Saturday, March 20, 2010

13 Songs A Day...Issue #010

It's a theme list this time.......all old school hip hop/r&b

#13 Is Money B and DJ Fuze from Digital Underground with 1991's "Throw your hands in the air"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SupclQgmkgQ


#12 No Face featuring Ed Lover with their 1990 smash, taking off on an Eddie Murphy comedy bit from his video concert Raw, "Half"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73VBuAqx_rw

#11 is female teen duo from 1989, it's Miami's L'Trimm and "Cars that go boom"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRVDJzqD64&feature=related

#10 is from the 1993 film, CB4, it is New Jersey's own PM Dawn with "The nocturnal is in the house"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrj2mYPW1o

#9 is the debut smash from Atlanta's Outkast, 1994's "Player's ball"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YBFYZxu2dw


#8 is from 1995, it i's from Tha Dogg Pound's first album, "Dogg food" and it is "Let's play house"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9yypsIW_Q


#7 Rap pioneers Whodini are up next with a track from their 1991 album "Bag o trix", this is "Freaks"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxCgftUsz0

#6 is the 1992 club jam by ALT & Lost Civilization, this is his rap version of "Tequila"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881kh2JsOFo&feature=related


#5 comes from the 1993 classic soundtrack to Menace II Society. This is DJ Quik with "Can't fuck wit a ni**a"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F4PbKiI9Yo

#4 is South Central R&B gangsters DRS, with "Mama didn't raise no punk"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3xgOS5hp4U

#3 is a classic from Brand Nubian, 1993's "Punks jump up to get beat down"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxBvUqLs_eU

#2 Up next is a classic summer jam from A Lighter Shade Of Brown. This tune includes samples from oldies "Groovin'" and "Crystal blue persuasion". This is 1992's "On a Sunday afternoon"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh5_kwvQGd4


#1 is a tribute....15 years ago next Friday marks the anniversary of the early death of rapper Eazy E. Here is his great answer song to Dr. Dre back in 1993 during their feud. "Real mutherphuckin Gs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsdLn46UXnA

College Basketball Madness Update

The postseason tourneys are in full gear and it's time to check on all the local teams I follow from Virginia, New Jersey, and the northwest.

New Jersey:
Seton Hall (19-13)
-Lost in first round of NIT to Texas Tech 87-69, fired head coach Bobby Gonzalez (66-59) and had dispatched former player Robert Mitchell and then current player Kelly Whitney arrested in seperate incidents in the days after the loss. Tough time for the Pirates.

Rutgers (15-17)
-Season ended with loss in 1st round of Big East Tournament to Cincinnati 69-68

Princeton (21-8)
-Still playing in quarterfinals of the CBI, or College Basketball Invitational Tournament. The Tigers defeated Duquesne 65-51 in first round and face IUPUI on Monday night on the road in Indiana.

N.J.I.T. (10-21)
-Season ended with loss in Great West Conference Tournament to Houston Baptist 74-64

Rider (17-16)
-Season ended with loss to Siena in MAAC Tourney semifinals 72-65

St. Peter's (16-14)
-Season ended with loss to Rider 69-57 in MAAC Tourney quarterfinals.

Monmouth (12-19)
-Season ended with loss in first round of Northeast Tourney to Quinnipiac 84-75

Fairleigh Dickinson (11-21)
-Season ended with loss to LIU in Northeast Tourney 63-61

Virginia:
Virginia (15-16)
-Season ended with loss to Duke in ACC quarterfinals after a 6 point win over Boston College in ACC first round

Virginia Tech. (24-8)
-Still alive in NIT after 81-61 win over Quinnipiac in first round. Hokies will face UConn in 2nd round on Monday.

Richmond (26-9)
-Season ended Thursday with loss in first round of NCAA Tourney against St. Mary's

Liberty (15-16)
-Season ended with loss n first round of Big South Tourney to Winthrop 80-72

Radford (19-12)
-Season ended with 61-46 loss to Winthrop in Big South Tourney semifinals

VMI (10-19)
-Season ended with 82-73 loss to Coastal Carolina in first round of Big South Tourney

VCU (23-9)
-Still alive in CBI after 79-63 win over GWU. The Rams face Charleston in Richmond on Monday night.

ODU (25-8)
-Still alove in NCAA Tournament after upset win over Notre Dame 51-50. The Monarchs will face Baylor tomorrow in the second round.

