KING OF POP STILL THIRLLING FANS WITH RERELEASE AND NEW SUPRISES

When Michael Jackson released his first Post-Motown solo album “Off The Wall,” it became an instant hit, selling ten million copies, making him an international solo star, and the first artist to score four top ten Pop hits from one album, but when he learned that he only earned two Grammy Nominations (an event that even shocked the recording industry), he told his mother Katherine, and his producer Quincy Jones that his next album would be so great that the industry would have no choice to recognize it. Jackson was right. Not only did the follow up “Thriller” released in 1982 become a classic, it still holds the record of being the best selling album of all time, with sales of over 104 million copies world wide.
The album also won numerous awards including eight Grammy Awards including seven American Music Awards and eight Grammy Awards including Album of The Year. The album also showed the industry that Black singers are capable of incorporating all forms of music together that reaches music lovers of all races and generations, which made “Thriller” the classic that it is today. “I always wanted to do music that influences and inspires each generation“ Jackson said in an recent interview with Ebony Magazine. “Let‘s fact it, who wants mortality?” .To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this landmark album, Jackson decided to re-released the classic remastered with some new remixes of his hits by Wil. I. Am, Akon and Kanye West as well as a bonus song that didn’t make the final cut.
The Thriller begins with “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” a hot dance song that was a highlight in his concert tours. This song has hot beats, percussion, horns, a funky guitar solo by David Williams, lyrics about a jealous person who wants to cause drama to impress people, a hot call and response between Michael and the background vocalist, and the famous African chant that Grammy Award winner Rhianna sampled for her current “Don’t Stop The Music.” This is followed by “Baby Be Mine” a smooth midterm R&B song that has great keyboards and synsersizer performances by Greg Philligannes, and great vocal by Jackson does a great job phrasing, and singing mid and low ranges that blends well with the strings, and horns.
His duet with former Beatle and friend Paul Mc Cartney on “The Girl Is Mine” has a great combination of Pop and R&B showing that both American and British singers have Soul. What makes this song classic are the harmonizing between the legends as well as the spoken dialogue about who would be the better man for the female who captures their eye, while the title track still sounds as good as it does when I first heard it for the first time at the age of twelve. Between the sound effects, bass line taken from Rick James’ 1981 hit “Give It To Me Baby,” the haunting lyrics written by former Heatwave member Rod Temperton, Jackson’s ad-libbing and famous line hee-hee-hee and the haunting rap and laugh by the late Vincent Price, I can see why this is the most played song at Halloween parties.
Michael cuts loose on the Anti-Gang war song “Beat It., one of his first self-penned social conscious and messages songs that would later become many of subjects he would later write and produce. In addition to the lyrics about the consequences of taking part in gang violence, the song has a powerful rhythm section, beats courtesy of the drummer, and rock solo by Eddie Van Halen. “Billie Jean” is another classic and fan favorite that always get spins in clubs, that has people dancing and emulating his routine from the Motown 25 special. What makes this song hot and dramatic are Jackson’s vocals and ad-libs, the bass line and solos by Louis Johnson and Tom Scott, and lyrics dealing with a female claiming that a guy’s the father of her son.
“Human Nature” is a beautiful midterm ballad that has great instrumentation and arrangements by Pop group Toto, and Michael ad-libbing in falsetto, that was later sampled by SWV for the remix of their # 2 hit “Right Here.” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” is my favorite song of the album. Co-written by Quincy Jones & James Ingram, this sexy and funky song has a hot rhythm section, Jackson, Ingram and former Shalamar member Howard Hewitt singing background through a vocoder, as well as sexy call and response between Michael and the female background vocalists including his sisters Janet & La Toya and Jackson speaking seductively, and blowing kisses towards of the song.
“The Lady in My Life” is one of Jackson’s soulful ballads to date. Not only does the song contain smooth and seductive music, it captures Michael’s ability to sing different ranges as well as sing harmony.
The Thriller continues with remixes of “The Girl Is Mine” and “PYT” by Will.I.Am, who did a great job giving these classics a comptemparry feel, making them sound as timeless as the original versions. The former has a hot combo of R&B, Rock and Hip Hop courtesy of the beats used from Lil’ Mama’s hit “Lip Gloss” as well as the percussion, strings and keyboards. It also features Jackson singing falsetto while Will raps, while the latter has hot percussion, horns, new lyrics written by Jackson and rap by Will.

