LL Cool J: Radio (1985)

I am sure I have mentioned previously that I am not a huge Hip Hop fan, but I do own (and enjoy) some records, like this one. Radio was Def jam's first full length release, when LL was still a teenager. I believe he was 17 when this came out. Think about that. I mean, do you know what I was doing at age 17? I won't tell you.

"Reflecting the new school and ghettoblaster subculture in the U.S. during the mid-1980s, Radio belongs to a pivotal moment in the history and culture of hip hop. Its success contributed to the displacement of the old school with the new school form and to the genre's mainstream success during the period. Its success also served as a career breakthrough for LL Cool J and Rick Rubin. Radio has been recognized by music writers as one of the first cohesive and commercially successful hip hop albums." [source]

By the way, I have a Canadian pressing, in mint condition. That does not mean that this is an expensive record. I think you could find an original copy in the $25 range.I just realized that the photo it crooked. I might have to take another one.

How to Fix Basketball

I'm not suggesting that basketball is really broken, but simply that it could be improved. I don't even watch basketball, or football, or sports of any kind - except the Olympics - although I used to. I'd watch hockey and baseball and football. But who has time to sit for three or four hours in front of the TV watching guys slap each other on the ass? I did watch parts of the World Cup, however, which included Bloody Marys and snacks and too many people in a small room.

Years ago, I was listening to Finkleman's 45s. I can't take any credit for finding this radio program or for even being a fan. K listened to it, and I was listening along one evening. Usually, Danny had a lot to say about coffee, and whether it was good for you or not. Every week, a new coffee study was released, and he gave us the good or bad news. The show could have been called the Coffee Show. Of course, I drank coffee back then, lots of coffee with lots of caffeine, unlike now. I drink decaf every now and then. I know it's probably uncool, but do I look like I care?

One day, after a survey of the recent coffee news, Danny offered three options for improving basketball. He said, and I paraphrase:

1) Start each team at 100 points, and let them play for 10 minutes;
2) Raise the height of the baskets to something like 15 feet, from the current 10 feet;
3) Enforce an average height limit on each team. This means that you could have a very tall player, but it would have to be balanced out by some shorter guys, the kind you might see in a circus or sideshow.

I have another idea:

Reduce the points awarded for slam dunks from 2 to 1. Let's not forget that James Naismith, the Canadian doctor who invented the sport, argued that the baskets ought to be high enough to prevent a player from simply pushing the ball through from above. Well, that idea failed badly.

The slam dunk just seems too easy, especially if one is tall enough. Throwing the ball requires more skill. After all, they award free throws, not free dunks, because throwing the ball in the basket is obviously harder than stuffing it in from above. By the way, when I was in high school I could touch the rim!

So, in summary, I would like the NBA to award 1 point from slam dunks (and maybe even for lay ups), 2 points for a basket, and 3 points for shots beyond the arch. Maybe they could even award 4 points for shots taken past half court.

The sad truth is, I still would not watch the game.

Technorati Tags: basketball, sports, Finkleman's 45s, coffee

Music Notes

I think it was on the drive back to the hospital to pick up mother and baby when I switched on the radio of the borrowed car, thanks to the neighbours across the street. The radio was already tuned to Q107 and so I decided to listen. It turns out that I was in the midst of the completely misnamed "80's Music That Doesn't Suck Classic Rock Weekend." Clearly, Q107 and I disagree on what music from the 80s sucked and what didn't.

Let me say that Queen's Another One Bites the Dust sucks with a capital S. For a moment, I felt like I was in a bizarro world, where everything bad was good. I had to change the station quickly, because the announcer promised that we would be subjected to KISS, from the unmasked era. Yikes. I also worried that they would play, inevitably, Van Halen's Jump, which I nominate as the song with the most infantile use of keyboards in musical history.

But that isn't the worst of the musical news. I was shocked and appalled to hear a The The song used in a Dockers TV commercial. I thought that only the dinosaurs were selling their songs. Frankly, I think it is far more fitting to hear Led Zeppelin selling Cadillacs. That makes sense to me.

This is the Day

Technorati Tags: radio, Q107, Queen, KISS, Van Halen, The The, Dockers, Led Zeppelin, Cadillac

The Decline of Radio

Do you remember when radio was good? Maybe you are not old enough. I remember when there were lots of independent radio stations. Now, national or multinational companies own something like 80% of North American radio stations. Corus Entertainment owns 24 radio stations in Ontario, 13 in Quebec, and 16 in western Canada! (plus 13 television stations).

This cannot be good for radio. I remember when Q-107 and CFNY (now totally eviscerated and renamed the Edge) used to be very different stations. Today, very little separates them. The so-called Edge spins "new rock" (usually pointless and wrongly categorized as alternative) while Q-107 delves into oldies and occasionally, some rather terrible rock.

Fans of CFNY should visit the Spirit of Radio fan site.

I rarely listen to the radio, but when I do, I usually listen to the last remaining independents, like the University of Toronto's CIUT and Ryerson CKLN.

Tags: radio, Corus