BOOTH ANNOUNCER:
Shady Train...
the hippest trip in America!
60 nonstop minutes across the
tracks of your mind into the
exciting world of Soul!
And now, here's your host...
Don Cornelius!
Hi there and welcome back in. You're right on time
for another hip trip on the Shadytown choo-choo.
Don't need money. Don't take fame. Don't need
no credit card to ride this train... so climb aboard!
On this special edition of our show we're taking the Terror Train...
and the Horror Express and heading straight toward Halloween.
we are delighted to introduce a very talented
young actor known for his portrayal of base-
ball great Jackie Robinson in the film 42 and
his starring role in the 2018 blockbuster
black Panther. Now behold his brilliant
portrayal of soul legend James Brown in
Get On Up, the 2014 film biography that
chronicles the Godfather's rise to inter-
national fame. Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Chadwick Boseman and Mr. Dynamite, James Brown, invite you
to Get On Up and get on board-- the "Night Train!"
"Night Train" (live) - James Brown And The Famous Flames
(May/June 1962, highest chart pos. #35 Hot 100/#5 R&B,
scene from 2014 film Get On Up)
(May/June 1962, highest chart pos. #35 Hot 100/#5 R&B,
scene from 2014 film Get On Up)
START PLAYING VIDEO
AT 35 SEC. MARK!
And our next guests are, we believe, setting a new standard for what bands are all about. If you base your opinion on sales and genuine popularity, you have to consider them as the best band in the business. As they join us courtesy of our friends at American Bandstand to do their latest single on Total Experience records, a top 3 Halloween hit entitled "Party Train," a great welcome, gang, for-- The Gap Band!
And the Shady Train dancers are gonna style awhile
"Party Train" - The Gap Band
(Halloween 1983, highest chart pos.
#3 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under)
START PLAYING VIDEO
AT 30 SEC. MARK!
and get into a groove that makes you wanna move
real smooth. It's one of three singles by a talented
Italian-American band that topped the U.S. Dance
chart simultaneously for nine weeks in the spring
of 1980 - an all-time record. They call themselves
Change and this is a biggin' everyboy's diggin'
entitled-- "A Lover's Holiday!"
And just in time for Halloween let's welcome one of
"A Lover's Holiday" - Change
(April/May 1980, highest chart pos. #1 U.S. Dance Club,
from Apr. 1980 album The Glow Of Love)
And just in time for Halloween let's welcome one of
he finest talents and one of the loveliest ladies in our
business. She is Miss Evelyn "Champagne" King
and this is a song from the soundtrack of the hit
horror flick Fright Night-- "Give It Up!"
And we are super excited to have aboard the big train
"Give It Up" - Evelyn "Champagne" King
(Halloween 1985, from OST of film Fright Night)
And we are super excited to have aboard the big train
a talented band from Los Angeles to do their smash
disco hit on the Capitol label. As we speak the
record is topping the pop, soul and disco charts
in the U.S. and catching fire all over the world.
The song is entitled "Boogie Oogie Oogie"
and this is-- A Taste Of Honey!
And as the big train takes dead aim on Halloween,
"Boogie Oogie Oogie" - A Taste of Honey
(June/July/Aug. 1978, highest chart pos.
#1 Hot 100/#1 R&B/#1 Disco/#1 Canada)
And as the big train takes dead aim on Halloween,
let's check out this amazing mix of two smash hits.
It's Ray Parker Jr. with the theme song he wrote
and performed for the movie Ghostbusters,
along with Huey Lewis And The News
doing their chart-topper "The Power
Of Love!" It's a nifty mashup called
-- "The Ghostbusters Of Love!"
And the Los Angeles group Klymaxx was one of
Mashup "The Ghostbusters Of Love"
Ray Parker Jr. vs. Huey Lewis And The News
("The Power Of Love" + "Ghostbusters")
START PLAYING VIDEO
AT 50 SEC. MARK!
the first and only all female bands to ever make it
big in our industry. The group is responsible for
killers that include "Wild Girls," "The Men All
Pause," "I Miss You," "Man Size Love," and
their biggest hit and signature song which
you about to hear. As a Halloween treat we
present a parody video starring comedians
Fortune Feimster, Allison Dunbar and friends.
They're-- "Meeting In The Ladies Room!"