Damn girl, you’re a sexy thing
Let me be your lil’ sex machine
You look good in dem jeans
I peel them off like a tangerine
I can see you on a magazine
Modeling maybe line
Yeah you can be my beauty queen
Yeah boo, let me be your king
A great song to play on the dance floor and in the bedroom.
Michael’s collaboration with Akon on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ is hot! They both gave this classic an African and Sexy make over with new verses written with Giorgio Tuinfort, and sung by Akon who performs the song’s famous chant with Jackson ad-libbing and singing background. A Billboard Music and Grammy Award nomination is recommended. Black Eye Peas member Fergie joins Jackson on “Beat It” who’s Rock-Pop style vocals gives the song a dramatic feel, making listeners believe that she’s pleading for her kids not take part in gang violence. Kanye West gives Hip-Hop flavor to the classic ‘Billie Jean” by adding hard hitting beats and more strings and more ad-libs by Jackson while keeping the original bass lines and solos.
The Thriller with “For All Time” a beautiful ballad and unreleased song from the original sessions. Written by Steve Pocaro and produced by Jackson, the song has a great mixture of Pop, R&B and Adult Comptemporary music, Jackson singing the bride African style and touching lyrics about being in one’s corner through good and bad times.
“And maybe the walls will tumble
And sun my refuse to shine.
When I say I love you
Baby you gotta know that’s
For all time.
A nice song to be sung at weddings and graduations.


Listening to this release brought back many memories of being a Black kid in the projects, listening to good music that would later make an impact on my life and (unknowingly at that time) inspire me to pursue an interest and career in music and music history, and I have to say that I enjoyed reviewing this classic, though it would have been better had Jackson would have worked with SWV and recorded an updated version of their hits "Right Here" and "Human Nature." It would have been great since their remix is one of the most popular songs to contain a sample of his music, but the set was great, and it shows why Michael Jackson (It's about time that the media stops calling him Wacko Jacko and start addressing by his given name Michael Joesph Jackson) is still the King of Pop and an global Legend, Icon and Pioneer.

Unknown Facts about Thriller.

1. The album and song was orginally going to be called "Starlight" but songwriter Rod Temperton and Quincy Jones decided to rename the song "Thriller" instead.

2. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was originally recorded for Michael's 1979 album "Off The Wall"

3. His duet with former Beatle and friend Paul Mc Cartney was the first song recorded for the album.

4. Quincy Jones wanted Michael to change the title of "Billie Jean" to "Not My Lover" because he felt that the public would think that the song was about Tennis legend Billie Jean King. Jones also didn't Michael to use the bassline that made the song famous. Michael advocated, and won, and the song is now a classic. In his mother's auotbiography "My Family The Jacksons,' Katherine wrote how shocked she was when she heard first heard "Billie Jean" saying it was tough sounding, but later realize that the song was done to give his sound and image a little edge because he had felt that his image was too clean cut and that the song stuck a cord with her because they were many ladies who claimed that her sons had father their children.

5. Louis Johnson of the Funk/R&B duo The Johnson Brothers performed the famous bassline on "Billie Jean' and shared how Michael had him bring all of his guitars into the studio to find the perfect sound and they settled on the Yahama. Veteran Jazz Musician Tom Scott played the solo during the bridge of the song.

6.When Quincy called Rocker Eddie Van Halen to perform the famous guitar solo on "Beat It," he accepted the invitation but refuese to accept any form of financial payment or reward.

