AND YET ANOTHER CLASSIC SLOW JAM - THE WHATNAUTS

Here's yet another classic pair of slow jams for you from another little known group called The Whatnauts. Now I also own one of the original 45's from this group. The single I own is a two sided gem with I'll Erase Your Pain and I Just Can't Lose Your Love. Now the great thing about these two songs is that they ARE available on cd! The cd to buy is the one pictured. This is the import (UK) compilation and is a double cd which includes all three of the groups albums including: Introducing The Whatnauts (1970), Whatnauts On The Rocks (1972), & Reaching For The Stars (1971), along with some added tracks with The Moments. A really great cd and a must have for lovers of old school slow jams. Check out the two sided single which is also on the cd!

ONE MORE LITTLE KNOWN SLOW JAM - THE PONDEROSA TWINS + ONE

After my last post I got to thinking of some other long lost slow jams that aren't very well known. It's really a shame that some of these classics are not better known and issued on cd or played on old school radio stations. Oh well, here's another gem from 1971 titled You Send Me (yes, the one sung by Sam Cooke) but done by a young teenage group called The Ponderosa Twins + One. This group hailed from Cleveland, Ohio and consisted of two sets of identical twins plus one other member. A short lived teenage group that wasn't around for very long. I own the original 45 of this song still and am hoping one day for a cd release. In the meantime, enjoy!

LONG LOST SLOW JAM - J. KELLY AND THE PREMIERS

Now I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable guy on the subject of 70's slow jams (love songs). I still have several 45's in my closet that I am hoping someday will be released on cd. One of the gems I happen to own is this little known song by J. Kelly and The Premiers titled She Calls Me Baby. Now, SAXOMAN did not post this record on YouTube but thanks to whoever did. Another undiscovered gem. Now if anyone knows how I can take this video and put the audio into my iTunes, lemme know! Anyway, check out this classic, relatively unknown 70's slow jam. Oh yeah!

THE SYLVERS - WHERE IS THE LOVE?

One of the great under appreciated soul groups of the 70's is the musical family, The Sylvers. Now I'm not sure why, but I think that the Sylvers reputation as a serious musical act may have been tarnished by the fact that they hit it big with a couple of bubblegum type tunes (Boogie Fever, Cotton Candy, Hot Line). If you look beyond these "hits" and check out their first three albums titled "The Sylvers," "The Sylvers 2," and "The Sylvers 3", I think you will find some really great music. Songs such as Fools Paradise, How Love Hurts, I Wish That I Could Talk To You and Can You Remember The Rain to name just a few. What's really impressive is that most of their songs were written by one of the brothers (Leon Sylvers) when he was a teenager! A truly impressive musical family that you definitely need to check out! What? You say, you're not hip to the Sylvers? Well here you go.....Here are The Sylvers on Soul Train in 1972 performing their hit I Wish That I Could Talk To You. Check it out!

SOUL TRAIN

In the early 70's I would spend every Saturday afternoon like clockwork watching the tv show Soul Train. Now occasionally my Dad would come into the room and make some racist comment and switch the channel on me, but for the most part he let me be. Now I can tell you that Soul Train was the show to watch because it had the hippest musical acts, the latest fashions, the latest dances and the finest ladies. Now one of the great parts of the show was the Soul Train dance line. Here's a sample of the Soul Train dance line from 1973 dancing to the O'Jays song Love Train and even features Fred "Re-Run" Berry before he hit it big with the tv show What's Happening. Anyway, check it out!

LOVE JONES -THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF DARKNESS

Way back on 7/1/09 I blogged about having a Basketball Jones and the original inspiration for that song. Well here it is. The original Love Jones! Here's a clip of The Brighter Side of Darkness performing their hit Love Jones on Soul Train. Ya' gotta love the choreography as well as the mini capes they are wearing. The fashions from the crowd and Don Cornelius are too hip! A genuine classic and I happen to still own the original 45 of this song. Check it out and get hip!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

Happy Thanksgiving to my many (2? 3?) readers out there! Today we should all stop and give thanks for all of the good things in our lives (our health, the health of friends and family, our jobs, etc....) Don't take things for granted as life is too short!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!!

EMPTYING THE COKE MACHINE

On my last blog entry I talked about emptying the Coke machine at work. Now why should this deserve a special blog entry? Well lemme tell ya'......On occasion my boss would ask me to empty the change from the Coke machine. This was one of the truly special perks of the jobs, well maybe the only perk of the job. My eyes would get really big as she handed me the keys to the machine and a coffee can to put the change in. I would then open up the machine and there before me was more change than I had ever seen in my entire life! WOW! I immediately started alternating between filling the coffee can and stuffing change in my two front pockets. For a guy making $3 an hour (if that) this opportunity was too good to pass up. Anyway, after the machine was emptied of every last cent I would return the coffee can and keys to my boss. She would usually make some sarcastic comment like "hmmm, not too much change this week", striking fear into my heart! When returning the keys and change I would always try to walk really slow so my boss would not hear the jingling of all the change stuffed in my pockets. The fact that I was wearing an apron really helped to cover my bulging pockets. I was always afraid my boss was going to call me over and tap on my two bulging front pockets one day but she never did Whew! Anyway, I always thought I was going to get caught at this because I am definitely not a good liar or a good thief but I never did. I look back on it now as payback for all the verbal abuse I had to take from her. HAHA! So there you have the story of the Coke machine.

