Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)
Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)
Playlist
Raymond Winnfield – Things Could Be Better (Fordom)
Gene Chandler – In My Body’s House (Checker)
Nat Turner Rebellion – Plastic People (Delvaliant)
Spoken interlude: Noam Chomsky
Donny Hathaway – The Slums (Atco)
Spoken interlude: Dorothy Day
Sebastian – Living In Depression (Brown Dog)
Senor Soul – Don’t Lay Your Funky Trip On Me (Whiz)
Spoken interlude: Rev Martin Luther King Jr
Della Reese – Compared to What (Avco)
Impressions – Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey) (Curtom)
James Brown – Funky President (People It’s Bad) (Polydor)
Spoken interlude: Terence McKenna
James Brown – Get Up Get Into It Get Involved (King)
Spoken interlude: Saul Alinsky
Soul Searchers – We The People (Sussex)
Isley Brothers – Fight the Power (T-Neck)
Spoken interlude: Jesse Jackson
Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out (Tamla)
Unifics – People Got to Be Free (Kapp)
Spoken interlude: Michelle Obama
S.O.U.L. – Love Peace and Power (Musicor)
Mohawks – Baby Hold On (Cotillion)
Impressions – We’re a Winner (ABC)
Closing: Rev Martin Luther King Jr
Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got to Get Better (Get Together)
As first hinted at, then promised, and finally warned about (for those of you who are diametrically opposed politically), Funky16Corners Radio v.89 – Things Got To Get Better (Get Together), aka the ‘election mix’ has finally arrived, been posted at the top of the blog, where it will remain until the election is over.
I know I normally run Halloween themed posts this time of year, but we have real things to be scared about.
There is a Halloween set in this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio (Friday night at 9PM) so you can get your fix there.
As far as I can recall, I haven’t approached the readers of the Funky16Corners blog with anything sociopolitical since the ‘Two From the Stonewall Jukebox’ post back in July of 2009, and before that the posts about the Presidential election of 2008.
Though I think most of you have some idea of my political orientation, it’s not a frequent subject here, because ultimately Funky16Corners is about music.
However (big however coming here)…
We are currently in the midst of a very dark time, not just in the US, but worldwide.
The rise of the ultra-right and the ensuing anti-immigrant, anti-gay and ultimately anti-intellectual wave that is poised to wash away decades of important social gains in this country is the single most important issue at hand.
Having grown up in the 1970s, I find the idea that this great country would ever descend again into a maelstrom of religious lunacy, open hatred of immigrants and homosexuals, demonization of organized labor (especially teachers) and hateful, empty Rand-ian ‘libertarianism’ is beyond insane.
The economy is in terrible shape, and is unlikely to get better any time soon, and those that have been able to return to work often find that the salaries are lower and the benefits non-existent.
How have some of our countrymen reacted to these challenges?
Not well.
An increasingly angry minority, funded by the mega-rich have become a political force, eager to build fences (literal and figurative) to keep those they consider ‘undesirable’ from participating fully in our democracy.
The rise of these deeply ignorant ‘patriots’ (they love to wrap themselves in the flag, unable to embrace its true meaning), marching alongside religious ideologues and plutocrats has woven together a rancid fabric, its warp and weft rife with xenophobia, racism, class warfare, homophobia and various and sundry fringe hatreds.
You may step back and see these negative forces as smaller, separate issues, but the truth is that they are all part of the same, ugly reaction.
When the going got tough, the right got nasty.
Those institutions tasked with keeping us informed have collapsed under the collective weight of corruption by and collusion with those that have the most to gain by a population ignorant of the truth.
I still have a basic faith in the goodness of the human race, but it is being sorely tested.
I want my children to grow up in a world where they are indifferent to the color of a person’s skin, the language they speak or their sexual preference, but we are surrounded by those that would deny them that future.
This includes people of supposed deep religious faith who forget that their own freedom to worship and express the tenets of their faith includes the freedom of others to find their own path. These are the people who continually fight to deny gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans their civil rights.
These are the people who want to rewrite the textbooks in our schools to cleanse them of science and fill them with creationism and revisionist (racial and political) history.
This also includes a lot of people, many of them radicalized after the attacks of 9/11, who have turned against American citizens of Muslim faith, and stoked fears (alongside similarly radicalized anti-Muslim forces in Europe and Scandinavia) of all Muslims, as well as immigrants in general.
These are the people who allowed 30 years of Republican propaganda to turn them against organized labor, while simultaneously building an obscene faith in big business that allowed massive deregulation and tax cuts, as well a cheering our way into two insane wars.