That does it for our Halloween Party Train edition
"Meeting In The Ladies Room" - Klymaxx
(parody by comedians Fortune Feimster, Allison Dunbar & friends)
(orig. Apr./May/June 1985, highest chart pos #4 R&B/#59 Hot 100)
That does it for our Halloween Party Train edition
of Shady Train. We'll open another six pack again
next time and throw in another cool one for good
measure, and you can bet your last money, it's all
gonna be a stone gas, honey. I'm Don Cornelius,
and as always in parting, we wish you love...
peace...and soul!
Good-morning, Tom!
ReplyDeleteI know you're shocked to find me boarding your Halloween Train on Saturday morning but DH had to work so what's a girl gonna do? That's right, dance! In the past I've invited you ride the Love Train with the 4M gang and I wanted to extend that invite one more time. I know you're not into hooking up with blog hops but trust me there's no strings attached, just a whole lot fun!
This edition is chockfull of fabulous mewsic! Chadwick Boseman did a furtastic job lip-synching to James Brown's song. We watched "Fright Night" a couple of years ago. It's not a great movie but it was a lot of fun. I like these sorts of old 80s films better today than I did then. lol Ray Parker Jr and Huey Lewis & the News are artists who were really on top of their game in the 80s and 90s. These songs are superb making it difficult to say which is the better but then why pick one when you can love 'em both!
I enjoyed your mewsic filled post. Have a tunetastic weekend and I'll see ya around, my friend!
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteThank you very much for being the early bird for this post and coming over first thing on your Saturday. I am very happy to see you, dear friend!
I'm glad you enjoyed riding the Shady Train aka Terror Train aka Horror Express straight toward Halloween. I'm glad I helped get your eyes open and your feet tapping with that rousing number by James Brown featuring Brown imitator Chadwick Boseman who did a pretty decent lip sync performance to the live version of Brown's "Night Train" in a scene from the biopic Get On Up. Believe it or not, I still have not watched that movie. I will say this in all honesty. Chadwick did a good job, but none of his dance moves even came close to the precision of the real James Brown. I would also add that the backing singers, dancers and musicians in the film were not nearly as "tight" as the actual ensemble that performed live with JB back in the day.
Fright Night is one of my favorite H-ween movies. Roddy McDowall was great in it, and you might recognize the female lead, Amanda Bearse, as "Marcy" - Peggy's best friend on the hit sitcom Married... with Children.
I'm delighted that you appreciated the mashup of "Ghostbusters" and "Power Of Love." There are many great mashups available on YouTube now and I've been checking them out for post material.
Thank you again for coming by early and joining the Halloween fun, dear friend Cathy. Have a spooktacular weekend!
Tom,
DeleteJames Brown is a powerhouse vocalist. I have not seen him live, except for video clips. I always got a kick out of Eddie Murphy's obsession over his James Brown tape in 48 Hours. Did you ever see the Eddie Murphy James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub SNL Skit? I love the scene in Another 48 Hours of Eddie Murphy singing James Brown's," I Got the Feeling". Eddie Murphy does a great James Brown! I wonder why they didn't use him in the role?
I always liked Roddy McDowall. He appeared in a lot of stuff I watched during my teen years. I did recognize Amanda Bearse but I couldn't recall which TV sitcom she was on until you mentioned it.
Thanks for sharing the pre-Halloween fun aboard the Terror Train!
Hi again, Cathy!
DeleteI was lucky to see a live James Brown show in my youth. In 1968 Brown performed on the grandstand at the York Interstate Fair. It rained hard during the show but Brown performed his acrobatic moves on stage with no "slips."
I do not recall the Eddie Murphy- James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub sketch. I think Mrs. Shady and I had stopped watching SNL regularly by that time. I just watched it on YouTube and am very impressed with Murphy's imitation of Brown. He performed the vocals, dance moves and JB shtick authentically. If Eddie were still young enough he would have been the right casting choice to play Brown in Get On Up. I also just watched "I Got The Feeling" in that scene from Another 48 Hours (a film we also missed). Eddie is spot-on with his raw, gritty Brown vocal style. I am amazed!
I'm glad you appreciate the late, great Roddy McDowall, one of my favorite actors. I recently watched Roddy with Jane Powell in the 1946 musical Holiday in Mexico.
Thank you again for coming to chat, dear friend Cathy. I hope we can get my comment issues worked out on your CAAC site. We were just getting into a groove and now I find that I am locked out again! Please check your email and post the comment for me if you would be so kind. Thank you!
