A German-registered Spanish fishing vessel detained last week by the Naval Service near Rockall had been at the centre of an alleged confrontation off the Scottish coast last month.

The 29-metre Pesorsa Dos was detained by Irish navy patrol ship L William Butler Yeats some 250 miles off Malin Head, Co Donegal for alleged infringements of EU fishing regulations in Irish waters.

Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has highlighted the Irish detention of the Spanish vessel after the British authorities said they could not take any action over the incident off Scotland.

However, defence force sources have said the Irish detention was for a separate alleged infringement.

Video footage of the gill-netter, from the Spanish port of La Coruna, filmed on June 11, shows an interaction it had with a Scottish fishing vessel, Alison Kay, some 30 miles west of the Shetland Islands.

The British Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) was urged to investigate the incident, which Scottish skippers claimed to be the latest in a series of such confrontations over fishing grounds.

However, the MCA said it had no jurisdiction to investigate it as it was outside the 12-mile jurisdictional limit in which it could take action against foreign-flagged vessels.

It said its maritime investigations team has written to the German maritime administration to raise its concerns, as it was the responsibility of the flag state.

The German federal police department for maritime security has been reported as stating there is no suspicion of an offence under German law.

It is understood the vessel was gillnetting near Rockall and had ten tonnes of monkfish on board when it was boarded and detained by the L William Butler Yeats.

The vessel was escorted to Killybegs, Co Donegal and handed over to the Garda and the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA).

Mr Carmichael said the fact that Irish authorities were able to detain the Pesorsa Dos entirely undermines the argument of the UK and German authorities that there was nothing to be done about what he alleged to be its "dangerous activities".

It is yet another reminder that local fishermen should not have to wait until next year for us to have proper enforcement of basic norms of safety at sea. We can and should be getting this sorted now, he said.

He told the MCA in a letter that the actions of Spanish fishermen had caused a great deal of anger and frustration for trawlermen in my constituency and across the north of Scotland in recent years, due to both aggressive acts such as those outlined, and the wider use of gill-nets which can cover large areas and thus prevent other fishermen from working in those areas.

The SFPA said that a 24-hour detention order for the vessel was granted on July 21st at Carrick-on-Shannon district court in Co Leitrim. It said it could not comment further as the case was before the courts.

It was the Naval Services seventh detention at sea this year.

Link:

Vessel detained near Rockall was allegedly involved in another confrontation off Scotland - Irish Examiner

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, the commemorative platinum-record plaque awarded for "Jock Jams, Volume 1" still hangs inside the New Jersey recording studio of KayGee from Naughty By Nature. It doesn't occupy the same prestigious wall space as the group's other hit records or even the large custom portrait of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, but after all this time, Jock Jams remains nearly impossible to ignore -- no matter how hard we all might try. "Not to toot my own horn," says KayGee, while locating Naughty's "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11) on the original compilation of stadium anthems. "But I don't think I've ever been at a sporting event and not heard our Jock Jams song."

He's not the only one. Released on July 25, 1995, the collection opened with Michael Buffer's now ubiquitous "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" boxing howl and was overstuffed with an infectious, borderline-obnoxious mix of arena earworms such as "Get Ready for This," "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and "YMCA." And while many sports and music fans are familiar with the carrot-colored CD case covered in airborne cheerleaders, or the seminal collection of stadium anthems once described as an "orgy of chantable hooks" and "adrenaline-fueled schmaltz," few know the actual creation story behind the project, the vision of the two women executives who made it all possible, or the stories behind the songs that have been echoing inside arenas and our collective sports brains for decades.

And so to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Jock Jams release, ESPN tracked down the key executives and artists and asked them to retell inspirations behind the greatest -- and strangest -- compilation of sports anthems in music history.

After gigs as a model and go-go dancer in her hometown of Chicago, Monica Lynch moved to New York, where she answered a want ad in The Village Voice in 1981 to become the first employee of the fledgling Tommy Boy record label. Four years later, after developing De La Soul, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah and others, earning her the title "The High Priestess of Hip-hop," in 1985 Lynch became president of Tommy Boy, which earned her access to the company's luxury box at Madison Square Garden. And it was in that luxury box, watching -- and listening to -- the Knicks and Rangers, that the idea for Jock Jams was born.

Inspired by childhood nostalgia for her hometown Chicago Blackhawks, and encouraged by Ray Castoldi, MSG's director of music and hybrid organist/DJ, Lynch set out to create the ultimate compilation of sports anthems -- a collection that would expand the genre beyond old-timey organ music and yacht rock. "It was a very simple idea, but sometimes those are the best," Lynch says. She already had the anthem part figured out. What Lynch and Tommy Boy needed was a business partner that could help with the sports side.

Monica Lynch, former president of Tommy Boy Records: Culturally, [ESPN and Tommy Boy were] very different operations. An independent record company in the mid-'90s, we were doing our own thing, running fast and loose, and didn't have to answer to anyone. Sharyn was just kind of bemused by us.

Sharyn Taymor, former director of ESPN Enterprises: In the 1990s, the ESPN brand was starting to be everywhere. ESPN2 had just started and there was talk of ESPN News and Classic, and we wanted to start licensing the ESPN brand to products and services. It was like the wild, wild west. We worked on dot-com, The Magazine, video games, fantasy sports, merchandise and music. We didn't even have to seek out that many opportunities; you just had to sit back and see what people brought to us. I remember having a fantasy football meeting with the NFL. I had no idea what I was talking about. It hadn't existed until then. To give you an idea of what it was like, the products and services we worked on are now entire divisions within the company.

And ESPN was kind of straight-laced and Tommy Boy Records was not. We weren't into being provocative at all, and Tommy Boy was totally the opposite. [But] it was an area that made sense for us because we hadn't done anything in that genre and music and sports are so closely tied together.

Lynch: My uncle was in charge of the ticket office at Chicago Stadium, so as a kid I got to go to a lot of Blackhawk games and sit in the front row right behind the goalie. I had the biggest crush on Keith Magnuson because he was the bad boy of that team and he was always spitting his teeth out on the ice, which I just thought was the sexiest thing ever. My uncle arranged for Bobby Hull to introduce us after a game. And when Bobby said, 'She's your biggest fan, Keith, and she wants to give you a great big kiss,' I was so mortified I turned around and punched Hull right in the stomach. I guess that's where this all started. I just loved hockey, the sights, the sounds, the energy; it was so violent and visceral.

KayGee, Naughty by Nature, "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11): A lot of musicians call themselves sports guys, and a lot of sports guys call themselves musicians. So there's a community between us, a natural connection that's embedded in all of us. When we first came out, one of our favorite teams was the Fab Five. We [KayGee and fellow group members Treach and Vin Rock] all started wearing baggy shorts on stage, and when we played in Michigan, they came to our show and I became lifelong friends with those guys.

Freedom Williams, singer, C+C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (Track 10): Sports is nothing but a dance. It's rhythm, right? Baseball is a slow dance. Football is a violent dance. Basketball is a quick dance. When you hit a ground ball to the shortstop and the shortstop hits the second baseman and the second baseman throws it to first, that's poetry, that's a dance they're doing.

Taymor: The first [sport-compilation project Tommy Boy did] was "Jock Rock," and it was all about rock and established sports anthems, you know, Queen, "We Will Rock You," that kind of stuff. It came out in 1994 and charted No. 79 on Billboard, and we knew we had something terrific. There was a record label called K-Tel, and they did compilations for many years, and we just kind of took their place. Tommy Boy was more of a hip-hop, rap and dance label, though, and they wanted to go more in that direction. That's where Jock Jams came from. We wanted to be the influencers of this kind of sports music instead of being influenced by it.

Castoldi: Hip-hop as a pop music form, that idea was still pretty new. My first bosses at MSG told me "Ray, we're not running a nightclub up there. These hip-hop records -- are they really the kind of music our audience is gonna groove to?" And the answer was: Of course! Absolutely! "Jock Rock" was almost entirely oldies. With Jock Jams, it was all about: Let's talk about the new stuff.

Did you know?On top of his MSG organist gig, Ray Castoldi also worked as a DJ under the name Frequency X alongside Joe Turri and Nicolai Vorkapich. He performed at the Limelight nightclubs and was signed by Radikal Records, which distributed the first import of 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This" (Track 2).

With the project approved, it was now up to Taymor and Patrick Edmonds, from Tommy Boy -- with an assist from Castoldi -- to curate the collection.

Taymor: Castoldi had a lot of influence on that list because he knew what songs were already being played at sporting events. Patrick would then give me a CD with 30 to 40 tracks on it and then we'd try to figure out what to put on the album. That was the really fun part. I'd listen to them in the office, at home, in the car, and go back to him and say, "OK, how about this group?" Or "I don't like this one." There was a lot of back and forth -- a lot.

Castoldi: One of the only debates we had was: Do we put KC and the Sunshine Band "Get Down Tonight" or the Village People's "YMCA" on Volume 1? I mean, they're both classics. But "YMCA" had the dance, so that's gonna win. KC ended up on Volume 2. Rock tracks like "Welcome to the Jungle" were hard to get, those bands just wouldn't do the licensing. I remember later on we wanted "Song 2" by Blur and they were like "Uh, no, we don't want to be on a sports-oriented record." More power to them. And now, it's weird, it's almost hard to hear that song anywhere else but in an arena.

Taymor: Monica and I had to work at always finding the right balance, and there was a lot of tugging and pulling from each side, whether it was a song, or a lyric, or the artwork or the commercials. That was always the issue: They wanted to go in that direction, and I was very, very paranoid and protective of the brand. There were just a bunch of things we had to say no to. I don't think a project like this would happen now. Now, things are just out there and blatant. Back then, it was all innuendo and double entendres, it could mean this or it could mean that.

Jay "Ski" McGowan, Quad City DJ's member and 69 Boyz producer: We just decided, Hey, if anyone from ESPN asks about 69 Boyz, just say the guys were all born in 1969 and "Tootsee Roll" (Track 5) is a candy and a fun dance and just leave it at that. A little bit more, we would have been in trouble with ESPN, but we stayed right there on that line. ... Yes [laughing], I do expect you to believe that! That's our story, and we're sticking to it. [Editor's note: McGowan and the 69 Boyz were not all born in 1969.]

Lynch: I love the 69 Boyz, that's the perfect answer. I guess a song like K7's "Come Baby Come" (Track 7) had a naughty tone to it. I suppose it's the double entendres that matter. But it was already a popular record, so it was the kind of thing, in a meeting at ESPN, you could say, "But I sing that song to my 2-year-old." And if the feeling was that "it's mom-friendly," it would be OK.

1 Related

Taymor: Tommy Boy once brought us a Coolio song, and I kind of read too much into it and pushed back. It was "one-two-three-four, get your woman on the floor..." I told them what I thought he was saying, and they all said, "That's not what it means!" So we put that song on Jock Jams 2.

Lynch: The throughline in the selection of the songs was these were all hits or were all about to be hits. We looked for high-energy records that had crossed over and were either being played or just starting to get played in sports arenas. Some of these records, like "YMCA," were already chestnuts in the stadiums, and with some of our artists, like K7, we wanted to use Jock Jams to usher a song like "Come Baby Come" into anthem status.

Did you know?When contacted by ESPN, a rep for the Village People's original lead singer Victor Willis, 69, responded: "What is Jock Jams?"

Castoldi: The lineup is all killer and no filler, like they used to say on the radio. Because it was the first one, there was so much low-hanging fruit that you could just pick the best of the best, the songs that we'd all consider late-game go-to songs, big anthemic songs that you want to play at key moments of a game. And these are all there on Jock Jams 1. You gotta remember, there was no iTunes, no YouTube, no internet, no Shazam, so part of the reason why this was so successful is Jock Jams put all of this stuff in one place for you. Otherwise, at the time, you would have had to go out and buy, like, 20 CDs to collect all these songs.

As the lineup began to take shape, Taymor still found herself facing a challenge.

Taymor: The challenge was how do we put an ESPN spin on it? How do we brand it with ESPN? That's when we came up with the idea of what we called interstitials, little sports-related sound bites you'd hear between songs.

Castoldi: The goal from the beginning was to make it an immersive sports experience, like you were actually at the game. I recorded my little "The Old Ballgame" organ riff (Track 19) at the Garden or maybe just in my apartment. We recorded cheerleaders, hot dog vendors at Yankee Stadium, marching bands, as well as personalities like Michael Buffer. I mean, how many people got married that year with Michael Buffer and 2 Unlimited kicking off their reception?

Lynch: That was not an inexpensive undertaking to get Michael Buffer and "Let's get ready to rumble" on the first Jock Jams. I don't remember what the number was, but I remember a gulp when I saw the number. He didn't come cheap. We decided to do it, and in hindsight I'm really glad that we did. He was "the" guy, the voice of sports, the voice of god. Having that as the opening was absolutely perfect. When you hear "Let's get ready to rumblllllle" within the first few seconds, everybody knew what this was.

Did you know?Buffer tried out "Man your battle stations!" and "Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts!" before settling on LGRTR, which was inspired by Muhammad Ali. Buffer trademarked the phrase in 1992, and it was estimated to be worth $400 million as of 2009.

The backstory of Jock Jams doesn't end, though, in New York City and Bristol, Connecticut -- where ESPN is located. The stories behind the songs are as compelling as the tunes themselves -- and reveal much about the music industry, and the culture, 25 years ago.

Rob Base, vocals, songwriter, "It Takes Two" (Track 8 | LISTEN):

We had to be in the studio that same night [in early 1988], so me and E-Z Rock went over to a friend's house, and we were just going through a bunch of different albums and he found a beat he liked and I found this Lyn Collins record I liked. That's where the "woo, yeah" comes from. We just blended them together, and that's how we came up with the song. It was quick. In that era of hip-hop, we were all digging through crates of old records trying to find beats and samples no one had used before, so that was the key -- if you found something that was hot, that no one had used, you pretty much had something, for sure. It worked out really well for us waiting to the last second. We had no idea what we were going to do in the studio that night, but the music just came together. I had the rap part already written, and it just all fit perfectly.

I was met with heavy resistance at the time about all the "woo, yeah"s, and I had to really fight for that. At the time Public Enemy had a record that had a siren that rode all the way through. That made that record stand out so much, and I was thinking to myself, If I leave the "woo, yeah" in the whole record, that's gonna make this record stand out too. They wanted to take it out at the beginning of the verses and bring it back in at the end. I put my foot down with management: It gotta stay. And I won.

Did you know?Rodney Bryce, aka DJ E-Z Rock, who became friends with Base in the fourth grade in Harlem, died in 2014 from complications of diabetes. ... Rolling Stone christened the repeating "woo, yeah" the "single greatest use of a looped drum break in rap history -- the hip-hop equivalent of the guitar solo in 'Stairway to Heaven.'" (Track 8).

Ian Dench, songwriter, guitarist, "Unbelievable" by EMF, (Track 15 | LISTEN):

When the record deal with my first band [Curse] came to nothing, there I was back in Gloucester, England, living in a little bedsit. My mum had a nice piano, and so I used to ride my bike over there and write songs. She was distraught. If my own son gets into Oxford and then gives it all up to play in a rock 'n' roll band, I would burst into tears as well. Anyway, I was riding my bike through the park, thinking about all these songs I was working on about my ex-girlfriend who dumped me. I was always looking for words and ways to say what I was feeling, and that's why "unbelievable" was such a great word because it had that double meaning to it where you're amazing but perhaps there's something underhand to you as well. I was on the bike trying to think of a way to say it, and that's when it just popped into my head -- "The things, you say; Your purple prose just gives you away; The things, you say" -- followed by that phrase and that stop: "bawm, badada-da-dat-dadadaa ... You're unbelievable." My place was not too far, five minutes away, so I just kept riding and humming it in my head, round and round, got back to my bedsit, pulled out my guitar and cassette, and there it was.

I do have to give a shoutout to Andrew Dice Clay [too] because that "Ohhh" is a wonderful sample and it's quite a funny story. Def Jam released his record -- It was really terribly misogynistic, wasn't it? -- and before our record came out, we kept trying to get ahold of Rick Rubin to clear the sample. But he never got back to us. Well, we were in L.A. for meetings before the release of the record, and we went into The Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset, which was quite the big heavy-metal hangout at the time, and there was [Def Jam co-founder] Rick Rubin. So I just went up to him and said, "Sorry to interrupt, big fan; we just made a record, and we're trying to clear this sample." And he said, "No problem, fax it to me in the morning." Sure enough, we faxed it to him, and he cleared it. I mean, talk about the stars aligning on a record.

Did you know?In 2009 Dench earned two Grammy nominations for collaborations with Beyonce ("Once in a Lifetime" and "I Am... Sasha Fierce."). ... A few years ago, he got a message from a student in Wales who said his teacher was claiming she was the inspiration for "Unbelievable." Dench did some checking and wrote back to the student "Yes, yes, that's absolutely true." (Track 15).

McGowan, Quad City DJ's, producer on "Tootsee Roll" (Track 5 | LISTEN):

We had just come off the road, back in Jacksonville, and I was with my son, who was 5, and we were in a Cracker Barrel -- or, in the store next to the restaurant walking around. I mean, we've all been in a Cracker Barrel with our kids, and they aren't as super excited about the meal as they are about running through that store. Well, I come across this thing, this piggy bank that was a long roll, painted like a Tootsie Roll and I thought, "This is cool, I'll get this for my son and have him start saving some coins." As I'm walking through Cracker Barrel, my son in one hand, the Tootsie Roll bank in the other, it just hit me: This would make a perfect concept for a record, a dance that's a play on the candy.

We always wanted to create the party and the club feel on record, so that's why we'd add those whistles and all that background crowd noise; we wanted them to be a signature. We came from the skate-rink era and they had whistles, and we'd grab our friends and say, "Hey, we're doing crowd vocals" and put everybody in the vocal booth, pitch down an octave or two, and mix it together and add effects, and before you knew it, it sounds like a party in there. And that's why our records worked so well on Jock Jams and in stadiums because it almost felt like, with all the crowd noise already on our records, all people in the stands had to do was just join in.

