WCW Monday Nitro
December 2, 1996
Dayton, OH
Hara Arena

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Vacant (11/25/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (10/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (10/27/1996)

Why is Hulkamania STILL running wild in the intro? Come on, WCW.

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko.

Both the Steiners interrupt Tony and Larry Z at the start of the broadcast. Rick Steiner sends out a challenge to Sting. That makes it okay to flashback to last week where Sting cost the DFG a match with Big Bubba by sneaking up behind him and delivering the Scorpion Death Drop.

• Glacier vs. Hardbody Harrison

Really? Is GLACIER supposed to keep people from changing over to Raw? Apparently Elijah Burke or whatever he’s called now in TNA gets his look straight from Hardbody Harrison. You can guess how this goes. Spinning Roundhouse Kick gets the quick 1-2-3. (1:00) As long as they only put Glacier on Nitro every two months, I’ll be alright. ¼*

Cincinnati Bengals players LOVE the nWo!

• Amazing French Canadians (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Renegade & Joe Gomez

Poor Renegade and Gomez don’t realize that a good babyface team would stop the AFC when they’re trying to sing O Canada. Renegade comes in to stop an AFC save and that just leads to Gomez getting tossed over the top rope to get beat up on the floor courtesy of Col. Parker of the French Foreign Legion and Carl Oulette. Back in, Gomez receives a double hotshot. This time Renegade REALLY makes the save for his partner and gets the hot tag. He hits a bunch of clotheslines and the Handspring Elbow, but gets his whip reversed into a clothesline by Oulette. Piledriver from Rougeau sets up the QUEBECER CRASH for 1-2-3. (3:16) Where was Gomez there? No save, pal? Tony admires the AFC for continuing their winning ways. Hey Tony, they just lost at the PPV eight days ago! *½

Gene Okerlund has Arn Anderson for an interview. AA reminds everybody he destroyed the myth that you can’t beat Hulk Hogan – not once, but twice. Better bring a high heel shoe with you to Starrcade, Roddy. Arn goes on to say that because he didn’t take Piper out many years ago, now he’s going to get his receipt. Next week when Nitro comes from Charlotte, Roddy Piper will be on the show. We dare you to show up Hogan. WOO!

• The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Robert Gibson & Scotty Riggs

Now that Riggs is on his own, he’s going with…Robert Gibson? We flashback to last week where the new World order ended a Faces of Fear/Harlem Heat main event and attacked everybody. Riggs and Gibson work on Barbarian’s arm to start. Gibson ducks low off a whip and in comes Meng. Blind tag to Riggs, he catches Meng with a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! American Express (Gibson/Riggs! WHADDAYA THINK?) deliver a double clothesline, but Meng chops back and tags in Barbarian for the backdrop into a powerbomb on Riggs. Wow I mark for that. That gets two. What I want to know is why they’re making this match so long and wanting everybody to check for Gibson and Riggs when they’re getting a tag titles shot at Starrcade? The Faces of Fear continue to brutalize Riggs for a while. Put him away! Kick of Fear! Done! Come on. Too bad that doesn’t happen. Riggs avoids some elbow drops and hot tags Gibson. He nails Barbarian with the enziguri, but then Gibson tastes the KICK OF FEAR for real and it tastes pretty bad. (7:41) I don’t understand the booking here. Even if they won’t win the belts at Starrcade, at least make them appear to be a threat. That’s the whole point of wrestling – make your whole show sell, not just your main event. DUH. Just when it couldn’t make any less sense, Riggs cleans house on the Faces of Fear with steel chairshots. Is he PMS’ing over losing his partner to the nWo or something? They didn’t have anything to do with it, Scotty! *

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it IF YOU WEEL! 6:05PM eastern! TBS! Arn Anderson, Lord Steven Regal, the Faces of Fear, Chris Jericho, Rick Steiner, Bunkhouse Buck, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Sullivan and many others are featured on the show! Don’t miss out! It’s the MUTHASHIP! PAY WINDAHS, CLUBBERIN, AND PLUNDAH, BABY!

Neat! We see some house show footage of Benoit/Sullivan in Baltimore back on 11/23. Pretty much exactly how it went down at the Great American Bash except for the Dungeon of Doom attacking Benoit in the bathroom while he’s trying to put Sullivan in the Crippler Crossface. A BACKBREAKER BY THE URINAL! Back to the ring, Woman jumps on Sullivan’s back to get him to stop beating up Benoit before the Faces of Fear hold her back.

• Kevin Sullivan vs. Unnamed Jobber #203

Tony doesn’t even know this jobber’s name. He looks like he doesn’t realize that the ’80s are over with his long blonde hair. HEAVY METALLLLLLLLLLL! Either that, or he’s Randy the Ram. This is the usual crazed lunatic brawl from Sullivan. Tree of Woe and the DOUBLE STOMP gets the win. (2:00) Larry Z thinks Piper should lead the Dungeon of Doom against the new World order. Somebody fire him. ¼*

Kevin Sullivan cuts a confusing promo if you didn’t already know that he and Woman were married.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Billy Kidman

Kidman surprises Malenko with a headscissors for two. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors puts Malenko on the floor. Kidman wants a pescado, but Malenko moves out of the way and gives Kidman a powerbomb (!!) on the outside. Meanwhile, Sonny Oono makes his way down to ringside with a camera. You know, to scout Malenko. Back in, Malenko delivers a brainbuster for two. Looks like they screw up a boot-to-the-face-out-of-the-corner spot and then they try it again. Kidman hits a missile dropkick, followed by a fisherman suplex for 1-2-NO! Malenko tries a powerbomb, but Kidman slips away and drops down for a backslide for 1-2-NO! They trade inside cradles for two. Kidman gets caught up top for a superplex, so Malenko heads up top and gets blinded by Oono’s camera flashing in his face. Kidman wants the SHOOTING STAR PRESS, but Malenko brings the knees up and applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF for the win. (5:50) Way too many noticeable screw-ups from Kidman here, but otherwise a decent glorified squash. *½

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay.

• Jeff Jarrett vs. Big Bubba (w/Jimmy Hart)

Why do these two deserve a rematch? Bubba controls to start. Jarrett puts on the brakes and struts to take control? Ha, swinging neckbreaker connects. Bubba punches him down to allow Jimmy Hart to choke him a little bit. Jarrett slides out to get him a piece of Jimmy, but Bubba makes the save by missing Jarrett and punching Jimmy away. JIMMY’S DOWN. Back in, a flying bodypress gets two. Bubba kicks off the FIGURE-FOUR as Jimmy tosses the megaphone in the ring. While Jimmy has the ref’s attention, Jarrett rolls up Bubba for the delayed nearfall. Bubba grabs the megaphone, but WHAM. Jarrett dropkicks it back in his face for the 1-2-3. (4:08) Same finish as last time they faced on Nitro six weeks ago. ¾*

The Steiner brothers come back out to get an answer to their challenge from Sting. Rick calls him out and from the rafters, Sting gives him the nod. STING vs. RICK STEINER! TONIGHT!

After the break, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Eric Bischoff (Syxx and Vincent appear as well, but they leave right away) come out to take over the announce table. You see, they want their hour of Nitro, but they’re about ten minutes late. Piper doesn’t want none of Hollywood Hogan. Bischoff uses this time to take a stab at the WWF’s The Man They Call Vader by saying that Hogan handled him pretty easily. They show a clip of Slamboree ‘95 where Hogan clotheslines him down. He shows more footage of the time the nWo beat down Ric Flair and took his US belt. Let’s not forget the time Hogan beat the crap out of Randy Savage and painted a chalk line around him while he had him laying face down. You don’t want none, Piper.

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Squire David Taylor

Everybody in WCW has three weeks left to convert their WCW contracts into nWo contracts – or else. Hall and Nash talks about wanting to bring an Englishman into the nWo. They show a split screen for a flashback to last week when Eddie beat Konnan in the US title tournament. Taylor works the arm a lot, but Eddie fights back with a headscissors and the FROG SPLASH for the win. (2:13) Eddie looks like he’s going to confront the now, and does so by doing NOTHING. ½*

On the Road with Lee Marshall: He’s in Charlotte and doesn’t sound all that happy to be talking to the nWo. Nash asks him if he’s live from Arn Anderson’s double wide? HA. Marshall says Ric Flair in Charlotte is like the Beatles in Liverpool. Hall ~ “You mean like how Flair’s old and outdated?”

