Ace of Spades PDX

Really Old School Vol. 4: Early Hip-Hop 86-87

Nineteen Eighty-Six was the year mainstream America could no longer ignore Hip-Hop. It exploded nationally in the middle part of the year and then did something that took it even further: white kids from the suburbs became fascinated with it in a major way. This was also the era where Hip-Hop sub-genres, such as New Jack Swing and Hip-Hop Soul, were hitting the Pop charts regularly, along with female rappers and dance remixes further pushing it everywhere. #hiphop #rap #hiphipsoul #newjackswing #oldschool

Earth Day 2050 (Free Download)

Deny it or not, some of you still aren’t offering solutions while the rest of us have to deal with the reality. #globalwarming #wildfires #groceries #drought This is the reality of Oregon today. We moved here 22 years ago so I could attend college. We loved it so much we stayed. One of the greatest […]

Really Old School Vol. 3: Early Hip-Hop 84-85

op Soul and Latin Freestyle, while MC’s started to become more forceful in their delivery and a new sonic experience, the Human Beatbox, was making its mark on the culture. #oldschool #blackmusic #hiphop #electronic #bboys #bgirls #hiphopsoul #humanbeatbox #freestyle

Really Old School Vol. 2: Early Hip-Hop 82-83

Three years after the initial wave of Hip-Hop singles released on vinyl made a sudden impact, the genre went into completely different directions at a rapid pace, much of this stirred on by advancements in technology and a refocus on lyrical themes. #oldschool #blackmusic #hiphop #electronic #bboys #bgirls

Really Old School: Early Hip-Hop 79-81

Forty-two years ago, the last major music movement of the 1970’s, Hip-Hop, started to make its mark with a series of 12-inch singles that were born out of New York City’s Black music scene that were originally party and dance records. #oldschool #blackmusic #hiphop

Queen of the Doubles

The 1970’s were the era of the multi-vinyl LP package. Forget what you think you know or remember about this time, because no one was more successful at this format than the most unlikely of music giants of the era: a Black woman from Boston named Donna Summer. #donnasummer #disco #dancemusic #1970s #giorgiomoroder

Dogs and Depression (Free Download)

Revisiting a wellness poster that featured Gypsy girl, our pug who died last month. #servicedogs #wellness #mentalhealth #pugs

hi-NRG Gay 80s

As we celebrate Pride month worldwide, a look back to when Gay men were dying in record numbers due to AIDS and when a record number of Gay men came out of the closet in the music industry to provide the soundtrack to battle the darkness surrounding them with a new form of dance music called hi-NRG that evolved from Disco. #AIDS #HIV #GayMen #LGBTQ #Dance #hiNRG

Power Pop For Now People

“Pete Townshend coined the phrase to define what the Who did. For some reason, it didn’t stick to the Who, but it did stick to these groups that came out in the ’70s that played kind of melodic songs with crunchy guitars and some wild drumming.” – Eric Carmen of the group Raspberries #powerpop #rockandroll #guitarrock #classicrock #summermusic #partymusic

The Communicator Awards: The Podcast is an Official Winner

Typically I am only used to dealing with adversity. This is new for me in so many ways. Recruiters, I ain’t mad atcha, and I also take requests. #commawards #podcasting #musiceducation #employment #headhunters #recruiters #communications #marketing #awards

Satisfaction (Free Coloring Download)

Even if your kids (or grandkids) don’t get it, at least all of you can have some free coloring fun. #coloring #freebies #graphicdesign #stressrelief #fun #rollingstones #classicrock

Billie Holiday: The Lady Day Anthology (Jazz Day 2021)

A special tribute to one of the most important and influential Jazz vocalists in history whose story and music enthrall us still, some six decades after her untimely passing at the age of 44. #ladyday #billieholiday #jazz #womeninmusic #jazzday

Making It Look Like 1975 (with video)

Did you promise to teach yourself a new skill during the pandemic and shutdown? Did you succeed? Here’s how far I have come in the last year. #digitalcontent #videoediting #adobepremier

Sisters of The 70’s

For those of you who may believe that the “Girl Group” sound died in the 1960’s, it didn’t. It decided to evolve and mature in ways that were’t always geared at the Pop chart, and with a newfound freedom that didn’t always include bouffant hairdos, high heels and with new found themes of independence and honesty. #IWD2021 #InternationalWomensDay

“I’d like to thank the Academy and all the little people…”

For April Fool’s Day, and just weeks from the annual Golden Raspberry Awards (The Razzies), a program featuring some of the worst and sometime unintentionally hilarious film music of the 80’s and 90’s wrapped in an essay of how badly people have ruined the entire award system by truly not challenging it at every level. #razzies #filmmusic #1980s #1990s #razzies #aprilfools #webbys #commuunicatorawards

More Than Apple Vanity

For this series 100th program, a extended show dedicated to some of the many talented artists of music history’s most amazing experiment in the business, Apple Records, that started off with great promise but crashed and burned amid a bitter divorce among what were once close friends. #beatles #applerecords #apple By 1967, The Beatles had […]

The Website Mary Celeste

You know these websites: no updates in months, seemingly as if everyone abandoned ship. But things are changing, at least for this site.

