Thursday, June 28, 2007

VHS or BETA

File Under: Old School Funk for the True Funk Soldiers!/Have you seen my childhood?


What's love got to do with it? Apparently a whole lot...


My mother, flawed as she may be, passed on something to me that I can't thank her enough for; and that is her love of music and grooving along to it. All types. I was reminded of this last week as we rode along in cousin Carl's car and coasted along to country music. And not that of the hip, listen to it for street cred variety. No. Carl had the radio tuned to some contemporary country music station of the moment and there she was, my mother, in the front seat shouting heeeeeyyyy, and snapping her fingers to the George Strait/Toby Keith/Brad Paisely/I don't know who song coming through the speakers.

Wait.

Alright.

Cut to today.

Watching So You Think You Can Dance?, skimming the latest L.A. Weekly, and enjoying some Budweiser. Look to my left. There it is. A 7'inch vinyl given to me by my mom a few years back to hold onto and enjoy. Motown. On one side I Want You Back by the Jackson 5. On the other side Who's Lovin' You, also by the Jackson 5. All I could think was why is this out of the box, and where is that box?

The Box? you might ask.

Let me explain.

Go back a couple years. Eigth Grade. Apartment off of Western and 74th or so, right before Florence. Me and the little sis returning home from school. It's the fall or early spring of my eigth grade year. Get to the apt. Doors locked. No one home. Walk a few blocks. Head to grandmother's house. Mom is gone. No one knows where she is. A few hours [or the next morning] later we all learn that she is a halfway home to combat her various addictions.

And so it began, my neverending stay in the grandma's house. [Thankfully it was interrupted by my admittance to Bowdoin College, half the world away in Brunswick, ME] And with this "squatting" came me and my sister's belongings, including my budding music collection. And boy did I have me a collection; Mostly cassettes, packaged in an Addidas box. It was this box that I just threw the Jackson five vinyl in, not giving it too much thought, or a care in the world. And it was this box that I decided to return to tonight. The contents of which I would like to share with all of you. Enjoy!

-An empty case labeled Destiny's Child. I am guessing the self-titled debut was in here. That was my shit for a little bit.
-Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. Taped copy.
-Quindon's self-titled debut. The real thing. Not taped. Remember him. It's You That's on my Mind was my shit!



-Smashing Pumpkins. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Looks like I got it all on one cassette.
-Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York. Taped copy.
-Whitney Houston. My Love is Your Love. Taped copy. For some reason Vanessa Williams gets a few tracks on Side B after Whitney's album ends. I still don't know why and/or get that one.
-Ozomatli. Cumbia De Los Muerots and Super Bowl Sundae cassingle. As you'll see later, I loved me some singles back in the day. [Back when you actually went out and bought actual singles in record stores.] I'm thinking this one was free though for some reason. [haha]
-Supercop sdtrk. Bought copy. Yes the Jackie Chan movie. Guess I really loved that Warren G and Adina Howard track that sampled Tina Turner's What's Love Got to do With It?
-Radiohead. Ok Computer. Taped copy.
-Foo Fighters' self titled debut and The Colour and the Shape. One tape. Taped copy.
-Ooh this one is hillarious. Taped copy. Side A. Mariah Carey. Daydream. Side B: Muse. Showbiz. HA! Empty case. I think it destroyed itself.
-A recorded tape simply labeled DOC Music.
-Spice Girls single. No cover. Spice Up Your Life with the b-side Spice Invaders.
-Space Jam sdtrk. Bought copy.
-Prince. The Hits 1. Taped copy. Empty case.
-311. Taped copy. The debut. Side B ends with The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell. Something tells me that's not a 311 song.
-Looks like I just found that Mariah/Muse collabo. Moving on...
-Aaliyah. One in a Million. Taped copy. Empty case. Side B has a few bonus tracks: Johnny Blaze, Man Undercover, and Are You Somebody?
-Vanessa Williams is back, this time she's attached to the taped copy of Al Green's Greatest Hits. Again I don't understand or get this one.
-History: Past, Present, and Future. Michael Jackson. Both discs have their own taped copies.
-Marilyn Manson. Antichrist Superstar. Taped copy.
-Nirvana. Side A: Incesticide. Side B: In Utero. Taped copy.
-Ginuwine. Ginuwine...The Bachelor. Taped copy.
-The start of a Stevie Wonder Greatest Hits tape. [Got 5 tracks]
-3 cassingles [purchased]:
1)P!nk - there you go
2)R.Kelly - You Remind Me of Something. With the Lookin for My Homie Mix of Homie, Lover Friend on Side B.
3)Christina Aguilera - What A Girl Wants
-And finally a 60 minute taped copy of the Backstreet Boys' Black and Blue.

Good times.

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