• Arn Anderson vs. Jim Powers (w/Teddy Long)

Teddy Long ~ “WESTSIDEEE!” HAHA, what. Anyways, Arn got his butt handed to him last week from Luger – now he’s all pissed off and ready to destroy Jim Powers. He takes him to the floor and rubs his face on the ringside mats before running him into the ringpost. Back in, Arn dominates and works the arm. He stops himself before coming down face-first onto Powers’ foot, but then misses an elbow drop. Powers hits the Knee Lift and the dropkick for two. Screw all that, DDT! (3:08) Hall says Arn can play on his team anytime. *

• Chris Benoit vs. Lord Steven Regal – WCW U.S. Title Tournament Match

Hey, where’s Woman? If you read above, Regal’s still the TV champ, but of course the belt isn’t on the line here. Early on during a palm strike-hip toss exchange, Regal gets busted open BIG time and the hard camera has to go wide – REALLY wide. That hurts the match at least how it appears on TV. They light each other with chops. Benoit hits the SWANDIVE HEADBUTT for 1-2-NO! Awesome tombstone exchange sees Benoit getting the better of that. Regal rolls out and baits Benoit into a missed pescado. Back in, Regal hits a Butterfly Superplex for 1-2-NO! Benoit comes back with a German suplex and then finishes Regal off with a Dragon Suplex to advance in the tournament. (6:27) Good match with both guys ripping each other apart. Too bad for the stupid ‘no blood’ policy. On a night filled with squashes, this was match of the night. **½

Gene Okerlund has Arn Anderson, Steve McMichael, Debra, and Chris Benoit for an interview. If WCW is looking for leaders, the Horsemen will be more than happy to take the job. Mongo gets onto Benoit for getting involved with Woman. Debra has to run her mouth about it too. Arn finishes up this segment saying they would all rather be a Horsemen than anything else. WOOO!

• Lex Luger vs. Rocco Rock (w/Johnny Grunge)

Wonder why Public Enemy are working singles matches? Rocco Rock takes over to start and hotshots Luger so Grunge can choke him a little bit. Meanwhile, Nash says ECW can be the #4 wrestling company behind the nWo, WCW, and some Japan company. Bischoff asks for three bucks to buy them out. Hall adds in that the sweet part of the deal would be that you can play bingo there too! Oh man good times. Rocco shows off his boxing skills and beats on Luger. To the floor, Grunge gets in some more licks. Back inside, Luger comes back with a press slam. Heel miscommunication ensues and Rocco gets caught in the TORTURE RACK to give Luger the win. (3:56) What a squashtacular show tonight. ¾*

• Sting vs. Rick Steiner (w/Scott Steiner)

Bischoff and Nash make fun of Scott being so “big”. Sting enters the ring through the crowd, tosses his ball bat aside, and turns his back on Rick to give him a free shot. Rick nails him out to the floor where Scott throws him back inside. Rick pounds on Sting, but misses a Steinerline that bounces him off the ropes into the SCORPION DEATHDROP! Scott gets in to help his brother out when Sting picks up the ball bat. Sting moves Scott out of the way, pushes Rick back with the bat, and then hands him the bat. Sting turns his back again allowing a free shot, but Scott jumps in the way. He takes the bat out of Rick’s hand and tosses it away. Fine then. Sting takes his bat and leaves while Scott tries to keep his big brother calm. During all this, Bischoff, Hall and Nash are all egging Sting on to destroy these two. Yeah, nothing to rate here. Anyways, Sting walks over to the announce table and points his bat at the nWo. Ha, they are SO confused and kind of scared.

Sting leaves back through the crowd while Hall and Nash shill their new Outsiders T-shirts.

AND WE OUT!

Some matches have already been announced for Starrcade on December 29!

- MAIN EVENT: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan vs. Roddy Piper
- WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders vs. The Faces of Fear
- WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon

This is a post first published over two years ago.

It got a couple hits recently.

I read it, having not read it in over two years… and I thought it said things that still need saying.

And I think it manages… to still say them well.

I don’t recycle posts, as I’m long-winded enough, and insane enough that I always have topics for my rage or my reason. But this post seemed… especially timely to me, and worth the limelight… one more time.

Without further ado:

I’m not a fan of profanity, be it the n word, c word, b word, whatever. I don’t have a knee jerk reaction to profanity, I just think your language defines you and yours, and sometimes it traps… you and yours.

So that said, I’m not a huge fan of rap.

More precisely, I don’t like what it has become. I don’t like hip-hop. I don’t like this glamorization of ignorance, this pretense of hardness by too many men who own nothing.

Not even themselves.

You want to be a tough guy. You have a wife, you love her till the stars go dim, you have kids… you raise em right. You teach them to walk with their head held high.

You do this, you do these things, in this world… where you can be broken for walking out your door, if you can do these things in such a world.. that makes you a tough guy. How well or how badly the women in your life live, mothers, sisters, wives, friends, daughters… these things define a man.

Not simply screaming, not cursing,not defiling… but striving, sometimes crudely, sometimes failingly… toward something better for you and yours, in a world that is increasingly not about better.

Those definitions of “tough guy” and “man” are hard ones, and I have met very few, myself included, who rate them.

But sometimes the attempt is enough, the striving earnestly toward those ideals…the striving even though victory not promised, and defeat virtually assured. The attempt to succeed, even when every day you fail… has value.

Once upon a time, rap was filled with men, with tough guys who screamed… for the love. BDP, PUBLIC ENEMY, PARIS, ERIC B, TERMINATOR X, even NWA. And of course the fathers of Rap, men like THE LAST POETS and GIL HERON.

But that was when rap was coming from the streets, rather than the board offices of SONY and TIMEWARNER. Corporate mobs who promoted their Gangsta Rap to the exclusion of all else, who take every virtue and twist it till it’s a vice.

That is America defined.

It is that place, where all virtues are twisted until they are vices.

Blues and Rock, vilified colored music, until they could paint it white… and sell it… and call it Elvis. Rap, same thing. Vilified urban music, until they could paint it white… and sell it ….and call it Eminem.

They can replicate the noise, but somewhere the heart is lost.

They, commercial America- the sellers of standards, have a way of only glorifying the worst.

It really is, about co-opting and corrupting any positive movements… before they can grow.

Which is why more people know the name Eminem than Paris, know Rocky than Joe Frazier, know Arnold Swarzenegger than the man he executed… Stanley Tookie Williams; because America is that place where they sell the lie, when the truth is the wrong color.

So the best stuff in America, will never make the top 40 in America. They don’t play it on the radio, or show it on the TV, or teach it in the schools.

The best stuff in America, the worthy stuff, the positive stuff, you have to hunt for, but it’s worth the hunt.

So I hate Sony Rap, and Time Warner Rap, and Corporate America defined rap. But I love real rap, rap about waking you up, from pervasive nightmares. Conscious rap. Spoken Word. Hip Hop. Call it what you will. I love the people who are still making it, people who are out their… still screaming…”WAKE UP!”

A few that you won’t hear on the radio, but you really should do everything in your power to hunt up, are:

PARIS of course, anything by this soldier, this… prophet of rage. Who for three decades… has held the line. Has held the goddamn line. His DEVIL MADE ME DO IT is one of the great albums of all time.

The usual suspects of Public Enemy, BDP, mentioned above. Also Rage Against the Machine.

And one I want to introduce you to is IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE:REVOLUTIONARY VOL II. I picked it up because of Mumia Abu Jamal, his words on it.

I love courage in people, I love people who speak to you in these volatile times not of sneakers, or cars, or hos… but of volatile times. This CD all the songs are good, some better, some worse (again I can only deal with so much profanity), but there is one song… that is exceptional. And it is worth having the CD for this single song.

I know when I hear something great, and something true, because we live in a nation and a world, where both greatness and truth… are endangered commodities.

