http://scottsgroovelocker1.podomatic.com/entry/2009-11-26T10_45_43-08_00

This one is funky, eclectic and just what tose Philly boys would have played if they'd been a real band. I think of this as volume 1.

I hate the radio. Radio in the last 20 years has done more to destroy music than it has to aid it, and for one day I'm putting a stop to that.

For 24 hours I am going to create and "broadcast" a radio station online.
24 hours of music, talk radio, guests, commercials...the whole nine. It's basically a day of what I think radio should sound like. Hey, that was the name of a cool King Britt record!
I'm always railing about how bad the radio is, so I figured it would be cool to show what I think it should sound like. Jazz, R&B, oldies...so on. I'd even like a talk hour, about what, not sure.

Don't have a date yet (2010 though), and of course the programming would run the gamut. I have to figure out the technical stuff and then a small internet live studio has to be put together for the rotating DJs. It'll pop on for 24 hours, then pop off.

This is going to be awesome.

So I spent a little time ripping your latest album(s) "Lotus Flower" on Amazon (I can't even be bothered with the weird spelling, I am so disgusted) but wanted to add a note here just between you and I.

In a way, it must suck to know that half of the planet loves your music in a general sense, but that they only love it up to about 20-25 years ago. Sure, you've had some records make some noise since 1984, but really: you know that you been on some bullshit since about 1992.

Here's what I don't get about you: why you are so fucking hard-headed.

I know you've been living in a world only slightly less ridiculous than Michael Jackson's since you were 19, but come on. You're WAY more grounded than Michael ever was. You can actually talk to people and you have a sense of humor. Besides the fact that you're Prince and you eat babies to stay young, you still look normal.

So here are five things you can do to get your career on track. Any one of them will get the job done. You can do this in a weekend. I'd be happy to clear my schedule of a mere 24 hours to help out in any way I can. Because you are ndeed the greatest. You are a genius. But my God, man, you lost your musical way a LONG time ago...and no one you know on the planet will tell you that to your face but me, apparently.*


#1) Write an all slow jam record.
This is where you really shine and you have over 60 slow jams to prove it.
Even with this latest virus bomb you've unleashed on the world there was one slow jam on it that made me smile. You know can't nobody get with you on this level. Go there, man. It'll go platinum in a week and you won't even have to air-guitar in a commercial to sell it.

#2) Quit fiddling about in jams.
You play too much. You get the band together and you guys get to jamming and you find a little something you like and you turn it into something that you think is proper music, then release it.

Stop that. Save the jams for the concerts. We know a fiddle song when we hear it, and that MPLS record is full of it. So was Rainbow Children. So were those unreleased Madhouse records. Oh yes, I went there. Don't play, son.

#3) Stop trying to figure it out.
You should let 20 fans of a nice spread of ages and fandom levels (but mostly fans over 30) come to Paisley Park and sit down with 50-100 unreleased songs. Tell them to pick the best, most jamming, most Prince-like 10-15 tracks. Produce the shit out of them without question and release it as the best Prince record in 20 years. You have surrounded yourself with a world of people who wouldn't tell you if a song wasn't banging if their lives depended on it. My life don't depend on it. I got a weekend to come hang out. Keep me in pizza and Yoplait Boston Cream Pie yogurt and I'm yours. I don't smoke, I don't dirnk, and I won't spill my spring water on your furniture.

#4) Stop trying to fight the radio.
Radio is a lost cause, son. It's over. Commerce got that one. Besides: rap launched an industry without radio by simply being itself. Quit fighting the rappers and learn from them.  They won.

#5) Guitar Hero: Prince.
I know how you feel about this one, but if you really want to hit the next generation, do this. I know you think it's not playing guitar. It isn't. We get that. But this is legacy shit here, son. You could have a five year-old whose parents don't even remember you jamming to "Let's Go Crazy" for the next few years. I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way, son.



* This reminds me of a story.
Back when Meshell Ndege'Ocello put out "Bitter" - which I did not appreciate at the time and even now still mostly shrug at outside of a few tracks - I was working in the studio with a buddy of mine on some stuff and we go to talking about it. I told him how wack I though it was and he was like, "You're crazy." I said it's so wack I'd say it to her face. He went into his wallet and pulled out a business card with her name on it. Turns out they'd met in a music store in LA or something before then and networking commenced. He said, "You sure about that?" I said, dail the number. He did. We left a message with, I assume, what was then a live-in SO. She never called back.

