BackTRACKin': Head Over Heels.

Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
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Both of these songs are equally appealing to me in different ways. True, they're sharing the same post because they share the same name. But you can't deny them. Both songs have strong piano based chord progressions... the thing my dreams are often made up of. There's nothing better than deeeeeeep chords. That emotional shit. So its even better when they infiltrate popular music with force. Its almost a guarantee I'll bring these up again...

Not to mention, "Head Over Heels". A feeling I've been struck with a few times... Including now.

Back[Track]in': Ras Kass "Miami Life"

I was just doing some CyberCrateDiggin' today and came across this instrumental one of the folders.

I used to slap this like everyday in high school.

So Fresh Coast.

The beat always sounded like cloudy day on Miami Beach. You know, where everyone is in their own world.

From the Old Folks to the Tourists to the Cocaine Cowboys.

A world where one man's paradise is another's purgatory.

It's funny because this song is off of the movie The Substitute. Never saw the movie, but it remember back then, troubled high school kid movies were all over; Dangerous Minds, High School High... LOL.

Personally I like 80's trouble kid teachers.

Joe Clark.
Jaime Escalante.
Rick Latimer.

Tangent over with.

Back[Track]in': The Delinquents- "Can't Be Stopped" feat The Whoride

This is my $h!t 4 Real!!!!

I remember being in 9th grade going to buy this at the Warehouse in Alameda... Stayed on rotation.

Its that trademark Delinquent flow and the WhodiniFriendsesqueOaktownDBoyTrunkRattlin'BreezySynthFunkMobb aesthetic.

This song hasn't gotten old in the last 15 years...

Peep this Old School review by Bay Area Hip-Hop Journalist Billy Jam about the whole compilation, Bay Area Playaz.

Bay Area Stand Up!
...

BackTRACKin': The Blow Monkeys- "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way"

The Blow Monkeys- "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way"

So the other day, I happened to be watching the fourth installment of one the most terrifically horrible movie franchises ever. Police Academy. Somehow it just didn't age well. Surprising, I know.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complete waste of my time. As soon as the movie progressed to a montage of Zed frolicking with his love interest in a field (3:25 min into this video right here), I remembered one reason I like this movie. The awesome Uber-80's Blow Monkeys song in the soundtrack.

As far as the Blow Monkeys go, there are a couple other tracks I'm feeling as well on their album, She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter... namely "Out With Her" and "The Day After You".

Wham! Bam!

BackTRACKin': Prefab Sprout- "Appetite"

Prefab Sprout- "Appetite"

I wasn't up on Prefab Sprout until a couple months ago. I got interested after hearing about Thomas Dolby's involvement in this project. After hearing the album, Steve McQueen, I was thoroughly satisfied. There's a very contemporary feel to the music. It almost sounds as if it could have been made today. Real Breezy. Real Clean. Real Sophisticated.

There are a few gems on the album... I'll let you find them if you're so inclined. It's okay to work for it. 

Work hard. Play hard...

Oh Yeah. Tell if I'm trippin', but isn't that Luther Vandross at the 3:28 mark?!?!? Hmmm...

BackTRACKin': Simply Red- "Money's Too Tight To Mention"

No really, It is. I love this song. Everything about it. They're talking about Reaganomics. Maybe I should make a recession-proof recession song like this one. Or Maybe I already have...

BackTRACKin': Zion I- "Inner Light"

I remember running around back in '98 as a teen, chasing down anything that had to do with hip-hop; Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, Hip-Hop, in the Park, KPFA and even La Pena Cultural Center. Wherever I could get a fix of the four elements, I was there, hahaha... During that time, Zion I was on the come up, doing HELLA local shows in promotion for their project Mind Over Matter.



There were two gigs that stand out in memory. One was at one of the pier's in SF for some nonprofit youth event. I remember being there with my Youth Radio family, watching Zion I perform when somehow, I ended up with a mic in my hand rapping along side Whiz with Amp Live manning the decks on some open mic steez. Back then, Amp Live used to rock live with an Ensoniq EPS. I was always intrigued by that. Its funny that just yesterday I was performing with him at Outside Lands.

The second time was at La Pena in Berkeley. I'll never forget how crackin' it was with high school students. When they dropped "Inner Light" I went crazy... Back then it was some crazy shit; A group in the Bay rappin' over Drum n' Bass influenced beats. That stuck with me. And I still have the cassette single...

BackTRACKin': Voodu "Southern California Nights"

Voodu- "Southern California Nights"

I used to slap this in high school. That night time, warm weather, breezy slap... Voodoo, Mean Green, Mykill Myers, Ras Kass, the whole Western Hemisfear crew... I one of the members of Hollyweerd has ties to this lineage...

BackTRACKin': Jodeci- "Feenin'"

Jodeci- "Feenin'"

Now I'm sure almost everyone is up on this one. I'm putting this up because its come up in conversation more than three times in the last week.

Who's filling this void today? I'm sure we can throw out a few contenders, but really... Who?