So when I hear them…

When I hear these disused concepts… combined… it’s a beautiful thing. I get chills. I listened to THE POINT OF NO RETURN the first song on this CD, the song in question, … and it gave me chills.

I love people who will rage, RAGE…not against you,but FOR YOU! Who will bleed their guts out, rip their flesh off, for the mildest hope… that they can save you, that they can… wake you up.

A lot of people talk about God, and those who talk about him the most, typically know him the least.

Bible thumpers give me a swift pain, I’ve never met one who didn’t lie himself to sleep.

All I’ve ever known of God, any real proof, comes from people who are always outnumbered and always outgunned. Comes from the voice of… sinners and saints. And whether it’s a 16 year old Palestinian girl eulogizing friends who blew themselves up, because their death was all they had left to fight with,… or a man on death row, for not sitting down…. still standing up, or young men on a mic who have watched their neighborhoods become occupied cities and decide to speak against it… whoever the voice comes from, when it’s both great and true… it brings me to my knees.

And those are moments when I believe in God.

That some people, can go on in a world such as this… and still care so deeply, about anything. Those are moments that spur you to want to make a difference, be a better man, make a better world.

Give you the desire to fight hard… one… more…. moment.

That for me, is all I know of God.

And those moments are rare things. And listening to this song was one of them.

I had thought there were no more prophets of rage.

I have never been so glad to be wrong.

Pick up the CD, listen to the song, and if it gives you chills. Share it with a friend, and make your world a better place.

Try.

Spike Lee’s third film takes place on the hottest day of the summer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York.  I heard Spike say in an interview this week that while he didn’t know what he was doing on his first film, She’s Gotta Have It, and was finding his way with School Daze, with this film he finally felt like a ‘director’.  And it shows.

On to the tale of the tape…

Relevance:  Fade in on a solo jazz version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”  Follow that up with Rosie Perez working it out to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” as the opening credits kick in.  And that’s (literally) just the beginning…

Legacy:  Yes, this was the film debut of Rosie Perez and Martin Lawrence, but is that really the first thing you think about with this film?  As noted, this wasn’t Spike’s first film, and there were (and continue to be) black independent films with equally strong messages.  But moreso than any other film of its generation, Do the Right Thing really put Spike Lee and modern black cinema on the map. 

Craft:  You know how you can watch a lot of 80s movies today and cringe at how dated they feel?  Not this film.  The 80s elements here feel (as they do in many classic films) as snapshots of the time they were created.   Radio Raheem’s massive boom box.  The box haircuts of Raheem and Mookie.  The conversation about how certain black celebrities (and now President’s?) go beyond the racist definition of what a ‘n—er’ is.  And how about the cast list?  Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Harris, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Frank Vincent…yes sir!  And that’s just the talent in front of the camera!

Crossover:  In a big way.  The film was nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes, it made noise at the Cannes Film Festival, it was widely regarded as one of (if not) the best film of the year.  Kim Basinger made a point at the Oscars to tell the worldwide audience that it’s a shame that Do the Right Thing wasn’t nominated for Best Picture.  (And it was a shame.  Spike’s never been close to winning an Oscar, how is that possible?)  Anyway, the moral of the story is Spike Lee had arrived.

Apollo:  In the event you the reader haven’t seen the film yet, I won’t ruin the biggest ‘Apollo’ moment of the film.  Instead I’ll focus on the film’s coda:  two very good quotes.  The first from Dr. King, which references his belief that an eye for an eye eventually leaves everyone blind.  The second from Malcolm, which argues that self-defense is not violence; as a matter of fact it’s common sense.  The film does not in an explicit way express which way ‘is the right thing,’ it’s up to the viewer to decide for him or herself.  An argument that can continue into infinity…

The film countdown ends shortly…

La semana antepasada estava biendo VH1 y me tope con un programa que te mostraba las 100 grandes rolas de HiopHop segun votantes del canal VH1, estubo bueno por que algunos de los raperos que estan en esta lista comentaban de como crearon la rola y lo que les dio, estas listas siempre son polemicas por q muchos dice, por que no esta esta, falto esta otra, la que pusieron esta horrible y etc, esta lista de varias que e visto es una de las que si estoy mas o menos deacuerdo, de las 100 yo conosco 81 me faltan unas 19 por conoser pero en eso ando buscandolas y bajandolas. Crees que esta lista esta bien? Cual rola crees que falte y cual que sobre? Para ver la lista sige leyendo.

100 Biz Markie – “Just A Friend”
99 Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft/ Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low”
98 Warren G ft. Nate Dogg – “Regulate”
97 Eve – “Who’s that Girl”
96 DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince – “Parents Just Don’t Understand”
95 L’Trimm – “Cars With The Boom”
94 Master P ft. Sikk, Fiend, Mia-x and Mystical – “Make ‘Em Say Ugh”
93 N.E.R.D. ft. Lee Harvey and Vida – “Lapdance”
92 Yo-Yo – “Can’t Play with my Yo-Yo”
91 Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone – “Ridin’”
90 Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)”
89 Cam’ron – “Oh Boy”
88 Jungle Brothers – “What U Waitin’ 4″
87 Wyclef Jean ft. Refugee All Stars – “We Tryin’ to Stay Alive”
86 Heavy D. and the Boyz – “Now That We Found Love”
85 Black Star – “Definition”
84 UTFO – “Roxanne Roxanne”
83 2 Live Crew – “Me So Horny”
82 Chubb Rock – “Treat ‘Em Right”
81 PM Dawn – “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss”
80 Three 6 Mafia ft. Paula Campbell- “Hard Out Here For A Pimp”
79 DMX – “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem (Stop Drop)”
78 Arrested Development – “Tennessee”
77 Cold Crush Brothers – “Cold Crush Bros. at the Dixie”
76 Big Punisher ft. Joe- “Still Not A Player”
75 Lil’ Kim ft. Lil’ Cease- “Crush on You”
74 EPMD – “You Gots To Chill”
73 Black Sheep – “The Choice Is Yours”
72 J.J. Fad – “Supersonic”
71 Whodini – “Freaks Come Out at Night”
70 3(rd) Bass – “Pop Goes the Weasel”
69 Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.”
68 T.I. – “What You Know”
67 Mase – “Feel So Good”
66 House Of Pain – “Jump Around”
65 Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous Three – “Love Rap”
64 The Roots – “What they Do”
63 Kid ‘n Play – “Rollin’ With Kid N Play”
62 Digable Planets – “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”
61 Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”
60 L.L. Cool J – “I Need Love”
59 Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”
58 Ludacris ft. Shawna- “What’s Your Fantasy”
57 Big Daddy Kane – “I Get the Job Done”
56 Busta Rhymes – “Woo-Ha! Got You All In Check”
55 Terror Squad ft/ Fat Joe and Remy – “Lean Back”
54 MC Lyte – “Cha Cha Cha”
53 Lox ft. DMX and Lil’ Kim – “Money, Power, Respect”
52 Foxy Brown ft. Jay-Z – “I’ll Be”
51 Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew – “The Show”
50 Lil’ Wayne – “Tha Block Is Hot”
49 Boogie Down Productions – “My Philosophy”
48 Nas – “One Love”
47 Young MC – “Bust A Move”
46 De La Soul – “Me, Myself, And I”
45 Geto Boys – “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”
44 Method Man ft/ Mary J. Blige – “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By”
43 Game, The ft. 50 Cent – “Hate It or Love It”
42 Roxanne Shante – “Roxanne’s Revenge”
41 Funky 4 + 1 – “That’s the Joint”
40 Run-DMC – “It’s Like That”
39 Tone-Loc – “Wild Thing”
38 Coolio – “Gangsta’s Paradise”
37 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – “It Takes Two”
36 Nelly – “Hot In Herre”
35 Queen Latifah ft. Monie Love – “Ladies First”
34 Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain”
33 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – “Tha Crossroads”
32 Puff Daddy & The Family ft/ Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim and The Lox – “It’s All About The Benjamins”
31 Kool Moe Dee – “How Ya Like Me Now”
30 Tribe Called Quest – “Check the Rhime”
29 Digital Underground – “The Humpty Dance”
28 Ice Cube – “It Was A Good Day”
27 Beastie Boys – “Hold it Now, Hit it”
26 MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”
25 Fugees – “Killing Me Softly”
24 Eric B and Rakim – “Paid in Full”
23 Outkast – “B.O.B.”
22 Naughty By Nature – “OPP”
21 Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force- “Planet Rock”
20 Kanye West ft/ Jamie Foxx – “Gold Digger”
19 Ice T – “Colors”
18 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
17 Sir Mix-A-Lot – “Baby Got Back”
16 Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”
15 Eminem – “Stan”
14 Tupac – “I Get Around”
13 Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”
12 L.L. Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”
11 Jay-Z – “Hard Knock Life”
10 Kurtis Blow – “The Breaks”
09 Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It”
08 Snoop Doggy Dogg – “Gin and Juice”
07 Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
06 N.W.A. – “Straight Outta Compton”
05 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – “The Message”
04 Run-DMC ft/ Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
03 Dr. Dre – “Nuthin But A ‘G’ Thang”
02 Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
01 Public Enemy – “Fight The Power”

Favor Flav and Public Enemy in support of the Sasha Bruce House – which has become, since it’s inception 30 years ago, the largest organization dealing with at risk and homeless youth in the DC region.

