History
All Things Must Pass (Trailer)
August 31, 2015
Some day someone will ask, “What’s a record store?” and no one will have an answer (other than ‘huh?’). That day is coming closer than ever… Has to, with the biggest artists only catering to the biggest outlets. Music sales being all online or mobile nowadays, that day will likely come and go with no real commemoration. Or maybe someone will recommend watching this “All Things Must Pass” film, looking into the rise and fall of super-fun, super-giant music store Tower Records. Check out the trailer above.
Posted in Film, History, Trailer, Videos | 
Tags: All Things Must Pass, Death of music store, Death of record store, Death of Tower Records, Music Business, music retailer, music store, Out of Business, record retailer, Record Store, Rise and Fall of Tower Records, Russ Solomon, Tower Records, Tower Records Out of Business | 
No Comments »
Hotel Clermont (Trailer) [NSFW]
August 28, 2015
The Clermont Hotel on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta closed in 2009. But those who know know the internationally known basement strip club is still up and running. This documentary trailer teases (get it) the full story of the counter culture establishment frequented by bands, true ballers and all kinds of folk throughout history. Not just talking about the club below, but the scoop on residents who rented rooms above. True ATL history here. Hit the pic above or the link below to watch the trailer, then wait with anticipation like the rest of us.
Had to give it the Not Safe For Work label due to some brief nudity… There is a strip club there after all, sooooo…
Posted in Film, History, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Atlanta, daily residence, historical landmark, hotel, Hotel Clermont, landmark, motel, motor hotel, Strip Club | No Comments »
R&B Legend “Marvin Gaye” Once Tried Out For The Detroit Lions (Video)
August 24, 2015
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: 1968 Detroit Lions standout (and eventual NFL Hall-Of-Famer) Lem Barney was out playing golf near R&B great Marvin Gaye’s house and was like ‘why not get his address and stop by and meet Marvin?’
No?
Well, we hadn’t heard of such either… or that Gaye (a sports fanatic as much as a Motown music phenom) had ambitions for the gridiron… until this ESPN segment. Wow! Watch above.
Posted in Celebrity, History, R&B, Soul, Sports, Television, Videos | Tags: Detroit Lions, Lem Barney, Marvin Gaye | No Comments »
Living Famously: Marvin Gaye (Documentary)
July 19, 2015
BBC docu-series ‘Living Famously’ gives a near-hour look at the life and legacy of the brilliant, gone-way-too-soon crooner Marvin Gaye. Enigmatic, tumultuous, mega-talented, tragic, soulful, sad… too many emotions and descriptors for the singer’s life and career. A view from all angles in this episode about one of the most influential musical and cultural figures of the 20th Century (arguably of all time).
Posted in Celebrity, Film, History, Series, Television, Videos | Tags: BBC, Living Famously, Marvin Gaye | No Comments »
L.A. to The Bay (Documentary)
July 14, 2015
Like most anything, folks who don’t know what they are looking at will miss some things. Case in point: Y’all know the West Coast is not just some monolithic thing, right?
(If not, just nod along like you do. We got you after the jump below.)
Check out this BET documentary released in the buildup for The BET Experience. It’s entitled “L.A. To The Bay” and provides a good overarching look at two major pockets of music and culture that make up Hip-Hop out there in Cali. Competitive rivalry to making inroads. Up-and-comers and industry vets (including DJ Quik, E-40, Nipsey Hu$$le, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Mustard, HBK Gang, Problem, Bad Lucc, Bobby Brackins). Heavy baselines, g-funk, 808s and storylines. Gangbanging and pimping. And more. Let’s get some Left Coast perspective, shall we? Hit the jump below and click play.
Posted in Film, Hip-Hop, History, Television, Videos | Tags: BET, BET Experience, Documentary, L.A. to The Bay, L.A. to The Bay Documentary, West Coast, West Coast Hip Hop | No Comments »
Woodlawn (Trailer)
June 29, 2015
Wow! Jon Voight, C. Thomas Howell, and Sean Astin show up to film what promises to be a movie that will give you chill bumps. The setting: Birmingham, Alabama. The set location: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.
