The theme was Songs That Make Ya Wanna Move Yo Ass on this week's Culture Brats Radio. In case you missed it or just want to reminisce, here's the playlist:
SIDE A
B.o.B. and Rivers Cuomo, "Magic"
Mika, "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"
Eazy-E, "Gimmie That Nutt"
Big Audio Dynamite, "Rush"
Erasure, "A Little Respect"
Goldfrapp, "Alive"
MGMT, "Time To Pretend"
LCD Soundsystem, "Drunk Girls"
Scissor Sisters, "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"
Hot Chip, "Ready For The Floor"
Shiny Toy Guns, "Le Disko"
SIDE B
Janelle Monae, "Tightrope"
La Roux, "Bulletproof"
LMFAO, "Yes"
Groove Armada, "I See You Baby"
Duffy, "Mercy"
Robyn, "Dancing On My Own"
Happy Mondays, "Step On"
Fatboy Slim, "Weapon Of Choice"
Metro Station, "Shake It"
Grum, "Can't Shake This Feeling"
Beyonce and Jay-Z, "Crazy In Love"
Thanks to everyone who came out and requested songs. If you'd like to catch future shows, follow us on Twitter.
Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when a Motley Crue song was used in a commercial. Ok. Maybe "Girls, Girls, Girls" could be used in a dead stripper episode of CSI: Las Vegas or something.
But here's Motley Crue's classic power ballad "Home Sweet Home" being used to peddle Yahoo!
(I'm really shocked they didn't use the insipid Carrie Underwood version of the tune.)
8:30 PM Rumor has it Jay-Z will be the opening act on tonight's LeBronathon. Play 99 Problems, big guy!
8:56 PM Are you excited? We're only four minutes away from LeBron's one-man variety show on ESPN.
9:00 PM Wait! The Decision doesn't have its own theme song?
9:01 PM Was that James Earl Jones doing the voiceover intro to The Decision?
9:01 PM Will there be vampires on The Decision?
9:02 PM Ok. It's 9:02 PM. Where's LeBron? Typical rockstar.
9:04 PM What the hell? That dude's sportscoat went from jade green to maroon? We have magic on The Decision!
9:14 PM Cool! They're showing LeBron in different uniforms on The Decision!
9:16 PM Waiting for Jon Barry's magical suit to change colors again on The Decision.
9:18 PM Why is LeBron James sitting in a giant chair on The Decision?
9:21 PM It's 9:21. When do we get to hear LeBron's decision on The Decision?
9:24 PM RT @lovehatesociety: Breaking news from ESPN: LeBron James has made his choice. He's gonna keep the baby. Whooooaaaa, he's gonna keep the baby.
9:28 PM It's time for The Decision on The Decision.
9:28 PM Heard on The Decision: Major factor? "The best opportunity for me to win." Goodbye, Cleveland!
Great news guys: our obsession with vampires is nearing an end! How do I know? Because Hollywood's releasing the vampire spoof, Vampires Suck, on August 18th. The film is written and directed by the same dynamic duo who gave us Date Movie, Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, Scary Movie 3, and Scary Movie 4.
We all know that by the time Hollywood gets around to spoofing a genre, that genre is officially on its last legs. Hurrah!
Now can someone in Hollywood get to work on a Betty White spoof? Thanks!
LINK | Posted by the weirdgirl on Thursday, July 08, 2010
Remember Hungry Hungry Hippos? Those spectacular plastic hippos who were so very, very hungry that you just ached to bring them home and feed them? Oh the desire, the lust, for your very own hippopotami! It was practically a child's rite of passage to whine, beg, and plead until you obtained them, in the grand spirit of marble-eating American consumerism.
Well, those hippos have names, you know. They're not just anonymous, abstract possessions to be displayed as a trophy (like those vague seal pup posters that were supposed to fund something-or-other rescue... oh who cares? they were cute)... those hippos have names! And those names are Lizzie (purple), Homer (green), Henry (orange), and Harry (yellow).
