I was 10 when "Ice Ice Baby" came out, and thinking back to that time reminded me of an old memory I haven't recalled for a long time. One time someone played a cassette of To The Extreme from the beginning (I forget the setting; maybe I was hanging out with a friend from school), and I remember hearing an ascending sequence of tones (probably sine waves), each one an octave higher than the previous, before the first song started. Of all the many cassettes I ever listened to as a kid, this might have been one of two or three that ever started this way. Does anyone here know what I'm talking about? What were those tones for, and why did this cassette in particular have them? From what I've read, I gather that this particular cassette might have been a copy made on someone's home tape deck. Or did legitimate commercial copies have those tones too?
The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
31–40 of 77 posts
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#32This article is good but you can tell it was written by someone who was really young when Vanilla Ice came out. The pushback from the hip hop community was equal parts the lies and the really bad music. He tried to compare Ice to 3rd Base who were respected MCs at the time. Yeah MC Serch is known as a bit of a goofball now but back then he was respected rapper.
Vanilla Ice was making songs like Ninja Rap at the same time classics like Low End Theory, Death Certificate, De La Soul is Dead, Cypress Hill and 2Pacalype Now were coming out. Again, of course he was going to get push back. MC Hammer had the same pushback but not as bad as Vanilla Ice.
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#33Vanilla put on a helluva show last summer at the PNE in Vancouver. He got about 50 girls from the crowd onstage to dance for Ice, Ice Baby. He's a very good showman. Can get the crowd laughing and having a good time
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#34I was 10 when "Ice Ice Baby" came out, and thinking back to that time reminded me of an old memory I haven't recalled for a long time. One time someone played a cassette of To The Extreme from the beginning (I forget the setting; maybe I was hanging out with a friend from school), and I remember hearing an ascending sequence of tones (probably sine waves), each one an octave higher than the previous, before the first…
Did well-organized tape copiers realize that they needed some kind of gain control when mixing tapes?
Speculating wildly that this kind of calibration at the beginning of the tape could be like an analog ancestor to 'ReplayGain'.
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#35> In 1990, there was no star bigger than the man born Robert Van Winkle
MC Hammer begs to differ XD
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#36> It was the winter of 1987-88 in South Dallas, or maybe it was the following summer … Tussles were frequent, and being Texas, half the club came strapped. Texas did not pass its concealed-carry law until 1995. In fact, in 1991 its legislature considered a gun-control law! Great writing, but I wonder at how accurate the rest of the details are.
The only detail I found questionable (and have the knowledge to do so) is the labelling of Forest Lane as "South Dallas". That's pretty much as far north as you can get in Dallas, notwithstanding a weird chunk that goes north near Carrollton/Farmers Branch.
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#37He killed Avdol and Iggy :(
Sad yare yare sounds
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#38I read this and enjoyed it, especially the parallels for me as the music producer who found the first popular white girl rapper: "Kreayshawn" and produced her first few tracks ("Bumpin Bumpin", "Gucci Gucci", etc).. After working with lots of artists over the years I tend to just think of them as instruments in an overall track, and their stories and narrative of the timelines is unreliable at best. I would really ha…
> "'Gucci Gucci' is completely traumatizing. When that song comes on, it makes my ears feel like they're bleeding," Zolot said, explaining that the track itself has had a big negative impact on her. "Like, it makes me feel like I'm gonna die. It gives me a panic attack hearing that song." > Part of it has been the pressure of trying to make another hit "as big as 'Gucci Gucci'" in subsequent years. However, the bigge…
I think you are missing the idea of what I was just trying to say about how music producers, especially in the traditional pop realm worked and thought about vocals in a song.
And you misinterpreting my words and giving them meaning in a way they dont.
Aside from my meaning, she has worked with many producers besides me, as well as managers and A/R people. I know for a fact how much fun she was having in 2010-2012 or so. I watched the narrative change over the years from "I am this hard rapper from Oakland" to "I am an artist, and DJ, and a rapper" to finally "I never wanted to be a rapper and the industry took advantage of me and others like me" .. That gradient is a bit more complex and long, but that is the sum of it. Narratives change with success and popularity.
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#39I was 10 when "Ice Ice Baby" came out, and thinking back to that time reminded me of an old memory I haven't recalled for a long time. One time someone played a cassette of To The Extreme from the beginning (I forget the setting; maybe I was hanging out with a friend from school), and I remember hearing an ascending sequence of tones (probably sine waves), each one an octave higher than the previous, before the first…
What you heard is probably the xdr test tone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDR_(audio)
Re: The Mostly True Story of Vanilla Ice
#40He killed Avdol and Iggy :(
Looks like even here one can’t be safe against JoJo references…