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0 War and Mandrill Connect Together in Concert
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 08/21/2007
War and Mandrill connect together for a live concert event in Philadelphia, PA, Saturday, August 25th, 2007, at the Mann Music Center. Lou, Ric, Carlos, and Wilfredo: the Wilson Brothers, formed Mandrill in Brooklyn, New York. Their first album was released in February, 1971. Today, the Wilson Brothers keep the Mandrill beat pumping. Mandrill continues to be sampled by a new generation of performers. From "Fencewalk" to "Can You Get It (Suzie Caesar)," the distinctive Mandrill sound serves up a progressive gumbo of classic soul. Another unique musical powerhouse with a similarly eclectic yet highly successful track record is War. They've been creating memorable street beats even longer than Mandrill. Get the complete War and Mandrill stories on their official websites. War is also appearing... Saturday, September 8, 2007 - Hampton, Virginia Monday, September 10, 2007 - Albuquerque, New Mexico, State Fair Saturday, September 15, 2007 - Irvine, California, Verizon Amphitheatre Friday, September 28, 2007 - Huntsville, Alabama, Big Spring Park Jam Saturday, September 29, 2007 - San Antonio, Texas, City Festival Catch Mandrill on Monday, August 27th, at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, (right outside of Washington, DC). Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Felton Pilate's Con Funk Shun Energy
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 05/15/2007
Con Funk Shun - (left to right), Ron Moton, Eric "EQ" Young, Michael Cooper, Karl Fuller, Felton Pilate, Brian Collier, Kurt "KC" Clayton. High school friends Michael Cooper, Louis "Tony" McCall, Karl Fuller, Paul "Maceo" Harrell, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Martin, and Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas formed the original Con Funk Shun in Vallejo, California. Felton Pilate would join the group soon after. Con Funk Shun worked with the Stax label in the early 1970's as the backup band for the Soul Children. Mercury Records signed Con Funk Shun in 1976. "Ffun," their first hit, was written by Michael Cooper. Cooper and Pilate would eventually share the lead vocal work on most of the Con Funk Shun hits. I've always admired the style, sound, and precision of this group. They definitely are a crowd pleaser. Con Funk Shun Entree: "Ffun" "Got to be Enough" "Love's Train" "Indian Summer Love" (instrumental) Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Vocal Groups Sing Classic Soul Magic
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 05/01/2007
Before the popularity of the Motown sound, an assortment of talented vocal groups ruled the radio airwaves. Many of these legendary groups are still active today. I've chosen 3 at random who eagerly stay in touch with their fans through their compelling websites. Little Anthony and The Imperials The Platters The Coasters If you don't remember their hits, take a walk down memory lane for some real classic soul nostalgia. Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Manhattans Mark Mellow Memories
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 04/17/2007
Winfred "Blue" Lovett, Richard Taylor, Kenny Kelley, George "Smitty" Smith and Sonny Bivins were the original Manhattans. I always enjoyed seeing them perform live in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region. The Manhattans moved to Columbia Records in 1973, where they collaborated with producer Bobby Martin on a string of hits... "There's No Me Without You" "Hurt" "Kiss And Say Goodbye" (a 1976 platinum selling #1 pop and R&B hit) Occasionally on Powerhouse Radio, (but not very often), I'll play the "X" rated version of "Kiss and Say Goodbye," a special 45 RPM vinyl DJ only version featuring a hilarious intro by "Blue" Lovett who laments in racy language the end of the affair (that the song is all about). In 1985, The Manhattans added a female vocalist to the act: Regina Belle, who would later sign with Columbia as a solo artist in 1986. On February 25, 1999 The Manhattans were inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004, they celebrated their 40th anniversary. Previous Post | Next Post
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- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 04/10/2007
In the past few days, top 10 icon Whitney Houston has moved her official website to a new address, WhitneyVip.com. ----- 2021 Update: Of course that ego driven u-r-l didn't make any sense. A bad manager's idea? Now it's WhitneyHouston.com which makes a lot of sense! ----- Whitney's career is in "comeback mode." Her website move is hopefully in anticipation of some big things to come. In an April 3rd message from Dionne Warwick on Dionne's official website, Ms. Warwick, (related to Whitney), says... "For all that have been asking about Whitney, she is doing fabulously well and is in the recording studio getting ready to send you all her wonderful gift again, and I have passed all of your thoughts and prayers for her on to her." Previous Post | Next Post
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0 The Wild World of Grace Jones
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 03/08/2007
Model, actress, and song bird Grace Jones knows how to liven up a party. One of her fans recalls: "the Grace Jones Show will often devolve into mayhem. She'll throw champagne bottles at the audience, drag fans onto the stage by their hair...she once jumped at me stilettos first." "Pull up to the Bumper," "Slave to the Rhythm," "I'm not Perfect," and other punchy dance tracks from R&B glory days capture the Grace Jones audio style. Back in the day, her visual image dominated her portfolio of talent, although Grace was always serious about her musical and acting career. She appeared in several popcorn flicks, including among others: Conan the Destroyer with Arnold Schwarzenegger A View to a Kill with Roger "James Bond" Moore Boomerang with Eddie Murphy I wandered through the wild world of Grace Jones searching to find her spiritual purpose, but alas, after clicking on an endless series of flirty photographs with catchy captions, Ms. Jones as well as her eclectic website remain an entertaining mystery. 2021 Update: Her current website is less "jonesin'," and more gracious. Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Alicia Keys, Usher, & Mary J. Blige Wallpaper Windows
