Going to see Cut Copy with The Presets tonight and am pretty amped up. I’ve been listening to some old Cut Copy stuff to brush up and came across this track “1981″. Yeah I know Cut Copy isn’t that old, but hell this track came out in 2001, that’s 7 years. Here’s a brief history lesson. Cut Copy was a side project that Dan Whitford, then a DJ and graphic designer, started and  from there released the EP, I Thought of Numbers. From there he recruited additional members Tim Hoey, Mitchell Scott and Bennett Foddy (left group in mid-’04) in 2003 and released their debut LP, Bright Like Neon Love. Then in 2008 came the release of In Ghost Colours and the eventual acceptance from mainstream media. Anyways check out the video above and hear where the sounds of Cut Copy originated and after that, go and check out our interview that we did with them earlier this year in May, here.

Remember this blast from the past? The Jets were an 8 member band and all of them were related, all brothers and sisters. Actually my dad has 17 brothers and sisters, they should’ve definitely started their own super group. Anyways jumping back on topic the family band came from Minneapolis and rocked it through the ’80s with their Pop, R&B and Dance sounds. This was one of those bands that my mom listened to back in the day and the one song that really stuck with me was “Crush on You”, which came out in the mid-80s. The group had numerous hits that made to it to the charts between the mid to late ’80s, these include: “Crush On You”, “You Got It All”, “Cross My Broken Heart”, “Rocket 2 U” and “Make it Real”. The band released about 6 - 7 studio albums along with numerous Best Of’s.

Check out video above and reminisce about the first time you heard this.

This week’s Throwback Thursday, Force M.D.’s “Tender Love”. I haven’t heard this song in a minute, like literally YEARS, so when Alicia Keys played it the other night after “Diary”, I didn’t immediately recognize it. Initially I thought it was a Janet Jackson song and I wasn’t the only one, as a few people I talked to thought it was as well. But alas the mystery was solved and it was revealed that it was Force M.D.’s “Tender Love”.

So here’s some knowledge for you. The group, from Staten Island New York, originally formed in 1983 and were signed to Tommy Boy records a year later. The M.D.’s (stands for Musical Diversity) were a vital crew in the early history of street hip-hop and one of the first groups to fuse doo-wop influenced harmonies with hip-hop. They had a few hits here and there, but “Tender Love” was the first that hit top ten. It was in the movie Krush Groove (ahhh classic) and was penned by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which may have been the reason why I thought it was a Janet Jackson song as they produced some of her work as well. Songs that came to mind from Janet were “Again”, Let’s Wait Awhile” and “Everytime”, it’s the piano.

Anyways sit back and enjoy an oldie but goodie for the very first time again.

Fresh from the Common / N.E.R.D. concert, look for an upcoming review shortly, I heard a song that I haven’t heard in a minute. The artist Common, back then known as Common Sense, the song “I Used To Love H.E.R.”. The song was originally released back in 1994 on the album Resurrection and became one of Common’s most well known songs and produced by No I.D.

The song itself is well known as a bittersweet ode to hip-hop and uses crazy metaphors comparing a woman to hip-hop. H.E.R. stands for “Hip Hop in its Essence and Real”, but it has been thought that it could stand for “Hearing Every Rhyme”.

This song was also the catalyst in which a beef was sparked between Ice Cube and Common, as it criticized the direction that hip-hop music was taking in the mid 90’s and how it moved away from conscious and Afrocentric rap to a more grittier and violent lyrics. The beef between the two was short-lived as it was subsequently squashed in a sit-down with Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Check these lines:

I might’ve failed to mention that the shit was creative
But once the man got you well he altered the native
Told her if she got an energetic gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, shes universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs lickin rock and dressin hip
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city
Talkin about poppin glocks servin rocks and hittin switches
Now shes a gangsta rollin with gangsta bitches
Always smokin blunts and gettin drunk

The whole song is deep overall and you can find a lot of hidden meanings and possible jabs at other artists that were coming out during that time frame. But this song right here, is easily one of my favorites from the man now known as Common.

Yeah fuck it. I wanted to hear this song at the Toronto Virgin Festival and it didn’t happen, so I’ve been watching it via Youtube steez. The year was ‘96, can you believe it was 12 years ago that this came out on What’s The Story Morning Glory? Anyways this song has always had a place in my heart and definitely some teenage memories associated with this song. The track was written by Noel and sung by his brother Liam, like seriously, could Noel Gallagher be one of the illest song writers in our time? So yeah this is a great song and it kinda makes me want to cry, a full-grown ass man, breaking down in tears. Anyways enjoy.

Nu Shooz, an 80’s electronic dance group consisting of husband and wife duo John Smith and Valerie Day. The group has released a total of three albums in the U.S. during the 80’s but never really hit it big, except that is for this song. The song “I Can’t Wait” and “Point of No Return” are pretty much the only songs I know from them and I’m willing to bet it’s the only song most people know from this group. The song climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 and spent 15 weeks in the Top 40. Again this is one of those joints that my moms liked, which automatically made me like it. Anyways have a listen and let us know what you think.

Chilling in a steakhouse with a couple of my boys talkin’ shit and reminicing, when what do I hear coming out of the speakers, Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time”. F-U-C-K-I-N-G AMAZING! Here we are in this fancy steakhouse and out blasts this song, I had to stop the conversation and ask, “Is this Eddie Murphy?”. The song “Party All The Time” was recorded in 1985 and written as well as produced by Rick James and Kevin Johnston. The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and basically was the only hit off of the whole album, How Could It Be. The song holds the dubious honor of being ranked #7 in VH1’s list of “The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever”, and #8 in Blender magazine’s list of the “50 Worst Songs Ever”. Eddie Murphy’s vocals = ill, Rick James’ hair = amazing. Even though it resides on these lists, I still feel like people always have a special place in their heart for this song. Kind of a guilty pleasure I have to say, and that’s this week’s Throwback Thursday.

Ahhhhh…I heard this on my iPod the other day and totally forgot I even had this on there.The group, Exposé, the song, “Point of No Return”. Here’s an interesting fact, the song was originally released in 1985 with Alé as the lead singer, but in 1987 when Arista released their debut album, they had the group re-record the song again, as Alé and Sandeé had left the group to pursue solo careers. The picture you see on the main feature page and below is of the original group, not the reformed version.

Growing up I definitely had a lot of love for this genre of music, Freestyle, as my folks, mainly my mom would always play this kind of stuff. My dad on the hand exposed me to acts such as Bryan Adams, Meatloaf, Randy Travis and Dolly Parton.

Anyways the song reached number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play back in 1985. And that folks is this weeks Throwback Thursday.