7. The song P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) came to light when Quincy's ex-wife actress Peggy Lipton Jones brought home some lingerie called PYT, and Q as what he's called thought it would be a great idea for a song so he asked James Ingram to co-write the song. On Michael's The Ultimate Collection boxed set, there's a different version recorded more in a R&B ballad form then the one that's was released on "Thriller."

8. The album almost didn't get released. In his autobiography "Moonwalk," Michael wrote how he was in the middle of narrating the ET Storybook, and how when he heard the playback of "Thriller" it was so crappy that it brought tears to his eyes. He later learned that the album wasn't mixed properly so he, Q and engineer Bruce Swedian mixed one song a day befofe they were completely satisfied.

9. Michael's single "Human Nature" was first remade by Jazz musician Miles Davis.
In 1993, singing group SWV sampled the song for their debut single "Right Here/Human Nature" which topped the R&B Charts and peaked at # 2 on the Pop Charts behind Mariah Careys "Draemlover." The female trio had orignally released "Right Here" in the winter of 1992, but the A&R at their record label asked producer Teddy Riley (who would co-produce Jackson's last three studio albums) to remix the song, and not only did it become one of the top five summer jams of 1993, it was also featured on the soundtrack of "Free Willy" the first album to be released on Jackson's MJJ Record label. A year later rapper Nas also sampled the tune for his hit "It Aint' Hard To Tell," which was later used in his 1999 hit "Nas Is Like."

10. In 1995, Rapper LL Cool J and singing group Boyz II Men sampled "The Lady In My Life" for their Grammy Award winning single "Hey Lover" which topped the R&B Charts.

11. In 1996, singing group BLACKStreet remade "Billie Jean" as the B-side of their # 1 Grammy Award winning hit "No Diggity" while Wyclef Jean sampled "Beat It" for a remix he did for Michael's single "2 Bad" which is featured on his 1997 album "Blood On The Dance Floor." The song also features John Forte rapping, and DJ Funk Master Flex scratching on the turntables.

12. Monica sampled "PYT" for her hit "All Eyes On Me."

13. Grammy Award winner Rhianna sampled The chant of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' for her current hit "Don't Stop The Music.

14. Singer/pianist Alicia Keys is currently performing "Human Nature" on her recent concert tour.

BLACK BRITISH NEED LOVE AND SEX TOO

SPILLING THE TEA ABOUT LONDON
STARRING: SAKI, MAXWELL, BLADE & FRED
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY XAVIER DONALD
(THIS REVIEW AND FILM WHICH IS ADULT ENTERTAINMENT FILM IS FOR THOSE AGES 18 & OVER SO VIEWERS DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVICED)