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 12/13/2006
2021 Update: No more wallpaper, icons, or banners but the Alicia, Usher, and Mary J. websites are their social media anchors. Looking for some delightful pictures to spruce up your computer desktop as the stress starts to pile up before the holidays? While your friends or office mates get off on their animated dancing Santas, pump some soul into your PC with some fresh visuals that say, "I am a fan." Alicia Keys, Usher, and Mary J. Blige are all offering some nice wallpaper, icons, or banners you can download in a jiffy. Once on the linked pages above... Right click on the image and select "save picture as..." to your "My Pictures" folder. Click the start button, and select "My Pictures." Highlight the picture you want. Finally, choose "set as desktop background" under the left menu "picture tasks." Want to change the image? Right click on your desktop, select properties, then select the "desktop tab." Mary J. is hot as she heads to the Grammy Awards. Congratulations to Alicia Keys for a major upgrade to her website. Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Making Instant Online Connections for Melodic Holiday Gifts
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 12/05/2006
2021 update: Luckily, CD Universe survives. See below. The original text of this blog post follows: With three weeks until Christmas, time is running out to select those musical stocking stuffers. Skip the malls and the "big box" stores. Here are three online music sites with a catalog of tunes guaranteed to please any musical scrooge. 1) Half.com (link removed) - Acquired by eBay within the past few years, Half.com is a treasure for hard to find music, lots of it no longer available either from record company catalogs, or by digital download. Many of the Half.com CD's are used and are available for just pennies on the dollar. A high percentage are brand new and are still in the original shrink wrap. Select the music link on the Half.com home page, and search away. Read the ratings of the sellers to evaluate their reputation within the community. Allow at least two weeks for snail mail delivery. You'll receive most orders in three - four business days, but remember, most Half.com sellers are not retailers. 2) CD Universe A specialist for both music CD's and DVD's (VideoUniverse.com), CD Universe has a very deep catalog and is an excellent resource. Anyone can post a review of a CD. You'll find the reviews honest and helpful in cutting through the promotional hype. 3) iTunes Last, but not least, the new leader in the digital download universe was created by Apple to drive the iPod revolution. You don't need an iPod to take advantage of iTunes. Download their free software for Mac or PC, install it, then go to town. Download tracks, or complete albums. Burn your own CD's from your purchases using the iTunes software to create unique collections (in the ultra popular MP3 file format). iTunes is incredibly easy to use. Like other Apple products, it's very intuitive to figure out. Call it elegantly simple. That's one reason why iTunes has delivered over 1 billion downloads. These three popular websites rescue you from the "brick and mortar store marathon" by making instant online connections for melodic holiday gifts. Previous Post | Next Post
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0 Bobby Womack Shines Career Daylight on his Website
- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 11/28/2006
Between 1962 - 1994, Bobby Womack had nearly 50 charted releases. Now in his sixth decade, Womack, nicknamed "the soul preacher," continues to crank out the music he loves. Bobby appears on the new Bootsy Collins Christmas CD. Womack is well respected as a legendary artist by both his R&B and pop music peers. His discography, along with many excellent photos, are highlighted on his official Bobby Womack website. Moving between the web pages on his site gets tricky, but the payoff is worth it. You'll be moving around as if you were leafing through the pages of a book. All of the Womack releases between 1961 - 1999 are documented, many of them with links so you can listen to tracks. I'm looking forward to several new features that are promised for the site. The enhancements will provide even more of Womack's perspective about the classic soul music era he helped create. 2021 update: Bobby Womack passed away in 2014. Rather than remove the dark bolded text above, we've left it in as a tribute. The Bobby Womack website has been sunset. Previous Post | Next Post
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- Website
- by Kingsley H. Smith
- 06/02/2006
Way before iTunes and MySpace, one guy stood alone in understanding how music and the Internet could play perfectly together. Back in 1997, Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album exclusively on the web, "Crystal Ball." During the "Crystal Ball" era, I recall a BET interview with Prince, Chaka Khan, and Larry Graham, moderated by Tavis Smiley, where Prince talked enthusiastically about how artistic expression was enhanced by the independent distribution of music, (free from the shackles of record company control). Although he's now back with major label CD distribution, the Prince website (site was taken offline) offers seven full-length CD's of music available exclusively through his NPG Music club. For his visionary approach to online music distribution, Prince will receive a lifetime achievement honor in the celebrity/fan category at the Webby Awards in New York City on June 12th. Read our compilation of reviews of Prince's latest 3121 release, and have some fun by following the link to the Prince quiz. Previous Post | Next Post