Posts Tagged ‘Isley Brothers’

When Good Albums Happen to Bad People: R. Kelly, “R. Kelly” (1995)

If you’re anything like the latest artist in this series, then you probably like your women how you like your coffee: dark, young, and soaked in your urine.

Yes, Robert Kelly has interesting tastes to say the least. Luckily, he also has effective lawyers and P.R. people, because he is still able to continue making slow-jam bump and grind music to this day, instead of being jammed and ground from behind in a federal prison as an incarcerated child molester.

And while Mr. Kelly apparently owns a predilection to pubescent women and water sports, one thing that he doesn’t seem to have is a sense of shame: when the heat is turned up on Kelly, he revels in it, sometimes turning it into a big joke. Take for instance one of the nicknames which which he has glossed himself in recent years: The Pied Piper. Yes, that’s right, the man who married a 15-year-old, who was arrested on multiple counts of child pornography, who is infamous for a predilection towards female partners under the age of 18, now proudly refers to himself under the name of a fairytale musician who stole KIDS away from their parents and took them away to his “magical land.”

Kelly’s infamy is so great that it isn’t necessary to go into detail about his two most extreme cases of notoriety, but at least a glance is required for completeness:

On August 31, 1994, Kelly married Aaliyah D. Haughton, niece of Kelly’s manager Barry Hankerson, in a hotel room in Rosemont, Illinois. According to a number of sources, including (in 2000) Kelly’s own spokeswoman, Kelly and Aaliyah had been dating for months prior. Unfortunately, Aaliyah was also 15 years old at the time of the wedding, and the marriage certificate had been secured with a fake ID obtained by one of Kelly’s assistants, which listed the young singer as 18. While both singers denied the marriage and any relationship, a Chicago Sun Times investigation found a certificate of marriage for the two on file with the Cook County Registrar. The marriage appears to have been almost immediately annulled with the help of Aaliyah’s parents. (more…)

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 43

We finish up the ninth letter of the alphabet today as we look at the last half of the letter I and chat about all those glorious songs that charted no higher than #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.

James Ingram
“There’s No Easy Way” — 1984, #58 (download)

James Ingram sang on two Quincy Jones tracks and had two duets with Patti Austin and one with Michael McDonald, all of which reached the Hot 100, before he released his debut album, It’s Your Night, in 1983. “There’s No Easy Way” was his only pure solo track to chart during the ’80s. (Thanks to “Crockett,” who pointed out that I missed this song as part of last week’s post. It’s only the second time I’ve missed an artist in the past 43 weeks; the last time was in the very first Bottom Feeders post. A pretty good hitting streak, I’d say, but it was bound to end at some point.)

INXS
“Don’t Change” — 1983, #80 (download)
“Original Sin” — 1984, #58 (download)
“I Send a Message” — 1984, #77 (download)
“This Time” — 1985, #81 (download)
“Listen Like Thieves” — 1986, #54 (download)

INXS and Jimmy Barnes
“Good Times” — 1987, #47 (download)

It’s good timing to have INXS appear in Bottom Feeders thanks to them being back in the spotlight right now, even if just for a moment, thanks to singer J.D. Fortune’s claim that INXS fired him with a handshake in a Hong Kong airport (which the band denies). I think CBS’s Rock Star: INXS (2005) is the reason I love music-based reality shows so much. No one can really replace Michael Hutchence, but it was great seeing a bunch of singers try, even some female ones. There definitely needs to be more rock ‘n’ roll reality shows, but the dismal Rock Star: Supernova (2006) really killed the format.

Anyway, we’re talking about the ’80s, right? INXS had a string of really awesome albums, starting with their third, Shabooh Shoobah, in 1982, which produced their first two U.S. hits, “The One Thing” and “Don’t Change.” With each new album you could see INXS growing as a band and polishing their sound, moving from a mix of new wave and ska to more of a pop-funk feel. It was 1985’s Listen Like Thieves that certified them as hit makers in the U.S. before the almost perfect Kick (1987) blew the roof off. At that point they graduated from Bottom Feeders status. (The Easybeats cover “Good Times,” featuring Cold Chisel singer Jimmy Barnes, was featured on the soundtrack of The Lost Boys.)

(more…)

CD Review: Frank Sinatra, “From the Heart”

Frank Sinatra – From the Heart (2009, Legacy)
purchase this album (Amazon)

Valentine’s Day – depending on your walk of life, it’s either a splendid day of warm, romantic thoughts and a gimme so far as “gettin’ some tonight,” or it’s a Hallmark sham of an institution to remind us that all our friends are happily married and having kids, but we’re about to dip our Doritos into another vat of guacamole all alone. Since I’m flying solo this year, guess who’s fattening up on avocado?

You don’t have to be a heartless cynic to see the strings attached to this high holiday of chocolate-covered, heart-shaped, red crepe emotion. Take, for instance, Sony Legacy’s From The Heart collection. Eight CDs cut and pasted together to capitalize celebrate the spirit of l’amour, all representing a different demographic: Billie Holliday and Miles Davis if you love it jazzy, Babyface if you love it smooth and sensitive, The Isley Brothers if you don’t mind a little rugburn with your affection, Dolly Parton if you like doin’ the nasty while the livestock watches, and Air Supply if the woman in your life is actually a dude (sorry, cheap shot.)

But what to make of Frank Sinatra’s From the Heart? It doesn’t seem right to co-opt the Chairman of the Board for such a crass cash-in, and besides, we remember him more for his zingers and sad songs than for mushy love. “The Lady Is a Tramp”? How about “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)”? Worse, it’s the same album the label released last year under the umbrella of Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs, so not only are they messing around with Ol’ Blue Eyes, they’re regifting him too. Yet there is one saving grace to this: if you are not an aficionado and have been looking to get your feet wet, this is an affordable starter set that’s full of appeal. (more…)