Michael Fassbender

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of X-Men: First Class and the star of the show was Michael Fassbender as Magneto.   

I respect Ian McKellan’s acting and was happy to see him in the role of Magneto opposite Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier. As an older man and actor, he brought a certain majesty to his Magneto and I appreciated that.

Fassbender's brilliant portrayal of Magneto nearly matches the menace of Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter. I had not heard of Fassbender before but I’m curious to know if he was as good in his other movies as he was in First Class. He brought to the screen the danger that I imagined of the Magneto character and I winced with every scene.

 

Michael Fassbender's performance inspired me to take to my blog and write about him and Magneto. 

I haven’t been this interested in an actor or his work since Edward Norton’s Primal Fear. I’m curious to see Fassbender’s other films to see what else he has done or is capable of doing on screen.

Fassbender was in as many as four films in 2011 and I was hoping he would be nominated for one in particular called Shame.  I wanted to see it in the theatre but couldn’t get around to it.

A trip to my local video store a few months ago showed me that there were others that wanted to see Fassbender's films. All copies of Shame were rented the day I stepped in there.

I went to the video again the following week and picked up the lone copy on the shelf that was waiting for me. After watching the film, I can understand why he wasn't nominated. The role and subject matter were a little too uncompromising and I believe that may have hurt Fassbender's chances.

The summer blockbuster Prometheus has an all-star cast but Fassbender once again is surely the most intriguing of the actors.  I'll be sure to see that one as well.

Marvin Gaye: The Real Thing - In Performance 1964-1981

When Sam The Record Man in Toronto was closing, I browsed the store for longer than my peeps waiting for me could have liked or tolerated. 

To my delight, I picked up a DVD collection of his performances. 

Although I already had Anthology, my knowledge of Marvin’s music was somewhat limited to select 1960s songs.



The DVD opened me up to You’re A Wonderful One. The song is quite possibly my favorite of Marvin’s solo 1960s songs. 

I liked the song so much that I added it to a show playlist dedicated to my god-daughter.

Marvin Gaye

 

Marvin Gaye’s death is among the most tragic of all the celebrity deaths of the last 50 years.  



I was too young to understand the magnitude of his death on music history but was instinctively aware he was important and that he will be missed deeply. It would take me about 15 years to understand what a loss we suffered that April of 1984.

I saw his name on old 7” singles while growing up and distinctly remembered Sexual Healing was a huge hit in the summer of 1982.

If What’s Going On is Marvin’s socio-political, spiritual masterpiece, Let’s Get It On is Marvin’s celebration of sex. What a talent to respectively produce music dealing with the cerebral and carnal elements of humanity.

My consciousness of Marvin’s music pretty much stopped at Let’s Get It On. I never heard Trouble Man except for the single. I’m not too familiar with I Want You but I love the song almost as much as the late Robert Palmer must have. I owned the Marvin Gaye live album containing all 11 minutes of the great Got to Give It Up. I heard Here, My Dear once years ago and understand the story behind that album. A copy crossed my crate digging or purchasing path. I have Midnight Love twice somewhere in my collection.



The first week of April marks Marvin’s anniversary because he died close to his birthday.

In the immortal words of Diana Ross, we are missing you Marvin.

History repeated itself because I filled in for WeFunk just before the 2013 holiday season began in November.

To hear what I did as fill-in host, click play on the Cloudcasts below.

DJ Solespin - WeFunk (November 2013) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Illusion

I've heard it said that a reader doesn't choose a book, a book chooses a reader. In my case, I'm talking about vinyl albums and not books.

I went to the modern equivalent of Canada's Wonderland for record collectors, the Montreal Record Convention one year. 

I always enjoy record conventions. There is always the element of surprise as to what records, CDs & magazines you can find and whether you'll be able to afford them. I was picking through crates of records priced at $3 each and came across the album cover photo you see below.

To understand why I'm writing about this album is to understand that these five gentlemen represent a look I consider to be the epitome of classic rock. The hair is long and wild. The clothes are funky and I would dare say interchangeable among the band members. They are posing in a graveyard which is already curious and unusual. From the moment I saw the cover, I was sold. What also sold me was the band name. I love great band names and I like The Illusion. I figured there would be some great psychedelic rock on it without having heard one song.

