7.30.09: Myspace, Gigi and the Flirtations
Hey! I know I’m overdue on a podcast and a playlist here, but I’m having a bit of fuckery with my home computer. But I’m hoping I can get that up for y’all tonight. In the meantime, in addition to the sexy Facebook page, we also now have a Myspace…be our friend, won’t you?
Also, I got a couple great digs this week that I can’t wait to lay on ya tomorrow night. Both were things I wanted for awhile…The first is a really sexy slab of hurdy-gurdy, swirly girl-funk called Daddy Love by Gi Gi, on Sweet. Check it out on the YouTubes:
If you’ve seen my live band, The Sunday Saints, then you’ve most likely seen us cover this one. And I can say its got some of the most delectably filthy lyrics I’ve ever spat… Lil’ Wayne might think he’s bad with “Lick It Like A Lollipop” but Gi Gi was talking about her man bein’ “lickin’ good” a long time ago. I first heard this one over at Funky16Corners and haven’t tired of it for a minute since. I’ve also never been able to find out anything about her, which surprises me…with a voice like that, I half wonder if she’s another “Marsha Gee” type character, masquerading under another name for a couple sides, for whatever reason. But regardless, both sides of this record have blown up over the past couple years for their obvious funktasticness as break fodder, so get your hands on a copy while you can.
The second dig of the week is an old favorite: Nothing But A Heartache by the Flirtations, on Deram. There’s a super-amazing video (or film, I should say) of them performing live on YouTube (sorry, won’t let me embed this one)…big ups to Cam from the Prime Movers for hippin’ me to its existence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39SjyMvBbk4
Watching that, I was immediately reminded of the Exciters’ He’s Got the Power film for Scopitone. For those who aren’t old-media nerds like me, Scopitone was a company that marketed jukeboxes that also showed short performance films on 16mm…basically the great-granddaddy of the music video. Alas, it doesn’t appear (at least from the lists on this site) that the Flirtations film was made for that purpose, but it definitely has that awesome feel!
The song itself is so beloved, so oft-spun and so well-known at this point, largely due to the Brits, that it really hardly counts as “rare” anymore. But its one of those tunes that has just the right dose of heartbreak and backbeat that you can put it on perennial repeat and it’ll make you want to hit the floor every time. So I’m glad to finally have got around to getting a copy, and I’ll be more than happy to put it into regular rotation.
And FYI, the Flirtations are still around and still sound AMAZING…I recently heard them on Craig Charles’ show on BBC6 and you wouldn’t think a single year had passed. They do seem to make special appearances from time to time, so if you can catch them, I think it’d be well worth it.