The System
Coming To America (Independence Mix)
Coming To America (American Dub Mix)
Coming To America (Part Two)

Apparently they are making a sequel to Coming To America? I’ll believe that when I see it, the proverbial “they” were also allegedly making another sequel to Beverly Hills Cop. I hope they do make a sequel. I hope they make it real as fuck. Have the son of Eddie Murphy’s character travel to America to try and find his bride and have him immediately shot by the NYPD for the crime of breathing while black. Or have him go a nightclub to look for a girl and have him get gunned down in a mass shooting. Fuck it.

Sorry, shit’s been too real.

Anyways, I have seen Coming To America probably at least a dozen or so times, and I have no recollection of this song. My memories of that film basically boil down to the scene with the bald woman, the McDonald’s jokes, Samuel L. Jackson, the Trading Places reference, and “the royal penis is clean your highness.”

Oh yeah, and Soul Glow, but that’s mostly because of Lizzo referencing it in her amazing video for her dope song “Juice.”

Every time I try to think of this song when I’m not listening to it, I end up getting “Living In America” stuck in my head instead. And let’s be real, that song is a million times better than this track, which is a textbook example of completely competent but still utterly forgettable late-80s mainstream synthpop funk.

The song is by The System, a group that I know nothing about. Some basic Wikipedia and YouTube browsing shows me that they had at least a few minor hits (and even one top ten single) but I’ll be damned if I’ve heard any of them. It’s amazing how many mid-level acts from the late-80s have vanished off the face of the Earth. I feel that you can put The System’s top ten single, “Don’t Disturb This Groove” right up there with “Shake You Down” by Gregory Abbot and “Casanova” by LeVert on a greatest hits that time forgot. Synthfunk in the late-80s really took a dive and it did not age well at all.

I don’t want to shit on The System too much though. I’m sure they were a fine band for their time, and they did chart on more than once occasion, so good on them. Also, from what I’ve heard of their first couple albums, they had a really rad electro-funk sound for a while that actually has aged well. So if you find this track of any interest at all, I suggest checking out their first LP, it has some hidden gems on it.

Anyways, speaking of Coming to America, I’m coming to America! For the majority of August and into September, I’ll be visiting my once fine home country to pay visit to friends and family and eat as much Little Caesar’s pizza as humanly possible. Previous trips to the states have seen this blog fall into an involuntary hiatus of sorts, and I’m going to my best to prevent that this time. I already have a couple blog posts done and in the can, so I hope I can get a few more done before I leave next week, allowing me to keep the blog updated while I’m out and about in the greater Toledo to Pittsburgh area, drinking root beer and hoping not to fall victim to another mass shooting.

I even have at least one more synthpop 12″ single in the wings, so hey, those of you lamenting for the good old days of this blog should be stoked.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 at 10:29 pm and is filed under remixes, soundtrack, The System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.