MY THIRD JOB - BUSTIN' SUDS AGAIN...WHAT?

OK, now way back on 5/6/09 I told you about my first job (delivering newspapers) and on 5/27/09 I told you about my second job (bustin' suds), now I want to tell you about my third job, bustin' suds again! What? Yes, it's true. Here's the story: Armed with a high school diploma and thankful to be done with school, I was ready to tackle the world! The only problem is that I had no real experience at anything other than bustin' suds (washing dishes) and I was kind of a knucklehead as well. I remember looking in the classifieds for a job and also going to the Unemployment Office as well and not having any luck. I just couldn't understand why no one would want to hire an unskilled, uneducated knucklehead like me. One day after leaving the Unemployment Office I noticed an Employment Agency close by and went to check it out. I told them of my vast experience (bustin' suds) and they said they had just the job for me. What? Really? The only problem is you have to pay us 75% of your first months wages! What? Are you serious? Is this legal? Well......with little options on the horizon I took them up on their offer and soon found myself bustin' suds at a Respiratory Hospital in Altadena and lemme tell you, this was one miserable job. The hours were horrible in that they consisted of split shifts meaning I started at 6:30AM and worked to about 1:00PM and then had to leave and come back and work from 4:30PM to 6:30PM. A really bad job and I can tell you that I looked just like the guy in this picture. Some of the many things I had to do were: load the trays with the correct food, deliver the food on a large cart to the proper areas, wash a ton of dishes after each meal, put away the food in the stockroom, make the salads, fill the Coke machine (an upcoming blog topic), make the coffee, clean the kitchen, and do any number of other things that my nutty boss decided she needed done. This job was no fun at all and I think I may have done this for at least a year if not longer. Oh yeah, I think I made about $3 an hour, if that. Jeez.....I sure can't imagine any kids working like this today.

OK, SO I'M A LITTLE SQUEAMISH

OK, now I have to admit that I'm a little bit squeamish. I don't know what it is but there are certain things that make me really squeamish and cause me to turn away. Just giving blood is a major ordeal for me so you won't ever see me being a blood donor (sorry). I have to turn away and close my eyes as they stick me with a needle and I definitely have to turn away as they fill up the vial with my blood. I made the mistake of looking at this once and almost passed out. Even watching a movie or tv and they show a needle being injected, or a surgery, or childbirth (gross) or any countless number of things and I can't bear to watch. It makes me just want to pass out. Sometimes just innocently flipping through the channels you may stumble upon an eye surgery or an open heart surgery. I can't turn the channel fast enough as that image I just saw is being embedded into my brain. Maybe this explains why I'm not a big horror movie fan. I dunno........all I know is if it's any of the things I mentioned above, count me out!

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY

I have to tell you that I have a real problem with a lot of young people in service industries. I'm talking about kids in their early 20's that wait on you in restaurants or in department stores. Now I don't know if most of these kids are mentally challenged or what, but a lot of them sure seem to be complete idiots to me. Another thing that I have a problem with is that most of these kids talk so damn fast you can't understand what the hell they're saying (mainly the girls). I'm constantly having to ask them "can you repeat that a little but slower?" Now maybe it's just me or maybe I'm just getting cranky as I get older. All I know is, why do businesses hire these brainless kids and where did good service go in this country? Just my two cents.

FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - BROOKLYN FUNK ESSENTALS

This weeks Funk CD Pick of the Week is the Brooklyn Funk Essentials with their cd titled In The Buzzbag. Now I have to tell you that this is one funky cd. For those of you that aren't hip to the Brooklyn Funk Essentials all I can say is get hip! They have several cd's out and they are all worth checking out. Mixing Funk, Hip-Hip, Ska, Reggae and in this case World music, this is another must have for your funk collection. This cd mixes James Brown style funk with musicians from Istanbul, Turkey and it works! A super funky cd that you need to check out, hear me? Here's a video of the Brooklyn Funk Essentials playing the Pharoah Sanders classic The Creator Has A Master Plan. Check it!

HIGH SCHOOL PROM

Nowadays kids (I mean parents) spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on their child's High School Prom? It's as if their child's life will not be complete unless they take part in this rite of passage into adulthood. Me? Well I must admit that SAXOMAN did not partake in these festivities. Yep! You heard right! SAXOMAN skipped the prom! You see, there were some very valid reasons for me not going to this event so let me explain. Now back in High School I lacked several of the key ingredients necessary to go to the prom and these were as follows:

• I didn't have a car (or a driver's license!)
• I didn't have a girlfriend
• And I didn't have any fancy clothes to wear to a prom like a tux or suit or whatever it is you wear to these things.

