Episode Summary
Teena Marie. Jon B. Lisa Stansfield. Bobby Caldwell. What do these people have in common? Yes, they're white, and they made some jammin' ass songs. In this episode, we're diving into our favorite "White People Jams." The kind of songs that you can slide into a playlist between Mary J. Blige and Janet Jackson without skipping. Joining us on this mission is our fam from the Queue Points Podcast, Jay Ray and DJ Sir Daniel. We break down what qualifies as a "White People Jam," run down some of our personal favorites that stay in rotation, share which artists we didn't know were white, and close out the episode by handing out the "Teena Marie Awards."
Transcript
Christina: Welcome back to They Reminisce Over You, a podcast that takes a nostalgic look back at the best in music movies and TV from the '80s, '90s and early 2000s. I'm Christina.
Miguel: And I'm Miguel. And this week we're discussing what we're calling white people jams, Christina, what are white people jams?
Christina: So, these are songs that had us singing our hearts out, but they didn't always come from where we expected.
Miguel: The songs that you'll hear on the radio getting played either before or after Mary J. Blige and you don't even flinch.
Christina: Yeah. Think Teena Marie “Square Biz” or “They Don't Know” by Jon B.
Miguel: Exactly. So, are you ready to get into it?
Christina: Let's do it.
Miguel: So, to dive deeper in this subject of jammin’ ass songs coming from surprising places, we have some guests along with us today, and you've seen and heard them on the pod before, and you can catch them “dropping the needle on Black music history” every Thursday night. So who better to get into this conversation with than our cousins, Sir Daniel and Jay Ray of the Queue Points podcast. What's up y'all?
DJ Sir Daniel: Hey, what's happening?
Jay Ray: What's up y'all?
DJ Sir Daniel: What's going on cousins?
Miguel: It's been a minute since we had y'all on.
Jay Ray: Yes.
Miguel: I think it's been like a year and a half or something like that.
Christina: That much time already?
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Yikes.
Miguel: Time is flying.
DJ Sir Daniel: And we got to see each other at Afros & Audio.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: Yeah. That was a good time.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.
Jay Ray: Yep. And this is a perfect topic. It's super fun. I can't wait to see what everybody picks. This is dope.
Miguel: So, the first thing I'm gonna ask then, I didn't give you this question beforehand, so it's gonna be a surprise. When you guys hear the phrase white people jams, what comes to mind?
Jay Ray: Ooh.
Miguel: Putting you on the spot already.
Jay Ray: So, I think I have, for me, I go to, I do go to a period of time. I do go to like that early to mid-80s era.
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: Where white folks was just kinda jamming. Like, it was, a lot of crossover.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.
Jay Ray: So even in your, pop and your rock, you were still getting like, a little bit of funk in there. 'Cause probably Black a Bernard Edwards or Nile Rodgers was producing it. So I do go to that era first, when I think of like, white people jams, I go there. Okay. Because people like Teena Marie are just like, Black folks music, right?
DJ Sir Daniel: Same as far as the era. Definitely, the 80s, but also, you know, your disco.
And also quite frankly, I think anything that, that just slaps but just happens to be performed by a white artist is a white people jam and anything that just has like, literally, permeated the culture. Like, for if it's something that we all sing together at the top of our lungs, like whenever we all hear “she was just a small time girl, living in a…” I mean, we love it.
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Those are the things. So that's what I think of when I think of, white folks jams and white people jams and. Just big, you know, arena songs. Just stuff that you can, you know, that we all stomp our feet to.
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: And anything that they, if there's a bar scene in a rom-com, it's gonna, something that's gonna be played in that bar scene where everybody just starts singing together. That's--
Jay Ray: “St. Elmo's Fire.”
DJ Sir Daniel: That's definitive. Yes. That's the definition of a white people jam.
Miguel: Okay. Okay.
Christina: I think for me there's, two categories I think of when I think of white people jams. There are songs that you were surprised when they found, you found out that they were a white artist. And then there are songs like, you know, they're a white artist, but it just has a little more seasoning. You know, it's just slaps a little harder for some reason.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And I think that the reason why, maybe, I don't know for you guys as well I think the reason why so much of these white people jams come from the 80s and early 90s for me is 'cause we had to listen to top 40 a little bit more. Like, we weren't able to, segregate our music. Like, we didn't have a choice.
Jay Ray: Right.
Christina: You know, you had to listen to, you know, eight hours of this to get to one hour of R&B or rap or whatever, right? So, we were--
DJ Sir Daniel: Programming was a real thing.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: So we had to listen to it and, well, they were jams too though.
Miguel: Exactly. Yeah. For me, I put it down like this. Have y'all seen the performance of Lisa Stansfield on the Apollo?[1]
DJ Sir Daniel: The Apollo.
Jay Ray: Baby.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.
Jay Ray: The Apollo was going up, up for her.
Miguel: When they start going, “Go Lisa! Go Lisa!”
DJ Sir Daniel: When they start chanting your name.
Miguel: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: You've done it.
Miguel: Exactly.
Jay Ray: Her confidence was so beyond anything. I was like, this lady will, is ready right now.
Miguel: Yes. So, if you can make a crowd do that. That's a white people jam.
Jay Ray: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.
Miguel: That's my definition. If you get them, chant your name and saying, “go whatever,” white people jam.
Jay Ray: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: Facts.
Christina: Alright, so let's get into the reason why we are here then, the jams. So our first segment, we're gonna call it, “I Don't Skip It.” So these are artists or songs that if they pop up in a playlist, you won't even think about skipping them and you might even run it back.
Miguel: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: For sure.
Christina: So, is there an artist or song that you keep in rotation that people may not expect you to listen to, and why do you keep them in your rotation?
DJ Sir Daniel: So, I'll go first. the song that I do not skip, and when I'm in my car and it's actually on my phone twice, so it is gonna come up twice. It's actually, it's Tevin Campbell's “Just Ask Me To” from the Boyz N the Hood soundtrack. That song, there's just something about it. It just gives me joy. It just, I love hearing a young Tevin Campbell, you know, sing assertively that “I’m a strong young man, and you should understand that, g.” You know, the, lyrics are funny.
But then I started thinking about the video that accompanied the Boyz N the Hood soundtrack. And so they had clips of the movie playing and that was just a very, I remember that was one of the first movies that I went to, the mall to go see by myself. And so it just resonated with me on that level.
And it's just a jam. It was produced by Al B. Sure! You got Chubb Rock on the rap. And so I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep repeating it, but then if we want to keep on the subject of white people, I do not, when the song comes up and it shuffles up, ABC's “The Look of Love.”
Jay Ray: Love that song.
DJ Sir Daniel: “It's the look.” I'm singing that at the top of my lungs in the car.
Miguel: We were listening to it in the car earlier, and soon as that “hip, hip hooray” comes in.
DJ Sir Daniel: Listen.
Miguel: “Hip, hip, hooray.”
DJ Sir Daniel: You know my part is when she said, “when your girlfriend decides to leave you, (goodbye)” That's my favorite part.
Christina: I like how he pronounces love. “The look of love.”
DJ Sir Daniel: So, yes, that's, those are my jams.