Tom,
DeleteI'm sorry for not visiting yesterday. I think the problem is on my end. My site is doing some funky things. I think I'm going to have to spend some time trying to figure out what the heck is going one. I suspect it has something to do with some changes I've made recently which is causing the temporary snafu. Thanks for bringing it to my attention yesterday. Your comment today went through without a hitch so that marvelous! Have a good day and I hope y'all don't get too soaked by the hurricane.
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteWelcome back to Shady's Place, dear friend!
I'm glad we're back on track with my comments getting through on your site. It seems likely that your blog rejected my comment yesterday because I copied and pasted it. I composed today's comment from scratch in the comment form and it went through w/o any problem. I will just need to make sure that I drink enough coffee and am wide awake before I write another hour long comment like I did yesterday, because I certainly don't want to click the wrong tab and have the while thing disappear on me. That happened recently on somebody's blog and set me back an extra hour while I rewrote the comment. :)
Thank you for the well wishes regarding hurricane Michael. Have a wonderful day, dear friend Cathy!
Tom,
DeleteI've had blogs to reject or cyberspace eat my comments altogether. It's frustrating. I think you have more more patience than me. I have learned to listen to that small voice that says, "copy and paste" because it's saved my bacon a time or two by doing this simple action. :) Sandee commented yesterday that my layout looked different and perhaps this might be part of your troubles, I added a plugin and it messed things up. Luckily I noticed pretty quickly and I deleted it. I think it caused some issues. Anyhow, you stay safe and we'll say prayers for your granddaughter, as well as all Floridans affected by the hurricane passing through.
Have a good day!
Hi again, dear Cathy!
DeleteI think if I were using Wordpress platform rather than Blogger I wouldn't be having these problems. For months back in 2015 I was locked out of Michele's blog until I figured out how to "hack" my way in. :)
Thank you very much for sending prayers for Floridians in the path of deadly and destructive hurricane Michael.
Have a super day, dear friend Cathy!
Tom,
DeleteI recall when I was on Blogger I had some issues with WP users but managed to comment on most occasions. I didn't have many bloggers on that platform in the beginning but most have migrated that direction including me. I'm glad you're a tenacious fella in figuring out work arounds to a problem.
Keep dry, my friend!
Thank you, Cathy!
DeleteIf all else fails I can always contact you by email as I did the other day. Thank you again for your kind visits and enjoy the rest of your day and week!
Now I will have Ghostbusters in my head for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteI remember that song from Fright Night as well. That was a fun movie.
Hi, Alex!
DeleteThanks for popping in, good buddy!
You aren't the only one who has the "Ghostbusters" theme stuck in your head. It's on repeat in my noggin, too! I wonder why certain songs are more likely to burn into your brain that way.
I remember the movie Fright Night but didn't discover that great song by Evelyn King until a year ago. I would up buying the soundtrack CD just to get "Give It Up" but, to my delight, I found a few other gems on the OST as well. It was a fun movie and I found a review with some great screencap pictures in a horror movie fanzine I bought that year - Famous Monsters of Filmland.
Thanks again for joining the fun and riding the big train, good buddy Alex!
Thanx 4 the ride, friend Shady … I really liked Huey … Happy Thanks Giving … oops, not yet in your country, I guess … Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteHi, cat!
DeleteYessum, happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you, dear friend, and thank you very much for coming down to the lower 48 to sample some spooky sounds in this edition of Shady Train!
Huey's song "The Power Of Love" is a great one and very inspiring. I used it as the music bed in a promotional video I produced to coincide with the launch of our MTV style television station.
I'm glad you enjoyed riding the Terror Train, dear friend cat. Thanks again for coming by on a Saturday and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Well I know when I board the Shady Train I'm going to find some great dance numbers and this was no exception! :D
ReplyDeleteJames Brown might have had an unsavory personal life, but he sure could move. Definitely the Godfather of Soul.
Thoroughly enjoyed going back in time with Boogie Oogie Oogie and that mashup with Huey Lewis and Ray Parker, Jr.!
Some really fun stuff this time, Shady!
Hi, Eclectic Kelly! :)
DeleteThank you very much for coming, dear friend! I'm happy you summoned the courage to hop aboard the Shady Train on its terrorizing trip to Halloween.
As I mentioned in an earlier reply, the real James Brown had much better stage moves than actor Chadwick Boseman was able to manage in the film Get On Up. The same goes for The Famous Flames, James Brown's band, and the backup singers and dancers. They were good in the movie but "Out Of Sight" in real life.
