QUARANTINE LISTENING: A VINYL HEAD'S JOURNAL

Herbie Hancock Mwandishi (1971) Warner Bros. Records Dateline: Sunday, April 26, 2020 Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band is one of the biggest inspiration in developing my art life. With the Mwandishi band, everyone was assigned Swahili names. It was tailored made to fit them as an instrument to the universe. Herbie was named Mwandishi meaning The Composer. Mwandishi was also part of a connection to the homeland. Along with a spiritual connection to home and an elevation to the future. At the time, I was slowly starting my quest for a higher plane. Trying to figure out where to go.  It s a journey that I’m still working on as I'm writing this. Along with me forging my way with my own identity. Being delved heavily into listening to the Mwandishi series, I decided to name myself through my beliefs that I share in my life. Rudo, which means Love in Shona, Amani meaning peace in Swahili and Olukayode meaning happiness in Yoruba. It’s my way of a deeper connection to home...

Eddie Harris Instant Death (1972) Atlantic Records Dateline:  Saturday, April 25, 2020 No matter how you feel about sampling, hip hop does a great job at keeping the songs alive. It doesn’t matter if it’s keeping the original song intact or chopping it to the point where it's unrecognizable. You’re hearing the original source when you’re listening through the drum machine and the lyrics. As far as getting fair compensation goes, that’s another topic for another day. I don’t follow the x brought me here trend like they do on the comments section on YouTube but I was introduced to this album through Brand Nubian. For me, I get intrigued by how an artist uses a sample and if it’s creative and inspiring enough to make me want to track down the source and start a relationship with the song. I’m always on a quest to learn something new and when I hear an inspiring art form like sampling, it makes me want to track down the album too. So I can get a full appreciation of ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Faces (1980) ARC/Columbia Records Dateline: Saturday, April 25, 2020 Is it blasphemous to pass on an Earth Wind & Fire album while digging? Especially if it's an album during their classic period? I learned over time when crate digs is to not put all of my eggs in one basket because I know that I’ll be broke by the time I leave the store. That's just how my mind works.  If I had my way, I would be most of the vinyls I choose.  It's hard to make final cuts, like a coach on the last day of exhibition games.  Still, it’s Earth Wind & Fire. It’s one of the rites of passage. Just like Prince, The Beatles, Miles. You can’t leave the store without buying at least one album. I think I was banking on seeing Faces again when I went digging. Or maybe it was the unrecognizable songs in my mind. that I didn't buy it Whatever my reasons was (no pun intended) Faces was no never mind to me. Then, I decided to listen to the whole album o...

Ice Cube Kill at Will (1990) Priority Records Dateline: Saturday, April 25, 2020 I’m on my Rick Pitino right now. Straight Outta Compton Ice Cube is not walking through that door. Amerikkka’s Most Wanted Ice Cube’s not walking through that door. Boyz N The Hood Ice Cube’s not walking through that door. And if he does, he’s gonna turn around in make another Are We There Yet? I’m not mad at Cube at all. He's done really well for himself since he left N.W.A.  Which reminds me, I have to remind myself to catch the Big3 games on TV when the season starts.  I really enjoyed Are We There Yet like the next person? Just like I enjoyed Eddie Murphy in Dr. Dolittle and Daddy Day Care. It showed a different layer to them. Granted, I still dig Cube and Eddie when they’re at their edgiest. Now, it’s just a different kind of edge.  Loved Cube in Fist Fight .  I heard Eddie brought his old magic in the Dolemite movie.  I didn't get a chance to see it yet....

3rd Bass The Cactus Album (1989) Def Jam Recordings/Columbia Records Dateline: April 25, 2020 This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Here's a little trivia.  My Dad got his nickname from 3rd Bass. My Dad’s nickname was Pete. That’s what everyone in the family called him. How did he got that nickname is a mystery to me because his name is not Peter. At any rate, when 3rd Bass became popular we all called Dad Pete Nice, after Prime Minister Pete Nice, one of the MC’s in 3rd Bass and that stuck with him until the day that he went home. You know who 3rd Bass reminds me of ?  The Dave Chappelle Show because both of them were around for about two years and faded away into a mystery in the sunset. With us wanting to know when are they coming back. I wonder if they stay around a little longer, how would they fare in the hip hop climate of the day?  They probably would have been pitted against the Beastie Boys the whole time because that’s what the media...

