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” »

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 (Butler Geoffery) and Daphne Maxwell Reid (Aunt Viv number 2). Also absent was Janet Hubert, who played the original Aunt Viv. In 1993, she was replaced half way through the shows six year run (in season four), at the time it was said to be due to contract disputes and the audience were none the wiser as to real reason Aunt Viv suddenly changed from dark skinned to light skinned and slim to shapely.

Years later Hubert revealed the real reason she was let go from the show, which was allegedly due to Will Smith’s ‘out-of-control ego’, and the fact that unlike the rest of the cast she didn’t roll over and take it. She also claimed that after she was fired Will blackballed her career as a Hollywood actress, which made it hard for her to get work. In fact so deep were her feelings on the matter she wrote a book Perfection Is Not A Sit-com Mom (2009) detailing her version of events.

All this has now come back into the spotlight after TMZ interviewed Hubert recently about the reunion and she made was clear she hadn’t gotten over things, saying: ‘There will never be a reunion … as I will never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith.’ She added: ‘He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn’t know the word.’ Ouch!

Check out two separate interviews done by Janet in the recent years, talking in more detail about the issues she felt led to her getting fired.

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 Krankie used to get their freak on in the weirdest of places with several different partners, even though Ian and Janette Tough who played the wacky characters, were married themselves in real life.  Apparently this all happened way back in the 70s and 80s while at the height of their fame. With their catchphrase ‘Fandabidozi’ The Krankies were a staple on several kid’s shows back in the day, but now I am sure those who grew up with them, including myself will look at them in a whole new light now!

 

Check out the story here:

 

 

TRUFFLE SHUFFLE CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS/COMPETITION

As you may have gathered by now over at I Miss The Old School, we are obsessed with all things… Errr… Old school. So, we were extremely excited to click onto website truffleshuffle this month to see plenty of Christmas goodies that pay homage to the best of 80s and 90s popular culture. In fact we were so made up we decided to post a few of our favourites as potential gift ideas for ‘Him’, ‘Her’ and the ‘Kids’, and we chose the most cost effective gifts, so that you don’t have to break the bank either! Aren’t we lovely? There is even a lovely competition to enter too at the end of the post! Merry Christmas everybody! Continue reading “TRUFFLE SHUFFLE CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS/COMPETITION” »

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 80s and early 90s during the time of apartheid, as every time they reported a story on it, they explained what the word meant, which made the South African government at the time highly uncomfortable – which of course it should have done! It shows the importance of the show and how it educated young people on so-called ‘adult issues’. Continue reading “NEWSROUND TO GET BAFTA FOR 40 YEARS SERVICE” »

THE POLICE

There have always been boy bands – teenage phenomenon’s with overly styled hair and cheesy dance routines, who are flocked by millions of young girls everywhere they go.

It is one of those facts of life we have come to accept.

But The Police, well, they were a MAN band. Yes they did have the millions of young female fans and were a phenomenon (thankfully the cheesy dance routines were a no-no and their hair was just blonde) but they were men. Continue reading “THE POLICE” »

TRACY CHAPMAN

Tracy Chapman’s another artist whose career I’m too young to have witnessed in person: her first album was released the year after I was born, while the last one I heard of, Telling Stories, came out right when I was starting to despise commercial pop and engage with my first love, punk-rock. I found out about Tracy Chapman’s most known singles much after they were released, thanks to the afternoon radio programmes that my parents used as background noise at home.  Bless the radio, yeah – I don’t listen to it much these days, but it saved me from death by boredom lots of times when I was a kid.
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman. Despite her name, I thought for quite a long time that she was a actually man.
I don’t mean to be offensive, here; on the contrary, my mistaken impression was due to the depth and power of her voice, which I absolutely admire. And to the fact that back in the day I barely saw her face, and first got to know of her through her music and voice alone. Plus, her hair’s quite short on the cover of the first album, isn’t it?
Well, nevermind. What really matters is her music, and who cares if she has a deep voice, if it conveys intense emotions and tells meaningful tales? I surely don’t.
Let’s take Fast Car, for example. Fast Car sounds a little bit like every girl’s story – or, in a way, a story every girl would like to tell. Drunk father, dreary life, unhappiness everywhere…until, suddenly, someone truly beautiful saves it all and provides a means of escaping to a brand new life.