I'm glad you enjoyed A Taste Of Honey making its first appearance on the Shady Train. In 1988, ten years after that LA based disco band scored their international hit with the song, British disco and Synth-pop artist Sid Haywoode recorded a cover and released it as a single. By golly by gum I love her version, too, and bought it on two different various artists CD collections.
I'm delighted that you also appreciated the clever H-ween mashup of "Ghostbusters" and "The Power Of Love." The art of the mashup is alive and well on YouTube.
Thank you again for coming by on your Saturday, dear friend Kelly. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I loved hearing A Taste of Honey again. I confess to not knowing any of the women in that band played the guitar. As with a lot of disco songs, I just assumed it was mostly done with a keyboard or synthesizer.
ReplyDeleteThe Gap Band reminds me that when American Bandstand had black musicians on--which in the 1970s and '80s probably happened more often than people remember--it could indeed be indistinguishable from Soul Train (well, I guess the white dancers kind of give it away.)
I had a friend who saw Ray Parker Jr's video before he saw Ghostbusters, and when he finally did see the movie, he was forever disappointed that there was no scene of Parker dancing down the street followed by Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, etc.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteHow are you, good buddy? Thanks for checking out the latest in my string of Halloween related posts, a spooky ride on the Shady Train that critics say rivals Murder on the Orient Express. :)
I'm pleased that you like "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste Of Honey. Like you I was unaware until I saw this live performance clip that the two female vocalists, Janice and Carlita, also play guitars. As I told Kelly (above) Brit girl Sid Haywoode recorded a cool cover of the popular disco song ten years later in 1988.
That appearance by The Gap Band on Bandstand was one of the Dick Clark show's more soulful moments. I am grateful to the YouTuber who replaced the weak original audio with robust remastered studio audio, making it a must for this train-themed post.
"Ghostbusters" and "The Power Of Love" work well together in this mashup. However "Ghostbusters" is so similar to another Huey Lewis and the News hit, "I Want A New Drug," that Huey sued Ray Parker Jr. and Columbia Pictures for plagiarism. The three parties settled out of court.
Thanks again for hustling over on day one, good buddy Kirk, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Hi Shady,
ReplyDeleteIt's a Saturday Night dance party! Thank you for providing the music tonight and I can't wait to listen to this tomorrow as I decorate my room, then make Halloween inspired foods.
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteWelcome aboard the Shady Train aka Terror Train aka Horror Express as it barrels down the tracks on the way to Halloween, dear friend!
I hope you will crank the volume up to 10 and play these danceworthy ditties as you decorate your room for the holiday. I want to see pictures of the room and the spooky food when you're finished!
Have a super Sunday, dear friend JM!
Hi, Shady,
DeleteI listened to classical as I cooked, but I did post pictures tonight! Tomorrow when I decorate my cube at work, I'll listen and same with my room, next week!
Hey, someone at my FT job wanted to see my blog. I sent him the link and I hope it's kosher. I do talk about both jobs and I hope that expressing gratitude about people won't be seen as bad. Thinking positively.
Have a great Monday, dear friend!
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteOkay, dear friend, I'm gonna hold you to it. I don't want you to miss this ride on the big train as it speeds toward Halloween. These spook tunes will make ideal listening while you work on your decorations. I can't wait to see what H-ween 2018 looks like in your room and your cubicle at work.
Thanks for coming and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend JM!
Hi Shady,
DeleteI did listen as I decorated and you chose a great selection for Halloween! When my full-time job coworkers and I work on our contest entry, I'll have to play this playlist again!
Have a great Thankful Thursday, dear friend.
Good for you, Jessica Marie!
DeleteI'm glad you found this Halloween playlist entertaining. If you haven't yet seen Fright Night, I highly recommend it.
Enjoy your Friday and your weekend, dear friend JM!
This was one heck of a train ride, Shady! The Soul Train dancers were in great form as usual, tonight! They had a good one, "A Lover's Holiday" to show their stuff to, and I learned some new moves. Will try some of those moves out in my kitchen, lol! I don't know "Party Train" but I really like these guys, with there colorful attire, and cool moves. It's a great song, with some really good musicians!