That’s right. Hollywood star power comes to the Magic City to tell the true story of ‘Touchdown’ Tony Nathan (played by Caleb Castille, son of Alabama and NFL star player Jeremiah Castille). Watch the “Woodlawn” trailer tease the ups, downs, controversies, conquering and overcoming it took to get from the ‘Ham down the highway to play for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s (played by Voight) Alabama Crimson Tide… onto the field and onto the pages of history.
In theaters this October.
– @ojones1
Posted in Film, History, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Bear Bryant, C. Thomas Howell, Caleb Castille, Crimson Tide, Football, Jon Voight, Paul Bear Bryant, Sean Astin, The University of Alabama, Tony Nathan, Woodlawn | No Comments »
The Making of Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal†(Video)
June 26, 2015
Billed as a making of Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal” banger…but this is so much more! DJ Premier, Big Shug, Jadakiss and others weigh in on Preemo’s and Guru’s place and impact on Hip-Hop and urban music history. Spend your twenty minutes getting enriched by this!
Posted in Hip-Hop, History, Videos | Tags: Behind The Scenes, Gang Starr, Magnum Opus, making of, Mass Appeal | No Comments »
John Amos Discusses His Life, Career And The Story Behind The Death Of ‘James Evans’ (Video)
June 5, 2015
John Amos was Dad (aka James Evans) to a generation (way more if you count the re-runs). Here he talks about his upbringing and career; including, of course, details about and behind his all-too-short time on the network television dram-edy ‘Good Times.’ So much more in there, too. Compelling viewing. Got the entire interview embedded above.
Posted in Celebrity, History, Interview, Series, Television, Videos | Tags: Archive of American Television, Good Times, James Evans, John Amos | No Comments »
The Making of AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (Video)
June 4, 2015
More than two decades ago, fresh off walking off from The World’s Most Dangerous Group (NWA), Ice Cube goes all in with a coast-to-coast move to launch a solo career. Insiders did not think much of Cube’s chances, but man oh man did it work out! Twenty five years later, the man is a celebrated as a West Coast mainstay; and “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted,” celebrated as a timeless gangsta Hip-Hop classic. His story is history. Hear Cube tell it his way in this 3-parter. Start with Part 1 above (revealing how it all started for Cube on the East Coast move); the rest after the jump.
Blank On Blank: John Coltrane 1966 Interview (Video)
June 2, 2015
“I want to be the force which is truly for good.”
– John Coltrane in 1966, as told Frank Kofsky
Realness. Straight from November 1966. Frank Kofsky spending a day with the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, conversing as they rode about and made stops here and there in Huntington, New York. Coltrane had just turned 40. He would die from liver cancer less than a year later.
Coltrane talks about moving to the country, setting up to practice, connecting with the sound of an instrument, Malcolm X, music as means of expressing that state of society, and how he wanted to change the world.
– PBS Digital Studios
Enjoy the recorded conversation set to animation. Great stuff from PBS. Give thanks.
Posted in Animation, Celebrity, History, Series, Videos | Tags: Blank on Blank, Giant Steps, John Coltrane, PBS, PBS Digital Studios | No Comments »
Muscle Shoals (Trailer)
June 1, 2015
The world was coming to Muscle Shoals.
Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the “Singing River” as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, he brought black and white together in Alabama’s cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations. He is responsible for creating the “Muscle Shoals sound” and The Swampers, the house band at FAME that eventually left to start their own successful studio, known as Muscle Shoals Sound. Greg Allman, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals’ magnetism, mystery and why it remains influential today.
Even Alicia Keys? Yoooo! Stream it on Netflix or cop at the link below whenever you like.
