"I think I'm gonna be alright, ha ha ha
If I can make it through the night, oh lord
I'll just pretend she's here with me
I'll close my eyes, her face I'll see (won't somebody help
me?)
My love of 70's soul music and fascination of Blaxploitation movies began after seeing the Wayans' Brother's 1988 classic, "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." The movie spoofed 70's blaxploitation movies much like they spoofed the horror genre years later with the Scary Movie franchise. I found this movie hilarious as a kid and watched it repeatedly. Skip ahead a few years and you'd find my buddy and I combing the video stores looking for the original movies that were spoofed by the Wayans.
I'm sure most of you had the mom and pop video stores growing up (you know the ones that had the back rooms where people kept their heads down while walking out?) Anyway, the great thing about these stores were the deep cuts they had on display. I suppose some of these movies were cheap to buy so they figured they'd load up and if they got rented once or twice they were making money. Well my buddy and I would go to the action section and be amazed by the covers. Three the Hard Way, Across 110th Street, Superfly, Shaft we watched them all. One standout for us was the day we rented Dolemite 2: The Human Tornado. At this point we hadn't seen part 1 (I don't think Video World had that one) but we were able to pick up on the plot fairly quickly. I posted the trailer below and I'll say if you're easily offended these are not for you. While I was working at Best Buy in high school the Rudy Ray Moore VHS boxset came out and I had to have it. The set featured Dolemite, The Human Tornado, Petey Wheat Straw : The Devil's Son in Law, and Disco Godfather. All had their merits and have a special place in my heart. I was fascinated that movies like these were able to get made. I loved the clothes, the all out pandemonium, the shaky camera work and most of all, the music.
Through these movies I discovered the amazing music of Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes but the movie soundtrack that made me go further down the soul rabbit hole was 1995's Dead Presidents. I remember liking the movie when it came out but it was the music that really made an impression on me. Much like my Milli Vanilli tape, I was able to acquire Volume's 1 and 2 of the soundtrack through the BMG Music club. These albums featured Al Green , The O'Jays, Sly & The Family Stone, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, James Brown and many more. One of my favs though was this man, Barry White. Never Never Gonna Give You Up was the tune featured, but I picked a different song for this week's post.
I realize Valentine's Day isn't a joyous occasion for everyone so we'll split between songs of love and songs of loss. I came across this video while searching for this song and it's pretty fantastic. Not sure what this footage is from as Barry doesn't seem to be singing to this particular song but his collar game is out of control (in a good way) If you've been unlucky in love or just have the rainy day blues this one's for you.
