Friday, May 27, 2011

cheeseburger

I've got a real sappy one today. "It Must Be Love" by Labi Siffre, groovster extraordinaire. Mixed race and openly gay, Labi had a powerful impact on the music of the 1960's and 1970's. He's come in and out of retirement a handful of times, always to speak sing out against some social evil - violence, apartheid, anti-secularism, bigotry, etc.

I recently learned that the melody at the beginning of Eminem's "My Name Is" is a sample from Labi's "I Got The". Labi only allowed usage of his art once Dr. Dre and Eminem had taken out a few lines about raping a lesbian (horrid I know). Of the offensive lyrics, Labi said the following: "Attacking two of the usual scapegoats, women and gays, is lazy writing. If you want to do battle, attack the aggressors not the victims". Go Labi, go Labi, go!


I love the pure 70's sheen of this video. The uncomfortably close face shots, not so much.

1 comment: