Whenever a new genre of music comes along, those that like it are convinced its going to take over the world. I remember as a kid thinking that everyone would like electro, freestyle, & Miami Bass more than Wilson Philips, if only they could hear it. And shortly after memorizing the lyrics to the Rappin’ Duke ( I still say, “What I do on your grave won’t pass for flowers either” under my breath), believing similarly that hip hop (or rap, whatever) was going to be every song on the radio. And at times, those predictions almost seem to come true. Not for electro really, but when Biz Markie hit top 40 with Just a Friend, I’m pretty sure I called the radio station and requested it 1,000 times in a row, approximately 5 minutes after they just played it. It was proof that rap was legitimate music, and I knew it. A few years later it was all MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice, and that was about the time I stopped listening to the radio at all. I just couldn’t understand why Young MC wasn’t what people wanted to listen to… I mean… hadn’t they heard the cassette? It was fucking ILL! Well, before my time, was someone elses time, and Jazz was the music that (according to Jazz heads) was going to take over the world. And yes, they had their moment of proof too… and it was Brubecks Take Five. It’s easy to hear why this song catapulted Time Out to #2 on the pop charts and became the first jazz album to sell 1 million copies. In my world, rap would go on to climb the pop charts over the years, eventually becoming a form of ignorant pop that I wouldn’t scrub my toilet with, but seems to spread std’s right out the speakers at your local campus meat market. However, jazz never really recovered from 1959, as Kind of Blue fell into Davis being beaten of loitering, and heroin turned Harlem into the Harlem that you’re picturing in your head from the late 70’s. C’ est La Vie.

Throwback: Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five (don lowed)

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Another song that resonated with the masses, and is also enjoyed by me at often intervals.

Throwback: Herb Alpert The Tijuana Brass – A Taste Of Honey (don lowed)

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