When Motown legend Marvin Gaye embarked on his long awaited British tour in 1976, he was impressed with how receptive the British fans were of him and his music.
“They’re wilder than they let on” he told David Ritz, author of the late singer’s biography “Divided Soul.” Many people think of British people as being laid back, reserved, and well educated. That’s true, but they also have excellent taste in music and they’re also extremely romantic and freaky, and after seeing the film “Spilling the Tea about London.” viewers are going to have a bigger appreciation for sensuality and hot passionate love making and sex. Directed by Xavier Donald entirely in London, this adult film has great scenery, and chemistry between the stars that aren’t afraid to showcase their sensual side.
The film begins with Saki, playing an American tourist walking towards London native Maxwell (who also narrates the flick) for directions on how to go to Big Ben. After walking, Maxwell informs him that he has to head back to work, which prompts Saki to ask if he could meet him later at his place. Maxwell tells him that he’s unable to have visitors, but he has Saki sneak into the Buckingham Palace disguised as a Royal Guard
“Dude I don’t see how you can stand being in this uniform” Saki says
“Let me get your ass in here” Maxwell replies before he grabs Saki inside his pad, where Saki pens him against the wall, unbuttons his jacket, and began kissing his muscular chest. Maxwell then leads Saki to the couch where they continue to participate in foreplay before Maxwell begins sucking his dick, while Saki massages and smacks his ass, while he’s being ridden. A few minutes later, Saki lays Maxwell on his back, and pleases him by kissing his legs, and sucking on his toes before kissing and sucking on his right foot, which has him moaning in ecstasy, before Maxwell starts sucking his dick. Saki then returns the favor by having Maxwell on his hands, while he eats his ass and sucks on his British Banger.
“Stay like that” Saki says before he continues to eat and finger him, which later leads into them participating in a hot 69 position in front of the fire place.
Saki then pulls out a condom and some lube, and fingers Maxwell before he penetrates him, causing him to moan and shiver.
“Just relax” Saki says while he gently grabs his neck and kisses him on the neck and lips.
“Tell me you like it”
“I love it” Maxwell replies as his getting fucked laying on his side.
What makes this scene sizzle is Saki fucking Maxwell in various speeds, showing his intimate, sensual and wild sides. Especially when he has Maxwell on his back, while his legs are spread towards his shoulders. After they bust their nuts, they fall asleep in each other’s arm on the floor near the front of the couch.
The next scene begins were Maxwell is strolling through Ceners Wheif, and he captures the attention of Wade, a caramel complexion bald guy, who goes to Maxwell to his hotel room, and hangs both their jackets. After he sits on the bed, he offers Wade some coffee and Wade smiles and begins kissing him all over on his lips, nice and chests, before he gently removes his pants. Wade then takes off his shirt and continues kissing Maxwell before he deep throats his dick, before Maxwell returns the favor by sucking him off while rubbing his chest for ten minutes before they participate in frottage (The French translation for dry humping) in various positions before Maxwell sits on Wade’s face for a hot second before participating in another hot oral and frottage session. Maxwell then pulls out a condom and lube, and fucks Maxwell in missionary style, while he’s kissing him. Wade then hits him from behind before shooting a watery load on his ass, before Maxwell jerks his dick and shoots a thick load.
“That coffee was good” Wade says in reference to Maxwell’s dark complexion, and nice tasting ass.
