New albums all over the place made this more difficult than usual.

In Rotation: October 31, 2005.

01 - Carleen Anderson - My Door is Open
02 - Incognito - Come Away With Me
03 - Earth Wind & Fire - The One
04 - Sleepy Brown - Me, My Baby, and My Cadillac
05 - Dangerdoom - Benzie Box Featuring Cee-Lo
06 - Chocolate Genius Inc. - Tomboyrockstar
07 - Stevie Wonder - Moon Blue
08 - Incognito - Baby It's Alright
09 - Stevie Wonder - Sweetest Somebody I Know
10 - Lisa Shaw - Grown Apart
11 - Don-E - One More Time
12 - Nicolay - I Can't Wait (Jaguar Wright and Bilal) - Remix
13 - Janelle Monae - Lettin' Go
14 - Lisa Shaw - Born to Fly
15 - Steve Spacek - The Hills

Continuing on. With comments on Volume I in place, it's time for:

100 Things About EJ, Volume II.

26. When I go clothes shopping, it's a four-step approach: I go in, find what I need, purchase the clothes and go. I'm not looking for bargains then - I'm looking for an immediate need for clothes. Don't try to keep me in there for more than an hour. For malls, it's an hour and a half - unless you feed me while we're in there.

27. I'm okay when I have cash in my reserves, but when I don't, all bets are off. If I'm broke I will be one evil man and lock myself in the house. No restaurants, no record stores (which is bad in and of itself), and minimal conversation. Leave me alone with music and I'll be fine.

28. I have this thing about British acts, but I've never been to Britain. For instance, two bands that always make me smile are Loose Ends and D'Influence. I have all of their songs (and the remixes), have seen both in concert, and would gladly have them back together. Then there's Incognito, Sade, Paul Weller, The Style Council, Carleen Anderson.....

29. One of my self-evaluations that always perplexes people is that I believe I'm one of the most boring people you'd ever meet. In group settings, I listen more than I speak. It isn't because I'm shy - I just don't think I have much to say.

30. Both my father and grandfather died from cancer. Both of them smoked also. Now you know why smoking around me is annoying. I can deal with it, but only for so long. Don't smoke in the house. That's like signing your own death warrant.

The first time was so good, it was impossible to let these go, especially with the requests from the last one. Presenting:

Old School Wednesday: Philly Soul, Volume II.

01 - The Intruders - Cowboys to Girls. My moms used to play this cut endlessly.  And sing it. All the time. Hats off to London Lee for bringing it back. 
02 - The Stylistics - You Are Everything. I honestly can't get enough of the Stylistics, so I made sure to restrain myself.  In my opinion, everything they touched turned to gold. 
03 - Billy Paul - Let's Make a Baby. GrantLove had it on his mind, so why not pull it out?
04 - The Spinners - It's a Shame.  Co-written by Stevie Wonder (who was 20 at the time) and Lee Garrett, this song is also a classic. This helped put The Spinners on the map.
05 - Jean Carne - I'm Back For More.  Back in 1980, this duet with Al Johnson was released. Nods to GrantLove on this one also.
06 - The O'Jays - Used To Be My Girl.  O'Jays biggest selling single.
07 - The Jones Girls - Children of the Night.  Originally performed by The Stylistics, this socially conscious track always gets repeated in my car when played.   A classic Thom Bell /Linda Creed track. 
08 - Jean Carne - Don't Let It Go to Your Head. In my opinion, her greatest track- and most underappreciated.. 
09 - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - The Love I Lost.  Considered one of the first disco singles.
10 - Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up. Speaking of disco, this song was mixed by the one and only Larry Levan.  This hit number one on the R&B chart and top 20 pop.
11 - The O'Jays - Love Train. Platinum single from The O'Jays.
12 - Instant Funk - Crying. Also released by Instant Funk. Yet another underappreciated track from 1979.
13 - Phyllis Hyman - You Know How To Love Me. I don't think I can say enough about it, so I'm calling on the people leaving comments to speak about this track instead.  Timeless.
14 - MFSB - Love Is the Message. This track, over 10 minutes long, was often the track that you heard at a club before they took your drinks out of you, started bringing up the lights, and opening the doors up, while personnel were getting ready to start pushing you out of the door when the song ended.  Classic.

Vibe it through.

You know, I promised I'd do this in my 101/1001 (which is now updated - I've made pretty good progress). I originally stopped at 20 and thought I was being a wimp. But then, I started catchin' up on some blogs and lo and behold, Humanity Critic had done his too. He was the inspiration to push on, so I'm gonna drop it- 25 at a time.

