Black Music Month QLS Classic: Tawatha Agee

As Questlove Supreme's Black Music Month programming continues, revisit this 2018 conversation with singer-songwriter Tawatha Agee as she discusses how she rose from her Gospel choir beginnings to recording Mtume's hit single, "Juicy Fruit."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Course Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic
episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
What up, y'all, It's Laiyah from Team Supreme. Okay, So
it's June, and you know it is Black Music Month. Now,
This month and its cause was started by my godmother,
Dianna Williams, the legendary Kenny Gamble, and the great and
right back in nineteen seventy nine after being invited to
the White House along with the Black Music Association. Now,
the Black Music Association was a group of black folks

(00:32):
that were the best of the best of the music industry.
I'm talking record execs, I'm talking radio people, I'm talking artists.
I'm talking to everybody from Clarence Avon and Frankie Crocker
to Percy Sutton, everybody in the middle right. So they
all get invited to this big party on the White
House lawn June seventh, nineteen seventy nine. And before the
performances started, President Carter said many things addressing and reminding

(00:54):
people of the importance of black music. Monk, and one
of the things he said was end quote in may
ways the feelings of our own black citizens throughout the
history of our country has been accurately expressed in the music,
and it presents a kind of history of our nation
when you go back and see the evolution of black
music word. So we've spoken a lot about Black Music

(01:15):
Month on Questloud Supreme and this June we are running
a different episode from the QLs archives every single day
in the name Spirit and Cause of Black Music mom.
Yesterday we reran an interviewed with James M.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Tuma.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Today it is only right that we celebrate the amazing
vocalist to Watha Agi.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
Su suprema Son subpremo roll call suprima soun subprimo, roll call,
subprima Sun Sun subprimo, roll call subprima Sun South, subprema.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
You want your music to shine to Wathas who you call?
Yeah for so many credits, Yeah, let's name them all
right now. Uh, There's Norman Connors, Alphons, Maszoon, Phyllis Hymon, Nortim,
Michael Walden, Stephanie Mills, Gary Barts, Scritty Polity Chocolate, Patrice Chocolate,

(02:21):
Banks of Graham, Central Station, The Spinners, Luther vandros Irene Karra,
The BBQ Band, Michael Franks, Melbol Moore, Aretha Franklin, Linda Clifford,
Kenny Burke, Dinah Ross, lou Rass, Scritty, Polity, Phronsie Thornton,
kashif Lelo, Thomas, Marcus Miller, Michael Wykoff, Frankie Valley, Lenny Kravitz,

(02:43):
Teddy Pendergrass, Roy Aires, Algibo, James Ingram, Tyrone Brunson, Chromeo, Kiera,
Gregory Hines, Eric Clapton, Scritty Polity, Rindy Houston, ROBERTA Flat,
Jennifer Holiday, Talking Heads, she Jackie McGee, Joe Cocker, Deon Warrick,
You'll announced, Scratch, Bob James, David Lee, Roth, David Lee, Roth, Celin,

(03:11):
Dion r Kelly Sting, Sondra st Victor, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Beyonce, Ray,
Charles m to May and Yes, Ladies and gentlemen, Screaty.

Speaker 6 (03:25):
Supremo, Supremo, Roll, Suprema, Suprema Roll.

Speaker 5 (03:33):
My name is Fante, Yeah, quest Love Supreme Yeah, where
we sit with legends.

Speaker 7 (03:38):
Yeah, welcome to my dream.

Speaker 6 (03:41):
Sumo Supremo, Roll, Suprima, Suprema Roll Call.

Speaker 8 (03:49):
My name is Sugar. Yeah, I'm so glad you came. Yeah,
but did you really?

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (03:55):
Sing on free Frame.

Speaker 9 (04:00):
Premo roll Call Suprema SI Supremo roll.

Speaker 10 (04:04):
Call, Hey Bill, Yeah, no doom and gloom. Yeah, shout
out to Fante. Yeah, renovated the bathroom.

Speaker 6 (04:15):
Sun Supremo roll Call Suprema S Suprema roll.

Speaker 11 (04:21):
Bill is back Yeah with another rhyme crime. Yeah, Quest
Love Supreme. Yeah, it's prime time.

Speaker 6 (04:28):
Rome Suprema Sun Supremo roll call Suprema su su Supremo.

Speaker 12 (04:36):
Roll Here's yeah and mister Yeah we're about to start.
Yeah that's too hot.