Sorry to be so light on new blog material the last week or so – but first it was wading though hurricanes…

Now it’ s suffering through the flu.

You may be surprised at the scope of this week’s topic because when it comes to Elvis Presley, well nearly everyone’s got an opinion. The iconic nature of Elvis Presley in music and popular culture, has often made him a subject of, or a benchmark, in numerous songs. We launched the show with CALLING ELVIS by Dire Straits. Written by Mark Knopler and released in 1991, the song is about an Elvis fan that can’t believe that Elvis Presley is dead. Based on some of the bizarre ’sightings’ over the years, I fear he is not alone.

A song from one of my favourite films followed: Public Enemy’s groundbreaking FIGHT THE POWER from the soundtrack of DO THE RIGHT THING, directed by Spike Lee in 1989. Like the film, the song broke at a crucial period in America’s struggle with race. Unabashedly political, FIGHT THE POWER was confrontational in the way that great rock has always been. It attacks a whole roster of American icons including Elvis and John Wayne in what amounts to a virtual flag burning. Because who better embodies the American ideal than the King? The song goes so far as to call Elvis racist. I don’t agree with that. But what I do know from the National Archives is that in 1970 Elvis wrote a six-page letter to Richard Nixon asking him to make him a ‘Federal Agent-At-Large’ in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. And amongst the gifts that Elvis presented to the then President was a Colt-45 pistol. So what do we make of all this? Maybe only that, like a lot of his countrymen, Elvis was a misguided patriot who defended the nation’s order – an order from which blacks, in particular, had been routinely barred. The irony, of course, is that Elvis was the first artist to successfully blend black and white music: country music and the blues. And didn’t he do it well?

It was time for a change of tone: The very whimsical and wonderful Kirsty McColl’s with THERE’S A GUY WORKS DOWN THE CHIP SHOP SWEARS HE’S ELVIS. The song made an appearance on the FAMOUS PEOPLE show, but definitely deserved another spin. We followed with Richard Thompson’s FROM GALWAY TO GRACELAND.

Robbie Williams’ ADVERTISING SPACE is a song not only about Elvis but, also, about the price of fame.  Emmylou Harris followed with BOY FROM TUPELO. In case you weren’t aware Elvis was born in Tupelo Mississipi on January 8, 1935. And then it was the great Roy Orbison with HOUND DOG MAN.

Living Colour funked it up with their critique of the tabloids. The song  ELVIS IS DEAD ups the ante with an appearance by Little Richard. Check it out.

We dived into the second hour of the program with Ann Margret singing the title song of the film BYE BYE BIRDIE. Based on the stage musical of the same name, the story was inspired by Elvis Presley being drafted into the US Army in 1957. Jesse Pearson played the role of teen idol Conrad Birdie, whose character’s name is a wordplay on another singer of the era, Conway Twitty.  The film is credited with making Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s, leading to her appearing with Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas in 1964.

A couple of great songs were suggested to me by BayFM’s very own Cowboy Sweetheart, Carrie D. First up, Bap Kennedy with GLADYS & VERNON about Elvis’s parents and the night that Elvis was born. And then it was the great Waylon Jennings with the very entertaining NOBODY KNOWS.

I absolutely adore BLACK VELVET by Allanah Myles and have played that before. But, hey, when a song’s as good as this one it deserves a replay!

U2’s song ELVIS ATE AMERICA illustrates the many personas of Elvis, both good and bad. And then it was the romantically delusional Scouting For Girls with ELVIS ISN’T DEAD: ”Elvis isn’t dead ’cause I heard him on the radio….. and you’re coming back to me.”  Yeah, sure guys.

Time to get serious: First up, Kate Bush with her hit song about Elvis – KING OF THE MOUNTAIN. And then, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds transported us into a disturbing world with their song about the night that Elvis was born. Elvis was a twin but his brother was still-born. The song is TUPELO from the album THE FIRSTBORN IS DEAD. Here’s the totally mesmerising clip:

John Fogarty likens Elvis to the BIG TRAIN (FROM MEMPHIS). Neil Young reminded us that it’s “better to burn out than to fade away “, with his song MY, MY, HEY HEY.

Another of my faves followed: Cowboy Junkies with BLUE MOON REVISITED, otherwise known as SONG FOR ELVIS. And then it was Paul Simon’s song about travelling to Elvis Presley’s home, GRACELAND, with the Everly Brothers helping out on vocals. Don’t have a clip with the Everlys in it, but you can’t do much better than this concert performance of the song in Zimbabwe. Enjoy.

There was time for a little more mjusic dedicated to Elvis before signing off and what better than ELVIS HAS JUST LEFT THE BUILDING by the one and only Frank Zappa. And, of course, I had to play some of the King himself so we went out with BURNIN’ LOVE. Here’s what all the fuss is about:

Next week’s show will be dedicated to the patron saint of Theme Park, Roy Orbison, who died 21 years ago this December 6. So songs by Roy Orbison, The Travelling Wilburys, duets with Roy and covers of Roy Orbison songs. Anything connected to Roy Orbison qualifies. Personally I can’t wait!

Here’s this week’s playlist:

Nice look back at Hip Hop history through a single sample: Syl Johnson’s Different Strokes.

fewch, originally uploaded by sizzled.

taken at sneaker pimps in nyc when this type of thing was something i cared about

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shownprove/2009/11/09/rap-in-the-community

WCW World War 3
November 24, 1996
Norfolk, VA
The Scope

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (10/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (10/27/1996)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes.

• J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono) vs. Rey Mysterio

For those unaware, the J-Crown is EIGHT lightweight championships combined from promotions all around the world. The funny part is and possibly the most annoying for the champion is that he’s got to carry around all those eight titles instead of having just one belt to represent all the belts. Needless to say, the J-Crown championship was short-lived and when the WWF came calling for their light heavyweight championship all of a sudden (which was one of the eight championships) in the fall of 1997, the J-Crown status was absolved and all the belts returned to be defended in their particular promotion. Anyways, this is match #2 in the three part series of the Mysterio-Dragon PPV matches. Mysterio won the first match at Hog Wild in Dragon’s debut and now that he’s got a boost of confidence in winning all those belts, maybe he can pick up the win here especially now that Rey has just lost the cruiserweight belt four weeks ago at Halloween Havoc. Alright that’s enough set up talk, let’s get to the match.

