UNSUNG

pickwick33

I've been meaning to watch this TV show for a minute. Finally got around to it last month and now I'm hooked. Ray Parker, Jr. is on tonight's episode. Can't wait. Heating up the last of the pork chops for this occasion.

Interesting parallel:
On Behind The Music, more than once they profiled some 80s metal band whose career was derailed by grunge.

The Unsung version: the 80s R&B star who became passe when new jack swing came in and gangsta rap got huge.

Goodbye coliseum, hello ribfest.

bull_ox

Thanks for reminding me about this show... I saw the Sylvers one a while back but forgot it was a series I ought to check out. It doesn't air on any of my channels. Looks like several eps are on the tvone website though.

pickwick33 said:

Interesting parallel:
On Behind The Music, more than once they profiled some 80s metal band whose career was derailed by grunge.

The Unsung version: the 80s R&B star who became passe when new jack swing came in and gangsta rap got huge.

Goodbye coliseum, hello ribfest.

For me the huge difference is that most of those shitty 80s hair metal bands are still needlessly honored while many non-rap 80s black acts have never had much written or documented about them since their hits.

SIRUS

bull_ox said:

For me the huge difference is that most of those shitty 80s hair metal bands are still needlessly honored while many non-rap 80s black acts have never had much written or documented about them since their hits.

yep.

pickwick33

pickwick33 said:

Interesting parallel:
On Behind The Music, more than once they profiled some 80s metal band whose career was derailed by grunge.

The Unsung version: the 80s R&B star who became passe when new jack swing came in and gangsta rap got huge.

Goodbye coliseum, hello ribfest.

For me the huge difference is that most of those shitty 80s hair metal bands are still needlessly honored while many non-rap 80s black acts have never had much written or documented about them since their hits.

True. As popular as Atlantic Starr were, I didn't know they had as many personnel changes as they did until I saw their Unsung episode.

As a person who read quite a few music magazines in the eighties, I noticed Spin was, at the time, probably the only music publication, black or white, that gave much serious coverage to contemporary soul music at all (and not just the hip-hop acts, either). And even then, they were just scratching the surface, although their massive Oran "Juice" Jones piece, where he goes into minute detail about his earlier life as a young thug, is a must-read, even if you're not a fan. Check it out, it's on page 50: http://books.google.com/books?id=gcCEwpvxozAC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=oran+juice+jones+spin+magazine&source=bl&ots=A0LwNAJvmm&sig=IU_bwUP8nd8JMg9BdBLYbimJIYE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ocM5T4ufCYLi0QGGu8iwCw&sqi=2&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=oran juice jones spin magazine&f=false.

batmon

Unsung is the shit.

The Sylvers was crazy. Shalamar got a good story.

Angela Winbush, Rose Royce, Miki Howard, Teena Marie, Vesta, and Donny Hathaway get their propers.

ost

bull_ox said:

It doesn't air on any of my channels. Looks like several eps are on the tvone website though.

A lot of them are on youtube.

pickwick33

batmon said:

Unsung is the shit.

The Sylvers was crazy. Shalamar got a good story.

Angela Winbush, Rose Royce, Miki Howard, Teena Marie, Vesta, and Donny Hathaway get their propers.

The Ray Parker, Jr. episode was really good, tonight.

Big_Stacks

Hey,

Yes, 'Unsung' is that shit indeed. I have to say, the Billy Preston episode was the saddest shit I've seen on TV in a long time (beside some "Intervention" or "Hoarders" shows, perhaps). I was in tears watching that particular show. I never realized how sad a road his life traveled.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

The_Hook_Up

I have only seen the Millie Jackson one, liked it...gotta get the DVR set-up

pickwick33

Big_Stacks said:

Hey,

Yes, 'Unsung' is that shit indeed. I have to say, the Billy Preston episode was the saddest shit I've seen on TV in a long time (beside some "Intervention" or "Hoarders" shows, perhaps). I was in tears watching that particular show. I never realized how sad a road his life traveled.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

And that's another thing - some of these eps are relatively drama-free, yet they STILL manage to stay interesting.

Some of those Behind The Music eps could be really dull if the artist in question wasn't involved in a scandal. But with Unsung, you get these folks like Ray Parker, Jr. and Freddie Jackson who just realized their hitmaking days were over, didn't try to fight it, and just rode off into the sunset. No trying to Stay Hip With The Kids like dear, departed Whitney (see Batmon's analysis in the "Whitney Houston Dead?" thread). No running out of money. And the story STILL carries some weight