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James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince

Had a pretty chill weekend. Caught two movies - The Good Shepherd (recommended) and Rocky (so so)--a couple dinners, a festive Xmas buffet, lots of drinks...lots of sleep Tomorrow I'm off to Apple to get a lesson in making music on the computer :)

James Brown, civil rights icon, peacemaker LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, James Brown. The "Godfather of Soul," who died in Atlanta on Monday aged 73, was one of the most important leaders of America's civil rights movement during the second half of the 20th Century. He communed with presidents and elected officials of all political stripes, recorded groundbreaking black-pride anthems, and may have saved Boston from being burned by rioters in the days following the assassination of Martin Luther King. Read more at Reuters

Not for us - 2.5 hour of more xmas cheer to go in LA :rolleyes: You can still be festive with the following cuts courtesy of I Guess I'm Floating, (which btw was named the best music blog of 2006 in the Webblogs Awards) [MP3] Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [MP3] The Knife - Christmas Reindeer [MP3] Greg Barkley - Drummer Boy (Oh No! Oh My! Lead Singer) [MP3] The Kinks - Father Christmas [MP3] Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time [MP3] The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) [MP3] Andrew Kunz - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reign Deer [MP3] The Format - Holly Jolly Christmas [MP3] Bright Eyes - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [MP3] Destroyer - Every Christmas

The King, getting caped

Living In America

Cold Sweat @GoogleVideo

Robert Hilburn, the LA Times Music Emeritus critic, has written the following commemoration: Appreciation: James Brown's music lives -- and makes us feel alive By Robert Hilburn, Special to the Los Angeles Times 5:09 PM PST, December 25, 2006 For all the impact of such towering figures as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, no one influenced black music more than James Brown because no one mirrored black culture more than the man behind such hits as "Please, Please, Please," ""Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)." You hear his percolating style in Prince's funky guitar licks, see his spectacular physicality in Michael Jackson dance steps and feel his spirit and self-affirmation in every explosive hip-hop record. Long before he was showered with more celebrated (and fitting) titles as the "the Godfather of Soul" and "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," Brown was briefly thought of by some as the black Elvis, which was mostly silly -- except in one profound way. If Presley was the artist most often cited by leading white musicians as an influence -- and I found that to be true in the '60s and 70s, Brown was the name I most often heard when asking black musicians about who inspired them. Brown's influence isn't limited to black artists by any means. One of the most illuminating pop moments ever captured by a camera was when a young Mick Jagger stood in the wings, mesmerized, watching Brown's seductive moves during the '60s concert film, "The T.A.M.I. Show," and we all know how Jagger eventually built his stage performance around those moves. If anything, Brown's impact on modern pop music is underrated, partly because he did most of his defining work on secondary record labels that didn't have massive publicity machines and he never really embraced the mainstream the way, say, Ray Charles did. Yet, you could build a case that Brown is also the "Godfather of Disco," the "Godfather of Rap" and the "Godfather of Funk" because his electrifying beats powered many of those genres. Like Presley, the Southern-bred musician touched a sociological nerve that went far beyond normal pop stardom. Though the lyrics of Brown's hits were often little more than catchy phrases, the best lines were right in step with the rise of black pride in this country and they are why he was such a powerful, beloved figure during the civil rights era. "Say It Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud," he screamed in a record, released just five months after the murder of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., that channeled the righteousness of an oppressed people into a three-minute declaration of independence that topped the R&B charts for weeks. While millions of pop and rock fans also thrilled to Brown's music in the '60s and '70s, he wasn't embraced by mainstream radio nearly as strongly as by R&B stations, which is why he had 60 Top 10 R&B hits (more than any other artist), but less than a dozen Top 10 pop hits (which wasn't enough to place him in the top 25 among artists). Given the immense appeal of his records and style, it's hard to understand now his relatively limited chart success, but the noteworthy thing about Brown's music is it is so enduring. By the mid-'80s, other artists, especially the Beatles and Bob Dylan, were being cited by white musicians as their chief inspiration, but Brown remained the most common influence mentioned by black musicians (along with a still sizable number of white musicians). Lots of early R&B stars made records with an eye toward the pop mainstream, especially the lucrative teenage market, but Brown, in the tradition of bluesman John Lee Hooker, never tempered his blues, R&B, gospel merger, and his themes were mostly adult: "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine," "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" and "Cold Sweat." Brown didn't sing as much as he growled, as if he were trying to match the intensity that grew out of his essential funk brew, powered by guitars, horns, bass and drums. He wasn't an easy interview, didn't seem interested in talking about himself (his background was troubled and he has had more than his share of court appearances) or his music. Thus, he ended up telling the same stories over and over again. Part of the problem was that Brown found it frustrating to try to explain his true passion -- the elements of his music -- just as a great painter finds it difficult to tell us why he sees things in a certain way. Writers, too, had a hard time capturing in words the magic of Brown's instrumental sound. In the end, Brown only seemed comfortable in the studio and, especially, on stage. At his prime, he moved with such speed and grace that it took your breath away. Even listening to his superb live albums -- starting with 1963's "Live at the Apollo" -- you still feel the heat of his scorching performance. The easiest way to explain Brown's genius to someone is simply to play one of his best records. In nominating the 500 greatest singles ever in a 1989 book, rock critic Dave Marsh listed "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" at No. 3, declaring the only way the single could be "more bone rattling was if Brown himself leaped from your speakers, grabbed you tight by the shoulders and danced you around the room, all the while screaming straight into your face." He added, "No record before `Papa's' sounded anything like it. No record since -- certainly no dance record -- has been unmarked by it." Still, my favorite James Brown record is probably "I Got You (I Feel Good)," which was the follow-up to "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." It was a record of supreme optimism and cheer. I've even got a foot-high James Brown bobblehead in my den, and it screams "I Feel Good" when you push a button. I've pushed it dozens of times when friends are over, and every time it has brought smiles. It's just one sign that Brown's music remains powerful. For another sign, just turn on the radio. Half the music you hear, from Kanye West and Jay Z to Justin Timberlake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is in part a testimony to that power. At some point today, I'll just push the button on the bobble head doll, or put on one of his CDs. There's no way that music won't still make you feel alive. What a wonderful legacy for any artist. Hilburn, who was the Times' pop music critic for nearly 40 years, left the paper in January to write a cultural history of pop music. LA Times