Speaker 9 (04:45):
Upremo rhyme Supremo roll call.

Speaker 13 (04:53):
My name is to Waa. Yeah, I'm here to pleasure.

Speaker 6 (04:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 13 (04:57):
One thing you left out?

Speaker 14 (04:58):
Yeah, I work with.

Speaker 9 (04:59):
Lo Supreme Supremo Supremeo.

Speaker 6 (05:08):
Roll Supremo Supremo roll call Supremo Supremeo.

Speaker 14 (05:18):
Brought you.

Speaker 7 (05:21):
Yes, Bill, Okay, I said.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
I wasn't wait I actually I have to say that
I missed the strong and robust the Quest Love Supreme
because there was one point where it's just me and Steve.
Wait why Okay. Yeah, it was one roll call where

(05:48):
was just like the three of us Supreme and it
was over ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 14 (05:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Another exciting episode of Quest Love Supreme. Awaits us. We
have Team Supreme. Uh yeah, how's the bathroom, man? The
bathroom is good. My wisdom teeth are even better. That's
what set me down. I had to get them taken
out too, and it sat me down. It went terribly bad. Really,
I developed a dry socket.

Speaker 7 (06:15):
What is that for? A socket?

Speaker 5 (06:17):
Is when like they pull your tooth and normally clotforms
to like as it heals. But if the clock comes
out or it gets loose or whatever, then you just
have raw nerves and bone exposed. You have to like
you all your food on the other side of your
It was just in sure apple sauce, oatmeal, and I
lost nine pounds. You look great, Thank you man. My

(06:40):
summer body getting in Yeah.

Speaker 7 (06:44):
Everyone else okay house the Sugar networks. Do you see
they got stickers? Yeah, sugar Sugar Network.

Speaker 14 (06:50):
We're not We are not messing around anymore.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Because you know we don't have swag there.

Speaker 10 (06:58):
Sugar Network is global. Yeah, global, it's amazing cosmic. Well,
ladies and gentlemen. I pretty much said it all in
my role call, but it's yeah.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
Our guest today is probably one of the most connected
artists to the world of music. There's literally any is
there anyone you have not worked with?

Speaker 7 (07:27):
What was the Close? But no cigar?

Speaker 5 (07:29):
Because this is your studio work, this is live. You
sang with everybody.

Speaker 15 (07:34):
True, I wanted to work with Bonnie Rape, but she
doesn't use female.

Speaker 7 (07:43):
Welcome to one and only.

Speaker 5 (07:51):
Really, my my dream is to just name an artist and.

Speaker 7 (07:55):
You give me a story. But I actually want to
know where were you? First?

Speaker 15 (08:04):
First things, first born in Pittsburgh, raised in Newark, New Jersey.

Speaker 7 (08:08):
You were born in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.

Speaker 13 (08:10):
Don't ask me about it. I don't know.

Speaker 7 (08:11):
We left you. I was like one, No, oh damn,
I was over to a connection.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
No.

Speaker 5 (08:17):
I I did a hard time at uh the Carlton
House back when that was your chruggy.

Speaker 7 (08:25):
Your shoulders station square doesn't mean anything to.

Speaker 13 (08:28):
Newark, Newark, I know Newark Citywark.

Speaker 7 (08:32):
So your family was from Pittsburgh and they migrated to Newark.

Speaker 15 (08:36):
Yes, Pittsburgh by way of Alabama, Talladega, Birmingham.

Speaker 7 (08:45):
Day and night. Okay, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 14 (08:48):
That's what people know about.

Speaker 7 (08:53):
Okay, what how many siblings do you have?

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Like?

Speaker 13 (08:57):
What was your I have two older sisters. I'm the baby.

Speaker 7 (09:01):
Did they sing as well?

Speaker 15 (09:02):
No one sings in the family. Wow, No, my father hums.

Speaker 7 (09:08):
So wow. Okay, we never had this as an area before.

Speaker 14 (09:12):
Yeah, everyone comes to a musical family in the show.

Speaker 5 (09:15):
Except so, how did music enter your life if your
parents and your siblings.

Speaker 15 (09:22):
Weren't well church of course, and I always listened to
the radio, you know, listening to the music on the radio,
listening to pop radio, R and B radio in Newark
and you know, constantly radio and books.

Speaker 13 (09:35):
That was it for me.