This is the same big business that – thanks to a bizarre Supreme Court decision – is now allowed to flood the political system with piles of cash (anonymously) to attack those that would put a stop to our slow (but seemingly inevitable) march to plutarchy.
Please don’t mistake this as an endorsement of President Obama specifically, or the Democrats in general.
Despite promises to the contrary, the President has continued to fight the right of gays to serve in the military, and has stated that he opposes the idea of gay marriage.
Many of those that serve with the (D) next to their name have also thrown their lot in with the ‘whatever big business wants’ crowd as well.
There may be something “trickling down” onto the middle class and the poor, but it’s not money.
However (another big one here), the alternative is people like Joe Miller in Alaska, Sharon Angle in Nevada, the execrable Rand Paul in Kentucky, deeply ignorant Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, Ken Buck in Colorado, Marco Rubio in Florida and countless others who have embraced the insane ideas of the radical right.
These people are only the larger public face of this movement.
While they run for national office, their foot soldiers are poised to fill seats in state legislatures, county and local office, and worst of all, school boards.
There are those that would have you believe that the system is utterly broken, and that an appropriate response is not to vote at all.
This is insane.
Is there any among you that really think that the way to right a staggering democracy is to withdraw from it?
Not only should every one of you exercise your right to vote, but you should do what you can to convince your family and friends that they should as well, because one thing the forces of the radical right do, religious or otherwise, is vote.
These are the people that are counting on apathy to help them get their hooks into the government where they can start to punch holes in the Constitution they ironically wave like a battle flag.
So what does this have to do with Funky16Corners?
Like the mighty James Brown says:
People, people we got to get over before we go under!
Tell’em Godfather!
The majority of the soul and funk music we celebrate here was created during a time when the forces of the right were attempting to tighten the screws of the status quo, while the forces of peace, racial equality and sexual liberation were battling in the streets (and the ballot box) to upend it and seize their rights.
Soul and funk are the sounds of struggle and liberation. Not every number here has an explicit political/social message, but the music of black America, created in the 60s and 70s in its core rarely says anything else.
Funky16Corners Radio v.89 is an attempt to string some of the more powerful musical statements of the time together, along with spoken intervals by important thinkers.
Things get off to a depressing, yet wholly realistic start, but work their way up through anger, defiance and ultimately (hopefully) triumph.
Not every number here carries an explicit message, but taken together they make an important statement.
The voices heard between the songs include some very well known (civil rights figures like Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson), and some lesser known (Dorothy Day*), and in a few cases dreadfully misunderstood and demonized (Saul Alinsky**, Noam Chomsky), but their words all have in common is their relevance to the world we live in today.
I’m not saying that things are going to be fixed if the opponents of democracy are defeated in this election (since many of them clearly won’t be), but rather (to borrow an old saw) the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, and stepping into the voting booth and making yourself heard is that step.
Far too many Americans take a pass on that important responsibility, and if they continue to do so, they’ll have no one to thank but themselves when the world around them gets worse.
So, once again in the words of James Brown:
Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved.
Educate yourself.
Educate others.
Don’t allow hatred and disinformation to go unchallenged.
Don’t be afraid.
Peace
Larry
*Dorothy Day is an especially important figure in the history of social justice and charity. If her name is unfamiliar, dig a little deeper and read about this great woman.
**Saul Alinsky has been demonized by the right to the point where his name has become a kind of shorthand (with just the tiniest bit of anti-semitism attached to it) for leftist subversion. I doubt most of the people that throw his name around as an epithet have read anything about him. His voice – like most of those in this mix – was an important one in the struggle to transfer power from the haves to the have nots (which goes a long way to explaining why those that shill for the mega-rich hate him so). If all you’ve ever heard about him are bad things, do yourself a favor and read up on his life (outside of right wing web sites).
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Themocracy
This is a righteous mix, coupled with an on-point message!
Thanks for the message Larry. To those who can vote, please do it and prevent a disaster. As an immigrant I cannot vote and depend on those with that privilege to make the right choices, please do so responsibly.
Can’t wait to listen to this timely mix!
PS: No need for halloween mixes, just turn on the t.v, enough real people to scare the hell of us there…
Cheer up Larry. Sounds like you need a bit of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVF4r3fLBrU
How we gonna make the Funk Nation rise?
Agitate, Educate, Organize!
Right on, Larry!
Funky:
Buford T. Justice once said, “There aint no way that boy came outta my loins.” I have to differ with BTJ: there sure is; the old guy is mighty proud. Where I went to college, the motto was “Fight the Good Fight.” Let it happen.