ReplyDeleteThe "Boogie Oogie Oogie" song was so popular during the disco era in the dance clubs and on the radio. A great video with the girl guitar players. It is always a treat to actually see the videos performed by the original artists. Another dance club tune that was pretty popular is "Meeting in The Ladies Room". This is a racey video isn't it! It's fast moving to the great beat of this song. Good find, Shady!
Gosh, I so love Huey Lewis and his rough voice and great hair! I like Ray Parker, Jr too, lol! "The Ghostbusters of Love"! What a fun video-I love it!
Well, Don and Shady...I guess you've made a splash tonight! "Give It UP" was pretty spooky and a fun dance toon! All of your offerings were spectacular! Shady, I hope your week has been eventful, and I apologize for being late this evening. Great post, with really cool videos! Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend!
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteThank you very much for dropping in, dear friend! If you're looking for songs that produce thrills and chills, you're on the right track, or tracks as the case may be, because you can bet your bottom the Shady Train's got 'em. The big train is chugging full speed ahead right past Hooterville on its way to Halloween.
I agree that "Lover's Holiday" gives us a great view of the Soul Train dancers "styling awhile" out on the floor instead of boogieing down the famous line. This is another example of the outstanding "sync videos" that are being produced for YouTube. They marry the best original studio sound to the clearest, brightest restored video. The song "Party Train" by the Gap Band was huge in my region and I danced to it many times in clubs during my second bachelorhood. "Boogie Oogie Oogie" is an example of Disco done right. It is a great song with excellent vocals and musicianship and does not give the genre a bad name as did certain other recordings.
If I had to pick the gem of the post it would be "Meeting In The Ladies Room" by the terrific yet very underrated R&B girl group Klymaxx. The original music video for the song was played heavily by the veejays at the MTV style station where I worked at the time. That video is available on YouTube but, unfortunately, the audio is weak. I was elated to discover this parody video in which comedic actresses perform a lip sync to a brilliantly remastered track of the original studio recording. What a find! As you watched the video you might have recognized Fortune Feimster, the stand-up comedienne who played the role of Colette in later seasons of The Mindy Project.
There are quite a few "Ghostbusters" mashups on YouTube including at least one that combines the song with "I Want A New Drug," the Huey Lewis song that is so similar to "Ghostbusters" that it resulted in a lawsuit with Lewis receiving a cash settlement out of court.
Along with the ladies of Klymaxx, Evelyn King is another tremendously underrated singer. From the late 70s and throughout the 80s, Evelyn recorded one excellent dance number after another. She had a string of hit singles on the R&B chart, but several of her great recordings performed poorly on the pop side. "Give It Up" was issued on the OST of the horror movie Fright Night but was not released as a single. It shoulda been, coulda been and woulda been a hit!
I'm delighted to know you got so much enjoyment out of the post, dear friend Suzanne. Thank you again for coming to the party and stay tuned for more H-ween fun coming up in my next post on Friday!
You are so clever when forming the layout of your musical posts !
ReplyDeleteSoul Train, what a hoot.
I hope I have hit the right "follow" button.
cheers, parsnip and badger
Hi, Gayle!
DeleteWelcome back, dear friend! I am happy to see you and my good buddy Winston back here at Shady's Place.
Thank you for the kind compliment about the layout of the music posts. Don Cornelius was one of my idols and I am proud to keep his memory alive in this series dedicated to his long running Soul Train show.
Yessum, I hope you find a way to click and follow. I appreciate your friendship and support, dear Gayle. Have a wonderful week!
This train ride is much better than the Polar Express! What makes Vampires so sexy? Just wonderin'..anyway, enjoyed all the 80's songs and garb and the dancers on Soul Train were really rocking it! Who doesn't love Huey? As soon as I hear the theme to Ghostbusters I have to smile..loved that silly movie! Anyway, it's that time of year and you're doing great with getting into the spirit of things. I hope you have a great week. You wondered if Arnie was at the party and of course he was along with Kip the giant and Happy the tiny! Happy actually came in costume and I forgot to put it on the blog! He'll show up in another post, I'm sure. Thanks for the fun ride!
ReplyDeleteHi, YaYa!
DeleteWelcome, dear friend! Thank you very much for coming aboard as the Shady Train barrels down the track toward Halloween hauling a cargo of spooky songs.
I knew you would be focused on the fashions worn by the Soul Train gang in that nicely restored clip. I'm also glad to know the Huey Lewis hit resonates with you and that you recall and enjoyed the Ghostbusters movie featured in that mashup video.
