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MANTRONIX ‘Needle To The Groove’ cover by Gnome/Gemini

I had to dig out this pic from the archives because ot os one of my single favorite pieces (did you see what I just said?) of art. I framed this jumpy in the crib but I haven’t mounted it on the wall yet. Imagine looking at this piece every single day? Your mind would be blown clear off like a shotgun hit you. That is how I felt looking through the OG Piecebook.

Thanks to Chino BYI and JuliBee for shooting me a copy. Now I have to find Chino’s first joint called ‘Mugs & Monsters’ which is an homage he curated to all the fly characters and portraits that artists burn up. If you want to talk about a fly character then you have to holler at my homegirl JuliBee. She came through 1st Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum of Art with her crew, LeeLo and Lil’ Chelsea.

Brooklyn Museum of Art 1st Saturday is still going on strong after a decade because they actively install new and fresh exhibits in the galleries that attract some of the best looking people in NYC. From Kehinde Wiley’s heroic Black male portraits to Takashi Murakami’s trippy canvases there is no shortage of amazing artwork that can found on display in the museum. Couple that with the fact that the museum boasts one of the nation’s best permanent collections of African and Egyptian artifacts on the regulack and you have a world class facility that you can tour for free every 1st Saturday.

The uber-attraction for this event was a compendium of photographs titled ‘Who Shot Rock’. The exhibit features pictures of iconic rock musicians. The problem with the exhibit was that there was no focus to the images displayed. Rock music has been with us for damn near sixty years. I don’t think anyone could curate an exhibit to comprehensively describe all of that time and all of the genres that have emerged from the American rock scene. Plus the images lacked a context for which they were describing the subjects pictured. It’s like looking at backstage photos of the Doors and then seeing a magazine cover of the White Stripes. WTF?!? Who fux’n cares.

The ‘Who Shot Rock’ exhibit will bring some asses into the museum but it is hardly one of the best curated exhibits that the Brooklyn Museum has hosted. The same could be said for the dance party that took place in the grand ballroom. DJ Evil Dee was listed as presenting a set of music that tied in to the ‘Who Shot Rock’ exhibit but he was more on a Michael Jackson x James Brown kick. Sure, that’s good music, and sure that is even rock music in a broad literal description of the genre, but it wasn’t fresh. Evil Dee made a major PU~ in my book for not playing any of these songs…

Jimi Hendrix – ‘Purple Haze’

David Bowie featuring Queen – ‘Under Pressure’

Funkadelic – ‘Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock’

The Clash – ‘Rock The Casbah’

Devo – ‘Whip It’

Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Give It Away’

Soft Cell – ‘Tainted Love’

Afrika Bambaataa – ‘Planet Rock’

Beastie Boys – ‘No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn’

The Police – ‘Roxanne’

The Clash – ‘This Is Radio Clash’

Queen – ‘Another One Bites The Dust’

Parliament – ‘I Call My Baby Pussycat’

Rock music is filled with dance grooves inside of its DNA. The deejay is responsible for bringing these truths to light. The deejay is the aural curator at the 1st Saturday dance party. Maybe I’ve been going to the BMA 1st Saturday event for too long because I know I could have rocked that ballroom better than this month’s deejay.

Hey @brooklynmuseum you need to holler at these internets.