William & Mary (22-11)
-Season ended with loss in first round of NIT to UNC 80-72

JMU (13-20)
-Season ended in CAA quarterfinals with 70-65 loss to William & Mary

George Mason (17-15)
-Season ended with first round loss to Fairfield in the CIT, or collegeinsider.com Tournament, losing in overtime 101-96

Longwood (12-19) completed it's season and as an independent

Hampton (14-18)
-Season ended with loss to Morgan State in MEAC semifinals 74-67

Norfolk State (11-19)
-Season ended in first round of MEAC Tourney with 73-70 loss to Hampton

Washington:
Washington (25-9)
-Still alive in NCAA Tourney after 80-78 win over Marquette and will face New Mexico in second round tomorrow

Washington State (16-15)

-Season ended with 82-80 loss in first round of PAC 10 Tourney to Oregon

Seattle U. (17-14) has concluded its' season as an independent.

Gonzaga (27-6)
-Still alive in NCAA Tournament after 67-60 win over Florida State, will face Syracuse Sundaly in second round

Oregon:
Portland (21-11)
-Season ended with first round loss to Northern Colorado 81-73 in collegeinsider.com Tournament

Oregon (16-15)
-Season ended with loss in quarterfinals of PAC 10 Tourney to California 90-74

Oregon State (14-18)
-Season ended, as did chances to defend title in CBI, with a 96-78 loss to Boston U in first round

Portland State (13-19)
-Season ended in semifinals of Big Sky Tourney with 69-60 loss to Weber State

Monday, March 8, 2010

College basketball madness begins

The conference tourneys are in full gear and it's time to check on all the local teams I follow from Virginia, New Jersey, and the northwest.

New Jersey:
Seton Hall (18-10) is playing tomorrow night in the first round of the Big East tourney. The 18 wins should get the Pirates into one of the 4 postseason tourneys regardless, but it's a tough road to win the conference tourney to make the NCAAs. They face 12-18 Providence in the first game.

Rutgers (15-16) is also playing tomorrow night, against the 16-14 Cincinnati Bearcats. The Scarlet Knights need probably 2 wins at least to even get a bid to the CBI or collegeinsider.com tourney.

Princeton (19-8) has finished its' season, the 19 wins MAY get an NIT bid most years, but Harvard has over 20 wins and will likely snag an NIT spot.

N.J.I.T. (9-20) after losing every game for about 2 years, the Highlanders winning 9 this year is a good accomplishment. They are now in the Great West Conference, for unknown reasons, but they are playing in the first round of the GWC Tourney Wednesday against 8-22 North Dakota. The GWC, as a new conference, does NOT have an automatic bid to the NCAAs, but they will send their champion to the collegeinsider.com tourney.

Rider (17-16) the Broncos won their first game in the MAAC tourney over in-state rival St. Peter's 72-65, but fell to eventual MAAC champion Siena 72-62 in the semifinals. Hopes for a bid to a postseason tourney are dim.

St. Peter's (16-14) the season ended for the Peacocks with that 7 point loss to Rider in the MAAC quarterfinals. They had a winning season, but will again miss out on the postseason, as they have every year since 1995.

Monmouth (12-19) lost in the first round of the Northeast Conference Tournament to top seeded Quinnipiac 84-75. The season is over for the Hawks.

Fairleigh Dickinson (11-21) nearly upset Long Island in the first round of the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling just 2 points short. The season is over for the Knights.

Virginia:
Virginia (14-15) is set for the ACC Tournament, they will meet Boston College (15-15) in an opening round game. Should they win, their reward is a game against Duke.

Virginia Tech. (23-7) is headed for at least an NIT berth, but can pad its' resume for an NCAA bid should they get a couple of wins in the ACC Tourney. Their journey begins in the quarterfinals on Friday against the winner of the Wake Forest/Miami game.

Richmond (24-7) has possibly already made its' claim for an NCAA berth, and can help themselves in the A-10 Tourney Friday when they face the winner of the Charlotte/UMass game.

Liberty (15-16) had their season come to an end in the first round of the Big South Tourney when they fell to eventual champion Winthrop 80-72.

Radford (19-12) lost in the Big South semifinals to Winthrop 61-46, but the Highlanders still have some hope for a bid to either the CBI or the collegeinsider.com tournament.

VMI (10-19) lost in the first round of the Big South Tourney to Coastal Carolina 82-73. The season is over for the Keydets.

VCU (22-9) fell to ODU in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament 73-69, but with 22 wins, the Rams will surely be playing in a postseason tournament.

ODU (25-8) won the CAA Tournament over William & Mary 60-53 and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

William & Mary (22-9) fell to ODU in the CAA final by 7, but still should earn a postseason trip somewhere.