Jay Ray: Ooh. Okay. So what's interesting about this, and I don't, I would be surprised if y'all know who this is. So there is an artist, white artist, British artist that I keep in rotation. So I picked ANOHNI for this, so.
Miguel: Don't know them.
Jay Ray: Right? So ANOHNI is super dope. So, and she has a designation of being the first trans artist to be nominated for, an Oscar for her song. But she didn't go, she like boycotted the Oscars that year 'cause they didn't invite her to perform. So that's like, an aside. But I got into her, oh, I was listening to NPR like, 15 years ago and Terry Gross was interviewing her on Fresh Air. And I'm like, oh, this person's really interesting. Like, their voice is peculiar. So—
Christina: Peculiar.
Jay Ray: Literally, it was peculiar. So I ended up shuffling up, and this is the album. This is, this album is called The Crying Light. This dancer, by the way, is Kazu Ono. This picture is from like 1977. But even just this cover, I was like, who is this artist that is with this cover and doing the whole thing?
But anyway. What I love about ANOHNI is she is groovy sometimes. Emotional all the time, and always soulful. But the, this particular record is like a baroque pop. I didn't know what baroque pop was until I was researching this. I was like, I don't even know what this record is. And they were like, it's baroque pop. So, here you go. Baroque pop, y'all, is pop music with like, orchestral elements?
Miguel: Okay.
Jay Ray: So, that's what's going on this joint. So, I never skip “Another World” when it shuffles up. Now, you wouldn't put this in the jam category because it's really more of a, contemplative song, but it's so beautiful. It's environmental, where she's singing about, needing another world because this one's almost gone.
But just that whole idea of that emotion and connecting with that emotion is like, a whole thing. So, I absolutely love that record. I love when ANOHNI shuffles up because on her latest record, she's given you a little bit of disco and a little bit of some, funky soul on there. So, yeah, she's always like switching up stuff.
So I, I never skip ANOHNI when she shuffles up.
DJ Sir Daniel: Ladies and gentlemen, that is the most Jay Ray answer ever.
Jay Ray: That's a very Jay Ray answer.
DJ Sir Daniel: Trust me, that's a Jay Ray answer.
Jay Ray: I need to explain why I picked her too. To that point, I was like, I don't know that people would be surprised that I would play a lot of things. So, I was like, how far? I need to explain to people how deep this hole goes, and I'm like, ANOHNI, “Another World” is a really good place to start.
DJ Sir Daniel: Okay.
Christina: Alright.
Miguel: I'm gonna have to check this out.
Christina: I’m gonna have to look into this baroque pop.
Miguel: Exactly.
Jay Ray: Baroque pop.
Christina: Do you wanna go next?
Miguel: You know what? Why not? Now, like Jay Ray, I'm gonna have to give a backstory on how we got here with this one.
Christina: Alright.
Miguel: So, I used to work on cruise ships and this was from like 2000 to 2005. So my first year and a half, I'm doing European cruises. So, I'm hearing a whole bunch of Euro stuff that I hadn't heard before. The height of this album is when I was in Europe, Fever by Kylie Minogue. I cannot tell you another Kylie Minogue song outside of this album, but this one, I run it front to back.
Christina: He loves this album.
Miguel: I love this album. Love it.
DJ Sir Daniel: And that album had such a run.
Christina: Unironically, like he loves it.
Miguel: I do.
Jay Ray: Stylistically the cover, everything about it. Like, as soon as you said it, I saw the album cover like, in my head.
Miguel: Exactly. So, summer of 2001, I hear it for the first time and just been hooked.
DJ Sir Daniel: As soon as you hear [mimics song] it's like, ah, there it is.
Miguel: Like I said. I can't give you another Kylie Minogue song outside of that album, but this album now, I'm all over it.
Jay Ray: It's all you need.
Miguel: I am all over it.
Christina: I'm choosing a song and I'm choosing a ballad. And so usually the white people jams that I like are, you know, they're kind of R&B like, or R&B-adjacent, soulful. I'm picking “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses.
Miguel: Okay.
Jay Ray: Great! I almost picked some Guns N’ Roses for this, good choice.
Christina: This is like, way out of my boundaries and I was sleeping on it at the time when it actually came out. 'Cause I was like, I don't listen to white music and, 'cause I was like, going deep into hip hop and R&B at that point. So I was just like, nah. But the video is like, a masterful mini-movie. So, I remember I would watch it and I was like, it's like I liked the song, but I think I didn't allow myself at the time to understand how much I liked the song.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But now that I've gotten older, it's like, I don't care. I listen to whatever I want. I still have my preferences, but like this song is amazing 'cause it's nine minutes long. I will listen to the entire thing every single time because it's like a soap opera.
Miguel: It's so dramatic.
Christina: Yeah, it's so dramatic. And it has like, a part two. Yeah. Like, you know, you start off and then the [mimics song]. And normally I don't like electric guitars. It's not my favorite instrument. But that Slash solo, because it sounds like he's crying, which like, goes with the song and. Like I said, coupled with the music video, it's just like, an amazing song. And I guess because it's also a ballad, it's not as like heavy metal-ish, rock-y or whatever. So I, I can get into it. So, when I was looking it up today, I actually found a 12 minute version.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Of when they performed it live in Tokyo.[2] And so the first three minutes is Axl Rose tickling the ivory keys for three minutes before the song actually starts. And mind you, he's doing this, wearing this like, jacket and like, red boxer briefs.
DJ Sir Daniel: There has to be, something has to be said for that early, that late 80s, early 90s, pop/rock, grungy metal, era. They were like, pumping out tunes because we were listening to Aerosmith. Guns N’ Roses. That “Sandman” by Metallica.
Jay Ray: “Enter Sandman” was everywhere.
DJ Sir Daniel: Everywhere.
Miguel: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: So, yeah, I'm with you Christina. Completely with you. I get it.
Christina: Even just looking up, I listened to the original 9 minute episode, I mean, 9 minute version, and then I watched the entire 12 minute version too. So that was like, 30 minutes of my day just doing this, just watching, just listening to it twice.
Jay Ray: Watching “November Rain.”
Christina: And reading a little bit about it.
Miguel: Oh man. So, Sir Daniel, I have a question for you.
DJ Sir Daniel: Okay.
Miguel: Is there a song that you've played at an event or a party or a club or something that just gave you a reaction that you weren't expecting? Like, let me go ahead and slip this in and see how the people react.
DJ Sir Daniel: Not like what we're talking, not specifically about what we're talking about now.
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: But only because like, the thing to do is always like DJs now, you know, they think that to shock the crowd, there was a moment where dropping just like, “Teen Spirit” was a thing to do, to shock people.
Miguel: Right.
DJ Sir Daniel: But that's been done to death now. I have played, no, I have played a, this, an edit that somebody made of a Kirk Franklin song. And I played it in, the, this lounge that I was DJing in called Rock Steady, which is supposed to be, you know, they're partying upstairs and there's drinking and people, and, you know, lounging and, loud talking and whatnot. And then you could see when, the court, when the choir comes in and this beat is grooving, and people are like, wait a minute, I know this song. And then you can tell the church kids, the church kid came out of them all. They start clapping and you know, and swaying in unison and singing all the different parts. So I think dropping that Kirk Franklin song definitely was a game changer in that moment. And it did give a reaction. I was like, oh, okay. That's cool. It was like, okay, where are the church kids? Got 'em that, there you are. I can see you right now. You did that, that double clap you're a church kid. I know it.
