Music historian and Charlotte native Dave Tompkins is a national treasure. His influential writing for magazines as far flung as Grand Royal and The Wire made hip-hop writing an art form unto itself. An admirer of the odd, Tompkins latched onto the synthetic magic of the voice-manipulating vocoder early in his life, and set to the task of penning a book on the subject not long thereafter. A resident of Brooklyn, Tompkins will be returning to the Old North State to read from his new book, How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop.
Although the flyer does not reflect this, Dave will also be reading at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on Saturday, June 19th at 3pm.
Between all the great questions that Frank asked us about Curt Moore of Greensboro, David Lee of the Shelby area, and other important figures on the Carolina Soul scene, the Paradise of Bachelors record label slipped through the cracks. Brendan Greaves and I are heading up this enterprise, and our first release later this summer will be a David Lee retrospective compilation. Read more at the Paradise of Bachelors blog, particularly these posts:
And as a bonus, check out these pictures snapped this weekend in Cleveland County, North Carolina:
David Lee at home in Mooresboro.
The former Washington Sound on Buffalo Street in Shelby. David Lee ran his record shop in this building from the early 1970s through 1995.
Across the street from the shop, where Buffalo meets Weathers, the one-time Washington Theatre and Washington Center, where Ann Sexton often performed, and where David Lee met her for the first time.
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010
by Jason at 01:15 PM.
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Venerable Durham, North Carolina cultural arts festival Bimbé enters its 41st year, tomorrow, Saturday, May 22, at the CCB Plaza downtown.
1976 looks to have been a good year, with three Carolina Soul outfits on the bill, Blue Steam and Duracha, both of Durham, and the allegedly never-recorded Black Genesis of Raleigh. (Newspaper advertisement comes from The Carolina Times.)
If you spent any sizable amount of time consuming popular music in the Triad 1993-present, you are most likely familiar with Manard “Busta” Brown. Most ‘80s babies, like myself, had the privilege of growing up with Busta at 102.1-FM WJMH (“where hip-hop lives”), and growing old with Busta at older-sister station 97.1-FM WQMG. Although the circumstances surrounding Brown’s cordial dismissal from Entercom Entertainment Corporation is a nauseating narrative of corporate radio politricks and money over manners, this week’s story for Go Triad is an uplifting one, chronicling Brown’s arrival at community radio resource 90.1-FM WNAA where he continues to host the “Afternoon Thang” Monday through Thursday, 3pm-5pm. “WNAA is 24/7—a station for the people,” said Brown in a recent interview. “You have other programming here that is very informative, and the music is good too, so this was the best fit for me, as far as being connected with the Triad.”
Although Brown’s photo album is an exhaustive directory of Black entertainers—past and present—here are a few of our favorites.
Busta Brown and LL Cool J
Busta Brown and Jerry Rice
Busta Brown and the Kings of Comedy
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010
by kirby at 12:08 PM.
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James Funches, who we profiled in Sophisticated Fight Song, has played in a number of memorable ensembles over the last three decades, teaching music within the Forsyth County School System for the better part of that time. Reggie Buie, a native of Chicago, grew up next door to drummer Isaac “Red” Holt, one of Ramsey Lewis’ preferred timekeepers, who would one day comprise one half of the soul-jazz franchise, Young-Holt Unlimited. The two were making decent money backing Carolina vocalist Janice Price, when a performance opportunity arose at Wayne’s Lounge, located in the long-demolished Ramada Inn on N. Marshall Street in downtown Winston-Salem. Buie loaded drum patterns and bass lines onto floppy disks, and the duo played smoothed-out standards and R&B numbers for a consistent crowd. “I wasn’t crazy about it until I saw the first check,” reflected Funches of the sessions. “We got paid like there was six of us!”
Recorded on April 29th, 1993, new jack swing’s newly minted song book was put to good use, with Today’s “Why You Gettin’ Funky on Me” (from the House Party Soundtrack), Johnny Gill’s “Fair-Weather Friend,” and perhaps the genre’s most infamous offering, “Poison,” by Bell Biv Devoe.
Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” as performed by Funches & Buie
