Dystopian Dance Party

Tag: madonna

  • Year of the Weasel Episode 7: Jury Duty (1995)

    Year of the Weasel Episode 7: Jury Duty (1995)

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    We’ve finally reached the movie that gave us the idea for this series (we’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing)! Jury Duty may not be great cinema–it’s basically 12 Angry Men with a closed head injury–but we’ve both seen much worse (cough, In the Army Now). And besides, if you’re looking for great cinema, you’re in the wrong place, because next month we’re finally watching Bio-Dome!

    Video version:

    00:00:00 Trailer for Jury Duty (John Fortenberry, 1995)

    https://youtu.be/EEARDSdiQ74?si=AEn7Maf_feaD26oO

    00:04:37 Our episode on In the Army Now

    00:04:46 Our last minisode

    00:06:02 The long-awaited return of “Behind the Weasic” by Greg Beato, SPIN, October 1999

    00:06:57 Jury Duty on Rotten Tomatoes

    00:07:37 For comparison, here’s Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo on Rotten Tomatoes

    00:13:23 Medusa: Dare to be Truthful (John Fortenberry, 1991)

    00:13:34 A Night at the Roxbury (John Fortenberry, 1998)

    00:15:32 Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (John Fortenberry, 2011)

    00:20:54 Jury Duty (John Fortenberry, 1995)

    00:22:13  Pauly Ass Shot Count: 4

    00:23:37 Twin Sitters (John Paragon, 1994)

    00:24:18 Zach made the mistake of editing out some of the Barbarian Brothers references in this episode, as if we were going to stop talking about them

    00:25:03 Double Trouble (John Paragon, 1992)

    00:34:02 Big Night (Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci, 1996)

    00:49:50 Pauly Ass Shot Count: 5

    01:05:22 Follow us on Instagram!

    01:05:25 Follow us on YouTube!

    01:05:33 Email us (heybuuuddy@dystopiandanceparty.com)

    01:06:11 “Sweet Soul Revue” by Pizzicato Five (from Bossa Nova 2001, 1993)

  • Headbangers Book Club: Morris Day’s On Time (Part 1)

    Headbangers Book Club: Morris Day’s On Time (Part 1)

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    It’s a special #jhericurljune installment of the ol’ Book Club as we dig into 2019’s On Time: A Princely Life in Funk by Morris Day with David Ritz–so, slightly less headbanging than normal, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of the important stuff (i.e., cocaine). We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with Part 2, at which point we’ll also announce our official HBC selection for July. Remember, don’t let us Meat Loaf!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Nile Rodgers’ “Let’s Go Out Tonight”

    If there’s ever been an artist who embodied proto-Jheri Curl Music without ever quite crossing over into J.C.M. proper, it’s Nile Rodgers. As the guitarist and co-producer behind disco innovators Chic, Rodgers played a key role in the creation of the more streamlined “post-disco” sound; yet by the early ’80s and the dawn of what we call the Jheri Curl Era (JCE), he had taken a left turn from the majority of his acolytes, moving in more of a pop direction with his solo debut Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove and high-profile productions for the likes of David Bowie, Madonna, and Duran Duran.

    Rodgers’ second album, 1985’s B-Movie Matinee, is no exception; it isn’t quite Jheri Curl Music, though it certainly has elements in common–dig, for example, the electro-style programmed bassline and bright, brassy synths that open “Let’s Go Out Tonight,” one of two singles released from the album (and, incidentally, the only one of Rodgers’ solo singles to crack the Hot 100). But then again, J.C.M. itself was kind of on the wane by 1985; and even if it isn’t quite orthodox Jheri Curl, how could I refuse myself the opportunity to share this absolutely bonkers video, which features Rodgers (wearing some kind of futuristic Cosby sweater) bringing a Japanese Bunraku marionette to life, taking her out on a date, and then seemingly turning into a marionette himself? Besides, Nile Rodgers wrote the Soul Glo jingle; even if his rhythm guitar style hadn’t influenced virtually every artist we’ve written about for Jheri Curl June, that alone would ensure his place in JCM history remains secure.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with more picks from the latter-day JCE; in the meantime, playlists are below.