Miguel: Oh man. so that's a good spot for us to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
[Break]
Miguel: All right, and we are back and we're about to get into this next segment called "Wait… they white?" Alright. So, what are some songs that you were surprised to find out weren't by Black artists? Now for me, one is like, “That's the Way I Like It” and “I Get Lifted” by KC and the Sunshine Band. Okay. What about you guys?
Jay Ray: Ooh, so. I had to think about this and I wonder if me and, me and Sir Daniel have the same answers to this, but now it's interesting because now it's easy to know kind of who people are, right? Just because of the nature of the world. So, I actually had to go back in time, like, when was the last time that I was surprised.
Miguel: Right.
Jay Ray: When. Tara Kemp when I found out that Tara Kemp just wanna “Hold You Tight.” When I found out that Tara Kemp was white, I, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I was like, really?
Miguel: Yes.
Jay Ray: Because it was just squarely in the middle of what Black R&B women were doing at the time.
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: So, I was surprised by that. And the other one is actually from, from Canada. I was introduced to, “I Don't Wanna Fall in Love” by Jane Child on Black radio. And so when I not only saw that she was white was like, oh yeah, like, you guy goth white.
Christina: Yeah, she's like, punk, rock alt-girl. She had braids, but not that kind. Like alt-girl braids.
Jay Ray: So, those were my two where I was just like, what? Get out.
DJ Sir Daniel: See, I. If it wasn't for Video Soul, like I would've been caught off guard too, by them. But I, think I saw their videos before I actually got a chance to sit with the song.
Miguel: Right.
DJ Sir Daniel: So it was like, oh, okay, this is dope. But they, you know, the songs were dope anyway. So just like Jay Ray, though, there weren't too many people that caught me off guard or surprised me, but I had to think about it, and then it came to me.
Dan Hartman, “I Can Dream About You.” Yeah. I was completely thrown off when, Robert Townsend showed up in the music video and I was like, oh, huh, Robert Townsend's, why is Robert Townsend's lip syncing the song? So, and then I had to do some digging and then I found out Dave Hartman is clearly white, you know? God rest his Soul.
But I used to love that, so “I Can Dream About You.”
Jay Ray: Jam.
DJ Sir Daniel: That was the only like jam that I was like, oh, okay. I was caught off guard. Now, a close second is the, is the, oh gosh, I can't remember the names, but the duo that's saying, the Dirty Dancing theme song. “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life.”
Miguel: Oh, yes.
Jay Ray: Oh yeah. What was their names?
DJ Sir Daniel: [singing]
Miguel: I cannot think of who's singing it though.
DJ Sir Daniel: Let's see. It's a quick--
Jay Ray: The time.
Christina: I realize there's a lot of songs that I know, but I don't know the artist's name.
Jay Ray: Right. Of my life.
DJ Sir Daniel: But see, that's the clue. Now, here's the thing. Especially white men will always give themselves away when they're, trying to be quote unquote, soulful.
They'll always go into this Husky hu. You know, they'll go into that husky, tone and they'll, you know, and they'll always, you know, they'll try and give you a run, but they can't go all the way.
Miguel: Right.
DJ Sir Daniel: Kind of like how when, Patti LaBelle hijacked, “On My Own” from Michael McDonald. Yeah, Michael McDonald's, a very capable singer.
Jay Ray: Amazing.
DJ Sir Daniel: But you know, when you put him in the ring with Patti LaBelle, it's like, you not gonna outdo me on these runs? And so that's the clear giveaway. But they're still very capable singers.
Jay Ray: By the way. “I’ve Had The Time of My Life” is by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.
DJ Sir Daniel: That's it.
Jay Ray: Jennifer Warnes is the name I remember of those.
Miguel: That's it.
Jay Ray: Bill Medley, though.
Miguel: Christina?
Christina: I'm going with Nu Shooz. “I Can't Wait.”
Jay Ray: Oh
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: Yes.
Christina: There was like Jane Child and Tara Kemp. I had seen the video and most of the time, like, I was thinking Bobby Caldwell too, but I had seen him before I heard him. But Nu Shooz was something I found out pretty recent. Specifically that song, “I Can't Wait.” Because I find that “Point Of No Return.” I feel like to me that can kind of go either way, but I, something about the way “I Can't Wait” sounds like. The production too. And the fact that they spell Nu Shooz, like NU--
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: Crazy spelling.
DJ Sir Daniel: Christina was like, they Black.
Yeah. Spelling words gotta be them.
Jay Ray: I'll do that.
DJ Sir Daniel: I think it's, they're Dutch, right?
Christina: They're from Portland.
Jay Ray: Really?
DJ Sir Daniel: Portland?
Christina: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: I thought they were from Amsterdam or something.
Christina: I just looked day actually. Yeah, they're from Portland.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: So, it's a husband and wife duo. And the husband, I think he, he may have been originally from LA or he used to live in LA so she had said in one of the interviews that he would have to go back to LA every now and again just to kind of get to the big city vibes.
And he would like record stuff off of the LA radio station because he needed his R&B and whatnot.
Miguel: Oh, that's funny.
Christina: Kind of bring it back. And he was like, really into R&B, hence the influences. But I think it's something about the [mimics song], it's so, yeah, it's kind of like funky, right?
Jay Ray: It's funky.
DJ Sir Daniel: Definitely.
Christina: And then the, even the, I can't wait. It just, I would not expect it. This...
DJ Sir Daniel: And those claps.
Christina: White couple from Portland.
DJ Sir Daniel: Plus double claps and yeah, it's squarely kind of hip hop. And freestyle music. So, it has that New York influence. So yes, I could see where you, yeah, why you say that, Christina.
Jay Ray: “I Can't Wait” has that thing that it's just the swing of the song. There is a thing melodically that is happening in that song, which is like, a groove that you can ride to. That's that thing. I'm like, oh yeah, they got that, sauce on that thing. That's what that is.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Yeah. I got a couple more. One of them I found out, probably a good five years after the song came out. That's “Holding Back The Years,” Simply Red.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Really?
Miguel: Because I never saw the video until probably like, junior high school or something, and I just saw it and I'm like, so, that ain't a Black woman? Whole time, I thought it was a Black woman.
Jay Ray: White man with red hair.
DJ Sir Daniel: White woman.
Miguel: Yeah. I thought it was a Black woman. Singing that song this entire time. And something I found out today, “Son of a Preacher Man,” Dusty Springfield. I never knew that was a white woman. And she's British.
Jay Ray: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yep.
Jay Ray: Hold on, y'all.
Miguel: I had no idea.
DJ Sir Daniel: Thought you say that Miguel, one of my favorite songs from the Pet Shop Boys is “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” And she's singing on that same thing. Yep.
Miguel: I had no idea until today that was a woman from the UK.