Did you know?Quad City DJ's was nominated for a Grammy for "Space Jam" off the 1996 "Space Jam" movie soundtrack, and McGowan now works as "Jay the EnterTrainer," speaking on leadership and innovation. ... The original Tootsie Roll bank is still at his son's grandmother's house.

Martha Wash, singer, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)," (Track 10 | LISTEN):

I was in a studio in New York, and one of the producers, who had worked with Mariah Carey, was on the phone explaining what he wanted me to sing, and I said to him, "That key is really high for me." I remember on The Weather Girls' "Big Girls Don't Cry" album there was a song with a really high obbligato part at the beginning, and so we put the microphone on the floor and I bent over to sing on top of the microphone. We all laughed about it, how no one would have believed it, but that's how I got that note out of me. With "Everybody Dance Now," to get the power of those three words, I had to really, really almost scream it out. So I was in the booth reaching my hands up to the ceiling to try and see about getting those notes out correctly and in the right key without it sounding crazy.

People love that screaming part, OK? Yeah, it's hard to sing live. Can you do the same thing you were doing 30 years ago? OK then.

Did you know?In 2017 a Canadian man singing "Gonna Make You Sweat" in his car was issued a $118 ticket by police for "screaming in a public place."

Wash, singer, "Strike It Up," (Track 4 | LISTEN):

Believe it or not, that was never one of my favorite songs. What makes it so interesting is the music on that song. I won't say it's necessarily my vocals; it's more so the music for that particular song. When you put that together with an athletic situation and a game and you hear that bass line come in and it goes into that baump baump baump ba ba, the audience gets into that because it's a sports chant.

Did you know?Although Wash's thunderous, distinctive voice was easily recognizable from her No. 1 dance hit "It's Raining Men" with The Weather Girls and a dozen other No. 1 dance songs, she was not properly credited for her vocals in the original versions of "Gonna Make You Sweat" and "Strike It Up." In the age of Milli Vanilli, C+C Music Factory and Black Box attempted to cast slimmer, younger women to lip sync Wash's vocals.Says Wash: "I had just checked into a hotel, had the TV on, channel surfing, and I landed on this station that was playing the video for 'Gonna Make You Sweat,' and I'm seeing this thin, thin woman lip-syncing to my vocals, and I'm like, 'What is going on?' I was not happy about that." The ensuing legal battle inspired federal legislation mandating proper vocal credit on all published music. "Lots of people know the voice, know the songs, they dance to those songs and sing every word to those songs, but they don't know my name," she adds. "It's not fun. They know Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Lizzo. My goodness I've been doing this for 40 years and I've had a hit in every decade since the '80s, and John Q. Public still doesn't know my name."

Jean-Paul De Coster, producer, songwriter, "Get Ready for This" (Track 2 | LISTEN) and "Twilight Zone" (Track 18 | LISTEN):

In 1983 I was still in school, teaching mechanics and electricity, and I was wanting to quit to follow my passion. I knew Patrick [De Meyer] from Technotronic (Track 17: "Pump Up the Jam") for ages because I was coming into his record store in Antwerp [in Belgium] and asking him, "Can you explain to me how a record store works?" And he says. "How do you know?" And I said "How do I know what?" He was selling the record store because he was so busy with his own music and record company, and so I said, "OK, I'll jump in and have a coffee." And I bought his shop.

In 1987 we had the first Belgium music wave, which was inspired by New Wave, and they called it New Beat and they played records and slowed them down from 45 rpm to 33 rpm, with bpm 100 to 105, very dark and mellow and moody, like a fashion scene. When New Beat was over, I saw in my record shop and in the clubs when I was DJing that people were going crazy on this new Belgium House Sounds that had evolved from New Beat. I said to [Belgium DJ] Phil Wilde -- he is the computer wizard and studio guy -- "Something's happening with this sound, we need to make a record." And he said, "Fine, come in."

So on a Wednesday, I took a day off from my record shop. He would play riffs, and I would say, "No, no, play it more like this." We wanted more energetic, more pumping, and so we were twisting sounds together, layered and mixed. It was very important that we made sounds that were different from the rest. An early review called it an energetic, powerful, crispy sound.

KayGee, Naughty By Nature, "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11 | LISTEN):

We were on tour and Tommy Boy was putting pressure on us to hurry up and finish our second album. After the success of "O.P.P.," it was like, you guys need to keep it going. I had made a bunch of beats. But on our tour bus, Treach was just blasting that one beat over and over. It's the Isley Brothers, it's just playing on 45. Their song is slow, and I just sped it up real fast and that gave it a different sound and a new feel. That's the process of a producer: We chop stuff up, speed it up, slow it down, filter it, do a lot of things to it, because when you mess around with it, it turns into something different.

So we're on the tour bus, with Treach writing, and the whole concept of the chorus, they did that in parties back in New York when a good record would come on, they'd say "Heeey, hooo," like to say, "That's my joint." Treach remembered that, and he was like, "It would be dope to use that heeey, hooo they do in the clubs, but I'm gonna call it Hip Hop Hooray-Hooo and I'm gonna talk about the love of hip-hop and how we advanced as hip-hop artists."

We wrote the whole thing on the tour bus and we recorded it, and Tommy Boy didn't even know about that song. We performed it at KMEL [Bay Area] Summer Jam. It was packed; there must have been 25,000 people out there, and the very first time it was introduced, Treach and Vin put their hands up in the air and the whole crowd, I mean everybody, started waving side to side with the beat. We started in talent shows, getting the crowd involved to win those talent shows. It was so spontaneous the way the crowd followed along. So we knew not only did we have a song that connects we have a visual that connects with our audience too. The program director called Tommy Boy and said "Naughty performed a song last night, and if I don't have a copy of it on my desk Monday morning, I'm playing the live version." So Monica was calling me, yelling at me, "What song are they talking about?!"

Did you know?As a mental exercise while recovering from COVID-19, actress Rita Wilson posted an Instagram video of her near-perfect rendition of "Hip Hop Hooray," which she memorized while preparing for a 2019 movie role. After the video got 2 million views, Wilson teamed up with KayGee and Naughty for a remix to benefit MusiCares Covid-19 Relief Fund. "It's incredible," KayGee says. "She did better than I would have done trying to sing Treach's lyrics like that."

"Jock Jams, Volume 1" went platinum in just over a year and peaked at No. 30 on the charts. By expanding the definition of stadium anthems to include Eurodance, Latin music, pop, hip-hop and rap, Lynch and Taymor had ensured that Jock Jams would have an impact at the cash register and across the culture. (Despite all of Taymor's precautions, Jock Jams 1 was not completely controversy-free. The 20th and final track on the original compilation, "Rock and Roll Part 2," is by Gary Glitter, who, in 2015, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing three young girls.)

"Jock Jams, Volume 2" was released in 1996, and thanks to the "Macarena" by Los Del Rio, it managed to crack the top 10 -- an extraordinary feat for a compilation album. But the series truly hit its Jock Jam peak with Volume 3, which included an "It's Awesome, Baby!" intro by Dick Vitale, "official" Jock Jams Cheerleader chants, a rendition of "The Chicken Dance" by Castoldi and a brain-searing sound salad called the "Jock Jam Mega Mix," featured in a classic series of infamous commercials that fused a public-access cable milieu with the low-key approach of a carpet liquidator.

The final Jock Jams was released in 2001, just as Napster, the online music-sharing (and piracy) service hit its peak. All told, the series sold more than 4 million copies and -- for better or worse -- helped pave the way for modern-day bands such as Fall Out Boy to integrate their songs into sports culture. "There is nothing like your song being played in a stadium; you get this whole different kind of shiver," FOB's Pete Wentz told ESPN in 2014. "Integrating your music into the texture of a larger experience, like a sporting event, is important. 'Empire State of Mind' and Jay-Z and the Yankees are a thing. Forever. The music and the experience become interwoven. That's powerful."

Castoldi: I ran into Naughty a few years ago at the Garden, and I was like, "You guys remember Jock Jams?" And they were all like, "Uh, yeah, we made some money off that one." Today recording artists are looking for any avenue, any outlet, to get their music out into the world and get it heard. And I think sports was on the leading edge of that, as an alternative outlet for artists to break new music and promote their material.

Lynch: Jock Jams had this enormous audience of women. It started getting used as a soundtrack for exercising and aerobics and cheerleading dance routines. At the time, we had no idea it was going to take on this whole other audience. The high school girls and the female component of the audience, we did not anticipate that part of the audience was going to explode that way.

Taymor: I would go to the Tower Records [near] Union Square -- this was not a not once-or-twice thing, I did it all the time -- and I would take all the Jock Jams and move them to the front of the stack so they would be more visible. We used to get Billboard magazine delivered to the office, and the first thing I'd do was go to the page with all the listings and see where we were that week. I used to rip out the page and tape it to the door of my office, and it was so much fun watching them climb the charts each week.

De Coster: Jock Jams introduced a lot of different music cultures to a big audience. In those days, in the 1990s, it was all rock music, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, and we were struggling and fighting to have our records on the radio. So compilations like Jock Jams were very important to us because it introduced us to an audience we never could reach.

Freedom Williams: The first time I ever realized the song was gonna be big, I was walking down the block and everyone was jamming to it on the JumboTron on 42nd [Times Square]. They were playing the song -- "Jump to the rhythm, jump-jump" -- while NBA players were dunking and jumping to it. That's when I knew it was gonna be a big record.

KayGee: Before the COVID situation, I had to drive and pick up my daughter at Purdue, and on that ride we took her car, so she's the DJ, she's controlling everything, and I'm hearing a few of my records come on. That's pretty cool, and she's like, "Come on, Dad, you know you want to sing along."

McGowan: Jock Jams gave us more life. We played on the field in Philadelphia, at the top of the fifth inning in Game 3 of the World Series. That was mind-blowing. We played "Space Jams" as the intro for Zach LaVine when he won the NBA Slam Dunk contest. I just read in a book about Tiger Woods that after he won his first Masters at 21, he rode off down Magnolia Lane with the SUV windows down blasting "C'mon N Ride It (The Trainz)."

Base: I played some baseball growing up, a little third base, shortstop, outfield, and I always wanted to be a baseball player, but that didn't happen. I'm a big Yankees fan. I remember sitting at home watching my Yankees and they got a double play and they started playing "It Takes Two," and I jumped out of my seat and I started running around trying to call everyone I could, but they were all calling me at the same time going, "Yo, the Yankees just played your song!" I thought it would be a big record in the tri-state area. Once sports started playing this song, I was like, "That's it, this is a mega-song. Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Rob Base?" Yeah, yeah, I like that.

Did you know?The NFL used "It Takes Two" in its 100-year celebration commercial during Super Bowl LIII, where a pickup football game breaks out in the middle of an anniversary banquet. And as for Base's commonly misheard "can't stand sex"? In the song, what he actually says he can't stand is "sess." "Don't smoke buddha, can't stand sess." It's a reference to sinsemilla, a strain of marijuana. "A lot of people have been singing that wrong for the last 30 years," Base says. Although it's frowned upon by die-hard fans in New York, Base roots for both the Giants and the Jets. "People get on me for that, but I've been like that forever," he says. In his defense, these days, for NFL fans in New York who want to watch a normal amount of success, it takes two (franchises). "It takes two? Oh, right, I'm gonna use that, thanks," Base says.

De Coster: [During the] Winter Olympics in Russia, they used one of our songs in the closing ceremonies. That was goose bumps. DJ Steve Aoki remixed it at Tomorrowland, and the whole festival went bananas. My daughter is 24, and she had her birthday party in the garden and I told her I would DJ for her. But I am an old guy, and in the beginning it felt very uncomfortable. Then I started playing some '90s music and they all knew all those records. So now when my daughter has a party, her friends want to know: Is your dad playing? It's all hip again. Very strange.

Lynch: At Tommy Boy, I always called Jock Jams "the love that dare not speak its name." It was funny because for a period of time, we were a label that had distinguished itself in hip-hop, and Jock Jams was like this big mainstream pop project, this juggernaut that was a huge record that didn't really have street cred. For years after, you'd say Jock Jams and people would laugh and say, "Oh, my mom loved Jock Jams." And then, funny enough, just a few years ago, for some reason, people were like, "Oh, Jock Jams was so cool." I think it was just one of those things that was so uncool it became hip.

Taymor: The Jock Jams franchise eventually went away because record labels got wise to it and said, "Why don't we take our own music and put out our own albums?" And those were the compilations called "Now That's What I Call Music!" But the first Jock Jams, you go to a game now and 75 to 80 percent of the songs you hear are from that era still. And those aren't going away. I still go to Madison Square Garden and brag, absolutely.

KayGee: We didn't understand the significance of being a part of Jock Jams at first, but as time went on, we got it. Our ultimate goal, we wanted to be able to rock sports arenas and rock stadiums, and that's what Jock Jams represented.

McGowan: You catch me riding in my truck, you'll catch me listening to those Jock Jam records. I could ride and listen to Jock Jams to this day, start to finish, from Track 1 to the end, because I genuinely still love that vibe. And I think a lot of people still do.

Dench: We've all grown up together, I suppose, haven't we? I've never been super sporty, so it has been wonderful to contribute to sports in some way, without ever having to actually break a sweat.

Go here to see the original:

From 'Hip Hop Hooray' to 'YMCA,' the untold stories of Jock Jams, 25 years later - ESPN

This isnt a shill job or a homer reporter trying to argue a case that has no legs to stand on. If anything, the foundation of this debate is ironclad, wrapped in titanium and perfectly level.

Connor Hellebuyck deserved to be a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy this season as the leagues best player and theres oodles of research to back up this claim.

From his .922 save percentage this season and his league-leading six shutouts to some of the underlying numbers, which only cement his case further. A whopping 14.33 goals-saved above average, the fact he faced more shots (1,458) than anyone by a country mile 5-on-5, the most high-danger shots against (412) by the same measurement and the most rebound attempts against (186), again, by a long shot.

The definition of the Hart, too, only further supports Hellebuycks case. Awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team, keen observers would be hard-pressed to slot him anywhere but in the top three, if not the No. 1 spot itself.

Simply put, Hellebuyck dragged the Jets, at times, kicking and screaming out of the jaws of defeat and into the winners circle.

If the Michigan man is to win the award, it wont be this year. Edmontons Leon Drasaitl, Colorados Nathan MacKinnon and New Yorks Artemi Panarin are the final three in the running. And they are all deserving in their own right.

But Hellebuycks exclusion feels like a snub, even if the man himself doesnt see it that way.

No, not necessarily, Hellebuyck said Wednesday when asked if he felt brushed off. Those are three great players so they all deserve it themselves so for me to say I deserve more than them would just be very selfish.

Its a classy way to address the matter, and Hellebuyck is likely heading home with the Vezina Trophy this season after being named a finalist for the leagues top goaltending award for the second time in three years.

The exclusion of Hellebuyck still seems off, much in the same way that John Gibsons exclusion from the Vezina race during the 2018-19 season was seen as a slight as well.

There are several similarities between Anaheims starter and Winnipegs in terms of the analytics. In the end, Gibson got screwed because the Ducks were a tire fire and were so far from the playoffs that theyd have to enlist the Hubble Telescope just to see the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference in that particular season. That wasnt on Gibson though, who had stellar statistics that were simply overlooked by many.

Goalies have it tough when it comes to the Hart, and if your name isnt Dominik Hasek, its not an easy code to crack.

Its very difficult for you to put up the kind of numbers you need to and not play behind a really good team, said Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who naturally felt his No. 1 should have been a finalist. So the disqualifier is hes got great numbers but look at the team he plays behind. Youre going to need a guy, for a goalie, who plays on the perception of a weak team but still puts up those numbers that are off the charts, which is hard for him to do. I think for goalies, sometimes the goalies, their performance on great teams actually gets overlooked. I remember Dominik Hasek when he was in Buffalo and he got recognition for being a great goaltender, and probably wasnt fully appreciated for how good he was until after he left Buffalo. And then normal goaltending, and it wasnt even poor goaltending that came in, it was normal goaltending that came in.

Theres some really great goaltending performances each year that we probably dont validate as much because they have powerful teams in front which, again, goes into that goalie having that great year.

Hellebuyck did play behind a poor team for a good portion of the season. Winnipegs defensive game was in shambles for quite some time. You only have to look at that night in San Jose where was here, there and everywhere making 51 saves in a game the Jets won 3-2 but had no business winning.

He was the best player on the ice by far and I think we got outshot bigtime and he allowed us to win that hockey game, and there were plenty of games like that throughout the course of year, said Jets defenceman and alternate captain Josh Morrissey.

Like Maurice, naturally, Morrissey also felt his goalie should have been in the final three.

I dont think we would have been where we were at without him, thats for sure. Hes been our rock all year, hes been so solid for us. I think he should have, but again theres so many good players and when its not a cut-and-dried statistic-based award, thats the conversation were going to have. But Im pretty sure in most guys minds in our room, hed be in those three players.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice feels winning the Hart Memorial Trophy is less about one great season and more about multiple elite years strung together.

I think all of these Hart players, they put a number of years together before you can have a good year, but you need put together two or three of those kinds of years together before you start to get your name out there, Maurice said.

Perhaps tipping his cap to who he would choose out of the final three, Maurice pointed to Central Division foe Nathan MacKinnon as a prime example. And he feels Connor Hellebuyck is following that trend.

