Monthly Archives December 2010

One thing that was really cool about the 70’s was the fact that there were Black cartoons on TV. I love cartoons and every Saturday morning you would find me right in front of the tube watching Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids, The Go Go Globetrotters and my favorite, The Jackson 5ive.

Black Vulcan was created to add more cultural diversity to the All New Super Friends Hour.

Leontyne Price, a lyric soprano, is one of the world´s leading lyric sopranos. Her career in concerts and opera has brought her the praise of public and critics alike.

Janet MacLachlan, who played the compassionate schoolteacher in Martin Ritt’s Oscar-nominated “Sounder” (1972), has died at age 77. A highly respected stage, film and television actress, Maclachlan was known for a serious, no-nonsense style that led her to be often cast as a judge, nurse, doctor, psychiatrist, teacher or social worker. She was highly visible during the transitional period of the 1960s and 70s, when African-Americans fought against negative stereotypes on screen and began to make significant inroads in front of and behind the cameras.

The Museum of UnCut Funk is all about celebrating the power of THE FUNK and of 1970′s Black Culture. As we continue to provide information on one of the most powerful and productive decades in Black history, we also want to pay homage those those who passed this year who were major players during this period and beyond.

 
Your first resolution for the new year should be to hit the play button and enjoy!!!

The world of Funk and R&B was taken aback Sunday night, as word got out that one of music’s most beloved daughters took flight. The Motown Alumni Association (MAA) released a statement that singer TEENA MARIE passed on at age 54.

Good Times was a Norman Lear-produced Sit Com that ran on CBS from 1974-1979. The show was a of Lear’s earlier comedy Maude (Itself a spinoff of All In The Family). The show followed the lives of the Evans family, a poor Black family living in the high-rise projects of Chicago.

A Christmas Carol and the Nativity story bringing together the most uber-Christmas tale you could ever tell. It has everything: A mean old Scrooge, a Christmas pageant, presents, cute kids, Santa, a puppy, a down and out family in dire need of Christmas cheer and an assortment of Fat Albert style funky Christmas tunes!

First I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to my cousin, friend and sister in FUNK Loreen for her tireless efforts to make this James Brown interview and all the others posted possible.

 
Jazmine Sullivan’s new CD “Love Me Back” is one of the best R&B offerings in a long while. The project incorporates hip-hop, jazz and funk all cooked up in an R&B stew that has a fresh sound, while infusing a recognizable retro groove. Better than her debut CD “Fearless,” it was released too late for Grammy consideration this year. However, the first single “Holding You Down (Going In Circles)” from the album, is up for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

How can I let 2010 (10) go by w/o listing my Top-10 favorite CDs? While the Top-10 list for many of us has taken a back seat to more pressing things in life, I believe it’s because there’s been less music that’s been inspiring for us to mention.

 
Grammy Award winning recording artist Lauryn Hill, will be embarking on a series of intimate performances throughout the FUNKIN’ US according to her publicist Ashley Bryan of PRESS HERE. Hill spent much of 2010 appearing at select international festivals, and a few domestic events.

Prince proved to thousands last week that purple still reigns. After two nights at the Izod Center in NJ (12/15 & 17), his highness took the stage of Madison Square Garden (MSG) on December 18th.

 
Earlier this week, Aretha Franklin was discharged from a Detroit hospital after undergoing surgery that her doctors deemed highly successful! The Queen of Soul is in great spirits and very happy to be home where she will be resting in anticipation of spending the upcoming holiday season with her family.”

 
Janelle Monae is known to most via her appearance on Big Boi’s compilation release Big Boi Presents… Got Purp? Vol. II. Featured on the album is an uptempo remake of the DeBarge classic “Time Will Reveal,” which still gets airplay, and the track “Lettin’ Go,” my favorite song on the CD.

Classics Illustrated is a comic book series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Negro Americans…The Early Years and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.