DJ, producer, and founder of Fool’s Gold Records, A-Trak has been DJing for over 20 years. In 1997, he was the world champion of DJing at age 15 before going on to become Kanye West’s touring DJ and founding his own record label. Beginning in 2017, he’s organized the Goldie Awards, a DJ competition and beat battle for DJs and producers to demonstrate their skills. In this interview, A-Trak explains that the role of the DJ isn’t just to press a play button. It’s to control the crowd’s energy by selecting the perfect tracks to play at the right time.
The Peanuts Gang Sell Ford Falcons In The 1960s
In the late 50s and 60s, Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz was offered a contract by Ford Motor Company with an interesting offer – have the kids sell cars. The ads for the new compact Ford Falcon aired on TV from 1960 to 1964, with print ads across America.
But Schulz had complete control over the cartoon, and the words, which are pure Charlie Brown, Lucy and the rest of the gang. Charlie Brown tells Lucy, “I just love the new Ford Falcon,” to which she replies “Ha! You don’t even know what it means to love!”
That Time Mr. Rogers Visited Sesame Street In The Most Ambitious Crossover Event In TV History
On the 1981 season finale of Sesame Street, Big Bird announces to everyone at Hooper’s that he’s preparing to have a race with Snuffy, but since everyone thinks Snuffy is imaginary, he can’t find anyone to judge the race- especially on such a hot day. Luckily, the man in front of the store is willing to oblige.
Big Bird gives Snuffy the low-down on the race, and they go for it. Since Snuffy is so slow, however, Big Bird ends up finishing before him.
Big Bird suddenly fears that he may have hurt Snuffy’s feelings by finishing before him. The man sees the issue from both sides, but points out that Big Bird can still be Snuffy’s friend. Just then, the man has to leave, and it is at that point that Big Bird finds out who he was just talking to: Fred Rogers!
Snuffy comes to the finish line, and tells Big Bird that he doesn’t feel bad for finishing last, because he knows that he and Big Bird are still friends. However, he doesn’t believe Big Bird when he hears that Mr. Rogers judged the race. This upsets Big Bird. He laments to Maria, “It was the most exciting day of my life, and I don’t want to talk about it!”
Good thing we have video.
Very rare footage of bebop/scat pioneer Babs Gonzales performing live in 1979
Babs Gonzales (October 27, 1919 – January 23, 1980), born Lee Brown, was an American jazz vocalist of the bebop era notable for writing the song “Oop-Pop-A-Da”, which was recorded and performed by his band, Three Bips and a Bop, and was later made famous by Dizzy Gillespie. He was an exponent and pioneer of vocalese, an example of which is his version of the Charlie Parker bop standard “Ornithology”.
and here’s the song by Charlie Parker:
Dick Van Dyke shows off his moves in this musical tribute to dances of the ’50s
From the CBS television spectacular, “The Fabulous Fifties”, which aired on Friday, January 29,1960, Dick Van Dyke showcases his skill at pantomime and dance.
Dinosaur Jr., Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Mike D (Beastie Boys) and Mike Watt (Minutemen) performing “Missing Link” on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993
“Just me, no simile, never flow simpily, cause it was meant to be, the
Truth, the truth, and nothing but the truth, I tell it to the youth,
Propelling with the proof, in the puddin’, wouldn’t you like to know?
Oh, no you didn’t, my flows never quittin’, and that’s the truth”
Just one of those strange moments in music. From the rappers and rocker mashup soundtrack Judgment Night.
From 1970: The earliest known footage of Kraftwerk and likely the crowd’s first exposure to electronic music
There’s a very good case to be made that Kraftwerk are still the world’s most influential band. The sounds they invented have been sampled by hundreds of artists, from Madonna to R.E.M, from Missy Elliott to Fergie. Coldplay and Jay-Z have had hits with their melodies and their image has influenced David Bowie, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Janelle Monáe and almost every hip-hop artist, even if they don’t realize it.
This concert at the “carussel of the youth” from 1970 is the earliest existing concert video of these electronic pioneers. The band was just created this year and could be seen in the original setup.
The Morning After An All-Night Rave
This was filmed in the carpark the morning after Fantazia on New Years Eve 1993 at Littlecote House. Acid house, The KLF and The Prodigy, music so good you’ll be dancing even when it’s not playing.
The Bee Gees’ “Ideas”, Their Fab 1-Hour Special For German TV Back In 1968
Idea is the fifth album by the Bee Gees, and released in September 1968, the album sold over a million copies worldwide. “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” and “I Started a Joke” were both released as singles in North America. In the UK, “Message” was only released as a single and “I Started a Joke” was only an album track, though another album track, “Kitty Can”, was featured on the B-side of “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You.”
Idea was a television special starring the Bee Gees with Brian Auger and The Trinity, Julie Driscoll and Lil Lindfors. It was aired on December 11, 1968 on Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF). The TV special was produced by Michèle Arnaud and directed by Jean-Christophe Averty. Filmed in September 1968, the Bee Gees flew to Brussels and spent two weeks recording the program, including the special effects on “Indian Gin and Whisky Dry” making it appear that the Bee Gees are bouncing up and down in the glasses. On “I Started a Joke” features a floating question marks.
Steven Tyler, Chris Stapleton, Willie Nelson And More Pay Tribute To Muscle Shoals On New Album
Spotlighting the quietly influential and legendary sound of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the new star-studded and definitive homage album—Muscle Shoals…Small Town, Big Sound—will be available at all digital retailers on September 28. This arrives just in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the “Muscle Shoals Sound.”
This once-in-a-lifetime collection unites eras of GRAMMY Award-winning, multiplatinum superstars on one album for the first time. Powerhouse performers such as Steven Tyler, Chris Stapleton, Grace Potter, Alan Jackson, Brent Smith of Shinedown and many others breathe new life into seminal classics by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Etta James, and more originally birthed in Muscle Shoals throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies. In order to re-cut these gems, most of the artists made the trek to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to record alongside homegrown musicians, channeling the “Muscle Shoals Sound.”
Dedicated to Rick Hall’s memory, a portion of the proceeds benefit the GRAMMY Foundation as well as the Muscle Shoals Music Association and The Muscle Shoals Music Foundation.
TRACKLISTING
The Road Of Love – Keb’ Mo’
I’d Rather Go Blind – Grace Potter
Brown Sugar – Steven Tyler & Nuno Bettencourt
Gotta Serve Somebody – Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton & Lee Ann Womack
Steal Away – Eli “Paperboy” Reed
Snatching It Back – Kid Rock
I’ll Take You There – Aloe Blacc
Cry Like A Rainy Day – Michael McDonald
True Love – Vince Gill & Wendy Moten
Come And Go Blues – Alison Krauss
Respect Yourself – Mike Farris with The Blind Boys of Alabama
Wild Horses – Alan Jackson
Mustang Sally – Brently Stephen Smith of Shinedown
We’ve Got Tonight – Chord Overstreet
Giving It Up For Your Love – Tom Johnston & Delbert McClinton
I Ain’t Easy To Love – Candi Staton with Jason Isbell & John Paul White