Advertisements

Anniversary

Anniversary, Review, Television

TLC Swept MTV Video Music Awards This Week in 1995!

Leon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

18a81cc2-db50-4ab8-9472-05247f168719

We’re taking it back to September 7, 1995 where MTV celebrated that years greatest music videos at Radio City Music Hall in New York for their annual Video Music Awards!

Despite Michael and Janet Jackson‘s “Scream” video being the nights most nominated video (with a whopping eleven nominations), it was TLC who stole the show.

With an equally impressive ten nominations for their iconic music video for “Waterfalls”, they went on to win 4 awards that night, including the two most prestigious awards; Viewer’s Choice and Video of the Year.

20151207133745_1995TLC.jpg

The girls sealed the deal with a show-shopping medley of their hits from their record-breaking sophomore album, CrazySexyCool. This performance is considered as one of TLC’s greatest performances by fans!

Other celebrities in attendance included Madonna, Boyz II Men, Mike Tyson, Drew Barrymore, Ricki Lake, Lenny Kravitz and the Notorious B.I.G.

Along with the visually flawless concert-based video “Diggin’ On You” (also directed by F. Gary Gray), the CrazySexyMedley acted as an insight of what to expect on their CrazySexyCool world tour, which ended prematurely in 1996.

75469-full.jpg

R&B’s power couple Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, also attended to present TLC with their Video of the Year award, in true Bobby & Whitney style!

TLC went on to earn their 5th moonman in 1999, for their chart-topping smash “No Scrubs”, winning Best Group Video.

List of Nominees and Winners at the MTV Video Music Awards 1995
Video of the Year
  • TLC – Waterfalls
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Weezer – Buddy Holly
Winner: TLC – Waterfalls
Best Male Video
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – You Don’t Know How It Feels
  • Chris Isaak – Somebody’s Crying
  • Elton John – Believe
  • Lucas – Lucas With The Lid Off
  • Seal – Don’t Cry
Winner: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – You Don’t Know How It Feels
Best Female Video
  • Madonna – Take A Bow
  • Des’ree – You Gotta Be
  • PJ Harvey – Down By The Water
  • Annie Lennox – No More I Love You’s
Winner: Madonna – Take A Bow
Best Group Video
  • TLC – Waterfalls
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong
  • Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
Winner: TLC – Waterfalls
Best Rap Video
  • Dr. Dre – Keep Their Head’s Ringin’
  • Brandy & MC Lyte & Queen Latifah & YoYo – I Wanna Be Down
  • Da Bush Babees – Remember We
  • Craig Mack – Flava In Ya Ear
  • Public Enemy – Give It Up
  • Rappin’ 4tay – I’ll Be Around
Winner: Dr. Dre – Keep Their Head’s Ringin’
Best R&B Video
  • TLC – Waterfalls
  • Boyz II Men – Water Runs Dry
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Jade – 5-4-3-2 (Yo! Time Is Up)
  • Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It
Winner: TLC – Waterfalls
Best Dance Video
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Paula Abdul – My Love Is For Real
  • C+C Music Factory – Do You Want To Get Funky
  • Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It
  • Madonna – Human Nature
  • Salt-N-Pepa – None Of Your Business
Winner: Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
Viewer’s Choice
  • TLC – Waterfalls
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Hootie & The Blowfish – Hold My Hand
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Live – Lightning Crashes
  • R.E.M. – What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Winner: TLC – Waterfalls 
Best New Artist
  • Hootie & The Blowfish – Hold My Hand
  • Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
  • Des’ree – You Gotta Be
  • Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
Winner: Hootie & The Blowfish – Hold My Hand
Breakthrough Video
  • Weezer – Buddy Holly
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: Weezer – Buddy Holly
Best Metal/Hard Rock
  • White Zombie – More Human Than Human
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Meat Puppets – We Don’t Exist
  • Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
Winner: White Zombie – More Human Than Human
Best Alternative Video
  • Weezer – Buddy Holly
  • The Cranberries – Zombie
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Hole – Doll Parts
  • Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
Winner: Weezer – Buddy Holly
Best Video From A Film
  • Seal – Kiss From A Rose
  • Bryan Adams – Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman
  • Jim Carrey – Cuban Pete
  • U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
  • Urge Overkill – Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
Winner: Seal – Kiss From A Rose
Best Direction
  • Weezer – Buddy Holly
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: Weezer – Buddy Holly
Best Choreography
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Paula Abdul – My Love Is For Real
  • Brandy – Baby
  • Madonna – Human Nature
  • Salt-N-Pepa – None Of Your Business
Winner: Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
Best Special Effects
  • The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong
  • Bjork – Army Of Me
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Madonna – Human Nature
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong 
Best Art Direction
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Madonna – Take A Bow
  • Jill Sobule – I Kissed A Girl
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
Best Editing
  • Weezer – Buddy Holly
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Jill Sobule – I Kissed A Girl
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: Weezer – Buddy Holly
Best Cinematography
  • The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong
  • Boyz II Men – Water Runs Dry
  • Green Day – Basket Case
  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream
  • Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
  • TLC – Waterfalls
Winner: The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong 

