I'm really not trying to sound like a media reporter today but it's just turning out that way.

As I mentioned the other day in this column V-103's Herb Kent will be hosting a day long tribute on Sunday to Don Cornelius who died as a result of a self inflicted gunshot wound.

Last night I posted the information on Facebook and Twitter when Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago's Media Blog published the details of the services today and Kent's tribute on Sunday. Something to put on the calendar for before the Super Bowl.

This column publishes a bit late for this one but Big John Nance did an interview with LJ Reynolds on WSNR.US today at 11am CST I don't know if he's going to do a rebroadcast but I'm sure he will let us know.

Don't misunderstand this. I love the web... I've been doing stuff here for quite a while but I do have concerns on the direction its taking. I understand the whole social media thing (at times a little too well) but I seem to remember a saying about putting all of your chickens in one pot (no wait a minute that's don't put all of your eggs in one basket) chicken or egg.... hmmmm.

The move has been slowly amping up as time goes on and more and more people are putting there presence on Facebook because there's a big market there to be appealed to. I get it. What does the future hold for Facebook and the legions that use it?

With the IPO imminent who knows for sure what new changes will come to the social media powerhouse. It's like any other business that gets a new management team. Directions change at the whim of the stockholders. Continued

[2/3/2012 Steppers Song Of The Day]
Grover's Groove By George Howard
#stepperssongoftheday
George Howard's polished fusion of funk, jazz, and urban soul helped the soprano saxophonist become one of the most popular contemporary jazz performers of the '80s and '90s.

Since he concentrated on groove and overall sound instead of improvisation, Howard never received much attention from jazz critics, but he retained a large audience well into his second decade of performing.

Howard began his musical career in the late '70s. He received his first break when Grover Washington, Jr., one of his musical idols, invited him on a tour in 1979.

The tour helped establish Howard's name, and in 1982 he released his debut Read more about the steppers song of the day

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You can always tell when the people behind Facebook are doing something major behind the scenes. Of course it's been no secret they are planning on converting everyone to the timeline layout in our personal profiles.

The site gets sort of sluggish, pages time out, did I say sluggish? It's my guess they've started the mass transformation. Prepare to complain... that's what we're all supposed to do when there is a change. At some point we come to accept the changes just so we can complain about the next round of changes.

Anyway I was visiting the group I decided to name "Dance Fanatics" That's not the real name but the name I gave it is very descriptive of the content and the people in the group. And they have been talking about what I've been referring to for ages...

That's getting THAT feeling from a dance. Of course the majority of the people in the group seem to be steppers (I probably wouldn't be there otherwise I really don't have much interest in anything but this dance but I can now say I know where the spinning really came from in new skool stepping).

It is the dance fanatics that make the most noise in any dance genre (before anyone gets their knickers in a bunch know this... the word FAN is derivative of the word fanatic) I'm sure many of the people reading this right now are fans of the dance. You know what... that's a good thing!

When the fans become obsessed with their opinions of themselves and their skills and talents that's the part of the definition of fanatic I'm afraid we see way too often. When I'm reading about the lead yanking the partner around the dance floor and just about causing dislocations I know that lead is so full of himself... he's become fanatic in the wrong way. Continued

[2/2/2012 Steppers Song Of The Day]
After Hours By Ronny Jordan
#stepperssongoftheday
One of the acid jazz movement's most prominent guitarists, London-born Ronny Jordan is widely credited with returning the instrument to its rightful place as a major force in modern-day jazz; despite outcries from purists, few other artists of his era proved more pivotal in knocking down the long-immutable boundaries of contemporary black music.

The son of a preacher, Jordan's early musical history was rooted in gospel; his first public performances were with gospel groups, but the outbreak of Brit-funk during the early '80s led him to begin exploring other avenues of music, culminating in a fascination with jazz. Read more about the steppers song of the day

New Monthly Steppers Wallpapers EVERY Month Click image for February

I went to bed early this morning about 5am after a long night of getting things together for the beginning of the month. It's always a hectic time when a new month rolls in with certain things to take care of and I surprised my self when I finished early.

When I woke at around 8ish the first thing I hear is Don Cornelius at the age of 75 had taken his own life. I sat there in shock at first... not at the fact that a 75 year old was dead or even that he shot himself... This was Don Cornelius for crying out loud!

I recalled stories Herb Kent told me about Don and sure enough a bit later on Facebook I saw a YouTube video of Herb doing an interview with Don from the V-103 studios recalling some of those same stories. I'm sure Herb's show this weekend is going to be a monster tribute.

Perhaps in a strange way with our attention on Don Cornelius that it's fitting today is the first day of Black History Month because of what he ended up giving the community. When he syndicated Soul Train the show portrayed African American youth in a completely different way than what was represented on the news. It became the longest running syndicated show in television history Continued

[2/1/2012 Steppers Song Of The Day]
Foolish By Ashanti
#stepperssongoftheday
With hitmaker Irv Gotti at the helm, Ashanti blasted into the urban music scene in 2002, topping the charts with multiple singles at once.

She quickly became a sensation, gracing the covers of magazines and dominating urban radio.

 Ashanti built her reputation with duets, where she would complement an already popular rapper - Ja Rule ("Always on Time"), Fat Joe ("What's Luv?"), the Notorious B.I.G. ("Unfoolish") - contrasting the tough-guy male perspective with her own.

It didn't take the young vocalist long to make a name for herself though: her debut album topped the Billboard album chart just as her debut solo single, "Foolish," was topping the Hot 100 chart. Her presence was inescapable. Read more about the steppers song of the day

New Monthly Steppers Wallpapers EVERY Month Click image for February