Connor is moving into the time where his name will start coming up in that, Maurice said. If its not this year, its next year or the year after. This playoff push will have a lot to say in that. Always felt that Hart Trophy wasnt necessarily for the guy who had the aberration great year. Its a great player that then had a great year. You need to have a little bit of that foundation of a number of elite years under your belt before you get where a great year isnt just an aberration everybody just understands thats how good a player you are.

sbilleck@postmedia.com

Twitter: @scottbilleck

See the article here:

BILLECK: Hellebuyck snubbed when it comes to Hart, even if he doesn't think so - Winnipeg Sun

With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing across the state, it's more imperative than ever that you wear a mask and keep your distance at the in-person events listed below (like a Mariners Kick-Off Viewing at Elysian Fields and Free RPG Day at Arcane Comics). With that in mind, there are also lots of great events happening that don't require leaving your house, from a Naked Giants concert to the GreenStage Virtual Play Reading Series, and from the National Nordic Museum's cultural festival Nordic Sl to the livestreamed unveiling of a Black Lives Matter mural in West Seattle. Read on for all of our top picks for the weekend, or check out our guides to movies to stream this weekend. For event more options, check out our complete streaming events and protests & resistance calendars, as well as our guides to the best movies to stream at home this weekend and anti-racism resources and events.

All Blues presents: Duffy Bishop & Chris CarlsonBlues authority Bo Diddley had this short but sweet review of Duffy Bishop: "She's dangerous!" Join her and fellow musician Chris Carlson for a livestreamed concert hosted byJohn Kessler of KNKX's All Blues.

Back in Black 40th AnniversaryIt's hard to believe the classic AC/DC album is 40 years old in 2020, but that's only because the sound on that LP is literally timeless, and Consequence of Sound hosts this livestream on YouTube celebrating the record that shook rock all night long.

Ethan TuckerOlympia born and bred singer-songwriter Ethan Tucker layers his acoustic rootsy Americana sound with electric guitar work and bluesy vocals for a contemporary spin on a classic genre. Join him for a virtual Nectar show benefitting Northwest Harvest.

Friday Night Feminism with Hollis Wong-WearJoin NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and local singer Hollis Wong-Wear for this edition of their virtualFriday Night Feminism series on Zoom.

Icicle Creek Center for the Arts' Virtual Chamber Music FestivalInstead of gathering at Canyon Wren,Icicle Creek Center for the Arts' annualChamber Music Festival will be livestreamed from an otherwise empty Snowy Owl Theater. Tune in tonight for Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn's Fantasy for Cello and Piano in G minor and Beethoven's Piano Trio in B-flat Major, op. 97.

Missing U - A Livestream Benefit - Feat. Naked Giants!Jasmyne Keimig has written, "Naked Giants encapsulate a lot about your early 20sthat goopy, postadolescent period where the tension between taking things seriously, but not too seriously, is at an all-time high. The trio balances these extremes with great ease." Catch them live on the internet tonight at this virtual concert hosted by The Stranger and Neumos.

Rave the VoteWith DJ sets, educational segments, and calls to action broadcasted live on Twitch in four installments, this virtual voter registration drive and dance-music festival features electronic music heavies like A-Track, Analog Soul, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Yaeji, and many others.

Seattle Chamber Music Society's Virtual Summer FestivalTheSeattle Chamber Music Society has moved this year's summer concert series online, bringing 12 evening-length performances celebrating works by Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, and other well-known composers throughout the month of July.Tonight, enjoy works by Franz Haydn, Franz Schubert, Sergei Prokofiev, and other heavy hitters.

Tales from The Transgender Street Release PartyThis virtual Minecraft concert will feature sets from Seattle's own maestro ofcelebrity parodies, Left at London, as well as Ash Paris Carter, Intersekt, and others. Proceeds will benefit Black Lives Matter protestors via the Bail Project.

Black Collective Voice Presents: Page EngageJoin members fromSeattle Black Collective Voicefor areading and discussion ofJames Baldwin's The Fire Next Time.

Lindsay Ellis: Axiom's EndThe YouTube superstar best known for her insightful and hilarious multi-part feminist deconstruction of Michael Bay'sTransformersseries is also a novelist, and her debut work,Axiom's End, is an alternate-history adventure about first contact. Lindsay will be joined in conversation with author/filker Seanan McGuire.

Seattle Mariners Viewing Party at OlmsteadParties of five or fewer can watch the Mariners take on the Astros on Opening Day over Southern-inspired cocktails. Olmstead (Capitol Hill)

Janelle Abbott in Conversation with Shin-Yu PaiFemail's Janelle Abbott presents a collection of wearable zero-waste pieces called Ugly House on the Prairie for their likeness tothe "mythological home on the frontier. The designer writes, "Ugly House on the Prairie is an admission of complicit guilt held by each and every one of us who has inadvertently profited from the obliteration of the First Peoples of North America. It is a critique on the insidious nature of the Industrial Revolution, which has only wrought us with a climate crisis as relentless as the heightened state of consumerism that has brought our planet to this precipice." She'll be joined bylocal writerShin-Yu Pai on Instagram Live.

Cheneyville Grab N GoFor two weekends only, fans of baseball and the refreshments that go along with it can pick up stadium fare from the Tacoma Rainiers' home base via a drive-through. Choose from items like Ivar's fish and chips withAlaskan cod, five-cheese pizzas, pulled-pork sandwiches, and brats in individual or family-sized portions.Cheney Stadium (Tacoma)

The Front Street StreateryRestaurants and cafes in downtown Issaquah will move their dining rooms into the sidewalks and parking lanes for two days only to make room for socially distanced noshing.Front Street (Issaquah)

Seattle Mariners Viewing Parties at the Little Red HenWear your blue, green, and silver to the honky-tonk bar for limited-capacity viewings of the Mariners games against the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels. Little Red Hen (Green Lake)

Nordic SlSeattle loves a good opportunity to bliss out over our Nordic culture (Reykjavik is our sister city, in case you haven't heard), and this summer extravaganza is no exception. While it won't take place in person this year, you can look forward to a whole month of virtual activities focused on sustainability andthe beauty of the outdoors. This weekend brings a virtual artisan marketplace (Fri-Sun), the Run Like a Viking Virtual Challenge (Sat-Sun), and a virtual Crafts & Cocktails event (Fri).

Vote in the Primary ElectionThere's an important Washington State Primary Election on August 4, and the Stranger Election Control Board has painstakingly interviewed candidates via Zoom to help you fill out your ballot. Grab a pen, read their endorsements, and stuff your nearest ballot box with purpose.

Field Day IPA Release & Mariners Watch PartyPick up cans or growlers of Two Beers' Field Day IPA to drink at home, or order a pint in person while you watch the Mariners game from the Woods. The Woods (Sodo)

Mariners Kick-Off ViewingThe Pioneer Square sports bar will cue up the MLB kickoff games on their TVs and serve up ballgame classics like Stadium dogs, garlic fries, and bags of peanuts, plus six-packs and growlers to go. Seating is limited.Elysian Fields (Sodo)

Pike-Pine Summer UnitedGet 10% off your bill at local bars and eateries like Amandine Bakeshop, A Pizza Mart, Bateau, and tons of other places on Capitol Hill moving into Phase 2 of reopening by mentioning The Stranger's Pike-Pine promotion.Various locations (Capitol Hill)

Comic-Con @ HomeThe mecca of all merchandising, the promised land of pop-culture religion, the convention that was once about comic-books and is now just sort of, like, one giant festival for marketing marks and advertising aficionados, is going online for 2020 because even when therewasn'ta pandemic on, squeezing 100k people into San Diego's Convention Center was getting to be a bit too much in terms of crowding and also being a disgusting germ factory. So now, if you want to watch panels, watch trailers, watch people introduce new things for you to buy that you can't buy yet but you're excited and making a reaction videoalready, Comic-Con @ Home is five straight days of that regular Comic-Con experience, but on your TV instead! All panels will be available on the Comic-Con YouTube channel, and there's going to be about 350 of them spread out over the event.

Tomorrowland - Around the WorldUsing 3D visuals and game design to mimic the experience of Tomorrowland, the EDM music festival held annually in Belgium, this two-day virtual event boasts Katy Perry,David Guetta, and Steve Aoki among its headliners.

Xponential Music Festival Summer CelebrationAt this virtual edition of Philadelphia public radio station WXPN's annual music festival, see livestreamed performances by the likes of Liz Phair and Devon Gilfillian, plus archived shows from acts like the Indigo Girls and Margo Price, while you tuck into your own versions of the artists' favorite recipes (like Jenny Lewis's "Tastes Like Chicken Tofu").

Oedipus the KingPlay Your* Part is a theater company that partners with nonprofits to bring productions to underserved, "under-invited" communities. For this ASL-incorporating adaptation of Sophocles's Oedipus the King, perhaps one of the most fundamental works of Western literature, they'll stage the play digitally.

Saint JoanDespite George Bernard Shaw's trenchant atheism, his classic depiction of the Maid of Orleans stresses her strength, bravery, faith, and humanity in the face of political and religious oppression. The original date of this production, staged by Mathew Wright, was canceled due to COVID-19. This is a digital rendition.

Seattle Mariners vs. Houston AstrosWatch the Seattle Mariners live from Houston's Minute Maid Park as they take on the Astros on Opening Day. You can tune in on Root Sports NW or listen on 710 ESPN or the Mariners Radio Network.

Virtual Best of the Northwest Summer ShowCheck out work by over 40 Northwest artists and craftspeople. If something speaks to you, you can strike up a virtual chat with the artist and buy their piece.

Twisted Flicks: Earth VS The SpiderBased on audience suggestions (which you, the audience, can input via Twitch), Jet City improvisers will add their own dialogue, music, and sound effects to the incredibly cheesy B-movieEarth VS The Spider.

Riesling Rocks RevivalIf you like your wine on the sweet and acidic side, check out this virtual journey through the world of Riesling, moderated by L'Oursin's wine director,Kathryn Olsen. The organizers are offering a three-pack of the stuff so you can sip along. Otherwise, you're encouraged to pour yourself a glass of your favorite varietal.

Free RPG DayFree Comic Book Day will get the RPG treatment at this in-person game sale featuring over 125 items from local publishers. You'll get one game for free just for showing up, plus another free thing for spending $50 or more in the shop. Arcane Comics (Shoreline)

Sporcle Live Virtual Trivia - Baseball!How much do you know about America's favorite pastime? This Sporcle Live team-based trivia night on Zoom will test your dedication to the sport and will offer winners prizes.

Alanis Morissette, The BeachesThe latest artist to take over the Budweiser At Home stage and beam themselves straight into your living room is '90s pop-rock goddess Alanis Morissette, supported by the Beaches.

Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, & Trace AdkinsGwen Stefani may not be a country crooner, but she made her Grand Ole Opry debut seamlessly alongside her boyfriend, country music star Blake Shelton (and Trace Adkins was there, too). Watch the concert in full from the safety of your car.Skyline Drive-In Theatre (Shelton)

EverlastA one-night-only livestream concert from Everlast, the unlikeliest of all folk stars considering he got his start as part of Ice-T's crew, fronted House of Pain, and became a legitimate pop star withWhat It's Like. Comedian Christopher Titus hosts this intimate show.

GreenStage Virtual Play Reading SeriesIt's not Shakespeare in the Park, but GreenStage's virtual play-reading series will still provide you with the Bard's most famous works, performed live over Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook. It kicks off tonight with A Midsummer Nights Dream, directed by Taylor Davis.

Black Lives Matter: Black/Immigrants/Refugees Solidarity RallyThis rally will demand justice on behalf of Black and immigrant communities in Tukwila. Public Health-King County will provide a number of therapists and other mental health professionals for check-in conversations and referrals for those in need.Tukwila Village

Youth Day Of Action SeattleThe PNW Youth Liberation Front will march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter activists in Portland, a city currently occupied by federal officers. Broadway Avenue E and E Pine Street (Capitol Hill)

Walkable Main StreetEnjoy some socially distanced dining and shopping along Edmonds' temporarily car-free Main Street.Main Street (Edmonds)

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn FestivalOne of Brooklyn's largest and longest-running music festivals goes online for 2020, aiming to translate their outdoor get-together vibe to a virtual experience that puts Brooklyn right in your living room, featuring performances from Common with Robert Glasper, Angelique Kidjo, Questlove, Lila Downs, Junglepussy, Buscabulla, and more.

Red White Black & BluesDayglo and Steve Jordan present this special 16-hour retrospective on a century of Black excellence, showcasing some of the best performances from America's finest recording artists, including Aretha Franklin, Parliament-Funkadelic, Kamasi Washington, Etta James, Bill Withers, Run DMC, Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind and Fire, The Temptations, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and many, many more.

Run Like a Viking Virtual Challenge 5K/10K/Half MarathonLog your miles online as you run,bike, kayak, or skateboard your way to Viking glory in this virtual edition of the annual run. All participants will receive a t-shirt and aSkl Beer Hall koozie and $5 gift card.

Social Justice in the Time of CovidCheck out timely work byRaquel Garcia, Tatyana Brown, Nick Griego, and Jake Prendez at this limited-capacity gallery show.Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery (White Center)Opening Saturday

Oxbow Open DayThe Carnation farm is reopening for limited-capacity visits! Stop by on (re)opening day for $25 veggie boxes at the farm stand and peaceful jaunts through nature. Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center (Carnation)

Virtual Caribbean Sea FestThis family festival celebrating both Caribbean culture in the Northwest and the environment will move online this year. Enjoy performances from folks like Atlas Gonzlez andClinton Fearon, take family-friendly workshops, and consider ordering Caribbean food from local restaurants like Taste of the Caribbean.

Valhalla Dinner Series Featuring Ravenna Brewing CoThis beer-centric dinner series will return (IRL!) with a six-course meal paired with brews from Ravenna Brewing, like jalapeo hushpuppies with Cajun remoulade served alongside their Hazy IPA.Skl Beer Hall (Ballard)

BACON, EGGS, BEATS. presented by BeatmatchYou provide your favorite brunch, and DJs Dizz and Kenny Bounce will provide the beats to get you through the rest of the day.

The Royal Room Staycation Festival: ThaddillacReggae rockersThaddillac will jam out on the Royal Room's virtual stage.

SmokepurppThis up-and-coming hip-hop star hosts not just a livestream concert of his own stuff, but a "Beat Royale" collecting producers from all over the country and putting their best productions in a bracket for Purpp to determine who is best behind the boards.

The Women's Compline Choir at Saint Mark's2019 marked the first time in 64 years that a women's choir led the Saint Mark's Cathedral Compline (which offers "a little peek into the ineffable," as Rich Smith has written). For this virtual concert, enjoy a quartet of voices on the cathedral's website and Facebook Live.

Shayla Lawson, Emma DabiriYou may knowShayla Lawson from her book I Think I'm Ready to See Frank Ocean,which takes individual Frank Ocean songs as inspiration to produce "a mythological mixtape of confession and surreal sleuthing," as Hugo House describes it. The author will be joined byEmma Dabiri (Don't Touch My Hair) for a virtual reading hosted by Powell's.

Vegetable Nerves: A Group Reading of Philip Whalen's Scenes of Life at the CapitalSan Francisco's City Lights and the local Wave Books will invite poets across North America (including David Brazil, Anselm Berrigan, Andrew Schelling, Hoa Nguyen, Marie Buck, Norman Fischer, and Phil Elverum) to readPhilip Whalen's book-length poemScenes of Life at the Capital in its entirety via Zoom.

Chile Woke: The Uprise of Chilean Graphics and Street PhotographyChile Woke's first open-air show will highlight the work of graphic artists documenting the unrest in Chile in response to the actions ofPresident Piera.Volunteer Park Amphitheatre (Capitol Hill)Opening Sunday

WS Black Lives Matter MuralWatch live from an SDOT traffic cam as the West Seattle Art for Social Justice unveils its Black Lives Matter mural in the West Seattle Junction, which was created by local artists of all ages. DJ Derek Moon will spin live from Easy Street Records all the while.

Read the original post:

The 53 Best Things to Do in Seattle This Weekend: July 24-26, 2020 - TheStranger.com

Theres no denying that REDSIX are utterly addictive. From their 2018 debut until now, the Indonesian band have been releasing songs with the potential to fill stadiums, blending rich lyricism with riffs that will melt the heart of any pop-punk fan.

I have a steady craving for decorating dreams until they burst at the seams,frontman Denny sings at the start of the groups latest singleVessel.This line captures the essence of REDSIX; deeply poignant reflections on our everyday coiled around the sharp edges of alt-rock.

Sweeping onto the scene with their debut LPUproar,the group defined themselves from the get-go. Songs that revolve around pop-punk, emo, and alt-rock, all connected through their nuances, REDSIX were always going to be a force to be reckoned with.

REDSIX is a rock band from Jakarta, Indonesia, conceptualised in early 2017 by Denny (vocalist) andKevin (lead guitar) Wicak (rhythm guitar), Rizma (drums) and Ipang (bass), the band write in their bio. [We]hope to contribute to theIndonesian music scene by adding their varying influences to the forefront of theirsongwriting and composition to their unique sound.That they certainly do.

Crushing bass, acidic guitar riffs, and the undeniable energy of 00s-esque vocals combine into one all-consuming track that you cant help but jam to. However, the group still know how to tastefully pull away in the most needed moments. Championing the talents of particular members in these areas or using the space to frame defining lyrics, REDSIX are able to combine enthralling rock with sonic eloquence. What are audiences left with? Songs that you cant turn away from.

In their new releases, the group are reaching even further into their sound. Its new, fresh, but distinctly REDSIX.WhereBreak Inpunches through with pure emo-rock,Vesselsparkles with pop-adjacent inflictions andEndeavour emits earthycadence within the walls of pop-punk.

With their 2020 EP on the horizon, we are all waiting in anticipation to see what the band delivers next. REDSIX are truly ones who you should be watching out for.

