Afternoon Aural: Joe Tex
Late soul singer Joe Tex takes the cake for questionable lyrics.
One of his biggest hits, “I Gotcha,” sounds more like an ode to rape than a love song. And then there’s this: “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More [With No Big Fat Woman],” about a startling experience Tex allegedly had at his local disco.
Basically, he’s telling big girls to find a man their own size. Yes, it’s rude and entirely discriminatory, but the beat’s hot and worth a listen, even if just for the track’s camp value.
Get “I Gotcha” after the jump…
Liza’s version of “I Gotcha” is most amusing as well…
Tex went way too early, only 49 in 1982. This past week soul lost another great: Norman Whitfield, who, from 1966 ( “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”) through 1972 ( “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”) was the Temptations’ most reliable supplier of hits. Whitfield gave both Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye million-sellers, one year apart, with the same song: I Heard It Through the Grapevine.