so i recently made a trip to my folks crib. i spent many of my teenage years in this house and as i always do when i get there i eat some griot, watched some on demand and of course reminisce. so as i went digging in the crates i found an old drawing that i made of bert and ernie from sesame street. i was a huge fan of that handsome couple and all of their antics. thinking about them got me to thinking about more sesame street and songs came to mind. sesame street over the years musically (pardon my french) is fucking amazin! and thus I present to you my TOP 5 FAVORITE SESAME STREET SONGS OF MY YOUTH
5. BERT’s BLANKET feat bert and the sheep
now from jump i initially remember this song because ernie was sleeping at the count’s crib. then moments of straight soul. these sheep harmonize on another level. they were hitting philip bailey-esque high note through out. my hear felt warm listening to this song. warm as if I wrapped in a… i don’t know a blanket perhaps. oh yeah fyi, i've def downloaded this song to my media player asap.
4. DOO WOP HOP feat kermit
now I never looked at kermit as a sesame street regular. he was that celebrity character bigger than the block that came home every now and then to give turkey’s to the hood on thanksgiving and put on summer bball tournaments. but instead of this hood classics he dropped musical classics, this being one of them. the dance moves.the athleticism. the beat. the background singin and dancin cows. this uptempo track is bananas. there’s a slow motion scene of kermit jumping at the end. MUST SEE.
3. AFRICAN ALPHABET feat kermit
kermit is such a stud with two songs on this list. this track is arguably the most creative joint on the sesame catalog. i assume this is the great ladysmith black mambazo on the vocals. they’ve always killed it on sesame street so I would be surprised. having them on the track alone is enough as they recite the alphabet. then all of a sudden when you think it’s over, kermit starts spittin words to every letter of the alphabet. Before papoose became famous for this kermit was ahead of the game. This song is incredible.
2. 12345…PINBALL
this song makes the list without a single character in the video. i would have to say this is the most memorable sesame street song to me. for many years i counted to the number 12 in this exact cadence. the funky jazz riffs throughout blow me away. there’s a trumpet solo in there that would make miles smile. a steel pan comes in towards the end that freaks it. the random voices and random yelling of numbers is totally outrageous. counting never and i mean never sounded this good. and if you peep in the beginning , the hand that pulls the pinball machine is a black hand. that’s how one ends up with all that jazz and funk. damn near flawless.
1. DO DE THE RUBBER DUCK feat ernie and friends
this was tough because ernie has about 4 songs about that damn duck. this one though takes it for me. they straight reggae it out. the baseline is a little barrington levy cats are in the tub rocking it out. they are dancing to the beat. oscar’s appearance in the tub! now that’s shocking. every bar and I mean every bar had me bopping. the count provides a bridge right into the hook that takes us right into the club! hoots the owl shows up and closes the show with the last bar. “come and be a bath time bopper/don’t pull out stopper!” they move the whole room! i was definintely busting out the bogle to this. no lie!
them muppets can sannnngggg!
what's your 5?
peace.love.funk.
j/d
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
do not hold doors
we are back ladies and gentlemen! and today i must discuss something that i love. one of my favorite hobbies growing up would be to ride the nyc subways from first stop to last. it created such peace and tranquility within my young life. as an adult the train is filled with more moments of frustration and comedy more then anything else. so i present to to you the 5 most interestingly funny acts seen while riding the train!!
5. Faux Super Standers
I used to ride the 7 train everyday to work and there was this one woman. she was very small in stature and never smiled. as most early morning new yorkers she had her newspaper in hand and purse between her legs. The train would move she would stand and not budge an inch. immovable! then there are those other folks. swear that they could be like our immovable super stander but, no sir! they start jolting, landing on the seated for balance, apologizing and such. it is hilarious to see this person continue in their attempts to stand and fall again. the funniest part is seeing them finally give up and hold on. soooooo dejecting
4. Thanks Dr. Zizmor!!
you have not been on a nyc train if you have not seen this sign. i'm not scared of lions and tigers and bears, but i may be a little scared of vicious acne. which makes me so happy that dr. zizmor is around. i can't remember the last time i was on a train and didn't see the good doctor's face. "now you can have beautiful clear skin!!"
thanks dr. zizmor!!