Or they were until poor Lizzie was replaced by a younger, perkier, pink hippo named Happy. (Typical.)
But wait! You say the hippos have been dumped once again? The beloved hippos of yesteryear have been replaced? Yes, in 2009 Hasbro introduced their latest assortment of voracious Hippos, all in pastel. Bottomless Potamus (yellow), Picky Potamus (orange), Veggie Potamus (green (duh)), and Sweetie Potamus (pink).
I am a little confused at the subliminal messaging here, given the names. Are the makers of the game trying to promote healthy eating? Is this a comment on the changing trends about diet and health? Or are they picking on eating disorders and alternate diet lifestyles?
Things were so much easier when it was just all about consumption.
LINK | Posted by Chris on Wednesday, July 07, 2010
I'm sure by now everyone has already seen the following, but if not, here ya go:
[Prince] explains that he decided [20Ten] will be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There'll be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his ongoing battles against internet abuses.
Unlike most other rock stars, he has banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and has even closed down his own official website.
He says: "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.
The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.
They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
If you take a look around the web, you'll see that everyone's up in arms over this interview. "Prince is over." "Who's Prince?" "He sounds like a cranky old man."
Truthfully, Prince's thoughts on the Internet should not come as a surprise to anyone. Since the '90s, Prince has taken great strides to make sure he was paid fairly (or what he deemed fairly paid) for his work. The man legally changed his name to get out of a record contract. So it really shouldn't be that big of a shock that since he feels he doesn't receive enough money from iTunes and YouTube, his new album won't be available there.
Sadly, though, I see this whole thing spiraling out of control as the years pass, with Prince become more and more of a technophobe until he tours the nation in a purple VW bus (or possibly a Little Red Corvette), setting up displays at flea markets, and selling his music directly to the consumer via cassette.
I hope I'm wrong. And I hope you're able to get your next album into your fans' hands, Prince. Legally and profitably.
LINK | Posted by Culture Brats on Tuesday, July 06, 2010
We put our heads together and came up with our 6 favorite Schoolhouse Rock! shorts. Enjoy!
6. "The Preamble" Good ol' Schoolhouse Rock! As a kid, I watched them all. As I mindlessly sat in front on the TV, I had no idea I was learning. None.
Fast forward about 20 years from my pig-tailed days of mindlessly singing the words to "The Preamble"... to my own classroom. I was teaching secondary U.S. History, and found the bland words of The Preamble made my students' minds go numb. I decided to take a risk. I introduced 20-year-old music and 20-year-old programming to over sixty 16-18 year-olds. I was desperate. They were desperate.
So I wrote my lesson plan and reserved a TV at the school office. The rest, shall we say... is history. Be it 1976 or 1996, "The Preamble" by Schoolhouse Rock! rocked. I wish I'd had a video camera back then... to see my classroom of teens swaying back and forth... singing "The Preamble." I was amazed. They ALL got sucked in. That song, it is drug-like. Just as I sat in front of my TV as a child -- I had no idea I was learning, and as those kids sat in my classroom back in 1996, neither did they. Awesome. --Jennyonthespot
5. "Three Is A Magic Number" 1973 was a year on fire for me.
I was doing half days at nursery school and bossing all the kids around because my mom owned the place AND my TV viewing was still at a record high. Mr. Rogers, The Electric Company, Sesame Street, and, of course, the Schoolhouse Rock! series.
"Three Is A Magic Number" was one of my favorites for a really strange reason: I used to love the Mom and Dad with their ONE baby that made three. In my warped, spoiled, and selfish mind, three was the perfect number for a family when the only child was a horrible brat who wanted it all. Eventually this kid would grow up to become a shameless attention whore who had to have everything HER way, but that’s another story entirely.
