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Meanwhile on the Disco Top 80

Tom Tom Club – “Genius of Love” “Wordy Rappinghood”

Tom talks about an artist’s Imperial Phase where everything seems to work, and I’m wondering if a music-lover is allowed an Imperial Phase. Looking at the charts, thinking about how I interacted with popular music, I realize that late 81-85 is my Imperial Phase as a music-lover.

Almost every day after work I’d go to Hot Licks/Northern Lights and dig through the import singles, indie-12-inches, new releases and even filling in the blanks on older music. Sometimes I would stop at Shinder’s and scope out the latest Billboard. Music was part of happy hour, house parties, club going, and those weekends where I needed to stay at home and lay back.

Digging through the bins meant that I often heard songs and artists long before they appeared on the radio. “Genius of Love” was one of those imports I bought. Now think about that. Tom Tom Club, an American act, broke through because they sold 100,000 copies of the import 12-inch of “Genius of Love” on Island Records, forcing Sire to sign them in the U.S.

If I could say one song is my jam, it is “Genius of Love.” If I was forced to pick my favorite song of the 80s, “Genius of Love” would be on the shortlist. It’s the sound of someone fan-girling and fan-boying about Funk, Rap, Rhythm and Blues and Soul. The coolest thing, it worked. It hit Number One Disco, Number Two Soul, and was the basis for two big rap songs, “Genius of Rap” by Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde and Grandmaster Flash with “It’s Nasty” plus it inspired a song we will hear about much later.

To paraphrase one of the characters in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, you can have a hot apartment, hot lover and hot job. One out of three is good, two is better, and three is almost unheard of. I’d add hot music to the mix. I had two out of four during my Imperial Phase, alas I missed the hot mark with regards to lover and apartment. But sometimes good things come to those who wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWCF19nUhA

My Imperial Phase as a music-fan ended, but the music and memories are still with me. Thanks to the Tom Tom Club, I have a song to jam to. Oh, if you’ve been playing along, you know I have the love of my life. That’s the “Genius of Love.”

Stop calling the police. Someone in Minneapolis called the cops because they thought Floyd was using a fake check, and the cops killed him. Amy Cooper knew she could sic the police on a black man if she sounded scared enough on the phone, and I’m so thankful that she’s actually facing consequences. So stop calling the police.

The Tweet comes across as really dumb but Twitter woke culture is so unbelievably toxic sometimes

“Through the beginning of 2020, it looked like this year would be…”

-You, Me, everyone else

Eh. The link was in poor taste, but the sentiment behind it was good. He is at least trying.

Fired obviously, but there better be some fucking murder chargers shortly down this road too. I don’t know what I can do, but this has to stop.

The craziest thing about a lot of Alt-Right communities originate from commuted stone face trolling. Q Anon seems to have started by a French Anarchist Art collective, and sites like 4chan have always existed to do little else but to one up the last guy’s fucked up bullshit (and child exploitation, but that’s a whole other matter).

Eventually the Extreme poker face sarcasm became doctrine because the originators found it so amusing that people would buy into. Once that happened, it took on a life of its own, eventually resulting in the shit show of a government we are now suffering under.

And to some degree these people proved their theses. There a not insignificant amount of people who believe that JFK Jr. is about to return to put an end to a child sex ring attached to the DNC, most prominently the Clintons.

Unfortunately, instead of going public with the ridiculous nature of these ideas, the same individuals found a space where they had a growing community of supporters, and liking the attention and visibility, rolled with it. They seem to believe that at anytime they can call an end to it by creating a “gotcha” moment. The truth is, we’re way past that moment having any effect. The damage has been done.

Someone like Doha Cat is not wrong when she says some of her generation came up in these chat rooms, so they may seem as benign at engaging in any public forum. Unfortunately that is no longer the case, (if it ever was) and people need to be smart enough to see that. You wouldn’t just walk into any conference room, sit down and believe there is no agenda. Spaces on the internet require this kind of care as well.

I hate this guy as much as the next clown. But his intentions here were pretty obviously not self serving. Please don’t tell anybody I defended him. At least not publicly.

[me every time I sit down to a meal with loved ones]: “I want to address what’s been happening on Twitter.”

Thank God Beyonce has gained more dollars and thank Stereogum for such an important music fact. We are all happy and hope the next Drake or Kanye West or Ariana or Lady Gaga will do the same. Music really needs their inventive and groundbreaking art. I also suggest Stereogum to begin the counting for single of this new decade and secure for this remix a spot in the top 5. Thanks for such cool journalism, tonight I will sleep better than ever!

Honesty, selfish of the POC warriors to make her comments and thoughts a POC issue. I guess white women can’t have thoughts and feelings anymore.

This makes me hate the psychotic POC movement on the internet. They aren’t doing themselves any fucking favors by getting offended by every single fucking thing. Pathetic.

I hope one is actually hurt or in danger, but the whole thing reads like a performance art project, in the vein of something Death Grips would do. Smart move to keep it on Bandcamp, the only place for artists to get a decent pay out.

This isn’t even remotely music-related. How about some articles on music instead?

E-E-A-E-A-D, bro. You’re going to break about seven b-strings tuning up at first.