It's not quite my turn on the Brick House tonight but I'm always happy to sub on this show when needed. Since it's Martin Luther King day I wanted to keep the show on-theme as much as possible.
Some Highlights:
"King Holiday", by King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew. This was a one-off project in 1986 to celebrate the new Dr. King holoday. It features a ton of talented artists from the time, each taking a few lines-- including El DeBarge, Whitney Houston, Stacy Lattisaw, Lisa Lisa with Full Force, Teena Marie, Menudo, Stephanie Mills, New Edition, James "J.T." Taylor, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Run–D.M.C., and Whodini.
Moodswings' "Spiritual High Part 3". Part 3 of this track is excerpts from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech set to music.
Prince's "Baltimore" from his Hit n Run Phase 2 album-- the last before he died. Prince mourns Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, and includes a repeated chant of "If there ain't no justice then there ain't no peace".
Labelle's soulful cover of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".
Prince's "Chelsea Rodgers", from his 2007 "Planet Earth" album. For a long time Prince was, to me, the guy with those great 80s songs. At some point I realized he never stopped making great music, it's just that I wasn't hearing any of it. I quickly made amends. I love to play non-80s Prince tracks, because you always know it's him, but he's doing something cool you've never heard before. If they ever open up his legendary vault, it'll change the world.
Thomas Dolby on the Brick House? Yeah, doing "Hot Sauce", which was written by George Clinton.
Punkin Machine's "I Need You Tonight" was the disco highlight of the show. I don't know why this song isn't better known, because it's fantastic. The guitar work would make Nile Rodgers proud.
Lyn Collins' "Think (About It)", one of the most sampled songs ever. This song has been sampled so many times by so many people that it'd be easy to write it off as yet another artist grabbing the same old sound. But those sounds have to start somewhere, and this is one of those songs. If that wasn't enough, her backup band is the JB's.
Christmas music reared its head for the first time this year with Funk Machine's "Soul Santa" and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings doing "Ain't No Chimneys in the Projects".
A Tribe Called Quest's "The Space Program" has some unexpected samples from "Willy Wonka".
It's the day before the election. That may have influenced some of my song choices. Like Janet Jackson's "Nasty" or Kool & the Gang's "Ladies Night". Or why I played the Bee Gees doing "If I Can't Have You", or Queen Latifah & Monie Love doing "Ladies First". Or a few others.
I had been tempted to play Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl" (I don't know a "Nasty Woman" song that would fit the show). I couldn't get my hands on a copy in time, though. The CD is out of print, and it's not available from any legal download site I know. Oh well. Aside from the title I'm not sure it would have made sense.
This summer I've subbed several times for other people on the Brick House at KRCC. I'm thrilled to say that I've been added as a regular member of the Brick House team! This show has long had a group of DJs who take turns hosting, and now that includes me.
It was just over a year ago that I first went on the air at KRCC, and the Brick House was my favorite show on the station. Getting to be part of that team is just amazing.
Here's my playlist from the Brick House for Monday September 19.