3. dance dance revolution
have you ever seen that person with the giant headphones going sooo hard? you overhear coldplay and see them put on their best Lionel Richie impression. i'm all about the appreciation of music but when you are putting on a concert for the entire last car on the E train, somethings gotta be done. then we have our rappers. these are the guys that are spittin the latest in mixtape lyrics headphones or not. im talkin bout ice grill, hard head bop and insert random Jae Millz verse here. its out of control and last but not least the dancers. it's one thing to sway, one thing to bounce, and then theres this and best believe I've seen this and so have you:
2.PSYCHE!!
every train in new york city has homeless people. its part of the fabric that makes up our lovely system. some homeless cats are train specific. one of my favs was this dude who used to carry a bag of stuff for the homeless. im not sure if he was but i remember his scratchy voice asking us to give money to him and whatever organization he was working for, so that they could provide assistance. i think his name was eric. i digress. i remember a homeless man asking for money and seeing someone dig into their pockets as he approached. of course he thought they were reaching for him. and of course the passengers pulls out a tissue to blow their nose. i laughed in my head and maybe even a bit out loud, but i felt so so bad. its just not right. dont reach into your pockets, make direct eye contact, move akwardly unless you have intentions on giving some money. you can use the mrjeffdess technique which is to close my eyes and sneak peeks as they walk by. i may not be the biggest financial donor but i never neva evea never ever pull the psyche move
1. GETTING OFF!
let me paint you this picture. i am on the 7 train on a weekday morning and each car is way packed. As I survey the scene I see this one man engulfed in newspaper. More and more people are coming on and this joint is getting tighther. our newspaper friend is totally entrenched and surrounded. suddenly we reach queensboro plaza and then i hear some of the purest morning comedy that one could hear. in a fit of fear and anger our newspaper boy starts screamin GETTING OFF! GETTING OFF! no excuse me no pardon it was MOVE IM GETTING OFF! time is ticking and now im waiting to hear those lovely bells that will signal his doom. he's almost there. bells ring he's close. he's now reached the door and shut! this dude absolutely lost it. I TOLD YOU I WAS GETTING OFF , WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! he was banging on the door straight wildin out and the entire car proceeded to lose it. i guffawed my ass off. lesson learned also know your stop!
let me know your train mishaps and moments of comedy. i didn't even mention the naked homeless guy! till next time if you see something make fun of it!
peace.love.funk
j/d
5. Faux Super Standers
I used to ride the 7 train everyday to work and there was this one woman. she was very small in stature and never smiled. as most early morning new yorkers she had her newspaper in hand and purse between her legs. The train would move she would stand and not budge an inch. immovable! then there are those other folks. swear that they could be like our immovable super stander but, no sir! they start jolting, landing on the seated for balance, apologizing and such. it is hilarious to see this person continue in their attempts to stand and fall again. the funniest part is seeing them finally give up and hold on. soooooo dejecting
4. Thanks Dr. Zizmor!!
you have not been on a nyc train if you have not seen this sign. i'm not scared of lions and tigers and bears, but i may be a little scared of vicious acne. which makes me so happy that dr. zizmor is around. i can't remember the last time i was on a train and didn't see the good doctor's face. "now you can have beautiful clear skin!!"
thanks dr. zizmor!!
3. dance dance revolution
have you ever seen that person with the giant headphones going sooo hard? you overhear coldplay and see them put on their best Lionel Richie impression. i'm all about the appreciation of music but when you are putting on a concert for the entire last car on the E train, somethings gotta be done. then we have our rappers. these are the guys that are spittin the latest in mixtape lyrics headphones or not. im talkin bout ice grill, hard head bop and insert random Jae Millz verse here. its out of control and last but not least the dancers. it's one thing to sway, one thing to bounce, and then theres this and best believe I've seen this and so have you:
2.PSYCHE!!
every train in new york city has homeless people. its part of the fabric that makes up our lovely system. some homeless cats are train specific. one of my favs was this dude who used to carry a bag of stuff for the homeless. im not sure if he was but i remember his scratchy voice asking us to give money to him and whatever organization he was working for, so that they could provide assistance. i think his name was eric. i digress. i remember a homeless man asking for money and seeing someone dig into their pockets as he approached. of course he thought they were reaching for him. and of course the passengers pulls out a tissue to blow their nose. i laughed in my head and maybe even a bit out loud, but i felt so so bad. its just not right. dont reach into your pockets, make direct eye contact, move akwardly unless you have intentions on giving some money. you can use the mrjeffdess technique which is to close my eyes and sneak peeks as they walk by. i may not be the biggest financial donor but i never neva evea never ever pull the psyche move
1. GETTING OFF!
let me paint you this picture. i am on the 7 train on a weekday morning and each car is way packed. As I survey the scene I see this one man engulfed in newspaper. More and more people are coming on and this joint is getting tighther. our newspaper friend is totally entrenched and surrounded. suddenly we reach queensboro plaza and then i hear some of the purest morning comedy that one could hear. in a fit of fear and anger our newspaper boy starts screamin GETTING OFF! GETTING OFF! no excuse me no pardon it was MOVE IM GETTING OFF! time is ticking and now im waiting to hear those lovely bells that will signal his doom. he's almost there. bells ring he's close. he's now reached the door and shut! this dude absolutely lost it. I TOLD YOU I WAS GETTING OFF , WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! he was banging on the door straight wildin out and the entire car proceeded to lose it. i guffawed my ass off. lesson learned also know your stop!
let me know your train mishaps and moments of comedy. i didn't even mention the naked homeless guy! till next time if you see something make fun of it!
peace.love.funk
j/d
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)