The Prince Slow Jam Pile-Up
2 hours of purdee hotness, son.

Favorite band of 2008 AND 2009. Best live show, best R&B record, coolest cats, indie as HELL. Foreign Exchange forever, son.

So I had this cool idea to post a Facebook exclusive mix and figured it's a promotion that only works if more people know it's there.
So if you're not a friend of "Scotts Groove Locker" on FB, you should be because it's the only place I'mproviding the link to the mix.

And, if I might add, it's a great mix: Episode #10 - Songs That Make Me Laugh.  The songs are intercut with comedy bits and some of the music is pretty funny.  But then, I have a particular sense of humor.  It is my only explicit language mix as well, FYI.

(Of course, if you subscribe to my podcast, you already got this download automatically.)

I like using FB for SGL stuff.  I can instantly connect on larger scale.  I still prefer LJ for the more introspective and essay-like stuff though.


I know this is only a few days after my last mix, but it's exclusive, which is hot.

Hi everyone, I posted a new episode to my podcast, Scott s Groove Locker.

Please click the link below to view it. 
http://scottsgroovelocker1.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-09-18T00_26_26-07_00
 

See you there!

- scottsgroovelocker

If you like Stefon Harris, you'll like this record.  It's not as straight-ahead as some of his earlier stuff, but that's the point of playing with this particular band, Blackout.  When he plays with these cats the songs take a modern turn and incorporate a lot of different influences and colors.

I love this band, and Harris has eased up on the composing tip (but produces the record in full).  it's got a few of my favorites players on the scene: Harris, Marc Cary on keys and Terreon Gully, who I am sure is the meanest-looking musician today that isn't a rapper.  Trying to get into my world is saxophonist/vocoder player Casey Benjamin, who brings a really sharp edge to this record and to their live show that wasn't in the forefront as much on the first Blackout record.  He plays vocoder old school style, like Herbie Hancock 70s-era "Trust Me" kickin' it: rich, mad expressive...not even trying to amplify the human voice at all, so much as play the part of sad computer.  It's like the future singing to you.  Amazing work.

There's a little something for every kind of jazz head here, but at ten tracks it may be too little for some who lean heavily in one direction or another.  Me?  I appreciate Harris's mission, so I just go along for the ride, in all the directions he wants to go as a leader.  In his world, jazz is supposed to be fluid and pushing forward and this record is a genuine testimony to that.

My favorite track is "For You", a beautiful ballad that really showcases the tone and range of this band.  When I heard it live a while ago I knew I had to get this record.  It also adds some nice string and wind work. 

Get it.  It's what jazz should be doing now: tipping its hat at everyone it meets and incorporating them into its course.

My theory chops are rusty as HELL. When I'm transcribing I am practically doing so phoenetically, my theory is so bad. Regardless, I still require the use of blank sheet music just like everyone else, and I found the perfect site. There are lots of sites that offer free blank sheets, but BlankSheetMusic.net really let's you configure the sheets the way you like: landscape or vertical, # of bars per page, size, signatures...the whole shebang.

Because I'm so weak I print out their #2 size (which is huge), 3-6 lines per page, depending on if its doubled for keys.

How could I forget this story?!

So I was in the store the other evening and I saw the record that I had done some "audition" tracks for had been released. Basically, I had been asked to submit some spoken word over some smooth jazz tracks ("Call off work and do it today, man!"). So I did and submitted them, and heard a little while later that they went in another direction. Didn't think anything more about it, but I did appreciate the opportunity. I do respect the artist in question, even if I'm nto a fan of what he's doing with his records in recent years.

So I saw the record, all released and pretty, in the store. I'd forgotten all about the audition tracks I sent until I saw the CD. I picked it up and took a look at the back and sure enough, there were the two songs I'd auditioned for. For one of the tracks they had gone ahead and used a poet (one I know, but don't KNOW know) and on the other they'd used a well-known actress who I guess has a couple of poems in her.

When I saw the names, I instantly knew why my work didn't fit. Even if I hadn't done a scratch vocal to relay the case, the poetry wouldn't have worked. The poet had done a poem that people have heard a thousand times over the last ten years and by modern spoken word standards would be facile, and the actress was, well, the actress.