Listen toVesselbelow:

Go here to see the original:

Meet REDSIX, the Indonesian band crafting addictive, pop-punk classics - Happy

The Rolling Stones have gone through many phases on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands inrock history. From the start they were seen as an edgier alternative to the Beatles, focusing on American blues music. But they soon expanded their musical horizons, embracing everything from R&B to pop to psychedelia.

The band released much of its landmark work ina milestone runthat spanned the late 60s through the mid-70s,and which included such vaunted releases as Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972).

With so muchincrediblematerial, itsnot easy to pin downwhich decadeoffered fansthe best version of the Rolling Stones. Still, we challenged five writers tosort through it all and determine ifthe Rolling Stones were better in the '60s or '70s.

In theirformative years, the Stoneswere mainly influenced by American blues and R&B artists.By the '70s, they'd started infusing other genres and styles. Which version of the band do you prefer?Michael Gallucci: Their greatest run started in 1968 with Beggars Banquet and ran through 1972's Exile on Main St., with four classic albums split evenly between the two decades. But seeing that Exile is their all-time greatest LP, I'm going to give a slight edge to the '70s.

Nick DeRiso: They played way more blues before they really accepted its dangerous truths and made them their own into the '70s. Thats when the Rolling Stones finally became truly great. Conversely, as they moved away from that musics heart of darkness, there were times (some would say many times) when the Stones became decidedly average. The blues was, in no small way, their salvation.

Ryan Reed: This doesn't fall neatly along the decade lines, but my favorite Stones stretch is Beggars Banquet through Exile on Main St. For my fix, I often reach for their harder-hitting material from the late, late '60s and early '70s. It's not a purely sonic preference: I'm a big psych-rock fan, and I think Brian Jones' '60s experiments elevated the band's music that decade. (Imagine "Paint It, Black" without the sitar!) Mick Jagger and Keith Richards just didn't fully cement their own style until later on.

Dave Lifton: It's pretty much a consensus that the Rolling Stones' classic period straddled the decades, 1968-72. Even their own set lists suggest they know this is the case. Still, the blues has been at the heart of virtually everything the Rolling Stones have ever done, and even their most successful forays into other genres haven't strayed too far from it. And yet some of their worst records are their early blues and soul covers, which only shows how much life experience you need to be true bluesmen. Then again, some of that very same "life experience" also resulted in a lack of inspiration for a good chunk of the '70s.

Corey Irwin: Give me the later, more adventurous Stones. As the band matured, the subject matter became more engaging, the musical style more varied and the overall material improved. It was their willingness to bring new musical styles into their sound that took them from being a good band to one of rocks all-time greats.

Brian Jones died in 1969, less than a month after being fired from the band. Would the Stones have followed the same trajectory into the 70s had Jones been able to get sober and continue with the group?

Gallucci: I think, for the most part, yes, because his overriding influence was waning as the other members got more footing over the years. The Stones' evolution is pretty easy to trace from, say, "Satisfaction" to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and then to "Brown Sugar." And from there "Tumbling Dice" and "Miss You" aren't that big of a stretch. Jones played on only two of those songs, and, frankly, is barely a presence on "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

DeRiso: Sure. But, in truth, his passing was just part of what toughened up the band as the new decade loomed. The promise of the '60s died, and the Rolling Stones found themselves in the nexus of that at Altamont. At the same time, this broader sense of dreams deferred played out in microcosm as they struggled to overcome the death of Jones, and extricated themselves from an absolutely terrible management deal. They were changed forever.

Reed: Jones was the sleeper genius on so many early Rolling Stones tunes, but it's clear from the band's evolution that their chemistry wasn't built for the long haul. It's hard to imagine Jones' role after the psychedelic era fully faded sure, he could have returned completely to the guitar, retiring his mellotrons and marimbas, but would he have felt creatively satisfied? The Stones could have continued to lean into a harder sound with Jones. But I think that relationship would have dissolved, tragedy or no.

Lifton: Yes and no. Those records with Mick Taylorwould have sounded very different because Taylor was such a great lead player, and it's hard to speculate how receptiveJones would have been to Keith Richards' burgeoning interest in country. But Jones was also the one who brought in more exotic instruments and textures, so they would have continued to find ways to experiment within their blues framework, and the Ron Wood part of their '70s output still would have had excursions into funk, reggae and disco.

Irwin: I cant imagine a scenario where the 70s Stones and Jones could have coexisted. His tenure with the band had run its course, regardless of his sobriety. Even though he unquestionably influenced the groups early work, his authority within the bands hierarchy had steadily declined. Jagger and Richards were the clear leaders, shouldering the majority of the songwriting. Had tragedy not struck, I like to imagine Jones would have gone on to a long and successful career outside of the Stones. He certainly had the talent to do so. But the band knew where they were going as the decade turned, and I imagine they would have gotten there with or without him.

You can only listen to one album from each decade. Which are you choosing? Explain your decision.

Gallucci: Beggars Banquet from the '60s; Exile on Main St. in the '70s. The band had shed most of its early blues roots by 1967's Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request - both of which got caught up in psychedelic flavors of the era. Beggars Banquet took what they learned from those experiments and applied it to the music that made them want to start a band in the first place. That kicked off one of the all-time greatest runs in rock history, culminating in Exile on Main St., a double LP of late-night, sleep-deprived rock 'n' roll that still ranks as one of the best albums ever made.

DeRiso: It feels like cheating, since they came out sequentially, but Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. The first solidified their gutsy move away from found-object experiments and trend chasing. As for the second, I love the flinty confidence theyd gained to that point. That opens up Sticky Fingers to everything from cocksure rockers to paint-peeling soul shouts, from somnambulant ruminations to simmering blues. And on the album-closing Moonlight Mile, almost all of the above.

Reed: For the '60s, it's Let It Bleed. It isn't a perfect album does anybody count the fiddle-adorned "Country Honk" among their favorite tracks? but it's awfully close. "Gimme Shelter" could be the definitive Rolling Stones song the sound of amplified apocalypse. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a glorious miniature symphony. And underrated cuts abound. For the '70s, it has to be Sticky Fingers. The greasiness of those riffs in "Brown Sugar" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," the lonesome ache of "Wild Horses" it doesn't get much more memorable, this decade or otherwise.

Lifton: Can I go with hits compilations from both? No? In that case I have to go with the usual choices of Beggars Banquet and Exile on Main St. Their songwriting was never as consistent as during that period, in terms of how they were seeing the world, their confidence as musicians and willingness to go outside their comfort zone. On other days, my '60s choice could be Let It Bleed, but I'm writing this on a rainy morning and "No Expectations" fits the mood, so Beggars gets the nod.

Irwin:For the '60s, I'm takingLet It Bleed.My reasons: Gimme Shelter and You Cant Always Get What You Want, my two favorite songs from the Stones entire catalog. What can I say? Im a sucker for the hits. From the '70s, I chooseExile on Main St. From first note to last, its the most complete release in the Stones' history;the rare double LP that's actually worth its length.

The Stones released many of their biggest hits during these time periods. Pick their most underrated song from each decade and explain your choices.

Gallucci: "Out of Time" was released on the U.K. version of 1966's Aftermath, their first real successful album-length statement. It's a great pop song and should have been a single, but it doesn't even show up on the Stones' many multi-disc compilations. It's easy to name almost any song from Exile as underrated, since all you really hear about are the two singles, "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy," and occasionally LP opener "Rocks Off." But I'm going to pick a song from the album before that one, Sticky Fingers: "Sway." The entire album is great, but this Side One cut helps set the mood for everything to come: bluesy, soulful and mournful. Plus, Mick Taylor has a couple of great solos, maybe his all-time best.

DeRiso:From the 60s, Live With Me off Let It Bleed. The Stones first released song with Mick Taylor was Honky Tonk Women, but this was their first session together. His playing is already a wonder of nasty wit and sharp economy. A new era begins right here. From the 70s, Im sticking with the earlier-mentioned Moonlight Mile. I will never, ever tire of this songs many musical nooks and crannies. Then there's the utterly unselfconscious vocal: Its a crowning achievement for Jagger, who now more than ever is content simply to bark and bray.

Reed: My '60s pick is "Midnight Rambler," arguably the centerpiece of their best album that decade. Maybe you can trace it back to my love of prog-rock: This is the Stones at their least linear, utilizing unexpected grooves and tempo changes across the song's seven minutes. My '70s pick is "Bitch," a Sticky Fingers rocker with a snarling Richards riff and some tasty tenor saxophone.

Lifton: For the '60s, I'm going with "She Smiled Sweetly." It's clear that they were influenced by Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" and they come really close to it. It lacks the misogyny of a lot of their early lyrics, and there's a vulnerability in Mick Jagger's vocals that he doesn't often show. I lovedhowWes Andersonused it in The Royal Tenenbaums- similar to theway he unearthed "I Am Waiting" in Rushmore. And it's hard to say that even a deep cut on Sticky Fingers or Exile is underrated, so I'm choosing "Memory Motel." A lot of my favorite Stones songs are the ones where there's a bit of longing, and the intertwining of Jagger's and Richards' vocals here is rather moving.

Irwin: From the 60s, Im going with Salt of the Earth, the ode to the common man found on Beggars Banquet. Theres a soulful earnestness to the track, and Richards vocals at the opening offer a raw vulnerability to its tone. From the 70s, I choose Shine a Light from Exile on Main St. Billy Prestons organ playing heightens this energetic gospel track, and the interplay between his work and Mick Taylors guitar offers one of my favorite Stones instrumental moments.

Which era made the Rolling Stones The Greatest Rock'n' Roll Band in the World?

Gallucci: The '70s. They planted that seed in the '60s, but once they made the turn with 1971's Sticky Fingers - following the equally excellent Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed - was there any doubt? They were unstoppable.

DeRiso: The 70s, for good and for ill. They were part of a rabble of great bands in the 60s, but as a once-hope filled era drew to an awful close both in general and, after Altamont, specifically the Stones began to separate themselves. They would define the turbulent decade to come, again and again and again, from its early outbursts of violent emotions and drug-induced melancholy, to its descent into destructive appetite and malaise, and then into inevitable narcissism.

Reed: As my answer to the first question shows, I have a tough time picking between these two decades. But I have to go with the '60s here: I'd argue their legend was already cemented by 1965, the year of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." They had more time to bolster an already impressive resume in the '70s. But if they'd stopped after 1969's Let It Bleed, just a few months before the Beatles' final LP, they'd still be considered a top-tier rock band.

Lifton: They never were. The Who could always blow them off the stage. But funny how the Stones didn't start calling themselves that until they started to go downhill.

Irwin: Apologies for using a lame analogy, but here we go: Imagine the Stones career like a cake. All the ingredients were there in the 60s and got mixed together well. Sure, the occasional person might argue that the batter tastes better than the cake, and Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed offer two excellent reasons to do so. Still, the finished product - when the Stones were at their absolute best on Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street - came out of the oven in the 70s.

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Were the Rolling Stones Better in the '60s or '70s? Roundtable - Ultimate Classic Rock

ITS time to reset the UK consumers relationship with the UK fishing industry.

Fishing rights are regularly in the news as the UK/EU trade negotiations rumble on. And while fishing is a relatively small economic issue, its certainly a big political one. Any research on the topic will quickly reveal huge industry complexities, a host of different organisations, sustainability issues and historical policies and licences all permed with hot multi-national politics.

Little discussed however is the relationship between UK fishing and the UK consumer, and at the heart of this story is a tale of separation, abandonment and decline.

Lets start with the decline. In 1895 the seas were open, fishing villages flourished all around our isles, and what was landed by local boats was what you ate. Peak UK fishing.

In Skye, the staple diet was salmon. If you were indentured to work on a farm, part of the deal was you could be fed salmon no more than four times a week. In London you ate a lot of eels, and somewhat reluctantly, pike.

Since 1895, its all been downhill. The total number of fishermen employed in the UK has fallen from just under 50,000 in 1938 to less than 12,000 today. The number of fishing vessels in the UK fleet has fallen by 30 per cent since 1996 to some 7,000 vessels.

So what is behind this decline? One key culprit is demand. The top two fish we land are mackerel and herring the perfect oily fish for a healthy diet, but very much out of fashion in the UK.

Also, despite cooking being an increasingly popular pastime, many people simply dont know their fish, or how to cook it. We export fabulous crab, scallops and langoustines to the Mediterranean and then fly out there to enjoy them at a restaurant.

But the biggest factor behind the decline is the separation of UK consumers from their own produce. The Marine Conservation Society explains that we currently export around 75 per cent of fish caught and landed in the UK, but were the ninth largest importer of fish in the world, with around 70 per cent of the seafood value entering the UK fish supply chain coming from overseas.

This two-way motorway of fish is absurd: economically wrong and also an ecological disaster. We are net importers of fish, while the fishmonger with fresh fish down the road is in decline.

We generally export in bulk, and buy consumer packaged, losing out on the processing jobs. We import from places as far away as China, India and Vietnam, at a horrendous cost in product miles: marine diesel, bulk packaging, and waste incurred during transport.

So, some pundits might say that the politicians have a history of abandoning UK fishing. But the facts show us that, as a whole, the UK population are often less supportive of our fishing industry than they realise.

Its therefore quite easy to be pessimistic about the future of the UK fishing industry. However, that would be wrong. Compared to the EU countries, the UK fleet has the second-largest total catch (in terms of landed weight) and the second-largest fleet size (in gross tonnage terms).

More than 80 per cent by value of the UK fleets landings are from UK waters. A further factor is that, despite the fall in the number of fishermen, this has been counterbalanced to some extent by increased productivity with modern equipment and trawlers.

But imagine how much better the outlook would be if we reconnected with UK fishing. As individual consumers we all have the power to help change this. Eating locally-caught fish would reduce our product miles and provide crucial support for the UKs fishing industry and its local communities.

Alan McCulla, CEO of the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation, spells out the opportunity: We need people to care where their fish comes from, and for us the direct-to-consumer market is growing in importance, particularly as people are worried about sustainability.

The five most popular fish in the UK are also the UKs top five fish imports: salmon, cod, tuna, prawns, and haddock. But there are other excellent fish which are sustainable UK-caught alternatives: such as megrim (from Rockall, the northern North Sea, and West of Scotland), turbot (North Sea), coley (North Sea and Rockall) and lemon sole (the English Channel).

There are three ways to support UK fishing: visit your local fishmonger, ask at the supermarket fresh fish counter, or get your fish fresh direct from harbourside businesses and collectives. All UK-landed fish can be found atyouk.co, which offers a unique approach to finding sustainable UK-landed fish.

Go on, give UK-landed mackerel, herring, coley and shellfish a go!

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There's no plaice like home: Why we should be eating British fish - The Conservative Woman

Support 4-H youths at the July 31 Junior Livestock Sale online and get your tickets today online for PRCA Xtreme Bull Riding and PRCA Rodeo events

Now in its 102ndyear, while the 2020 Douglas County Fair and Rodeo will have a different line-up, this years version continues to focus on the Countys roots a commitment to 4-H, 4-H families, and the annual celebration of the Countys agrarian history, July 30-Aug. 2.

Although many of the traditional public events are canceled due to COVID-19 large gatherings restrictions, you can still support your local 4-H youth and theirachievements at the 61stAnnual Junior Livestock Sale, this year limited to a 175-person buying audience, as well as anoption to participate online.

As for Rodeo events,limited ticketsare available now online for Xtreme Bull Riding and PRCA Rodeoon:

All public events are held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 500 Fairgrounds Drive in Castle Rock. All events are authorized based ontheDouglas County Variance for Large Gatherings and Event Venuesreviewed by the Tri-County Health Department andapproved on June 26, 2020by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

For additional information visit:fairandrodeofun.com.

Originally posted here:

Douglas County Fair and Rodeo lives on with your safety top-of-mind July 30 Aug. 2 - The Know

With its thunderous riffs, piercing vocals, driving groovesand all too memorable licks, Back in Black has rock anthem after rock anthem engraved throughout. Although it follows the same formulaic method as their previous records, the album managed to revitalise rock and roll forever, elevating the band to new commercial heights at a crucial point in their career.

After the breakthrough release of Highway to Hellonly a year prior, it looked like AC/DC were onan upwards trajectory, winning the hearts of fansand storming albumcharts around the world. Shortly after its release, however, tragedy struck. The groups charismatic front man, Bon Scott, heartbreakingly died from asphyxia caused by alcohol poisoning.

The loss of Bon Scott had left AC/DC with a deep wound, ultimately pushing them to consider ending it all.With these terrible circumstances looming, it wouldn't be a travesty if AC/DC packed it all up and called it a day - instead, the group kept on chugging and delivered what many believe to their best effort ever, and certainly one of rock's all time greatest albums.

After some encouraging words from Scotts parents to carry on, andmyriad failed auditions, AC/DC reached out to a frontman that Bon himself had highly regarded:32-year-old Brian Johnson of the English band Geordie. Upon being called in for an audition, Johnson delivered an astoundingrendition of Tina Turners Nutbush City Limits to the delight of the Young brothers, and as they say,the rest was history.

Despite concerns from their fanbase, the transition of the band's lead singers was ultimately seamless. Unlike other singers joining a pre-existing band,Johnson didnt attempt to hijack or change theirtrajectory. Instead, he knew his place. And like the other members, he did his part to make the best rock and roll they possibly could. Even with all this change, Scotts influence still loomed large; some new songs had already taken shape while the legendary frontman was still alive. The very essence of the album still felt like Bon was around, and this was something the original members werent willing to change.

Regrouping to the Bahamas with producer Mutt Lange,AC/DC bunkered down to beat a seven-week turnaround imposed on them by their label. Fuelled by the desire to create a profound effort to honour Scott's memory and double down on their own prowess, Lange and AC/DC worked in the studiopersistently, andunder extraordinary circumstances, miraculously put together one of thebest-selling albumsof all time.

