Shamon!

My younger brother and I have been engaged in a battle of opinions for the past 3 decades or so, on a myriad of different subjects, never, ever, I said, I said (go 'head Foghorn!) never agreeing to disagree or agree. We were both convinced that we were right, and in a lot of ways, it continues to this day. We weren't (and still aren't, even tho if things came down to it, we'd have each other's back in a heartbeat) aren't particularly close, probably speaking to each other about 3 times a year, and seeing each other even less. It's both of our faults, really, and it seems that neither one of us really care to change the status quo of things.



One of our most bitter arguments (perhaps "bitter" is too harsh of a word; I'd go with our rivalry was heated, in terms of our big ol' difference of opinion) is who we thought was better...



Prince Rogers Nelson or Michael Joseph Jackson.

Out of all of our arguments, this is the one that went on the longest, both of us doing battle, armed with Billboard Top 40 charts, record sales, musical prowess comparisons, and just something that we just had to argue about, as that it was the only form of communication between the two of us.

It was the 1980's, and both artists (and, in reflection, artists is a word that doesn't do either one of the men justice) were at the height of their powers....MJ being the biggest star in the world, and Prince redefining funk, rock, and crossing over into film (and winning an Oscar for best score for "Purple Rain", a fact that I was quick to rub into my brother's face back in 1985). Both ending up Rock N' Roll Hall of famers (with MJ being inducted twice, deservedly so, I must say), and making so many classics it just wasn't funny.

I remember when "We Are The World" was played on every station at exactly the same moment, the night of the Grammys, and Prince didn't bother to show up, wanting to celebrate his 3 Grammy night (even though Michael J ended up with a total of 13 over his career, compared to Prince's 7). It saddened me because Prince was rather arrogant back at his height (and despite his disappearance from Top 40 radio over the past 15 years, his arrogance hasn't diminished much), and it was the opportunity for both artists to cut a record for the USA for Africa Record (later on there was a chance that they were going to do a duet for MJ's "Bad", but couldn't agree on which direction the song would take).

Obviously, it would of been one of the great duets of the 20th century, in my humble opinion, and who knows...maybe for a moment it would of stopped the bickering between my brother and I...at least for the 4 minutes or so it took for the song to play on the radio.

Anyway, in those great 1980s, those 2 men (along with a certain "Material Girl", of which the 3 is the only one who still is somewhat relevant in Top 40 radio) just simply were the bomb, becoming legends, and as my brother and I aged, we didn't butt heads so much about them, as that we became men and had other things to think about (my brother, his career, and I my eventual marriage and family). But whenever a new Prince CD came out, or MJ popped into the studio for his every 5 years or so release, we'd at least mention our opinions on it....and continued to disagree on the quality of the work.

Sadly, both went off the "deep end", in their own ways, derailing in a lot of ways their greatness before age would of eventually of done that for them, as it tends to happens to all rock/pop stars. Prince did the "symbol" name change thing, and beyond "Cream", "Diamonds & Pearls", and "The Most Beautiful Girl in The World", his propensity for writing music that only he and his die hard fans (like myself) would dig would cost him dearly (even though he was a pioneer in breaking from the record companies and doing things himself, keeping most of the profit for himself; other artists, Like Radiohead, followed suit).

I am not even going to get into MJ's downfall, as that has been well documented, and I have to admit, broke my heart in a lot of ways.



But to reiterate, my younger brother was the big MJ Fan, and I (til this day) thought Prince was the purple meow (yeah, I am hetero, so shut up). MJ was the consummate entertainer; Prince was on par with Clapton, Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen when it came to handling the guitar. MJ had the moonwalk, Prince had the Purple Rain, the ultimate Y2k song (17 years before it became necessary). MJ has the biggest selling album of all time, with each new release (up until the wheels starting to come off in the 90's) being a media event; Prince had the hot women, the yearly releases, the 3 brilliant albums (1999, Purple Rain, and Sign O' The Times) and, well, sadly, "Under the Cherry Moon."



The argument was never won between my brother and I, and we both watched as both of these once mega-stars/now legends went, and forgive me for using this term, as I always hated it when MJ was referred to it, "wacko."



So here we are, 2009, and about a week or so ago, I saw a story about Prince making a surprise appearance at the Apollo for its 75th anniversary, looking cool as hell, not like a 51 year old man, but using a cane...

...as that both of his hips have been replaced.

Seeing this made me let out a deep sigh. No more James Brown splits and crazy dance moves as the funk would kick in small and big venues. He could still falsetto and scream like the old days, but that picture simply spoke volumes to me, especially as my 40th birthday is but a month or so away. Prince was still cool, but, well, he would never be "Prince" again. I still get each new release (including the recent "LotusFlow3r"), hoping for some semblance of greatness would show up, and being somewhat disappointed each time.

Then June 25th, 2009 showed up, and I am at a park doing a picnic with my wife's employer, and my homegirl calls me and tells me that MJ is being rushed to the hospital.

30 seconds later, my mom calls me and tells me Michael Joseph Jackson is dead.