I didn't care that I didn't make the album, though I would have liked to at the time. I take rejection really well because I have a lot of things in my life to be thankful for and in the end, it's probably your loss. I listened to the tracks in the store, satsified, put the CD back on the rack and left.

What I really want to know is: if you can play the [xxx] so well, and have worked with everyone in the industry, why settle for an album like that? Compose, bro. COMPOSE.

So I've been easing back into a straight music focus lately for the winter, and that's music on all fronts: DJing, composing, performing(!). I've been reconfiguring the studio so I can see where my gear holes are and plotting what pieces to get to make the experience more fluid and efficient. I've been scouting instructional stuff to help me get my chops together on the boards. I've basically been stocking nuts in the tree for winter. I've kept my calendar poetry-free from November to March so I can do this in earnest for once.

One of my exercises is to pick a jam I'm really feeling and try to recreate it with what I have. Depending on the song, this can be a really good test of your gear, your abilities with it, and your ability to navigate the gear to realize ideas. Last night I had a strong start on the Neptunes's "Midnight Hour"*, where I basically built parts of the beat and learned the chords and what-not. I tried this with a Rodney Jerkins track, but I can't get his fingering down on the guitar part. Dude's bad.

I need to learn the sequencer in the TR. It should be easier than it is, but I know it's mostly me fighting with technology. I broke out the manual and went for it, but couldn't quite nail it last night, so I ended up firing up the old stand-by - my beloved ACID - and started knocking heads. Ten minutes in and I was cooking. Me and ACID go way back, so it's always going to work out if I go there and utilize some patience. Dance with who brung ya', as the saying goes.

I do need a new small mixer though. I need all this stuff hooked up at once and ready to record. I'll be trading the Mackie in to accomplish this.

New mix coming soon!


New song for you that you don't know but that's the bomb: Muhsinah, "Yiy".




* - It was a song for Natasha Ramos for an album that ended up never coming out, so I just think of it as the Neptunes track (which is actually better instrumental for my tastes).

Of the music pictures I had done tonight, this is one of my favorites:



I'd smash that record on your head yo, but it's Freddie Hubbard.
More of them on the Scott's Groove Locker Facebook.

(Really, it should be a breath pic, but no such pics exist. Mwahaah.)

Some background:

( Read more... )
Back in the early-80s, when MJ and Prince were at their professional peaks, they were two of the most famous, popular musicians in the world. The overlapping period in the peak of Michael Jackson and Prince’s careers – 1982 – 1984* - marked the release of each artist's sixth album, both dabbling in various genres and confounding record bin signage across the globe. MJ's release came with an outstanding series of ground-breaking videos, while Prince's was accompanied by a critically-lauded, hugely profitable film of which he was the star. Both of them had stellar live shows. Between the two of them, as well as the launching of hit TV show Miami Vice, nightclub fashion would never be the same again.

The world being what the world is, we had to rank them because, as you know, there simply can't be two great musical geniuses at once. Every week some newspaper was asking the question, “Who’s the best?” Someone HAD to be the BEST, and that was that.

The question always bothered me. Even in my pre-teen years I was always trying to figure out the question before the answer.** I liked them both, but thought them both different enough to make a question like “Who’s the best?” seem inadequate. And it is an inadequate question! There isn’t any single qualifying gauge that means anything between these two artists. Record sales? Please. We’re talking about who is the “best”, not how many lemmings would fill a good-sized pond. In some areas it was an okay question, but in other areas it was like comparing apples and high-heeled boots.  If there is a best, they have to be the best at what they do, not what happens once they’ve done their jobs. They’re not real estate salesmen; they’re musicians. Not only do we need to define “best” better, but we need to break them down in categories so that one or the other is best at SOMETHING (best live show, best music, best dance moves, best singer…you get the idea) and then determine perhaps which of them is the GREATEST pop star. This might encompass useful things we can actually gauge, like influence or proficiency with professional hair gel products.

So I went into my laboratory, put on my lab coat and promised not to come out until I had the answer. It’s as empirical as I could manage, which is to say you are still unlikely to agree across the board. For that, might I offer that perhaps you should spend your wee hours writing your own biased field report and get back to the rest of us with your professional opinion…for me to poop on!