After a short feeling out process, they flip around to come to a stalemate. Enough of that, Dragon puts Rey down with his famous kick combo and corners him for some chops. Rey lands on the apron and looks for a springboard, but Dragon stops that with a springboard dropkick to put Rey on the floor. Awesome! Dragon hits a German suplex and then puts Mysterio in a lucha backbreaker rack drop. Rey outlasts a half crab, but then Dragon powerbombs him and lifts him back up for a hotshot! WHAT. Cover, 1-2-NO! Dragon gives Rey the Giant Swing! After so many spins, Dragon ends up making himself dizzy too. Fisherman buster gets two. Brainbuster gets another two. Tombstone piledriver gets a THIRD nearfall in a row! They go to the floor where Dragon drops Rey with ANOTHER tombstone! While Mysterio’s laid out, Dragon gives him a slingshot splash! Back inside, he hits the DRAGONSTEINER for 1-2-NO! RUNNING LIGERBOMB gets 1-2-NO! Mysterio catches Dragon charging in the corner and follows up with a springboard split-legged moonsault for 1-2-NO! Rey flips out to the apron off a whip and springboard dropkicks Dragon to the floor. He continues with the offense and wipes out Dragon with a springboard somersault plancha! Incredible. In the ring, Rey delivers a springboard sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Awesome cartwheel into a spinning hurracanrana gets 1-2-NO! Dragon comes back with a Dragon Suplex right on Rey’s head for 1-2-NO! He tries another Running Ligerbomb, but Rey sunset flips out for 1-2-NO! WHOA. So many convincing nearfalls. Rey calls for the SPRINGBOARD HURRACANRANA which always wins, but this time Dragon catches him in mid-air and bounces him off the rope into a powerbomb for 1-2-3! (13:47) Wow just an absolutely awesome match. I LOVE that finish too. A slingshot powerbomb? Who thinks of this stuff? Just incredible. Easily a MOTYC here. Next month, Dragon wants Malenko and his Cruiserweight belt. At the time, Ultimo Dragon held NINE total championships – that’s one other belt outside of the J-Crown. The cruiserweight belt would make a ridiculous ten championships at once. That’s insanity. But hey, when you’re a champ, you’re a champ all the way. ****½

In the back, DDP avoids Gene’s question about whether or not he’s got anything to do with Eric Bischoff since he’s his next door neighbor and all. You know what Gene, Page does in fact owe his great hair to Head & Shoulders. Don’t be jealous. BANG!

• Chris Jericho (w/Teddy Long) vs. Nick Patrick

For this match, Jericho has to wrestle Patrick with one arm tied behind his back. Nick Patrick comes out looks all sleazy. He wrestles in a sleeveless zebra shirt, black pants, white boots, and one of those soft collars. Jericho shoulderblocks and hiptosses Patrick around to start. He stalls and gets in Teddy Long’s face for a moment. Back inside, he slaps Jericho and then takes a slap to send him flying to the floor. Patrick finally gains an advantage when Jericho misses a clothesline up against the ringpost. Back in again, Patrick punches Jericho around in the corner, but charges into a boot and takes a bunch of turnbuckle smashes. Patrick leads Jericho in and out of the ring to stomp him on his way back inside, but then he gets slammed off the top (WOO!) and eats a superkick for the 1-2-3. (8:02) I know Nick Patrick used to be a wrestler before he hurt himself and became a referee, but he did pretty darn good since that was about fifteen years ago. Tony tells Patrick to go home to daddy. In case you don’t get the inside joke, his daddy is the Assassin who RULED the southern territories as a masked heel back in the day and in 1996, he ran the WCW Power Plant. Actually not that bad to sit through and it’s certainly satisfying to see Patrick get owned if you can forget about referees usually getting merely bumped and knocked out for five minutes. They’re usually so feeble! *½

Gene Okerlund brings out a rehabilitating Ric Flair. While this crowd was already molten hot, Flair comes out to help them become a little hotter. He promises the wrestling public that before it’s all said and done, he will dance all night and dance a little longer, stay all night and stay a little longer. Oh yeah and the new World order will belong to the WCW. WOO! Wait, what?

• The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett

Giant wears the US belt with him to the ring. Schiavone says that Flair is no longer the champ because of not defending the belt in 30 days. Jarrett spends the whole match trying to knock Giant off his feet. When he fails, Giant takes over and chokes and chops on him. Wait a minute, here comes STING! Meanwhile, Giant misses a pump splash (yep, even back then) and Jarrett takes him off his feet with a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! As Sting jumps the rail, Giant gets dumped. Jarrett doesn’t notice anything and takes this opportunity to do the Fargo Strut. While the ref is counting on Giant, Sting hops in the ring and gives Jarrett the SCORPION DEATH DROP! Once Sting leaves, Giant waits for Jarrett to stagger up to his feet and delivers the CHOKESLAM for the academic 1-2-3. (6:52) This achieved a couple things. It continues Sting punishing Jarrett for waltzing in here all of a sudden and demanding that he stop being a loser and become the leader for WCW against the nWo. Secondly it allowed Giant to finally chokeslam Jarrett when he said he couldn’t do it. And yeah, that pretty much ends Giant’s feud with the Horsemen. ¾*

It’s time for a contract signing! There’s a table with a plaid cover ready in the ring and Roddy Piper comes out with the contract in hand. Get out here, Hogan. Instead of seeing Hogan, Eric Bischoff comes out wearing an nWo t-shirt, Ted DiBiase, and Vincent. Bischoff says that Hollywood isn’t coming out to sign this because he’s a little busy looking over some scripts and has made Bischoff his power of attorney, so he can sign the contract in his place. First of all, Piper reminds Vincent that he taught him how to fight, so he better back off. Piper handles these three by being able to talk over all them. He doesn’t care about no WCW or nWo. To Piper, nWo means ‘no way out’. And somewhere Vince is thinking that might not be a bad name for a PPV. When Piper gets up in Bischoff’s face, Bischoff reminds him that he can fine Piper for whatever it is he’s about to do. O RLY? How much would it cost him? Piper gets a little off track and then tells Bischoff that this match against Hogan is no-DQ, no countouts – there must be a winner to find out who the real icon is. Piper doesn’t want to look at Bischoff anymore, he calls Hogan out again. And here comes Hollywood along with the rest of the new World order. First of all, Hollywood says he’ll sign the contract, but then he brings up Piper’s hip replacement. Show everybody the scar, Roddy! Hogan proceeds to call Piper a cripple and “Pegged Leg Pete”. Piper finally has enough and slaps Hogan away. Big mistake. The nWo swarms on him while Hogan blasts his scar with a chair and then spray paints the nWo letters across his hip! Before the nWo leaves, Piper gets to his feet and turns the table over to prove a point. He WILL NOT DIE! While the build towards this match is pretty awesome, it’s a shame that it can’t live up to it.

• Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) vs. The Amazing French Canadians (w/Col. Robert Parker)

If the Heat win, Sherri gets five minutes with Col. Parker. Hopefully this time she won’t bump her head and fall in love with him. During the Canadian national anthem, Sherri wonders if the AFC think they’re at the MTV music awards. SUH-NAP! Jacques kips up after a shoulderblock and nails Booker with a dropkick, but then eats a Hook Kick. Tag to Stevie Ray for a double clothesline. Jacques catches Stevie Ray with a jumping back elbow, but has to tag in Oulette to put him down with a clothesline. Stevie Ray nails Oulette with a back suplex and Bicycle Kicks him down for two. Oulette gets stuck in the Heat corner for a while. Scissors Kick connects. Booker misses an elbow and SPINAROONIES up into a Jumping Leg Lariat. Jacques pulls the top rope down on Booker to send him flying to the floor. Back in, Jacques slams Oulette on top of Booker and continues the double teams with a double hotshot. Boston crab/flying legdrop on Booker gets two. Stevie Ray gets a hot tag and press slams Rougeau on top of Oulette. It breaks down into a pier-six brawl and the ref gets sandwiched in the corner. Booker misses a Jumping Leg Lariat and gets crotched and falls to the floor. That leaves Stevie Ray alone with the AFC for a SPIKE PILEDRIVER! With the Heat all down and out, Oulette makes a scaffold in the corner with a table and then puts the ring steps on top of the table. He puts another bundle of steps down on the mat to make for a SUPER QUEBECER CRASH! OH MY GOSH! Too bad it completely misses. I mean it took all of a whole minute to set up. Jacques gets kicked to the floor while Booker delivers the HARLEM HANGOVER to Oulette for the 1-2-3. (9:15) Standard formula tag with a silly finish. Kind of cool, but kind of silly too. I mean, really guys? Afterwards, Sherri gets her alone time with Parker and beats him to the back after about a minute or two. About what we expected with that. **

Tony Schiavone is wiping away the TEARS of laughter. Yes, TEARS.

