GROOVE IS IN THE HEART

Do you remember the summer when you were a kid? It was the time when you got to finally see what you were missing out on all those hours you had been stuck in a classroom all day long doodling on book covers, binders, desks, chairs, etc. During my childhood summer time in Orange County I spent a lot of time at the water park Wild Rivers. You couldn't have spent ALL your time there so when I wasn't eating Airheads candy and sliding down plastic tubes I was sitting in front of the boob tube.

If you were a child of the 80's and even perhaps the late 70's then you probably remember having had a certain choice set of television programming every summer that went something like this: Classic Disney Cartoons, Loony Tunes, Inspector Gadget, The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Heathcliff, The Facts of Life, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Quantum Leap, Wings, Saved By The Bell, MTV (music videos... they used to just play music videos all day long), and MTV's The Grind. I'll stop right here at The Grind because that is what it would do to your day.

The Grind would put your TV watching day to a grinding halt. I'm not sure what the order of viewing shows was but I do remember that when The Grind was on there was NOTHING else to watch and it was the most retarded, boring, piece of crap programming EVER. The concept for this show was: Get a bunch of attractive people in their 20's to dress in their best club clothes or swimsuits or a hybrid of the two and have them dance until they had sweat beading up all over themselves. What were we supposed to do with this show? Clear away the coffee table in the living room and challenge these people to a dance off? There was no point to this show from what I can remember.

From what I can recall it seemed as if the people on the show were mostly people trying to make it as dancers in New York or wherever The Grind was being hosted at the time. They all seemed to have their own choreographed moves that were out of ballet school more than out of Napoleon Dynamite's ass (I hate that movie but can appreciate dancing like a 6 year old high on pixie sticks). In any case the dancing was boring and to match, the music was worse. They usually played the hip hop and R&B "jams" of the time but to me the jams have hardly ever been that interesting. Sure, now I appreciate Groove is in the Heart and other such late 80's/early 90's dance hits in an ironic hipster type of way, but back then they made me want to go slam my head in a door.

Lets jump forward though to 2007. The ironic scene kid hipster days if you will. With this ever growing scene shifting towards an embracement of electronic beats, synths, smash em ups and remixes of popular rock songs it seems as if a show filled with kids dancing is once again called for. Only this time it shouldn't be filled with the "jams" of the time that so happen to correspond with whatever 10 music videos are playing on TRL. Instead this dance show could be a venue for the hipster kids to hear their favorite smash or remix of that indie band they love so much. Who doesn't want to see kids dressed as french freedom fighters dancing to Le Tigre every afternoon? I know I'd actually volunteer to go on TV dressed up in some brightly colored vintage clothing and dance like I'm in a WHAM! video to the latest LCD Soundsystem track. So yeah... bring back The Grind except throw the word Grind out the window because no one wants to see people rub their crotches on other people's crotches on TV anymore. The Grind is over peeps. It's gross and it's not dancing. Instead we'll call it whatever DJ Steve Aoki Kid Millionare comes up with because most likely he'll be the resident DJ on the show. Perhaps Dance Your Pants Off with DJ Kid Millionare will work.

I GO DANCING IN, WE GO DANCING IN

Something hit me last week as I was driving on the 5 freeway. Usually when things hit me on the 5 they are tools that flew off some work truck, a loose bumper that fell off of the car in front of me, heavy duty cardboard boxes (all of which have really hit my car on the 5), but this time was different. I was hit by Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.

This monumental song of the 80's is a declaration of love or infatuation or maybe it was just lust that Peter was after. Look at lyrics such as "You could have a big dipper, Going up and down, all around the bends" and "You could have a steam train, If you'd just lay down your tracks" and the term sexual innuendo is evoked. Then there are statements such as "All you do is call me, I'll be anything you need", "I'm your sledgehammer, Let there be no doubt about it" and "This can be my testimony, I'm your sledgehammer." These lyrics suggest perhaps a more important statement is trying to be made than when that guy in Office Space talks about, "taking a ride on the ol' bone roller coaster." I'm thinking that being one's Sledgehammer (in addition to being a phallic symbol) is someone who will be strong for you. Someone who will always be there for you no matter what. In the song Peter wants to testify that kind of commitment he is willing to make by declaring he wants to be the sledgehammer in that person's life.

