They Tell Us That, We Lost Our Tails

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: I <3 DEVO. Truly one of the greatest American bands ever. These guys were really ahead of their time in my book. The progenitors of the domestic art-punk aesthetic, making their own instruments, scathing social commentary that went over a lot of people's heads, and some of the best damn videos/movies before MTV clogged the airwaves with screaming tweens shouting out their homies in the 'burbs.

We Went All Around The Planet

Damn, what can I say about this? This song was HUUUUGE in LA at the time when it came out. This was the original line up of the The Gold State Project (Ahmad was later replaced by Xzibit after he got born again and left his major label deal) which was originally being called The Golden State Warriors. Everyone was buzzing about this with good reason. Bangin production and bad ass rhymes from 3 of the West Coast's most original rappers at the time. Thank god I was still doing college radio, cause there was no commercial 12" release for this track.

Bom Bom Ba-ba-bom

Most people think of "It's Just Begun" when they think of The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Which is understandable since it was his biggest hit and is a b-boy staple around the world. He is also mad nice about folks using it too (my dance company uses this song in our show, and the director was able to reach him directly through his website to get complete hassel-free permission), so that probably also leads to it's ubiquitousness. But here is my personal fave, an ode to a fat-bottomed girl who loves to dance.

Executives Need To Party Too

A personal fave of mine that not too many people are hip too. In fact, I think everyone I know that knows about this heard about it from me. So there. Andre Previn goes to town on the original Rollerball soundtrack - which, by the way, sons the remake by a mile.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Hot on the heels of Self Destruction came The West Coast Rap All Stars with this number. It came up on my iPod today and it brought back so many memories. This was such a big West Coast song with so many big names on it: Digital Underground, NWA, Ice-T, Tone Loc, MC Hammer(!). So major. The crazy thing about this record, is that about half the rappers were gangster rappers. Gangster rappers rapping about stopping gang violence. Think about that for a second, and then think about what kind of crap is on the radio these days.

The Black Thor

A little slice of classic Afrika Bambaataa aliosity. I just love the funky Bill Laswell space-bass, and it also features Nas' father Olu Dara on cornet. (Who would later appear on another hip hop track with his son).

Shango - Zulu Groove

Still The King

So here is a little gem that I 'inherited' when someone mysteriously left a pile of religious albums at Satellite Records when I worked there many moons ago. Enjoy the righteous sounds of Dallas Holm