I posted a rant a few months ago about how a lot of lyric sites don’t seem to give a crap. It was inspired by trying to figure out a name from James Brown’s Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto.

So there’s a part near the end of the song that I couldn’t figure out. He says “Tell ‘em **unidentified** told you so” but I couldn’t figure out what the name is. Don’t ask why I’m just noticing this after all these years. Whatever it is, the name definitely isn’t James Brown. I decided to hit the lyric sites to see what they say. Not only did they claim that he said “James Brown” there but they don’t even have the obvious parts of the song right.

I forgot to put that name in the original post, but I kept thinking it was “Hank Ballast” or something like that. I looked around today and most of them still have messed-up versions of the lyrics. The one place that seems to have best version is the VH1 site. They don’t have all the botched lines like “Pitch up your reindeer” and admits that even they can’t figure out what that name was. But thanks to VH1, I think I figured out what the name is.

While watching VH1, a rock documentary had a clip from a man named Hank Ballard. I look the man’s up on the electronical intertubes and Google points to a lot of links about Ballard and the Godfather of Soul. They worked together in the late 60’s which was the same time period that this song was recorded in. I’m not a music historian or expert, but I’m guessing that the James Brown lyric missed by most sites is “Tell ‘em Hank Ballard told you so.” If anything, I’m more embarrassed that I didn’t know who Hank Ballard was.

BOOYEAH!!! I got my order from Amazon.com in early today. The main course is Justice Leauge Unlimited’s final season. Lacking cable at that time, I missed the entire season except for the last moments of the last episode. I pre-ordered it for $18.99 and I’ll be watching it later this week. With any luck, I’ll be able to round up some other people and make a big whoopidy-doo about it. My love for the 90’s/2000’s DC animated universe runs deep. It’s one of the things that kept my love of comic books alive during a point where the actual books from both DC and Marvel weren’t doing much for me. Until recently, it had the only version of Batman that I gave a damn about. Yes, I know that lots of people love the emotionless, bland Batman that popped up a lot through the 90’s, but I prefer the DCU version a lot more. But JLU brought life to so many other characters that it’s magic fun candy for an old-school comic geek like me. I’m sure I’ll be yammering about this at a later date, but I’m just going recommend that you get JLU season 2 in advance because you know it’s good. It has the DCAU version of the Legion of Doom. I was made to love this. Amazon.com has it for $19.99 now, so get it while it’s still cheap!

As I side dish (and to bump the order up enough to get free Super Saver Shipping), I got something that’s just as tasty. It’s Cameo: the 12-inch collection and more. This kinda/sorta/perhaps replaces the regular Cameo Greatest hits CD that was stolen over 10 years ago. A lot of these seemed to be engineered for DJ use and more club-friendly, but in a good way. In fact, the shortest song on the CD is still over five and a half minutes long. This CD has the extended versions of my favorite non-ballad songs of the group including I Just Want To Be, Candy, and Rigor Mortis. Unlike most people, Word Up isn’t one of my favorite songs by the group only because I like the other songs that more and a lot of people seem only know Cameo for that song. My all-time favorite may be She’s Strange which, strangely enough, gets TWO alternate versions here. The one titled She’s Strange has a lengthy, extended intro and a deeper echo on the synth kick drums that probably vibrated quite a few dance floors back in the day (and probably even now). The second version is called Room 123 (She’s Strange) and features an extended rapping section to it. I love both versions for different reasons, but I like the Room 123 version a bit better. I’m going to be groovin’ off this for a long time. Amazon.com’s reviewer Rickey Wright hit it dead on: “Despite the absence of the anti-Reagan “Talkin’ Out the Side of Your Neck,” The 12″ Collection all but renders The Best of Cameo moot.” Now that I have these exclusive versions, I can skip that collection and get the individual albums. It’s just good to hear Larry Blackmon yell, “OOW!” again.