100 Things About EJ, Volume I

1. I was born on Long Island, New York, in the town of Westbury, where I spent the first 8 years of my life. Think about it: New York in the 60s and 70s? You know it was goin' on, right?

2. Way back in the day, I can remember listening to a lot of soul music, especially when my mom was giving parties in the living room and I was supposedly asleep in my room. That's why these Old School Wednesdays are so good to do.

3. E and J are indeed my first and middle initials, but I'm sure you could have guessed that already. It's not too hard to figure out what they are, either. I'll even tell you if you feed me. See number 14.

4. Yeah, Flavors is my last name. Surprised? Don't be. It was Stockholm back in the 1800s. EJ Stockholm doesn't sound nearly as good as EJ Flavors.

5. For all intents and purposes, I am a full-on nerd.  Believe that.

Philly's in the house, thanks to my friend Mike P and Bernie. There were so many songs to consider, and so much reminiscing, that I finally had to stop myself and start presenting this in volumes. This is only a glimpse into the vibe. Right now, we present:

Old School Wednesday: Philly Soul, Volume 1.


01 - MFSB & The Three Degrees - T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia).
02 - The Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again?
03 - The Stylistics - People Make the World Go Round (Full Version).
04 - The Spinners - Could It Be I'm Falling In Love?
05 - Billy Paul - Me and Mrs. Jones.
06 - The Intruders - I Wanna Know Your Name.
07 - Blue Magic - Sideshow.
08 - The Spinners - Games People Play.
09 - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes & Sharon Paige - Hope That We Can Be Together Soon.
10 - Billy Paul - Brown Baby.
11 - People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna.
12 - The O'Jays - I Love Music (Extended).
13 - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Bad Luck (Extended).
14 - The O'Jays - For the Love of Money (Extended).

Most of these songs bring up some serious childhood memories for me, I don't even know where to begin, seriously. More information is forthcoming. For now, just enjoy the vibe.....

The effects of treatments for grand mal seizures are no joke, people. Talk about slumber....

EJ: chicks say i'm sooooo sexy after I take a nap.
Todd: ha ha ha ha
Todd: it's the drool
Todd: sexy juice LOL
EJ: HA HA HA HA

That can be taken so many ways, I know. He needs We need help.

It's mad around here.

First it was KB making me think of my favorite movie quotes when I had my headphones on. So then I tried to steer away from music but then Grant Love had me pull out my Dynasty album again (not only does he have my initials, but he even has my first name too!). Then, it was all about James and his three year anniversary. On top of all that, Bomani Jones decided he was going to name his top 50 Stevie Wonder songs, knocking me off the map for half the day. After all that, It took all I could to make my way back to the rotation.

In Rotation: October 15, 2005.

01 - Ski Oakenfull - So Beautiful. Off of Rising Son. It's a clap your hands and feel good track. Like house? Ski's got you.
02 - Darien Brockington - Listen. Listen when I tell you, I can't let go of this track. I have it on repeat. Just think, if Jerry Hey would do some pro-bono work to put in a live horn section, it would be all over.....
03 - Kindred the Family Soul - Turn It Up. I heard some tracks before it's release and picked it up. The last CD was good; this has my attention more this go-round. I'd like to see them live.
04 - Toni Braxton - Take This Ring. This song has Amerie/Rich Harrison all over it, and yet I'm still bumpin' the track. Don't tell anyone.
05 - Eric Roberson - Hesitation. From The Appetizer. He's still got it.
06 - DJ Mitsu featuring Dwele - Right Here. Got this off of Jazzy Jeff - The Soul Mixtape. DJ Mitsu is a Japanese-based DJ, who has piqued my interest with this track.
07 - Kindred the Family Soul - My Time. Mellow track from In This Life Together.
08 - Rich Medina - Happiness. From Connecting The Dots. Loving the CD from start to finish. Someone dropped Adventures In Lo-Fi to me, which made me pull this CD.
09 - Middle Child - What If. See, Honey started this, and it was all over. Also appears on J Rawl's CD The Essence Of Soul, which mixes it in too.
10 - Darien Brockington f. Yazarah - Sacrifice. Darien and Yazarah? Produced by Nicolay? C'mon.
11 - Rich Medina - Holdin' Up. Again from Connecting The Dots.
12 - Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio - I Was Born On Planet Rock. KB made a killer, killer radio blog with it in it. Check his out.
13 - Ladybug Mecca & Martin Luther - Last Train. Also off of Jazzy Jeff's mixtape. I saw Ladybug Mecca and knew it was a good track, and accentuated with Martin Luther? Good stuff.
14 - Sol Uprising - Ill Connect. More off J Rawls.

Between this and the Old School Wednesday, I'm set. Until Wednesday, that is.... Good times, everybody, good times.....