Speaker 5 (09:36):
Was it tolerated in the household because normally the common
thing with our guess is like, you know, secular music.

Speaker 13 (09:43):
Oh no, no, no, it wasn't like that.

Speaker 15 (09:44):
We had the ink spots and Ruth Brown and you know,
twist and shouted Isley Brothers, you know, things like that.

Speaker 7 (09:51):
So they were music fans, but they were fans.

Speaker 15 (09:54):
But no no singers in no talent, well, no singers.

Speaker 7 (10:00):
Musical with a with an F.

Speaker 16 (10:07):
I was saying that that that's uh, the the the.

Speaker 5 (10:12):
The magnit magnitude of her presence. When she walked in
and Fante said his name, She's like, oh, with an F.
And he just confirmed, He's like, yes, anything, I'm not
gonna correct ms. Twatha, So uh, with with your like

(10:34):
how did music enter your life?

Speaker 14 (10:35):
Then?

Speaker 5 (10:36):
With I meant outside of church as far as you
wanted to take it seriously.

Speaker 15 (10:41):
And church foremost, foremost. And I played for my church
choir when I was a little girl. And I went
to a music and arts high school, and then I
went to Howard and uh graduated from Howard and that's
how I met uh uh in to May and uh
and the rest, as they say, is uh musical history.

Speaker 5 (11:02):
What period of what year? What period did you go through?
Uh Howard at Howard?

Speaker 7 (11:07):
Yeah, oh I was.

Speaker 15 (11:08):
I went to Howard from seventy one to seventy five.
I graduated in seventy five with a bachelor's degree in
music education.

Speaker 5 (11:13):
Okay, everyone that I know that is going to Howard
in the seventies has the best stories ever. Like Greg
Tate tells me about seeing uh uh Hathaway.

Speaker 7 (11:22):
No, what's her name? ROBERTA.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
Miles Davis is uh Betty Davis, Betty Davis a homecoming
one Yeah at.

Speaker 15 (11:29):
Hampton at Hampton Auditorium, uh Crampton, cram Crampton Auditorium. Let
me see when I was there, it was Pharaoh Sandra's
for homecoming. Pharaoh Sanders Miles Davis and what for for homecoming?

Speaker 7 (11:47):
What was the holiday like for real? Doing to shoot
it dance?

Speaker 5 (11:57):
So it was was that choice for you guys? It
was like, all right, we get Parris Anders.

Speaker 15 (12:04):
Well, no, no, no, I was into gospel music. It
didn't I knew who those people were, but I didn't.

Speaker 13 (12:08):
I didn't go to see him.

Speaker 15 (12:09):
I never went to a party at Howard I knew. No,
never never know church girl, did you chill on?

Speaker 3 (12:18):
And so never just stopped in the yard just to
chill and talking.

Speaker 7 (12:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 13 (12:22):
What what I would do was in my dormitory. We
had a piano.

Speaker 15 (12:25):
I would be in there playing gospel music and people
would come around and listen to me play.

Speaker 13 (12:28):
What dorm was the Meridian Hill, Meridian Hill off campus.

Speaker 5 (12:32):
Any I know uptown any pre and to me, uh,
Donnie Hathaway interactions whatsoever?

Speaker 15 (12:39):
Donnie was Donnie was had graduated by the time I
was there for Berta and Donnie had graduated. But when
I was there, when like I said, gospel was my roots.
Richard Smallwood was there. Richard Smallwood sang in a group.
I sang in a group with Richard Smallwood and and
Angela Winbush was also in my class.

Speaker 13 (12:58):
Yeah, it's hot tea good good.

Speaker 7 (13:00):
Oh yeah, can you explain hot too?

Speaker 15 (13:04):
Oh well, look, we had no imagination. It was Tawatha
Elet and Angela elect Rix who was t e a well,
a phenomenal, phenomenal pianist, you know, on par with Richard
small Wood or any classical pianist you would ever want
to to hear. She's she lived in Sacramento now. So
it was Tawatha Elet, Angela Shelton Beckton, who is.

Speaker 13 (13:25):
Now he's on Broadway.

Speaker 15 (13:28):
He does Uh, he's music director for Audra McDonald and uh,
let me see who else. Tawatha let, Angela and Richard
that was it, and Shelton Beckton. We were hot tea
and two May was looking for a group to produce.
A friend of ours by the name of Louise West,
who was an attorney, knew m two Mays. She said,
come on down, listen to these kids sing. We sang

(13:50):
for him. We did some demos. Uh that really didn't
go anywhere, but I stayed in touch.