Christina: I'm gonna have to listen to this.
Miguel: A white woman from the UK had no idea.
Jay Ray: Simply Red, also from the UK and kind of, and legendary. Like, the Simply Red run in the eighties is kind of mad. There's a lot of gems and bops in that Simply Red run.
Miguel: And a lot of covers too.
Christina: Yes.
Jay Ray: Tons of covers.
Christina: A lot of covers.
Jay Ray: Yes, You know them, the British folks know what to do. They like, let me get your soul cover from the, states.
Christina: Human League. The Human League, when they got Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Jay Ray: Jim.
Christina: Human
Jay Ray: Listen.
Christina: Yes.
Jay Ray: But “Don't You Want Me” is an amazing song. Like, just The Human League.
DJ Sir Daniel: So funky.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
Miguel: We were talking about the, dynamic of that song a couple days ago. How he sees it and how she sees it.
Yeah.
Miguel: Because he's like, I took you from that bar and made you what you are.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
Miguel: And she's like, yeah, I was working at a bar, but I'm still the shit.
Christina: She's like, I was gonna come up with or without you. Like, you were just a pit stop. A little fun. Now I'm ready to go.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: And he's all like, I made you, I can take it away from you. You were working at a cocktail bar.
Jay Ray: I love that song. When I met you.
Christina: Alright, next question. Is there an artist that you look at and say, okay, you doing too much?
DJ Sir Daniel: Ooh. Oh.
Jay Ray: A lot.
DJ Sir Daniel: Where do we begin? Sam Smith.
Jay Ray: Sam Smith does entirely too much.
DJ Sir Daniel: They, and they give him too much.
Miguel: Okay. I can see it.
DJ Sir Daniel: Like, you know, I understand. See when people, here's when I think you're doing too much. It's really, it is, it's almost not the artist's fault either, but I think that they've done too much. When, Black radio starts picking up your songs like Jelly Roll, what's that TikTok song that [mimics song].
Miguel: Oh, Tommy Richman.
Christina: Oh yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: You know, those and, what's the other young rapper? He's actually, his songs are pretty dope.
Jay Ray: The Million Dollar Baby Dude.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. Him.
Jay Ray: He be doing too much.
DJ Sir Daniel: So yes. So they're definitely team too much. Oh, and there's some people that don't do enough, I'm sorry, but Meghan Trainor songs are so mid, they are. Meghan Trainor songs are like the equivalent of Cato Fashions. It's like, it's, you could tell that they're like strictly made for middle aged white women—
Jay Ray: Shopping.
DJ Sir Daniel: That shop at Chicos and Catos, and it's just, there's like, lick of soul. And it's, pretending to be funky and fly, but it's just about that. It's just not, it's just not.
Christina: Yeah. I've hated ever since all, “All About That Bass.” 'Cause it's like, it's supposed to be like women's empowerment, but we're gonna rag on skinny girls. So it's like you're not really helping the cause by being like, I don't wanna be like them ugly, skinny girls. So it's like, hmm That's not women's empowerment, but that's like--
DJ Sir Daniel: And it's too cutesy. It's like ugh.
Christina: Yeah. I hate it. I hate it ever since then.
Miguel: Alright. Do you have one?
Christina: We were actually just talking about this not too long ago. Okay. I know there are gonna be people who'll be mad, but I don't think those people listen to this podcast.
I think current Madonna, because we were just talking about this 'cause she was that girl in the 80s and 90s and I just think now it's like she's, she was a trendsetter but now it's like just trying to keep up with the glory days. And she don't even like look like herself. She don't sound like herself. 'Cause I stumbled onto this. Song that she's featured on, The Weeknd song.
DJ Sir Daniel: “Popular.”
Christina: Yes. And like, if I was just to listen to it, I wouldn't have even known it was her. And even just watching her in the video and stuff, it is just like, you just look like one of the girls. Like, you are Madonna.
Like you don't have to be anything anymore except for just yourself. And I think I pretty much, I think from “Ray of Light” on, I jumped off. But Oh, all of the before that was like, yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: So you're not just talking about the catalog, but you're talking about everything, the look, the antics?
Christina: Yeah. The an especially like the current day, the possible BBLs and trying to look like the girls today. And it's like, you were the one that everybody wanted to be like. And so it's just weird to see that, like, she should be living out her legend, glory days instead of trying to be like, with the current trends. Like, you're the trendsetter, not the trend follower.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah.
Christina: And so it's just...
DJ Sir Daniel: I could see that.
Christina: Watching that video was awkward.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
Christina: And it's not like she hasn't had songs with rappers or like, with Black artists and Black producers and whatnot, because I actually went back and watched “Secret” just to...
Jay Ray: Oh my God. Classic song.
DJ Sir Daniel: Let me tell you something.
Christina: Let's, see...
Jay Ray: Bedtime Stories era is classic Madonna.
Christina: Yeah. And so just like comparing that to The Weeknd song, it was just like, how is this the same person?
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Not for nothing. I loved Hard Candy.
Jay Ray: You did like Hard Candy.
DJ Sir Daniel: What was the other one with? Can we get together the, something Confessions on the Dance Floor?
Jay Ray: Confessions is my actually favorite. This is my last favorite Madonna record. Yeah, that's, so, that's 20 years old now.
DJ Sir Daniel: That's where that's kind of a, yeah. Where I kind of cut, where I hopped off is after, is when that ended. So, but I feel you, Christina. ‘Cause it's like, yeah, you don't need to do that. Sit in your legend. Sit in your iconicness. You don't have to do the extra.
Christina: Yeah. And it's not even like, oh, she's too old to do this. I don't think it has anything to do with her age. I just think she's too big of a legend to try to follow other trends. It doesn't really make sense.
Jay Ray: I absolutely agree. It's funny that we're, 'cause I think there's some connection to the artist that I'm thinking about that does too much and not enough at the same time. Actually, it's that Jack Harlow kid. Sir. It was a lot going on. And I know that he had a solid year where everybody thought he was the next Eminem.
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: And, he was trying to be the next Drake and he failed at both things. And he was just doing, it was just too much. Like, I caught so many interviews with him. I'm like, he's just flirting with the, woman that's interviewing him the whole time. And I'm like, sir, okay, this is a shtick now, so this is the thing. You're going to get the women to swoon at you or whatever, and the songs ain't that good. So, yeah. Jack Harlow too much and not enough at the same time.
Miguel: The one I'm gonna go with, he's kind of pulled back from it, but there was a time where he was doing way too much. It's Justin Timberlake. So after he left *NSYNC and he went solo. He was going way too hard to prove that, hey, I'm down. It's like the Crip-walking, the cornrows, all of that. It was like, you doing too much. Like, just let the music speak and we'll be there with you. We don't need all this extra stuff. And now he's starting to pull away from that, so, hopefully he's turned that corner.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: I had such a disdain for him.
Jay Ray: See? So I'm not,
DJ Sir Daniel: I, so I liked, Future Love Sexy.[3] I like that. Right? But then after the whole, it was a combination of things. After the whole Janet thing. And watching him, him, climb and continuously latch himself to Blackness, in order to, to support his climb to fame, and then he would ditch that. He would do that, that, that song with him running around in the woods, all of a sudden he's a, woodsman.
