vintage music: troop - spread my wings.

ahhh the 90s. the era of dance moves with names, coordinated outfits, box hair cuts, gumbies, shags, a little dippity do in your hair to make it look "good", hair cuts with designs, peroxide-dyed hair, actual music groups that repped actual r&b music without underlying wanna-be rapper motives. and so much more. all which you'll see personified in this troop video. troop definitely didn't enjoy the popularity and longevity of ronnie, bobby, ricky and mike (if i like the girl, who cares who you like ... sorry, i couldn't resist) but they made a little noise in the late 80s to early 90s. i loved spread my wings but all i do is think of you (1990) was my song. what?! i used to sing it like i meant it. and i liked i will always love you (1991), too .

yo this is what i miss about music. the genuineness of it. i know i sound like a broken stevie wonder record but you know we rep old school extra hard on this blog. i mean does r&b even exist anymore? you know what would be hot? an old school concert or award show tribute that brought out all these lesser-known 80s/90s groups who we done forgot what they looked liked. right? i'm talking troop. shai. guy. intro. h-town. hi-five. silk. let's not even get into the solo acts.

so little known fact: troop got their break when they won a talent contest on the puttin' on the hits tv show in the late 80s. who remembers puttin on the hits? i do - think along the lines of star search. another little known fact - do you know what troop sounds for? it's actually an acronym for total respect of other people. until this day, that cracks me up for some reason. it's random as heck.

check out the 1990 hit, spread my wings. this video is full of old school trends for him.

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vintage music: she works hard for the money.

shout all to all of my superwomen working hard for their mula ... my fellow lady entrepreneurs, mommies, 9-to-5'ers, bosses, government workers who are happy that the congress folks got it together to avoid a shutdown, bosses ... this donna summer, 1983, grammy-nominated classic is dedicated to all of you.

donna summer came from the 70s disco era and then went on to achieve success throughout the 80s and early 90s. she owns 5 grammy statues and has been sampled a gazillion times by some of your favorite performers.

i love these funny 80s videos. i appreciate a video with a story, these days the videos are so templated. watch:

"so you better treat her right!"

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mr. big stuff.

yesssss! talk about swag. heavy d had it. he put it down for the big boys and was oh so cool. i love this video. it's why i love old school hip hop. back when it was pure and real. mr. big stuff appeared on heavy's 1987 debut album, living large. back then rappers weren't too cool to dance a little. and like a few other rappers of the 80s era, heav' had background dancers who killed the whop and every other 80s dance. i love it. this reminded me of the 80s coca-cola fashion trend. this video is full of old school fashion trends.

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jump spread out.

yeh i'm taking it way back. who remembers jamalski? this song used to knock at the house parties. one of my buddies on the book posted this a few weeks ago and i was hype. i almost forgot about this one.

truthfully, i probably can easily decipher a total of 15 words in the whole song but whatever he was saying it was hot. i was never a huge, huge fan of reggae but i remember when it really started to get hot around our way. i think it was the early 90s, but don't quote me. dolly my baby. super cat. shabba. patra. lady saw. had us up in the parties doing the butterfly and all of that.

"when it comes to sex i have a college degree, phd in sexology ... "

Jamalski-jump spread out

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i love the ciphers.

i look forward to the bet hip hop awards for the ciphers alone. while i read a significant amount of disdain from my facebook friends about the awards and bet in general, i kinda enjoyed the show. for one, with all due respect, my expectations weren't tremendously high. i mean, it is what it is.

but how can you not like the old school tributes? salt n pepa! i wanted to be those chicks when i was a young girl. although i would have liked to see bet bring the new school ladies of hip hop out on stage to sing some of s n p's old hits, i still appreciated the tribute. i learned that their asymetrical hair do's happened by accident thanks to a bad dye job from pepa's cousin. i also remembered just how many trends they set with their fashion - ripped jeans, bodysuits, etc.

of course, i liked the surprise visit from digital underground and the tribute to pac. b-o-b was good. host, michael epps was hilarious especially when he came out in the shiny suit and was imitating diddy. the dude from roc nation - what's his name? - was good, too.

but my absolute favorite are the ciphers. it made me text my brother and thank him because i really owe my love for hip hop to him. big ups to bet for the father son cipher. loved it. but the absolute best of the night was the g.o.o.d music cipher with kanye. kanye is tough. if you ain't convinced by now ...

and the father son cipher with ice cube and sons + run and sons:


see the other ciphers here.

and no i won't mention the wacka flacka and antoine dodson foolishness. oh, i just did.