Again, no offense, no sarcasm: I love that song. I have found myself a million times dreaming of the Right Guy with a Fast Car, and every time I thought I’d met someone who could fit the description I hopelessly daydreamed about finally finding out how nice his arm felt around my shoulder. Or where we could run away to, what would our tiny and cheap apartment look like, how long it would have taken us to finally settle down – together.
Yes, I was that kind of daydreamer, when I was younger. Hopeless, did I already mention that?
Just like the girl in the song, I guess. And a million other girls out there.
Tracy’s deep, moving voice sings the story of all of us, with the words we’d use ourselves to tell it. And that’s why Fast Car is precious – as much as Baby Can I Hold You, for that matter, or any of her other songs. They possess the right balance between intimate feelings and universal meanings, they show us both life as it is and as we would like it to be. And that’s what makes them worth to be listened to again, and again, and again.

Federica Silvi

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 who purchased a special Adidas Originals Superstar 80s model commemorating the 25th anniversary of Run-DMC’s My Adidas.

The song was released in 1986 and appears on Run-DMC’s triple-platinum Raising Hell album. The hit record was inspired by more than just bragging and boasting about their collection of kicks, though.

‘It was a song that was about our sneakers, but it was bigger than just talking about how many pairs of sneakers we had,’ DMC told MTV News. ‘It came from the place of people would look at the b-boys, the b-girls and go, “Oh, those are the people that cause all the problems in here.” And, “Those young people are nothing but troublemakers and those young people don’t know nothing.” So they was judging the book by its cover, without seeing what was inside of it.’

DMC continued, ‘So me, Run and [Jam Master] Jay was like, ‘Yeah, we going to make a record about our Adidas.’ Yeah, we wear Adidas [with] no laces, we got gold chains, we got Cazals and all of that, but I go to St. John’s University. These Adidas stepped onstage at Live Aid. People gave and the poor got paid. It was about taking the image of the b-boy and b-girl and letting the world know we’re a people of vision, we’re inspiration, motivation, we’re educated too. So it’s kind of a kick in the face to the people that was hating on hip-hop.’

Run-DMC’s lyrical certification of ‘shelltoe’ Adidas led to the first-ever endorsement deal between a music act and an athletic company. The limited-edition My Adidas Superstar 80s model is the same shoe Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay wore back in the day with special details like the JMJ logo on the heel, ’1986′ stitched on the side and a gold lace lock designed to look like a dookie-rope gold chain. Only 1,986 of the shoes will be made for sale to the public….’

To read more on this and see video interview with DMC…

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’ movement and assisted in ushering in  the mainstream’s unapologetic love affair with black culture as we currently know it, from the music, the fashion, the lifestyle and the swag.

The label also changed the music industry forever by introducing acts such as Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Guy, Heavy D and the Boys and Al B Sure, who, aside from becoming a success in their own right and carving their place in music history, became a blueprint for countless acts who followed. Uptown was also where Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing sound first began to thrive. Andre is also responsible for giving Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs his start in the music industry when he hired him as an intern at Uptown Records in 1993. And contrary to urban myth he didn’t fire him, that was Uptown’s then General Manager Mark Siegel – but that’s another story for another time.

But back to Andre, who also bought us blue-eyed soul crooner Robin Thicke, and his most recent carnation as CEO of the relatively new Harrell Records, where acts include r&b male quintet Hamilton Park.