Like its namesake, the albums opener Hells Bells begins with a haunting bell, alluding to the band coming out of a dark place, one of memorial and mourning. Enveloping listeners with a sombre mood, Angus Youngs entrancing riff and Phil Rudds drumming enters in perfectly. The power of Brian Johnson's voice mesmerises audiences. With everything so tightly knit, this was the opener of all openers. If anyone had ever doubted, AccaDacca were back.

On Shoot to Thrill, an upbeat riff and faster tempo takes audiences out of the gloomy mood completely - Johnsons electrifying voice now more controlled, but equally as loud: I shoot to thrill, and Im ready to kill. The ending sees a floaty riff, tight drumming andsome groovy bass, all before an uproar of rock crescendo comes crashing down.

A product of its own era, the middle section of Back In Blackis pepperedwith more than a fewquestionable lyrics about sexuality, and also puts forthsome rather damning lyrics about women. Although the music itself is at the same level of excellence as the previous songs, many criticshave questioned the lyrical content and its appropriateness in retrospect, and honestly, we can't blame them.

Regardless of this, AC/DC carry on with similar themes. Have A Drink On Me, follows the bands same harrowing lyricism. Seemingly unfitting due to the way Bon Scott passed, the song sits perfectly with the bands wit and dark sense of humour. The title track is a highlight of the album. Consisting of more intricate lyricism: yes Im let loose, from the noose, and forget the hearse, cause I never die, I got nine lives. Angus and Malcolm'srhythm and lead parts cleverly interweave, resulting in one of the most recognisable guitar riffs of all time. Cliff Williams bass is dominant, while Paul Rudds drumming is perfectly timed, making a heavy impact.

Back in Black not only marks the commercial peak of a legendary outfit: it is also a fitting tribute to a frontman who helped the band reach grand heights. Without Bon Scott, AC/DC would not be where they are now, let alone in a position to create their magnum opus.

The reason they resonate with their listeners is that theyre a no-nonsense type of band. You either love them or you hate them; they couldnt give a rat's ass. Their brutal, catchy riffs pull listeners in, captivating them into feeling like they belong to something important. Accadacca make anthems: anthems for the hard-working, the battlers, the ordinary person that just wants a go. For many, Back in Black encapsulates all of this, cementing AC/DC as rock and roll royalty who changed the genre forever.

While you're here - revisit the legacy of Malcolm Young with this tribute to the steady right hand of AC/DC.

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40 years of Back In Black: a celebration of AC/DC's hard rock opus - Mixdown

Decapitated deer heads, star-crossed lovers, and super sick beats - these seemingly random elements may look completely out of place with each other, but thats exactly where the appeal of Felix the Reaper comes in. If somebody had pitched me the idea of a game where you dance around killing people on the quest to be with your one true love, Id have slammed my fist on the conference table, exclaimed a vehement Yes, and shoved what little money I had left in whichever direction I had to in order to make that game a reality.

Turns out that the higher-ups at publisher Daedalic Entertainment and developer Kong Orange were way ahead of me from the very beginning.

Yes, Felix the Reaper is all about you dancing through grids in a 3D puzzle platform in order to make the predetermined deaths of mortals a reality, often in a hilariously dark and twisted fashion (imagine accidentally decapitating your brother with an arrow because you thought he was a deer). As Felix, the agent of death working for the Ministry of Death, you have to get from Point A to Point B essentially, making sure to stick to the shadows and avoid the sun - not because youre a vampire, but because its just spookier to off people when youre not in broad daylight.

To do this, you have to manipulate a sundial that shifts the grids where you can move around, so you really have to knock around the ol noggin to figure out how to succeed in your assignments without stepping into the light.

The game was initially released on PC and on consoles during the latter part of 2019. To be honest, I had never heard of Felix the Reaper before all this, but the advantage of me living under a rock all this time is that when I started playing, everything was a surprise for me. I reveled in the quick and quirky introduction about the world of the game and who you play as, and no, I wouldnt mind having Sir Patrick Stewart feed me instructions on how to do my job all day.

Im not normally a fan of puzzle games, and the only ones I really enjoyed were Sid & Al's Incredible Toons by Sierra On-Line back in 1993 and Scribblenauts on the Nintendo DS in 2009. But the thing that really got me tapping and grooving with Felix was the story. Im a self-confessed sucker for tragic love stories, and if this ones going to take the form of a woman who works for the Ministry of Life and a man whos essentially the Grim Reaper, then Im totally and completely on board.

More than the actual gameplay, I found myself browsing through all of the descriptions and entertaining tidbits in the game. There were backstories to every mortal target, and tongue-in-cheek little details that most players will likely miss. For instance, during the tutorial, you end up offing the wrong victim, and you get a company memo that tells you to report immediately to the Department of Unexistence of Non-Existing Events with a note that says, This didnt happen!

The problem is that its only very briefly shown until you have to move on to the actual game. I like those little things, but sadly, they werent enough to really make me enjoy the game to its fullest.

Heres the downside to all this. The game doesnt hold your hand, and while Im all for discovering things on your own, it probably wasnt the smartest choice for the developers to make here. I spent an unholy amount of time during the first few missions of the first victim alone, trying to figure out how to get to a shadowed part of the grid, only to find out that I could actually move certain things that were in the way to get to where I wanted to go.

It was also a bit frustrating to target the specific grids while dragging-and-dropping. Because I needed to zoom out and see the lay of the land most of the time, the boxes always end up too small for my finger to drag-and-drop onto. Its also a shame that I constantly had to zoom out to check my path, when a zoomed-in view would have been lovelier - the art is stunning, and missing out on all that jazz (not to mention Felixs sick dance moves) is just too bad.

I love a good challenge as much as the next person, but whenever I finally got through a round, it just didnt feel as satisfying as I thought it would. You get a score card and some checkmarks for certain criteria, which, quite frankly, are too difficult to achieve. It can be pretty frustrating (especially for someone whos more spatially challenged as me), and while I really wanted to keep going, I had to stop and take a break because my head was literally hurting.

Oddly enough, the moment I stopped, I had this sudden urge to immediately go back to the game. I guess thats the great conundrum of puzzle challenges, isnt it?

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Felix the Reaper. Levels get bigger but end up becoming repetitive. I puff up my chest in self-pride with each round I clear, and end up with more debilitating self-doubt when the next stage starts. While I absolutely devoured the concept and storyline and wanted to see what happened next, I also couldnt bring myself to just keep going.

I really want Felix to beat all odds and be with the love of his life. I mean, that look alone that he gives at the end of every round is enough to break my heart into a million pieces. He kind of does this little glance and takes one last look at his surroundings in hopes of spotting the girl of his dreams, then heaves this huge, dejected sigh of disappointment before he hops onto the elevator and leaves. Its an ingenious idea, but if this were a short film instead of a game, I probably would have enjoyed myself way more.

Original post:

Felix The Reaper review - "Lots of love, not enough game" - Pocket Gamer

Josh Morrissey knows who hed have included on his list of Hart Trophy finalists, if he had a say in the matter.

The masked man behind him, standing guard at the Winnipeg net, would have received the Jets defencemans vote.

"Obviously, theres so many great players in our league. Theres a lot of players who add big-time contributions to their teams. Thats the nature of any award. Its not a statistical-based award. Any time theres some discussion or potential for different players, thats what makes it exciting and fun and keeps talk shows busy, for sure. In my opinion, he should have been in the conversation," Morrissey said Wednesday.

"I dont think we would have been where we were at without him, thats for sure. Hes been our rock all year, hes been so solid for us... Im pretty sure in most guys minds in our room, hed be in (that group of) three players."

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is a finalist for the Vezina trophy.

The winner of the Hart Trophy, determined by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and presented to the leagues most valuable player, will be either Edmontons Leon Draisaitl, Colorados Nathan MacKinnon or Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.

The finalists were announced by the NHL on Tuesday. The same three all-stars were named finalists for the Ted Lindsay Trophy, honouring the leagues most outstanding player as voted on by players.

Hellebuyck wasnt ignored, however. He joins Tuukka Rask of Boston and Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa Bay as the three finalists for the 2019-20 Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the NHLs top goaltender.

Its the second time in three years the 2012 fifth-round draft pick has been up for the award.

"It motivates me because I want to prove myself even more," Hellebuyck said, from the Iceplex as the Jets continue their summer training camp. They battle the Calgary Flames in a qualifying round next month. "But now its playoffs, so no matter what youre coming with the right mindset and the right motivation because everyone wants to win a Cup, right?

"The other thing is, its a little bit of satisfaction that I finally have got a little bit of an achievement for all the hard work I put in. Its not chosen yet, but just being in that group of goaltenders is itself a milestone. I like them both so now Im using it as motivation but Im also happy that my hard work is paying off a little bit."

Hellebuyck was, unequivocally, Winnipegs most valuable player during the 2019-20 NHL season before it was cut short owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The Michigan product, who turned 27 in May, led all goalies in appearances (58), shots faced (1,796), saves (1,656) and shutouts (six), and ranked second in starts (56), wins (31) and minutes (3,268:33).

"Hes in that elite status," said Jets coach Paul Maurice. "I think all of these Hart players, they put a number of years together before you can have a good year, but you need put together two or three of those kind of years together before you start to get your name out there. Connor is moving into the time where his name will start coming up in that, I think."

The look of the Jets power play has a consistency to it, with right-shot defenceman Neal Pionk on the point along with Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele working the slot, Kyle Connor down low and splendid playmaker Blake Wheeler working the wall.

Its Pionks responsibility to snap the puck over to the sharp-shooting Finn for a one-timer, but opponents have long clued in.

On Wednesday morning the Jets added a wrinkle, with Wheeler spinning from the boards and quickly swapping spots with Pionk, who sent a cross-ice feed to Laine for a rocket past goalie Laurent Brossoit.

Some shrewd scheming by the coaching crew, perhaps?

JASON HALSTEAD / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Winnipeg Jets Defenceman Neal Pionk.

"I think the driver in that was boredom. We ran our power play three or four days. The guys want to try stuff and we like them to do that," Maurice admitted. "They are also now, and I dont want to get into any of the details of how were running this, theyre starting to explore the different places they can go with their power play.

"You know that Calgary knows exactly who is coming off the bench first, where everybody is standing and how the puck flows, how it moves through Blake Wheeler. Theyre going to have a plan for that and you want another place to go if its not working and you want that place to be really, really effective. If it doesnt score you goals, you want the place you take your power play to at least let you return to your original spot and be more successful."

The Jets got a reprieve Wednesday from coronavirus testing. Those nasty nasal swabs aptly called the "brain tickler" by forward Andrew Copp last week, happen every other day.

Thats still too often for Hellebuyck, who said players dont get to watch each other get tested so its difficult to know whos the squeamish one of the bunch.

"Well the tests are timed so were not around each other but I would definitely say talking with guys after, some guys, it hurts them a little bit. Some guys like me cant stand it and some guys just get over it. Its not that bad but over and over and over again, it grinds on you a bit," said Hellebuyck.

Maurice and his staff dont get a pardon from the medical staff.

"No (its not a lot of fun), but were coaches, so we did a pre-scout (of people doing the tests)... we know exactly who (laughs) gets it on the first try and who can put you down. Im teasing. Weve got great professionals here," he said. "No, its not a lot of fun. I was amazed that there was that much room in the human head. Theres probably lots of you that think hes full of air anyway. So, I was impressed by how deep he was able to get that swab in.

"You know what? When I do my last test, I wont be coming back for another one. That will be it."

Veteran defenceman Anthony Bitetto is listed in Thursday's Group 2 morning skate. He has yet to make an appearance at summer camp, although the team has not given a reason, as per the NHLs current rules.

The Jets will scrimmage Thursday, take Friday off, practise Saturday and then travel to Edmonton on Sunday.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell

Jason BellAssistant sports editor

Jason Bell wanted to be a lawyer when he was a kid. The movie The Paper Chase got him hooked on the idea of law school and, possibly, falling in love with someone exactly like Lindsay Wagner (before she went all bionic).

Read full biography

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In praise of the masked man - Winnipeg Free Press

During today's Xbox Games Showcase event, Private Division and Obsidian Entertainment unveiled the upcoming DLC content for The Outer Worlds, titled Peril on Gorgon.

Ahead of the event, we had a chance to chat with game director Carrie Patel and art director Matt Hansen about the DLC, what it entails, inspirations for it, and so on.

RPG Site: I've just learned about The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon.How would you describe the visual identity of this Gorgon asteroid that this DLC storyline takes place in? How did that come about and how did you decide on it?

Matt Hansen:The DLC as a whole has kind of a pulp noir feel to it. So,we wanted to play up that sort of mysterious dark feeling withheavy contrast and stuff like that. The facility itself - the Gorgon facility - was a secret research facility, so what better place to hide that than in an asteroid field?Most of this storyline takes place on the Gorgon asteroid, which is in the same asteroid field that Scylla's in. When you first land on the Gorgon asteroid, it becomes apparent that this isa big cavernous space; you're in sort of this labyrinthine spider web of canyons andcaves that make up the surface of the Gorgon asteroid where these facilities are housed.

As you explore that space, you'll encounter a lot of abandoned Spacer's Choice facilities, which will have a lot of similar vibes to what you've seen elsewhere in the game, as well as interesting microbiomes within the surface of the asteroid itself. So it doesn't feel too samey, because if you're just walking around on a big rock all the time, that could get pretty boring pretty quickly.

So while we are trying to portraythis as a now-desolate place, it is still a place that was once bustling - once a place of great science and industry, at least in the minds of Spacer's Choice. So you'll encounter a lot of theseruined facades that hint at these big sprawling dungeons that are behind those doors. And once you go into those spaces, you see these are actually very visually distinct dungeons that have pretty potent theming.

In addition to all of that, we also have a couple of off-world spaces. So you'll leave the Gorgon asteroid at points throughout the DLC, once to go to an absolutely new location, and then a couple of times to return to some places you've already been in new sub-levels within those places.

RPG Site:This is more of a fundamental question: how long or extensive is this DLC meant to be?Can you give me an idea of the overall size and scope?

Carrie Patel:Peril on Gorgon slots into the base game as another one of the many locations the player can visit, like Monarch or the Emerald Vale. It's a discretearea with acritical path storyline and side quests that run through it. In terms of specific scope. this is roughly comparable in scope to Monarch and that content overall. That's between the Gorgon Overlands as well as the other levels that Matt mentioned that take you off of the asteroid or back to new spaces from base game levels. In terms of the size of the new overland itself that is roughly comparable to Roseway.

RPG Site: When did the concept of Peril on Gorgon first materialize? Was this something you had some ideasbouncing around in your head as you were making the main game? How didyou decide that this was the content you wanted to make as DLC?

Matt Hansen: So there's a long history there, but to make it really brief:we started development of the DLC around January 2019, before the base game had launched. We knew that we wanted to make something, but we didn't quitehave it nailed down exactly what it was. Aswe were developing it between that time and when the base game itself released, it went through some iterations and variations. Once people got their hands on the base game, and we saw just how much people love this franchise, and the sorts of things that they loved about it, we pivoted and decided to make the DLC a much bigger experience.

We wanted to exemplify the things that people really loved about the basegame while exploring some of the things that people hungered for even more. So right around the game's main release, we kind of transitioned to what is the current incarnation that is project Gorgon.

Carrie Patel: One of the cool things about The Outer Worlds being set in its own solar system is that there is plenty of room both in that system and also in the lore, to find new nooks & crannies to explore in a DLC like this. Part of the inspiration came from Kate Dollarhyde - the other narrative co-lead on the project - and we identified pieces of lore that weknew as developers, but that we didn't fully flesh out in the base game.

We were thinking of cool ways to build a story around that - a story that bothleads the player through a lot of moments of discoveryand also provides further reflection onthe larger problems of Halcyon. The DLC alsoexplainsa few things from the base game, about how Halcyon has gotten to the state that it's in.

RPG Site: That touches on my next question: I was wondering if this DLC was meant to be more of a standalone storylineor how exactly it ties into the larger picture.

Carrie Patel:Yes from a story perspective, it does link into the larger Halcyon storyline. Players encounter it and experience it in much the same way that you do other unique locations throughout the base game in the different world hubs. You do not load into it separately from the base game. You getyour inciting incident that serves as your starting point for the DLC anytime between the Monarch storyline and your point of no return save. Meaning that once you have the DLC installed, as soon as you hit theend of the Monarch critical path, this event will fire and that will allow you to dive fully into the content for the DLC.

RPG Site:So the DLC has a near-endgamegameplay balance, then?

Carrie Patel: I'd say it's like maybe last-third or so, depending on how thorough what your pace wasfor doing side content. The thing is,evenafter you finish the Monarch critical path,there's still all the faction content and all the other side content. You can blow through the Monarch crit path somewhat quickly if you're not doing everything. But there's so much to do.

RPG Site: When the main game launched, was there any overall feedback,whether from reviews or social media, that the game receivedthat you wanted to specifically address in the DLC in some way? Either regarding gameplay mechanics or game story.

Matt Hansen: I think to an extent there was. As with anything else, so much of the creative decisions that we do are based onhow people perceived the content that came before this. So we absolutely were listening to those things and trying toexemplify the things that they loved and address the things that were not hitting home for people.

As far as really specific things, I don't know that there was a ton. By increasing the level cap, we're introducing some cool new skill unlocks that allow for some pretty empowering ways of handling combat and conversations and stuff like that, which I think a lot of people were hungry for -more specialization if they wanted it.

But beyond that, I don't know,that there weretoo many specific criticisms that we saw that we're like, 'we're gonnafix that'. Obviously there is a lot of stuff we've added in patches related to UI experiences and such, but nothing that is strictly tied to the DLC.

Carrie Patel:I agree with everything Matt said. I do think that one criticism and general challenge for us in making a game like The Outer Worlds isthe challenge of giving the player a player-driven experience from both astory and a gameplay perspective. The player is in the driver's seat and it'sa mostlyopen-world thatyou can go in at any pace, you can do a lot of stuff, you can do a little stuff, you can kill this guy here, etc. How do you give the player all that freedom while also maintaining acredible and present antagonistic force?