THE JETS (1985) MCA Records Dateline: April 25, 2020 The Jets will always have a special place in my heart. Because it takes me back to a time when things were simple. Some things of my childhood I don’t remember but the things I do remember is connected through music. The Jets was one of my childhood memories growing up in the 80s that I do remember, along with the Purple Rain, Whitney Houston and the David Hasselhoff posters that were hanging from my sister's wall.  Listening to Crush On You and You’ve Got It All is one beautiful medley of what life was like back in the day. Like I said before, I don’t long to go back to whatever people called the glory days. It was a cool experience, whatever I remember of it. Sometimes, I can’t help but to think of how hip life was like when I was a kid. Especially with dealing with the bullshit of now. Waking up watching Pee Wee’s Playhouse and The Muppet Babies on Saturday morning. Soul Train in the afternoon. Riding around...

Pharoah Sanders Karma (1969) Impulse! Records/ABC Records Dateline: April 25, 2020 I was introduced to Pharoah through John Coltrane. He was featured on the Om album playing Tenor Sax. The first time I heard his saxophone, I asked, WTF is this?? It sounds like his sax is the equivalent to the Maggot Brain cover. It was in agony and begging for help.  Or it sounded like that he was pissed off and ready to start a riot. If you haven’t tried it, I challenge you to play Om in the dark. You will be freaked out easily and it took me a little while to recover the first time I've done it. At the time, I didn’t get Pharoah. I didn’t get Om either. I just thought it was all disjointed noise, not going nowhere. Like the saying goes, you’re ignorant to what you don’t get. It took a long while and a quest for inner spirituality to finally get Pharoah and Om. Pharoah taught me that it’s not all about noise. Well, the Bomb Squad taught me that too. It’s about a quest to reach a...

Gang Starr Step in the Arena (1990) Chrysalis Records Dateline: Saturday, April 25, 2020 It used to be that MCs flaunted their intelligence on the mic. GURU (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) KRS (Knowledge Reigns Supreme), Intelligent Hoodlum, Professor Griff. MC’s back then was street but at the same time they was trying to school us on what’s going down, so we can take those tools that they taught us and go out to the world hip. Part of an MC's job was to elevate the masses.  Making sure that you got lifted through their wordplay.  Now, it feels like those days are lost. Hip Hop on the mainstream don’t wanna teach you anything but things on the surface. Shit that’s not even real to an audience that's listening.  Pipe dreams. That goes back to my last entry where the powers that be wants you to be dumb down. It feels like the truth is like catching a bad cold. Instead of holistic healing, you have no problem relying on Tylenol for comfort. I'm gonn...

The Last Poets (1970) Douglas Records Dateline: April 23, 2020 According to some, this is on the most wanted list of dangerous albums ever.  When there's things that you're ignorant about or if you're part of a group that creates problems but is swimming in the nile, then you will frame certain people or things dangerous. When you speak truth to power, you’re labeled as a dangerous person, anyway. Look at the Public Enemy logo. A brother in the crosshairs.  It's been like that for generations and continues to be that way.  Especially now that we have a smartphone and receipts to back it up. Tupac said it best, the most dangerous thing is an educated black man because we can open at a whole new world just by opening up a book. The new world order doesn’t want you to know what’s going on. The main goal is to get you distracted. That's why you see the abundance of reality shows, pharmaceutical ads and viral videos of cats playing the piano. It's ...

Prince & The Revolution Purple Rain (1984) Warner Bros. Records Saturday, April 18, 2020 Sometimes it snows in April. At least we didn’t get much today. Just a coating.  Not too much to write home about. It makes me wonder if Prince is watching over us when it’s Purple snow? He’s definitely there when it’s raining purple. It's just like the Lochness, it won't be that hard to miss it.  I can’t believe his anniversary is coming up. It still feels like a bad nightmare. Is it supposed to be like this?  The greats are here for a certain period of time.  Then when the clock runs out, they move on?  It just doesn't feel like the story shouldn't be told like this.  I'm not the one to question a power that's greater than me but I just feel like there's more to be told to this story.  Maybe that's the purple rain.  You just don't become a memory and move on to the next. The purple rain makes you live forever.  On a side note...Ye...