Jay Ray: The man in the woods
Christina: Wasn't the Man Of The Woods.
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. It's like,
Jay Ray: Like, are you though?
DJ Sir Daniel: I'm such a superstar now. I've been on SNL 20 times, so, you know, I'm a superstar. I'm Justin Timberlake. I'm cool. Yes. So I completely get you Miguel on that.
Jay Ray: Yeah. So Justin Timberlake. Is one of those white artists for the first like three album albums up until like, the 20/20 Experience. Him Maroon Five. They're on my guilty pleasures list. So every now and again, you could be in the car with me and you'll be riding along and be like, like, I love, you'll shuffle up and I'm gonna be like, this is my jam. We are about to sing it. Let's go. but no, I feel you, Miguel. Like, it's actually. When I say guilty pleasure, it really is 'cause I be kind of embarrassed that I'm like, I really like this song. He be doing a lot, but this is my jam. We gonna ride.
Miguel: Alright, so we gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back.
[break]
Miguel: Okay. And we are back and we are calling this segment “The Teena Marie Awards.”
DJ Sir Daniel: “Everybody get up.”
Miguel: This is where we gonna give some flowers and acknowledgements to some of the artists that we cool with. So, first thing up, your top five white people jams.
Jay Ray: Did you pick yours Sir Daniel? You can go. I got my whole team.
DJ Sir Daniel: Okay. We gotta go with, “Tell Me Lies” by Fleetwood Mac.
Miguel: Oh, okay.
DJ Sir Daniel: Y'all gonna laugh when I say this, but “Only In My Dreams” by Debra Gibson.
Jay Ray: Great song
DJ Sir Daniel: Debra Gibson goes
Jay Ray: and off
DJ Sir Daniel: And close second is “Electric Youth.” Let's see. I have to give it up for The Cure. “Close To You.” The Pet Shop Boys, “West End Girls” just always does something to me that's just a jam. That is just a stone cold jam. And, I'm gonna give it up to Samantha Fox.
Jay Ray: Which one?
Miguel: Oh man.
Jay Ray: Which, what, which song?
DJ Sir Daniel: Okay. Well, you know, you know, Jay Ray, you know. Well, I mean, it's, the top two for me is “Naughty Girls Need Love Too.” Uhhuh and I have fun. Skip fizzy one. Right? And I wasn't sure
Jay Ray: which one you were gonna go with. I'm like, is “I’m Gonna Have Some Fun” or is it “Naughty Girls?”
DJ Sir Daniel: It's, the whole Full Force of it all. Yeah. You know, the, the English accent. “Stop moving like your 40.” You know it, it's everything I need. It's just the whole 80s, the, leather jacket and the ripped jeans. It, gave me what I need, but those are like on the top of my white people jams.
Miguel: All right. Jay Ray, you're up next.
Jay Ray: Yo. Okay, so my top five is apparently uh, owed to Swedish Pop Girlies. But we're gonna go Canadian pop girlies first. “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morrisette all day.
Christina: Do you know, like pop, pop Alanis Morrisette? Oh, she was pop.
Jay Ray: She was pop, pop before the pop. Yes, yes. We're gonna move over to, Natalie Imbruglia “Torn.” My goodness gracious. I love that song. Now we're gonna go to, Swedish, Sweden. So, Lykke Li’s “Little Bit.” Love that song. Okay. any song by Robyn, but I picked Robyn's “Dancing On My Own.” Needs to be in my top five and, a remake. So, Ace of Base “Don't Turn Around” is my favorite Ace of Base joint, which people may not know this, that is a remake a Tina Turner song[4] that was, has been remade, like, a gajillion times.
Miguel: like had no idea.
Jay Ray: It's so many versions of that song. And of course Diane Warren wrote it, so I'm sure they was just shopping it as like a Diane Warren song, but the Ace of Base “Don't Turn Around” is like, a whole jam.
Miguel: I had no idea that was a remake.
Christina: All right. I guess I'll go up next.
Miguel: Yep.
Christina: So, well two songs that Jay Ray already mentioned.
Jay Ray: What, which ones?
Christina: “I Don't Wanna Fall In Love,” Jane Child and “Hold You Tight,” Tara Kemp. I love when she's like, “I need you to,” I love it.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. She goes.
Christina: I love a white woman growl.
DJ Sir Daniel: She dipped in that bag real hard.
Christina: And the video, she's, "Just wanna hold you tight..."
DJ Sir Daniel: She was doing choreo[5].
Christina: She was trying get into the choreo.
DJ Sir Daniel: She was doing a whole eight count.
Christina: Yeah. And it's funny because, when I was looking at these songs on Tidal, both of these songs are in the New Jack Swing playlist and for Tara Kemp--so in Tidal they have like, two sections. There's like fans also like, and then there's a list of artists, and then there's influences. So under "Fans also liked" for Tara Kemp was Father MC, Hi-Five, Tracie Spencer, Ralph Tresvant. That was just some. And the influences was Teena Marie.
Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Interesting.
Jay Ray: Okay.
DJ Sir Daniel: So another song is, this song is so silly, but I love it.
Christina: “King of Wishful Thinking.” Go West from—
Jay Ray: I don't know this song.
Christina: Yes, you do. It is from the Pretty Woman soundtrack. Okay. No, I didn't know it. “I’m the king of wishful thinking.”
Jay Ray: Oh, I knew. Know that song. Yeah.
Christina: I'll get over you. The song is so upbeat, but the man is heartbroken. “You left a hole in my heart.” And the video is chaotic.[6]
Miguel: She loves it. Soul.
Christina: The video is chaotic. He's wearing dad jeans with this tank top. There's a monkey that pops up outta nowhere.
Miguel: Yeah, there's a lot going on.
Christina: You see like things falling down. There's like ladies' legs walking around. And Jimmy Fallon and, what's his name?
Miguel: Paul Rudd.
Christina: Paul Rudd. They did, did like a scene for scene remake[7] of it because Miguel completely forgot about the song. He. So when that came out I was like, you dunno, this song?
Miguel: Yeah. And then their version is so ridiculous. It's like, nobody made a video like this and you go back and watch the video. It's exactly like it.
Jay Ray: The 80s were an interesting time.
Miguel: No sense.
Christina: And he is just singing through the pain. 'cause he's “the king of wishful thinking.”
I'll get over you. I know I will. So I love that song even though it's so silly. I'm gonna round it out with two ballads. I got another, I'm pretty sure they're Swedish, Roxette.. “It Must Have Been Love” also from the Pretty Woman soundtrack actually. And I do, there's a bunch of other Roxette songs that, there was one particular album, I forgot which one it is that I used to listen to all the time. No, I think it was like their first two albums. Anyways, but “It Must've Been Love.” And last but not least, “Eternal Flame” by The Bangles.
DJ Sir Daniel: The Bangles
Miguel: Okay.
Jay Ray: Oh, yo.
Miguel: I didn't see that coming.
DJ Sir Daniel: Listen.
