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LL Cool J

Certain Songs #943: LL Cool J – “Mama Said Knock You Out”

July 26, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mama Said Knock You Out
Year: 1990

You could call “Mama Said Knock You Out” several things: a top 20 single; the title track to LL Cool J’s most consistent album; proof that he could combine hardness with maturity; and one of my top 5 favorite hip-hop songs.

But, of course, there’s one thing that you absolutely shouldn’t call “Mama Said Knock You Out:”

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Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out

Certain Songs #942: LL Cool J – “Goin’ Back To Cali”

July 25, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Less Than Zero Soundtrack
Year: 1987

While I don’t remember a single damn thing about either the film or book of Less Than Zero, I do remember that the film happen to coincide with the most hipstery and druggy period that me and my social circle went through.

So in my head, anyways, I think of it as “our Less Than Zero” period, despite nobody having any kind of aspirations of being like anybody in the film.

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Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Goin Back to Cali, Less Than Zero, LL Cool J

Certain Songs #941: LL Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”

July 24, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Radio
Year: 1985

Ladies Love Cool James Todd Smith was still a teenager when he wrote and recorded Radio, which came out just a couple of months before he turned 18.

Given that it was the first Def Jam release and given how influential Rubin’s minimalist production style turned out to be, Radio is also a landmark album, a turning point for 1980’s hip-hop.

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Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: I Can't Live Without My Radio, LL Cool J, Radio

18 Musical Moments to Die For

April 20, 2009 by Jim Connelly

The Hold Steady, Wiltern, Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2008

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve done one of these, but I’m back!! In black. (Which is a terrible choice, because it’s, like, 150 degrees today.)

This time, on Musical Moments to Die For, we have two of the greatest cover versions of two of the greatest songs ever recorded; druggy people writing songs about their drug problems, and casual rockstar sexism.

We also have the usual 80’s indie obscurity, and run the gamut from catchy artsy sophistication to catchy dumb-ass stomping crapola.

This is the eighth in a series: The first one had 25, the second one had 24, the third one had 23, the fourth one had 22, the fifth one had 21, and the sixth had 20, and the seventh had 19.

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Filed Under: Music, Musical Moments To Die For, That's What I Like Tagged With: Aimee Mann, Byrds, English Beat, Gomez, Grand Funk, Husker Du, Jonathan Richman, Lemonheads, LL Cool J, Radiohead, Smokey Robinson, The Hold Steady, The Jam, The Libertines, The Smiths, The Sweet

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2051: The Rolling Stones – “Let It Bleed”
  • Certain Songs #2050: The Rolling Stones – “Live With Me”
  • Certain Songs #2049: The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter”
  • Certain Songs #2048: The Rolling Stones – “Honky Tonk Women”
  • Certain Songs #2047: The Rolling Stones – “No Expectations (Rock and Roll Circus 12-1968)”

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