The Lady Day Anthology Poster (Free Download)

Welcome to Spring, which also means, children of the revolution, it is also time for International Jazz Day! #JazzDay #MusicEduction #Jazz #BillieHoliday #LadyDay

Saying Goodbye to an Everyday Hero (Free Download)

File under: the things we take for granted.

Janis Forever

Before there was the marketing catchphrase “Women In Rock”, there was Janis Joplin, who set a standard so incredibly high that 50 years after her passing, no one can match her. #bluesrock #womeninmusic #blues #acoustic #rockandroll #rock #counterculture #LGBTQ #bivisibility #guitarrock #janis #janisjoplin I have not come here to bury Janis, but to praise her. […]

International Podcast Day 2020

Regardless of your political views, there was one unmistakable truth about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Opera was what she loved. #RBG #Opera #Classical

Recent Video Promo Work

Having a blast, but running out of tricks. Will be stepping up my game with more self-study, thanks to materials from my local library. This isn’t all of them, but a nice collection of the one, sometimes two, clips I create weekly to promote my audio program. Enjoy.

Bird, 1949 (Free Download)

This month’s free download was by request. #jazz #graphicdesign #charlieparker A while back, a dear friend asked if I could design a charlie Parker poster for her. Parker, of course, is one of the founders of what was once called Bop, or Modern Jazz. She had always wanted one for her apartment, but original ones, […]

Art Laboe, The Original Oldie But Goodie

Happy 95th birthday to a man who not only is a Guinness World Record holder for broadcasting, he literally saved an entire era of music by people of color from being whitewashed and became an icon of Southern California Hispanic culture. #oldies #oldiesbutgoodies #lowrider #chicano #rhythmnadblues #rockandroll #doowop #crusing

Aerosmith Ruled The 70’s

Sex. Drugs. Rock and Roll. Amplified to 11 with the power of a freight train. For those who rabbit on about being a “rockstar”, know that the Bad Boys from Boston wrote the book and then set it on fire. #aerosmith #classicrock #hardrock #rockandroll #loveislove #LGBTQ

Stumbling Is Not Falling (Free Download)

An item from the vaults, using the words of Malcolm X, that remind me of what I need right now.

Black Message Tracks, 64-75, Part 1

The first of three programs this month that focus on the original Black Power and Black Pride movements, with commentary by special guest host Ronald E. Smith, and by request. #blackpower #blackpride #blacklivesmatter NOTE: Some tracks contain language and subject matter that may not suitable for all audiences. There isn’t a day that has gone […]

Welcome to AmeriKKKa (free downloads)

Whites have ignored the problem for far too long and failed to act when we were informed. #justiceforfloyd #endpolicebrutality #whitesilenceisviolence #justscrolltroll #blacklivesmatter Today, I am speaking directly to other white people. This month’s piece was not supposed to happen. But this is AmeriKKKa; why should I be surprised. The murder of George Floyd last month […]

Social Media Video Editing Challenges (with video)

Upgrading my skill set, and the learning curve is high. Been working in Adobe Premier for weeks now, finally getting my groove. Output settings are critical. Done in H.264, 720dpi video setting with in a 700×700 square designed specifically for cell phones and social media feeds. (H.264 is the output needed for most cell phones, which […]

Remembering Larry Kramer (video)

Remembering Larry Kramer, ACTUP, the early days of the AIDS pandemic and where we are today. A very emotional story, sometimes rambling, about the death of AIDS activist Larry Kramer and the failure of what we either have not learned or refuse to accept.

