Another Week In The City Has Passed...

"Making mistakes, is a part of life's imperfections..." - Level 42 

Another week has passed and this week was harder than others.  A lot of work and a lot of running to and fro.  The bad thing about having some free time on the subway or anywhere else, is that we tend to ponder about things lulling around in the far recesses of the brain (or as we like to say "soul search").  Sometimes the thought process is healthy and at other times, it can be as heavy as a shovel full of snow.  As human beings, we do have imperfections (even though many of us tend to wish or think we didn't) and that is unfortunately a part of life.   The only thing that we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to improve on our imperfections.  Even though our imperfections are part of your blueprint and make us who we are.  Know thyself - it's the only way that we can strive forward to anything positive.  Positive vibes, positive relationships and a positive life.

Alright, enough preaching!  I decided to touch on an album today that has touched our lives in more ways than one.  The album I am gushing about:  

Now I know that some of you out there are shouting and jumping up and down at the mere thought of back in the day sexy Michael.  With his Jheri curls and hairless chest, in his suave white suit Michael was the vision of a black angel (well in my eyes).  I still remember the first day I ripped open my Off The Wall album.  There was nothing in the world that was going to stop me from playing it all day long.  By the end of the day, I do believe my mother knew all of the words to the whole album.  Now when Thriller was released, that was a whole new ball game for music lovers and the landscape of music.  With innovative videos like the groundbreaking "Thriller", "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", videography has never been the same because he raised the bar.  I am sure you remember the night the video for "Thriller" premiered on MTV, Muchmusic (whatever station it was for you).  I still get little chills watching the video!  And with songwriting like "The Lady In My Life", Michael had every woman in the world thinking that he was singing to her.  To this day, my pick-me-up-when-I'm-down song is "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing").  And who can forget Motown 25, when Michael shared the Moonwalk with the world?  It was almost like time stood still.  Michael won 7 Grammy's for his incomparable work with Quincy Jones on Thriller.  That is surely a feat not to be taken lightly. 

And now comes the kicker - there is a re-release for the 25th anniversary of Thriller.  And yes ladies and gentlemen, I do have a problem with it.   Some things are just meant to be left alone.  I don't know about you, but with artists like Akon, Fergie and will.i.am remaking these classic tracks, it does not exactly send me running to the store to pick up the new copy.  Kanye West's remake of "Billie Jean" is not as bad, but honestly, we could have done without.  This is a case of - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Why mess with the best selling album of all time?  For nostalgia's sake and for that one new track by Michael, I will purchase the album.  But take a listen and let me know what you think.  I know you can find snippets of the songs online somewhere.  Do some digging and drop a note to let me know what you think about the "new" Thriller.

Quick mention - I reviewed the Jazzy Soul Collective concert I talked about in my last blog entry.  You can find the review on Soultracks, an amazing website for soul enthusiasts to keep up with what is going on with the soul and R&B scene.   You can click on Soultracks on my friends listing to your left.  It is under News and Opinions.

And yes, it's that time for our video flashback.  Today I decided to go back to a wicked vibe.  It's cold and snowy here, so I wanted to go for a feel good track.  Enjoy!

R.I.P. Flora "TeTa" Collymore - you are forever in our hearts and will be missed immensely.

Tha Connoisseur