First of all, I'd like to state for the record that I hate this band's name.  Ugh.  What an incredibly weenie thing to call your band.

Anyway, Curiosity Killed the Cat was one of a handful of Simply Reddish English jazz/soul groups to come along in the mid 80s.  Their 1987 album Keep Your Distance featured a pretty big hit called "Misfit", and then they pretty much vanished after that.  I wasn't really that big on "Misfit", but I totally fell in love with one of the album's later singles, "Ordinary Day."  Who knew that a band of pretty English boys could bring the funk like that?

That was one of those MTV-direct-to-the-record-store knee-jerk purchases.  I just had to have that song.  Now.

Watch the video for "Ordinary Day."  I was actually looking to post this song for a long while, but it finally showed up on YouTube.  Just try to ignore that fact that they look like New Kids on the Block with instruments.

I know I've posted three Fishbone songs already, but I have yet to post one from what is probably my top Fishbone record, 1986's In Your Face.

I had that CD in the car a couple of weeks back, so it's still somewhat on the brain.  So here is its LATFAP-errific opener, "When Problems Arise."  All hail Norwood Fisher and his silky, super-groovy bass playing.

Watch the video for "When Problems Arise" on YouTube.  Man, I wish those major labels would stop compressing the crap out of these things when they post them on the Tube of You.  I mean, I like being able to link to "official" video clips because they're not likely to get pulled.  And I realize that we're not likely to get exceptional quality since we're not paying for it.  But geez Louise, those compression artifacts are a pretty major distraction.

As you probably know, actor Will Smith used to be a rapper who went by the name of the Fresh Prince.  "Parents Just Don't Understand" was probably his biggest hit, but I was always partial to this little ditty about an ill-conceived - not to mention ill-fated - boxing match against Mike Tyson.

Who would have thought at the time that the Fresh Prince would become an Oscar-nominated actor?  Who's next, Marky Mark??

Watch the video for "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson" on YouTube.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.

Um, yeah.  No discussion of irreverent rap songs can really take place without at least a mention of this one.

If we could only reject the Paris Hiltons of the world and focus our attention on women built like the ones in this video, well, OK, saying that "the world would be a better place" may be a stretch.  There would just be a lot more publicly visible women better looking than Paris Hilton.

Watch the video for "Baby Got Back" on YouTube.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.

Like many, I was first exposed to this song because it ran during the closing credits of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

When I hear this, my brain says "Don't waste your time with this sophomoric, juvenile drivel.  It's inane, lame, putrid and totally lacks any kind of intellectual and artistic merit.  This is music for dumb 12-year-olds with no futures.  Go listen to some Tchaikovsky instead."

Then the rest of me says "F**k you, brain.  It's funny."

Watch the video for "Because I Got High" on YouTube (uncensored version).

Watch the wimpy, overcompressed clean version.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.

When rap music really broke in the mid-to-late 80s, I was still in high school.  Most everyone I knew was into the likes of the Beasties, the Fats, Run and of course LL.  Being the wired-differently introvert that I was, I pretty much rejected it, just like every other cultural fad that came down the pike during that time.

Still, even then, I'd hear a song like "Dear Yvette" and get an odd chuckle.  Even now, lines like the "ho ho ho" one are good for a snicker.

Hear "Dear Yvette" on YouTube.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.

How likely would it be in this day and age for a rap group to sample a Monkees song?

Yeah, you're right.

Watch the video for "Mary Mary" on YouTube.

Hear the song without all the other noises.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.

What a fun, fun song.  Consolidated may not have been a "rap" group per se, the term "industrial" has been thrown around in their direction quite a bit.

But it's butt-shakable.  It features people talking rhythmically, in this case a group of women who go by the name of the Yeastie Girls - waxing poetic about, er, cunnilingus.

OK, so maybe they're not waxing so poetically after all.  But as I said, it's a fun, fun song.

Watch a fanvid for "You Suck" on YouTube.  There's most definitely some, uh, mature subject matter contained within, so prepare accordingly.

This is part of week-long series on amusing rap songs.