Now I consider these as real essential things needed to go to the prom. I know several of my friends were in the same boat as me so in hindsight maybe we should have all gone together and just had fun as a bunch of knuckleheads but we didn't. Oh well.......I'm sure many people have either good memories or bad memories of this event. Me? No memories at all.....

PUT A PLATE IN MY LIP AND.........WHAT?

A while back I had sold on old Eddie Kendricks album on Ebay. I had recently picked up the Eddie Motown Collection (Vol. 1) on cd which contained this album so decided to sell my old vinyl lp. The album went for approximately $25 (as expected) but the funny part of the story is this: As you can tell from the back cover of the album that it is an African themed photo. Because of this (I guess) the person that bought this from me on Ebay left the following feedback, "Put a plate in my lip and a bone through my nose". What? Yep, I kid you not. HAHA! Now I'm not sure but I guess this is supposed to be positive feedback for this transaction...........I guess.

FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - PARLIAMENT

A while back I had picked a Parliament cd as my infamous Pick of the Week so I figured why not follow it up with their biggest selling and most popular cd. With that being said, this weeks Funk CD Pick of the Week goes to Parliament with the funk masterpiece, Mothership Connection. Oh yeah! Featuring such all-time classics as P. Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up), Mothership Connection (Star Child), and Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker). Now back when this came out I can honestly say just about everyone I knew had this lp and would throw it on to get the party started. A classic cd that is a must have for your funk collection! The one to buy? Why the new, remastered version with eight tracks including an alternate version of Mothership Connection! Here's a video of Parliament playing Mothership Connection. Check it out and get hip!

BUYING JEANS - WHEN DID IT EVER BECOME SO COMPLICATED?

OK, now when did buying jeans become so difficult? It used to be you would go to the store and find some Levis and then just find your waist and length and you were done! Out the door in a matter of minutes without even having to try anything on. But now? Oh no! I can tell you that I just went through this nightmare this past weekend and it's nothing like it used to be. No way! First of all you have the multitude of different styles to choose from. These include: Skinny or Super Skinny (which look like tights to me and are what you typically see kids on skateboards wearing). I honestly don't know how I could even fit my big feet in these things. You then have Slim Fit, and then Regular Fit (whatever that means), then Relaxed Fit, and then Baggy. There may be more but these are the ones that I remember. Not only do you have these many choices, but now some of these jeans don't even sit at waist level (like men's jeans should be in my opinion). Now they have men's jeans that ride lower on your hips! What? These are like wearing ladies hip-huggers and if I wore these I'm sure people would be starin' at my butt crack every time I would bend over (kind of like what I do when I see women bend over HAHA!) On top of all this you have the various looks such as faded, distressed, torn, etc....Anyway, I'm sure women have been dealing with this issue for years but I can tell you this is all new to me and it's a real chore to buy jeans now. Jeez......when did things ever get so complicated?

DECAPITATING MYSELF - WHAT?

The other day I was going through my closet and I found a old raincoat of mine that I hadn't worn in some time. I noticed that the belt was missing from this raincoat and then it all came back to me as to what had happened. I was driving down the street one day and wearing this raincoat when I heard a noise coming from my rear tire. I rolled down my window so I could listen to it a little better but didn't hear anything so got out of the car to check my tire. Again, nothing. I got back in my car and started to drive away when suddenly the belt of the raincoat was wrapping around my waist at a rapid speed and then flying up by my neck. What the??? It appears that the belt had been hanging out of the car door and may have got caught in the tire or road or something. All I know is the belt whizzed around my neck and hit me in my head before disappearing out of the car. So basically I was almost decapitated by my own belt. I guess I could have of stopped and picked up the belt in the street but was too much in shock at the time. I could only imagine the crime scene investigators trying to determine how I had hung myself with the belt of my raincoat. So there you have it. The story of how SAXOMAN almost decapitated himself. HAHA! Be careful out there!

JAZZ FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - LIQUID SOUL

This weeks Jazz Funk CD Pick of the Week is Make Some Noise by the group Liquid Soul. Hailing from Chicago, Liquid Soul has five cd's and yes I have them all. This cd titled Make Some Noise is one super funky cd and a must have! Yes, a must have. Check out the Amazon link for some audio samples from this cd. My favorite cut from this cd is without a doubt Threadin' The Needle. Check this one out for sure and you can say, oh yeah, SAXOMAN has hipped me once again. http://www.amazon.com/Make-Some-Noise-Liquid-Soul/dp/B0000061TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257307414&sr=8-1

I couldn't find that many real good videos on YouTube of Liquid Soul but here is one. Don't get the impression that all of their songs have rapping in them cuz they don't. Anyway, check it out y'all!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - BULLET IN THE HEAD

Well I figured that since my last DVD pick was a John Woo action film, I thought I would follow it up with another John Woo classic titled Bullet In The Head. This is a great story about three friends and how their lives are changed by a series of events and greed. A great action movie as well that you definitely need to check out! Here's the trailer for this fine piece of Asian cinema from John Woo. The one to buy? Why the 2 Disc Collectors Edition from Fortune Star!