Very sad indeed. I never cared much for their first album but I was blown away by
Paul's Boutique (with the Dust Brothers).
That one was released when I was fifteen and I doubt I've gone more than a couple months since then without giving it at least a partial listen. I wore out the cassette of it I bought in no time, had a second cassette, and then bought it on CD when I was in college. Then my neighbor gave me a vinyl copy for my birthday last week and it was on again. I know many around here are from being fans of any rap/hip hop, but the music (and they played their own instruments) and samples on this album are ridiculous. Check
this site for an idea of what I mean. Mind-boggling.
I think using The Commodores on "Hey Ladies" was great, and that's just the tip of the iceberg on this album. The
video for it is one of my faves as well. Love how they flashed "Free...James...Brown" on the screen to the beat. Classic.
Of course there's a lot more music of theirs to check out. I just always think of Paul's Boutique when I think of them. Go give them a listen.
Anyway, I think it was a year or so ago that I heard he had lymphoma, which was sad news as it's a difficult cancer to beat so I wasn't too surprised to hear of his passing. And I hate that I missed getting tickets when they played here a couple years ago. Believe me I was online and trying but the site was overloaded and they sold out in like twenty minutes.
RIP, MCA.
-Q.