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Lizard King Jim Morrison, one of the most influential American rock singers ever, was born in Melbourne, Florida on December 8, 1943.

He went to UCLA film school, graduated, and hung out on Venice Beach, where he and Ray Manzarek started The Doors.

There's a famous incident that took place at Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove known to a world of Doors fans as The Miami Incident that involved drugs, nudity, 13,000 people, the police, the Miami Herald, a student-led decency campaign at the Orange Bowl, and the national media.

Click here for more info on that. Watch the video above for some of Morrison's response to the incident courtesy of the Wolfson Archive on YouTube.

Dimebag Darrell lives!

Every last tiny speck of brain matter splatted against the Columbus, Ohio stage he was riffing on when he was killed by a crazed gunman may have already been sold on Ebay, but the legend of Dimebag lives on through recorded documentation of his music.

The video above features Dimebag Darrel shredding with Pantera in West Palm Beach in 1997. According to the upload description "rex, vince and phil kick ass too!"

  

This is video of a metal band called Blood Oath playing live in West Palm Beach on September 11, 2005 at Classics Bar. The information is courtesy of YouTube user  EsotericDeath who uploaded the above video and wrote a brief description of it.

If you are a fan of fast, loud, heavy music, and lots of growling, then this song is for you.
Click here to see the original flyer post for the above concert on an old livejournal site from 2005.

Saigon Kick was arguably South Florida's biggest rock export in the early '90s, a band with some major hits that remains somewhat underrated, perhaps, because of the time at which it appeared. At first glance, the group, originally a quartet, had all the aesthetic stylings of a glam-metal act. But their first album didn't come out until 1991, the famous year when Kurt Cobain and his cohorts began their swift work of taking down arena rock.

But while Saigon Kick was more or less a "metal" band, the group always had a soulful side and a love for experimenting with big, trippy pop textures. Sure, their biggest hit, "Love is On the Way" in 1992, was a pretty straightforward power ballad. But take this song "I Love You," from the band's 1993 album Water. It has a weirdly fuzzy, spacey sound over tinkling drum beats that sounds a little like something Jane's Addiction would do.

Here's a video of Miami's own Hemlock playing a song called "Sweet Sweet Music," and sounding like a disco version of the Allman Brothers. The movie appears to be a shoddy film to digital transfer. Click the HQ button at the bottom of the player to watch it in high quality. According to the YouTube description, Hemlock released a single called "Disco Break," apparently through Warner Bros. Here is that song.

The soul great Betty Wright is one of Miami's best not-so-well-kept secrets. Starting out as a gospel singer with a family group, in the mid-1960s Wright switched over to R&B. Her robust mid-range belting and knack for picking funky beats and melodies made her a hit, and Wright quickly racked up hit singles throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, she's been a favorite of the hip-hop generation, and younger music fans will recognize her hits from the many newer songs that have sampled them.

Here's "Clean Up Woman," which, upon its 1971 release, reached #2 on the Billboard R&B charts, and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song provided the unforgettable riff for Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" (the remix version with Biggie which is NOWHERE on YouTube), and was also sampled on SWV's "I'm So Into You," Afrika Bambaataa's "Zulu War Chant," and Sublime's "Get Out!" remix, among others.

Ladies, listen to this and take heed -- don't make things easy for the clean-up woman. Listen to the song and you'll know what Wright is talking about.

Today's throwback comes from wayyyy back in the way-back machine's gears: 1930, when Phil Spitalny's orchestral jazz compositions were pop hits. It's hard to imagine a time before popular music was splintered into a thousand different subgenres, but think about it: Beyond classical and real folk traditions, there was basically just music. Now they have a creaky charm, but Spitalny's songs probably powered the classy nightclubs that occupied South Beach's art deco buildings before they were retro. Maybe flappers danced to them, daring to show their knees!

There's actually a less tenuous local connection for this song. At the peak of his career, the Ukraine-born Spitalny was known for leading his all-girl orchestra (arguably the first), but he later decamped to Miami Beach. Here, he was a music critic for local newspapers of yore -- the Miami Beach Sun and the Miami Beach Reporter -- before he passed away in 1970.

This song, "What's the Use," was released as part of the Hit of the Week record series, which were pressed on laminated flexible cardboard to keep prices down during the Great Depression.

While we're on the subject of the Freestyle Invasion II concert this Saturday, we put together a play list of some of the best songs by the artists performing. Enjoy.

Oh yeah - there's also another HUGE freestyle show coming up, the Freestyle Extravaganza on June 27 at the AAA. That one features Stevie B, TKA, and Lisa Lisa, among others! What is this, freestyle summer? But we'll get to that one next week.

Until then, here are some top tunes from Taylor Dayne, Debbie Deb, Judy Torres, Nice N Wild, and many many more. Hit the jump to listen.

via matthewsabatella.com

Matthew Sabatella

Today's MP3 of the day relates to the serious meaning behind Memorial Day, and comes courtesy of local troubadour Matthew Sabatella. He's one of the most unique solo performers in town, as he's dedicated his work lately to preserving American folk traditions. But not folk like the festival in Newport, think even further back -- as in, before most recorded popular music.

Sabatella's Ballad of America series has showcased music of the the 18th (really!) and 19th centuries. Volume Three, for instance, was dedicated to songs from the lifetime of Abraham Lincoln (and it seems Honest Abe was a sentimental fella).

So following that, Sabatella offers for free download his rendition of the traditional song "The Vacant Chair," with music by George F. Root and words by Henry S. Washburn. Get the explanation behind the song, and the download link, after the jump.

From the May 18-24, 1988 issue of the Miami New Times.

Twenty one years ago on South Beach Club Nu threw a Rambo III Premier Party. They flew down 3 skaters from LA. That same week they had a ladies' night, a model search, advertised the world's most expensive vodka, got sponsored by Robert's Western Wear, and featured performances by The Neighborhoods and Fetchin Bones.

Stay tuned to Crossfade as we continue to dig in the crates for more throwback content straight from the archives.