Will C. - "Heroes and Villains"

This is a promo track I did for Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains not too long ago -

"I stand alone with no Uman

perched above a church's dome in Rome ruins

a far cry from coast to coast ruling

and a long way from oaks in rows soothing

most they don't listen to words, some regret it

consume the text or techs, son dissect it

a monsoon of bullets or bars fused and leaded

to carve tomb's few letters"

Check out the full lyrics here -

I stand alone with no Uman

perched above a church's dome in Rome ruins

a far cry from coast to coast ruling

and a long way from oaks in rows soothing

most they don't listen to words, some regret it

consume the text or techs, son dissect it

a monsoon of bullets or bars fused and leaded

to carve tomb's few letters

I was sittin' on a barstool, spirits high, sober

in a town full of heroes and villains seekin' Noah

need to get a record played ain't see no chauffeur

so my brains my motor to the station's soldier

saw a Lolita print greeting me

'FMU so get tuned to the frequency

stand or fall but if we all take a break

pour some awesome joe and be forced to relate

to the pro in the zone he'll warp designs

and distort war thoughts from a porcelain mind

make it shine, take it - back to being - pure no evil

except for my record Mirror me Back, the sequel - scrapped

and now listen, we got the Prism

see ahead like C is binocular vision

seeming to mock the dissin people accosting him

and even embossing "Will C." into a box set tin

... isn't ... enough

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"Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains" News + Will C. Appearance From 07.23.09

(Will C., left, KARMA, right, @ Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains [WFMU], NJ, 07.23.09)

And now for some good news in the rap world. Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains, one of the best rap radio shows out there , will continue on. Noah Uman, the show's creator, has spent the past 7+ years broadcasting his program via New Jersey-based WFMU. Recently he moved to Nashville, but he's decided that won't mean the end of Coffee Break -

Noah's a friend of mine. His enthusiasm for hip hop and all of the music he loves has led him to achieving many great things in the music world and "industry." I'm glad he's going to be keeping a good thing going. There's enough good things hip hop has lost already.

(Will C. DJing @ Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains [WFMU], NJ, 07.23.09)

Back in 2009, when Evil in the Mirror had just come out, KARMA and I were guests on Noah Uman's WFMU show Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains. It was a very memorable time. Everybody was in great spirits, I DJd a set and we all had some great conversations on and off mic. On the way home, we stopped in CT for a Blacastan photo shoot that wound up producing the cover of Blac Sabbath. That was a fun weekend.

Will C. and KARMA @ Coffee Break, 07.23.09 -

Here's some more info on the current fate of Coffee Break for Heroes and Villains:

“Since I moved out of New Jersey, I didn’t make it to the WFMU schedule this time around, maybe next season. I figured instead of me not doing the show at all, I might as well try another route. I’ve put a lot of hard work into it over the years. From making physical flyers, t-shirts, setting up a website, basic online promotions, to booking all the guests as well. I shouldn’t let not being on a radio schedule stop me from doing what I love. The decision to re-launch the show via social networking sites is the best move at the moment as far as getting the word out there, let’s keep our fingers crossed, and give it a shot!”

The weekly 3 hour show spent it’s time playing forgotten gems, influential records or groups from throughout the history of rap music, as well as showcasing unsigned up-and-comers and the latest in independently released hip-hop.

Noah's going to be uploading the show at the same time each Wednesday evening at 8pm (East Cost Time).

coffeebreakradio.com

http://www.facebook.com/coffeebreakradio

http://twitter.com/coffeebreakshow

http://soundcloud.com/coffee-break-radio

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Dollar Bin Revenge

On a trip to any used record store (at least here in America), you're more than likely to see a Captain & Tennille record in the bins. There's certain artists or records that are so abundant in used record shops that they become ingrained in your mind. Chuck or Gap Mangione is another example. Usually they get skipped right over. They're so abundant, and for those looking for the next great sample to flip, their covers don't always exactly shout out "let's do this."

But we all know we can't just judge a book by it's cover, or music by a visual. So, today is a little dollar bin revenge. Let's take a look at just a few of some of the finest offerings from those pictured above.