So which of these two were the GREATEST pop stars?  Here’s the math:

Influence + Catalogue + Business Acumen + Longevity + Grown Folks’ Business + Songwriting + Sales + Live Performance + Musicianship + Je ne sais qua = Greatness

Got it? Let's go:

THE THROWDOWN

1) Prince is why we have Parental Advisory stickers.
Thanks to the fact that Tipper Gore’s daughter didn’t have the common sense to shut her bedroom door when she listened to songs about sex and masturbation, we’ve all been subjected to censorship that doesn’t work anyway. That’s a powerful song! MJ was always too pop to make waves like that.
Prince +1 Influence.

2) Prince is directly responsible for the infusion of sexual content in modern popular music.
Another gimme for Prince. All of that raunchy stuff you heard in the 90s were people trying to be Prince. You know how hard it was to make a good first impression when half the songs on your slow jam tape were by R. Kelly and Jodeci?
Prince +1 Influence, +1 Songwriting

3) Thriller broke every industry record there was.
…and remains the biggest selling record of all time 25 years later.  Do I actually have to point out that this record will never be broken? 
MJ +2 Influence, +2 Longevity, +1 Business Acumen, +5 Sales

4) MJ single-handedly changed what success in the music industry meant.
Prior to Thriller, a platinum record was possible, but no one had really hit the stratosphere in the then modern era. People who sold as many records as Thriller did typically did so after they died and over any more years. Thriller became the Guinness record standard in a year. Also, record companies started really pounding money into artists in an attempt to flash them into sales. Worked for a few others – and still does for one or two artists – but for the most part it was wasted money, and thinking like that almost bankrupted the music industry (before the internet finished the job).
It bears noting Prince pimped the sales charts a couple of years ago by having every record he included with his live shows scanned and counted as a record sale. Poof: instant platinum. Soundscan has since shut down that tactic.
MJ +1 Influence, +2 Sales, +1 Business Acumen, +2 Longevity, +1 Live Performance
Prince +1 Business Acumen, +1 Sales

5) MJ helped create the Motown legacy.
MJ was touring before he was ten, then he got picked up buy Motown, did as he was told, and the rest is HIStory. Prince was with a major label until he didn’t want to be, but there’s only one Motown.
MJ +3 Longevity, +1 Business Acumen

6) MJ was one of the best, most original dancers in the world.
Prince has moves (or did before his recent surgery), but we’ve seen most of them before, eg. James Brown. MJ created moves, most impressively the Moonwalk, and at the same time made dancing somehow as important as the music for all other artists trying to capture that kind of success.
MJ +1 Live Performance, +1 Influence, +1 Je ne sais qua

7) MJ continued to push the music video envelope even after setting the highest bar ever.
Thriller is arguably the most lauded music video ever and it certainly created the cinematic feel of modern videos. The video remix? Also MJ. By contrast, Prince typical spend much of his time in videos crawling out of bathtubs and yelling at women in the key of “I’m Naked”.
MJ +1 Influence, +1 Business Acumen

8) Prince wrote almost every song he ever recorded.
MJ wrote some songs, but his output doesn’t come close to Prince’s. Prince is probably the artist most associated with unreleased material, and the bootleg industry owes half of its business to him. Plus, he controls his music, has since he signed his deal at age 19. And while his records have dipped in quality overall, there’s always that one track that reminds you why he’s The Man.
Prince +1 Catalogue, +1 Songwriting, +1 Business Acumen, +1 Longevity, +1 Musicianship

9) Prince has released over 25 records*** to MJ’s 11…more than twice the number of MJ.****
However, MJ sold over 200 million records worldwide…twice the number sold by Prince. (The lesson? If you want to get paid large, work smarter, not harder. Write 9 or 10 undeniably hit songs, pimp them all as singles, and sit back for eight years until the elephants in your backyard zoo need some more peanuts.)
Prince +1 Catalogue, +1 Songwriting, +1 Business Acumen, +1 Longevity, +1 Musicianship
MJ +1 Sales, +1 Business Acumen

10) Prince is proficient at a frightening level on multiple instruments.
He played almost all of the instruments on not only his records, but some of his side projects as well: the first Madhouse record? The Time?  Prince.
Prince +1 Songwriting, +1 Live Performance, +1 Musicianship

11) Prince wrote more incredible songs.
MJ spent time picking the right songs, but he rarely wrote them. Prince is writing a song right now about this essay, and it will be sexy and classic. Prince probably has one album for every classic song MJ has.
Prince +1 Songwriting, +1 Musicianship