I was playing Frisbee with my youngest, a 7 year old who hasn't really been touched or figured out how music helps define your life in a lot of ways, and he couldn't understand why I just stopped what we were doing, as I asked my mom to repeat what she just said.

All I could say was "wow."

I then immediately called my brother, to see if he knew what had just occurred. I couldn't reach him.

I guess it is sort of like our entire relationship, in a way. He is 36 years old, and is doing quite well for himself. In a lot of ways, he is Michael Jackson. Determined, he makes sure he is the best at what he does.

I am, I guess, a lot like Prince...a person, albeit talented (I feel that I am a good writer), but too stubborn in a lot of things, and not using my talent to the fullest.

So here I sit, 2 days later, still stunned that one of the subjects of my brother and I great argument is gone way, way too soon. A man who, for a long, long time, was the biggest entertainer in the world. 750 million albums. 100 million or so for Prince. 13 grammys, 7 for prince. More classics between the Jackson 5 and himself that I can count. Prince had 3 GREAT albums, but too many scattered ideas, sadly.

It makes sense though why I dig Prince, and why he dug Michael Jackson. It defined, well, us.

I said "dug", as in past tense.

Wow.

Rest in Peace, King of Pop. The "Prince" should say thanks.

White Music, Black Music, Ain't it Just Music?

I just recently completed adding something like 12,000+ items to my iPod for like, well, the 40th time, and while I am not totally satisfied with the music quality and the like (despite my high bit rates on each tune), I am hanging it up, as that I've been obsessing about my music/car stereo quality so long that my neglected wife is now a notebook/Facebook addict and I think my kids are actually Puerto Rican (as that I haven't had time to do squat, much less procreate).

Anyways, now that I have put that obsession aside, I have decided to come back to the blogging world to see if I can get more that some dude from Timbukwhateverthehell to read my rantings and musings. I wanted to first start off by covering, well, music. I know I have mentioned music before (see earlier posts, if u give 2 wipes of a rat's backside), especially the difference between supposed "white" and "black" music. Now, if any of my thousands of readers (in my fantasy world where I am a size 32 (U.S.) waist and I was actually able to see my penis without getting a GPS to find it under my gut) were able to look at my spreadsheet of music, you will see a cornucopia of musical styles that I listen to...anywhere from the Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" (which, as of this writing, is the number one song in the U.S.) to Elvis Presley to Metallica to Taylor Swift. Now most folks would assume a man of my age (and brother-ness...not a world, but it sounded good in my head) would listen to mostly R&B, with a mix of occasional hip hop, as that I grew up during the genre's infancy.

This is why I get pleasure cranking up Metallica's latest "Death Magnetic" when I roll through black neighborhoods...something I like doing to smash preconceived notions...and well, I want to see if those bullet-proof windows I put in actually work.

Anywho...

I guess to me, a good song is a good song, no matter it is made by T.I. or by David Lee Roth re-doing "Jump" with a bluegrass band (check it out on Rhapsody, it is interesting). Music can be such an integral part of one's life, and while I totally understand the cultural differences that can affect one's choices, I have learned to give all genres a chance to make me tap my feet (or at least raise an eyebrow when it's a style of music I've never heard before).

Sadly, music can be another way to separate us as human beings as well. I once told a friend that I couldn't get into Credence Clearwater Revival (or "CCR" for its fans) because they just sounded to "white" for me. Then several months later, I sat down and checked out some of their grooves, and ended up adding 5 songs of theirs to my iPod. It goes back to making snap judgements when we don't know shit, or bother to check things out before we make a final judgement on it.

We're all guilty of it, sadly.

So hell, I challenge you to check out other types of music; don't let your mind be closed off because, well, you're a homeboy/playa/whatever section of the "hood"/"barrio" (more PC bullcrap, if ya broke, ya broke; if you have money, God Bless ya), a white girl from a small town, or what I like to call "wiggers" (white folks who think they're black, which I don't mind TOO much necessarily, but hate it when they think that's all we can be). If you hear a good song, don't dismiss it automatically because it is done in a particular style, or is done by hard rockers, rappers, country folk, or hell, a good musical score (I recently got a hold of the "Star Trek" score from the recently released re-boot of the franchise, and it is fantastic), and get lost in the nuances of the artists as they try to convey their message/stories through song. If you truly don't like that type of music, that's fine. I dig that completely.

But hell, I hope you didn't like it cuz you tried it and it simply didn't suit your tastes.

Cuz Isn't music just, well, music?

I'm gonna put on my Britney Spears now...."Womanizer, Womanizer, Womanizer, Womanizer..."

That's some deep azz lyrics, I tell ya.

What a Yippee-Kay Yay Taught Me About Our Differences

So check this out my domain-in-ites...

(Ok, that sucked the teet of a fat man who had too many donuts, true, but hell, it's 11:34 at night, and G. has to get at 8 AM and take his kid to his weekly Catholic Training...Luke, the 79 saints in the Church are strong in you....Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke)....

Anyway, Let's move on!