Christina: I love, I'm surprised you haven't heard me playing that. That's one of the one that I run back. Yeah. That part that at the end. Where she goes high.
DJ Sir Daniel: Listen, who did not love a Susanna Hoffs looking from side to side?
Jay Ray: Listen. Right. She was a. You know, it was always a look in it, which it was close up.
Christina: She said she did that because she was nervous about like, okay, looking in the camera. So, she just didn't know what to do and she did that and it became like this iconic thing that we all remember.
Miguel: All right. Let me drop my top five white people jams for y'all, first up. Wham!, “Everything She Wants.”
Christina: I knew you were gonna pick that
Miguel: Yes. Because George is in pain on this record. “I’ll tell you that I'm happy if you want me to.”
Jay Ray: Want me to.
DJ Sir Daniel: And that's like the, way that cascades down. Ooh, that's a nasty part. Ooh, I love that part of the song.
Christina: Somebody tell me
Jay Ray: some, babe. It's that song is. Amazing. So, Sir Daniel, you may remember this, JC had his eighties party at the sound table, which is long gone in Atlanta. He dropped that joint.
Every Black, every, it was all Black folks is Atlanta singing at the top of our lungs. You wanna talk about getting, releasing everything you could. It was George Michael and “Everything She Wants“ all day.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: He is tired.
Miguel: Next up, “Cruel Summer,” Bananarama.
Jay Ray: Ooh, good choice, bro.
DJ Sir Daniel: That's my, love it. Love it.
Jay Ray: Good choice. I, run that back so that actually shuffles up a lot in my playlist and I don't skip it.
DJ Sir Daniel: And people don't, I'm sorry. Real quick, but people don't give, Robert De Niro’s. that's the other Robert De Niro song that they had.[8]
They don't give that enough love. I love that song as well, but I love Bananarama. Go ahead, go. Just wanted to throw that in.
Miguel: What we were listening to as we were setting up. “It Must Be Magic,” Teena Marie. Yeah, that one's on my list. This was a random one outta nowhere, “Heart to Heart” by Kenny Loggins. Because Kenny kind of turned into a little El DeBarge on that record, so I'm going with that. “All Around the World.” Lisa Stanfield. Even though she never says “All Around the World” at, no point during the song.
Jay Ray: Not one time.
Miguel: I'm going with that one.
DJ Sir Daniel: I love it that this is a supreme mixtape.
Jay Ray: It's, yeah.
Miguel: Well, the whole point of this episode is for me to. Juice y’all for song selections for our playlist. That's all this is for.
DJ Sir Daniel: You better farm our music knowledge, right? Farm our music IP. Can I throw a quick question to you all out there?
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel Since we're talking about white artists now, there have been times where white, a white artist will cover us a well-known song that was done by a Black artist, right?
So I want to throw a song out to you, and this is covered by a white artist and a Black artist, and I want you to give your honest opinion of which one you think is your favorite.
Jay Ray: Okay.
DJ Sir Daniel: “I Didn't Mean To Turn You On.” Ooh. Oh, Cherrelle or Robert Palmer?
Christina: We literally had this conversation.
Miguel: Yes.
Jay Ray: I think I've had to answer this before. And I always pick, I think Palmer's version is the one that joint is so sick. That Riptide album is over here in this joint, that Riptide album. Shout out to Bernard Edwards. Rest in peace, bro. They put they foot in that thing like, yeah. So, I think Palmer's version, that thing right there. Here we go.
You wanna talk about, 80s rock, R&B, pop classic? Like “Addicted to Love” is funky as all get out.
DJ Sir Daniel: It's body roll approved. It is. I was, when that, when it dropped out, I was just like, you.
Jay Ray: Can you imagine if Chaka was actually on that song? Like she was supposed to be Chaka? Did the vocal arrangement, she was like, oh, I'm supposed to be a duet on that joint.
Miguel: I didn't, did not know that.
Jay Ray: Yes. So, Chaka talked about this. So, she was in the studio with Robert Palmer because Why not? And she, they, she was on “Addicted to Love.” The label did not clear it. But she did the vocal arrangements. So why, while Robert is, why Robert is doing what he's doing is because Chaka did the arrangement for her.
But Yeah, yeah. So, but yeah. Which, what y'all pick?
DJ Sir Daniel: What's y'all pick?
Jay Ray: What's y'all, what's y what's y'all version? Palmer.
Miguel: As much as I like the Cherrelle version, I gotta go with the Robert Palmer too. I don't know why it is just something about it. It, It's a little more smooth than hers is.
Hers kind of just, it's just a little bit more mellow. Like he's leaned up against a bar with a cigarette in his hand.
DJ Sir Daniel: Definitely. Yeah, definitely. He was on his cat daddy stuff.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: I think when we, Miguel and I had this con, literally had this conversation. I think I ended up picking Cherrelle.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But I think I like hers better, but his is just so unexpected. Right? Like, hers is like, of course I like that one. But yeah, I think I'll go with Cherrelle since I'm pretty sure this is what I chose last time.
Miguel: It is.
Christina: But his is pretty good too.
Jay Ray: Yeah. Oof.
DJ Sir Daniel: Thank you for indulging me in that.
Christina: Well, if we're speaking of white artists covering stuff. I gotta bring up the “Smooth Criminal” cover with,
Miguel: Alien Ant Farm.
Christina: That cover is amazing.
Jay Ray: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: I'm not gonna lie, when that came on TRL, I was like, oh, they kind of ate that. Yeah. Yeah. Those kids ate that. It was dope. The video was dope.
Christina: The video, and it was such an homage that you're like, no, these guys are fans. Like, this wasn't just someone's idea of like, you know, what'd be cool if we didn't know they're fans? ‘Cause that was an homage.
Jay Ray: I forgot all about that. That makes me wanna revisit. Yeah. Yeah.
Christina: Every time it crosses my timeline or something, I have to stop and watch the video.
Jay Ray: Can I ask y'all a question?
Miguel: Yep.
Jay Ray: That to that Now. Okay. So Serge returning, what are y'all thoughts? Right? What are y'all thoughts on, 'cause this is a, group that has been kind of steeped in black culture. But I like that they are just like white boys and they do like white boy stuff, but the Beastie Boys like
I am such a huge fan of like every record except the first one, like Licensed to Ill. You could literally keep that record. I don't care about it. All the other stuff, I'm like, yeah, gimme all of that.
Miguel: I start with license to Ill and run through all the rest stuff. Okay. I'm all in on Beastie Boys. Yeah. Yeah, because it's not like they great rappers. But it's just something about 'em. And I've always been a fan.
Christina: I've never really been a fan, but I don't mind them, like I am not personally a fan, but it's not because I think they're appropri or they're bad, it's just. It just doesn't work for me. I think it's the too much yelling.
Jay Ray: That's fair.
Miguel: I love the Paul's Boutique album. That's one of my favorite albums of all time. That's,
DJ Sir Daniel: “Hey Ladies” is my jam.
Miguel: Yes. “Hey Ladies” and “Shake Your Rump.”
Jay Ray: Yeah.
Christina: When he puts it on, when Miguel puts it on. I don't mind, but I'm not gonna put it on my own time though.