12) MJ's personal life imploded well before his death.
Prince is a bit of a lady-chaser, but that’s about as bad as it gets. MJ? I don’t think I need to even run that laundry list of personal travails off. And when he tried to explain himself it just made matters worse. In fact, it’s so bad I have to deduct points.
MJ -1 Grown Folks’ Business, -1 Je ne sais qua

13) Prince maintained a strict self-discipline and work ethic to ensure his personal and professional longevity.
There was this anecdote some old bodybuilder had about Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he said that Arnold was so intense when he worked out a bomb could go off in the gym and he wouldn’t even notice. Prince comes off the same way: intense, controlling, makes you sign contracts to not talk about him. Sure, it can be weird sometimes, but it’s self-preservation for a lonely man. MJ? Eh, didn’t handle this one so well.
Prince +1 Grown Folks’ Business, +1 Longevity, +1 Je ne sais qua

14) They were both Jehovah's Witnesses.
Who cares?

15) MJ mismanaged his money.
Let’s be clear: MJ wasn’t BROKE broke when he died. He might have had some trouble maintaining the lifestyle he was accustomed to, but he wasn’t going hungry. He had to cut back to something like two private jets and three homes. Maybe he sold a giraffe or something out of his private zoo, but that’s about it. Still, it made him look ridiculous. By contrast, Prince is a voracious businessman, flipping his work into a variety of platforms: computer games, online music clubs, specialized iPods, books, films. Almost none of this stuff is any good, but you had to buy it to find that out. He even sues his fans with some regularity. I get the impression the man has money stuffed in his mattress…and that’s a big mattress.
MJ -1 Business Acumen
Prince +1 Business Acumen, +1 Sales

17) Neither of them has that friend who will tell them, "No."
Aside from having wardrobes ripped out of the pages of Nuts Clearinghouse and Zipper Haus, that they never appeared on the same song – ever – is just plain stupid; two weirdoes so damned navel-gazingly off-kilter that they couldn’t sit in the same room for five minutes without sending shivers down each other’s too-tight pants. This is when you need a good friend to pull you to the side and say, “Hey man, this would be a really cool thing. Neither one of you need the money. Get over yourself and do this.” Quincy Jones wasn’t the guy to get it done (though he did get them in the same room), but someone should have pushed harder on both sides…like Michael Jackson and Prince. Someone should have compelled them to make this happen. Understanding that neither of these men were from Earth, a good friend could have.
This is a stone cold draw of zero.

18) MJ was performing and selling Top 40 hits before Prince even had a record deal.****
Period.
MJ +1 Sales, +1 Longevity, +1 Catalogue

19) Prince has written a nearly incalculable number of songs for other artists.
Prince +1 Catalogue, +1 Longevity, +1 Sales, +1 Musicianship, +1 Business Acumen

20) Prince created other stars.
The Time, which most notably gave us Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who in turn recreated Janet Jackson and went on to write about 500 songs that have hit #1. they should be sending Prince Christmas cards in June.
Prince +1 Business Acumen, +1 Catalogue

21) Prince has controlled much of his musical career since day one.
Prince +1 Business Acumen

22) Prince is too stiff with access and public use issues, to his detriment.
Suing fans is always bad for business. Plus, MJ loved attention and money and rights largely unconcerned him because he was so freakin’ rich.
Prince -1 Business Acumen

23) Prince has consistently outranked MJ critically, and with more albums.
MJ is essentially historical for one record, but known for three notable ones total. Prince has no less than five critically acclaimed and unarguably classic records, and I’m being conservative here so I can use the word “unarguably”.
Prince +1 Catalogue, +1 Musicianship, +1 Songwriting
MJ +1 Catalogue

24) Prince turned his career around; MJ tried, but failed.
MJ’s personal life would never allow him a full recovery of his career.
Prince +1 Je ne sais qua, +1 Business Acumen
MJ -1 Grown Folks’ Business

25) MJ bought and sold the Beatles catalogue.
Prince had to fight with his company for decades over the output of much of his own material.
MJ +2 Business Acumen, +2 Grown Folks’ Business

26) Prince advocates heavily for artist rights and independence.
Prince +1 Influence

