UPTOWN BABY! ANDRE HARRELL LAUNCHES TALENT SEARCH!
Andre Harrell has always been a traiblazer, as one half of rapping duo Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde in the 80s, and CEO of Uptown Records (Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Heavy D) in the 90s. Now he is at it again, embarking on a innovative global talent search. From now through to November 30th, 2011, Andre will be accepting auditions for artists to win a record deal with his label, via Blazetrak.com. Read more about this AND Andre's thoughts on his career history here!
ALFONSO RIBEIRO
Before causing audiences to cry laughing as Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Alfonso had already enjoyed a successful career as a child star. By the time he was ten he had gotten rave reviews for Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid. Later he had an even bigger break when he appeared alongside Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial.
THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD
For IMTOS's Luke Chilton, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, along with The MuskerHounds and Willy Fog, makes up the Holy Trinity of cartoon shows from his youth. All three had long, ambitious story lines told over many episodes, and all had a kicking theme tune.If we close our eyes we can just make out Philip Schofield’s face, encouraging viewers to write in to get a printed copy of the theme song lyrics. Or was it Andy Crane? Ed the Duck was definitely there.
FIVE FAVE OLD SCHOOL HORROR FLICKS
With Halloween approaching, it got us thinking about how the classic horror film doesn’t really exist anymore. We haven't seen the latest Brit flick Demons Never Die yet, but we haven't heard great things about it either to be honest. To this day a lot of the classics are a lot more frightening that the newer films. Check out our top five old school faves! Be afraid, be very afraid!
SLUSH PUPPIES
Ask the Glee kids how it feels to receive a fresh cold Slushie to the face, and they’ll more than likely stop believing and lose hold of that non brain freeze feeling. But we would of totally been slushied at school, in fact we love Slush Puppies so much we would of almost been a human ‘Sluppy’ guard; diving in front of anyone who was heading for brrrrr-ville with our mouth wide open just to experience the taste sensation!
LISA LISA & CULT JAM – I WONDER IF I TAKE U HOME
One of my favourite songs of all time period is Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's I Wonder If I Take You Home. Whenever I hear it, it instantly takes me back to my childhood. I still remember hearing it for the first time in 1985 while on a school trip at the final day disco! Lead singer Lisa Velez was recently spotted on a red carpet, check out what she looks like now!
MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL REVISITED
Who didn't love this album???? *crickets* Even though Lauryn Hill has seems to have left this part of her behind long ago, like us she still likes to reminisce. Check out this Reebok Classics interview special on the classic album!
THE KRYPTON FACTOR
The Krypton Factor had nothing to do with the Perodic Table or Superman. It was a fantastic gameshow that ran from 1977 to 1995 on primetime ITV.Hosted by newsreader Gordon Burns, contestants competed in a series of rounds that tested their physical stamina and mental attributes.
GLADIATORS
Wolf was in fact a 57 year old homeless man pulled off the streets at the last minute by London Weekend Television producers, desperate for someone to play the bad guy. Supposed to be terrifying, he was by far the least frightening Gladiator, and you could see the contestants visibly draw a sigh of relief if he was their chosen opponent. Only Shadow actually looked like he might actually be taking the whole thing completely seriously and could possibly kill a contestant.
RUBIK’S CUBE
In the 80s, EVERYONE had a Rubik’s Cube, whether you wanted one or not. It was the law. For anyone not around in the Eighties, it was a small plastic puzzle with 54 different coloured blocks making up a six-sided cube. To win, you had to make each of the six sides the same colour by rotating each face.
DANGERMOUSE
For those of you who aren’t clued up on your secret agent rodents, Danger Mouse always saved the day when there was any, erm, danger. He was accompanied by Penfold, a bumbling but loveable hamster, who we believe is responsible for the ‘geek chic’ revival of fashion spectacles. (What evs Gok Wan…)
TRANSFORMERS
In 1984 Transformers were born. Kids like robots. Kids like cars. SO WHAT ABOUT A ROBOT THAT IS ALSO A CAR? It’s probably the best idea of all time. Better than the egg cup, chocolate covered pretzels, Action Man (not a robot, couldn’t change into a car) and even Star Wars figures. (Some robots, no cars).
LEGWARMERS AND LYCRA/SPANDEX
If leg warmers were the only trend coming out of the 80s' aerobics craze, we would probably think back on that time with more fondness than shame. Unfortunately, the most unforgiving of all unforgiving fabrics - spandex/lyrca - managed to creep into the limelight also, and not all of us looked as good in it as Jane Fonda. Bobby Brown in the Every Little Step video sure didn't - cringe times one million!