Speaker 5 (13:55):
Okay, what was the gospel circuit? Light like, were you
doing any gospel circuit? Whatsoever?

Speaker 8 (14:02):
We were?

Speaker 13 (14:02):
We were We were pretty pretty popular.

Speaker 15 (14:06):
Our gospel name was Genesis, but there was already a
group called Genesis, but we didn't know that there was,
you know, because we didn't listen to that kind of music.
So back then, no, it wasn't like that. You know,
we didn't take those kind of liberties. But you know,
we did pretty well. The church people knew us in

(14:26):
the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
Any notable churches or notable acts that we were knowing
today that you guys would run.

Speaker 15 (14:36):
Oh, no, you know you're talking. This is nineteen seventy one,
seventy two.

Speaker 13 (14:43):
So no, I can tell you people that I liked,
but I didn't work with them.

Speaker 7 (14:49):
We'll not work with them. But I'm just saying, like.

Speaker 13 (14:51):
Well, who were popular at the time.

Speaker 7 (14:53):
Did you like?

Speaker 14 (14:54):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (14:54):
Who I liked?

Speaker 15 (14:55):
I liked well, of course the Hawkens, Walter Hawkens, not
particularly Edwin what Walter. This was Oh my god, this
was before Kirk Franklin. This was this was like James Cleveland,
the Hawkins, Murna Summers, people like that. I like the
Mighty Clouds of Joy. Yeah, yeah, so you know, things

(15:16):
like that.

Speaker 7 (15:17):
So those church services were Oh, but we had a band.

Speaker 15 (15:21):
I went to the Star Bethlehem Church of God in
Christ than v Yes, And so the church had a
band and the band was really really good.

Speaker 13 (15:32):
And if you've done your research you would know.

Speaker 15 (15:34):
I did a song called By the Time I Get
to Heaven, which had a big band. But I was
like nineteen years old and I sound like Minnie Mouse?
Was that your first was that was my first recording?

Speaker 7 (15:44):
Really?

Speaker 16 (15:45):
Yes?

Speaker 14 (15:45):
I was so excited we can find this.

Speaker 13 (15:47):
Oh, I don't know if you would find.

Speaker 7 (15:49):
Oh, trust me. We were digging it.

Speaker 13 (15:51):
Up Star Bethlehem Church of got in Christ, real youth choir. Yes,
from DC.

Speaker 5 (15:56):
When I always wanted to know when churches visit other churches,
is it almost like a battle?

Speaker 7 (16:04):
Atmosphere is intimidating? Are they sitting there?

Speaker 13 (16:09):
You know you had to go and do your thing.

Speaker 15 (16:10):
You know it was competition, but healthy competition, healthy competent.

Speaker 13 (16:14):
Did you find it?

Speaker 7 (16:15):
Come on?

Speaker 16 (16:16):
Now?

Speaker 7 (16:16):
What's her name?

Speaker 10 (16:20):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (16:20):
My god?

Speaker 15 (16:21):
As long as you don't have a picture, because everybody
had afros? All you said it was like lollipops, beautiful afro. No,
But I mean, is it it was a battle?

Speaker 7 (16:30):
Is it intimidating at all?

Speaker 11 (16:32):
Oh?

Speaker 15 (16:32):
No, You accept a challenge because that was healthy. That
helped you grow. That helped you become better on what
you were doing.

Speaker 5 (16:37):
Okay, so we found uh that's Atophone last Supreme Exclusive.

Speaker 7 (16:46):
Yes, nineteen year old star him you youth choir. Yes,
and this is seventy one.

Speaker 13 (16:56):
Early seventies.

Speaker 7 (16:58):
And this was recorded in the in the church.

Speaker 12 (17:00):
You know, it was live.

Speaker 13 (17:01):
Everything was live. We couldn't go to a studio.

Speaker 11 (17:11):
M hm.

Speaker 5 (17:15):
Hm everybody, Yeah, I shot that sh.

Speaker 7 (17:40):
That's a looke. Look tell yourself, no news is good news. Wow.

Speaker 13 (17:57):
Yeah you can hear the remix.

Speaker 14 (18:01):
The base is so loud.

Speaker 13 (18:03):
Oh yeah, absolutely, of course.

Speaker 14 (18:25):
I wish I went to.