The primary reason for doing this interview is he is currently on the look out for some more acts to add to his stable. Which is why he has embarked on a fantastic and innovative global talent search project with Blazetrak, a web platform that provides direct video access to the world’s top professionals. From now through to November 30th, 2011 Andre will be accepting auditions via Blazetrak.com from artists and aspiring producer/songwriters. He will personally review each and every submission, and all entrants are guaranteed a video response/critique directly from Andre himself. Then, after reviewing all the entries, on 10 January, 2012 he will announce the winning recipient of a record deal or production/publishing deal. Already, the talent search is gaining some serious buzz, with multiple tweets going out from Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Jermaine Dupri, Russell Simmons and Robin Thicke on Twitter. Here’s what Andre had to say about the project, his history and impact in the music industry and the many artists and figures whose careers he is responsible for kick-starting. Continue reading “UPTOWN BABY! ANDRE HARRELL LAUNCHES TALENT SEARCH!” »

R.I.P HEAVY D

Wow! Isn’t life a funny thing? Heavy D’s passing, after collapsing from respiratory problems outside his Beverly Hills home on Tuesday night (8 November, 2011), shocked so many. As well as the fact that it was so untimely, being he was only 44, I think it hit even harder as this year, after being out of the spotlight for a while, he has been in the public eye more than in what’s seems like forever. There was the BET Awards just last month (his first televised performance in 15 years!), where he smashed the stage to bits, proving he was still very much the smooth showman we all grooved with back in the day,  by dancing and rapping up a storm! And even became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter for his troubles.

Next he pops up in the latest Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller movie Tower Heist, which came out in the UK  last week. Then there was his trip to London, again last week, for what I am assuming was the first time in a while, where he visited the Tim Westwood Show and gave what would become his last interview, among other things. I remember him tweeting while he was here that he was watching a particular film on UK television and I tweeted back, asking him what he was doing in London, as I was keen to arrange an interview. He never replied, so sadly this didn’t happen.

Also, just two weeks ago I got an email out of the blue about interviewing Andre Harrell, respected music industry trailblazer and former CEO of Uptown Records, where Heavy D and the Boyz got their start in the late 80s, as the first act on the label. They went on to become one of the most popular hip hop acts of the 90s and Heavy went on to enjoy a fruitful solo career, featuring on tracks by the likes of Michael Jackson (Jam) and producing for artists as a varied as Jay-Z and Lenny Kravitz. He also moved into acting and appeared in flicks such as Life (alongside Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence). But not many know how much Heavy contributed to the growth and success of Uptown, and  that it was he that helped a young Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs get his internship there, the one which put him on the road to success. This in particular got me reminiscing about the self-dubbed ‘overweight lover’ and revisiting his videos on Youtube, as Andre had a lot to say about Heavy and how Andre ensured he wasn’t looked at in a stereotypical way in the industry because of his size, which is where the dancing and sharp suits came in. I was trying to pick one video to slot in to the article, but there were too many to choose from so I had to narrow it down to two in the end.

My favourite song of his is probably Got Me Waiting, which I used to rewind to death on my CD player back in the day! The big man, who not only entertained us with his own music, also bought us the group Soul IV Real, who will also be etched in music history just for their Heavy D featured hit single Candy Rain.

The huge sense of  loss felt by fans and celebs (many who were also fans) has been reflected in the number and nature of tributes issued on his behalf since  the news broke. Hip hop website Rapradar.com posted a long list of tweets which came from rap world, which spoke volumes.

Click here for tribute tweets from the rap world

But the fact that tributes also flooded in fast from outside of the rap stable, and from some seemingly unlikely sources, showcases how how far the love of Heavy D spread. For example singer Joey McIntyre, from boyband New Kids On The Block, who to all outside of his core fanbase would not be the first person you would mention when you said the words: ‘Heavy D’.  But following Heavy D’s passing, this dude went past tweeting and wrote a WHOLE blog post on how much Heavy D affected his life, and how much he will miss him as an artist and some one he was lucky enough to have met on a few occasions and have a genuine connection with. That’s serious. The group’s Donnie Wahlberg also gave  his own tribute by sharing a picture of him and Heav back in the day with his Twitter followers.

You would assume that when someone dies, people will automatically have something nice to say about them because it is the ‘right way’ to express things in such circumstances. But with Heavy D you get the impression that these are the same really nice things people thought and said about the guy when he was alive.

R.I.P Dwight Arrington Myers bka ‘Heavy D’! You will always be a true hip hop legend!

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