The main reason for this Song of the Week is due to the animated TV show Fired on Mars. Before going into the Song of the Week, let me give Fired on Mars some props. It’s a different type of animated adult TV show. It’s mostly about a guy who gets a job as a graphic designer on a new Mars colony with no chance to return to Earth. He then gets fired and has to find purpose in his life (I assume, the show is still airing as of this post). Fired on Mars is interesting but sad in a way. Maybe more sad because I think most of us can probably relate to the main character.
Okay, about the Song of the Week. At the end of episode 1 of Fired on Mars, Kanye West’s “Lord Lord Lord” is played. I was like, “Damn, they got the rights to this song? That’s cool, but I don’t think this song even made it to an album.” Because I’m an idiot, it took me a second to realize that the original song that “Lord Lord Lord” sampled was being played (I was wondering where the Swizz Beatz ad libs were; “This is something special…”). That song was Brian Bennett‘s “Solstice.”
I listened to “Solstice” this past weekend, and like “Lord Lord Lord” by Kanye West and friends, it’s dope too and probably underrated. It was released in 1978 and it’s a little over six minutes, so I’m pretty sure I was supposed to take LSD or some psychedelic substance while listening, but I liked it without the drugs. I’ll go ahead and throw this on a playlist right beside King Crimson’s “Starless.”
Sidenote: A few years ago Mad Static/MTHFKA Jones had me looking for a version of “Lord Lord Lord” without Swizz Beatz’s verse. We found it.