Bangers

Here are a couple of soul tunes that are really doing it for me lately. Hope you dig.

It's a soul group from New Orleans called the Skull Snaps. First up. What the fuck? What is a skull snap and what is the name supposed to imply or mean? I don't know, mang. The song bangs. The album cover rules, the name rules, and the songs rule. The PR however, makes not one bit of sense.

Next up we have an Oakland legend by the name of Darondo. The man was born in Berkeley and resided in the the great Bay for the majority of his life. He was never a big hit, never managing more than some modest noteriety and playing residencies at several hip bay area clubs. His music career more or less bottomed out in the early 70's and he turned to the pimping as a way of life. Not much of him was heard until recently when a compilation was issued with one of his songs... not my favorite tune, but one that caught the attention of many collectors and afficionados. Anyway, I love this song for it's hard funk back beat and it's poignant, politically conscious lyrics, particularly for a man who would later make a profit on selling women. I first heard his songs in the basements Carib & Alex at the urging of my good friend Sean A. Smith. How I miss the days of listening to old records in musty basements.

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The dude, had something to him, a real smooth cat . Dig the rings. How could I not love him?

I love Darondo's commentary on the space race.