Time for #13....

Old School Wednesday: Out Of Thin Air, Volume XIII.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Troop - All I Do Is Think of You
02 - Rose Royce - I Wanna Get Next To You
03 - Heatwave - Happiness Togetherness
04 - The Isley Brothers - Voyage To Atlantis
05 - Nona Hendryx - Keep It Confidential
06 - Chuckii Booker - (Don't U Know) I Love You
07 - Elton John - Benny and the Jets
08 - Joe Jackson - You Can't Get What You Want
09 - Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
10 - Crusaders - Keep That Same Ole Feeling
11 - Hall & Oates - One On One
12 - Sting - Sister Moon
13 - Switch - There'll Never Be
14 - Vesta - Sweet, Sweet Love
15 - Miki Howard & Gerald LeVert - That's What Love Is

When you have a short time to think about what to drop, and your mind goes blank, it's often best to do these on the fly - with some help from Theresa and TGrundy of course. This mix started formulating when One On One started playing at work, and then with the help of those two, I was able to pull it off. My favorite tracks in this mix are Elton John (how often do you get to hear this track?) and Joe Jackson's cut.

Take it light.

Been a very hectic couple of weeks. Still reeling from my time in Chicago last week. Here we go, making it a dozen....

Old School Wednesday: Out Of Thin Air, Volume XII.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Rhonda Clark - Must Be Real Love
02 - Gene Rice - You're A Victim
03 - Cherrelle - Discreet
04 - Alexander O'Neal - What's Missing
05 - Theresa - Change
06 - Vanessa Williams - You Gotta Go
07 - Caron Wheeler - Blue (Is The Colour Of Pain)
08 - Jody Watley - Affairs Of The Heart
09 - Glenn Jones - Show Me
10 - Maysa - Sexy
11 - Terence Trent D'Arby - Sign Your Name
12 - LaRue - All Of Me
13 - Cameo - Feel Me
14 - Kipper Jones - Consider Me Yours

I started this out with the headnodder from Rhonda, and then dropped some Gene since I had just procured his first LP. Since I had to go with the tried and true, I graced it with Cherrelle and Alex, to be followed by my girl Theresa.

Vanessa's duet with Brian McKnight is still a standout, as is Caron Wheeler's cut from UK Blak. Jody'sAffair of the Heart from the album of the same name is a great segue into tracks from Glen, Maysa, and Terence Trent D'Arby. We complete the set with LaRue, Cameo and Kipper.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother!!!

Old School Wednesday: The TGrundy Remix.
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01 The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau (Parts 1&2)
02 Black Heat - No Time To Burn
03 Barrabas - Hi-Jack
04 Black Ivory - Mainline (1979)
05 Brainstorm - This Must Be Heaven
06 Black Heat - Barbaras Mood
07 Ashford & Simpson - Dont Cost You Nothing
08 Black Heat - Love The Life You Live
09 Brick - Stoneheart
10 Donald Byrd - Thank You For Funking Up My Life
11 Brainstorm - If You Ever Need To Cry
12 Faze-O - Breakin The Funk
13 First Choice - Love and Happiness
14 Detroit Emeralds - Feel The Need In Me

This ain't about me. This is a TGrundy remix. Respect the soul. He's the one keeping it on point while I'm steady on the grind. Show the love. Take it light.

Hey now! I'm in Chicago on business so this Old School Wednesday will be a little late in coming.  Sorry for the wait, but someone is working on it as we speak. Check back soon.  Meanwhile, I'm going to get back to the grind.

