Your Daily Song Fix

Lavoe blingin'

This is the first time audiences were introduced to Hector Lavoe on wax. Lavoe is a singing legend in Salsa music and he’s probably at his most ferocious throughout 1969’s Cosa Nuestra.  Lavoe’s voice pierces through Willie Colon’s busy arrangement and in doing so proves himself to be, El Sonero Mayor (loosely: the best singer).  Lavoe’s persona is an amalgam of Mick Jagger and Notorious B.I.G.  He had swagger to spare and proved it with technical prowess.  Enjoy.

SPN

You know the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin but The Flamin’ Groovies may have been crafting the most timeless music in San Francisco during the Age of Aquarius.  This song from 1970’s Flamingo hooks you immediately and pounds the rock fury home from beginning to end.  The guitar solo routinely makes a fool of me while I try the fingering in my car.

SPN

Happy Friday! It’s time to get pumped up for a great weekend. We are trying something new this week. Your Daily Song Fix will be bringing you three links that we find amazing or hilarious. We live and breathe the internet and technology so be sure to check out these links to hear about things that no one else delivers. Of course we will still be posting a song, so you’ll get your fix.

1. Please Rob Me is a hilarious but scary website that crawls Twitter to figure out when people tweet out that they won’t be home (giving you the optimal chance to rob them). The intentions are good – to raise awareness about what information you should not be sharing with the public.

2. Are you interested in starting your own business? Are you seeking information on a certain topic? Mixergy.com is where you want to be. In Andrew Warner’s words – “Imagine having a mix of experienced mentors teaching you their expertise. That’s my mission with Mixergy.com.” Andrew asks the best interview questions I have seen …it’s almost like he is reading your mind.

3. A funny Dave Chappelle and Martin Lawrence clip that most people haven’t seen:

And finally, enjoy your daily song fix!

I previously posted “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit and have another great one to share. “Little Secrets” is another great song off their album, Manners, released on 2009.

Here is some early punk funk from my man Taylor. This cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “If You Want Me To Stay” is from the album Freaky Styley, one of two albums with the true RHCP lineup before Hillel Slovak died of a drug overdose in 1988 (the other is The Uplift Mofo Party Plan). Freaky Styley was produced by George Clinton, principal architect of P-Funk, and features great jazz musicians Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker on horns. Flea (the bass player from RHCP) touted his jazz musician skills which most people probably never recognize by playing trumpet on this album.

This song was created by Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, the duo who signed to upstart underground hip hop label Rawkus Records in 1997. A lot of highly acclaimed music came out of Rawkus Records including the album Black Star by Mos Def & Talib Kweli, and the awesome hip hop compilations – Soundbombing, Soundbombing II, and Soundbombing III.

The Alem-Girma band was formed in Ethiopia by Alèmayehu Eshété and Girma Bèyènè in 1972. It only lasted until 1974 when Mengistu Haile Mariam, the most influential member of a Communist military junta, led a coup against Emperor Haile Selassie. Addis Ababa’s nightlife died off under the rule of this military junta known as the Derg. I actually got a chance to meet Alèmayehu Eshété about a year ago when he played a local Ethiopian restaurant in the DC/VA area (see picture below).

Alèmayehu Eshété and I

It’s always nice to be informed about awesome Soul artists that I haven’t heard before. Arthur Conley may have been really popular in 1967 for his hit song “Sweet Soul Music,” but I had not heard of him until today. I look forward to discovering more of his work.