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Pop Psychology: Where Would We Be Without 'Super Freak' - Prince Mentioned ----- Pop Psychology: Where would we be without 'Super Freak' By Josh Wardrop Sunday, August 15, 2004 I was driving to Maine for a wedding on Friday, when I heard about the death of '80s funk legend Rick James. Initially, it struck me as one of those celebrity deaths that is shocking, but not all that surprising -- after all, James' battles with addiction over the past couple of decades were well-chronicled, and in those circumstances you always sort of think in the back of your mind that those individuals could go suddenly, at any time. Being a cynic, I expressed to a friend that James' death was one that, as a music fan, you don't feel as bad about because he was quite obviously someone who'd peaked as an artist. In the week since James' passing, there hasn't been the sort of outpouring of grief that we'd lost a Kurt Cobain or an Otis Redding or an Ian Curtis or some other musician whose best, most creative years might have been ahead of him. But, as the week went on, I found myself thinking more and more about James and the effect that he had on music and popular culture, and I kept coming up with more and more examples of things the world would have been without if it weren't for Rick James. For an artist who most people know only for one song -- the majestic, dirty-funk anthem "Super Freak" -- James actually had a bigger effect than many might imagine. If it wasn't for Rick James, there would be no Mary Jane Girls. Originally the back-up singers for James' Stone City Band, James molded the women into an actual group who were signed to Motown in 1980. He did most of the writing and producing of the group's material, including hits like "In My House" and " All Night Long." (In a related vein, James was also the initial guiding force behind r&b soulstress Teena Marie's career.) If it wasn't for Rick James, there would be no "Party All the Time," the ultimate cheesy guilty pleasure 1985 single by Eddie Murphy. James wrote, produced, arranged and sang on the track for Murphy, who was trying to launch a legitimate singing career. I can still remember the video, where James stood in a control room with a bunch of people grooving, staring down at Eddie with misguided pride, as if to say, "Damn! This brother has got it going on!" If it wasn't for Rick James, there would be no "U Can't Touch This," by MC Hammer. A decade after the funk riff from "Super Freak" was piling people onto dance floors in the early '80s, the Hammer song that sampled "Super Freak" became one of the defining jams of the early '90s. Once Hammer turned his attention to songs that didn't sample James' riffs, the career started to falter. But for an entire generation, "U Can't Touch This" will still conjure up happy memories of dancing with friends in pants several sizes too large. If it wasn't for Rick James, there'd be no "Chappelle's Show" phenomenon. Obviously, a talented comedian like Dave Chappelle would have broken through to the mainstream eventually. His Comedy Central show might even have developed a following on its own. But ask anybody today who's seen the show (and even those who haven't) what they know about the series -- which Chappelle just re-upped for two years for a tremendous amount of money -- and you'll likely hear one phrase -- "I'm Rick James, B%#&h!" There are T-shirts out there for sale with James' face on them, containing the above phrase in a word balloon, which come culled from Chappelle's hilarious impersonation of him on the show. Will Chappelle continue to do it now that James is gone? Only time will tell. If it wasn't for Rick James, there'd be no...Prince? OK, this is reaching, as Prince is a genius who would have made his mark with or without James. However, there's no denying the similarities between the two artists, who came out at roughly the same time, and they obviously pushed each other and influenced each other's sound. (One of Prince's earliest tour engagements, in fact, was opening for James.) Both of them were funk artists, they both had a taste for acting as Svengali to attractive female pop stars, and they both tended toward salacious lyrics and nasty grooves. In fact.... If it weren't for Rick James, there would be no sexualization of r&b? Throughout the '60s and '70s, R&B was extremely good at pillow talk. Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Barry White -- they all demonstrated what lush romantic balladry could do to make women swoon, James took a more direct approach. "Super Freak" was a song about groupies who were into menage a trois, "incense, wine and candles," and more things left to the listener's imagination. It's not a huge leap to think that James, along with Prince, can be looked at as the spiritual forefathers of the more explicit and sexual r&b and rap music of today. Had Rick James never been a "Super Freak," would Christina Aguilera ever gotten "Dirrty?" So, rest in peace, Rick James. It appears that the world is going to miss you even more than any of us realized. The lowdown Lots of action on the concert scene this week, dominated, of course, by the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday shows by Prince at the FleetCenter. Word has it the "Musicology" tour will be the last chance to hear the hits, but even if it isn't Prince concerts are a pretty rare and special event, so if you can still finagle a ticket, do it. Those who don't get into Wednesday's show can ease the sting a bit by checking out Patti LaBelle at the FleetBoston Pavilion. On Thursday and Friday, it's more punk and skaters than you can shake a Mohawk at when the Vans Warped Tour rolls into Gillette Stadium for two days. Also on Friday, a trio of sublime songbirds -- Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and Patty Griffin -- will harmonize at the Pavilion, and the thinking girl's pop hottie, John Mayer, plays Tweeter Center with hitmakers of the moment Maroon 5. Finally, on Saturday, it's Huey Lewis and the News bringing "The Heart of Rock & Roll" to the Pavilion, while The Allman Brothers Band and Los Lonely Boys perform at the Tweeter Center, and on Sunday, it's all rock-hard abs and fancy footwork as the reigning prince of r&b, Usher, plays the FleetCenter with rapper Kanye West. At record stores this week, look for new releases from Bruce Hornsby ("Halcyon Days"), all-girl rap trio Northern State ("All City"), drag queen/pop star RuPaul ("Red Hot"), country star Travis Tritt ("My Honky Tonk History") and 213, a rap supergroup composed of G-Funk stars Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G ("The Hard Way"). Peace and Stay Wild!
Jill ___________________________________________ http://launch.groups.yaho...Generation | |
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ChiTownNPG said: If it wasn't for Rick James, there would be no "Party All the Time," the ultimate cheesy guilty pleasure 1985 single by Eddie Murphy.
If it wasn't for Rick James, there would be no "U Can't Touch This," by MC Hammer.  I thought this article was gonna tout Rick's virtues.This post not for the wimp contingent. All whiny wusses avert your eyes. | |
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ChiTownNPG said
If it wasn't for Rick James, there'd be no...Prince? OK, this is reaching, as Prince is a genius who would have made his mark with or without James. However, there's no denying the similarities between the two artists, who came out at roughly the same time, and they obviously pushed each other and influenced each other's sound. (One of Prince's earliest tour engagements, in fact, was opening for James.) Both of them were funk artists, they both had a taste for acting as Svengali to attractive female pop stars, and they both tended toward salacious lyrics and nasty grooves. I agree. Prince would have made his mark without Rick James but it wouldn't have been as strong a mark without that rivalry going on. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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