You can author a very closed, tight linear experience where there isbeautiful pacing between the forces acting against the player and themoments of response to that. But that takes some of that control over the experience away from the player. Then, on the other hand, you can have these completely open experiences where the player is given a lot of freedom but the pacing can suffer, depending on what the player decides to do.

So,we wanted to try as best we could to solve for that by giving the player threats and sources of antagonism that would be more present for them. This would remind them of the threats and the stakes, without boxing the player intoparticular moments or encounters -locking them into things that they either didn't want to do or didn't want to do at a particular time. Recognizing that we wanted to be consistent with the base game's offering of freedom to the player, I think we did a good job of finding a way to bring those threats out.

Matt Hansen: Yeah for sure. The Gorgon Asteroid is a dangerous place and we wanted to find ways to bring that danger to the player while allowing some freedom forthe player to kind of shrug it off and go 'I don't really want to deal with this right now' if they choose.

RPG Site: You touched on this briefly earlier. Was there any particular thing that inspired this setup for Peril on Gorgon? I'm just curious, was there anything larger source of inspiration that you wanted to do your own take on.

Carrie Patel: This is very high level, and I wouldn't say this is quite 'oh, we wanted to do our take on this'. There was sort of a seed that germinated into some of the inspiration for how we wanted to approach the character and the human side of this story. When wewere in the early planning stages for the Gorgon story, Kate DollarHyde referencedthe Manhattan Project and the idea of alarge, complex, and collaborative project that's ambitious in scope; aproject that is doomed to create something that will, in some ways, will be horrible.

Not trying to get into spoilers here, but we wanted to explorewhat it means to be part of that, what that means forthe individuals who were a part of a project like that. And I think for us, that was a very rich jumping-off point for how we explored a lot of the characters and the moments of reflection the player can have with them.

Matt Hansen:Tying into that, itwasn't initially an inspiration, but we as a team sat down and watched part of HBO's Chernobyl. We wanted tosee a story wherethere is a very dangerous situation that has a lot of ego tied into it and a lack ofaccountability. How do people approach that? And how do those people fall apart? It wasn't an initial inspiration, but it definitely helped drive someemotional character forthe DLC.

Carrie Patel: That made for an interesting team movie night.

Matt Hansen: Oh, yeah, it was a high-anxiety evening for sure.

RPG Site:Onecomponent of The Outer Worldsthat peopleattached to were the companions. How do the companions fit into thisDLC story? Will they have their own commentsor interactions with the storylines, the quests, and everything that's taking place on this asteroid? I really hope they don't just tag along as mute allies for battle purposes only.

Carrie Patel: How can you think that of us?

Matt Hansen:(laughs) You can put thatworry to rest. The companions are not only involved and present, they're actuallya critical tool that we use in telling the story of this location. Because the Gorgon asteroid was an abandoned facility that is incredibly dangerous, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to populate it with a ton of NPCs that are going to be friendly to the player - thoughthere are some pockets of them. But there area lot of areas that you'll explore where there aren't people to give that expositional background on things. The companions allowed us to interject a lot of humanity into those moments as they are exploring them with you and reacting to the variety of types of things that you'll see - both grim and humorous.

Carrie Patel:Given the magnitude ofthe revelations that the player uncovers, these are things that have had huge impacts on many of these people, their lives, and their communities. Leaning into our companions there to reflect on this idea and hammer home the emotional impact of these sort of revelations. When you consider what Matt said thatwe couldn't populate this dungeon with friendly NPCs, those sorts of constraints then became an opportunity for companion interaction. We can give our companions important moments of reflection here.

RPG Site:Is there anything else you want to say about Peril on Gorgon that we haven't touched on already?

Matt Hansen:We touched on it briefly, but I think people are going to be really excited by the new options that are available to their players as they increase in level. The new perks and skill unlocks are a ton of fun to play around with, and they help further drive home the various player fantasies that we love our fans to be able to play out throughout the game.

RPG Site: Is there an example of a new perk or skill that you think players might really like?

Matt Hansen: Idon't want to give too much away. Broadly, the skill unlocks themselves are really creative and have almost superhuman ends to really investing in something like persuasion or handguns or whatever. It opens up a lot of really fun gameplay.

RPG Site: That's sometimes afun thing with these sorts of RPGs is how whenyou get to like those really high-level skills, you canend up becoming something like a silver-tongued sharpshooter demigod able topersuade anyone to do anything with these ridiculous skills that you end up getting by the end game.

Matt Hansen: Yeah, there's a lot to be said for balancing a game well and keeping it a challenge constantly. But there's also a ton of fun to be had with the character-building - I maxed out handguns, I should be able to, you know, be this crazy quickdraw with ridiculous accuracy. Thisis very much what some of those high-level skill feels like.

RPG Site: This is more of a nuts-and-bolts question, but I saw that this DLC was dated for PC, PS4, and Xbox. Will this come to Switch at a later time?

Carrie Patel:It will, but we don't have a date yet.

RPG Site: Thank you for your time.

The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon launches for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Games Store on September 9.

Read the original:

The Outer Worlds: Perils of Gorgon Interview - Talking Storytelling, Inspiration, and Freedom with Matt Hansen & Carrie Patel - RPG Site

If you don't go to bed kicking the ball like Matty Forde, You won't wake up kicking the ball like Matty Forde.

Every night at training, the Wexford ace used spend 45 minutes on his own, lacing balls, honing his technique, perfecting his craft. All told, he will go down as one of the most accurate shooters ever to have kicked a Gaelic football.

The art wasn't mastered by chance.

Matty's brilliance - off left and off right - was the product of inspiration and initiative. The Kilanerin Ballyfad club man recalls watching a certain Maurice Fitzgerald as a youngster, and being mesmerised by kicking ability off both sides.

"I remember looking at good players at the time like, you know one that always springs to mind is Maurice Fitzgerald. You were kind of struggling to see was this fella left or right footed," says Forde.

"As it turned out, it would be something youd be advising all young fellas to do, do you know, whether its football or hurling - it just makes you that bit harder to mark. Do you know like, as I progressed then I kept working on it more and more and it has been a huge help to me over the years, over the duration of my whole career..."

"Some of the better scores I've got probably did come from my left foot! It wasn't just for standing on, I wasn't shy to use the left foot I suppose!"

After school, Forde used head to the pitch to perfect his kicking. He'd drag his nephews along with him. Training nights often meant arriving earlier or staying behind.

"I would have done a huge amount on my own. Again, at that stage with Wexford that was probably my fourth or fifth year playing and just from listening to other players and hearing what other players were doing like, all the really good guys were doing extra stuff on their own.

"The three nights a week that we were on the field just wasnt going to cut it...if you wanted to be a bit better, if you wanted to improve. I was more than happy to go, doing extra stuff. I used to drag my brothers three young fellas along with me and theyd kick balls back to me all day, theyd be happy enough anyway. Id be getting to training maybe 45 minutes early most nights as well...so 45 minutes extra every night, three nights a week is a huge amount at the end of a week, at the end of a month at the end of a season. I never really tried something in a match that I hadnt done in training or that I hadnt tried."

The follow through is key. Between kicking frees from a young age to lining out as an out half for his local rugby team, Gorey RFC, Forde learned plenty and driving out through the ball was a very important part of his routine.

"As I say to young fellas, its like do you know when youre taking frees, its like hitting a golf shot. If you dont follow through...kicking the ball will make it go in one direction. Following through is deciding where its going to go basically. So do you know, you have to, If you look at the good kickers in any sport, I look at a lot of rugby and stuff like that and if you watch the guys kicking balls particularly out of their hands, their follow through is up around their shoulders somewhere. Just take Conor McManus, Clifford, Dean Rock - all of these guys have a serious follow through..."

The rest is here:

"The follow through decides where it's going to go" - Kick it like Matty Forde - SportsJOE.ie

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, the commemorative platinum-record plaque awarded for "Jock Jams, Volume 1" still hangs inside the New Jersey recording studio of KayGee from Naughty By Nature. It doesn't occupy the same prestigious wall space as the group's other hit records or even the large custom portrait of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, but after all this time, Jock Jams remains nearly impossible to ignore -- no matter how hard we all might try. "Not to toot my own horn," says KayGee, while locating Naughty's "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11) on the original compilation of stadium anthems. "But I don't think I've ever been at a sporting event and not heard our Jock Jams song."

He's not the only one. Released on July 25, 1995, the collection opened with Michael Buffer's now ubiquitous "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" boxing howl and was overstuffed with an infectious, borderline-obnoxious mix of arena earworms such as "Get Ready for This," "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and "YMCA." And while many sports and music fans are familiar with the carrot-colored CD case covered in airborne cheerleaders, or the seminal collection of stadium anthems once described as an "orgy of chantable hooks" and "adrenaline-fueled schmaltz," few know the actual creation story behind the project, the vision of the two women executives who made it all possible, or the stories behind the songs that have been echoing inside arenas and our collective sports brains for decades.

And so to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Jock Jams release, ESPN tracked down the key executives and artists and asked them to retell inspirations behind the greatest -- and strangest -- compilation of sports anthems in music history.

After gigs as a model and go-go dancer in her hometown of Chicago, Monica Lynch moved to New York, where she answered a want ad in The Village Voice in 1981 to become the first employee of the fledgling Tommy Boy record label. Four years later, after developing De La Soul, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah and others, earning her the title "The High Priestess of Hip-hop," in 1985 Lynch became president of Tommy Boy, which earned her access to the company's luxury box at Madison Square Garden. And it was in that luxury box, watching -- and listening to -- the Knicks and Rangers, that the idea for Jock Jams was born.

Inspired by childhood nostalgia for her hometown Chicago Blackhawks, and encouraged by Ray Castoldi, MSG's director of music and hybrid organist/DJ, Lynch set out to create the ultimate compilation of sports anthems -- a collection that would expand the genre beyond old-timey organ music and yacht rock. "It was a very simple idea, but sometimes those are the best," Lynch says. She already had the anthem part figured out. What Lynch and Tommy Boy needed was a business partner that could help with the sports side.

Monica Lynch, former president of Tommy Boy Records: Culturally, [ESPN and Tommy Boy were] very different operations. An independent record company in the mid-'90s, we were doing our own thing, running fast and loose, and didn't have to answer to anyone. Sharyn was just kind of bemused by us.

Sharyn Taymor, former director of ESPN Enterprises: In the 1990s, the ESPN brand was starting to be everywhere. ESPN2 had just started and there was talk of ESPN News and Classic, and we wanted to start licensing the ESPN brand to products and services. It was like the wild, wild west. We worked on dot-com, The Magazine, video games, fantasy sports, merchandise and music. We didn't even have to seek out that many opportunities; you just had to sit back and see what people brought to us. I remember having a fantasy football meeting with the NFL. I had no idea what I was talking about. It hadn't existed until then. To give you an idea of what it was like, the products and services we worked on are now entire divisions within the company.

And ESPN was kind of straight-laced and Tommy Boy Records was not. We weren't into being provocative at all, and Tommy Boy was totally the opposite. [But] it was an area that made sense for us because we hadn't done anything in that genre and music and sports are so closely tied together.

Lynch: My uncle was in charge of the ticket office at Chicago Stadium, so as a kid I got to go to a lot of Blackhawk games and sit in the front row right behind the goalie. I had the biggest crush on Keith Magnuson because he was the bad boy of that team and he was always spitting his teeth out on the ice, which I just thought was the sexiest thing ever. My uncle arranged for Bobby Hull to introduce us after a game. And when Bobby said, 'She's your biggest fan, Keith, and she wants to give you a great big kiss,' I was so mortified I turned around and punched Hull right in the stomach. I guess that's where this all started. I just loved hockey, the sights, the sounds, the energy; it was so violent and visceral.

KayGee, Naughty by Nature, "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11): A lot of musicians call themselves sports guys, and a lot of sports guys call themselves musicians. So there's a community between us, a natural connection that's embedded in all of us. When we first came out, one of our favorite teams was the Fab Five. We [KayGee and fellow group members Treach and Vin Rock] all started wearing baggy shorts on stage, and when we played in Michigan, they came to our show and I became lifelong friends with those guys.

Freedom Williams, singer, C+C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (Track 10): Sports is nothing but a dance. It's rhythm, right? Baseball is a slow dance. Football is a violent dance. Basketball is a quick dance. When you hit a ground ball to the shortstop and the shortstop hits the second baseman and the second baseman throws it to first, that's poetry, that's a dance they're doing.

Taymor: The first [sport-compilation project Tommy Boy did] was "Jock Rock," and it was all about rock and established sports anthems, you know, Queen, "We Will Rock You," that kind of stuff. It came out in 1994 and charted No. 79 on Billboard, and we knew we had something terrific. There was a record label called K-Tel, and they did compilations for many years, and we just kind of took their place. Tommy Boy was more of a hip-hop, rap and dance label, though, and they wanted to go more in that direction. That's where Jock Jams came from. We wanted to be the influencers of this kind of sports music instead of being influenced by it.

Castoldi: Hip-hop as a pop music form, that idea was still pretty new. My first bosses at MSG told me "Ray, we're not running a nightclub up there. These hip-hop records -- are they really the kind of music our audience is gonna groove to?" And the answer was: Of course! Absolutely! "Jock Rock" was almost entirely oldies. With Jock Jams, it was all about: Let's talk about the new stuff.

Did you know?On top of his MSG organist gig, Ray Castoldi also worked as a DJ under the name Frequency X alongside Joe Turri and Nicolai Vorkapich. He performed at the Limelight nightclubs and was signed by Radikal Records, which distributed the first import of 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This" (Track 2).

With the project approved, it was now up to Taymor and Patrick Edmonds, from Tommy Boy -- with an assist from Castoldi -- to curate the collection.

Taymor: Castoldi had a lot of influence on that list because he knew what songs were already being played at sporting events. Patrick would then give me a CD with 30 to 40 tracks on it and then we'd try to figure out what to put on the album. That was the really fun part. I'd listen to them in the office, at home, in the car, and go back to him and say, "OK, how about this group?" Or "I don't like this one." There was a lot of back and forth -- a lot.

Castoldi: One of the only debates we had was: Do we put KC and the Sunshine Band "Get Down Tonight" or the Village People's "YMCA" on Volume 1? I mean, they're both classics. But "YMCA" had the dance, so that's gonna win. KC ended up on Volume 2. Rock tracks like "Welcome to the Jungle" were hard to get, those bands just wouldn't do the licensing. I remember later on we wanted "Song 2" by Blur and they were like "Uh, no, we don't want to be on a sports-oriented record." More power to them. And now, it's weird, it's almost hard to hear that song anywhere else but in an arena.

Taymor: Monica and I had to work at always finding the right balance, and there was a lot of tugging and pulling from each side, whether it was a song, or a lyric, or the artwork or the commercials. That was always the issue: They wanted to go in that direction, and I was very, very paranoid and protective of the brand. There were just a bunch of things we had to say no to. I don't think a project like this would happen now. Now, things are just out there and blatant. Back then, it was all innuendo and double entendres, it could mean this or it could mean that.

Jay "Ski" McGowan, Quad City DJ's member and 69 Boyz producer: We just decided, Hey, if anyone from ESPN asks about 69 Boyz, just say the guys were all born in 1969 and "Tootsee Roll" (Track 5) is a candy and a fun dance and just leave it at that. A little bit more, we would have been in trouble with ESPN, but we stayed right there on that line. ... Yes [laughing], I do expect you to believe that! That's our story, and we're sticking to it. [Editor's note: McGowan and the 69 Boyz were not all born in 1969.]

Lynch: I love the 69 Boyz, that's the perfect answer. I guess a song like K7's "Come Baby Come" (Track 7) had a naughty tone to it. I suppose it's the double entendres that matter. But it was already a popular record, so it was the kind of thing, in a meeting at ESPN, you could say, "But I sing that song to my 2-year-old." And if the feeling was that "it's mom-friendly," it would be OK.

1 Related

Taymor: Tommy Boy once brought us a Coolio song, and I kind of read too much into it and pushed back. It was "one-two-three-four, get your woman on the floor..." I told them what I thought he was saying, and they all said, "That's not what it means!" So we put that song on Jock Jams 2.

Lynch: The throughline in the selection of the songs was these were all hits or were all about to be hits. We looked for high-energy records that had crossed over and were either being played or just starting to get played in sports arenas. Some of these records, like "YMCA," were already chestnuts in the stadiums, and with some of our artists, like K7, we wanted to use Jock Jams to usher a song like "Come Baby Come" into anthem status.

Did you know?When contacted by ESPN, a rep for the Village People's original lead singer Victor Willis, 69, responded: "What is Jock Jams?"

Castoldi: The lineup is all killer and no filler, like they used to say on the radio. Because it was the first one, there was so much low-hanging fruit that you could just pick the best of the best, the songs that we'd all consider late-game go-to songs, big anthemic songs that you want to play at key moments of a game. And these are all there on Jock Jams 1. You gotta remember, there was no iTunes, no YouTube, no internet, no Shazam, so part of the reason why this was so successful is Jock Jams put all of this stuff in one place for you. Otherwise, at the time, you would have had to go out and buy, like, 20 CDs to collect all these songs.

As the lineup began to take shape, Taymor still found herself facing a challenge.

Taymor: The challenge was how do we put an ESPN spin on it? How do we brand it with ESPN? That's when we came up with the idea of what we called interstitials, little sports-related sound bites you'd hear between songs.

Castoldi: The goal from the beginning was to make it an immersive sports experience, like you were actually at the game. I recorded my little "The Old Ballgame" organ riff (Track 19) at the Garden or maybe just in my apartment. We recorded cheerleaders, hot dog vendors at Yankee Stadium, marching bands, as well as personalities like Michael Buffer. I mean, how many people got married that year with Michael Buffer and 2 Unlimited kicking off their reception?

