddy’s most urgent vocals.

Some biographical notes upon Teddy’s passing:

• Read his NY Times obituary or his Wikipedia page.
• Everything changed for Teddy after a 1982 car accident made him a paraplegic. Though he rarely performed live after the accident, he did keep making commercially successful records. But he mostly dedicated his post-accident life towards advocating for the rights of those with spinal cord injuries.
• Teddy got his start as a replacement drummer for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Harold quickly figured out that Teddy could also sing, and reassigned him to lead singer. Get a taste of Teddy’s percussion skills in the clip below (he picks up the drumsticks starting at 3:40):

• The ladies loved them some Teddy, and he occasionally put on shows where only women were allowed in the audience as he passed around lollipops shaped like himself (R. Kelly, take note). In researching Teddy’s life, I was surprised to learn there may have been another side to his image as the consummate ladies’ man. Because I want gBlog to value musical drama over the real-life variety, I won’t go into the details here, but a quick search about the nature of Teddy’s car accident will clue you in.

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. Since I spent many years as a quasi-professional DJ, I’ve got fat stacks of phat tracks!

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.

Elton John
Bennie And The Jets
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Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1974)

R. Kelly (w/T.I. & T-Pain)
I’m A Flirt (Remix)
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Album: Double Up (2007)

In this post, I feature distant Musical Cousins R. Kelly and Elton John. They don’t have any obvious connection but somehow it’s clear to me that R. Kelly had “Bennie And The Jets” in mind when he wrote “I’m A Flirt.” The bouncy, driving piano lines that feed both tracks result in vastly different songs, but both are 5-star classics to this listener.

I wonder if Elton John had any clue what his lyricist Bernie Taupin was talking about in “Bennie And The Jets.” Maybe that’s why he chose to mumble his way through the lyrics, shifting focus to the anthemic melody he devised for the song. Reading over the lyrics, my interpretation is that it’s a glimpse into the fascinating but vapid characters a famous pop star like Elton must have met after he hit it big, and the misplaced idolatry that comes along with fame.

In my prep for this post, I learned that “Bennie And The Jets” wasn’t intended to be a single until a Detroit R&B radio station started playing it. The song blew up, and eventually became a number-one hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Here’s Elton performing the song on Soul Train in 1975.

As usual with anything from 70s-era Soul Train, there’s much to admire. Elton’s pimp/leprechaun ensemble. His falsetto freakout. His lucite-encrusted piano. To be honest, I don’t think the Soul Train dancers knew quite what to do with this one; I enjoy watching the dude in the beige suit just behind Elton attempt to figure it out.

“I’m A Flirt” is one of the funniest and catchiest tracks you’ll ever hear. No matter what you think of R. Kelly as a person, it’s hard to deny that he’s a musical genius.

Joining Kelz is rapper T.I., who puts in a rock-solid verse that showcases his clockwork flow, and T-Pain, who proves why he remains Auto-Tune’s chief ambassador.

But it’s Kelz’s final, twisted verse that takes this joint to the next level. He was one of the first to fuse rap and R&B, and his double-time delivery rides that edge masterfully. Lyrically, he’s in all-out playa mode, no more so than in this couplet:

She be calling me daddy!
I be calling her mommy!
She be calling you Kelly!
When your name is Tommy!

As I said, the man is a genius.

I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)
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Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (Original Demo)
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I Can’t Help It (Tangoterje Remix)
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Rock With You (House Remix)
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They Don’t Care About Us (DJ Lt. Dan Remix)
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Don’t get me wrong. I had only a grain-of-sand sized belief that Michael Jackson would ever be relevant to my life again, at least from a musical perspective. Certainly, the tabloid drama that was his life continues to enthrall, but it never overshadowed the breathtaking catalog of recordings that he drove into creation.

It’s only been a week since he died, but I already feel everything has been said about the impact Jackson had on the culture. But when I hear “ABC” or “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” or “Off The Wall” or dozens of other classics, I can’t help but think back to my DJ days and the countless times Jackson saved my ass by energizing the dancefloor. The soul sickness that caused his life to devolve into an overdose of painkillers will soon be a distant memory.

The tracks I selected are not meant to be Michael Jackson’s greatest hits. But given that most people already have the entirety of Off The Wall and Thriller on their iPods, I thought I would share some outtakes and remixes of his work.

First up is a remix of “I Want You Back” that was on the Motown Remixed comp from a few years back. Normally, I’m not much of a Z-Trip fan, but he deftly tweaks the construction of this track, adding a new drumbeat but leaving the underlying groove intact. This version really highlights the interplay between 10-year old Jackson’s passionate vocals and his brothers’ smooth background harmonies.

A demo of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” that appeared on an Off The Wall reissue provides a glimpse into Jackson’s recording process. Musically, the song lacks the lavish disco strings and brass overdubs, and Jackson was clearly still figuring out the lyrics. But you can hear this version and know it’s a hit song.

“I Can’t Help It” was written for Jackson by Stevie Wonder. This mellow remix by Tangoterje was pointed out to me by my Berlin-based friend, Pepe (thanks amigo, see you in a couple of weeks). Unlike Z-Trip (who had access to the original master recording), Tangoterje is working off the completed recording, yet he figures out a way to turn this lush mid-tempo ballad into a soulful, percussive booty-shaker.

The white-label remix of “Rock With You” is one of those dirty house records that I happened upon in my crate-digging days. Every once in awhile, I’d have a gig where I worked with a house DJ. This was always a bit stressful for me since I had a pretty limited selection of house records. This track satisfied the jaw-grinding set while staying true to my funk/R&B/hip hop roots.

The final track is also the strangest, and the only one I enjoy more than its original. “They Don’t Care About Us” is not one of Michael’s best songs, and the ill-worded “Sue me, Jew me… Kick me, Kike me” lyric is amongst Jackson’s stupidest moves. But this chopped and screwed mashup hits on so many levels. This remix style is often associated with downers (specifically, codeine-laden cough syrup), which is resonant given the cause of Michael Jackson’s death. And though his vocal style became increasingly staccato as his career progressed, slowing it down and marrying it with that addictive Dead Prez “Hip Hop” beat is just plain tough. Finally, laying on a quote from attorney Mark Gregaros in response to Jackson’s child molestation charges adds an ominous justification for the song’s bitter lyrics.

Hope you’re finally at peace, MJ.