FRAGGLE ROCK
'DANCE YOUR CARES AWAY, worries for another day, let the music play… down in FRAGGLE ROCK!' After the success of The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, it was only natural that Jim Henson should take his knack for creating and bringing to life amazing puppet characters, and create yet another huge hit... cue FRAGGLE ROCK!
NIRVANA
Anyone unfamiliar with the greatness of Nirvana, we urge you to give their music a chance and you’ll realise it in no time. If you just let their songs talk to you, get used to the distorted riffs and pain-stricken screams, repress the urge to shout ‘this is not music!’ and just let your gut feelings do the talking. R.I.P Kurt Cobain!
MUSIC
THE POLICE
There have always been boy bands – teenage phenomenon’s with overly styled...
TRACY CHAPMAN
Tracy Chapman’s another artist whose career I’m too young to have witnessed in...
LISA LISA & CULT JAM – I WONDER IF I TAKE U HOME
One of my favourite songs of all time period is Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s I...
HANSON
Having just performed five back-to-back shows at Kings College London Student Union,...
BLONDIE – AUTOAMERICAN
God, I love Blondie. Maybe this is based on the fact that lead singer Debbie Harry...
NIRVANA
Firstly, I want to make it clear: I’m not writing this as a critic, or a music...
GABRIELLE
Born Louisa Gabrielle Bobb in Hackney South London, this notable British songstress...
NWA
‘Straight outta Compton… A crazy mutherf***** named Ice Cube, from a gang...
Read More Posts From This CategoryFILM & TV
THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD
Here are my memories of The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Read More →
FIVE FAVE OLD SCHOOL HORROR FLICKS
With Halloween approaching, it got me thinking about how the classic horror film...
THE KRYPTON FACTOR
The Krypton Factor had nothing to do with the Perodic Table or Superman. It was a...
GLADIATORS
Before X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, before even Stephen Mulhern’s Animals...
DANGERMOUSE
These days there’s something quite laughable about a small white mouse fighting...
TRANSFORMERS
With big screen production Transformers 3D hitting the cinema this week, let’s...
INSPECTOR GADGET
What I could never work out as a kid was – was Inspector Gadget a robot? Or some...
THE RACOONS
“This is the Evergreen Forest: quiet, peaceful, serene. That is, until Bert Raccoon...
Read More Posts From This CategoryOLD SCHOOL IN THE NEWS
BLOCKBUSTERS – R.I.P BOB HOLNESS
We were so sad to hear about the passing of TV legend Bob Holness earlier this week. The bespectacled host, who died in his sleep at the age of 83, will be best remembered for presenting one of the best TV game shows of all time… Continue reading “BLOCKBUSTERS – R.I.P BOB HOLNESS” » Read More →
FRESH PRINCE REUNION & AUNT VIV (NO.1) NOT HAPPY…
The original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast members James Avery (Uncle Phil), Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton), Karyn Parsons (Hilary), Tatyana Ali (Ashley) and Will Smith (Will) met up in Hollywood recently, and fans went crazy when Will promptly posted a picture of the exciting event on his Facebook page (below)! However, missing from the shot was Joseph Marcel... [Read more of this review]
80S KIDS FAVES, THE KRANKIES, WERE SWINGERS
I guess panto ticket sales must have been slow down at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, as that is the only way to possibly explain why old school children’s entertainers the Krankies decided to spill the beans on their days as swingers after all these years of the public being blissfully unaware! Yes! That’s right! Ian and his ‘son’ wee Jimmy... [Read more of this review]
NEWSROUND TO GET BAFTA FOR 40 YEARS SERVICE
I used to love Newsround growing up, so was chuffed to bits when I heard it was getting honoured with a BAFTA for 40 years of service! It is impressive that it has lasted this long, but not surprising as kids want to know what’s going on in the world too. I love the fact that the show’s reporters were banned from South Africa back in the... [Read more of this review]
DMC SHARES TRUE IMPACT OF ‘MY ADIDAS’ 25 YEARS LATER
We spotted this story over at MTV.com… ‘A quarter century after Run-DMC dedicated a song to their sneaker brand of choice, DMC is still rocking his Adidas for hip-hop. On Friday morning (November 11), Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels of the seminal Queens rap group was in the Harlem USA clothing store on 125th Street signing autographs for fans... [Read more of this review]
UPTOWN BABY! ANDRE HARRELL LAUNCHES TALENT SEARCH!
Andre Harrell has always been a trailblazer. Be it as one half of early 80s rap duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where the pair rocked sharp suits as opposed to the obligatory jeans, sports jerseys and baseball caps. And then in the mid 80s-mid-90s as president of Uptown Records, an imprint on MCA, which kick started the whole ‘ghetto fabulous’... [Read more of this review]
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