Other TLC VMA appearances:

Advertisements
Anniversary, Interview

TLC Honor Lauryn Hill’s ‘Miseducation Of’ Album on 20th Anniversary

Leon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

20170630-175431-EAG-Z-TLC-1-T5r_65792 (1) (1).jpg

2018 marks the 20th anniversary since the release of Lauryn Hill‘s ground-breaking debut solo album, ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ in 1998.

Beats 1 caught up with the ladies of TLC to share their thoughts on the album and some of their memories of the former Fugees frontwoman!

Chilli:

I love the whole album and it’s hard for me to pick just one song because of her delivery. I mean, she be in the videos sometimes pregnant, and sometimes not. She was doing it at a time where they would probably be like, “wait until you have your baby.” Whereas these days, a female artist — whether you’re an actress or whatever — if you’re pregnant, you celebrate that from the moment that you decide to share it with the world. She didn’t care, she just did it. Her voice — to be able to rap like that and sing like that, she was and is unbelievably talented. There’s nobody like Lauryn Hill.

c7e7ac71588b0724fdc1c6bcc6f9d048

T-Boz:

She’s special. She is very special. And you know what I love and respect about her, is that I remember meeting her for the first time when we first came out. She paid us so much homage. Even in the beginning, she went out of her way to get over to me, to say something. I thought that was really cool how amazingly nice she was in and to give respect to another artist. She’s so dope.

You can listen to the full episode on Beats 1 here.

Anniversary, Review

Celebrating Left Eye’s Debut Solo Album ‘Supernova’ On It’s Anniversary

Leon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

InShot_20180816_135522653.jpg

Back in 2000, the ‘L’ of TLC, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes  announced to the world that she was embarking on a solo career, and began work on her first solo LP, ‘Supernova‘.

The project, which was also released on her group’s label, Arista, was slated to be released on her chosen date of August 16.

This date was important to Lisa, who was a strong believer in the power of numerology. “Something weird happened in my family,” Lisa explained to MTV News in 2001.

“My father died on August 16th and his father was born on August 16th“.

“It’s a very significant release date“.

To accompany her wishes, Arista initially announced the album to be released that same week on August 14 (new album releases in the US drop on a Tuesday).

normal_1557695_684506574923232_196141131_n

However, because Arista failed to keep to their promise of releasing the album on this specific date, Lisa decided it was important for the world to hear the album on this date and streamed the entire album on her website, Eyenetics.com.

The label, which had not yet paid Lisa for her existing work on the album, requested her to return to the studio to record more tracks for the album to beef it up.