I bought a K-Tel/Ronco compilation record with an Illusion song on it but never heard it. As I found the album and put the faces to the band name, I was undoubtedly going home with the record.

I sampled the first side of the album and was barely impressed with that I heard. I didn't flip the side for fear I'd be totally let down. I grabbed the K-Tel/Ronco record to make sure The Illusion hit song was on The Illusion album I bought. It was thankfully the last song on the second side.

I immediately played Together and loved it. I have yet to hear the other tracks on the second side and maybe with subsequent listens will come to like the album as much as I do Together.

In retrospect, I am blogging more about the song Together by The Illusion rather than the album by The Illusion. We never know what can inspire us to do anything but maybe if we followed the song's theme, the world can be a better place.

Please make yourself familiar with the link below for more.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com
 
Below is a playlist to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

Playlist:

1. Dave Cortez & The Moon People – Happy Soul (w/a Hook)
2. Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm – Funky Mule
3. Bo Diddley ‎– The Shape I'm In
4. Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter
5. Harmonica Paul ‎– Motherless Child
6. Ramsey Lewis ‎– Mighty Quinn
7. Lonnie Mack - Memphis
8. The George Benson Quartet ‎– Benson's Rider
9. Clarence Carter - Snatching It Back
10. James Brown ‎– Nose Job
11. Five Stairsteps & Cubie ‎– We Must Be In Love
12. David McCallum - The Edge
13. Dyke & The Blazers ‎– You Are My Sunshine
14. Otis Redding - You Left The Water Running
15. Johnnie Taylor - Love Bones
16. The Staples Singers - If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)
17. Wilson Pickett - Take That Pollution Out Your Throat
18. Robert Palmer - Pressure Drop
19. Ken Boothe - My Love
20. Gwen McCrae - 90% Of Me Is You
21. The Illusion - Together
22. Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky
23. Patrice Rushen - Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up
24. Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man
25. Buddy Miles - Down By The River
26. Donovan - Season Of The Witch
27. Gary Bartz NTU Troop - Celestial Blues 

Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On (1971)

What’s Going On is one of the most important albums ever recorded and is the most important album in soul music history. 


Marvin Gaye Whats Going On from SeDivine Eye on Vimeo.

Only Stevie Wonder’s early 1970s classic albums and Michael Jackson’s juggernaut Thriller enter the discussion as contenders for soul album of all-time.

A-Trak

I had the privilege of attending the Igloofest kickoff with A-Trak among the night's headliners.

The lesson was learned on the night of my first Igloofest to dress extremely warm. I wore my warmest winter coat, a tradition I would follow up to this day.

A-Trak was already on the stage by the time I finally made it to join the large partying crowd.



I was lucky to have found a copy of Sunglasses is a Must, the comprehensive and entertaining look into A-Trak’s rise to prominence. It is interesting to note his transition from hip hop DJ dynamo to dancefloor groove director. Although my transition mirrors his by my incorporating electronic music in my repertoire, I knew next to none of A-Trak’s set with the exception of two songs.



I was caught up in taking photos and watching the youthful crowd dance around me for most of my time at Igloofest but was not that pre-occupied to wonder when Barbra Streisand was going to drop. The answer arrived at the end of A-Trak’s set when he brought the song in. I was very happy to hear it as was the crowd swarming me.



I thank the good people of Igloofest for putting together the best and only reasons to party in the Montreal winter cold.

Bonobo - Black Sands (2010)

Black Sands represents an album done right. 

If I were able to do so, I would frame a vinyl copy of Bonobo's Black Sands and hang it on the wall. The only problem with that is not being able to play the album unless I had another copy. 



At present, I have neither a vinyl copy of the album or frame to speak of. At least I made my point about how I feel about the album.

I love Kong, Eyesdown and any other track featuring Andreya Triana.

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

I saw the name Marvin Gaye on old 7” singles while growing up and distinctly remembered Sexual Healing was a huge hit in the summer of 1982. 

As I was exploring the late 1960s/early 1970s sounds, I did some research on Marvin Gaye’s music and history.



