Nerd Pride Radio

Of course she does. Although some days it's just Medusa in sweats and a hat.

Good point Mike. I bet she also owns a few snoods for when she wants them to just settle down and take a nap.

I can bring in this thread warm or I can bring it in cold.

Seeing as it is unkillable, it'll be warm.

Pass.

Wow. The Reagan era just came roaring in, musically, and then it got super lame. Where did we take a wrong turn?

Nevermind. Found it. MTV launched in 1981. VH1 in 1985.

ok, warm then.

Stan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:54 am Do you think Medusa ever pulls her snakes back in a pony tail? Maybe sometimes she doesn't want a head that looks like a bunch of snakes and just wants them out of the way so she can get stuff done.

It's a daily struggle, I tell you.

Stan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:47 am Good point Mike. I bet she also owns a few snoods for when she wants them to just settle down and take a nap.

Yep also accurate.

Mike wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 6:12 pm You misunderstand.

And after all of the things I do for you! I buy champagne and roses; you stay out all night and give your number to anyone! What am I to do?

I cry foul at thy triple posting! Foul I say!

1986 #15:

Once upon a time, I loved this song so much.

Yeah- I feel like we appreciated white people rapping way more than we should have.

Right?

1986 #16:

Nope. I forgot about this song for a reason, apparently. Cuz it's lame.

1986 #17:

Still like Simple Minds though.

1986 #18:

Kyle wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:43 am Yeah- I feel like we appreciated white people rapping way more than we should have.

True - and yet, occasional counterpoints:

1986 #19:

Prince! Still a great song.

Phoebe wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:31 am

Kyle wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:43 am Yeah- I feel like we appreciated white people rapping way more than we should have.

True - and yet, occasional counterpoints:

I was thinking of that song too when I wrote it. And don't get me wrong, I love both songs from the perspective of earnest teen-me nostalgia. But I read an interesting article a couple years ago specifically talking about Rapture and West End Girls and how they helped rap "break through" to mainstream white teens. The problem is that the rapping in both kind of suck. Again- I loved these songs, and still kind of do. But technically they're pretty shitty raps especially compared to the crazy things that groundbreaking rappers and groups were doing at that time. The author was more lenient on Blondie because (and my memory is hazy on this) she apparently worked with one of the grandparents of rap for Rapture. But the author was less forgiving of the Pet Shop Boys who were just doing lazy rap.

But One Night in Bangkok is genius, right?

Mike wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:04 pm But One Night in Bangkok is genius, right?

Yep.
I like West End Girls ok but the "rap" is such that I didn't even realize until today that it supposed to be rap.

Mike wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:04 pm But One Night in Bangkok is genius, right?

The article didn't talk about that, but it's probably the worst rap of these three examples.

Like wondering what the best quote unquote raps by otherwise non-hip-hop-based white artists, especially in the 80s. I'd give Madonna's "Vogue" props, it was great at the time and I hear it's echos in modern pop diva anthems.

Though it gets a bit complicated as it's a list, and thus could be seen more as patter (ala Major General) than rap?

1986 #20:

I don't like Steve Winwood or his easy-listening rock style. But that's a classic.

poorpete wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:23 pm Like wondering what the best quote unquote raps by otherwise non-hip-hop-based white artists, especially in the 80s. I'd give Madonna's "Vogue" props, it was great at the time and I hear it's echos in modern pop diva anthems.

Though it gets a bit complicated as it's a list, and thus could be seen more as patter (ala Major General) than rap?

I think Vogue was the 90s, but I also give Madonna a little bit of credit because voguing was a movement that she brought to forefront, primarily something prevalent amongst the drag community. But the rap wasn't good. It was just another person speaking lyrics. The beat is not primary to the rap, which leaves it lacking, right?

Although I think we're missing the godfather of bad white people rapping: William Shatner.

1986 #21:

Why theeeeee %$%(* is this "music" constantly still played on the radio? It's 2021 and at times I have had THREE DIFFERENT STATIONS playing this crap at the same time. What on earth. Why. I am not a fan. If we want to pluck up such hits for constant radio re-airing, well, we have Hall and Oates and Lionel RItchie and such. We do not need this.

Re: Rapture - we can't really compare Debbie Harry rap to other people's rap. She's rapping as the singer of Blondie. That's how Debbie Harry raps. It might not be groundbreaking and good in the way other rappers were, but it's authentically her version of rap. Those other songs, I just think of those as white people talking words over the music. Debbie is rapping, in her way.

Phoebe wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:54 pmRe: Rapture - we can't really compare Debbie Harry rap to other people's rap. She's rapping as the singer of Blondie. That's how Debbie Harry raps. It might not be groundbreaking and good in the way other rappers were, but it's authentically her version of rap. Those other songs, I just think of those as white people talking words over the music. Debbie is rapping, in her way.

Wait. What? Is this in response to what I posted?

To slightly defend Debbie, her rap predates "The Message," and I feel anything before "The Message" gets a pass. Anything after knows the new standard raps need to live up to.

1986 #22:

Wait, wait, wait.
Rapture... Rap-ture? Dude. I'm sloooooooow

This type of thing happens to me weekly. It's a sign of your flourishing.

Confession time: I've never liked the rap portion of Rapture. Ever. I appreciate the quality of the rest of the song, but I've never been able to really enjoy it, because the rap part has always spoiled it for me. Never been a fan. I remember friends raving about it in junior high. It was just the coolest thing ever apparently, and I remember pretending to like it, because I didn't want to seem like a dork who didn't get it. But it turns out I'm a dork who didn't get it.

I'm mixed. Was always weirded out by the eating cars stuff as a kid. Still feels a little awkward, doesn't quite land for me. She has some good pre-Message flow otherwise, when she's not telling a story.

Here's a solid hip hop major events by year list
https://theboombox.com/hip-hop-events-by-year/
Some are questionable, especially post 80s when some focused on kinda tabloidish stuff instead of the sounds, but mostly solid look at the key points in rap history.

1986 #23:

The best! Aardman animated! Zenith of music videos, at least until Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze thrive in the late 90s. For such a video that was made for a kid like me to love, dunno when I realized the song was so horny. Probably around the time he released "Steam" in 93 and looking back I noticed a trend.

Great song! Great video!

1986 #24: