Oh Josh, your unfunky self.

James Brown fucking rules. As you know, ya can't use one cheesy pop song to characterize the entire dicography of an artist.

I encourgage you to consider the mastery that is Doing the Best I Can, I'm a Greedy Man, and Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing. Not to mention nurturing the timeless awesomeness of Fred Wesley and the JBs.

Yes, clearly Josh is insane re: James Brown. He also dismisses the entire existence of Louis Armstrong ("He's so Life magazine 1965!" is all he'll say on the matter.)

But hurrah for the Five Satins, and my beloved Xgau.

James Brown is awful - I'm glad someone finally tells it like it is.

obviously, josh feit is racist! boycott the stranger! (wink)

p.s. - actually, he's simply ignorant, and talking out of his ass, ala many other of his fellow hot-air blowers at zee stranger

JB may be awful, but his music is the most amazing shit ever. You may not like it, but the truth is that IT WILL STILL be around 100,000 years from now. Josh is so full of crap about JB. I fully concur about "ITSOTN", though. That shi' is tight!

does me no good unless it's actually in your iTunes music folder Josh. dying to hear it now you mentioned it but it's not on your computer! fix it, stat!

Tekwruhme,
You can get on my computer? You sexy NSA staffer.

wasn't this song featured in one of the Back to the Future movies?

The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, is far above and beyond any twentysomething's puny attempt at criticism. Those of us who grew up with Try Me, Money Won't Change You, Think, There Was A Time, and so many others, freeze any detractors in the absolute zero chill of our contempt.

And not to dis the great In The Still Of The Night, but the greatest doo wop hit of all time is Gloria, by Earl "Speedo" Carroll and the Cadillacs.

Tekruhme, it's in my iTunes if Josh can't help you...

thanks david. i needed that. no need for that neville bros. track though. i love the sound quality of those old doo wop tunes. reminds me of my youth, goin to sock hops and watching the brooklyn dodgers.

josh, to avoid JB's funk, you need to investigate JB's pre-funk output...dig his Federal/King sides pre-'64, like when HE played R&B, it's not doo wop, but indebted to the 5 Royales! it's so good and generally WAY solid! Really, if he'd only given us 'Think' it would have been enough.

and tho' the debate may rage on regarding doo wop as well, the best doo-wop track is prolly something NONE of us have ever or will ever hear since the best of all genres are typically found (or lost) having been left unpublished save for "one" known acetate...which is in some collectors stash...and he will never play it for anyone to hear because that is how collectors are. Serious collectors don't typically share, they keep and covet.

oh, and in 100 years it will be Pink Floyd that is most remembered. they're too much like classical music, big and whooshy...very artful and well crafted. and there is Elvis. of course.

Josh, I've lost a lot of respect for you re: your James Brown comment. And I know how that pains you so.
Seriously, you need to take a solid gut punch for that statement.

but hating JB isn't weird, really, I know a ton of folks that hate funk. SOULIES, that hate funk. some folks just don't like the repetition...or as it are, to be in the pocket. me, I love Soul Brother number one, but one side = one song can get tedious real quick, those endless vamps COULD be considered not much different than a Dead jam that goes on too long...or becomes too mechanical. it gets boring.

Personally, I'm not familiar enough with JB's oeuvre to come down too hard on eiher side of that (although intense devotion to him sort of baffles me), but stick to your guns, Josh. How about this: Elvis truly and profoundly blows. I assume he'll still be around in 100 years, but if he's still "The King" in 1000 years, well... at least I won't be there to see it. I think Motown should and will endure.

Yeah for Dave! JB is the man. JF is... a darn good news writer.

Woah, Nipper. The endless melodic Greatful Dead jams are soooooooo different than the hard-line grooves of the JBs that your argument merits no reply - except to say, "Thine ass dost speak."

The point you're missing (which I think Christgau was making) is that James Brown is so much more powerful than just 'Sex Machine.' He's the voice of a massive 20th century popular movement. 'Papa's got a Brand New Bag' bust through the marginalization of Blacks in popular music. After that, 'Say it Loud' formed the soundtrack for the American Black Power movement, as well as for the African independence movements from Ethiopia through Nigeria to South Africa. He's sampled by freedom fighters from Belfast to Palestine, and his influence on popular music and sentiment is incalculable.

I have to agree with Christgau. It's James Brown in 3006.

You don't like JB (or quality funk, for that matter), you don't like to fuck. End of story. (It's fun to be dogmatic.)

In a hundred years, all we'll remember is Roxette and Gerardo. Only the good stuff lasts.

Street Smart, um, hard line funk grooves vs stoned jazz rock? no matter what, too long to some folks is too long. my ass speaks as my ass knows, sorry. your ass might need to go back and read what I wrote which was... "hating JB isn't weird, really, I know a ton of folks that hate funk. SOULIES, that hate funk. some folks just don't like the repetition...me, I love Soul Brother number one..." my point was I know folks, not just Josh but soulies (obsessives who ONLY listen to black music), who hate funk and I can understand why because, like GD jams, some people feel repetition can get too deep in the pocket and goes on for too long, okay, but me, I like funk? I think it's cool. sorry, I think it's rad. like kittens. you dig? you got it?

Good answer... I loooooove you Nipper!

Will you lie for me, too?