Lynch: That was not an inexpensive undertaking to get Michael Buffer and "Let's get ready to rumble" on the first Jock Jams. I don't remember what the number was, but I remember a gulp when I saw the number. He didn't come cheap. We decided to do it, and in hindsight I'm really glad that we did. He was "the" guy, the voice of sports, the voice of god. Having that as the opening was absolutely perfect. When you hear "Let's get ready to rumblllllle" within the first few seconds, everybody knew what this was.

Did you know?Buffer tried out "Man your battle stations!" and "Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts!" before settling on LGRTR, which was inspired by Muhammad Ali. Buffer trademarked the phrase in 1992, and it was estimated to be worth $400 million as of 2009.

The backstory of Jock Jams doesn't end, though, in New York City and Bristol, Connecticut -- where ESPN is located. The stories behind the songs are as compelling as the tunes themselves -- and reveal much about the music industry, and the culture, 25 years ago.

Rob Base, vocals, songwriter, "It Takes Two" (Track 8 | LISTEN):

We had to be in the studio that same night [in early 1988], so me and E-Z Rock went over to a friend's house, and we were just going through a bunch of different albums and he found a beat he liked and I found this Lyn Collins record I liked. That's where the "woo, yeah" comes from. We just blended them together, and that's how we came up with the song. It was quick. In that era of hip-hop, we were all digging through crates of old records trying to find beats and samples no one had used before, so that was the key -- if you found something that was hot, that no one had used, you pretty much had something, for sure. It worked out really well for us waiting to the last second. We had no idea what we were going to do in the studio that night, but the music just came together. I had the rap part already written, and it just all fit perfectly.

I was met with heavy resistance at the time about all the "woo, yeah"s, and I had to really fight for that. At the time Public Enemy had a record that had a siren that rode all the way through. That made that record stand out so much, and I was thinking to myself, If I leave the "woo, yeah" in the whole record, that's gonna make this record stand out too. They wanted to take it out at the beginning of the verses and bring it back in at the end. I put my foot down with management: It gotta stay. And I won.

Did you know?Rodney Bryce, aka DJ E-Z Rock, who became friends with Base in the fourth grade in Harlem, died in 2014 from complications of diabetes. ... Rolling Stone christened the repeating "woo, yeah" the "single greatest use of a looped drum break in rap history -- the hip-hop equivalent of the guitar solo in 'Stairway to Heaven.'" (Track 8).

Ian Dench, songwriter, guitarist, "Unbelievable" by EMF, (Track 15 | LISTEN):

When the record deal with my first band [Curse] came to nothing, there I was back in Gloucester, England, living in a little bedsit. My mum had a nice piano, and so I used to ride my bike over there and write songs. She was distraught. If my own son gets into Oxford and then gives it all up to play in a rock 'n' roll band, I would burst into tears as well. Anyway, I was riding my bike through the park, thinking about all these songs I was working on about my ex-girlfriend who dumped me. I was always looking for words and ways to say what I was feeling, and that's why "unbelievable" was such a great word because it had that double meaning to it where you're amazing but perhaps there's something underhand to you as well. I was on the bike trying to think of a way to say it, and that's when it just popped into my head -- "The things, you say; Your purple prose just gives you away; The things, you say" -- followed by that phrase and that stop: "bawm, badada-da-dat-dadadaa ... You're unbelievable." My place was not too far, five minutes away, so I just kept riding and humming it in my head, round and round, got back to my bedsit, pulled out my guitar and cassette, and there it was.

I do have to give a shoutout to Andrew Dice Clay [too] because that "Ohhh" is a wonderful sample and it's quite a funny story. Def Jam released his record -- It was really terribly misogynistic, wasn't it? -- and before our record came out, we kept trying to get ahold of Rick Rubin to clear the sample. But he never got back to us. Well, we were in L.A. for meetings before the release of the record, and we went into The Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset, which was quite the big heavy-metal hangout at the time, and there was [Def Jam co-founder] Rick Rubin. So I just went up to him and said, "Sorry to interrupt, big fan; we just made a record, and we're trying to clear this sample." And he said, "No problem, fax it to me in the morning." Sure enough, we faxed it to him, and he cleared it. I mean, talk about the stars aligning on a record.

Did you know?In 2009 Dench earned two Grammy nominations for collaborations with Beyonce ("Once in a Lifetime" and "I Am... Sasha Fierce."). ... A few years ago, he got a message from a student in Wales who said his teacher was claiming she was the inspiration for "Unbelievable." Dench did some checking and wrote back to the student "Yes, yes, that's absolutely true." (Track 15).

McGowan, Quad City DJ's, producer on "Tootsee Roll" (Track 5 | LISTEN):

We had just come off the road, back in Jacksonville, and I was with my son, who was 5, and we were in a Cracker Barrel -- or, in the store next to the restaurant walking around. I mean, we've all been in a Cracker Barrel with our kids, and they aren't as super excited about the meal as they are about running through that store. Well, I come across this thing, this piggy bank that was a long roll, painted like a Tootsie Roll and I thought, "This is cool, I'll get this for my son and have him start saving some coins." As I'm walking through Cracker Barrel, my son in one hand, the Tootsie Roll bank in the other, it just hit me: This would make a perfect concept for a record, a dance that's a play on the candy.

We always wanted to create the party and the club feel on record, so that's why we'd add those whistles and all that background crowd noise; we wanted them to be a signature. We came from the skate-rink era and they had whistles, and we'd grab our friends and say, "Hey, we're doing crowd vocals" and put everybody in the vocal booth, pitch down an octave or two, and mix it together and add effects, and before you knew it, it sounds like a party in there. And that's why our records worked so well on Jock Jams and in stadiums because it almost felt like, with all the crowd noise already on our records, all people in the stands had to do was just join in.

Did you know?Quad City DJ's was nominated for a Grammy for "Space Jam" off the 1996 "Space Jam" movie soundtrack, and McGowan now works as "Jay the EnterTrainer," speaking on leadership and innovation. ... The original Tootsie Roll bank is still at his son's grandmother's house.

Martha Wash, singer, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)," (Track 10 | LISTEN):

I was in a studio in New York, and one of the producers, who had worked with Mariah Carey, was on the phone explaining what he wanted me to sing, and I said to him, "That key is really high for me." I remember on The Weather Girls' "Big Girls Don't Cry" album there was a song with a really high obbligato part at the beginning, and so we put the microphone on the floor and I bent over to sing on top of the microphone. We all laughed about it, how no one would have believed it, but that's how I got that note out of me. With "Everybody Dance Now," to get the power of those three words, I had to really, really almost scream it out. So I was in the booth reaching my hands up to the ceiling to try and see about getting those notes out correctly and in the right key without it sounding crazy.

People love that screaming part, OK? Yeah, it's hard to sing live. Can you do the same thing you were doing 30 years ago? OK then.

Did you know?In 2017 a Canadian man singing "Gonna Make You Sweat" in his car was issued a $118 ticket by police for "screaming in a public place."

Wash, singer, "Strike It Up," (Track 4 | LISTEN):

Believe it or not, that was never one of my favorite songs. What makes it so interesting is the music on that song. I won't say it's necessarily my vocals; it's more so the music for that particular song. When you put that together with an athletic situation and a game and you hear that bass line come in and it goes into that baump baump baump ba ba, the audience gets into that because it's a sports chant.

Did you know?Although Wash's thunderous, distinctive voice was easily recognizable from her No. 1 dance hit "It's Raining Men" with The Weather Girls and a dozen other No. 1 dance songs, she was not properly credited for her vocals in the original versions of "Gonna Make You Sweat" and "Strike It Up." In the age of Milli Vanilli, C+C Music Factory and Black Box attempted to cast slimmer, younger women to lip sync Wash's vocals.Says Wash: "I had just checked into a hotel, had the TV on, channel surfing, and I landed on this station that was playing the video for 'Gonna Make You Sweat,' and I'm seeing this thin, thin woman lip-syncing to my vocals, and I'm like, 'What is going on?' I was not happy about that." The ensuing legal battle inspired federal legislation mandating proper vocal credit on all published music. "Lots of people know the voice, know the songs, they dance to those songs and sing every word to those songs, but they don't know my name," she adds. "It's not fun. They know Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Lizzo. My goodness I've been doing this for 40 years and I've had a hit in every decade since the '80s, and John Q. Public still doesn't know my name."

Jean-Paul De Coster, producer, songwriter, "Get Ready for This" (Track 2 | LISTEN) and "Twilight Zone" (Track 18 | LISTEN):

In 1983 I was still in school, teaching mechanics and electricity, and I was wanting to quit to follow my passion. I knew Patrick [De Meyer] from Technotronic (Track 17: "Pump Up the Jam") for ages because I was coming into his record store in Antwerp [in Belgium] and asking him, "Can you explain to me how a record store works?" And he says. "How do you know?" And I said "How do I know what?" He was selling the record store because he was so busy with his own music and record company, and so I said, "OK, I'll jump in and have a coffee." And I bought his shop.

In 1987 we had the first Belgium music wave, which was inspired by New Wave, and they called it New Beat and they played records and slowed them down from 45 rpm to 33 rpm, with bpm 100 to 105, very dark and mellow and moody, like a fashion scene. When New Beat was over, I saw in my record shop and in the clubs when I was DJing that people were going crazy on this new Belgium House Sounds that had evolved from New Beat. I said to [Belgium DJ] Phil Wilde -- he is the computer wizard and studio guy -- "Something's happening with this sound, we need to make a record." And he said, "Fine, come in."

So on a Wednesday, I took a day off from my record shop. He would play riffs, and I would say, "No, no, play it more like this." We wanted more energetic, more pumping, and so we were twisting sounds together, layered and mixed. It was very important that we made sounds that were different from the rest. An early review called it an energetic, powerful, crispy sound.

KayGee, Naughty By Nature, "Hip Hop Hooray" (Track 11 | LISTEN):

We were on tour and Tommy Boy was putting pressure on us to hurry up and finish our second album. After the success of "O.P.P.," it was like, you guys need to keep it going. I had made a bunch of beats. But on our tour bus, Treach was just blasting that one beat over and over. It's the Isley Brothers, it's just playing on 45. Their song is slow, and I just sped it up real fast and that gave it a different sound and a new feel. That's the process of a producer: We chop stuff up, speed it up, slow it down, filter it, do a lot of things to it, because when you mess around with it, it turns into something different.

So we're on the tour bus, with Treach writing, and the whole concept of the chorus, they did that in parties back in New York when a good record would come on, they'd say "Heeey, hooo," like to say, "That's my joint." Treach remembered that, and he was like, "It would be dope to use that heeey, hooo they do in the clubs, but I'm gonna call it Hip Hop Hooray-Hooo and I'm gonna talk about the love of hip-hop and how we advanced as hip-hop artists."

We wrote the whole thing on the tour bus and we recorded it, and Tommy Boy didn't even know about that song. We performed it at KMEL [Bay Area] Summer Jam. It was packed; there must have been 25,000 people out there, and the very first time it was introduced, Treach and Vin put their hands up in the air and the whole crowd, I mean everybody, started waving side to side with the beat. We started in talent shows, getting the crowd involved to win those talent shows. It was so spontaneous the way the crowd followed along. So we knew not only did we have a song that connects we have a visual that connects with our audience too. The program director called Tommy Boy and said "Naughty performed a song last night, and if I don't have a copy of it on my desk Monday morning, I'm playing the live version." So Monica was calling me, yelling at me, "What song are they talking about?!"

Did you know?As a mental exercise while recovering from COVID-19, actress Rita Wilson posted an Instagram video of her near-perfect rendition of "Hip Hop Hooray," which she memorized while preparing for a 2019 movie role. After the video got 2 million views, Wilson teamed up with KayGee and Naughty for a remix to benefit MusiCares Covid-19 Relief Fund. "It's incredible," KayGee says. "She did better than I would have done trying to sing Treach's lyrics like that."

"Jock Jams, Volume 1" went platinum in just over a year and peaked at No. 30 on the charts. By expanding the definition of stadium anthems to include Eurodance, Latin music, pop, hip-hop and rap, Lynch and Taymor had ensured that Jock Jams would have an impact at the cash register and across the culture. (Despite all of Taymor's precautions, Jock Jams 1 was not completely controversy-free. The 20th and final track on the original compilation, "Rock and Roll Part 2," is by Gary Glitter, who, in 2015, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing three young girls.)

"Jock Jams, Volume 2" was released in 1996, and thanks to the "Macarena" by Los Del Rio, it managed to crack the top 10 -- an extraordinary feat for a compilation album. But the series truly hit its Jock Jam peak with Volume 3, which included an "It's Awesome, Baby!" intro by Dick Vitale, "official" Jock Jams Cheerleader chants, a rendition of "The Chicken Dance" by Castoldi and a brain-searing sound salad called the "Jock Jam Mega Mix," featured in a classic series of infamous commercials that fused a public-access cable milieu with the low-key approach of a carpet liquidator.

The final Jock Jams was released in 2001, just as Napster, the online music-sharing (and piracy) service hit its peak. All told, the series sold more than 4 million copies and -- for better or worse -- helped pave the way for modern-day bands such as Fall Out Boy to integrate their songs into sports culture. "There is nothing like your song being played in a stadium; you get this whole different kind of shiver," FOB's Pete Wentz told ESPN in 2014. "Integrating your music into the texture of a larger experience, like a sporting event, is important. 'Empire State of Mind' and Jay-Z and the Yankees are a thing. Forever. The music and the experience become interwoven. That's powerful."

Castoldi: I ran into Naughty a few years ago at the Garden, and I was like, "You guys remember Jock Jams?" And they were all like, "Uh, yeah, we made some money off that one." Today recording artists are looking for any avenue, any outlet, to get their music out into the world and get it heard. And I think sports was on the leading edge of that, as an alternative outlet for artists to break new music and promote their material.

Lynch: Jock Jams had this enormous audience of women. It started getting used as a soundtrack for exercising and aerobics and cheerleading dance routines. At the time, we had no idea it was going to take on this whole other audience. The high school girls and the female component of the audience, we did not anticipate that part of the audience was going to explode that way.

Taymor: I would go to the Tower Records [near] Union Square -- this was not a not once-or-twice thing, I did it all the time -- and I would take all the Jock Jams and move them to the front of the stack so they would be more visible. We used to get Billboard magazine delivered to the office, and the first thing I'd do was go to the page with all the listings and see where we were that week. I used to rip out the page and tape it to the door of my office, and it was so much fun watching them climb the charts each week.

De Coster: Jock Jams introduced a lot of different music cultures to a big audience. In those days, in the 1990s, it was all rock music, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, and we were struggling and fighting to have our records on the radio. So compilations like Jock Jams were very important to us because it introduced us to an audience we never could reach.

Freedom Williams: The first time I ever realized the song was gonna be big, I was walking down the block and everyone was jamming to it on the JumboTron on 42nd [Times Square]. They were playing the song -- "Jump to the rhythm, jump-jump" -- while NBA players were dunking and jumping to it. That's when I knew it was gonna be a big record.

KayGee: Before the COVID situation, I had to drive and pick up my daughter at Purdue, and on that ride we took her car, so she's the DJ, she's controlling everything, and I'm hearing a few of my records come on. That's pretty cool, and she's like, "Come on, Dad, you know you want to sing along."

McGowan: Jock Jams gave us more life. We played on the field in Philadelphia, at the top of the fifth inning in Game 3 of the World Series. That was mind-blowing. We played "Space Jams" as the intro for Zach LaVine when he won the NBA Slam Dunk contest. I just read in a book about Tiger Woods that after he won his first Masters at 21, he rode off down Magnolia Lane with the SUV windows down blasting "C'mon N Ride It (The Trainz)."

Base: I played some baseball growing up, a little third base, shortstop, outfield, and I always wanted to be a baseball player, but that didn't happen. I'm a big Yankees fan. I remember sitting at home watching my Yankees and they got a double play and they started playing "It Takes Two," and I jumped out of my seat and I started running around trying to call everyone I could, but they were all calling me at the same time going, "Yo, the Yankees just played your song!" I thought it would be a big record in the tri-state area. Once sports started playing this song, I was like, "That's it, this is a mega-song. Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Rob Base?" Yeah, yeah, I like that.

Did you know?The NFL used "It Takes Two" in its 100-year celebration commercial during Super Bowl LIII, where a pickup football game breaks out in the middle of an anniversary banquet. And as for Base's commonly misheard "can't stand sex"? In the song, what he actually says he can't stand is "sess." "Don't smoke buddha, can't stand sess." It's a reference to sinsemilla, a strain of marijuana. "A lot of people have been singing that wrong for the last 30 years," Base says. Although it's frowned upon by die-hard fans in New York, Base roots for both the Giants and the Jets. "People get on me for that, but I've been like that forever," he says. In his defense, these days, for NFL fans in New York who want to watch a normal amount of success, it takes two (franchises). "It takes two? Oh, right, I'm gonna use that, thanks," Base says.

De Coster: [During the] Winter Olympics in Russia, they used one of our songs in the closing ceremonies. That was goose bumps. DJ Steve Aoki remixed it at Tomorrowland, and the whole festival went bananas. My daughter is 24, and she had her birthday party in the garden and I told her I would DJ for her. But I am an old guy, and in the beginning it felt very uncomfortable. Then I started playing some '90s music and they all knew all those records. So now when my daughter has a party, her friends want to know: Is your dad playing? It's all hip again. Very strange.

Lynch: At Tommy Boy, I always called Jock Jams "the love that dare not speak its name." It was funny because for a period of time, we were a label that had distinguished itself in hip-hop, and Jock Jams was like this big mainstream pop project, this juggernaut that was a huge record that didn't really have street cred. For years after, you'd say Jock Jams and people would laugh and say, "Oh, my mom loved Jock Jams." And then, funny enough, just a few years ago, for some reason, people were like, "Oh, Jock Jams was so cool." I think it was just one of those things that was so uncool it became hip.