Lisa declined respectfully, and because Arista defaulted on her contract conditions, she was allowed to be freed from her legal obligations on the label, later signing to Suge Knight’s Tha Row label in 2002.

8078001_orig
Left Eye’s Eyenetics website

‘Supernova’ was unlike anything Lisa had released in the past, choosing to educate her listeners on spirituality and numerology on tracks like “Universal Quest“, “A New Star Is Born” and “Breathe“. She also had more bold and self-assured tracks like “I Believe In Me“, “Let Me Live” and “Hot!“, the latter being her original choice for first single.

It’s guest appearances included Blaque, Esthero, Carl Thomas, Jazze Pha, Andre Rison and a posthumous collaboration with 2pac.

Lisa_Left_Eye_Lopes-Supernova-Trasera (1)
‘Supernova’ tracklist

Lisa also changed her vocal style on the album, to be more spoken word and poetic. She was aiming for a new sound, something different to what she had produced with TLC.

“TLC’s music is pretty much pop and R&B“, Lisa told BBC. “My music is a bit more eclectic“.

imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-NrbAPI0EhGml (2).jpg

Lisa was intending to release a puzzle with the album, which would help the listener decide on what track to play on the album. It features in her ‘Block Party‘ music video.

Whilst competing for prize money for charity on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, she told more about it. “There’s a puzzle that comes with my album, it’s called a dodecahydon. So, I kinda created that and I do all of the computer graphics.”

Despite the album never getting a release in the US, it was released overseas, following the moderate success of it’s first single, ‘The Block Party”, which reached the top 20 in the UK.

This underrated masterpiece deserves a full worldwide digital release on iTunes. Perhaps it will appear on Spotify one day, hopefully.

You can listen to ‘Supernova’ in full below.

Anniversary, Interview

TLC Reveal Why They Rejected Britney Spears’ Biggest Hit!

Leon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

mgid_ao_image_logotv

2018 marks the 20th anniversary since the birth of one of the biggest songs in music history, ‘Baby One More Time‘, which launched the career of Britney Spears!

Max Martin, the writer and co-producer of ‘Baby’ was convinced he’d written an R&B song (“Pop music with a flavour – what we call R&B in Sweden, what you guys [in America] say is pop,” sent the song, then called Hit Me Baby (One More Time), to TLC who rejected it.

While TLC interpreted the lyrics as alluding to domestic violence, they actually represented Martin’s attempts at American slang, believing “hit me” could seamlessly replace “call me”.

This is a large part of the reason the song wasn’t accepted by the girls in TLC. “I was like: ‘I like the song but do I think it’s a hit? Do I think it’s TLC?’ said T-Boz.

“I’m not saying ‘hit me baby.’ No disrespect to Britney,” T-Boz continues on her initial thought of the song. “It’s good for her. But was I going to say ‘hit me baby one more time’? Hell no!”

“Understand we’re not just passing up hits,” Chilli added. It just wasn’t a song that fit in the direction TLC was aiming for.

baby-one-more-time-britney-spears-outrageous-fashion-600 (1)

“That’s not even my subject of conversation, so you know, it worked for her, I’m happy for her, I like Britney,” T-Boz explained.

“Every song isn’t good for each artist, and when you’re a real artist you know what you believe in and what you really want to sing. So, I’m clear that it was a hit, but I’m also clear that it wasn’t for TLC.”

Nonetheless, TLC later went on to record their own timeless smash that year to add to their catalog in the form of 1999’s record breaking ‘No Scrubs‘.

Interview excerpts from MTV News in 2013.
Anniversary

19th Anniversary of TLC’s ‘Unpretty’

Leon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

https://youtu.be/edUoRYnFsq0

We Miss Music

On this day in 1999, TLC released the worldwide hit, ‘Unpretty’.

tlcunpretty 345

The song was adapted from a poem written by T-Boz, with music by Dallas Austin. The song’s empowering theme regarding self-esteem has become an enduring fan favourite.