Pop
Hey Larry,
We are feeling your message here in Scotland too. We just elected an even more ‘business friendly’ (read as right-wing loony) government than our last (in the UK elections).
We are currently being lectured on fiscal restraint and ‘togetherness’ by a finance minister (chancellor of the exchequer – as we quaintly call him) who routinely avoids paying as much tax as he possibly can (quite legally). He is currently proposing to make it even easier for him and his ilk to do this. He is not proposing to tax the mega-rich or the banks (any more than he is absolutely forced to) to pay the supposed ‘deficit’– rather he is cutting spending on the most needy. Not a surprise, but disgusting all the same.
Successive governments globally fail to deal with genuine corruption both in politics and big-business and pursue minorities as a distraction and a smokescreen. They are basically greedy people with a sense of entitlement that the world owes them a (very comfortable) living and who can self-justify using any means necessary to achieve that comfort for themselves and their chosen acolytes. Hatred, exploitation, lies, disinformation, millions of pounds/dollars… They won’t stop until ‘the people’ rise up. Unfortunately they have us pretty well cowed at the moment and ‘the people’ are fractured into a plethora of interest groups with no real sense of direction. They have us convinced the WE are each other’s enemies. Meanwhile they are stealing the world from under our noses…
Thankfully there is music and the F16C to get us through the days!
Stu, Glasgow, Scotland
@ phillyradiogeek – not sure how serious you are dude, but it’s hard to be cheery if you take a moment to think about the realities of life in this ‘global’ political system! Can’t knock your video choice, though. Cheers for that man. It did cheer me up a wee bit. 🙂
I have followed this blog for a long time; I am heartened to find out that our politics are the same. Thanks for this and for all you do. I voted early here in North Carolina.
Thank you for the music AND the message.
Sounds just like Glenn Beck, only y’know, different policy preferences. “My views are the path to righteousness and everybody who disagrees with me is evil and will ruin the country.” Thank goodness the music is still boss . . .
To each his own man.
But know that the warm, safe little island where the non-committal can sit safely and feel superior, erodes a liitle more every day, like the rights of those that can’t defend themselves are eroded by the mega-rich and their fascist friends.
Enjoy the view while it lasts.
I have the most repsect for your musical and political inclinations. I am feelin you all the way to voting booth. right arm right arm!
Glad your not afraid to tell it like it is & stand up & be counted. Unfortunately it seems to be the general trend now for right-wingers to get to spout their opinions on all occasions & for the left & the liberals to sit quietly & be misrepresented. I’m for bucking the trend
@ paul
I know this isn’t really a political forum, but I would point you towards a couple of quotes attributed to Edmund Burke:
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”
and
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle”
He wasn’t exactly a wishy-washy left-leaning liberal… he has been described as the father of conservatism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke
Hi Larry,
Right on! Here in Holland too, a wave of xenophobia and anti-intellectualism is flooding the country. The (very popular) far Right has manoeuvered itself cleverly in a cabinet of conservative politicians, where it can dictate the political agenda without being held responsible (as they choose not to have any accountable secretaries in the cabinet). Anything progressive, cultural or intellectual is being branded as a so-called expensive (thus expendable) ‘Left wing hobby’ these days, including most of the performing arts and education in general. And our media, eager to outscore each other (but not in being objective and/or profound) and lure advertisers, is actually helping the far Right by reducing the public debate to a standup comedy show with one liners and acerbic soundbites. This is no longer the society in which I grew up and felt that I belonged to. A lot of people seem to be proud to be ignorant. Where is the open mindedness, the willingness to learn about (and from) each other and the urge to improve life for all of us? Anyway, this is a wonderful blog about wonderful music, not a political forum, but it seems that a lot of people have given up about sharing and striding forward together. Here is hoping this powerful and timeless music will contribute in a global turnaround in attitude: no to selfishness and exclusion, yes to sharing and respect for all. Interesting (and, unfortunately, very true) quotes by Edmund Burke, by the way.
Peace,
Ingmar
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! And while you’re urging people to vote, please ask them to push their Representatives and Senators to give us in the District of Columbia a voting Representative in the House and two Senators in the Senate. D.C., where a lot of great R & B and funk came, and comes, from, does not have a Representative who can vote in the House of Representatives because we’re not a state. It shouldn’t matter:Taxation Without Representation is not democratic (small “d”), and if we’re good enough to fight and die in wars and to pay taxes, we should have the right to vote in Congress! Meanwhile, kudos to you, Larry, for asking your readers to help stop the political insanity in the U.S. today and to vote in massive numbers on November 2! It’s up to us, people!
