GUEST LIST: Vin Forte

I got nuttin but love for you baby

I’m throwing it over to Vin Forte for a guest list! Vin is a friend, as well as a writer and pop culture analyst. but this might be the best picks we’ve ever featured on a guest list, from batshit music videos to the weirdest this-band-covering-this-artist you’ll ever hear.

I can’t say enough nice words about Vin! We share many lanes of interest from music to comedy to professional wrestling and tend to line up taste-wise in all of them.

For instance, over on Vin’s substack, which I implore you to subscribe to, there is a great writeup of one of my PLATINUM STANDARDS, “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest.

In addition to a wide range of focus, from Christina Aguilera to Van Halen, Vin has also covered some other favorite gems, like “Men in Black” (the song), “Stakes is High” by De La Soul, and you know the piece about OutKast’s “Roses” brings up that Kevin McDonald is in the music video. But there’s also some other fun diversions up my alley, like a look at WWE’s improving productions under a less awful regime.

Vin, graciously, was a writer (among other roles) on The Special Without Brett Davis (I owe him a life debt for that) while hosting numerous podcasts like WRASSLE RAP (which had guests from WWE, AEW and the worlds of wrestling and hip-hop), Oddball and Any Time that had interviews with the likes of Todd Glass, Neil Cicierega, Ted Leo, Brian Stack, Steve Kornacki, R. Stevie Moore, Paul Scheer—and I have to highlight a special one where “Mr. Jokes” Steve Whalen discusses the cake dance.

I’m trying to paint a picture of a wide range of great taste here, though you’ll see that in these picks, as I throw it over to Vin:

Bullion - Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee

In celebration of Brian Wilson's recent 82nd birthday, what better way to celebrate the man than by completely chopping up and remixing his magnum opus into a form of music he barely even understands. 'Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee' by producer & DJ Bullion mixes the samples of Pet Sounds with the beats of J Dilla. He fucked with the formula and the results might just make him a genius too, you know.

Rockapella “Ride on Time”

Speaking of beautiful harmonies. If you gave me a million guesses, I would never guess that back in the early 90s, Rockapella (yes, of Carmen Sandiego fame) recorded a cover of 'Ride On Time' by Tatsuro Yamashita and that it is absolutely smooth as silk. How Rockapella came in contact with Tatsuro Yamashita's music to such an extent that they just had to get this cover on tape is a story I hope to never hear. Some things deserve to remain your strange little one in a million discovery.

Billy Ocean “Loverboy”

Seeing as my entire gimmick is doing critical analysis of music videos, it's weird I waited two whole entries to talk about one. But here we are. Besides being a genuine jam, 'Loverboy' by Billy Ocean has a music video that needs to be seen at least once in your lifetime. Whatever you're thinking this video is, you're wrong. For whatever reason, every sci-fi trope of the era is here: clunky makeshift robots, people with lizard makeup, an alien cantina, Billy Ocean forced to sing inside the Phantom Zone from Superman II. All in the service of this unrequited love jam. 

Peter Gabriel “Steam”

My next pick is one I'm actually working on a whole article about, but I'll give you a little taste here. We all love the video for 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel, right? Few things are more agreeable. Great song; creative, endlessly watchable video. Perfection. 

But have you seen the video for 'Steam' by Peter Gabriel? In every way that the 'Sledgehammer' video felt cutting edge in how it carefully blended emerging technologies and old fashioned physical ingenuity,  the 'Steam' video dove headlong into every cheap CGI package and digital trick on the market in the early 90s. It bombards your senses and careens like a skipping stone over the waters at the bottom of the uncanny valley. To say nothing of the fact that the song itself feels like a riff on 'Sledgehammer' to boot. If 'Sledgehammer' has aged like a fine wine, the effects in 'Steam' have aged like milk. 

Heavy D & The Boyz "Nuttin But Love”

Lastly, I've been on a big Heavy D kick and I can't think of a better song (or video) to brighten your day with than 'Nuttin But Love.' 

I really wish there were more Heavy Ds in modern hip hop. But perhaps there was only ever meant to be just one.

A larger than life performer full of confidence, but without the overly masculine bravado. He called himself the Overweight Lover for a reason. Always playful, the joke always on him. But without his coolness tipping the scale into parody. 'Nuttin But Love' shows Hev up to his ways, proclaiming he's not like those other guys. He's not falling for the Versace clothes & lobster dinners, he's not made of money; but he's got "nuttin but love for you, honey."

Brett here. Damn that Heavy D track is so good and the Bullion one is an all-timer. Also, there is nothing less sexy than Peter Gabriel in a sexy situation. Remember to subscribe to vinforte.substack.com, and follow in all the places too: vinfortenyc on Instagram, and mightyvin on twitter where there is a wonderful banner photo waiting for you.