"Dirty Work (1986)
- They do push themselves a little bit here, with a nice reggae cover ("Too Rude"), an album-closing ballad ("Sleep Tonight"), and lyrics that rank with their most vicious ("Had It With You"), in addition to standard-issue (but fun) rockers ("One Hit (To The Body)," "Winning Ugly," title track). The weak rendition of "Harlem Shuffle" is distracting (and if you think the song is bad, you should see the appallingly racist Ralph Bakshi video)."

Quote is from those twats at Wilson and Alroy's record reviews - specifically "DWB" (the same guy gave Some Girls 2 and a half stars mind you...). Haven't watched the vid to HS in a while but I recall nothing racist about it.
Am I missing something?

actually I like Wilson and Alroy. don't have to agree with them, they often have some nice thoughts... not this time imho but we're Stones freaks, after all

don't ask me if it's racist or not, don't make me watch this x)

Nonsense.

Yeah I agree that it's nonsense but perhaps thought I was missing a cultural thing/insult or something.

Btw I love the version. I think it grooves and has a really slinky feel to it. The vid was good too I thought back in the day. Anyways...

Did they offer any evidence to back up their claim?

It's just showing a cartoon Harlem street scene - nothing racist IMHO.

Nah they didn't which I found as odd Goldsmith. Perhaps he assumed it was so obvious that it did not warrant stating. Beats me but.

"not this time imho but we're Stones freaks, after all" - I agree Amused. But people that give their first couple of albums drubbing (review wise) tend to lose my interest concerning their opinion's I guess. Hell one of them reviewed TY and admitted not having heard it all the way thru.

Anyways back on topic.....I thought the vid was just set up more as a time period thing in Harlem re the 30s and thought it was overall quite well done. We see African American people in the vid but for crying out loud Harlem is of course predominently occupied by African Americans. So I dunno what gives.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-01 17:19 by squando.

this is so funny to me .maybe these folks that think this is racist should have to take racial sensitivity training in the workplace and then these idiots could properly identify RACISM

I love that video! But then again, I'm a known racist. Or do i mean rapist? I dunno, it's one of those two i'm sure of that.


this is obviously a big 'i'm kidding' for that that may think otherwise.

Come on man! Next they'll be saying that whites stealing the blues from black musicians is racist.

Well, I'm glad they didn't do video for "Brown Sugar"...

Honestly, the 'race card' is one of those things a mediocre European mind like me cannot always grasp. I never thought there is anything wrong with "Harlem Shuffle" video. Little I know...

- Doxa

I like their version of it. And the video is excellent. Blacks in a video? How criminal. People playing black music? How daft.

Video is excellent. Only someone with absolutely no sense of humor or a lot of white guilt would call it racist.

Is Harlem Shuffle video racist?

no.

Oh come on! it's just a video!.

I would hardly call the stones version of Harlem Shuffle "weak". Like most stuff they did from that era, it suffers from 80's style of over production, but I actually like what they did with that song, I think they made it their own.

as for the racist aspect, I don't see that either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-02 00:46 by ryanpow.

No one at the time thought the video was 'racist' and not a single review of it even suggested it to be in questionable taste. If anything, it got good press for being innovative.

Someone suggesting in 2009 that it IS racist says more about the insanely politically-correct era we're now living in where too many idiots and busybodies are going out of their way to be offended than it does about the Stones themselves.

Not to mention the fact that the notion of a band such as the Stones - who have never made any secret of their debt to black American culture - being guilty of racial undertones in any aspect of their work is utterly absurd.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-02 01:03 by Gazza.

..and a quick wikipedia search on the animator Ralph Bakshi really shows him up as a potential Klansman....

Ralph Bakshi was born on October 29, 1938, in Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel). In 1939, his family emigrated to New York to escape World War II, and he grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. The family lived in a low-rent apartment, where Bakshi became fascinated with the urban milieu. As a child, he enjoyed comic books, and often dug through trash cans to get a hold of them.

In the spring of 1947, Bakshi's father and uncle traveled to Washington, D.C., in search of business opportunities, and soon moved the family to the black neighborhood of Foggy Bottom. Bakshi recalled, "All my friends were black, everyone we did business with was black, the school across the street was black. It was segregated, so everything was black. I went to see black movies; black girls sat on my lap. I went to black parties. I was another black kid on the block. No problem!"

The racial segregation of local schools meant that the nearest white school was several miles away; Bakshi obtained his mother's permission to attend the nearby black school with his friends. Bakshi was the only white student in the classroom. While most of the students had no problem with Bakshi's presence, a teacher sought advice from the principal, who called the police. Fearing that segregated whites would riot if they learned that a white student was attending a black school, the police dragged Bakshi from his classroom. Meanwhile, his father had been suffering anxiety attacks. Within a few months, the family moved back to Brownsville, where they rarely spoke of these events.

At the age of 15, Bakshi took up cartooning to document his experiences, as well as create fantasy-influenced artwork, after discovering Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide to Cartooning at the public library. He stole a copy of the book and learned every lesson in it.[1] During his teenage years, Bakshi took up boxing.[3] While attending Thomas Jefferson High School, he took little interest in academics, spending most of his time focusing on "broads, mouthing off, and doodling". After participating in a food fight and being caught smoking, Bakshi was sent to the principal's office. Believing Bakshi was unlikely to prosper at Thomas Jefferson, the principal transferred him to Manhattan's School of Industrial Art. In June 1956, Bakshi graduated from the school with an award in cartooning



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-02 01:08 by Gazza.

Racist? Ridiculous!

no it's not racist...
i just noticed (for the first time) the "brown sugar" reference...the "Mick" cat says
"Brown Sugar ..here I come"....before the music starts....at the :28 mark.






IORR............but I like it!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-03 04:07 by sweet neo con.

Not to jack the thread, but I am thinking: this is the look that I wish the Stones were wearing nowadays; the suits and hats . They look f*ckin great, bad-ass and timeless.

On yer page Palace.

And Doxa "Well, I'm glad they didn't do video for "Brown Sugar"..." - LOL.