A Black History Month Song of the Day - Baby I'm Scared of You - Womack & Womack

Come, if you got real love for me

Stay away, if you got games and tricks for me

I wanna man that means everything he say

And not a boy full of play

Pulling rabbits out of his hat everyday

Oh, baby I'm scared of you

We end our Black History Month and rhythm and blues celebration with one of the most soulful and delicious songs I've ever known.  Back in the 1980's was when I got my first taste of soul and R&B and I haven't stopped loving it ever since.  There were a great many R&B singers from that time that I used to love.  Alexander O'Neal and Cherelle, Melissa Morgan, Melba Moore, Stevie Wonder, Pebbles, Vanessa Williams and so many more hit it big with some great R&B jams of the day.  

I... I don't believe in magic (magic)

I believe in love everlasting

I can't understand that

Husband and wife team, singers and songwriters both, Cecil and Linda Womack, wrote and performed one of my all time favorite and classic soul songs, Baby I'm Scared of You.  The tune is simply soul perfection...the lyrics, the music, and of course the great vocals.  This one was made back in the early days of video (1983) and unfortunately there was no visual to go with this one, but you should definitely check out Baby I'm Scared of You...  

Houdini, Houdini, was great magician

He could crack a lock, from any position

But my heart, is nothing like those locks

And your falling last of my brand of stock

Like little red riding hood, you're the fox

Oh baby I'm scared of you

Song of the Day - Milkshake - Kelis

We continue the last days of Black History Month with a contemporary R&B artist and one of her oldest and biggest hits.  Kelis first came on the scene way back in 1998 and didn't really hit it big until five years later with this funky, sexy jam.  Compared to her music today, this one is sort of, well, primitive.  I am a bona fide fan of Ms. Kelis these days and the music she's doing now is much more sophisticated and adult and I love it just as much.  Milkshake is a classic, though, and that tag line!  So go press play and get down and dirty...   

A Black History Month Song of the Day - Goin' Back to Cali - LL Cool J

I'm going back to Cali, rising, surprising

Advising realizing, she's sizing me up

Her bikini - small; heels - tall

She said, she liked, the ocean

She showed me a beach, gave me a peach

and pulled out the suntan lotion

Now I thought that was fast, but this girl was faster

She's lookin for a real good time

I said, "Close your eyes, I got a surprise, "

and I ran away with the bottle of wine

A very monumental era in black music history was the dawn of the rap age in the early to mid-1980's. It all began with the early and primitive sounds of the Sugar Hill Gang and went big time mainstream a couple of years later with the trio from Hollis, Queens known as Run DMC.  Before the genre morphed into hip-hop (some have returned to calling it rap these days), another fellow from Queens by the name of LL Cool J carried DMC's torch into the late 80's and beyond.  LL had a string of hits in those days and perhaps none cooler than this one, a slow, steady jam about, well, California life. So if you were ever a fan of the genre, click play below and relive the smooth stylings of LL Cool J and Goin' Back to Cali...

Song of the Day - Pump It - Black Eyed Peas

Today is Hump Day, and I think we need a little something fast and furious to give us that boost to make it the rest of the way to the weekend.  Love the video too!

A Black History Month Song of the Day - Touch Me In the Morning - Diana Ross

Touch me in the morning

Then just walk away

We don't have tomorrow

But we had yesterday

From the 60's we move into the 70's with one of my favorite singers, Ms. Diana Ross.  Back then many were appalled by her less than amicable departure from the Supremes, but nonetheless one of the original divas took the word by storm as a solo artist, racking up 27 Top 40 singles, 6 of which hit the top spot, including this one.  Touch Me In the Morning was Diana's second #1, following the smash Ain't No Mountain High Enough.  The song is beautifully written, and although I'm not sure many of us would be begging for the kind of heart rending separation she's looking for after such a beautiful romance.  The tune is a little on the sad side, but when she gets to that chorus...bam!

If I've got to be strong

Don't you know I need to have tonight till you're gone...