27) Prince turned down Guitar Hero. 
Prince thinks kids should learn how to play guitar, not games.  That's not only a bad business decision...it flies in the face of reality.  It would expose a whole new generation to his music, and in a time when many schools are cutting music programs, this goes a long way in generating appreciation.  Also, it's imrpoved the sales of real instruments.  When was the last time this man was in a music store?
Was MJ even asked for at least Rock Band?
Prince -1 Business Acumen, -1 Influence

28) Prince wears his influences plainly; MJ seems cut from whole cloth.
MJ worked as hard on his image as he did his dance steps and albums.  Prince did too, but you can see a lot of previous artists in Prince: Jimi Hendrix , James Brown, Sly, etc.  His unique sound and sheer msucianship raises him above much of this, but when you stand MJ next to Prince, the King of Pop almost seems to come from another world.
MJ +1 Live Performance, +1 Musicianship, +1 Je ne sais qua, +1 Business Acumen 

29) Prince has never been arrested. Michael? Uh, yeah.
MJ -1 Grown Folks’ Business

30) MJ was hands-down weirder.
Prince -1 Je ne sais qua
MJ -2 Je ne sais qua

31) Both of them have unique voices, unmistakable for anyone else.
Even when backing up other artists (Rockwell for MJ, Sheila E. for Prince, et al.) you can see their fingerprints at the scene without even dusting.
Prince +1 Musicianship, +1 Je ne sais qua, +1 Songwriting
MJ +1 Musicianship, +1 Je ne sais qua


TOTALS
Prince “The Purple One” = 37 points
Michael “The King of Pop” Jackson = 35 points

Wow. MJ really messed up in the Grown Folks’ Business section, son. This seems to balance out realistically, as he became known to a whole generation of people for things that had nothing to do with music.  While his career was powerful enough to sustain his place in history, history is always happening, and he was making it in all the wrong ways at the end.

The other implication here is that when Prince dies, the world will feel it worse than they do MJ. This isn’t true for every part of the world, but it might be true anyplace that holds a premium on self-responsibility…and that loves a good slow jam. Prince is probably responsible for more babies conceived than any other artist in the world. That’s greatness.



NOTES
* Both of them had the bestselling record of their careers between the end of 1982 and the end of 1984. Thriller was released in November 1992 and because of a "mild" (by MJ standards) first single, "The Girl is Mine", the album didn't really pick up steam (again, by MJ standards) until a little bit later, when "Billie Jean" was released as a single. For all real purposes, this record "came out" in early 1983.

**Holy shit: I just typed those words and discovered something about myself I’ve never been able to form before. THAT’S why people always roll their eyes when they ask me a question!  Huh.

*** Not counting compilations.

**** Not counting work with the Jacksons/Jackson 5.

Before anybody gets it twisted:

Off the Wall is Michael Jackson's best record.  Thriller was his biggest selling, but OTW was the one with the best music on it.
Of COURSE I can prove this empirically.

Scott's Groove Locker - Episode 8 - Michael Jackson
A DJ mix

After an early fight with the jukebox (I won), things got hot fast. Usually I play around a while before I get into the dancey stuff, but last night I just kind of went for it. It had been a long time since I was in Bernie's, and I was chomping at the bit. I think people cheered harder for "Don't Be Cruel" last night than they did back in '88. We all had an awesome time and yes, I can take you from Black Sabbath to Sean Paul in two steps. I found a couple of 80s pop holes I need to fill, but nothing damaging.

The Mackie mixer didn't cooperate, so noise makers last night. I'll fix that for nest time, ut really: don't need it for a straight gig like Bernie's. That IS something I'll want to rectify for the moodier sets though.

The weather is getting nice. Hand before God: I'll DJ outside one night and we'll rock it like that.

Just a reminder: I will be DJing at Bernie's tonight!

8:00 pm - midnight
Free admission!
1896 N. High Street
http://www.myspace.com/bernies

I'll have a few CD mixes for sale:
1 reggae mix ($5)
1 dance mix (various genres) ($5)
1 "private stock" mix of stuff I'm known for spinning. ($10)

Did a quick spot of vinyl digging, nothing too deep, but got a couple of really nice pieces:

- BIll Cosby "..is not himself these days" (one of Bill's music comedy records)
- Warda "Madritouche" (live concert album of ONE SONG by the well-known Middle Eastern singer)
- Madame X "Just that type of girl (single)"
- Dazz Band "Keep It Live"