Thanks for letting me know which dogs were on the guest list at The Pines when you had the grandkiddos and your son over to sample your creepy Halloween treats. I always wonder what goes through a dog's mind when he smells the familiar scent of people he knows but they are dressed in H-ween costumes. Our Toto never blinked an eye, even when we wore monster masks on our faces, and she thoroughly enjoyed going trick-or-treating with us the first year we had her in 1999. That night is one of our happiest memories.
Thank you again for joining the fun, dear friend YaYa, and have a wonderful week ahead!
Ahh, now this was the kinda train I needed to slap me awake this morning! What a fun post Tom! I love the energy that was bursting out, burstin' out and done busted the seams! This was a fun step back in time to some fun 80s tunes. But first you flashed us back to the 60s with a great James Brown song, fantastically presented by the talented Chadwick Boseman! I didn't see that movie but I sure want to now.
ReplyDeleteNext you moved us forward a few decades with a great jam from the Gap Band. The Party Train is my kind of transportation! They sound very similar to the Dazz Band, do they not? I enjoyed watching them perform the song.
I don't remember Change or their song "Lovers Holiday" but I sure did like watching the Soul Train dancers. A song could be crappy and it would still be good if I could sit and watch those ST dancers! I loved seeing that early 80s fashion. So cool! And what memories, the clothing alone brings back the rush of memories...
Okay, the Fright Night video with Evelyn Champagne King's song "Give It Up" is sizzling hot. Have you seen the movie? I haven't. I wonder if any of the stations will feature it this month? Let me know and give me a heads up if you see it showing anywhere. That video clip from the movie was fabulous. I'm not all that into vampires but temptation is sure a great word to use for it. It's a great song, and an awesome dance tune. If I wasn't so tired from being up all night working on my 4M post, I would've been dancing around the living room with my headphones on! I did do a little groovin' in my recliner seat though :)
"Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey took me way back! I always liked that song and it's still as good today as it was all those years ago. Great stuff here! I am loving this post Tom!
And what fun was that "Ghostbusters of Love" mashup! Lol. I never saw that one before. It was a good time! "I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" Lol. "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News is another chart-topping theme song that reminded me of another time-travel movie (Back to the Future).
Who thought of marrying up these two unlikely coupled songs? It was brilliant! I loved it...or maybe I'm just delirious from lack of sleep... :)
But the pièce de résistance has to be the comic interpretation of Klymaxx' "Meeting in the Ladies Room" --- roaringly funny stuff here! And more of that unmatched 80s styling and fashion! Can't be beat. I'll be coming back to watch that again. I'll probably re-watch several of the videos you used here in this post.
This is one train I'm really glad I boarded!
Thanks for the wake-up (albeit brief: I'm about to take the dogs out and let them do their deal outside, then we'll come in and I'll feed everybody and then I'm heading to bed! Thanks for giving me the energy that I am in such need for at this moment in time...
Excellent Shady Train post!
Have a great week Tom!
Michele at Angels Bark
Hi, Michele!
DeleteThank you for coming by, dear friend! I'm glad you mustered the courage to climb aboard the Night Train to Terror in this special Halloween edition of my Shady Train series.
Our friend Cathy Kennedy just turned me on to the James Brown impersonations done by Eddie Murphy. Eddie had it down, the best vocal imitation of Brown I ever heard. Of course Boseman did a lip sync to Brown's vocal track in the film. Boseman's stage moves were good, but not great like the real JB's. I think I have avoided watching Get On Up because I knew the real James Brown so well that efforts to imitate him or play him in a film are bound to disappoint. I am also thinking about the Ray Charles and Johnny Cash biopics of recent years. It is very hard to fill the shoes of a true giant.
Recordings by The Gap Band were huge club hits in my region. I was at the right place at the right time, in the middle of my second stint as a bachelor, when their hits were popular. I remember dancing in a line to "Party Train" at a club in York one night, then driving home to Lancaster after closing the joint - not a great idea.
I'm glad you enjoyed watching the nicely dressed Soul Train dancers styling to "A Lover's Holiday," a great song by Change, a group heavily influenced by the disco band Chic. Future solo star Luther Vandross was a member of the early lineup of Change and sang lead on some of their songs. "A Lover's Holiday" is a crossover disco/soul single from the band's debut studio album The Glow of Love, but Vandross vocals are not featured on the song. Vandross also refused to sing lead on any songs on the band's second album Miracles because he didn't think he was offered enough money.