I spent my youth laboring under the delusion that Paul Simon sung this ditty and when I got older was able to appreciate the fact that things that come in threes are pretty significant. The ancient mystic trinity. The past, present, and future. Heart, brain, and body. The list goes on and on. --Dufmanno
4. "I'm Just A Bill" Grammar and math are difficult. But try to explain politics to kids. Most adults can't even figure it out. But that's the genius of "I'm Just A Bill." In just over three minutes, the whole process of how a bill becomes a law is explained without cynicism and with one incredibly catchy song. As a kid, I didn't even realize the lesson I had learned until a middle school civics class where I said, "Oh yeah! I KNOW this already!!" That is the power of Schoolhouse Rock!. Because you are probably humming "I'm Just a Bill" to yourself right now, it earns the #4 spot on our list. --Daddy Geek Boy
3. "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" Ah, the memories! It was sometime in the early '90s. I was taking my 4th or 5th Spanish class (I lost track after that first F). This one was a college level course, and hopefully the last course. Despite being half-Hispanic and having several immediate family members who are fluently bilingual, I just don't seem to have an affinity for the language in an academic setting. Or a real-life setting. However, I was always damn good at grammar, regardless of the language, and Schoolhouse Rock! always held a fond place in my heart because of that. I remember clearly the day I was hit with a quiz on adverbial clauses. Spanish adverbial clauses! (Which, if you were wondering, means they can dance a smart flamenco.) We had to underline the part of the sentence that was the clause. In Spanish. I had a brief moment of panic, considering I kept mixing up all those 'Q' words (que, quien, what?), and then I remembered, "How, where, or when... condition or reason... these questions are answered... when you use an ADVERB!" Yes, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly" saved my ass that day. And it probably saved a few other butts as well, since I started humming it in the middle of the test. You're welcome. --The Weirdgirl
2. "Interjections!" While I'd love to tell you this song had a major influence on my life because I learned something from it, that would be an out-and-out lie. The reason this song and, more importantly, the video has stuck with me through the years is because this was my first experience with televised nudity. I believe "Interjections!" was the catalyst for my lifelong love of porn.
Ok. I'm just kidding. The reason I loved this song so much is because the girl said, "Darn!" at the end which, to my five-year-old ears, sounded a lot like a word I wasn't allowed to say, but was still close enough to make it cool.
Ok. Kidding again. The song kicked ass, you couldn't help but sing along to it, and it encouraged yelling. But between the "Drat!" and the nudity, you half expected to see a kid smoking in the short.
1. "Conjunction Junction" I honestly don't remember the first time I saw "Conjunction Junction" but the song's been with me so long that it feels like I was born knowing the song. I'm not really sure why, but in my mind, "Conjunction Junction" is the quintessential Schoolhouse Rock! song. The catchy jazzy riff gets stuck in your head and it's fun to sing - and everyone on earth seems to know it.
I did a play several years ago with an off-beat theatre company - the show was Speed Racer and the Superfriends. One of my projects for the show was to set up a playlist of music for the preshow (the idle time when the audience is filing in, getting seated, sitting around and waiting for the show to start). We wanted to make the preshow music Saturday morning cartoon themes to get people in the mood for the main event. We were tossing around some ideas of cartoon theme songs when someone mentioned that we should break up the cartoon songs with Schoolhouse Rock! songs like they used to do on TV in the '80s. And as soon as Schoolhouse Rock! was mentioned, we all broke out into "Conjunction Junction, what's your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses!" It was kind of amazing since the group ranged in age from 18-40+. Musical grammar lessons, bringing people together since 1973! --Archphoenix
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We showed you ours, now show us yours! What are your favorite Schoolhouse Rock! shorts? Let us know in the comments!
Culture Brats is intelligent, witty, and insightful commentary on pop culture from the '80s to today. The children of the '80s are reclaiming pop culture!
The theme was Songs That Make Ya Wanna Move Yo Ass on this week's Culture Brats Radio. In case you missed it or just want to reminisce, here's the playlist:
[Prince] explains that he decided [