First, a little catching up to do...I should have done this a week ago, so don't kill me. Work has been kicking my everloving <insert colorful noun here>, but thanks to the help of some cool people, I've been able to get by every Wednesday. since there's not a lot of time to be able to do these alone. Much love goes out to all of you- you know who you are. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the 2007 Black Weblog Awards. Nominate, vote, and make your opinions known Every vote helps make a difference. Check the site out and make your move.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. This took me awhile, but luckily I've been able to listen to music while at work. You know it's essential to stay awake and keep abreast of all the good music out there, as well as pay homage to those from years past. Presenting:

Rotatin' : Volume 12, August 2007.
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01 - Ananda Project - Where The Music Takes You
02 - Wagon Cookin - Ridin' On The Wind
03 - Tweek - So Natural
04 - Ernesto - Wake Up Just To Find
05 - Pharcyde - Knew U
06 - Common - Break My Heart
07 - Talib Kweli & Madlib - Happy Home
08 - Chrisette Michele - Be Ok
09 - Teedra Moses - Last Day
10 - D'Sound - Talkin' Talk
11 - Giovanca - Joyride
12 - Wouter Hamel - Don't Ask
13 - Benny Sings - We'll Make Lovesongs
14 - Magic Number - Suddenly
15 - Incognito - Tin Man
16 - Jazzanova - Ice

Ananda Project's new CD Fire Flower contains this awesome track that I love and that starts this off nicely. This quasi-instrumental always makes me nod my head. Following up with tracks from Wagon Cookin' and Tweek only make the mix sweeter. I have still been rotating Ernesto's Find The Form CD so it only makes sense to add a track to this mix. I have love for the hip-hop vibe as well, as is evidenced by Pharcyde's Knew U, Common's Break My Heart (that George Duke sample is priceless) and Talib Kweli & Madlib's Happy Home (with vocals by Candice Anderson). Common's CD Finding Forever is, in my opinion, a very strong contender for the top 10 CDs this year. Believe it.

Of course, I dig Chrisette Michele and her track with wil.i.am, and Teedra Moses is still in rotation - I'm eagerly waiting her sophomore effort. These tracks segue into D'Sound, a Norweigian trio that I was only able to find out from a cool cat from England and my last.fm compadre, AlemanYorks. Once I started listening to them, I've made it my mission to track down as much music from them as I could. I started out with the title track from Talkin' Talk which a wonderful CD from start to finish and could have easily been one of my favorite albums of 2006. I'm sure that more rotations will be featuring them as I continue to absorb them.

Now, I veer a little off the traditional R&B/Hip Hop track to jump into some music that I find refreshing. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Benny Sings, so it's no surprise that he's in this mix featuring a cut from his new album, At Home. As I was listening to him, I chanced upon Wouter Hamel and became excited about his album, Hamel, as well. I've been listening to both of them on the regular. Giovanca happens to be on a video with Benny Sings (Blackberry Street) and is also on Wouter's video for Don't Ask, so I had to drop a track from her. Her single Joyride was the perfect segue from D'Sound's track and is a wonderful sign of things to come from her.

I pulled Magic Number out from a while back, since That Day was one of my favorite CDs from 2005, and followed that up with Incognito's remake of America's Tin Man with impeccable vocals by Carleen Anderson. I then cap off the mix with an instrumental track from Jazzanova's Belle Et Fou CD, Ice.

Special shoutout goes out to my man Pil Hill for providing me of backdrop on the intro. He's a force to be reckoned with. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this one. Take it light.

My week, so far, has been less than spectacular. Some personal issues knocked me down, and having site issues a little while ago didn't help matters any. Luckily, they both turned around just in time to pull this together. By request, the continuation:

Old School Wednesday: UK Mix, Volume II.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Culture Club - Miss Me Blind
02 - David Bowie - China Girl
03 - The Power Station - Some Like It Hot
04 - Terence Trent D'arby - Wishing Well
05 - Duran Duran - Rio
06 - Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
07 - Five Star - With Every Heartbeat
08 - Princess - Say I'm Your #1
09 - Loose Ends - Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)
10 - Lisa Stansfield - Change
11 - Simply Red - Holding Back The Years
12 - Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
13 - Phil Collins - One More Night
14 - George Michael - Careless Whisper
15 - Sade - Never as Good as the First Time
16 - Ephraim Lewis - Drowning in Your Eyes

Shoutouts go to Mike P for coming in at the 11th hour and injecting some requests and for T. Grundy requesting I drop Culture Club, which was a perfect start to the mix. If you have any requests, send them on.

And as if that weren't enough, I've got some more for you - again. Check it.