Boys With Toys -

Diana in the Autumn Wind -

As for the Captain, well, he's the man in my book too. He was a member of The Beach Boys' band in the early 70s. You can see him with the signature hat on in this performance -

How's this for a story... Originally shared on the Smiley Smile Message Board by none other than Stephen W. Desper, a very important figure in The Beach Boys history. Desper worked as the engineer for The Beach Boys' recordings in the latter period of the Sixties and early Seventies. He also was an artist on some of the Beach Boys records playing and working the Moog, and he toured with them as a sound engineer on the road as well. He shared this excellent story about Daryl Dragon aka The Captain in 2006 -

"He is quite a fellow. Very Very Smart. He gained my respect in the studio right away. Fantastic at the keyboard. Can play any song in any style. I've watched him transpose from key to key in mid-stream. Just call out the key and he can play completely written out chord sheets in any key.

The old MOOG's had DC controlled keyboards. One day Bruce (Johnston), Daryl and I were in the studio doing some MOOG things. Bruce and I were challanging Daryl to play some very hard things so I wondered if he could take, what I thought would be the ultimate challenge. I took the MOOG keyboard and inverted the keys. That is, starting at the left were the highest notes on down to the right for the lowest notes. Completely reversed.

As you know the keyboard has black and white notes that are the half-note steps. Now when you invert the keyboard, the gaps between the white and black notes, being irregular, does not translate in the flipover. In fact nothing makes any sense. I did the keyboard flp and Bruce tried his hand -- total failure. Then Darly tried and I knew why they call him "Capt. Keyboard." He could play any sheet music on the first pass WITH THE KEYBOARD INVERTED !! It was an absolutly insane accomplishment. He said it was all mathamatics to him -- like the key changes. But still, I've never seen anything like that demonstration since.

His wife is equally talented. I've recorded her and she usually does all singing on the first take. Once in a great while you will need a second take, but not much. She is a fabulous studio singer. No punch-in's are required.

They are both lovely people and a pleasure to be with."

Original Post

Out of control. Here's one more to close out. Dragon aka The Captain AKA "Rumbo" with Dennis Wilson from a 1970 7" -

So, there you have it. Dollar bin revenge. Perhaps now after reading this you'll never look at those particular artists the same way ever again. More likely, however, is that you'll just feel like The Captain is gazing into your soul every time he makes his never failing cameo appearance in that local record bin near you. Blame me.

Side note, Blogger is terrible. Sorry for the switched up font sizes. I'll be switching over to a new design soon!

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Was December 1980 One Of The Worst Months In Music History?

Sitting here thinking about how early December 1980 was an awful time for music. Earlier when I was listening to the radio I heard people calling in requesting John Lennon tracks, as it is the 31st anniversary of his passing today.

He passed on the 8th. Just three days earlier on the 5th, The Beach Boys appeared on Good Morning America, and it's a tough one.

"Dennis, ya know, has been out for days on end partying and he can't hold himself up on the couch. He's falling into Carl's lap and he's smoking. And the smoke from his cigarette is wafting across the table and right up under Mike Love's face. And when they pan over to Mike, you can just see him seething."

- Jon Stebbins, author of Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

Here's the full interview, unfortunately in much lesser quality -

Maybe a lot of good things happened in December 1980 too. Technically I haven't done any research aside from view one Beach Boys youtube video and hear John Lennon songs on the radio today. Let me find out Blondie's Rapture came out that month.

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New Boycott Blues - "Believe" Video

Peep the new video by the man Boycott Blues. One of the greatest lyrical displays I've heard in a long time. Actually just one of the best rap songs I've heard in a long time.

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Tupac Rave

So, apparently that Smile box set came out and I dropped off the face of the earth... sounds about right.

There will be a lot of stuff to talk about and post about in the very near future, for sure. Just revamping a couple things for the end of the year, then it's on.

For now, get a load of... Tupac Rave! The Good Life is putting together one hell of a night for New Years Eve, and they had me put together a video to promote it. I'm not exactly sure what the night will be like, but check it out here -

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