Michael Jackson Off The Wall (1979) Epic Records Dateline: Saturday, April 18, 2020 I've decided to listen to another Michael Jackson album back to back.  This is a mulligan for the last entry that I did. Ahh...this is more like it.  Now, I'm back on Earth.  I can’t believe that I was scared of this album cover in my past life. Maybe it was the smile? You know, certain smiles shouldn’t be projected onto three year olds. You dig? I think that’s why people don’t mess with clowns like that. At any rate, I would not go near this album when I was a kid.  Off The Wall to me was the back of the cover with those magical socks. A precursor to the Billie Jean video with the magical stepping floor.  I heard stories from Ma that my sister used to chase me with the front of the cover.  I guess it was comedy gold back then.  Now, looking back in hindsight, it was a little silly.  It's funny because I used to be scared of the Off The Wall cove...

Michael Jackson Farewell My Summer Love (1984) Motown Records Dateline: Sunday, April 18, 2020 Record companies have an interesting protocol on how they do business. Granted their MO is not about the art. It’s about how much you can sell. At least that's how I look at it as far as the majors go.  They also master the art of banking off of your art. Even if the pieces are meant to be in the can or if by them owning your piece. Despite not having their name on it. This album came out during Thrillermania.  When Michael was the hottest ticket in the world.  I guess this was Motown’s way of cashing in at Michael’s expense.  I don't understand it if that's the case because Motown already banked good off Michael when he was there.  If anything, this album reminds of Geraldo when he was on his quest to go inside Al Capone's vault.  Expecting to look for the next great treasure but turns out it's empty.  Me being a huge Michael Jackson fan, ...

A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders (1993) Jive Records Dateline: Sunday, April 12, 2020 Christmas 1993. A day I would never forget. Under the tree I got a Buffalo Bills (my favorite team back then and still is my favorite team) helmet by Riddell. Being the heavy basketball junkie that I was in those days, I was getting ready to geek up on an NBA doubleheader playing on NBC. Marv Albert and Ahmad Rashad. Good times, man! Good times! I was a Phoenix Suns fan back then, so I got another present when they beat the Houston Rockets in the first game. Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Cedric Ceballos.  Those names take me back.  I feel like Stevie Wonder when he said that he wish those days never went away. Unfortunately, a few months later Houston got revenge against the Suns in the playoffs in 7 games. Then the second game it was the Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls. Orlando with Shaq and Penny. This was the year Jordan retired, so I watched ...

The Sensational Nightingales My Sisters and Brothers (1974) ABC/Peacock Records Dateline: Sunday, April 12, 2020 I credit my mom for having a heavy influence of Gospel into my life.  It is one of the biggest foundations of not only my musical life but my existence overall.  A lot of the heavy faith and believe that my mom displays when times are hard, I get that from her.  Along with her optimism and fighting spirit. It's one of the things that keeps me going during the times that I want to quit.  My mom had this album in her collection because she collected mostly Gospel albums.  This was one of the albums I remember so much as a kid with my mom playing it on the turntable.  I decided that it was the perfect album to play right now.  It’s a much needed album to listen to dealing with the climate of the world. People don’t know where to go and trying to make it to the next day. People losing families. Nurses and doctors on the brink ...

Various Artists D.C. Cab Original Soundtrack (1983) MCA Records Dateline: Sunday, April 12, 2020 You throw in a movie with Mr. T, Grady from Sanford and Son, my man from Barney Miller (can't think of his name at the moment), Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield, Paul Rodriguez and Bill Maher and you got what?? The WTF All Stars? I guess at the time, it was a big deal based on all of the names I just mentioned.  It probably didn't make a difference how suspect the movie was. Mr. T alone is enough to make you go see it since he was the man back then.  How do I describe D.C. Cab?  Well, to me it's like Car Wash meets Animal House.   A variety of characters that at least keeps you sticking around for a little while.  It does smell like 80s cheese though.  A team working together to make the cab company a success and trying to overcome the odds.  All that while with a high fiving in the air.  At least the soundtrack makes up for the movie....