Comments on: Listening Booth: “The Essential O’Jays”; “The Essential Patti LaBelle” http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/ your daily dose of pop culture Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:35:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Retro_Remixeshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-50863 Retro_Remixes Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:21:36 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-50863 Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need. <br><br>Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's. Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need.

Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's.

]]> By: rwcasshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-50862 rwcass Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:20:42 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-50862 I can't wait to see the single edit of "Ship Ahoy" rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be "The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four." I can't wait to see the single edit of “Ship Ahoy” rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be “The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four.”

]]> By: Retro_Remixeshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-41561 Retro_Remixes Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:21:36 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-41561 Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need. <br><br>Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's. Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need.

Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's.

]]> By: rwcasshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-41560 rwcass Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:20:42 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-41560 I can't wait to see the single edit of "Ship Ahoy" rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be "The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four." I can't wait to see the single edit of “Ship Ahoy” rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be “The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four.”

]]> By: Retro_Remixeshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16327 Retro_Remixes Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:21:36 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16327 Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need. <br><br>Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's. Yes, Patti has had a LOT of compilations at this point and they all have the same basic flaws as they only really cover the same songs. To properly cover her career in retrospective form there really need to be a few separate releases which each cover a facet of her career. One for the BB's, one for the divine LaBelle. and perhaps two for her solo career. This is how great and wide-reaching her career has been. Her best simply cannot be contained inside one release. Frankly, devoted fans will seek out everything and then condense it down themselves to what they need.

Even though the quality of a lot of her solo material has been beneath her there is still a lot of great stuff to be found from the 80's & 90's.

]]> By: rwcasshttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16326 rwcass Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:20:42 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16326 I can't wait to see the single edit of "Ship Ahoy" rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be "The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four." I can't wait to see the single edit of “Ship Ahoy” rocket to the top of the charts! I guess it's been edited just so it can fit on this compilation and people who are new to the O'Jays can hear it for the first time, but another line of reasoning could be “The kids want to hear songs about slavery these days, but not eight minutes' worth, so we chopped 'Ship Ahoy' down to four.”

]]> By: Mikehttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16325 Mike Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:15:16 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16325 Nope, I don't think he did. Would have loved to have heard him sing it, though. Nope, I don't think he did. Would have loved to have heard him sing it, though.

]]> By: kshanehttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16324 kshane Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:04:17 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16324 Obviously she made some compromises to get a hit single, but if you've ever heard Cyndi do "Time After Time" very slowly, accompanied only by acoustic guitar and violin, you get the feeling of how heartbreaking that song is. I first heard her do it that way on the Howard Stern show some years back and it was stunning.<br><br>I didn't know that Marvin Gaye had co-written "The Bells." I don't recall that he ever recorded it. Or did he? Obviously she made some compromises to get a hit single, but if you've ever heard Cyndi do “Time After Time” very slowly, accompanied only by acoustic guitar and violin, you get the feeling of how heartbreaking that song is. I first heard her do it that way on the Howard Stern show some years back and it was stunning.

I didn't know that Marvin Gaye had co-written “The Bells.” I don't recall that he ever recorded it. Or did he?

]]> By: Mikehttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16323 Mike Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:52:21 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16323 Yeah, Patti (like Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin, for that matter) has resorted to screaming as she's aged, which kinda sucks, but there's a performance on some TV special from '85 or '86 where she sings "Time After Time" with Cyndi Lauper (and another one from three or four years ago that's just as good) and it is one of the most emotionally affecting televised performances I've ever seen.<br><br>That "Gonna Take a Miracle" album is so good. It's what got me into Laura Nyro. Also, in some more fun "The Bells" trivia (LaBelle remakes a track called "The Bells"-the original version of which was recorded by The Originals...you can't make this shit up)...the song was co-written by Marvin Gaye and was covered very well many years later by...wait for it...Color Me Badd (who on the same album covered Skylark's "Wildflower", which was discussed in the David Foster post yesterday. Amazing how it all ties together, eh? Yeah, Patti (like Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin, for that matter) has resorted to screaming as she's aged, which kinda sucks, but there's a performance on some TV special from '85 or '86 where she sings “Time After Time” with Cyndi Lauper (and another one from three or four years ago that's just as good) and it is one of the most emotionally affecting televised performances I've ever seen.

That “Gonna Take a Miracle” album is so good. It's what got me into Laura Nyro. Also, in some more fun “The Bells” trivia (LaBelle remakes a track called “The Bells”-the original version of which was recorded by The Originals…you can't make this shit up)…the song was co-written by Marvin Gaye and was covered very well many years later by…wait for it…Color Me Badd (who on the same album covered Skylark's “Wildflower”, which was discussed in the David Foster post yesterday. Amazing how it all ties together, eh?

]]> By: kshanehttp://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/comment-page-1/#comment-16322 kshane Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:28:07 +0000 http://popdose.com/listening-booth-the-essential-ojays-the-essential-patti-labelle/#comment-16322 The Laura Nyro album "Gonna Take a Miracle," which she did with LaBelle as her backing singers is absolutely essential, and "The Bells" is the best track on it. You might love it so much, as I do, that you'll want to hear the original version of that song. It's by The Originals.<br><br>I had a lot of love for Patti back in the day. But every time I've seen her on television for the last twenty years or more, it seems like all she's doing is that histrionic shrieking that has become her sad trademark. The Laura Nyro album “Gonna Take a Miracle,” which she did with LaBelle as her backing singers is absolutely essential, and “The Bells” is the best track on it. You might love it so much, as I do, that you'll want to hear the original version of that song. It's by The Originals.

I had a lot of love for Patti back in the day. But every time I've seen her on television for the last twenty years or more, it seems like all she's doing is that histrionic shrieking that has become her sad trademark.

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