Taymor: The Jock Jams franchise eventually went away because record labels got wise to it and said, "Why don't we take our own music and put out our own albums?" And those were the compilations called "Now That's What I Call Music!" But the first Jock Jams, you go to a game now and 75 to 80 percent of the songs you hear are from that era still. And those aren't going away. I still go to Madison Square Garden and brag, absolutely.

KayGee: We didn't understand the significance of being a part of Jock Jams at first, but as time went on, we got it. Our ultimate goal, we wanted to be able to rock sports arenas and rock stadiums, and that's what Jock Jams represented.

McGowan: You catch me riding in my truck, you'll catch me listening to those Jock Jam records. I could ride and listen to Jock Jams to this day, start to finish, from Track 1 to the end, because I genuinely still love that vibe. And I think a lot of people still do.

Dench: We've all grown up together, I suppose, haven't we? I've never been super sporty, so it has been wonderful to contribute to sports in some way, without ever having to actually break a sweat.

Excerpt from:

From 'Hip Hop Hooray' to 'YMCA,' the untold stories of Jock Jams, 25 years later - ESPN Philippines

Decapitated deer heads, star-crossed lovers, and super sick beats - these seemingly random elements may look completely out of place with each other, but thats exactly where the appeal of Felix the Reaper comes in. If somebody had pitched me the idea of a game where you dance around killing people on the quest to be with your one true love, Id have slammed my fist on the conference table, exclaimed a vehement Yes, and shoved what little money I had left in whichever direction I had to in order to make that game a reality.

Turns out that the higher-ups at publisher Daedalic Entertainment and developer Kong Orange were way ahead of me from the very beginning.

Yes, Felix the Reaper is all about you dancing through grids in a 3D puzzle platform in order to make the predetermined deaths of mortals a reality, often in a hilariously dark and twisted fashion (imagine accidentally decapitating your brother with an arrow because you thought he was a deer). As Felix, the agent of death working for the Ministry of Death, you have to get from Point A to Point B essentially, making sure to stick to the shadows and avoid the sun - not because youre a vampire, but because its just spookier to off people when youre not in broad daylight.

To do this, you have to manipulate a sundial that shifts the grids where you can move around, so you really have to knock around the ol noggin to figure out how to succeed in your assignments without stepping into the light.

The game was initially released on PC and on consoles during the latter part of 2019. To be honest, I had never heard of Felix the Reaper before all this, but the advantage of me living under a rock all this time is that when I started playing, everything was a surprise for me. I reveled in the quick and quirky introduction about the world of the game and who you play as, and no, I wouldnt mind having Sir Patrick Stewart feed me instructions on how to do my job all day.

Im not normally a fan of puzzle games, and the only ones I really enjoyed were Sid & Al's Incredible Toons by Sierra On-Line back in 1993 and Scribblenauts on the Nintendo DS in 2009. But the thing that really got me tapping and grooving with Felix was the story. Im a self-confessed sucker for tragic love stories, and if this ones going to take the form of a woman who works for the Ministry of Life and a man whos essentially the Grim Reaper, then Im totally and completely on board.

More than the actual gameplay, I found myself browsing through all of the descriptions and entertaining tidbits in the game. There were backstories to every mortal target, and tongue-in-cheek little details that most players will likely miss. For instance, during the tutorial, you end up offing the wrong victim, and you get a company memo that tells you to report immediately to the Department of Unexistence of Non-Existing Events with a note that says, This didnt happen!

The problem is that its only very briefly shown until you have to move on to the actual game. I like those little things, but sadly, they werent enough to really make me enjoy the game to its fullest.

Heres the downside to all this. The game doesnt hold your hand, and while Im all for discovering things on your own, it probably wasnt the smartest choice for the developers to make here. I spent an unholy amount of time during the first few missions of the first victim alone, trying to figure out how to get to a shadowed part of the grid, only to find out that I could actually move certain things that were in the way to get to where I wanted to go.

It was also a bit frustrating to target the specific grids while dragging-and-dropping. Because I needed to zoom out and see the lay of the land most of the time, the boxes always end up too small for my finger to drag-and-drop onto. Its also a shame that I constantly had to zoom out to check my path, when a zoomed-in view would have been lovelier - the art is stunning, and missing out on all that jazz (not to mention Felixs sick dance moves) is just too bad.

I love a good challenge as much as the next person, but whenever I finally got through a round, it just didnt feel as satisfying as I thought it would. You get a score card and some checkmarks for certain criteria, which, quite frankly, are too difficult to achieve. It can be pretty frustrating (especially for someone whos more spatially challenged as me), and while I really wanted to keep going, I had to stop and take a break because my head was literally hurting.

Oddly enough, the moment I stopped, I had this sudden urge to immediately go back to the game. I guess thats the great conundrum of puzzle challenges, isnt it?

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Felix the Reaper. Levels get bigger but end up becoming repetitive. I puff up my chest in self-pride with each round I clear, and end up with more debilitating self-doubt when the next stage starts. While I absolutely devoured the concept and storyline and wanted to see what happened next, I also couldnt bring myself to just keep going.

I really want Felix to beat all odds and be with the love of his life. I mean, that look alone that he gives at the end of every round is enough to break my heart into a million pieces. He kind of does this little glance and takes one last look at his surroundings in hopes of spotting the girl of his dreams, then heaves this huge, dejected sigh of disappointment before he hops onto the elevator and leaves. Its an ingenious idea, but if this were a short film instead of a game, I probably would have enjoyed myself way more.

Visit link:

Felix The Reaper on iOS review - "Lots of love, not enough game" - Pocket Gamer

Internet banking enables customers of a financial institution, such as retail bank, credit union, building society, or virtual bank to carry financial transactions on a secure network employed by the institution. Moreover, increase in use of mobile phones is also likely to boost the growth of the market in the estimated forecast period. In addition, increase in adoption of technology is also likely to boost the growth of the market.

The global Internet Banking market is expected to expand at a CAGR of +11% over the forecast period 2020-2026.

Internet Banking Market Report defines and briefs readers about its products, applications, and specifications. The research lists key companies operating in the global market and also highlights the key changing trends adopted by the companies to maintain their dominance. By using SWOT analysis and Porters five force analysis tools, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of key companies are all mentioned in the report. All leading players in this global market are profiled with details such as product types, business overview, sales, manufacturing base, competitors, applications, and specifications.

Top Key Vendors in Market:

CGI, Financial Network services, Corillian, COR Financial Solutions, I-flex Solutions, Canopus Software Laboratory, First Source Bank, and Rockall Technologies

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The Internet Banking market comprises in-depth assessment of this sector. This statistical report also provides a detailed study of the demand and supply chain in the global sector. The competitive landscape has been elaborated by describing the various aspects of the leading industries such as shares, profit margin, and competition at the domestic and global level.

Different global regions such as North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and India have been analyzed on the basis of the manufacturing base, productivity, and profit margin. This Internet Banking market research report has been scrutinized on the basis of different practical oriented case studies from various industry experts and policymakers. It uses numerous graphical presentation techniques such as tables, charts, graphs, pictures and flowchart for easy and better understanding to the readers.

Different internal and external factors such as, Internet Banking Market have been elaborated which are responsible for driving or restraining the progress of the companies. To discover the global opportunities different methodologies have been included to increase customers rapidly.

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Table of Content:

Global Internet Banking Market Research Report 2020-2026

Chapter 1: Industry Overview

Chapter 2: Internet Banking Market International and China Market Analysis

Chapter 3: Environment Analysis of Internet Banking.

Chapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by Classifications

Chapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and Applications

Chapter 6: Analysis of Internet Banking Market Revenue Market Status.

Chapter 7: Analysis of Internet Banking Industry Key Manufacturers

Chapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin Analysis

Chapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Internet Banking.

Chapter 10: Development Trend of Internet Banking Market 2020-2026.

Chapter 11: Industry Chain Suppliers of Internet Banking with Contact Information.

Chapter 12: New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Market.

Chapter 13: Conclusion of the Internet Banking Market Industry 2025 Market Research Report.

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Comprehensive report on Internet Banking Market with Top Key players like CGI, Financial Network services, Corillian, COR Financial Solutions, I-flex...

What would the summer season be without a sighting of Kim Zolciak-Biermann and her stunning clan in a series of barely-there swimsuits?Not only has the Don't Be Tardy mom already graced us with sexy shots of her new swimcollection, but she's also serving us a few cheeky numbers fresh from hervacation.

The Biermann ladies have spent the last few days lounging poolside and posing inbeach-adjacent locales in a slew of bold swimwear styles. Naturally,Ariana, Brielle, and Kim brought along a healthy amount of Salty K Swimwear looks to rock all vacation long. And though every member of the Biermann fam is fully capable of turning heads, Kim just shared a sun-kissed photo that stopped us in our tracks.

On July 16, Kim posted a bum-baring pic in which she tookin the sights and providedone of her own. "Good morning everyone! Give it your all today Dont half ass anything," she hilariously wrote in the caption of a photo that flaunts almost all of her curves.

In the shot, Kim sporteda skimpy swimsuit set of her own design. Soluckily, you can grab a Salty K Seasalt Top ($95) and Salty K Seasalt Bottom ($95) yourself fab physique not included.

Bravos Style & Living is your window to the fabulous lifestyles of Bravolebrities. Be the first to know about all the best fashion and beauty looks, the breathtaking homes Bravo stars live in, everything theyre eating and drinking, and so much more. Sign up to become a Bravo Insider and get exclusive extras.

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Kim Zolciak-Biermann Bares Her Butt in the Tiniest Thong Bikini - Bravo

Rasheeda Frost shared some new pics in which she is flaunting some pretty cool outfits from Pressed Boutique. She is also flaunting various wigs, and fans simply adore her new looks.

Check out the recent photos that she shared on her social media account below.

Good morning! Felt like platinum so here it goes!! What we gonna call her?? @diamonddynastyvirginhair, Rasheeda captioned her post.

Someone said: Rasheeda. The girl who marries the man she put it on him lol, and another follower posted this message: Im a big fan, my sister! U rock all ur hair so Bossy and Beautiful.

A commenter wrote: Wow that looks really nice on you my god beautiful. Yero aka the internet, and someone else said: Hope u n ur family r all well keep safe love u.

One other follower posted this message: When youre that beautiful, it doesnt matter what your hair looks like lol, but yes, that Platinum is so beautiful. I wanted this color but my beautician couldnt get me more than 2 notches past blonde. Ugh.

A follower said: Where can I get these dresses I will wear all three, and someone else responded that the dresses are from the Pressed Boutique.

A fan gushed over Rasheeda and said: She looks fabulous in everything she wears, and someone else posted this: Love you with the platinum blonde, both dresses are cute.

Someone else wrote: Hard decision, I love the blue and yellow. But damn the pink and yellow looks cute as well, and a fan said: Both the colors nice and they look comfortable.

Not too long ago, Rasheeda Frost showed off a new look and her fans are right here for this. The Boss Lady was sporting a short bob and a new hair color.

Fans made sure to jump in the comments and praise Rasheeda.

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In other news, Rasheeda shocked her fans with this videoin which shes addressing the fasting that shes doing for 30 days.

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Rasheeda Frost Switches Up Her Look And Fans Are Here For It Check Out Her Outfits And Hairdos - Celebrity Insider

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Trinity Site is a National Historic Landmark just 96 miles northeast of Las Cruces. At 5:30 a.m. Mountain War Time, the worlds first atomic bomb was detonated there on Monday, July 16, 1945. The explosion was equal to 44 million pounds of TNT and thrust us into the Nuclear Age in the blink of an eye.

Trinity is on the north end of White Sands Missile Range which normally opens the site to the public twice a year, the first Saturdays of April and October. I worked my first Trinity open house in 1977 and have been continuously associated with it for 43 years. I have coordinated the open houses, conducted many VIP tours, designed the signs at the site and currently act as a subject matter expect now that Im retired from the missile range. Some people think Ive been to Trinity Site more than any other human being.

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In talking to visitors, I hear many myths and legends some are true and some are not. For instance, the military police providing security did indeed play polo at base camp.

First Lieutenant Howard Bush was the head of security at the site. His police unit patrolled Los Alamos on horseback before being assigned to Trinity. When they moved south in December 1944, they took their horses, assuming they would patrol with them.

The horses turned out to be totally impractical given the distances the men needed to cover each day. A jeep or truck was much more useful.

Bush, always interested in providing recreational opportunities for his men, managed to get polo equipment shipped to New Mexico. They had horses so polo made some sort of sense. However, none of them had ever played and the soft, sandy ground was no good for the standard wooden balls and mallets. But, being clever folks, the men improvised. They substituted brooms for the mallets and used a volleyball in place of the three-inch regulation ball.

Soldiers play polo at Trinity Sites base camp. They are using cut off brooms and a volleyball instead of the standard equipment.(Photo: Jim Eckles collection)

In 2000, Polo: Players Edition Magazine got wind of the story and requested information from the missile range. The March 2001 issue came out with a full-page story about the players. The only problem was the lead sentence that said, About 40 miles outside of San Antonio, Texas, the U.S. Army had a top secret site It was another fine example of One of our 50 is missing.

For the test, Bush, as head of security was at the South 10,000-yard bunker where the bomb was triggered the control bunker. This is where Dr. Robert Oppenheimer watched from. Bush elected to be outside the bunker for the test. In his report, he said he was looking away from Ground Zero and was crouched down with his arms over his head. Like many others, he reported the incredible intense white light during the first moments of the explosion. Depending on cloud conditions, the skies over southern New Mexico were lit up for over a hundred miles. Bush said the light was so bright, he touched his eyelids with his finger to make sure his eyes were closed.

Business: WSMR partnership restores Trinity Site ranch house

On the other hand, some stories are so absurd they never gain any traction. A few years ago a seller on eBay was peddling a nice old color postcard of the dunes at White Sands National Monument. In the description, the seller claimed the sand was bleached white by the explosion at Trinity Site. Since the park existed before 1945, that one made no sense at all.

Sometimes, even knowledgeable people accept a story with a nod of the head because it appeals to their common sense. For decades everyone, including the folks at Los Alamos, offered the explanation that the glass on the Trinity Site crater, dubbed Trinitite, was formed by the explosions fireball bouncing off the ground and melting the surface. When you hear that temperatures in the fireball reached thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, it seems like a reasonable explanation. In the missile range Public Affairs Office, we called it the crme brulee effect.

This is what 100 tons of TNT looks like stacked on top of a 20-foot wooden platform. This pile, located to the south of Ground Zero, was exploded on May 7, 1945. The test served as a dress rehearsal for the actual explosion and a way to calibrate instruments designed to measure blast effects. Note that the atomic explosion was 220 times stronger than the TNT blast.(Photo: Los Alamos National Labs)

In 2003, Los Alamos scientists Robb Hermes and Bill Strickfaden nuked that myth. As part of their Trinitite analysis they determined the fireball was not in the vicinity of the crater surface long enough to create glass approaching a half-inch thick.

The two decided they needed a different mechanism to account for the glass on the ground. It didnt take long for them to see that the 100-foot steel tower and a great deal of sand on the crater floor were sucked up into the fireball that was a 14,000-degree blast furnace. In such conditions, the material would have turned to a gas, soon to condense back to a liquid form.

More: Photographer documents Trinity Site for Nobel Peace Center

In other words, the fireball was filled with a mist of liquid steel and rock, all mixing together. The rest of the story is just raindrop physics. As droplets bumped into each other in the cloud, they got bigger and heavier. Just like rain, this liquid dropped to the ground to form pools of melted glass that grew and intermingled. However, some of the tiny drops hardened enough to keep their shape when they hit the ground which explains the spheres found on site. The theory nicely explains how glass ended up on fence posts and rocks.

Hermes and Strickfaden published an article about their findings in the Fall 2005 issue of Nuclear Weapons Journal. As part of the their work, the researchers confirmed the green color of Trinitite is from iron, both from the steel tower and the sand. Also, pieces of rare red Trinitite were examined at Los Alamos and the red color is from copper, probably the large coaxial cables coming off the north side of the 100-foot tower.

The photos of Trinite beads and bars are identical except for the source of light. On the left, the pieces are illuminated by light from above and on the right the same set up is lit with light shining up through the glass. The photo on the right emphasizes the glassy nature of Trinitite. For reference, the beads are only about two millimeters across.(Photo: Bill Strickfaden)

One myth has disappeared simply because of the changes in technology. Before digital cameras, we used to sometimes hear from visitors fearing the residual radiation at Trinity Site would fog the film in their cameras. We proved that was false by putting a roll of film next to a bag of Trinitite for a day and then developing the film. There was no effect.

It is true that Ground Zero is still radioactive. The level is very low, only about 10 times higher than the background levels in Las Cruces. In fact, it is roughly the same per hour as a flight in a jet airliner at 35,000 feet. The bottom line is that a visit during one of the open houses exposes a visitor to less radiation than a flight from Albuquerque to New York City.

After the Trinity test, all efforts shifted to the Pacific and preparing bombs to use against Japan. On Aug. 6, a uranium-fueled bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and on Aug. 9, another plutonium-fueled bomb, identical to the Trinity bomb, was exploded over Nagasaki. The war suddenly ended when Japan announced its surrender on Aug. 15, just under a month after the Trinity Site test.

Jim Ecklesis a member of the White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame and is the author of "Trinity: The History Of An Atomic Bomb National Historic Landmark."

Read or Share this story: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2020/07/13/trinity-site-new-mexico-tour-75th-anniversary/5384961002/

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Exploring Trinity Site legends (some are true!) on 75th anniversary - Las Cruces Sun-News

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