A Black History Month Song of the Day - Be My Baby - The Ronettes

The Supremes.  The Marvalettes. Martha and the Vandellas.  The Shirelles.  The Ronettes.  The 1960's was the the beginning of a new era in music, one which has endured throughout the years with other acts such as the Spice Girls, Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, Destiny's Child, TLC, Pussycat Dolls, and so many more.  Yes, I'm talking about girl groups.  All of these ladies have left their own indelible mark on the music world and there's no coincidence that much of the music falls under the realm of rhythm and blues.  R&B and dancing have always gone hand in hand and the dancometer has been bouncing through the roof since the days of these early gals.  Here's a classic tune from 1963...it's Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes performing Be My Baby...

A Black History Month Song of the Day - I - Kendrick Lamar

One of the most talked-about performances at the Grammys this year was one by Mr. Kendrick Lamar, a bona fide neo-soul extraordinaire.  Well, this is the song of his that started it all for me, the funkdafied hip-hop soul that is I...  

Song of the Day - Hypnotized - Akon

Here's a brand new classic from Senegalese-American singer/producer Akon.  Unfortunately there's not much information out there on the tune, only that it's not connected to an album...so far.  There is no video, but the song is good enough simply in its audio version, which you can check out right here... Love it!

A Black History Month Song of the Day - Be Without You (Remix) - Mary J Blige

Let me see you put your hands up...

The history of black music would not be complete without the sounds of the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. Mary J. Blige has been kicking it for years now and this very talented lady has grown in leaps and bounds since her early days of down home funk.  Yes, from her monumental debut, What's the 411?, to 2014's mature The London Sessions, Ms. MJB has a deep and varied catalog.  Oh, it was hard to choose just one song to post here today, but when it got down to it, I picked one of her greatest dance/club hits, of course, a remix of a stellar ballad from her 2005 The Breakthrough set, which represents something she added to her repertoire as a dance singer with the great remix of No More Drama in 2001.  Here's the hot hot remix of Be Without You...

A Black History Month Song of the Day - I Proceed - Ciara

I know that labeling some of these posts as Black History Month might seem a little shallow for the occasion.  Well, this is a music blog and to me, rhythm and blues is a genre of music that transcends all and has its roots in African American history.  I've always loved R&B and so I like to take advantage of this occasion to highlight some R&B songs I love, and in today's case it's a funky groove by singer Ciara, with a lil help from Missy Elliot.  Check out I Proceed...

Flashback Friday Song of the Day - Boogie Wonderland - Earth, Wind & Fire

Maurice White 

December 19, 1941 - February 3, 2016

Yet another celebrity has been lost as Maurice White, founder of the hugely successful R&B/disco band Earth, Wind & Fire, has passed from complications of Parkinson's Disease.  We celebrate his legacy with this, one of the band's most successful songs, Boogie Wonderland...Enjoy!

A Black History Month Song of the Day - No Diggity - Blackstreet, with Dr. Dre and Queen Pen

February is Black History Month, and so throughout the month, John's Music World will be peppered with songs that represent a vital base for much of the music in the world, and that's some good old fashioned R&B.  Today's our first entry with a funky jam from back in 1996 by the boys known as Blackstreet and with a little help from some friends.  Check out No Diggity...

Black History Month Song of the Day - Love Sex Magic - Ciara, featuring Justin Timberlake

The last day of February is here and it's time for one more song celebrating Black History Month. Ciara's collaboration with Justin Timberlake on Love Sex Magic is one funky tune.  The voices of these two blend perfectly in this sexually charged jam and it's so easy to dance to. Enjoy and Happy Saturday!

Black History Month Song of the Day - Yeah - Usher

We continue the last couple of posts of Black History Month with a bona fide contemporary R&B star.  Usher has proved his staying power over the years with plenty of great songs, and a lot of them, like this one, work like heck on the dance floor!  So click play and jam...

