Fela Kuti
1. Heatwave “Boogie Nights” – Heatwave shares some similarities with several other 70s soul and disco outfits – they have one or two memorable songs that people remember fondly even though they’ve forgotten the band or artist behind the song. The first time I heard this song, some years back I was blown way: it starts off with a sleek, intro full of twinkling, dreamy xylophone, jazzy drumming and guitar work and beautifully sung harmonies (which continue throughout the song) before exploding into some funk full of fat, round bass tones, guitars played with wah wah pedals and slight reverb, and an otherworldly bridge section. This is all before ending much like the song began with a jazzy flourish. Unlike tons of other disco songs, this one has an exhilarating prog rock sensibility.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n00ss4o68nY
2. The Clash “This Is Radio Clash” – It’s almost an injustice that this version of this song, recorded in and released in 1981 never actually appears on any full length the Clash recorded. The B side was titled “Radio Clash,” offered a subtly different mix and a slight variation in the first verse of the song. The similarities in the songs created a lot of confusion between record label execs, Clash fans, critics and music lovers alike. In fact when Sony/Columbia released a re-mastered version of Black Market Clash, known as Super Black Market Clash, “Radio Clash” is mislabeled on the album as “This Is Radio Clash.” Ooops! But what I think makes this song so amazingly fresh, important and relevant is that it anticipates the genre mashing of artists such as Beck, M.I.A. and Santogold and Gorillaz by a full 20 years. What you’ll hear in this song is elements of space dub, old skool hip hop, funk and punk with satirical, politically charged lyrics. Simply put, its revolution and political consciousness you can shake your ass to all night.
3. R.E.M. “Radio Free Europe” – I’ve been playing a lot of early R.E.M. over the last couple of years and this particular song gets a lot of play on my iPod. Sure Michael Stipe’s lyrics are largely incomprehensible – and in many ways that’s part of the charm. Mike Mills plays perhaps the funkiest bass you’ll hear of all of R.E.M.’s entire discography as the bass it propels the song along towards its conclusion – a gentle fade out. But most importantly, this song has a hook that has always struck me as being incredibly catchy and danceable. Would it be surprising to learn that this song got some airplay on American Bandstand back in late 1983?
4. Fela Kuti “Water Get No Enemy” – Afrobeat is an often difficult genre to describe as it’s a genre that borrows heavily from American and Western forms of music such as rock, jazz, reggae and funk while managing to be distinctly African, and distinctly Nigerian – lyrics are often sung and chanted in a combination of Pidgin English, Yoruba and other indigenous dialects. Fela Kuti, one of the most controversial figures of modern music, is the genre’s godfather and legendary figure, creating the genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This shit is funky – the horns often sound like the trumpet call of the apocalypse, the bass will kick you in your ass and make you move. But much like Bob Marley or even the Clash, Kuti was a highly political artist and he freely spoke about the corruption, the crime and oppression that dominated Nigerian society while frequently mocking and ridiculing the powers in charge. Shake your ass, absorb the lyrics and sentiments, and then speak truth to power, ya’ll!
5. Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force “Planet Rock” – Afrika Bambaatta, along with cats such as DJ Melly Mel, Grandmaster Flash are the earliest known godfathers of hip hop. Sure, the outfits Bambaatta and the Soul Sonic Force wore for live souls and in the videos are laughably ridiculous, and the lyrics would be considered corny by today’s more cynical, violent standards. In one of the earliest known uses of sampling, Bambaatta samples Kraftwerk’s “The Robots,” to give the song a futuristic, almost post apocalyptic feel that seems both of its time and ahead of its time.
6. Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force “Renegades of Funk” – I found out about this song and fell in love with this song, thanks to two very different and disparate sources. Rage Against the Machine have a decent cover of the song on their Renegades album, with Tom Morello’s guitar screeching, roaring as Zach De La Rocha changed some of the lyrics in an attempt to make the song their own personal mission statement. A couple of years later, I stumbled on the original while watching the old WNYC TV show, the Bridge, hosted by the legendary hip hop producer and radio personality, Ralph McDaniels. Like “Planet Rock,” the song has a futuristic, post apocalyptic feel that is of its time and ahead of its time – although sadly, this song doesn’t hold up as well as “Planet Rock.” The handclaps throughout the song are kind of silly and the synthesizer sounds a helluva lot like the old Casios I used to play with in elementary school. Still, its funky and playful song with a positive message to boot! Go and challenge a fool on the dance floor, sucka!
7. Siouxsie and the Banshees “Hong Kong Garden” – I vaguely remember them from my obsessive MTV viewing back in the mid and late 1980s with their hits “Kiss Them for Me” and “Peek-A-Boo.” I recently re-discovered Siouxsie and the Banshees when I came across a copy of the Once Upon a Time: The Singles compilation at my local library. Certainly, Siouxsie and the Banshees are important because they’re that so-called bridge between punk, new wave and goth but they also made incredible, inspired music. The guitar work is amazing as it varies between sounding like a ringing gong and the familiar U2/early 80s guitar solo. And although the lyrics are at times ridiculous, I love Siouxsie Sioux’s voice which can be playful, seductive, haunting and frightening all simultaneously. The song ends in a flurry, leaving you panting for more.
8. Muddy Waters “Got My Mojo Workin’” – Modern music as we know it and love it, owes a great debt to the two quintessentially American music genres – jazz and the blues. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten deeper into the blues and have become a huge fan of the old bluesmen Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. What I love about “Got My Mojo Workin’” just like rest of the genre is its frank discussion of dark themes – sex, drugs, alcohol, obsession, sin and anything else you can think of. I’ve heard different versions of the song on a number of different compilations throughout the years but each version maintains that same playfully, incorrigible, lusty spirit. Muddy Waters was larger than life and I think there’s a little bit of him in all of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqPM3IX6Nc
9. T-Bone Burnett “Palestine, Texas” – I somehow feel that I have to preach the good word of T. Bone Burnett, as he’s one of those multi-talented musicians that musicians love. Throughout his lengthy career, he’s toured as a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, followed that up with a solo career before concentrating on producing artists as diverse as BB King, kd lang, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello and others. 2006 saw the release of the True False Identity, Burnett’s first release in some 15 years or so. The song through its searing guitar riff evokes a hot, sweaty, burned out and paranoid wasteland with lyrics that start off with an oddly childlike and puzzling nursery rhyme – before satirizing George Bush. The song like the rest of the album is challenging and an intense experience that must be listened to and forces you to pay attention.
10. David Bowie “Fashion” – I’m going to finish this playlist along the lines I started – with some rousing funky stuff. Much like all of Bowie’s work, the song of is full of surrealistic lyrics that manage to be simultaneously ridiculous, playful, frightening and odd. I love all of Bowie’s work but I find this particular period – roughly 1974-1984 – to be the most challenging, amazing stuff yet. Play this song along with “Golden Years” and TVC-15” and tell me how these songs don’t sound as though they could have come out today – or that they’re not better than roughly ¾ of the barely inspired nonsense called music out today.
