Pump Up the Jam

"Pump Up the Jam" is the opening track on Belgian act Technotronic's album Pump Up the Jam: The Album. Released as a single, it was a worldwide hit, reaching number two in the United Kingdom in 1989 and in the American Billboard Hot 100 in early 1990. The song was later certified triple platinum (in 2005, it would be remixed by internationally renowned DJ-producer D.O.N.S., who took it to number one on the British Dance Chart). Ya Kid K provided the vocals for the track. She was initially overshadowed by model Felly Kilingi, who appears in the music video and features on the album cover.

Cultural references

On an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Will Smith sang the chorus out of tune and danced to a drum cover of the song as comedy. The song was the background music of a Saturday Night Live skit that featured Nancy Kerrigan figure skating with Chris Farley and in a scene in the 1996 movie Space Jam, in which the Looney Tunes and Michael Jordan were getting ready to play basketball. It featured in the karaoke video game SingStar 90s, in a scene in the 2008 film You Don't Mess with the Zohan. The song was the basis for Soni De Nakhre, a Bollywood song featured in the movie Partner, which was itself loosely based on the movie Hitch. It was used in a 2008 cellphone commercial in Argentina, which explained "why translated songs aren't as good". The song was translated as "Infla la mermelada" (word by word, though not correctly, "Pump the jam").

Conquistador!

Conquistador! is an album by Cecil Taylor released on the Blue Note label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "During the two lengthy pieces, Lyons' passionate solos contrast with Dixon's quieter ruminations while the music in general is unremittingly intense. Both of the Taylor Blue Notes are quite historic and near-classics but, despite this important documentation, Cecil Taylor (other than a pair of Paris concerts) would not appear on records again until 1973".

Track listing

Personnel

References

Conquistador

Conquistadors /kɒŋˌkɪstəˈdɔːrz/ (from Portuguese or Spanish conquistadores "conquerors"; Spanish pronunciation: [koŋkistaˈðoɾes], Portuguese pronunciation: [kũkiʃtɐˈdoɾis], [kõkiʃtɐˈðoɾɨʃ]) is a term used to refer to the soldiers and explorers of the Spanish Empire or the Portuguese Empire in a general sense. During the Age of Discovery conquistadores sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, Oceania, Africa and Asia, conquering territory and opening trade routes. They colonized much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Conquest

Portugal established a route to China in the early 16th century, sending ships via the southern coast of Africa and founding numerous coastal enclaves along the route. Following the discovery of the New World in 1492 by Christopher Columbus and the first circumnavigation of the world by Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 (both voyages promoted by the Spanish Crown of Castile), expeditions led by conquistadors in the 16th century established trading routes linking Europe with all these areas.

Conquistador (Maynard Ferguson album)

Conquistador is the ninth album by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Columbia Records. The album is notable for its inclusion of the hit single "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")".

Background and production

"Bob James produced it (Primal Scream) and made it with all the New York heavies (Steve Gadd, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, et al). It did very well for a crossover album, but the guys on the band were a little upset about the fact that they weren't on it."

After the experience of creating Primal Scream without his touring band, Maynard was determined to see them become an integral part of his next effort. While Bob James was firmly in control of the production, Ferguson was insistent that his band members would be a part of the proceedings. It became a bi-coastal effort, with the touring band recording in San Francisco between dates, and the James crew recording in New York. Two of the songs were recorded entirely in New York without any participation by Maynard's band: the themes from Star Trek and Rocky.