On the WCW Hotline, Gene says he’ll tell you who the latest superstar is that will be coming to WCW! Well whoever he is, I’ll bet he’ll be just perfect for WCW.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis

Malenko stretches Psychosis down on the mat to start. During the mat work, somebody apparently is getting kicked out of the building. Who knows. Finally, it picks up a little as Psychosis takes Malenko to the floor, but then he misses a leap to the floor and slams his face on the guardrail. Oww? Back in, Malenko returns to the mat with a headscissors. He changes over to a nasty vertical half crab and then levels Psychosis with a butterfly powerbomb into a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, but Psychosis is in the ropes. They fight to the floor while Malenko cranks on the knee. Psychosis mounts a comeback with a pumphandle backbreaker and then NAILS Malenko with a corkscrew senton on the floor! WHAT. Back in, Psychosis delivers a GUILLOTINE LEGDROP for 1-2-NO! Malenko avoids a charge, but gets caught up top and takes a rana to the mat for 1-2-NO! Whoa, Psychosis catches Malenko with a rolling Koppou kick. We see a DOUBLE REVERSAL on a tombstone piledriver which Dean wins. Cover, 1-2-NO! Malenko eats a boot off a corner charge, but avoids a leapfrog and gets the rolling clutch into a bridge for the 1-2-3. (14:34) Took too long to get where it was going to be great. However it did include quite a few awesome nearfalls. Certainly not as great as the Dragon-Rey match, but still a very good match. ***½

• WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders vs. The Nasty Boys vs. The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart)

I do believe this is the final WCW PPV for the Nasty Boys. While Knobbs would wrestle on his own later in WCW, I know this is certainly the end of PPVs for Jerry Sags. Anyways, they clean house on the Outsiders before the Faces of Fear even make it to the ring. Once the Faces of Fear make it to the ring, the Outsiders stand back while the other two teams beat the crap out of each other. As you might expect, there’s a lot of CLUBBERIN’. Knobbs gets cornered in the champs corner for a while. Hall kicks Barbarian in the head a bunch and that wakes him up. The Faces of Fear slug him around until the Nasties take over. Sags hits a PILEDRIVER on Barbarian and gets two. Nash lays out Barbarian with the Side Slam. In comes Hall, the Faces of Fear have some more fun with him. Back over to the Nasties, they concentrate on Barbarian some more. Eventually, Knobbs and Meng decide to stop fighting each other and they tag in both Hall and Nash. They think they are brilliant for making these two fight, but all they have to do is pin each other to regain the tag belts, says Tony. They hype the crowd up into a frenzy making them think they’re going to really fight, but then Nash lays down for Hall and they get a two count off that. Does that remind anybody of a certain Monday night in January of 1999? Just saying. The match breaks down with the Faces of Fear heading to the floor to beat up Sags. Meanwhile, Hall gets Jimmy’s megaphone and blasts Knobbs in the back of the head so Nash can give him the JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB for the 1-2-3. (16:11) I don’t normally like tag team triangle matches because they’re usually just a huge mess, but this felt like a good fight. The Nasties and the Faces of Fear are known for being tough dudes, but the Outsiders proved to be the smartest. In this case, being the smartest won them the match. **¼

• 60-Man Battle Royal – Winner Gets The Next WCW World Title Shot

The participants: Lex Luger, Eddie Guerrero, ‘Boston Bad Boy’ Tony Rumble, Diamond Dallas Page, Kaos, Rage, M. Wallstreet, Marcus Bagwell, Scotty Riggs, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Booker T, Stevie Ray, Big Bubba, Hugh Morrus, Konnan, Ron Studd, Lord Steven Regal, La Parka, Pez Whatley, Steve McMichael, Disco Inferno, Renegade, Joe Gomez, Meng, Barbarian, Bunkhouse Buck, Arn Anderson, Johnny Grunge, Ciclope, Galaxy, Syxx, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, The Giant, Scott Norton, Ultimo Dragon, Jimmy Graffiti, Mike Enos, Rey Mysterio Jr., Roadblock, Ice Train, Jack Boot, Jim Duggan, Chris Benoit, Juventud Guerrera, Jacques Rougeau, Carl Oulette, Prince Iaukea, Dean Malenko, Jeff Jarrett, Bobby Eaton, Jim Powers, Squire David Taylor, Chris Jericho, Alex Wright, Mark Starr, Mr. JL, Villano IV, Rick Steiner, and Kevin Sullivan. Our commentators for ring one – Mike Tenay and Dusty Rhodes; ring two – Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan; ring three – Lee Marshall and Larry Zbyszko.

A black-eyed and bruised Benoit meets Sullivan in the aisleway as he comes to the ring. They had a rematch from the Great American Bash in Baltimore the night before. A Horsemen/Dungeon battle ensues on the floor. Benoit and Sullivan fight into the crowd. Bubba tries to help out, but he gets beaten down the steps. Hard to tell if any eliminations are happening even with the three-way split screen because the commentators are all talking about the Horsemen/Dungeon fight. Somehow Lee Marshall gets swept up into the brawl. HA. Apparently everybody involved in the fight is disqualified from the battle royal. The jobbers and the luchadores slowly get weeded out. That excludes Rey Mysterio Jr. The new World order people are just standing around picking their shots. Giant gets into it with Roadblock and clotheslines him out. In one ring, everybody clotheslines Ron Studd in the corner. Once he’s down, they all dog pile on top of him for some reason. While the Amazing French Canadians have their problems with Duggan after they eliminated, Eddie Guerrero pescados out on top of Regal. Off-camera, it looks like Bagwell eliminated Riggs to further their problems with Wallstreet coming up behind Bagwell to send him to the showers. It’ll all become clear tomorrow on Nitro. In another ring, the nWo pretty much stand back and watch while Rey and Dragon make a little match. I thought Eddie was eliminated when he launched himself out on Regal, but he’s still at ringside beating up DDP. Eventually, everybody congregates into the same ring. Jack Boot, better known as Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, gets tossed out. I know everybody was DYING to know what happened to him. Luger tries to punch away on the Giant, but he can’t stay there forever with the nWo standing in his way protecting their own. Luger does manage to toss out a different giant in Ron Studd though. Now the midcarders like Rick Steiner and Chris Jericho get sent out. How is Regal still in the match? Finally when there’s nine people left, WCW stops fighting each other momentarily. Luger and Jarrett go after Hall and Nash while Regal, Mysterio, DDP, and Eddie continue beating on one another. I’ve seen everybody left from WCW on the floor at some point during this match. Regal backdrops Eddie out for a crazy bump. Rey charges Giant and gets hoisted up with ONE HAND. He pitches Rey on top of Eddie. That’s just ridiculous. Hall goes to give Jarrett the OUTSIDERS EDGE when Regal makes the save! Nevertheless, Nash clotheslines Jarrett out. DDP charges Regal and misses to crash and burn on the floor. Now that Regal is on fire, Nash and Giant swarms the guy and dumps him out.

We’re down to Syxx, Nash, Hall, and the Giant left to take on Luger. The crowd gets to their feet. Luger goes on the move and starts taking everybody down with clotheslines. All except the Giant. He whips Luger across and misses an avalanche to land himself up on the top turnbuckle. Lex gets Giant up on his shoulders to get rid of him, but Syxx kicks Luger in the gut. Hall kicks Luger for the OUTSIDERS EDGE, but Luger backdrops him out to the floor. Lex presses Syxx and throws him out onto Hall! Luger ducks a clothesline from Nash and then nails him coming back around with a running elbow! With Nash staggered, Luger lifts him up in the TORTURE RACK! As he moves over to the ropes to dump him out, Giant comes over and shoves them both out to win the match. (28:23) This actually turns out for the best because it creates an opportunity to weaken the nWo just a little bit. They were getting a tad too strong. Since Giant is part of the new World order and Hogan’s the champ, to ask for the guaranteed title shot for winning World War 3 would mean absolute treason. And boy, this should get a little interesting in the weeks to come.

Final Thoughts: What a fun PPV. Apart from who won at least from a booking standpoint, I’m not a big fan of the main event. It’s usually just a nasty cluster of a match, but the hot ending was just spectacular. Most people hate the undercard on this show aside from the cruiserweight stuff. I didn’t mind it and found those matches to be enjoyable. World War 3 ‘96 will get an easy thumbs up from me. November 1996 was just a great month for PPVs. For an interesting time in WCW, go and check this out however you can.