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vintage music saturday: anniversary.

365 days! tomorrow marks me and my hubby's 1st year anniversary. we plan to celebrate quite properly. but of course.

love my baby from head to toe. my best friend. with benefits. blessed is an understatement.

here's tony! toni! tone! singing anniversary (1993).

"tomorrow will come and [boy] i can't wait, it's our anniversary."

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now playing: lady saw, if i were a rich girl.

vintage music: every little step i take.

my hubby just showed this to me and i am rolling. remember bobby's brown 1988 smash, every little step i take? this jawn used to rock ... i just sat here reciting the whole song.

you've gots to see this spoof featuring wayne brady, 50 cent and bobby brown. hilarious. bahaaaaaaa. i can't stop laughing at tyson's no-rhythm having behind.


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vintage music saturday: dream on dreamer.

what you know about the brand new heavies? last night, me and hubby were watching vh1 soul and he asked me if i remembered this cut. i can't say i was that down with the group while coming up but i definitely remember this song. the acid jazz and funk group emerged back in 85 out of england. dream on dreamer came out in 1994. check it:

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vintage music saturday: i got a man.

remember this one? positive k's i got a man. it hit the radio waves in 1992 and would prove to be his biggest hit. the male-female dialogue in music always seems to work, doesn't it?

love watching this video because i can count a ba-jillion old school trends. watch:


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now playing: prince, kiss.

happy birthday, mj!

michael jackson would have been 52 years old today. wow.

check him out with his brothers ... 1978's blame it on the boogie ...
oh and i'd rock that star sweater:

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now playing: sting, roxanne.

vintage music saturday: push it.

i can't believe i've never featured salt n pepa for vintage music saturdays. the 80s trio is one of the best selling female rap groups of all time. i was a super fan. they were my first concert ever. how they dressed, how they wore their hair, their jewelry - all something to be admired. and you may peep the video and realize that who you thought started a particular trend, actually didn't.

this video alone is full of trends that have been repeated: lopsided dos, dooky chains and bodysuits. i begged my mom for a pair of doorknocker earrings ... "come on mommmm" ... i mean, salt n pepa rocked them. mom wasn't having it so i settled for some modest ones with my name inscripted in them. i had the same red leather pirate boots that they're rocking in this video a few years ago. mine came from steve madden and i wore them out. they were my favorite.

push it was the group's first major hit in the late 80s. funny, i was a young girl when they came out and i swore they were singing, "shut up this is bullshit," instead of "ahhhh, push it." ha. check it:


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vintage music: material girl.

the original material girl turns 52 today. who else but madonna? madonna was the ish. dare i say the lady gaga of the 80s? i mean that as a compliment. she was the ultimate it girl. fabulously naughty. a trendsetter. i could go on and on. here's her 1985 hit, material girl ...
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vintage music saturday: head to toe.

i was an absolute lisa lisa fan as a youngin. i thought she was so flyy and i sung her songs like i wrote them. i had her cassette tape. no, i didn't mean cd. the cassette tape. pull up lisa lisa and cult jam on pandora and enjoy some good old school. they don't make music like this anymore ... wow, i sound like my parents.
head to toe (1986)
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now playing: en vogue, free your mind.

vintage music saturday: ownlee eue.

who didn't love kwame in the late 80s/early 90s? he didn't have a very long rap career but we will always remember him for his sleepy eyes, polka-dots and his peroxide-dyed box haircut. he was a cutie pie. kwame is still around today as a producer.

i was in 7th grade in 1990 when he released ownlee eue (only you). this was my song.
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vintage music saturday: crush on you.

who remembers the jets? you got it all? make it real?

the jets were a family pop band out of minneapolis that formed in 1985. their run only really lasted about 5 or so years but they had several hits. they were super cute and super 80s.

here's there 1986 hit, crush on you:

"how did you know, cuz i never told ... you found out, i got a crush on you."

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The Jets - Crush On You

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vintage music saturday: tom's diner.

da da da da da da da. you know you thought this song was named that. like luka, suzanne vega has another catchy hit with this one. the diner she speaks of in this 1981 hit is actually tom's restaurant located on broadway and 112th street in new york. the restaurant would later become hugely popular thanks to the seinfeld show.

so you might have hummed along to this song but did you know what the heck she was talking about? not many of us really did but when we listen today we can catch on. the story is that she wrote the song after a photographer friend of hers said that "he saw his whole life through a pane of glass, and [...] like he was the witness to a lot of things, but was never really involved in them." so she wrote the song as that. confused? just listen ...

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