Well said Larry. Where were these tea baggers during the 8 long dark years of Bush? I see seniors on social security and medicare protesting against “socialism” and complaining that the country is going the wrong way. Well it is going the wrong way, because the loud ignorant and bigoted are now running for office. These are dark times. I live in Florida and tea bagger Rubio is poised to win a senate seat, and a multi-millionaire repub with a criminal past is about to buy the governor’s office. What is happening to our ountry?
right ON Larry.
You tell ’em! These are dark days, but the 60s and 70s were, too and produced all this great music!
Larry, this is a brilliant post and I thank you expressing this message so articulately.
Thanks Marie, and everyone else.
Thank you for this (and everything else- your blog is a highlight of my week.)
[…] I think about what’s happening to our country right now, you could not do better than to read Larry Grogan’s essay at Funky16Corners. I agree with every word of it. We now join our regular programming, already in […]
People inevitably vote with their bank accounts. The Republicans who were in control between 1994 and 2006 were voted out in 2006 and 2008 largely due to their fiscal irresponsibility between 2000 and 2006. The American public was hungry for fiscal restraint… especially after the economic collpase. The Democratic Congress that took power in 2006 continued on a course of aggressive spending. You can argue that they were spending the money on better programs and what not– that’s not what I’m arguing here. What led to the GOP gains in Congress in general and return to power in the House was what was viewed as a general disregard of how a majority of American people want our money spent/saved/etc. It wasn’t about race– even if some candidates tried to make it so. It wasn’t about illegal immigration– although some other candidates tried to make it about that (the most vocal of which, Tom Tancredo, was NOT elected on Tuesday)… It was about the economy. And while no one expected the economy to improve in 18 months, the belief amongst those moderates and independents who voted Democratic in 2006 and 2008 was that Congress would recognize they were voted into power due to the GOP’s total disregard for our taxpayer dollars during the Bush presidency.
A few things to consider– silver linings for your clouds if you will– Clinton actually grew in popularity after the GOP took control of Congress in 1994 as he was forced to govern more moderately. If Obama follows the same approach I believe he gain regain enough of the popularity he’s lost to get himself re-elected for another 4 years. Also– running counter to your racist claims, South Carolina elected the nation’s first female Indian-American governor and New Mexico elected their first female Latin-American governor. And while Obama’s senate seat went to Republican, Mark Kirk. Kirk is socially moderate (pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, and he even voted for Cap-and-trade when he was a Congressman) the Tea Party doesn’t like him at all!
While the Tea Party was a factor, I’d argue they were a minimal factor. The lunatic fringes of each party may be the most vocal but a majority of this country is centrist/moderate and it’s generally the Independents and swing voters who tip the scales in our elections.
Larry- after reading your rant, i can’t help but interject. I am not a tea-partyer or bagger or a right-winger. I do tout myself as a conservative. I feel the government has failed the American people. It is not a government for the people, but the for a select few who get themselves elected. Both republicans and democrats have squandered and fleeced americans to pay for ludicrous things like bridge to nowhere, dr. seuss statues, piss christ, their salaries and their healthcare, and among other pointless things. Truth be told, anyone in congress and washington DC doesn’t care about your or your state, or your county or city. The gov’t wasn’t put here to bail your or a megabank out. I feel the problem is not the demonization of minority groups, but demonization of ideas. What is wrong with slowly getting rid of social security? Being an “X”er, i know i won’t see the money i put in or the money i supposedly will get back will not support me when i retire. What’s wrong with getting rid of Medicare or having people buy into medicare or having and HSA? Medical costs are going through the roof and it’s all because of medicare and medicaid. With these two items, you eliminate almost 50% of the budget and give about 15 to 20 back to the American people to save or spend or do whatever with.
Ideas nor opposition to the ideas are the enemy; The enemies are ignorance and insolence. I see no one on either side addressing that the other side or “wrong” side has a point. Instead it’s “tea partyers are nutcases” or “democrats are socialists” or “Republicans are racist.”
I know the elections are over, but I hope that people listen and try to dig deeper rather than nit picking on sound bites.
Great Blog. Great tunes as always. have a great week. And…I am thankful we live in a country like this.
Thank you Larry for your wonderful blog, all of the great music, and especially here for your deeply righteous post that I am only now catching up with. You really hit the nail on the head and put it all into focus.
As for the people above who seem to feel that we spend too much money helping people, before we start cutting programs that actually do something for regular Americans and provide them with just a tiny safety net for life’s vicissitudes, how about we start cutting by spending a lot less money on the mass killing of folks halfway around the world?