JMU (13-20) lost in the CAA quarterfinals to William & Mary 70-65, the season is over for the Dukes.

George Mason (17-14) lost in the CAA quarters for VCU 75-60, the Patriots hold out some hope for a postseason bid to one of the tournaments.

Longwood (12-19) completed it's season and as an independent the Lancers have no postseason tournament.

Hampton (13-17) is set for the MEAC Tournament, they meet Norfolk State in the quarterfinals.

Norfolk State (11-18) will play in the MEAC quarters against arch-rival Hampton.

Washington:
Washington (21-9) is set for the Pac 10 Tournament and will face Oregon State (14-16) in the quarterfinals. They should have a good shot at an NCAA bid.

Washington State (16-14) has to play the opening round game of the Pac 10 Tournament against Oregon (15-15) on Wednesday. The Cougars likely need a couple wins to earn their way into a postseason tourney.

Seattle U. (17-14) has concluded its' season as an independent. The Redhawks' season is over.

Gonzaga (26-6) was upset by St. Mary's in the WCC Championship game. The Bulldogs will surely still make the NCAA Tournament.

Oregon:
Portland (21-10) Pilots lost in the WCC semifinals to eventual champion St. Mary's 69-55. While an NCAA bid isn't in the cards, UP can hope for an NIT bid or one of the other two tournaments to come calling.

Oregon (15-15) faces Washington State (16-14) in the opening round game of the Pac 10 Tournament. The Ducks need several wins to earn a postseason berth.

Oregon State (14-16) takes on Washington in the quarterfinals of the Pac 10 Tourney. The Beavers need several wins for any hope of playing in the postseason.

Portland State (13-18) is the bottom seed in the Big Sky Tournament and, having defeated Montana State in the first round, faces top seed Weber State (19-9) in the semifinals tomorrow night. The Vikings need to win the tournament to play in the postseason.

Musical March Madness Part 2

The Opening Round continues...

Freddie Jackson's "Love Me Down" narrowly defeated The Gap Band's "All my love", then Michael Jackson crushed young Tevin Campbell, making TC 0-2 in the brackets so far. "The way you make me feel" was the big winner over "Tell me what you want me to do". And Tony! Toni! Tone! easily beat Shanice's "I love your smile" with it's 1990 magical "It never rains (in southern California)".

In a clash of R&B titans, Keith Sweat's "Nobody" upset Janet Jackson's "Control" and then Shai's 1992 slow jam "If I ever fall in love" made short work of Ziggy Marley's "Tumblin' down".

Up next, 2Pac's "How do you want it" takes on Miki Howard's "Ain't nothin' in the world", the victor advances to meet the winner of R.Kelly's "You remind me of something" versus Lionel Richie's "Do it to me".

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Musical March Madness

To find a way to celebrate March Madness in another way, I decided to set up brackets and have songs "battle it out" to find a champion. The theme I chose was the #1 R&B Hits from 1987-1996. Now, there were over 260 songs that topped the charts during that time, I weeded out a few less desirable ones (really, who needs to hear George Michael?) and finalized a bracket of 256 songs.

I started the Opening Round yesterday and here's how it went:

"Girlfriend" by Bobby Brown, his first big solo hit, went up against the R. Kelly smash "I believe I can fly" and came up short. R.Kelly advanced to the round of 128.

The 1987 jam by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "Love Overboard" dispatched the 1995 Whitney Houston tune "Exhale (Shoop shoop)". No worries for either Bobby or Whitney as both of them have numerous songs in the bracket.

In a close match up, the late Teddy Pendergrass lost with his hit "Joy", falling to TLC's 1994 jam "Creep".

The rout of the night was when 2Pac's "California Love" destroyed Tevin Campbell's sweet song "Can we talk?". Like Bobby and Whitney, Tevin has more tunes in the bracket still to come.

Another blowout was when Whitney Houston's mega-hit "I will always love you" demolished Babyface's "Tender Lover" to end the evening match ups.

Now, the next match ups:

Freddy Jackson, who has several songs entered, sends his smooth "Love me down" up against R&B veterans The Gap Band, whose only entry is "All of my love". The winner advances to meet the Whitney mega-hit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuDTYIQvU0k
VS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp16YPRsfF4


Also, Michael Jackson's "The way you make me feel" takes on another Tevin Campbell tune, "Tell me what you want me to do".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzZ_urpj4As

VS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx5w2ditREo&feature=related

That match up is followed by Oakland's Tony! Toni! Tone! with "It never rains (In southern California)" going up against Shanice's sweet 1991 song "I love your smile".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yNibj8LW-Q

VS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGXxcSdsXJ4