A music blog filled with new discoveries, edits, mash-ups and general musical inspirations by DJ Glamjack, an artist and enthusiast of dance, disco, house and left field music based in Brooklyn, NY.
I went to see the Keith Haring 1978-1982 show at the Brooklyn Museum this past Saturday on day before it closed. The show had some great highs and lows. It was a great late '70s to early '80s time capsule that captured the spirit of his early student work and the early influences that drove Keith to greatness and sadly to his unfortunate death. I was glad I got to see and left a bit nostalgic for that era of experimentation in art, music, fashion and nightlife where art and commerce where still resisting each other. I walked to the many galleries and heard Yoko Ono's emblematic and historical "Walking On Thin Ice" as part of an interactive montage of Haring's work and totally fell in love the song all over again. Yoko and John Lennon concluded the recording of the song on December 8th, 1980. It was upon their return to the Dakota that John was murdered and was clutching a tape of the final mix of this song when he was shot. The lead guitar played by John is said to be one his most fascinating and his sadly last creative endeavor. Here is my favorite version along with a very nice re-interpretation by the Pet Shop Boys that was released in 2003 as part of a maxi single CD. Enjoy!
It has been difficult to post here with all the catastrophes in Japan laying heavy on my mind. I'm taking this opportunity in sending my prayers to all my friends, their families and to all the Japanese fans of this blog. My heart goes out to all of you during this difficult time. As far as music concerns, I been thinking on posting something rather somber in here but opted for something rather peculiar and left field. "Oooh Baby (Goin' To Pieces)" is from drummer of British progressive rock band Yes, Mr. Alan White. Ramshackled was the titled of his debut LP and thus far, his only solo recording. The LP was released during the period when all five of the Yes band members released solo albums. White also became a member of the Plastic Ono Band and has appeared on over fifty albums with artists including John Lennon, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Ginber Baker and The Ventures. I'm loving the overall feel of this song, specially the amazing percussion. "Oooh Baby" was heavily played by DJ Tom Savarese during his residence at the legendary 12 West club in New York City during the '70s. Enjoy!
I have been wanting to post something by one of my favorite performers of all time and interestingly enough, last night while I was out hanging out at the Metropolitan Bar, I heard an amazing DJ work the turntables by mixing amazing songs back to back between Berlin era Bowie and late '70s Talking Heads. I was stunned to realize how this is 20th century music and it still sounds incredible timeless and dance friendly. It felt so 'Right' to dance to it and it feels so 'Right' to post this one today. Although this song is not exactly Berlin era Bowie but more of a Philly soul influence, it blended nicely with his late '70s stuff. "Right" is from Young Americans, his eight album released in 1975 on RCA Records. With this LP, Bowie made a sudden and jolting step in a new direction, shedding his glam rock past and exploring Philadelphia soul with backing from a pre-fame Luther Vandross. Young Americans contained his first number one hit in the U.S., "Fame" co-written with John Lennon (who also contributed backing vocals), and work from Carlos Alomar, who would eventually work with Bowie on ten more studio albums. Enjoy