What I'm getting to here is that what struck me about the song is that it would be a rad "OUR SONG." When I say "our song" I mean like when a couple has a specific song that holds meaning to their relationship over all other songs. I think in most cases an "our song" is usually something a little less horn crazy and filled with wacky lyrics and if there is a music video for it, it usually is not... well it is no "Sledgehammer" video. That video is in the top 10 videos of all time on a lot of lists for good reason. Why not have an "our song" that has a rad video that supposedly is the most played video on MTV ever. Instead of having to watch the latest romantic comedy to play Louis Armstrong over end credits to hear your song; with "Sledgehammer" you get to dress up in your hottest duds and head on over to the local club/bar that plays dance hits of the 80's or tune into Jack FM or something equivalent to that probably plays that song once an hour.

I can understand if this doesn't make sense for you, the many many masses who read what I write, but it makes sense for me. If I'm ever involved in a meaningful relationship again I hope that Yesica and I will be able to be filled with love whilst dancing like retards and lip synching to Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.

HOLLYWOOD BROWN

I've been called Hollywood Brown by various friends and family over the years but never will it be more true than today when I move into my new home (rental) in Hollywood, CA. I'll be living Mid Wood if you will off of Santa Monica Blvd. Hopefully I'll be able to get a tasty new job in the biz and I'll be going to more hapening events and whatnot that will provide some more interesting reading for those of you who read this thing. Watch out Cory Kennedy... Hollywood Brown is coming to town.

Here is a pretty lame video someone made about Hollywood but it pretty much does the trick. Could be a crack head...

SUPAH BOHL PATTY

The Man's Flickr account has been updated with Super Bowl Party 2K7 photos. I've also posted a gallery of photos taken at my Grandfather's birthday brunch which took place the morning of Super Bowl Sunday.

THAT BRIT IS QUITE FIT

If you were like me this past Saturday night then you may have caught the latest episode of SNL and also the latest performance by myspace sensation brit pop singer Lily Allen. If you were not like me then here's a link to one of Lily's performances on the show. That episode of SNL was probably the first one I'd watched in at least a year and the whole reason for watching was to see Lily perform. I've been a fan of hers for a while now. Before the album came out all you could do to listen to her music was click a few tracks on myspace or do what I did and leave her website up and listen to a bunch of tracks play in a flash player. I wanted her album so bad I tried to download it off of the iTunes UK store and when it wouldn't let me I downloaded it off of some crappy English site that charged me in pounds and the files didn't even work on my computer. They were not Mac compatible and I failed to read the fine print in my frenzy to download Lily. Flash forward in time to this past Saturday now and look up nervous, tense and reserved in the dictionary and you will see that clip of Lily performing on SNL. She hasn't been performing live for even a year and I guess being on SNL shook her a bit. Despite her reserved behavior on stage I enjoyed the SNL performance. It had the feel of an elementary school talent show and you're rooting for your little sister. While this was ok for two TV performances but I felt a little weary about seeing her perform live just two days later at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood.

Of course I still went to the show in Hollywood and boy was I glad. My doubts were turned upside down by the lively and talented Lily Allen. Her back up band was awesome and her stage presence bounced all over and filled the Henry Fonda (which is one of the larger venues in LA), unlike on SNL where it stood there and teetered back and forth. The crowd was super hyped over her which is something I didn't expect. I didn't know so many people in the states were into little British girls singing songs about being pissed off at their ex boyfriend and sticking it to the man. During the show she remarked that they had been to 3 continents in something like a week and that they were all a little out of it. Maybe being a little out of it is what she needed to be because in just 3 days she went from stage fright to stage veteran having every person in the room hanging on her every word.

So yeah... you're pretty alright Lily... pretty alright.

If you're in the LA area and want to see her perform she will be at day 3 of Coachella.

If you're in London and you get the chance to see her perform I highly recommend it...Who would want to miss a chance to be there for this?