Scene 3 starts off with Maxwell talking about how Buckingham Palace is one of the places where tourists can meet hot guys for dates and hook-ups, before cutting to Saki talking to a Black French man named Fred, who’s dons the urban look and attire (Cornrows, leather jacket and sweat pants). After getting acquainted with each other, Saki invites him to his hotel room, takes their coats, and sits on the bed where Fred asks him about his trip.
“I like it” Saki says.
“Everybody’s nice, but not as sexy as you.
“Thank you. You’re sexy too” Fred replies while Saki rubs his arm.
“Can I come closer” Saki asks before he gently grabs his chin, and begins to kiss him, and before you can say ahh, they become topless, with Saki asking Fred “Are you going to fuck me in French?” Saki then kisses and licks Fred’s chest and belly button, before Fred removes returns the favor by kissing Saki all over before removing his blue briefs and sucking his dick.
“Yeah it feels good” Saki says before the sits up and rubs Fred’s French debeior, and sucks his dick wile laying his back. He later lays the hot French urban brother on his back and licks Fred’s chocolate ass while Saki showcases his romantic and sensual side, his American urban side comes out when he’s about to fuck him
“When I first saw you, I wanted to get in that ass” he says before he penetrates Fred deep to the point of him moaning
“Just relax. Let me stroke you” Saki says while Fred is moaning in a French accent. After fucking him doggy style, Fred sits on top of him, and give him a little competition , causing him to sweat before Saki takes charge and lays him on his back, and fucks him various speeds while having his legs spread out and pounding him to the point of coming.
Fred then shoots a nice load and fall a sleep while Saki holds him with his left arm.
Scene 4 takes place in a leather bar. I’m not a huge fan of leather bars or leather scenes, but I have to say that this scene is pretty hot. First Blade approaches Fred and asks for his number. Then he walks over to Saki, who’s dress in a leather vest and leather boots having and drink, and leads him to the back of the bar, where they push up on each other by kissing and grinding, with Saki taking the roles of being submissive and dominating, by forcing Blade to suck his dick, and eat his ass while he’s hanging from the top of the cage.
“Ah yeah. It feels good” Saki says, before Wade fucks him while he’s laying on two large barrows
“Ah, fuck me” Saki says while he’s being bangs to the point that his eyes almost roll to the back of his head..
Saki then has Wade bend over and fuck and slaps his ass aggressively (who says that men are only competitive in sports) and shoots a large load on his ass.
The last scene begins with Fred laying in his bed, rubbing his dick and speaking in French, to be awaken by Wade
“Do you fancy me coming over to see you” Wade asks
“Can you come over now?” Fred asks
No sooner than you can gag, Wade arrives and wastes no time taking part in some hot foreplay and frottage,
“I’m so glad you came over” Fred says while Wade is kissing and undressing him. What makes this scene hot is listening to Fred speak French while Wade is sucking his balls. Fred then gets on top of Blade, grinds on him and tells him to fuck him in English and French before participating in a hot 69 session with Fred sitting on Blade’s face. Itching to get an extra helping of Fred’s chocolate ass, Wade pulls out a condom, puts it on, and fucks him doggy style which has Fred turned out to the point of speaking in French ane English.
“That’s fucking good” Fred says before he gets fucked missionary style.
After fucking, they bust large and loads and kiss while Fred speaks to him in French, leaving Wade to ask what did he say?
“It was fucking hot” he says in English before they kiss.