Unsung: DeBarge (Video)
May 27, 2015
Before Michael Jackson split from his band of brothers, and for a while after, the music world (and the world at large) was constantly asking ‘Who would be the next Jackson 5?’ The answer at one time would have definitely been DeBarge. But right when they were right there as a family, something… a lot of things, actually… went terribly wrong. The large family from Grand Rapids (Michigan, USA) had it all in the 1980s – the looks, the sound, the fans, growing fame worldwide. But then things took a sadly familiar downturn that comes with having it all (way past enough). Industry and social pressures, addictions and more… caused them to lose the most important thing – each other. After that – the split – came bigger and harder losses.
A powerful Unsung on DeBarge (full episode above).
Bessie (Trailer)
May 17, 2015
HBO Films’ “Bessie,” focusing on legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, premiered Saturday, May 16 at 8PM EST. Check it out if you haven’t already. Incredible story starring some of our favorites – Queen Latifah, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Mike Epps. Movie soundtrack available on iTunes now.
Posted in Album, Film, History, Television, Videos | Tags: Bessie, Bessie Smith, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mike Epps, Queen Latifah | No Comments »
Dr. Boyce Watkins: “Bill O’Reilly Caters to American Racism” (Video)
May 8, 2015
Recently Dr. Boyce Watkins sat down with Vlad TV and he discussed Racism in America. More importantly he discussed how Bill O’Reilly caters to a certain audience in America. Dr. Watkins sheds light on the fact that a lot of what O’Reilly spews on the airwaves is what many Americans of the dominant culture feel but are afraid to say. People like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly make millions off of racist rhetoric and divisive lanuguage. Well I will let you listen to the Doc break it down much more eloquently.
Posted in History, Videos | Tags: Bill O'Reilly, DJ Vlad, Dr Boyce Watkins, FOX NEWS, Racism, Vlad, Vlad TV | No Comments »
“Resurrecting Black Wall Street” (Trailer)
May 8, 2015
The term “Black Wall Street” has been thrown around by a lot of rappers from time to time. The reality is the term Black Wall Street speaks to the amazing times of Black Prosperity in Tulsa Oklahoma in the 1920’s. The Greenwood neighborhood located in Tulsa had a number of Black doctors, dentists, bankers, and business owners. They spent money amongst themselves had their own bus companies and were doing better than most of the whites in Tulsa. It all came to a crashing bloody ending when false accusations were made regarding a white woman saying she was attacked by black men from the neighborhood. This led to the first time the US government bombed it’s own people yes you read that correctly the Feds dropped a bomb and destroyed the neighborhood. If you didn’t know the GAP Band is from Tulsa, OK one of their famous songs is “You dropped the Bomb on me” and you thought that was just talking about the ladies.
Well Your Black World Films has a documentary coming out detailing Black Wall Street and how we can make our modern day Black Wall Street. Check out the trailer and CLICK HEREÂ to Pre- order the movie!
Posted in History, Human Interest, News, Politics, Trailer, Videos, Vintage | Tags: Black Wall Street, BlackWallsTreet, Dr Boyce Watkins, Gap Band, OK, Resurrecting Black Wall Street, Tulsa, Your Black World | 1 Comment »
Flashback 1969: The Doors frontman ‘Jim Morrison’ Accurately Predicted The Future Of Music (Video)
April 27, 2015
Jim Morrison, legendary frontman of the classic rock band ‘The Doors’, prognosticates the direction of music’s evolution… from the year 1969 (partial transcript of the above video follows):
“I think the two basic types of music in this country are Black music — blues — and the kind of folk music that was brought over from Europe… Those are the two main streams of root American music…”
“But 10 years ago, what they called rock ’n roll was kind of a blending of those two forms. I guess in four or five years, the new generation’s music… It will have a synthesis of those two elements and some third thing that will be in — maybe it will be … it might rely heavily on electronics, tapes… I can kind of envision maybe one person with a lot of machines, tapes, and electronics set up, singing or speaking and using machines.” – Jim Morrison
.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON JIM MORRISON & THE DOORS BELOW…..
