The Four Tops - "Are You Man Enough?" (1973)

The Isaac Hayes soundtrack to the original Shaft movie was an instant classic, still fantastic to enjoy to this day. Since the movie was a hit, MGM was going to milk that black detective franchise for everything it was worth... which was not much.

The first sequel, Shaft's Big Score, did respectable business in 1972, but by the time it staggered to 1973 with Shaft in Africa, the box office wasn't coming in like it used to. Each sequel was sillier than the last, and this one was thrown together fast for a quick buck that never came.

At this point in the 70's, the Four Tops had left Motown, where they had earned their bread on classics like "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch," "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" and others. They were now recording with ABC's Dunhill Records, which teamed them with songwriters Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and producer Steve Barri. In retrospect, you wouldn't believe how many pop hits these guys cranked out, from the insipid (Coven's "One Tin Soldier"), to slick (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds' "Don't Pull Your Love") to cheesy (Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy").

Lightning struck again for this match-up, as they cranked out more soulful hits, like "Keeper Of The Castle" and "Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got"), all using the careful wah-wah guitars and late Motown-era strings (think The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"). So it was natural for Shaft in Africa's producers to have them come up with a song for the film's opening credits.

Even if this film was unintentionally hilarious (and you'll see what I mean below), the song was killer -- same production style as their other hits, ear-grabbing opening with heavy beat kick drum, clavinet and tuned congas, feeling like a private dick film already. I loved the solo handclaps before the chorus, a great device to build up tension waiting for that part.

"Are You Man Enough" asks if you're ready to play tough as Shaft:

Are you man enough?
Big and bad enough?
Are you gonna let 'em shoot your down?
When the evil flies and your brother cries
Are you gonna be around?

I've got some real treats for videos below. First is the Shaft in Africa trailer, and like the one I posted for Trouble Man, it's blaxploitation jive talk through and through. Next is "Are You Man Enough" over the opening credits. Finally, and this has to be seen to be believed, a scene from Shaft in Africa where Shaft's car is running over these ridiculous looking assailants in some of the worst, yet most hilarious stunt work you'll ever see

Shaft in Africa "trailer"
Uploaded by gregwallace

Shaft in Africa Four Tops Intro
Uploaded by TroubleMan00

Gary U.S. Bonds - "This Little Girl" (1981)

Rock and roll comeback stories like this are far and few between. They don't seem to happen anymore, really. So before we even talk about the song, this story has to be told first. It's become rock music urban legend.

In the early 60's, Gary U.S. Bonds had a few big rock party hits, along the same lineage as The Isley Brothers' "Shout" and J.J. Jackson's "It's Alright." Bonds' recordings were kind of primitive but they zoomed up the charts and became classics of the era -- "New Orleans," "Dear Lady Twist," and the one that went to the top, "Quarter to Three."

Then, nothing. The hits stopped coming after a three year ride.

Fast forward 15 years later. Bruce Springsteen and the Street Band are touring to promote Darkness on the Edge of Town. As a matter of fact, he's been doing "Quarter To Three" as an encore. The band hears that Bonds is performing at some Jersey hotel nightclub, so they go see him. They agree to keep in touch.

A couple of years later, Springsteen is touring for his double album The River, which is heavily influenced by those early 60's rock songs. Springsteen and Miami Steve reunite with their hero Bonds and record an entire album with him, with the two of them contributing songs and vocals. EMI Records signs Bonds and out comes his big comeback album Dedication, blessed by the E Street Band.

The record opens up with a joyous version of an old Cajun song, "Jole Blon," where Bonds duets with Springsteen, and E Streeter Danny Federici joins in on accordion. But the next song becomes Bonds' comeback hit, "This Little Girl," written especially for him by Springsteen, and man, it does not disappoint.

Coming right out of that River-era mold, it starts with a slow A minor strum across a Telecaster through a tube amp, like a curtain opener. Then right into that 60's party beat you can clap your hands to -- "Here she comes... Walking down the street." Mighty Max Weinberg builds up on his booming snare drum to the chorus, "This little girl is mine, wo-oh, this little girl is mine. This little girl, this little girl, this little girl is mine!" It's like the hands of time spun all the way back again, and Bonds has himself a moderately-sized FM radio hit.

Bonds, who already years touring, hits the road again with a new band, this time with the Bruce Blessing. He tours clubs everywhere, bringing back his original hits while playing his new album.

And that is history, my friends. Bonds followed up with another Springsteen/Miami Steve album called On The Line, which was good but never broke through like Dedication. A few years later, he was back on the nostalgia circuit, still as smooth and young looking as ever.

As an aside, there was a time when people where covering Springsteen songs left and right (remember the Pointer Sisters doing "Fire?")and he was giving them away or co-writing them with notables like Patti Smith ("Because The Night"). It's been many years since he's done that and boy, we could use some more of those Springsteen tossaways.

Below is a video of Bonds and his band making an early 80's pit stop on the wonderful cult New Jersey local TV access program, "The Uncle Floyd Show," which attracted many rock notables of the day like the Ramones. The songs were always lip-synched, but that was part of the corny fun of that program, which is also missed.

Steely Dan - "Bad Sneakers" (1975)

Every day that I went to college, putting a Steely Dan album on the phonograph was virtually a regimen. I ran into many people who seemed to be fixated on a few groups, owned all their albums, and listened to them every day. Steely Dan was my habit.

So obsessive was this habit that I would listen to a different full album each day in chronological order, as if I was taking required vitamins.

Steely Dan was the archetypal band where music geeks like me would pore over the album credits. Especially these guys, who hired only the best studio musicians to perform every single part. This is where I learned about people like drummer Jeff Porcaro, bassist Chuck Rainey, drummer Bernard Purdie, guitarist Larry Carlton, and the slide work of Rick Derringer.

"Bad Sneakers" was my favorite song from my favorite Steely Dan album. It was very difficult to choose a top Steely Dan album but somehow this was always it because it seemed to be the ideal bridge between the rock songs of the first few albums and the much jazzier stuff that was to come with things like Aja and Gaucho.

"Bad Sneakers" seemed to capture the spirit of being a more independent soul being away at college and coming home. By the time I hit junior year, I lobbied the college paper, The Spectrum, to have my own music column and they let me have a test drive. I called it "Bad Sneakers" for really no good reason except I loved the song. I even had a friend of mine design a simple boxed logo for the column, which I don't even think lasted more than a couple of months. Somewhere in my attic, I have copies of these columns stored away.

The song was a rambling scenario of hanging out in mid-town Manhattan with your ratty clothes and acting stupid with your friends. When you are a fancy free college dude, it's hard not to share the spirit. It's got a slight rumba beat in A major for the verses, the very distinct Michael McDonald background vocals mixed prominently beginning with the second verse, and the key shift to C major for the chorus, which was actually a pretty simple little C-Am-Dm7 -G7 affair, especially for these guys who normally used fancy chords.

Bad sneakers and a pina colada
My friend
Stompin on the avenue
By Radio City with a
Transistor and a large
Sum of money to spend

Steely Dan's own Walter Becker does the searing guitar solo before the final bridge and chorus conclude this mere three minute and thirty second masterpiece.

When Steely Dan reunited in 1993 after many, many years off, they cut some great live stuff in the studio with their new band and turned it into a DVD. Below is their version of "Bad Sneakers." The band was known for its pristine audio engineering, so this must be one of the best sounding YouTube clips out there.