Throw on your Parachute Pants, and head to the track or the club as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: MC Hammer Song: Have You Seen Her? Album: Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em (1990) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 4 Bonus Fun Fact: This song samples heavily from the Chi-Lites 1971 hit "Have You Seen Her". The original version of this song reached #3 on the Billboard charts.
Throw on your parachute pants and head to Oaktown as we take you back to the 80's! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: MC Hammer Song: Turn This Mutha Out Album: Let's Get It Started (1988) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Fact: This song peaked at #3 on the Billboard "US Rap" charts and samples the song "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)" by Parliament!
Throw on your Pastel Suit, and roll out to Oaktown as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Hammer
Song: This Is The Way We Roll
Album: Too Legit To Quit (1992)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: #86
Bonus Fun Fact: This song was featured in the movie "The Addams Family" and the music video features cameos by Golden State Warriors players Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin & Billy Owens.
Throw on your Parachute Pants and head to Cemetery Ridge as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: MC Hammer
Song: The Addams Groove Album: The Addams Family: Soundtrack (1991)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 7 Bonus Fun Fact: This song was Hammer's last top 10 hit in the U.S. The video features cameos by most of the cast of the Addams Family movie. This video played before the Addams Family movie during it's first few weeks in theaters.
Throw on your parachute pants, cut your hair in the fresh flat topstyle and hit the dance flooras we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: Hammer
Song: It's All Good
Album: The Funky Headhunter (1994)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 46 Bonus Fun Fact: This song was a response diss track to Redman and Black Sheep. It was produced by The Whole 9 and was the second single released off "The Funky Headhunter" album.
It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your shades, cut your hair in the fresh fade style and grab some Taco Bell as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: Hammer
Song: 2 Legit 2 Quit
Album: Too Legit To Quit(Released 1991) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 5
Bonus Fun Fact: The music video for this song was over 15 minutes long and still ranks as one of the most expensive to produce of all time and includes cameos by Deion Snaders, Chris Mullin, Eazy-E, Queen Latifah and Tony Danza, just to name a few.
This week I was able to borrow a copy of Street Fighter: The Movie from a friend at work. It had been decades since I had seen this movie and I remember liking it. Again that was in 1994 and I was all of 13 years old, so my perspective may be skewed. Recently I watched the Mortal Kombat movie on Netflix and was pretty underwhelmed at that flick. I also remember seeing that movie in the theaters and liking it. This gave me little hope that I would enjoy a rewatch of the Van Damme action packed classic.
But guess what? I actually did enjoy rediscovering this much maligned video game adaptation. It's actually a pretty decent action flick, if you know what you're getting into. Yes it is cheesy, yes the acting is iffy, but here are a few reasons why I had fun watching Street Fighter: The Movie!
1. The action sequences were surprisingly well done!
With a movie based on a fighting game you would expect it to be full of great action sequences...and it is! The fights between Vega/Sagat & Ken/Ryu and the final fight between Guile & Bison are just a few of the cool sequences in this flick. In addition to a huge smattering of fighting the movie balanced some comedy in there to make it a fun journey through Shadaloo in the name of freedom!
2. Raul Julia is fantastic as a villain
The dialogue Julia spits out is absolutely insane and the facial expressions he exudes could only have been done by him. Some of the casting in this flick are suspect, but the crew really nailed it when they hired Raul for his last performance before he passed. The above clip where Chun Li pours her heart out over her deceased father is played off wickedly by Julia as he responds with the best FREAKIN BRILLIANT line in the entire film. "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."
3. The Characters were made to look like their counterparts
Most people gripe that the characters in movies based on beloved franchises never really look like the source material (ex. Masters of the Universe). But the people who worked on Street Fighter: The Movie did their due diligence and had each character look as close to the game version as possible without being too over the top. The one exception would be Dhalsim, he looks nothing like he did in the game, but in the movie makers defense it would be pretty hard to pull off the look of a skinny, bald yogi who shoots fire from his face back in '94! Also, I give them credit for trying to make Blanka look imposing, but he comes off looking like a demented Battle Trolls doll!
4. It gave us this absurdly awesome music video!
The soundtrack to Street Fighter: The Movie by Priority Records had some big names on it including Ice Cube, NAS, LL Cool J and The Pharcyde. None of their songs got music videos, but this tight collaboration between MC Hammer & Dion Sanders did and it is magnificent! The video for "Straight To My Feet" features cameos by many of the actors in the film, most notable are the scenes where Jean-Claude Van Damme himself dances alongside Hammer! Great stuff in here! The album sold over 500,000 units and topped out at #135 on the Billboard 200 list.
5. It left me wanting more!
After the destruction of Bison's headquarters the good guys celebrate...maybe a little too soon! In a post credits scene I just found out about, the hand of Bison pushes through the rubble and rises triumphantly to set his computer back to "World Domination" mode! What had me excited was the blue glow coming from Bison. This reminded me of his special moves in the game where his fists would glow before landing in an unsuspecting opponents face. Could he have been doused by some of the chemicals and gained super-natural powers? Director Steven deSouza said he left out these elements in the first movie, but was open to exploring them in the sequel. Maybe if the movie had made more money ($33,423,521 domestic total), we would have had a super powered sequel? I guess, sadly, we will never know! All we can do is play out these "What If?" scenarios in the Street Fighter: The Movie video game by Capcom.
