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Young fan asks Harper Lee for a photo, gets rule of life instead

Oct 11, 2015

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author Harper Lee received a request for a signed photo in 2006, and although he didn’t get one, he received some advice much more valuable.

Image: Nate D. Sanders

Transcript

06/07/06
Dear Jeremy
I don’t have a picture of myself, so please accept these few lines:
As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don’t think you are the most important being on earth. Rich or poor, you then can look anyone in the eye and say, “I’m probably no better than you, but I’m certainly your equal.”
(Signed, ‘Harper Lee’)

Hip Hop Producer Pete Rock on Finding & Shaping the Perfect Sample

Oct 11, 2015

From NPR’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn:

The revolutionary hip hop producer Pete Rock grew up in a house full of records, mentally cataloging the songs that excited him. His parents listened to all kinds of music, from jazz to classical to funk. Years later, he would reach back into his brain and record collection to select and transform the perfect sample.

He started out as half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock and CL Smooth, later going solo and collaborating with and producing for many of the biggest names in rap, from Nas to Kanye West.

Pete Rock joins us to talk about his earliest music memories, meeting James Brown as an elementary-schooler, and how he took a sample from an album called “The Honeysuckle Breeze” and used it to create a classic hip hop track.

Pete Rock’s new album of instrumentals is Petestrumentals 2.

Public Enemy’s Chuck D on Creating One Of The Best Band Logos in History

Oct 11, 2015

Do you remember the first time you showed the Public Enemy logo to somebody and what their reaction was?

I used to do flyer designs back in the day on Long Island, so I would do logos for acts that didn’t have one, or make up names for acts that didn’t really exist when I was starting out. So when I made the Public Enemy logo, I was actually making a logo for a group that didn’t exist! When Public Enemy came up as this group option, I just moved it from this other situation on over to us, and it fit perfectly. The thing that impressed me was when I saw it in a big gigantic arena-sized way, when we actually opened up for the Beastie Boys in 1987. We had the large backdrop made, and when the logo went up across the back of the arena, I was really impressed. It went from a sketchpad to a stadium. I was blown back. It stood out.

People say I studied art. I didn’t just study; I graduated with an art degree. There’s a big difference. When it came to be around that potential time of making logos, I wanted to make something that understood what a logo could do, you know? Look at the Rolling Stones. The tongue and the lips say it all without you looking at the font. I wanted to be able to make something that detaches. I don’t think there’s too many logos out there that don’t deal with a font, that you can detach and know what it is. Wu-Tang is still the W, but that kinda comes close. But Public Enemy… no font whatsoever. Circle with a man, you know what it is.

Via

Here’s Björk talking about her TV

Oct 11, 2015

I love this video. Björk is just on a different level of gifted than anyone else on this planet.

Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood on Treating Each Other With Kindness

Oct 10, 2015

“I think racism probably accounts for more of the world’s problems than any other single issue, especially if you include the oft-related issues of prejudice against various religions or non-religions.

We’re basically taught in kindergarten to be nice to other people and not bully people for the way they were born, yet people can’t seem to grasp that simple concept. Do onto others. I didn’t go to church all that often, but I actually heard that one.”

Via

The Rolling Stones European Tour Documentary From 1976

Oct 10, 2015

The Rolling Stones’ Tour of Europe ’76 scratched the surface of the band at the peak of it’s powers, debauchery, and demand. Tickets were in high demand; on 1 April the promoters announced that they had received more than one million applications in the mail for tickets for three shows at London’s Earls Court; subsequently three more dates were added there. The routing also saw two dates in Yugoslavia – the Stones’ second visit to a Communist country after 1967.

The tour began a few days after the April 23rd release of the group’s album Black and Blue, and is documented by the 1977 concert release Love You Live. Much of the material on that album is from the shows at Les Abattoirs in Paris from June 4 to June 7.

The Kinks Go To The Hairdressers In 1964

Oct 10, 2015

Nobody likes to be seen in their curlers, least of all top British band The Kinks. This short video was taken by British Movietone in 1964, the same time “You Really Got Me” started to break big.