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Celebrity, Cover Story, History, Rock, Videos, Vintage | Tags: Classic Clips, Classic Rock, Jim Morrison, Prediction, Rock, Rock Legend, Rock Music, The Doors, The Future of Music, Van Morrison | No Comments »
Revolutions On Air: The Golden Era of New York Radio 1980 – 1988 (Documentary)
April 27, 2015
Get someone to share what they knew about New York City radio during the 1980s, and you are sure to hear mix show legends and DJs like Marley Marl and Kool DJ Red Alert. Yep, there’s that and so much more. But what if someone went and culled content from all the stories into one insightful narratives.
Well, Revolutions On Air is the story of Marley and Red, and the likes of Shep Pettibone, Tony Humphries, The Latin Rascals… innovators of the day that pushed emerging Hip-Hop, electro, house music and scenes. Radio listeners all over the city recorded what would become classic mixes via tape decks hooked into personal stereos. That’s the um… downloading… folks used to do back in the day, kids.
Check out Revolutions On Air, narrated by MC Lyte.
Posted in Hip-Hop, History, Videos | Tags: Golden Era, Golden Era Radio, MC Lyte, Revolutions On Air | No Comments »
Sports/History: Iron Mike Tyson On The ‘History Of Boxing’ (Documentary)
April 24, 2015
Excellent find by ‘Shadow & Act’ (respect)! The young Champ Iron Mike Tyson takes us on a documentary journey through boxing history; starting in the 1800s up through the early 1980s (his ‘up-and-coming’ time). Informative, enhanced by Mike’s commentary and insights, viewers are guaranteed to learn a good amount about the early history of the sweet science, the first televised fights, main events and controversial matches and more.
Posted in Celebrity, Film, History, Sports, Videos | Tags: Boxing, Boxing History, Iron Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson, pugilism, pugilist | No Comments »
Game Over: The Rise & Fall Of Atari (Documentary)
April 14, 2015
Dope! Holler all you want about your PlayStations, Xboxes, and whatevers, young’uns. Back back in the day, Atari was king! The console gaming system of the 1970s, game graphics on the set were low-grade – not even comparable to the video games in the arcades of the day
See kids, to play the hottest games out, like Pac-Man, you had to go to an arcade (a room full of big dedicated video game machines, aka a game room, probably in a mall or shopping strip). Through much of the 1980s you took quarters to the arcade, or a trip to a friend’s house to play video games (unless you were that friend with the game set-up). Hours of fun to be had sitting around a dinky TV, holding controllers with joysticks and “fire” buttons until your hands ached, and your legs cramped, and your eyes were a blur.
What ever happened to Atari systems though? New and more advanced home gaming came along for sure. But did you know there was a mass burial of Atari games – thousands upon thousands buried somewhere out Mexico way? Plenty more to the story – “Atari: Game Over” – and all you have to do is click play above for part 1 of it. Part 2 after the jump.
Posted in Gaming, History, Videos | Tags: Atari, Game Over, The Rise & Fall Of Atari, Video Games, video-gaming, videogaming | No Comments »
Classic Clips: Questlove Captures Recording Session With J Dilla, Common, & The Soulquarians (Video)
February 15, 2015
Check out this classic clip that Questlove of the legendary Roots crew unearthed recently in honor of J Dilla. It’s behind the scenes footage of the recording process for one of Common’s most talked about albums ‘Like Water For Chocolate.’ Crafting the soundscape for the project was J Dilla, James Poyser, & the rest of the Soulquarians who were recording it at the time. Check what Questlove had to say providing some interesting background history on the video, the process, & a few other little known facts…
“The Roots & Common were midway recording followup albums to their breakthrough Things Fall Apart & Like Water For Chocolate projects. two unapologetic “Neo Soul†joints. Having formed an unofficial collation sometime in 96, using the Native Tongue blueprint. The Soulquarians were born.
Posted in Hip-Hop, History, Jazz, Reggae, Videos | Tags: Classic Clips, common, J Dilla, JAMES POYSER, Questlove, Soulquarians | No Comments »