‘Unpretty’ became the group’s fourth #1 hit in the US.

tlcunpretty2

Chart Positions:

  • Australia: #3
  • Canada: #3
  • Ireland: #4
  • New Zealand: #3
  • UK: #6
  • US: #1

Music Video:

Live Performance:

View original post

Anniversary, Competition, Review

TLC’s Last Album Reaches It’s First Year Anniversary!

Leon@TLCArmy 19 Comments

PhotoGrid_1530392032314.jpg

“It’s been a long, long time coming“, the opening line from ‘Way Back‘, the first single lifted from TLC‘s first album in 15 years, which was released a year ago today on June 30, 2017!

After breaking the record for the fastest Kickstarter funded pop project ever in 2015 (they raised over $430k and smashed their $150k deadline in under 48 hours), the girls were finally ready to unleash their hard work to the world, independently on their own label, 852 Musiq.

The album went on to become the #1 Independent Album on Billboard and topped the R&B Album Charts in the UK and in other parts of the world, whilst the lead single ‘Way Back’ remained in the Adult R&B singles chart for months.

TLC-Album-CHARTING-e1500083692451.png

They aren’t done with the album just yet. The girls are toying with the idea of releasing another single from the album and possibly even a remix album (two remixes were made exclusively for the Japan version of the album).

To celebrate this milestone, we are giving away a signed copy of this amazing album to ONE lucky fan!

To enter, simply tell us your favorite song on the album! We’ll choose a winner at random on July 31.

Anniversary, Interview

TLC on Cardi B and Why They Don’t Celebrate Left Eye’s Passing

Leon@TLCArmy 1 Comment

TLC_04_090 med (1)

TLC sat down with Beats 1 on April 25, 2018, the 16th anniversary of the passing of the beloved Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

On Cardi B Paying Them Homage

T-Boz: “I know she wore my outfits at the Grammys and she wore Lisa’s hair. It was our whole Grammys-TLC feel when we were on stage, and she said Left Eye on one song, and paid homage to TLC on another song — our “Creep” song and then our name, too. She did it twice and she also paid us love on our page. So a lot of love — it was awesome.”

20180415_044934 (1)

On TLC’s Legacy

T-Boz: “It’s really an honor. You never think people are going to be — like, you always wish that, you want that. We would always say, ‘we want to be trendsetters. We want little girls to dress like us.’ But when you actually see them do it for Halloween, and have birthday parties, and generations — the grandma, the mom, and the daughter — all at the concerts. It’s really amazing. We’re blessed to be 25 years in, and people are still doing it.”

Chilli: “We are really blessed. And like she said, as an artist when you’re new coming out, your dream is to be able to have that type of effect — a positive one — on everybody, and to have that longevity. You don’t know if that’s going to be your story, so time tells that, and it has. It’s been 20 plus years, and even Bruno Mars, for that matter — the video that he had featuring Cardi B — it was almost like our “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” video, and he had on a TLC t-shirt! It’s amazing and it’s a blessing for us to see that. It makes us feel really good and lets us know, OK we did it right. We’re still doing it, so yes, it is awesome.”

Screenshot_20171103-211603

On The Anniversary of Left Eye’s Passing

Chilli: “First of all, when you think of the word anniversary — I mean, I know that it’s a date that something took place. But when you think about that, you think of happy times.

When people celebrate the anniversary of a wedding, or a marriage, or a relationship of any kind, and it seems like to me it’s all something cheerful, and there’s nothing cheerful to me about her passing. I mean nothing. We don’t go out of our way to do anything like that. I mean, when her birthday comes around, yes, we talk about that, but not the death.”

lisa1

T-Boz: “But we celebrate it all year round. I mean really because we always incorporate her in everything we do. We always keep her memory alive. We showcase the great things, like why people loved her. So yeah, like when anybody else’s mom or sister dies, I don’t know a lot of people who celebrate cake or anything.”