Black History Month Song of the Day - Doubt - Mary J Blige

I made it to the end

I nearly paid the cost

I lost a lot of friends 

I sacrificed a lot

I'd do it all again

Cause I made it to the top

But I can't keep doubting myself anymore

Now here's a black artist who's contributed so much to the world of music in general.  Formerly known as the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul," Mary J Blige has grown into so much more than that over the years, having delved into all types of genres of music and excelled at each one.  Her voice is a gift, and we're all lucky we get to be the ones she shares it with.  

Here's Mary's latest single from the fabulous London Sessions album. It's one of my personal favorites off the set, and she just performed it so eloquently to close out Monday night's BET Honors show.  Here's Doubt...

Black History Month Song of the Day - I - Kendrick Lamar

Over the weekend I posted a little R&B and funk from the past, and here's a brand new soon-to-be classic rhythm and blues song from today.  Kendrick Lamar's I is an awesomely groovy R&B jam, so nice that it won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance.  Rap???  I guess, but it's still good ole R&B to me.  Eh, well sure there's rap in the tune, but that's not even the best part.  If you don't know I, then check it out...

Black History Month Song of the Day - Superfreak - Rick James

We want the funk!  Oh yeah, funk music flourished in the late 70's and early 80's, with acts like George Clinton and Parliament, The GAP Band, Commodores, Earth, WInd  Fire, Kool & the Gang, and so many others contributing great songs to the genre, but probably the most commercially successful artist to come out of the funk era was none other than Buffalo's own Rick James.  Rick's popularity was relatively short, staring in the late 70's with his 1978 breakout You & I all the way to his 1983 duet with Smokey Robinson called Ebony Eyes, but during that time and for a long time afterwards, his relatively short catalog is filled with funk classics like Give It to Me Baby, Mary Jane, Cold Blooded and Standing on the Top.  Here's his most identifiable hit from 1981, the oh so funky Superfreak...

Black History Month Song of the Day - The Way You Love Me - Karyn White

The early to mid-eighties was a great time for R&B music, which I partially credit for my love of dance music.  Artists like Cherelle, Alexander O'Neal, Pebbles, Melba Moore, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, Patrice Rushen, Babyface, Jeffrey Osbourne, and so many more rocked mine and everyone else's world with a mixture of great grooves and nice ballads, too.  Here's one artist who seemed to have faded as quickly as she appeared.  Karen White burst onto the music scene in 1988 with her Babyface-produced eponymous debut album, which produced three top ten singles, including this one.  The Way You Love Me is typical 80's R&B, with a dancey hook and a catchy chorus, and the video is soooo 80's, as well.  Check it out and enjoy your Saturday...

Black History Month Song of the Day - Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner

Since the early days of pop music, or what they called 'rock and roll' back then, there've been plenty of white artists who have scored big with either covers of traditional rhythm and blues songs (see Elvis' Hound Dog and That's Alright) or simply stylizing their music after black music (See Justin Timberlake or Robin Thicke).  Well, on occasion, the reverse has happened, as it did with Ike & Tina Turners' cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic Proud Mary.     

Back in the days when I was a disc jockey, this version of Proud Mary was an old standby.  If I ever needed to give the crowd a little inspiration to get up and get down on the dance floor, this song always did the trick.  Turners' version of the tune is completely different than CCR's, and is a classic unto itself, starting off with a nice and easy groove and then working its way into a frenzied finish. Both forms of the song fared well on the charts, hitting #'s 2 and 4, respectively, but it's this version that I and many others, love to dance to...

Black History Month Song of the Day - Just Be Good to Me - S.O.S. Band

Friends tell me I am crazy

That I'm wasting time with you

You'll never be mine

That's not the way I see it

Cause I feel you're already mine

Whenever you're with me

People always talkin' bout

Your reputation

I don't care about your other girls'

Just be good to me

Friends are always telling me

Your a user

I don't care what you do to them

Just be good to me

Here's another song for Black History Month, and it's a classic from the disco era with the S.O.S. Band on their infectious Just Be Good to Me.  So click play, take a listen and enjoy your Thursday...