Aretha Franklin - "Freeway Of Love" (forgotten song)

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died today.  I'm not even an especially big fan of hers, but her impact is far too significant to ignore.  I'm not going to even to attempt to review her career -- spanning 60+ years, with over 100 charting singles, and 18 Grammys, her career speaks for itself.  I do count myself lucky to have seen her perform live once: Danette and I saw her at the Ferguson Center in Newport News in 2009. 

I will mark her passing with her 1985 single "Freeway of Love", from the LP "Who's Zoomin' Who?"  It's certainly not one of her classics, but it was her last #1 single and did result in her 12th Grammy.  It's a very 80s sounding song, and features Clarence Clemons (bonus Bruce reference -- he had a 1984 song called "Pink Cadillac").  And while you hear her classics all the time, I don't recall the last time I heard this song.

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway of Love": single edit, 12" "Rock Mix" (this version also features Dez Dickerson of The Revolution)

Grandmaster Flash - "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (forgotten song)

This post goes out to Terry as well as Drew's wife, Lian.  Terry and Drew had a 30 year class reunion (they are class of 88, I'm class of 87) on August 4, and Terry noticed that later that night at the Boathouse in Newport News, very near the reunion hotel, Grandmaster Flash was giving a concert.  Not missing a chance for a complete 80s weekend, Terry organized a post-reunion sortie to see this hip hop legend.  I have to admit that before this show I did not realize he was still touring!  Thanks to Terry for setting this up.

This post also goes out to Lian because, owing to being a few years younger than us, she did not know who Grandmaster Flash is.  Of course, she was raised on classical music and show tunes and knows more about those genres than me, Terry and Drew put together, but, well... "Flash is fast, Flash is cool".  Once we had conveyed the cultural significance of the night's show she was as pumped as we were.

Flash did not disappoint.  The entire show was given in the style of a history lecture, with a backing video helping him convey the origins, history, geography, and key figures of hip hop and turntablism.  I was unable to find the backing video online but GMF's Youtube channel has several other items worth checking out, including this letter to Kool Herc.

Flash did elements of "The Message" in his set, and I'm pretty sure he did not do "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", but I'm including it here because 1) I remember when it came out in 1981, and 2) this single was notable because it featured only Flash and not the Furious Five (as did last week's show).  While "Wheels of Steel" might seem straight-forward today, it is hard to overstate its significance in mainstreaming the role of DJing and mixing.  Zoom in on the label pictured above and you can see the "Special Thanks" and the source material listed.  Some of those songs were on the same label (Sugar Hill Records), but the prohibition against sampling had yet to catch up with the state of the art.

I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see GMF, catch up with Terry and Drew again, and that Lian filled in a gap in her musical knowledge!

Grandmaster Flash - "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel"

Terry's text message about the August 4, 2018 show.

A still from one of Terry's videos.

Bonus link: The "Boathouse" in Newport News?!  It's a nice venue, but it's not the real Boathouse.

2019-07-27 update: Like the "real" Boathouse, the Newport New Boathouse is now closed.