Fats Waller was born in New York City in 1904, when he was fifteen he became the house piano player at Harlem's Lincoln Theatre. Waller recorded the song This Joint Is Jumping in 1937 with his backup band Rhythm. The song tells a story about a Harlem tradition of the 1930's called a "rent party". To help pay their rent, people would hire musicians and throw a party at their apartment - everyone would pay a quarter at the door to get in. "Come in, cats, and check your hats. I mean this joint is jumping." The song was featured in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' - a musical based on Waller's life.
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In 1977, Marvin Gaye originally released Got To Give It Up as a 12-minute long song featured on the final side of his live double-album Marvin Gaye Live At The London Palladium. Gaye wrote the song after giving in to pressure from producer Art Stewart to create dancefloor-friendly music for the increasingly popular discos. Gaye had originally criticized disco music, and vowed to never record it. The song was originally titled Dancing Lady, and it was intended to be a parody song, responding to Johnnie Taylor's Disco Lady. The song's original recording session in 1976 features Frankie Beverly from Maze on percussion, and Gaye's brother and future second wife on background vocals. The song also features various unusual sounds in the background, including the sound of Gaye's friends and family talking to one another to give the feeling of being at a party. The song inspired and influenced Michael Jackson, who was struggling to produce a hit record in 1978. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough and Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground), recorded the same year, both used elements taken from Gaye's Got To Give It Up - including lyric bits, musical structure and vocal chatter in the background.
Jamaican reggae group Inner Circle formed in 1968 as The Inner Circle Band. The band's original singer, William "Bunny Rugs" Clarke, quit the band in 1973 to move to New York City. Later that year the band split in two, with Stephen "Cat" Coore (who was 12 when Inner Circle formed), Michael Cooper and Milton "Prilly" Hamilton leaving to form Third World. It wasn't long before drummer William Stewart also quit Inner Circle to join with Third World. Later, in 1976, Clarke (who had already left Inner Circle) joined with Third World too, as the lead singer. Also in 1976, singer Jacob Miller took over as lead vocalist for Inner Circle - replacing singer Funky Brown. Inner Circle had their most successful period with Miller on vocals, becoming a hugely popular live act in Jamaica. At the time, Bob Marley was the only singer more popular in Jamaica. In 1978, Inner Circle was featured in the movie Rockers, playing the house band in a hotel. The soundtrack features two Inner Circle songs, including We A Rockers as the opening track. In 1980, Miller died in a car crash and was replaced (temporarily) by Norman Grant from The Twinkle Brothers. In 1989, German music group Snap! (at the time known as World Party) released their third single - The Power. The song was created out of several uncleared samples. The beats were taken from King Of Beats Lesson #1 by Mantronix, and the vocals were sampled from Let The Words Flow by rapper Chill Rob-G and from Love's Gonna Get You from Jocelyn Brown. After the song had become an instant hit in Europe and America, Arista Records began working to clear the samples to enable a US release. After the samples were cleared the decision was made to re-record the track. The US single was released with the rap recorded by Turbo B, and the vocals recorded by Penny Ford. Throughout 1990, Joeclyn Brown's "I Got The Power" hook was prominently played on radio and in clubs. The same year her Love's Gonna Get You vocals were also sampled on another major club hit - Bizarre Inc's I'm Gonna Get You sampled the line "why waste your time, you know your gonna be mine." (hear Brown HERE) 2Pac originally recorded Changes in 1992, a remixed version of the song was released in 1998 - over a year after the rapper/songwriter's death. The song addresses the struggles of life in the ghetto, and the treatment of black people by police. The song is based on That's The Way It Is - a 1986 hit by Bruce Hornsby & The Range. Hornsby's song (view HERE) addresses a lot of the same issues - the divide between rich and poor, racial segregation and civil rights. The 2Pac song - one of his most popular - pieces together elements from several different songs. The Hornsby chorus is re-sung by singer Talent, and some of the Change's lyrics are re-used from I Wonder If Heaven Has A Ghetto - a song 2Pac recorded the same year. 2Pac also used lyrics that were taken from unreleased songs of his - many of which have been released since his death. Surprisingly, Changes appeared on the playlist of the Vatican's official MySpace music page. |
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