Before panda power pushed the WWF into the WWE, Rowdy Roddy Piper was the loose cannon of the wrestling world. While not quite as sharp as Rick Flair, Piper had mastered the art of spontaneity. You knew Hulk Hogan would talk training saying your prayers and eating your vitamins. Other personalities had their catch phrases, but Piper had that spark. You never knew what would happen when a guest came on his talk show, Piper’s Pit.
Today on his birthday, we celebrate some of music’s wildcards. The guys you add when you want a different kind of flavor to your song. They may not be trusted alone or even have a track record of selling huge amounts of records, but when you add them to the mix, you light a spark that makes any song explosive.
Slash
When Michael Jackson calls you up to add spice and edge to his music, you know you’re special. The King called on GnR guitarist Slash to add some muscle to both “Black & White” and “Give in To Me” from the Dangerous album as well as “Morphine” and “D.S.” What would classic “Sweet Child o Mine” have been without Slash’s guitar solos? Already wild cards like Alice Cooper and The Insane Clown Posse all called for his services. Let’s not forget, Slash is the reason for the tape delay. That’s wild enough.
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Old Dirty Bastard
God rest his soul, Old Dirty Bastard was nothing if not unique. The comedic ex factor to the WuTang, ODB’s real life was wilder than fiction including gunfight, rescuing children from car accidents, award show bum rushing and pricking up welfare checks live on TVC in a limo. While he added the electricity to Wu’s classic “Shame On A N***a,” his work on two R&B joints made them immortal. Him and Mariah go back like babies and pacifiers and SWV would do anything to get him back on a track. No father to his style at all.
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Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes went from second banana to manic track changer faster than you can say “Scenario.” His ridiculous energy level may not suit many listeners over the course of an album but there may be no greater pace changer in Hip-Hop. Biggie may have dropped the verse of his life on “Victory” but Busta’s lunatic ranting takes the song up a notch. His “Ante Up” opening made for a more manic mania if such a thing exists.
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Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz was a child of dual heritage and many times that difference became a bridge for soul to venture back into the Rock & Roll world it used to inhabit far more frequently. These days you need a legitimate ferryman to carry you across that river, Kravitz is the man. He justified madonna’s love during one of her many transformations, funked up Kiss; “Duece” with a little help from Stevie and Helped the Neptunes get Fly Or Die on “Maybe.” He also helped Jay-Z with “Guns N Roses” on his second Blueprint album.
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Marianne Faithfull
It may get no wilder than Marianne Faithfull, who’s had as many lives as a cat in the music biz, surviving eras from the Rolling Stones through Metallica, with her relationship with Jagger informing some of the Stones’ best work. She lost custody of her son and nearly her life to drugs and anorexia but survived and have added fire and flavor to the works of the Beatles, Sly & Robbie, Stevie Winwood and a host of others.
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