The duets with Tammi Terrell were the most magical. They looked and sounded perfect for each other. Because their timeless chemistry is still felt and perceived to this day, it is very easy to romanticize their recordings and one can only imagine them as the Romeo & Juliet of Motown Records. 

They were probably marketed as such but it is not a far stretch of the imagination to see them as lovebirds making music for lovebirds. Terrell dying in Gaye’s arms while on stage could on hand invite comparisons of Romeo & Juliet but it was responsible for Marvin Gaye creating his own masterpiece, What's Going On, which could be considered the musical equivalent of Shakespeare’s great literary works.

Labelle

I was told not too long ago that Labelle’s Lady Marmalade was the #1 single on Billboard’s chart during the week of my birth.

A little research on my part confirmed that fact and explained why I gravitate towards Labelle the way I do.

Nightbirds and Phoenix are easy enough finds.

What I aimed for was their album with the cover version of Cat Stevens’ Moonshadow.  I first heard their rendition on a Mastercuts compilation and was blown away.  That discovery was again made during my initial days of branching out from the more obvious and accessible funk and soul tracks.  

To my knowledge, their version of Moonshadow can be found on their album from 1972. I found that album reissue a few years ago. It was the most expensive of all my Labelle albums

Bonobo

I was a bit surprised, but still thrilled, to hear Bonobo's Black Sands was getting remix treatment at the time.

My logic was that if the magic of the original Black Sands repeats on the Remixed album, the remix album could also make its way onto future playlists of my former radio show.

I remember going nuts and straight to Twittter when Andy Williams played Kong on a late 2012 broadcast of The Goods.

I wanted to see Bonobo & Andreya Triana live at Le National when they were last in Montreal but it didn’t happen.  I just got re-acquainted with this earlier work and waited patiently until my next opportunity.



In addition to Bonobo's most recent album called The North Borders, his Late Night Tales compilation was released late in November 2013.

Bonobo performed at Metropolis for the 2014 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross

His album with Diana Ross intrigues me because the two Aries artists were paired for one album. I’m curious to know about their dynamic while working together.

I presume their respect for each other was mutual because she recorded a song dedicated to him after his death and from what I’ve learned, he vowed to never record with another female after the death of Tammi Terrell.  

Knowing that Marvin was a stubborn kind of fellow it would only have been a female artist of the caliber of Diana Ross for him to reconsider his position against future female collaborations.

Rod Stewart & Faces

I learned that when Rod Stewart and Ron Wood left The Jeff Beck Group, they joined the members of The Small Faces.

I knew Rod sang the vocals on Stay With Me but then realized that Faces had albums as well. 

That meant I had more 1970s Rod Stewart music to check out!

I'm still amazed at how Rod Stewart's Mercury Records music was apparently more popular than his Faces songs. Stay With Me was their biggest hit and it was not even a Top 10 single from what my research told me.

Luckily we are in an Internet era and I was able to compile my own Good Boys... When They're Asleep compilation. 

I played it so much that I eventually decided a CD-R does none of the music justice. I sprang for the imported Rhino CD at HMV. There were vintage photos and chart information to keep me happy.

While at Chapters, I discovered there is a book about Faces and might pick it up.

The Small Faces/Faces were announced as Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

I couldn't be more ecstatic about that news.

Teddy Pendergrass

Eddie Murphy’s impression of Teddy Pendergrass in Delirious or Comedian was my first introduction to what I could expect from the legendary Philly soul recording artist.

I was a boy at the time of Teddy Pendergrass’ heyday. Who Harold Melvin was or that his notes were blue were details that I had little time or interest.

It would take my late 20s to have a vested interest in those details. Audio Architech placed the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ Black & Blue album in my hands very early upon our meeting each other.  That ignited my interest in the Philly Soul sound. 

During one of my pilgrimages to Mecca, I bought a vinyl copy of the album below minus the album cover just so I could have their version of Don't Leave Me This Way. 



I would go on to pick up a number of Teddy Pendergrass albums that crossed my path over the years.



As the knockout punch, here's one of my personal favorite of his hits.

RIP Teddy P