Archive for August 13, 2008

So long Isaac Hayes

Posted in Movies, Music with tags , , on August 13, 2008 by macmystery

The music world will miss Isaac Hayes, who dies a couple of days ago, apparently from a stroke.

Hayes was best known for his theme from the blacksploitation move “Shaft.”

But, by far, my two favorite Hayes contributions involved cartoons. He was responsible for the character Chef, integral to 137 episodes of South Park from 1997-2006.

And secondly, he was responsible for the song “Two Cool Guys” used as the intro to the movie “Beavis and Butt-head Do America.”

Here it is:

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Marvin Gaye and the Star Spangled Banner

Posted in Music, Sports with tags , , on August 13, 2008 by macmystery

Nike is running a TV ad during the Olympic broadcasts. I think the ad is for the U.S. basketball team, but the background is part of Marvin Gaye’s version of the Star Spangled Banner, with quick cuts of him among the basketball highlights.

Gaye’s version of the national anthem was from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. He already had a pretty serious drug problem at the time and was 30 minutes late to the game, forcing the festivities to wait. He then sang an unusually soulful rendition of the tune with a drum machine backbeat that was definitely unlike anything the TV execs had expected.

According to 1980s pop star Thomas Dolby, Stevie Wonder told him it was the reason, despite Gaye’s popularity at the time (“Sexual Healing” was on the charts), he was never on TV again until he was dead, which was about a year later.

Some folks (maybe those with lead pipes in their houses and lead paint on their toothbrushes) still see his rendition as some sort of insult. Come on people. It’s not like he pulled a Carl Lewis or Roseanne.

Nonetheless, I think it’s beautiful. And I’m glad, even if it’s thanks to Nike, I get to hear it a little more often.

For those that haven’t seen it, here it is:

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Bruce reports bogus?

Posted in Music, Sports with tags on August 13, 2008 by macmystery

It’s possible the N.Y. Post jumped the gun on the Bruce Springsteen Super Bowl halftime extravaganza. Variety reports that he NFL says no entertainment has been confirmed as of yet.

Oh well.

I’m willing to bet the Post got it right, but nobody is ready to talk about it yet. The NFL has been asking him since the mid-1980s, only to be repeatedly turned down.

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