Yessum, I saw the horror flick Fright Night years ago but not recently. Do you recognize "Marcy" from the sitcom Married... With Children? Evelyn King ranks #1 on my list of underrated female R&B vocalists of the 80s. For decades the only song of hers I knew was her 1977 disco smash "Shame." Over the last few years I have discovered many of her recordings released since then that I like a lot more, and this gem, "Give It Up," from the OST of Fright Night, is one of them.
In the last few years many great mashup videos have appeared on YouTube. There are several Ghostbusters related vids alone but, in terms of sound quality and creative video editing, I liked this one best.
Wow, I'm so glad you agree that Klymaxx is the killer. If you watched the TV series The Mindy Project you should recognize one of the actresses in that parody video as Fortune Feimster who played the role of Colette (Jody's sister) in later seasons of the series. The dynamic remastered audio used to produce this parody of "Meeting In The Ladies Room" made it a must for this Shady Train post.
Thank you for pulling an all-niter just to visit Shady's Place, Michele. I'm thrilled to know you grooved to the spooky tunes. I hope you let the dogs out to do their thang, got them fed and then headed straight to bed. As always you wrote a superb comment here and I am grateful. I hope you are catching some ZZZZZZZZZZZZ by now.
Thank you again and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Michele!
I love boogie woogie and love the dancing as you know already. The one representing James Brown, we taped that movie and will see it. I love Fright Night...a great horror movie that is funny as well. The scene in the dance club is very sensual. I love the mash up with Ghostbusters. For some reason. Am very tired so I have to go for a nappy,
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteThanks for coming over for a visit and a rollicking ride on the Shady Train, dear friend!
I'm happy to know you found a couple songs to your liking including the one by James Brown, the one by A Taste of Honey and the "Ghostbusters of Love" mashup.
Yessum, I agree that Fright Night was a very well done horror movie - well acted, scary, yet not too extreme and with lots of wit and style. I got a hoot out of seeing Marcy from Married...With Children turning into a horrific vampire.
Thanks again for joining the fun, dear friend BB. I know you are a big movie buff and therefore I hope you will put on your thinking cap and be here to test your movie memory when I present my next post on Friday.
See you then, dear friend!
I had to look twice at the lead singer of Taste of Honey. She looks a lot like Selena Q. Perez (Tejano crossover singer.) Voice isn't the same, though.
ReplyDeleteGood October lineup. You're in the Halloween spirit of things here!
Hi, Sherry!
DeleteThanks a lot for dropping by, dear friend! I'm glad you enjoyed A Taste of Honey and a taste of BLOOD in the form of the scary Halloween songs in this edition of Shady Train.
Yessum, I well remember Selena - The Queen of Tejano music - and how she was murdered at age 23. I also remember actress Jennifer Lopez in her breakout role as Selena in the biopic film of the same name. I just finished watching J-Lo in the cop series Shades of Blue. I never gave it much thought but, now that you mention it, the lead singer of A Taste of Honey in that video does somewhat resemble Selena.
I hope this set of spooky tunes got you into the holiday spirit, dear friend Sherry. Thanks again for stopping in and enjoy the rest of your week!
I hear the the storm Michael is going to be a monster. I hope you will be safe even though you said your not in the path.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip and badger
Hi, Gayle!
DeleteThank you, dear friend! The reports about the hurricane get more ominous every time I check. It is indeed a monster of a storm and we are thankful we are not in its path. Prayers needed for those who are. All we are getting are occasional rain bands.
Thanks for your concern, dear friend Gayle, and enjoy the rest of your week!
Meeting in the ladies room was awesome!! So funny~~ great post as usual Shady. So much fun and thought behind these songs. Its like a music history lesson every week.
ReplyDeleteHi, Holli!
DeleteThank you very much for popping in, dear friend! I'm glad you didn't miss this ride on the Shady Train as it chugs down the tracks toward Halloween!
I'm delighted that you chose to mention "Meeting In The Ladies Room" by the R&B girl group Klymaxx. It was one of my favorite R&B songs back in the 80s and is still one of my faves today. The comedic actresses in the parody did a great job as did the director, and the sound quality is excellent. That's why I picked it for this post.
I'm thrilled to know you enjoy listening and learning here at Shady's Place, dear friend Holli. Thanks again for your kind visit and comment and have a super Friday and weekend!