Miguel: Alright. We got a couple more questions here. You are up Christina.
Christina: Okay. Is there an album that you would suggest for people to check out? They need to get up on their white people jams.
Jay Ray: So, oh, it took me a while to get here, but Gavin DeGraw’s Chariot. Man, if y'all have not heard that record, there's no skips.
It came out in 2000, like, two or 2003. No skips on it. It has like a bunch of songs that ended up being on like, TV shows or in commercials in that era. ‘Cause that would happen a lot. But that is a record that I'm like, you can kind of play straight through. You're gonna get like a little bit of rock, a little bit of popping, a little bit of country, and you going to be just like, full after.
And it opens up with “Follow Through,” which has like, the perfect lyrics. So, I'm gonna read this lyric 'cause I just think it's perfect. “So since you want to be with me, you'll have to follow through with every word you say. All I really want is you, to stick around. I'll see you every day, but you have to follow through.”
I'm like, yes, give me a good love song with a simple, beautiful melodic lyric. And I'm good. So yeah, that's my choice. Gavin DeGraw, Chariot. Y'all need to have that in y'all rotation.
Miguel: Okay.
DJ Sir Daniel: All right. Go ahead and. Grab a copy of Everything But the Girls Walking Wounded, that was like, somebody put, literally somebody made a mixtape for me and that's how I got introduced to them.
And then I went and copped the cd. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I copped the cd. Walking Wounded and I wore that joint out. And I mean, it takes you from jungle drum and bass to straight up house and to a little, R&B flavor. It does, it gives you everything that you need. And so, yeah, so that's my white people jam album recommendation.
Jay Ray: Wrong on that. Wrong is like my joint on that record. Oh my god.
Christina: I'm gonna take it back to what I was saying about Madonna earlier and say the Immaculate Collection. 'Cause that's a nice little roundup of the early stuff that I really enjoy. It doesn't have Secrets since this came out before that, but it's a pretty good selection of her early work. 'Cause I think that her audience is, they probably span, like, I would say it's probably two or three different generations of fans. Yeah, sure. So I don't know if the newer people, do they even go that far back, but. I say the Immaculate Collection.
Miguel: Okay, I'm gonna do something similar and go with a compilation, because all of the bangers were kind of spread out over four albums.
But I'm going with Duran Duran's greatest hits album, just called Greatest. You get all the hits on it. You get “The Reflex,” you get “Is There Something I Should Know?” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Rio,” all the jams.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes. “Girls On Film.”
Miguel: “Girls On Film.” You get all of them. So that's the one I'm going with.
DJ Sir Daniel: I love that.
Jay Ray: You wanna talk about like, these groups that we're talking about too, like they were huge, y’all. Like,
Miguel: Yes.
Jay Ray: My God. They were big.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. And they were game changers. If I could throw, if I threw, could throw a caveat in there. Just, just one more, Dummy by Portishead, like, all the, like, every black game changing record, Black kid with a backpacker into hip hop, love them some Portishead Dummy.
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: There. Sidebar too. That second record is the scariest record, like I ever, if I ever do like a scariest album, literally Portishead self-titled second album is like, this thing is beautiful and it scares me.
DJ Sir Daniel: Question, is Bjork white?
Christina: She's...
DJ Sir Daniel: She all the way...
Christina: Icelandic, right?
DJ Sir Daniel: So I Icelandic,
Jay Ray: She's Icelandic,
DJ Sir Daniel: Homo…Homogenic. Pick that up guys.
Christina: I do find that icelandic people kind of look Asian.
DJ Sir Daniel: Asian, right?
Christina: But I don't know what their like, actual makeup is though, but—
Miguel: I might have to run that “It's Oh So Quiet” when we wrap this up.
Jay Ray: Post by Bjork is just, yeah. So many things. Okay.
Miguel: Alright. We gonna get outta here on this one. Choose one song to be inducted into the white people Hall of Fame or the White People Jams Hall of Fame. I don't know if I can get it down to one, but I'm gonna try.
DJ Sir Daniel: I know that's hard.
Miguel: I got a whole list here. And any of them can be in the white people jams Hall of Fame. I'm gonna go with, just looking at my list. Wild Cherry, “Play That Funky Music.”
Jay Ray: There you go.
Miguel: Because they're doing their little breakdown and he said “somebody turned around and shouted, ‘play that funky music, white boy!’” If that ain't validation I don't know what is. Yes. That is validation for the White People Jams Hall of Fame right there.
Christina: All right. I think I'm gonna go next 'cause I want you guys to close it out your faves. And also, I completely missed this question until pretty much right now. I was like, oh, there's another question I did not even see it in the notes. So since I didn't have the time to think ahead more than about two minutes, I'm just gonna go with “November Rain” again.
Just because this song made me like something that is just so far outside of what I normally like that it's gotta be like, iconic then. So I will just pick that.
DJ Sir Daniel: You're gonna go, Jay Ray?
Jay Ray: I can go next. So my choice, there could have been many. I'm like, Miguel, there could have been a lot, but right before we started this, I'm like, just write it down.
“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. Okay, get into it, y'all. That song is so good and it just never gets old. yeah. So, I absolutely love that song. If I ever meet Stevie Nicks, I'm gonna be like, listen lady.
DJ Sir Daniel: Oh, I. calling back to your earlier question about dropping the jam, “Seventeen” always goes off. Like, you could be in the middle of a hip hop R&B and throwing some, like I threw in some Stevie Nicks, “Seventeen.”
Jay Ray: Oh, yes. Okay.
DJ Sir Daniel: Especially if you follow with “Bootylicious.”
Miguel: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yes. All right. So, I wanna preface this by saying I want to give a shout out to Annie Lennox. And Cyndi Lauper. And, we gave, I, gave, tip my hat off to George Michael, but I Kass, I'm gonna have to give it to him. Y'all gonna laugh at me. I'm gonna have to give it to Sheena Easton. It's gotta be “Sugar Walls” for me.
Jay Ray: “Sugar Walls” is a jam.
DJ Sir Daniel: It's gonna be “Sugar Walls.” I'm sorry.
Miguel: I cannot tell you how many conversations we've had about this song
Jay Ray: “Inside my Sugar Walls.” Yes.
Christina: Wow.
Miguel: That song is a major topic of conversation in this household.
Christina: It is.
DJ Sir Daniel: Really?
Christina: Many conversations about that.
Miguel: it comes up a lot.
Christina: Yeah,
DJ Sir Daniel: Really
Jay Ray: Listen.
DJ Sir Daniel: How so? Why? I'm curious.
Christina: I dunno. We just,
Jay Ray: it's just like Prince conversation or just like in general,
Miguel: Just ridiculous lyrics and over the top, Yeah. Prince at his Prince-ness. It's just every, and then you listen to the words of it. It’s like, I can't believe she said that.
Christina: Like if we're in the topic of white singers, Prince had these white women out here, just doing all kinds of things.
Jay Ray: All kinds of stuff.
DJ Sir Daniel: Singing their faces off. Yeah. Sheena was doing the most with that. And then Sheena went from Prince to then Babyface. Yep. Sheena was giving us jams like bop after bops.