I was messing around with my car stereo (as usual, as my wife in her slumber shivers, since she can't stand my rather expensive habit) setting up some radio station presets in it, and as I hit the scan button, I came across the country station she spends most of her commutes listening to. Now, don't get me wrong, I have probably about 300 or so country tracks on my 'pod (if ya with someone for long enough, u'll pick up some of their likes; however, an overweight black man in cowboy boots and a hat is as about as sexy as the present Day Val Kilmer...geech!) so I have nothing against men and women singing about losing their house/trailer/loves/cats/dog/chew/whatever else they sing about in their twangy compositions .

But, while I was listening to one song that I actually liked, it got me to thinking (and when that happens, evil little thoughts leak out...sort of like that little bit of "after-pee" ladies have to catch before they stand up from the toilet).

Music is truly the great segregator on this planet...especially here in the U.S.A.

Most folks, for example, who listen to country (or play it from bars all the way up to the big arenas all over the U.S.) have nothing in common with other non-country listeners. I mean, hell, I was born in Manhattan, and raised in the Bronx for many years.  I WOULD OF HAVE MY TESTICLES SEWN TO MY LIPS IF I WAS CAUGHT LISTENING TO COUNTRY IN THE 1970s and 1980s.

I grew up on R&B and Hip-Hop (not RAP music; trust me, there is a difference), with some Big Hair Pop-Metal (the Bon-Jovi/Warrant/Whitesnake/Poison and the like) mixed in. But it wasn't necessarily a black/white thing, even though during my formative years, it seemed like that to me. Before folks like Leann Rimes, Faith Hill, and the biggest hitter of them all, Garth Brooks came along (biggest seller of all time except for The Beatles) and actually made "New Country" (not that Randy Travis "I lost my dog because my woman fell in love with him" shit from back in the day) a big deal, let's face it, if you were not a country fan, most folks swore you lived in a trailer, thought Dale Earnhart (or in the 1960s/1970s, Richard Petty) was Jesus Christ, and your sister wasn't too far of a reach to be your "first".

Then again, those gangbangin', gun totin', yo mama is a "beeeyotch" fans of hip hop could be just as offended as well.

But beyond the stereotypes, the stories Country Music tells about life in America (I have to admit, country music truly is "American Bread and Born" music; their is nothing else like it in the world) differ from what I, not only as a person of color and a "city boy" (shit, I just realized I left the door open for an insult..."boy", "man of color"...all those who have higher intelligence than, say, plaque, disregard) can relate to. I mean, I don't own a pickup truck (even though I'd love to drive a Honda Ridgeline; at the time of this blog's writing, I thought those were bad ass vehicles), I don't drown my sorrows in whiskey (and no, I am not going to say "Colt 45" you Billy Dee William mofos) and well, my thoughts about America are much, much different than Toby Keith's.

Musical genres like Country Music really, in a way, separate us; whites, blacks, rich, poor, even intelligent/reasonable folks and complete dumb asses blinded by their political affiliations (once again, thank you, Mr. Keith...as i said in a previous blog, The Dixie Chicks were right about our current Commander in Penis-Head). I mean, you expect Caucasian folks who live in small towns to listen to either Classic Rock, Hard Rock, or Country; you figure inner city kids (who are mostly Black) to listen to R&B and Hip-Hop. If the shoes are on the other foot, the Caucasian kids are trying to be "wiggers" and the Black Folks are "selling out."

But what if a Spanish Person listened, to, say, Tim McGraw? Does that make them "Yippe-Kay-Spicks?"

Or a person of Asian descent is rolling down the street listening to T-Pain? Wait a minute, let me warm this up (rubbing my hands like Mr. Miyagi).....

A ChopSueyJapanigga?

Yeah, that was pretty bad (wax on, wax off).

Now I am not trying to offend anyone by using such ignorant terms. But there is a method to my madness.

For 232 years, this supposed "Great Melting Pot" has subconsciously kept the ingredients that makes America what it is on separate shelves in the pantry. Now there is nothing wrong with cultural traditions at all...I am totally for it. But what about learning about different cultures, or music, or languages, or whatever that makes us difference, so that we are more united? Is that so crazy and offensive that it shouldn't happen?

Possibly. 

Perhaps things like Country Music, with the guys wearing the big 10 Gallon hats everywhere (I always wondered if the guys, while having sex, kept the hats on, then as they were about to climax, in the excitement of the moment their big ass hats fell off, covering the girl's face and suffocating them...a "48 Hours" mystery episode suggestion I am going to send in) is designed to keep their fans (predominately Caucasian folks) as "separate", while maintaining the illusion of "equality" intact.

I mean hell, you never see Kanye West at the Academy of Country Music Awards, right? (And for those who do their research, the only reason Jamie Foxx was there last year was because he was roommates and friends in college with the lead singer of Rascal Flatts). It, in the eyes of many, "wouldn't seem right."

Sigh.

I guess I wish that society was like The Grammys. There are a whole bunch of different "categories" there, all in the same room, appreciating their differences, but sharing in the beauty of each. Hell, even the rich folks semi-mingle with the semi-rich folks in the SAME ROOM.

Wow, what a concept.

Oh well...I guess I am a dreamer...but there is hope.

Darius Rucker, formally of Hootie & The Blowfish makes a Mean Country album.

Charley Pride would be proud.