Speaker 13 (18:29):
Wait it was it was a it was a set
every Sunday.

Speaker 7 (18:32):
Do you guys have to see? All right?

Speaker 5 (18:34):
So we're sitting here at this table. It's like three
four beats that can be made. It's why here and
it just from the styles the standpoint. I'm listening to it.
We listen to it for productions. My day's trying to
figure out the time listen.

Speaker 10 (18:48):
But I also was thinking, wow, I really missed out
on church experience. You just don't go to church missing out.
I think my left me budget friend. If every Sunday
I went to that as supposed.

Speaker 7 (19:08):
What was the size of the ensemble, Like.

Speaker 15 (19:10):
Let me see, it was maybe four piece uh band
and it was maybe like thirty or forty singers.

Speaker 7 (19:18):
So how do you.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Uh managed to to finagle your way into uh a
lead spot?

Speaker 7 (19:28):
And is that a coveted spot? Well?

Speaker 13 (19:31):
I was selected by the choir director, right.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
But how's the choir director? Now the forty of you,
who's my most dependable?

Speaker 15 (19:38):
Well, you know, I guess I was a new girl
and he liked how I sounded. I mean, you know,
it was very shy. So that was me like coming out.

Speaker 13 (19:47):
You know what I'm.

Speaker 5 (19:48):
Trying to actually get at is I know that a
lot of uh mavericks in our business have to put
in a lot of hours as far as practicing and
rehearsing and that sort of thing.

Speaker 13 (19:58):
So I just want to what was the choir rehearsal
one night a week?

Speaker 7 (20:03):
Did you know?

Speaker 13 (20:04):
Service on Sunday? We would visit other churches.

Speaker 7 (20:06):
I mean that was it wasn't rigorous rehearsal.

Speaker 15 (20:08):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, not like that.

Speaker 11 (20:12):
Okay, sorry, I just see another one of my favorite
gospel singings is on that Star of Bethlehemy's choir album.

Speaker 7 (20:18):
Crystal Merton oh, yes she was.

Speaker 13 (20:20):
Yeah, she went there to.

Speaker 7 (20:22):
Love that.

Speaker 13 (20:23):
Yes, she's great. Sorry, no, we have in a moment.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
I know you had a favorite gospel artist, Crystal.

Speaker 13 (20:30):
Crystal Cool.

Speaker 7 (20:31):
I grew up on Crystal. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:33):
So once, uh, you were done with Howard, what were
your your your plans and your goals did you have?

Speaker 7 (20:41):
What was your major at Howard?

Speaker 13 (20:43):
Music Education?

Speaker 7 (20:44):
Okay, so you wanted to do something in music.

Speaker 15 (20:46):
I wanted to be a music teacher, and I thought
that that's what I was going to do. Got out
there were no music positions available, so I was I
started to sub and you know, you know how subing is.
You get up and get dressed and then they don't call.
So then I called him to May who said, give
me a call when you come home, you know, from school.

(21:07):
And I called him and says, well, you know, I
have a few sessions coming up.

Speaker 13 (21:10):
Would you like to sing?

Speaker 15 (21:11):
It's like sure, And it got to the point where
I would be making more doing a session a week
with him than I would working all week as.

Speaker 13 (21:18):
A substitute teacher.

Speaker 15 (21:19):
So it's like, I think I'll try this singing thing.
And I've done it ever since. And that's been like
since nineteen seventy six.

Speaker 7 (21:26):
What were sessions paying at that time? Oh, oh my god, was.

Speaker 15 (21:32):
In nineteen seventy six, Yes, yes, it was sessions. Then
you would get maybe three hundred dollars for a song.

Speaker 7 (21:39):
Okay, and that would be just for singing background.

Speaker 13 (21:42):
That's just for background. Oh yeah, oh Lee, just more,
even I knew more. What be for a solo?

Speaker 8 (21:47):
You know?

Speaker 2 (21:48):
Is that multiple times in a studio for one song?
Or is that just no one session like a day,
like every day you get three hundred dollars.

Speaker 15 (21:54):
No, no, no, no, it wasn't a session a day.
Maybe we'd do two or three songs a day until
it would be that.

Speaker 13 (21:59):
Per song, you know.

Speaker 7 (22:02):
Was it like a community of of you know?

Speaker 15 (22:05):
Well, when I when I hooked up to May, No,
it wasn't because he was They were trying to do
like a self contained thing.

