Detroit Funk, French New Wave, Klezmatic Dysfunction, Electric Kool-Aid and Other Distractions (The Gateway)

Anyway, I would be the last to put General Johnson in the same category as the unforgettable Solomon Burke. But how many guys founded groups with cult status for both aficionados of Detroit Soul and N'awlins?

I first learnt about the General because of my Allen Toussaint obsession, though I'd surely heard the Showmen's "It Will Stand" on CBS-FM. A Toussaint production notable both for Johnson's soulful lead and the fact that it was Johnson who wrote it, and not Toussaint, it became a Rock and roll anthem (Doo Wop branch). Johnson also wrote one of my least favorite songs by one of the great unsung soul singers, Clarence Carter's "Patches."

But "Patches" was recorded not only by Carter, but a group tailored for Johnson by the Holland-Dozier-Holland production team, once they started their own Hot Wax and Invictus labels. Johnson not only piloted the Chairmen of the Board, hitting big with "Give Me Just a Little More Time," but also wrote hits for the rest of the H-D-H stable, including Freda Payne (the anti-war “Bring the Boys Back Home”) and The Honeycone–the indescribably great "Want Ads', the best Martha and the Vandella's song never recorded by Martha and the Vs–in fact, the best Martha and the Vandellas song PERIOD! [He later produced Martha herself (she’s now a Detroit Councilwoman for those who insist on the political link)]

In their dying days, the Chairmen also recorded the wonderful album, "The Skin I'm In" (the best P-Funk album George Clinton ever had nothing to do with, though his musicians, especially Eddie Hazel and Bernie Worrell, are all over it as session men).

After the bubble burst, Johnson eventually moved down to the Carolinas, where he became the leading exponent of the soul genre known as "Beach Music." (Like "Northern Soul, an utterly unexplainable genre– although it' other leading exponents seem to include the Platters and Bo Diddley).

JEAN LUC GODARD: Palestinians’ suicide bombings in order to bring a Palestinian State into existence ultimately resemble what the Jews did by allowing themselves to be led like sheep to be slaughtered in gas chambers, sacrificing themselves to bring into existence the State of Israel…Basically, there were six million kamikazes…

THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS ANS SCIENCES: The Academy is aware that Jean-Luc Godard has made statements in the past that some have construed as anti-Semitic. We are also aware of detailed rebuttals to that charge. Anti-Semitism is of course deplorable, but the Academy has not found the accusations against M. Godard persuasive.

GATEMOUTH: Sounds more like a philo-Semite to me; in real life, Jews are rarely that selfless. Still, I think Mr. Godard might need to have a discussion with Louis Malle.

On the other hand, the fact the TS Elliot was a stone-cold Jew-hater never stopped me from loving Prufrock; but that being said, being a depressive is not the only reason Domestic Partner and I would not invite Elliot to a party at our home.

But let's be magnanimous. I believe Leo Rosten once noted that an old Polish proverb opined that when baptizing a Jew, one should hold his head under the water for ten minutes, so as not to raise the price of pork.

If one wants to understand Carl Paladino's level of idiocy, perhaps one needs to understand how even the most socially conservative elements of the ultra-Orthodox community feel about Rabbi Yehuda Levin; from an Op Ed on Vos Iz Neas:

"Rabbi Levin first approached Paladino to help him counter the innuendo that Paladino was anti-Semitic. After Rabbi Levin’s performance it is a miracle that he did not turn him into an anti-Semite.

Someone must apprise the good Rabbi that there is a fifth Shulchan Aruch which dictates that we look at the endgame. What did you accomplish? Did you end up promoting Torah values or end up causing them irreparable damage in this state?
…Another case in point: A few years ago the British-based newspaper the Guardian reported Rabbi Levin’s words on a proposed march in the Holy city of Yerushalayim. His exact words? “I promise there’s going to be bloodshed – not just on that day, but for months afterward. In America, we are outraged and disgusted over this event. There are millions of people who, with their bodies, souls and money, will stand against this…” Promising bloodshed? Not just on that day but for months afterward? What are we here – Jewish Ayatollahs here?…

… In May of 2009, Rabbi Levin issued a statement declaring categorically that many Yeshivos closed on account of Swine Flu because of New York State’s impending legislation on same gender marriage. Attributing specific links and causes to modern events is an activity fraught with danger – because, how do we know that this is the exact link and cause? Generally speaking only world class Gedolim can or should engage in such speculation.

A wonderful window into the Hasidic worldview, which for all but the most sophisticated is viewed as purely transactional (the most sophisticated among the Hasidim view the world as primarily transactional) lit. The Aroni faction seems to be under the delusion that somehow the fall of Vito Lopez, if and when it comes, will result in court decisions going their way, and improvements in the funding streams of their social service agencies.

In fact, what the Zali-backed UJO really has over the Aroni-backed UJ Cares is that UJO is a bonafide social service provider with a track record, while UJ Cares' past inability to abide by even the minimal guidleines governing groups getting City Council member items led to them losing funds in midyear after they'd already been appropriated.

Ho hum; Wayne Barrett’s article on Harry Wilson is way more substantive and persuasive than this endorsement. Anyway, who cares about the Times? I want to know when Gatemouth will make up his mind For New York Comptroller and Attorney General www.nytimes.com

When Michael Bloomberg took office on January 1, 2002, New York had just been devastated by the first foreign attack upon our mainland since the 1812 war. A large part of Lower Manhattan, and all that it meant for the city economy, lay in ruins, eviscerating tax revenues, while the costs of coping with the damage ate further gaping holes into the City budget. It was anticipated that there would be a six billion dollar revenue hole to accompany the hole we already had in the ground. The only options were to raise taxes or drastically cut services.

The City attempted to enhance its revenues, but was stymied at every turn by the need for cooperation from George Pataki and Joe Bruno. There was only one tax increase the City could enact for itself without their cooperation which would do what was necessary; it was the property tax.

The new council voted a record-breaking tax increase of 18.5% because it had no choice. Then City Councilman Michael McMahon knew that voting for such an increase was politically risky, but he did it anyway, despite the fact that the two other Councilmen from Staten Island (Republican-Conservative Jimmy Oddo and Republican-Neanderthal Andrew Lanza) behaved like either (take your pick) sniveling, simpering cowards or grass-eating right-wing ideological fanatics.

The City may have been on the balls of its ass after suffering an act of war, but in rabble rousing against an eight year old emergency tax increase, Michael Grimm shows no recollection of history and even less shame, as he fulminates against the tax increase the city was forced to swallow like castor oil, and spews invective against Mr. McMahon for having had the good sense and cajones to do what was necessary.

By contrast, Mike McMahon aggressively defends the necessity of the 2002 tax increase and makes no apologies. The apologies here are owed by Mr. Grimm to all of us whose intelligence he’s insulted with his willfully ignorant, overheated Buchananistic pandering. Sadly, Mr. Grimm really appears to believe the stuff he says.

The feminists of the sixties first said "the personal is political," but it took Mike Kaplowitz to turn it into an ad, and Greg Ball to justify his doing so. the Albany project:: SD-40: Greg Ball Has an Issue with Women www.thealbanyproject.com