Wednesday, July 4, 2018

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2014The first Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, is re-released in American theaters to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
2013Jay-Z releases his twelfth studio album, Magna Carta... Holy Grail, as a free download, but only for Samsung customers who can access it through the Jay-Z Magna Carta app. Non-Samsung users will have to tough it out and buy the album at retail price four days later. 
2010After attending a gay pride parade in London, George Michael crashes his Range Rover into a Snappy Snaps photo store in Hampstead, England. Convicted of driving under the influence of cannabis, he goes to prison on September 21 and serves four weeks.
2009Allen Klein, an influential music publisher who simultaneously managed The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, dies of respiratory failure at age 77 after years of diabetes-related complications and an Alzheimer's diagnosis.
2009Drake Levin (guitarist for Paul Revere and the Raiders) dies of cancer at age 62.
2007Bill Pinkney (of The Drifters) dies of a heart attack at age 81.
2005Rockabilly entertainer "Big" Al Downing dies of leukemia at age 65.
2003Barry White, age 58, dies two months after suffering a severe stroke while awaiting a kidney transplant.
2002Michael Abram, the man who attacked and nearly murdered George Harrisonsome 19 months earlier, is given a conditional release by a Mental Health Review Tribunal, to the fury of George's widow, Olivia. Says Abram: "If I could turn back the clock I would give anything not to have done what I did. But I have come to realise that I was very ill at that time, really not in control."
1992John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papasreceives a liver transplant in Los Angeles.
1987Genesis close out their Invisible Tour with a sold-out show at Wembley Stadium in London. They played the venue the previous three nights as well, also to sell-out crowds.
1986Flotsam and Jetsam's only full-length studio album with bassist Jason Newsted, Doomsday for the Deceiver, is released via Metal Blade Records. Doomsday is co-produced by the band with the label's head, Brian Slagel, and is the only album in the history of Kerrang!Magazine to receive a "six K" review (out of a possible five "K's").
1984Ringo Starr sits in with The Beach Boysduring their Miami concert.
1980500,000 attend a free Beach Boysconcert in Washington DC.
1978Stephen McNally (who puts the "Mak" in BBMak) is born in Liverpool, England.
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"Baby Got Back" Hits #1

1992
The king of all booty songs, Sir Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back," hits #1 in America.
An L.A. face with an Oakland booty? Can't beat that, although you wouldn't think so from watching movies and TV, where the voluptuous African-American female form isn't exactly celebrated. "They either played prostitutes or maids," Mix-A-Lot says. "I wanted to talk about it, and that's what 'Baby Got Back' is really about."

Sex symbols of the era are the likes of Kim Basinger and Michelle Pfeiffer, but they don't have that bubble. There's also Pamela Anderson, but silicone parts are made for toys. Rappers like LL Cool J have been singing the praises of natural women with big behinds, but Mix-A-Lot shakes the foundation with four simple words: "I like big butts!" 

Just as John Lennon tucked a deep meaning inside a sweet melody in "Imagine," Mix-A-Lot embedded his message in an irresistible beat. But the Seattle rapper has something Lennon didn't: MTV. The video, opening with two valley girls disparaging (but clearly envious of) a woman with a fine behind, explodes on the network, proving that it's not just rappers who are interested in girls with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face.

Much of the song deals with Mix-A-Lot chasing the booty, but along the way he challenges the beauty ideals set forth in magazines like Playboyand Cosmopolitan, and encourages women to show off their assets with pride. 

A raft of booty songs follow in the wake of "Baby Got Back." There's "Rump Shaker," "Bootylicious," and "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" (even white boys got to shout). These songs reflect a culture that now values big behinds, especially on social media, where Kim Kardashian is a breakout star.

Mix-A-Lot's dream girl in the song is Florence Griffith Joyner ("Flo Jo"), an Olympic sprinter known for her dazzling speed, outrageously long fingernails, and packed posterior. Decades later Mix-A-Lot cites Serena Williams as having the kind of curves exemplified in this song. Flo Jo made the cover of Sports Illustrated, but Serena also lands in the fashion magazines, gracing to covers of EssenceGlamour and Vogue.

Big butts are the thing, and we have Mix-A-Lot to thank for it.

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