  • 12 Months of Mike Month 5: Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me

    Well, folks, we watched the second Austin Powers movie and lived to talk about it. Join us as we discuss infuriating anachronisms, the decline of Mike Myers’ side characters, and of course, the “Urkelization” of Dr. Evil. And then join us next month as we examine the first of… Jesus Christ, are we really watching four Shrek movies?!?!

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  • 12 Months of Mike Month 4: Austin Powers – International Man of Mystery

    The bad news is, we’re a day late for Month 4 of our year-long deep dive into the cinematic oeuvre of Mike Myers; but the good news is, the movie we’re discussing may just be the best of the bunch. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery holds up surprisingly well, and feels in retrospect like Myers’ peak as a singular creative voice. It’s all downhill from here, folks! We’ll be back later in January for what will likely be a much more sobering look at the 1999 sequel, The Spy Who Shagged Me; in the meantime, though, this is our happening, baby, and it freaks us out!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Krystol’s “Passion from a Woman”

    We enter our annual Ladies’ Week with exactly what this year’s Jheri Curl June needs: some Passion from a Woman. Krystol is one of those groups that, despite having plenty of talent and hitmaking potential, never achieved widespread fame. Their first two albums failed to gain much commercial success, despite being chock full of bangers that are no less catchy than any of Madonna’s output, and certainly better sung. Finally, after suffering from personnel changes due to a birth and a death respectively, the now-three woman group began to achieve more success and exposure. “Passion from a Woman,” from the 1986 album of the same title, made it into the R&B Top 30.

    Unfortunately, Krystol still suffered from a lack of promotion, and were ultimately dropped from their label. But they undeniably paved the way for R&B girl groups of the late ’80s and ’90s–including Jheri Curl June Veterans Exposé.

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  • Jheri Curl June: Madonna’s “Lucky Star”

    Look, I know we called this final week of Jh3ri Curl Jun3 White Boys’ Week, but I think we would be remiss to talk about jheri curl music’s appropriators without a shoutout to the anointed queen of all swagger-jackers: Madonna. Almost a decade before she brought a sanitized version of Harlem drag ball culture to Middle America with her 1990 smash “Vogue,” the future Material Girl was attempting to crack the R&B charts with her debut single, 1982’s “Everybody”–which, in a brazen act of reverse racial passing, released with a 12″ cover designed by Lou Beach, featuring contemporary “urban” signifiers like brownstone buildings, graffiti, a police officer, a few anonymous children of color…and Madonna’s white ass nowhere to be seen.

    © Sire Records
    © Sire Records

    The ruse didn’t last long, of course; when a music video for “Everybody” was released in early 1983, it became evident that the newcomer who’d been burning up the “Black” charts was as white as the driven snow (I mean, those dance moves alone). But even later that year, when she released her self-titled debut album sporting her now-iconic peroxide-blonde New Wave Marilyn Monroe look, it was easy to hear why so many early listeners had her pegged as an African American artist. Just listen to “Lucky Star,” the album’s fourth and highest-charting single. All the ingredients for jheri curl music we described in our video back at the beginning of the month are present and accounted for: from the crisp, clean-sounding guitar and bass to the Oberheim OB-X synthesizer and Linn drum machine–two tools of the trade that should sound very familiar to fans of Madonna’s 1980s dance-pop peer, Prince.

    So yes, Madonna did jheri curl, and she did it well. But like many a swagger-jacker before and after her, it didn’t take long for her to move on; by her next album, 1984’s Nile Rodgers-produced Like a Virgin, she was taking her sound in a more self-consciously pop-oriented direction. But I have to admit, I still have a soft spot for Madonna’s short-lived jheri curl era–and for the days when the words “Madonna” and “Black” didn’t produce an instant wince of second-hand embarrassment. Go ahead, white girl. You really were the luckiest by far.

    Spotify and YouTube playlists below:

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