James Joseph Brown, Jr. (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music. As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader and record producer, Brown was a seminal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music, afrobeat, and hip-hop music. Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and a string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to score hits in every decade through the 1980s. In the 1960s and 1970s Brown was a presence in American political affairs, noted especially for his activism on behalf of African Americans and the poor (as well as his outspoken support for Richard Nixon). Brown was recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please, The Boss, and the best-known, the Godfather of Soul. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style. Source: Wikipedia

Sufjan Stevens - It's Xmas Time

Out of 4,908 votes, here's the breakdown: "White Christmas" 1,507 "Silent Night" 565 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" 327 "The Christmas Song" 294 "The Little Drummer Boy" 248 "I'll Be Home for Christmas" 187 "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" 186 "O Come All Ye Faithful" 164 "Baby, It's Cold Outside" 154 "Santa Baby" 143 "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" 120 "The Chanukah Song" 115 "Jingle Bells" 111 "Feliz Navidad" 108 "Sleigh Ride" 100 "Silver Bells" 96 "Winter Wonderland" 88 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 80 "The Twelve Days of Christmas" 73 "Joy to the World" 65 "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" 58 "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" 46 "Frosty the Snowman" 36 "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" 24 "Dreidel" 13 Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 24 — Microsoft is facing an early crisis of confidence in the quality of its Windows Vista operating system as computer security researchers and hackers have begun to find potentially serious flaws in the system that was released to corporate customers late last month. On Dec. 15, a Russian programmer posted a description of a flaw that makes it possible to increase a user’s privileges on all of the company’s recent operating systems, including Vista. And over the weekend a Silicon Valley computer security firm said it had notified Microsoft that it had also found that flaw, as well as five other vulnerabilities, including one serious error in the software code underlying the company’s new Internet Explorer 7 browser. The browser flaw is particularly troubling because it potentially means that Web users could become infected with malicious software simply by visiting a booby-trapped site. That would make it possible for an attacker to inject rogue software into the Vista-based computer, according to executives at Determina, a company based in Redwood City, Calif., that sells software intended to protect against operating system and other vulnerabilities. Read More

ATLANTA — James Brown, the legendary singer known as the Godfather of Soul, has died, his agent said today. He was 73. Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia on Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital and died around 1:45 a.m. today, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles A. Bobbit was by his side, he said. Copsidas said that Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said. Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the last 50 years. A generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style. If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator. Read more at the LA Times

James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73. Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said. Pete Allman, a radio personality in Las Vegas who had been friends with Brown for 15 years, credited Brown with jump-starting his career and motivating him personally and professionally. Source

The Monkees has some very good singwriters...

I bookmarked that the other day

Shot DJ dies after 2-wk. fight The hip-hop deejay shot 13 times after arguing with thugs in Inwood died yesterday, officials said. DJ Carl Blaze, 30, whose real name was Carlos Rivera, fought for his life for more than two weeks at Harlem Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 3:52 p.m. Blaze's weekend broadcasts aired on WWPR-FM Power 105.1 and reached more than 2 million listeners, the station said. "Power 105 and Clear Channel New York are deeply saddened at the loss of Carl Blaze," said station spokeswoman Josefa Paganuzzi. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family." Source