You may not know this now, but at some point I think you will understand my love for Graffiti!

Throughout the 70’s & 80’s, many of these artists threw up tags and bombed on trains and walls all over the world.  Now, they have evolved into incredible talents in fine art.  One of these cool dudes is Eric Haze or “Haze” as he’s famously known. What’s pretty freaking awesome about Mr. Haze is that he had a huge solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Hong Kong.  Nice, right?!  I had the pleasure of going to the opening of his exhibit at the Level 2 Gallery in downtown NYC recently.

First of all, I got there late.  Anybody that knows me understands how awful I am with time.  Whatever, love me or leave me!  I get there and head upstairs to the gallery and I walk into the room, and its totally rocking.  The ambiance was on full tilt.  The people, the music, and the lofty venue with to die for huge windows set the scene.  The place was packed with the “downtown” likes and hipsters while DJ A-Trak and DJ Neil Armstrong spun the adrenaline.

Screw the art at this moment.  I can’t see a thing because there is too much activity and heat clouding my view.  Now, I’m sweating bullets!  I need a “free.99″ cocktail and one of those gi-normous windows to catch a breeze for a minute.  Not only did I find all of the above, but I also caught the aromas of the leaf (if you know what I mean).  Let’s get focused, I think to myself, and check out the art.  While doing so, I’m told KAWS and Jose Parla were there.  Check out these artists as well…Quality!

As an observer, his style is that of a minimalist that focus on lines and graphic shapes.  I did enjoy his black & white monochromatic pieces.  Don’t think I’ve ever seen art interpreted that way.  That felt good!  Overall, not really the type of art that I gravitate towards, but he’s certainly talented.  You have seen his work before even if you don’t know it.  His roster reads like a scroll from the old ass days..Public Enemy, Def Jam, Hip Hop logos, G-Shock etc..  You get the point.  If you don’t know him, then get to know him because he’s legendary!

www.interhaze.com

Os Public Enemy vão actuar em Lisboa a 4 de Dezembro, muito provavelmente no Coliseu dos Recreios. Por isso toca a angariar fundos porque.. LX HERE WE GO!!

YEAH BOYYYYYY!!!

Zane Lowe in Teignmouth. Photo by tj.moore at Flickr.

Setlist:

1. Kasabian – Clubfoot
2. Biffy Clyro – That Golden Rule
3. Chemical Brothers vs. Party – Galvanise The Empire
4. Black Sheep – The Choice Is Yours
5. Radiohead – The National Anthem
6. U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)
8. Public Enemy – Fight The Power
9. Whateverman – P.E. Theme
10. Old School Break
11. John Lennon – Power To The People
12. Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
13. Rage Against The Machine vs. Whateverman – Killing It
14. Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
15. Edwin Starr vs. Whateverman – What War
16. White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
17. System of a Down – Chop Suey
18. Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
19. The Prodigy – Firestarter
20. The Prodigy – Warrior’s Dance
21. Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.

A radio rip is available to download for free here.

The above is not a setlist as much as this year’s most exciting megamix – and there’s a phrase I haven’t bandied around with complete abandon since 2004. Previously, I mentioned something of writing about my favourite remixes of the year and although perhaps this isn’t the ’something’ I was expecting to write, c’est la vie. This year has been fucking awful for good remixes. I could only find three that met my flaky standards. One was the Stuart Price remix of Paparazzi which I overplayed anyway and don’t really enjoy any more, and doesn’t exist much outside of the middle eight anyway. Another was the Does It Offend You, Yeah? remix of Uprising that sometimes is better than the album version – a claim which is completely reliant on my mood at any given moment in time. But I’m a complete whore for DIOY,Y remixes anyway, so it’s a completely predictable anticlimax. The third was the Filthy Dukes mix of To Lose My Life that I thought was fun for a few weeks but it dulled quickly. Thinking about it, I only really liked it because it sounded like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, White Lies and Bimbo Jones in one big melting pot, then I realised that they all do their own thing independently and it sounds better than this track. And with that thought, this brief flirtation was o-v-a-h.

I was reminiscing about the Teignmouth weekend a couple of days ago and realised that Zane Lowe’s warm up set for the evening was, not only one of the best openers I’ve seen for a band, but it fit the bill for resuscitating this dismal commentary. I’ve seen Zane DJ in a couple of other venues before, but he didn’t leave any kind of impression on me. This clicked. He actually did two half hour sets sandwiched between some really happening local bands, and the second was superior to the first, which is above. Rather annoyingly, the audio of the second never surfaced, and I don’t remember much of it other than an amazing remix of Bonkers, so I can’t even describe it. It was amazing. But back to the first set – Zane made me dance. I never dance. Ever. I’ve never understood the appeal behind DJing, or how some people are into it in the same way that I’m into peanut butter M&Ms (you’re pressing play on a track someone else created? Inspirational.) but I have a new found appreciation for it all now. Kind of.

I loved the way it was put together – though I will say that the airhorns all the way through got me excited for a play of the Freemasons remix of Ring The Alarm, which Zane obviously did not play: it was so not the audience for the Freemasons (myself aside, and I would have danced for everyone else there if it had come on),  but I loved all of the thought which had gone into each track and how it would work best in the mix. It was a great blend of genres, alongside music from today and music from ye olden days as well that provided an education for some of the younger audience members there (“Isn’t this from that Fatman Scoop song?”). It created an air of context for the set Muse went on to play, both musically and emotionally, and that’s a beautiful thing.

I would have taken System of a Down out though. I hate that song. Flobots would have worked just as well there.

Nice work Zane Looooooooooooooooooowe. I’m on board.

//Adam Dumper, aka Dumperfoo
For Booking NOVACANCYBOOKING. COM
is a community leader in the Arizona Hip Hop, Art, and Social scene. Having been involved in promotions in Arizona since 1990, beginning at the Grind Night Club. Dumper began as an after-hours DJ and Mural artist there. For a few years Dumper did freelance graphics and logo work for such artists Vanilla Ice, Sugar Ray, Everlast, The Headquarters, Zulu Nation, Hip Step Massive, XIS, and many more from punk rock to hip hop.

Concentrating on his graphic and live painting Dumper hit the Music circuit hard performing and promoting at numerous events from Raves to Concerts in the mid to late 90’s.

In 2002 Dumper teamed up with Keith Nichols, Emerg McVay, Hyder, Catalyst and friends to start his new venture, The Blunt Club. For the past years the Blunt Club has been Arizona’s Hip Hop church, hosting nearly every local live painter, poet, mc, dj, fashion designer, and beyond, supporting the artistic community in a multidimensional format.  The Blunt Club has since been named one of the top “101 hot spots in the U.S” by Spin magazine, as well as AZ’s “Best Hip Hop Night 2003-2006″ by Phoenix New Times and 944 magazine.

In 2003 Dumper founded with Baron Gordon, the Alpha Monster Art Collective, consisting of over 20 members globally. The collective’s goals are to advance each artist, business wise and ethically, give back to the community.Currently Dumper and the Alpha Monster’s perform all over the USA traveling and doing gallery events, to hip hop shows & Festivals , every final Friday at Club 909, First Friday’s downtown at the UM Gallery , and every Thursday at the Blunt Club In Tempe AZ . In 2003 Dumper joined forces becoming a resident artist with the So Cal collective, theAbstract Workshop. In 2005, Dumperfoo has since become a resident artist traveling out to paint live once a month at Abstract Workshop’s major events.

Recently Dumper joined the Pacific Art Collective, and doing gallery shows from San Jose, to Seattle, back to L.A. You can catch Dumper live every Thursday at The Blunt Club in Mesa, AZ or you might just see his paintings hanging in a studio or home near you. You can also check him out at
www.myspace.com/dumperfoo.