This is one of the hottest and romantic porn flicks I’ve seen this year. Not only did the director had great shots of the cast, I love how he incorporate British culture by having the guys meet in landmark locations and allowing Black men to show their sensuality and romantic sides. I just that the scenes with Fred were a bit longer, but all in all the film was excellent and I’m looking forward to seeing work from Xavier Donald and the cast.

GRAMMYS BRIDGES MUSIC GENERATION GAPS AND BREAK MOLDS

When I heard that Beyonce Knowles was going to be performing with Rock & Soul Legend Tina Turner, I like many other music fas were wondering how good would the performance be, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. Not only did the former Destiny's Child lead singer did a great job keeping up with the sexy senior citizen, (who still has the body that 20 year-olds would die to have), it was great to see Tina come out of her performing retirement to perform her Grammy Award winning hits "What's Love Got To Do With It" and "Better Be Good To Me," it was great to see legendary artists perform with the new jacks, showing that music can cross age and culture generation, and that's what I loved about the 50th Grammy Awards. Seeing artists from all different genres performing and presenting awards together as well as seeing artists finally receiving awards for their hard work.
The program began with a clip of the late Frank Sinatra from the 1950's talking about the ceromony, followed by Soul singer/Pianist Alicia Keys performing a duet with him, before being presented the Grammy for Best Female Vocalist by Prince who joked about the Chairman of the Board looking good to be 150 years old. Keys also introduced Country singer Carrie who performed her Grammy Award singer "Before He Cheats" backed by dancers performing with trash cans in the style of the Broadway musical "Stomp."
A hot performance was the Reunion of Funk/R&B Band The Time reuniting and performing their classic hit "Jungle Love" before playing behind Bajun R&B singer Rhianna who performed her hits "Umbrealla" and "Don't Stop The Music" before both acts joined foreces to perform the Time's hit while Morris Day had Jerome Benton hold a mirror while Day made sure he was looking good.
The Beatles got a nice tribute performed by the cast of Cirque du Soleil's who Cesoveper Gospel version of the Fab Four's hit "Let It Be" and it was good to see John Lennon's current wife Yoko Ono in the audience being on her best behavior because some fans are still pissed at how she behaved at the 2004 ceremony when she refered to surviving members Rhingo Starr and Paul Mc Cartney as the other guys. (There are some Beatle fans who still feel she should have gotten her ass kicked for that comment. It's bad enough she dissed Lennon's first wife by not allowing her to attend his funeral, and with all the money the bitch is making off her late husband, you would think that she would have taken some lessons on etiquette. I can see why people loved Paul's first wife Linda, who was professional, talented, down to earth and managed to make a name for herself as a photographer after she married Sir Paul).
Kanye West performed his hit "Stonger" in a futuristic set, later performing a moving tribute to his late mother who died before Thanksgiving, which earned the outspoken Rapper and advocate of stopping homophobia in Hip Hop a standing ovation.
My moment was seeing one of my favorite female singers Tina Turner showing the crowd that age has no limits when it comes to having fun doing what you loved, and honey she worked it. With her friend and fellow Gay/SGL Icon Cher introducing Beyonce who performed a hot tribute to the R&B/Jazz artists Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Donna Summer, before introducing Turner who appeeared wearing a Gold body suit and brown hair took the stage to perform clasic hits "What's Love Got To Do With It" and her Rock anthem "Better Be Good To Me" which had everyone including yours truly out their seats. The Rock & Soul Goddess then introduced Beyonce who came onstage wearing a dress similar to the one that Tina wore during her "Wildest Dreams" tour elelven years ago, to perform the classic "Proud Mary" and B did a great job keeping up with the dancer and Tina who still has that glow and energy that made her an inspiration to many today.
The Foo Fighters rocked the crowd outside the Staples Center giving the chance for contestant to perform with them, and what award show would be complete without a tribute to Gospel? Soul Legend Aretha Franklin joined Gospel Legend BeBe Winans to perform a song, before The Clark Sisters came onstage to perform their classic hit "You Brought The Sunshine."
Two of the biggest highlights were Josh Groban performing a tribute to the late Opera legend Luciano Pavillo, and Johm Forgety joining Rock Legends Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis to peform the Rock classics "Great Balls of Fire" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" where Richard's performed his trademark riff. Woo!! It may not have been as strong as it normaly is, but it was good.
Motown legend Stevie Wonder congratulated the label's founder Berry Gordy, Jr for being named an Icon by the Grammys for founding the famous Detroit label which is celebrating it's 50th anniversary before introducing Alicia Keys who performed her Grammy Award winning hit "No One" with John Myers who's guitar riffs and powerful vocals gave the song an edge, earning a standing ovation.
British Pop singer Amy Winhouse anticipated performance was hot. The British star who's been batting addiciton left a stint in Rehab to perform her hit "Rehab" via satelite which won Record of The Year.
The performances wasn't the only thing that made the ok; there was many artists who finally got awards including Rhianna, who earned her first Grammy Award for her hit "Umbrella" in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Category with her boss Jay-Z, while labelmate Ne-Yo earned won for Best R&B Comtemporary Album for "Because of You" making many at the Def Jam label happy. The late Gerald Le Vert finally received his first Win in the Traditional R&B Catergory for his hit "My Songs" making many fans happy that he finally got his due though many feel that it was long over due. Presidental Canidate Obama Barack received his first Grammy beating out Dr. Maya Angelo and Bill Clinton, while Legendary Wild Child Chaka Khan won for Best R&B album and for Best R&B single by a Duo or Group for "Disrespectful" her single with Hip-Hop Soul Queen, but the high point was Jazz legend Herbie Hancock winning Album of The Year, making him the first Jazz artist to win in that category since 1943, and the producers should have allowed him to continue his make his acceptance speech out of respect. (It like they haven't gone overtime, and it that has happened many times and it wasn't due to winner's long acceptance speeches either).
This years Grammy was OK , but I would like to see more performances of legenary performers and new Jacks performing as well as more tribute to record labels and genres that have made impact on music such as Rap, Disco, and the sounds of Motown, Philly Soul and Stax Records.