Travis Bear Chocolate Cake

Grandma’s recipe, adapted and modernized a little. #chocolate #grandma #cake #family

Wear The F**cking Mask (free download)

From the “this is not a request” and “I ain’t even playing” files. #wearamask #socialdistancing #covid19 May 2020 This is the part where I say typically something warm and fuzzy, but definitely not today. I was going to wait until Friday, 01 May 2020 to post this as my free download for the month, but […]

Get Your Medications Today! (One Minute Video Reminder)

Many of you currently have health insurance that is about to run out on April 30th, 2020. Do not delay on getting your meds while you still can afford them. Stay safe. #getmedstoday #medication#healthcare#healthinsurance#selfcare Love to you all. Ben “Daddy Ben Bear” Brown Jr.www.aospdx.comwww.aceofspadespdx.com

New Infographic Resume Poster

To the visual designers of any stripe: why are you still only using a plain-text model to show off your mad skills? #visual design #graphicdesign #resume #CV #digitalcontent #unemployment

#JazzDay 2016-2019 Archives

By request, publishing my four previous Int’l. #JazzDay programs as special event pages here on this website. #JazzDayAtHome #MusicEducation #covid-19

Zero Budget Instagram Success

Zero Budget Instagram Success
#instagram #nobudget #DIY #photography #socialmedia

Why No One Wants to Go to Your Meeting

By following a few, simple and effective PowerPoint tricks, you can make an even dry topic worth remembering.

#Powerpoint #meetings #presentations #business

Classy E-Commerce: Crown Miniatures Site Build

#webdesign #mobiledesign #digitalcontent #ecommerce #wordpress

What You’re Not Listening To Updates! (with video)

What started on this site as a means to educate people for free and teach myself something new is growing into a whole new beast. As I write this, I am closing in on the first anniversary of “What You’re Not Listening To” from it’s beginnings here to the program I believe is reaching a […]

Burn CD Tutorial For Adobe Audition CS6 Files

The best part of the solution is that the software to do it is solid, well known, free and you probably already have it. NOTE: This is meant for intermediate users of the CS6 Adobe Audition software, but I trust that many of you are smarter and more skilled than you give yourselves credit for. […]

The Easter Egg hunt has returned…again.

Because I just can’t do anything normal. Welcome back one and all. If you haven’t looked around the website in a few days or longer, you will notice some major additions, updates and changes as I add items I have been working on for the last 5 months. Much of this delay was due to […]

Adventures In Print Advertising

Adventures In Print Advertising #LGBTQ #Fetish #Leather #Kink #DragQueen

George Lucas, Mrs. Anna Brown asked me to tell you thank you.

Keeping a promise I made in 1982 to my mother, who left us on the 20th of November at the age of 70. #georgelucas #oldiesbutgoodies This may be the most important show I will ever produce, children of the revolution. This is what is called an “open letter”: a message intended for an individual, but […]

What You’re Not Listening To: The Extended Programs 1

These are the first four programs where I could not upload the audio files due to size restrictions. Presenting them as embedded files here. #podcasting #musiceducation #freebies Show 37. 31 December 2019: Purple Rain, 1984 and Pop’s Perfect Year. 73 mins. Show 47. 28 February 2020: John Coltrane on Atlantic. 84 mins. Show 49. 08 […]

Happy 4-20-20 (two free downloads and audio)

Oddly, every day this month has a 4-20 in it. It’s so Dylan Rainy Day Women 12 and 35. #dylan #420 #fightracism #legalizeit Life has been kinda crappy for everyone lately. Have some fun with today’s free downloads and musical diversions. I originally designed these almost 5 years ago to support the Yes on 91 […]

International Jazz Day 2020 Poster and Program Info

What started out as a program to give access to those without the means to attend a Jazz program for International Jazz Day five years ago has taken a whole new meaning this year. #JazzDay #Covid19 #coltrane

The Hits Keep Coming! 4 More Podcast Shows Recap

There is no stopping “What You’re Not Listening To” from spreading the gospel of all the things amazing.

Having a Drink with Dad (free download)

Some family portraits are not like others.

And Even More “What You’re Not Listening To” Updates

Yes, the audio program has been amazing. I do it for the outcome, not the income. And coming soon: my own “radio” channel, where you can hear these continuously, for free. Details soon. Show 17: 1950’s Urban Blues: The Genesis of It All Show 18: The American Folk Revival 58-68 Show 19: Nusrat Fateh Ali […]

What You’ve Been Missing On “What You’re Not Listening to”

Playing some catch up for all of you here. Shows 13 through 16 illustrate yet again why this program is like no other. Later on this month, programs 17-20. Show 14: The Jefferson Airplane at Woodstock. The first band signed to perform. Show 14: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. The show closer. Show 15: Amyl and […]

Jewels 01 (Free download)

The French have a word for it, but then again, they have a word for everything, n’cest pas? Welcome back one and all. Every month, I like to give something away. Typically, it will be an item that has been out of circulation for a while, and more often than not, it is an item […]

Posts navigation