More On Dumperfoo:
I’ve painted onstage with at one time or several times..
HAIKU DE TAT, ABSTRACT WORKSHOP COLLECTIVE , TALIB KWELI , SCRATCH , AESOP ROCK & LIF , CROWN CITY ROCKERS , MF DOOM , AFRICA BAMBAATAA , HIERO , SOULS OF MISCHIEF , SAGE FRANCIS , ATMOSPHERE , MR. DIBBS , GRAYSKULL , SCRIBBLE JAM , J.BOOGIE , ANTEDOTE, JOSH MARTINEZ , SLEEP, 2MEX, SHAPESHIFTERS, DULOK, EYERIS ONE, GRIFFIN ONE, STACKS MALONE, BUKUE, UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST, DJ QUEST, Z-MAN, SACRED HOOP, TREK-LIFE, ONE SELF, DJ SAMMY B (JUNGLE BROTHERS), DJ DREZ, Z-TRIP, RADAR, ELEMENT, SANTOS, SCOTTY COATS, DJ COCOE, REBIRTH, DEEP ROOTED, ANTEDOTE, DIGABLE PLANETS, LIVING LEGENDS, HEIRO, ZION I, SCARUB, DJ NEIL ARMSTRONG, ROB SWIFT, ILL INSANITY, SNOOP DOGG, PUBLIC ENEMY, WILDCHILD, PSYCHO REALM, MISTH FAB, ZION I, edIT, BASSNECTAR, PERCEE P, KIDZ IN THE HALL, B.DOLAN, XCLAN, MEDUSA, CUT CHEMIST, BLACK SHAKESPEAR, DJ SHORTKUT, CHICHARONES, & Many , Many , More

FESTIVALS : ROCK THE BELLS (San Bernadino CA. & Concord CA, UM Booth) SCRIBBLE JAM (Um Booth) COMIC CON INT. after parties 2001-2009 (San Diego) , GOOD TIMES FESTIVAL 2007, 2009, EASTER MOON, GEM & JAM, SPEAK YOUR MIND INVASION.

Gallery

….and of course I have my own Dumperfoo piece !!!

By: Erina Digby

Last night, a small group of us Causecasters returned to Los Angeles after a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C. for the Virgin Mobile sponsored Public Enemy event. On Wednesday Nov. 18th we experienced an exciting and successful mobile stunt performed by the group but also met a number of inspiring young individuals, doing their part in raising awareness for youth homelessness in the District of Columbia. Here are just a handful of photographs from the evening…including an up close and personal encounter with Flava Flav’s most famous accessory

sound check in Lisner Auditorium

CauseCast table at the show

Sasha Bruce House

The crew setting up for interviews in the boys room at Sasha Bruce

Harmonie doing her thing with Flava Flav!

Flava Flav making the rounds at Sasha Bruce

Public Enemy performing on a flatbed truck through the streets of D.C.

outside Lisner Auditorium before the big show

Actually, Rick Rubin’s Resume would be a cool name for a band, assuming he didn’t sue you. Anyway, wow. He not only has produced influential debuts from the Beastie Boys to LL Cool J to Run DMC to Public Enemy, but in the process proved that rock and rap could co-exist. He’s pretty much responsible for Johnny Cash’s late-career comeback and produced the flourish of albums at the end of Cash’s life. He produced a mid-career masterpiece for Tom Petty, almost all of the Slayer albums, and I think every Chili Peppers record since and starting with the classic Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He’s done solo/acoustic records for Neil Diamond and Jakob Dylan, alt-rock stuff like Slipknot, and produced the album that contains “Baby Got Back.” Most recently he got the unfocused and feuding Metallica to stop putting out crap and make a classic-sounding Metallica album and then produced a great rootsy folksy ditty for indie favorites the Avett Brothers. That kind of variety is what makes him incredible. He’s done everything at every end of every spectrum and everywhere in between and most of it is great. Sometimes all within the same year.

He started work with U2 on their most recent album but those sessions were shelved and never heard, as the boys when back to Lanois/Eno to do No Line on the Horizon. I heard, or read… or read on the internet that someone heard… anyway, this reliable source said that Rubin is a hardass, and he won’t just take and record the first 10 songs you show up with. He’ll send you back to write more and tell you to do better. Maybe Bono and the Edge didn’t like that and they wanted Yes Men at the controls? Maybe Rubin thought U2’s new stuff sucked and told them to get lost? Who knows. Just adds to the legend.

But the real legend is in his resume. It’s one thing to say “damn, go read this guy’s Wiki page!” It’s another to then realize that there’s a separate Wikipedia page for his Album Production Credits! Check out his bio on allmusic.com and click “credits” and take a look.

My Top 10 Favorite Albums Produced by Rick Rubin:

1986: Raising Hell – Run-DMC

1987: Yo! Bum Rush the Show – Public Enemy

1988: South of Heaven – Slayer

1991: Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers

1994: American Recordings – Johnny Cash

1994: Wildflowers – Tom Petty

2000: Renegades – Rage Against the Machine

2003: De-Loused in the Comatorium – The Mars Volta

2008: Death Magnetic – Metallica

2009: I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers

The Top 10 Albums Produced by Rick Rubin that didn’t make the list above:

1985: Radio – LL Cool J

1986: Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

1986: Reign in Blood – Slayer

1987: Electric – The Cult

1988: Danzig – Danzig

1998: Chef Aid: The South Park Album – South Park

1999: Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers

2001: Toxicity – System of a Down

2002: American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash

2002: By the Way – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Causecast’s Music Manager Brandon DeRoche is constantly traveling the country documenting  how musicians are doing their part to influence positive change in the world.

He’s ended up in some pretty odd places, and sometimes when the pictures come back all we can wonder is… where the hell was DeRoche?? This photo is fresh off the wire, and leaves us here baffled.

My best guess? Chuck D’s grandmothers house.

Quote of the this weeks travels?

“According to Flava Flav I look like Jack Black, followed by ‘WOOOOOW” - Brandon Deroche

I would have loved to see a P.E. concert on a truck.

I realize I’m very fortunate not to be apartment-less in 2009 and damn I love that they performed Terminator X on the Edge of Panic! The clueless narrator mentions Flav’s name first but we know it’s Chuck and Flavor!

Lupe Fiasco & Michael Ealy

NYC Premiere Of ‘The People Speak’ backstage at Jazz at Lincoln Center on November 19, 2009

The film brings together images, music and narration with re-creations of American moments of resistance. There’s the Declaration of Independence; speeches by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.; songs by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Public Enemy; and a call to action by Cindy Sheehan among many others.

Percy Chapman aka Trag is a true master.
You can check his credentials in this documentary about…

“Queensbridge: the world’€™s largest housing project, with the richest legacy in hip-hop: from The Juice Crew, to Nas, Mobb Deep and the realest of them all: Tragedy. While still in his mother’s womb, Tragedy’s dad is shot dead. Thirteen years later, with his mom hooked on smack, Trag has to hustle to survive, but the kid’s a rap genius and is signed to the world famous Juice Crew ’til he’s busted and sent to Riker’s at 16. Trag emerges political, releasing his Intelligent Hoodlum album. ‘Nuff respect, but he’s eclipsed by young rapper Nas. Trag falls prey to the streets where he discovers teen rappers Capone-N-Noreaga. After dissing Snoop Dogg, they get a record deal. Trag is hailed as a genius for masterminding their geo-political War Report album.
Capone is busted and Noreaga finds stardom, leaving Trag to starve. Then Trag’s mom ODs. At first Trag turns to crime, then finds inspiration, turning pain to beauty with underground albums Against All Odds and Still Reporting. Trag meets Nore to talk about making music together again, but cops pull up on ‘em, throwing Trag in jail. Out on bail, Trag is still reporting from the hood, keeping it real in Queensbridge.“

Prison sentence: On December 27, 2007, Tragedy was convicted of selling narcotics and sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.
He is scheduled to be released on January 21, 2011

Artist: Bobby Ray

Song Title: No Man’s Land

Album: BoB vs. Bobby Ray

Album Release Date: June 22nd, 2009

You may have known him as BoB, but this hot new artist recently changed his name to Bobby Ray. An awesome mixture of rock and hip-hop, this guy is supremely talented. He can play a number of different instruments and his quality is showcased in this track. Look for his first official album to be released in April of 2010.

——————————————————-

Artist: Gorilla Zoe

Song Title: I Like Dem Girls

Album: King Kong

Expected Album Release Date: April, 2010