And I don't think we give Sheena enough, you know, Sheena Easton enough credit, 'cause she was rocking us through the 80s and the the90s as well. That, talk about my love. Well, she was a ball. She, it was also, doubled as a Bally's advertisement[9] because she had a new rock hard
body.
I mean, Sheena Easton was doing a thing. Y'all, Sheena Easton was doing it.
Miguel: Oh, man. “Sugar Walls.”
Jay Ray: Yeah.
DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. That's a, that's such a Sir Daniel answer too. “Come spend the night in my sugar walls.”
Miguel: “Heaven on earth.”
DJ Sir Daniel: I'm like, listen, when we get off, I might just have to throw that on the turntable.
Jay Ray: No, seriously, it is over here on the vinyl somewhere. Where is that album?
Christina: Oh man. And they just played that on the radio.
Miguel: It sure did.
Jay Ray: They did.
DJ Sir Daniel: They did.
Jay Ray: When you think about it, it's like crazy. “Erotic City” got played on the radio like
Miguel: It sure did. Prince was getting away with,
DJ Sir Daniel: Let's not forget, “Strut.”
Jay Ray: “Strut” was on that was on the same record, you know, and she had a back to back 'cause it was “Sugar Walls” and “Strut.” I was like, Sheena's killing it.
Miguel: Yeah. She was cooking.
DJ Sir Daniel: Oh. And before we wrap up, gotta give a shout out to Pat Benatar.
Jay Ray: Whoa.
Miguel: The “Love Is A Battlefield.”
Jay Ray: Yes, “We’re strong.” It's choreography
Miguel: That shoulder was working.
DJ Sir Daniel: The same guy that choreographed—
Jay Ray: Was it michael?
DJ Sir Daniel: “Beat It” and “Thriller” and choreographed “Love Is A Battlefield” for her. So, yeah.
Jay Ray: Listen, stories. Isn't that like, those videos were like stories?
Christina: Isn't that the video where she like saved all the street girls?
She did.
Jay Ray: She was a teen runaway.
DJ Sir Daniel: And she with some very older, looking teen runaways.
Yes.
Living in a halfway house.
Yes.
Miguel: Oh man. So, yeah, I, think we wrapped this up with a nice bow on top. Thank y'all again for joining us. It's always a pleasure to have y'all on, and anytime you wanna come back, you're more than welcome to. So go ahead and plug everything.
Jay Ray: Oh my goodness.
DJ Sir Daniel: Well, first of all, thank you. Yes, this was fun. A lot of fun. And I'm gonna let Jay Ray plug because he does such a wonderful job of plugging the show. I can't do it like him.
Jay Ray: Yeah, no. And I wanna echo Sir Daniel, just thank y'all for having us on and just thank y'all for continuing to do like the work that you do. Y’all are like, y'all tap that thing. And that's like really important for the culture. So we just appreciate being a part of it.
And, so y'all can stay connected to Queue Points in any way that you choose. If you can hear our voices and see our faces, make sure that you're following They Reminisce Over You first and foremost.
Miguel: Yes.
Jay Ray: Get to subscribe. Then, you can certainly pop over to Queue Points. Make sure that you subscribe to us. We are everywhere you can think of that.
You can listen to a podcast or you can watch a podcast. So hit the subscribe button, share the show with your friends, family, colleagues, because if you love, They Reminisce Over You or you love what happened here with us, with Queue Points, share it. Let the people know.
Miguel: Yes, definitely.
Jay Ray: Visit our website at queuepoints.com and you can follow us on social media at QueuePointsPod. We'd love to see y'all over there. Thank y'all.
DJ Sir Daniel: Thank you. Thank you guys so much.
Miguel: Yes, indeed.
DJ Sir Daniel: And can I say, “Where my background singers at” is hilarious. That is a hilarious title of the show.
Jay Ray: I can't wait to, I can't wait to listen to that. I keep seeing the Mary in the from the Father MC video.
DJ Sir Daniel: And when I say it, I have to like Patti LaBelle like, “where my background singers at?”
Miguel: Yes.
DJ Sir Daniel: You gotta say it like that.
Jay Ray: Yo. Did y'all talk about? You know what? I'm gonna listen to the show. I'm gonna wait, listen to the show. I'm about to ask y'all questions about it, so I'm gonna listen and then I'll talk to y'all about it.
Miguel: Christina, you want to add something before we get outta here?
Christina: There is something that popped into my head, but I couldn't remember when we were talking about like white artists covering black songs. There was something, we found out a song that was supposed to be, that was written for T-Boz and somebody else.
Miguel: Oh, it was, it was “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” Was supposed to be for TLC.
Christina: Yeah. Oh, was it?
Jay Ray: Huh?
Christina: Was it that one? Because I, remember when we talked about it we're like, oh, that's why she's singing it like the way you would hear T-Boz.
Miguel: Oh no. It was, something else too, other than that.
DJ Sir Daniel: “Milkshake” was for Britney Spears. It was supposed to be for Britney Spears.
Jay Ray: Really?
Christina: Something. There was something because whoever ended up singing it, saying it like in a T-Boz voice. But now I can't remember what song it was. I'm pretty sure it was a white artist.
Miguel: It was, the Britney and it was something else.
Christina: That's gonna bother me.
Miguel: Yeah.
Jay Ray: I can't see TLC doing. “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
Christina: Yeah. Now
Jay Ray: I can't see Britney doing “Milkshake.”
DJ Sir Daniel: Me baby.
Miguel: I'm gonna have to look this up.
Christina: I'm trying to think of TLC doing “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
Jay Ray: “My loneliness, is killing me.”
Christina: You guys can sing that part.
Jay Ray: Yeah. Now no, because then with that, right,
but Left Eye couldn't have done a, like a left eye rap on “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” Would've been wild.
Christina: Sometimes they leave her off songs.
DJ Sir Daniel: It's true. That's true.
Miguel: There's too many things on this list. I can't even see anything right now.
Christina: Oh, well, we'll, have to do an addendum for that.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But maybe it was hit me because it's like
Was that because like you can kind of hear T-Boz was singing that tone, right?
Miguel: Yeah. I do remember it was another song as well that was written for TLC that went to somebody else. But we don't have to look that up and find it.
Christina: Check the footnotes.
Miguel: Exactly. Yeah.
On that note. if you want to check out the wonderful playlist, we gonna put together the playlist sourced from Jay Ray and DJ Sir Daniel that will be on the website, troypodcast.com. You'll get links to the videos we talked about. The full transcript will be there, all that good stuff.
If you wanna buy some merch, you can go to Nuthin’ But A Tee Thang. That's our store. You can get the shirt that Christina's wearing. You can get the shirt that I'm wearing. A whole bunch of other stuff is there as well. That's at T-E-E-T-H-A-N-G dot com.
We also have a monthly newsletter that should be coming out in a couple days called Liner Notes. It's free. You can sign up for that at troypodcast.com/newsletter and that's it. It's time to eat and we gonna wrap this up and see y'all in two weeks. Bye.
DJ Sir Daniel: Peace y’all.
Jay Ray: Peace.