Speaker 13 (22:11):
But I did get an opportunity.

Speaker 15 (22:13):
To call uh Luther for a session because he had
a big jingle out for Juicy Fruit gum and I
liked his voice. I called him for a session and
uh for a m session by the way, and I
called him and Gwen Guthrie, who notable back then. Gwen

(22:35):
Guthrie Brenda White, Luther Vangolslani Groves. I called all of
that because and they all had a connection with ROBERTA
Flat who am two May and Reggie worked for for minutes,
so you know, so I did have an introduction to them.
But I called Luther for a job and we hit
it off famously, and so you know, I would try

(22:56):
to call him as much as I possibly could, and
then he called me for work. And then after while
I was, you know, one of his core singers, and
I went out on.

Speaker 13 (23:04):
His first few tours as a solo artist.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
He seemed like he was one of those go to
people back and then who had who knew where all
the gigs were?

Speaker 15 (23:12):
He only knew and he did them, and he did
them and he was kind enough to you know, to
to pull me in. And then that's how I met
Phonsie and and that's been a lifelong friendship.

Speaker 5 (23:24):
Side note, Bill, since you're connected to Sesame Street, did
you know that Luther was on Sesame Street?

Speaker 7 (23:29):
I did the first two years.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
What was he doing? Just singing?

Speaker 7 (23:32):
Singing? What was it?

Speaker 14 (23:34):
It was a group of him and Nile.

Speaker 15 (23:36):
Him, Nile, Robin Clark, Fonzie Thornton, Nat adele yea all
of them. Oh yeah, because there are a lot of
photographs with them, and I did years later, I did
Sesame Street also as a singer. As a singer, I
did like I am Chicken, hear me roar you know,
you know.

Speaker 13 (23:54):
And I'm still getting royalty. I'm still getting royalties from that.

Speaker 14 (23:57):
Yeah, good for you.

Speaker 12 (24:01):
Can your mail stack must be fat every day like
it used to be like that.

Speaker 15 (24:07):
Oh when I was rolling, Oh girl, you know, I
wouldn't go to the bank unless I had X amount of.

Speaker 13 (24:13):
The checks to deposit, right, you know, it's like, oh,
that's beneath me.

Speaker 15 (24:16):
I only have eight Yeah, and now I get checks
for twenty three cents, So I mean, you know.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
So when you're when you're grinding the pavement for these
background sessions especially, was it mostly in and uh recorded
work or was it jingle work.

Speaker 15 (24:34):
Or Oh, in the beginning, it was recorded work record, yeah,
jingle records. And then after a while the jingle people wanted, uh,
the the the singers who sang on the popular records.
And that's why I got into jingle singings, because they
didn't want it to sound so generic anymore. They wanted
it to be a little more soulful and we'll have
a little more personality.

Speaker 5 (24:56):
So with with with that, uh being your hustle and
that tight circle, because those are the names I always see, Sponte, Thornton,
Lannie and all.

Speaker 7 (25:07):
Yes, So was it a first of all?

Speaker 5 (25:11):
I mean, it's like six, six or seven of you
heavy hitters, but I know mostly background vocal background work
is requires three or four singers. Was it so much
work to go around that you didn't feel a certain
way if you lost the gig or like who determines, Like, okay,
for this phil Simon project, I'll see you you and

(25:34):
and you well.

Speaker 15 (25:34):
For Phyllis and two May was the producer, and I
was a contractor, so I could call anyone I wanted, So.

Speaker 7 (25:39):
Of course I got first.

Speaker 15 (25:41):
I got first dips, I could call whoever I wanted
and whoever I got along with whoever I thought would
work musically for whatever song we were doing.

Speaker 5 (25:49):
How much yeah, how much prep time does one have
as a background singing? Because I almost feeling like the
prep pressure, no pressure is you're at half court and
you better sink this ball in or right. So have
you had situations where you might take a chance on
a newbie I'd like to sing, and you.

Speaker 15 (26:09):
Know that No, no, no, and for sure no, because
when whoever singing with me also represents me.

Speaker 13 (26:18):
And I had a reputation of reputation to withhold.

Speaker 15 (26:20):
And so if there was somebody new, I would work
with them on something else, but nothing. You know, I
couldn't bring them in on a on an a teen thing.
I couldn't do that.

Speaker 7 (26:29):
But there are some how does the new jack sort
of get ushered in? Well? Did you usher in the
new jack?

Speaker 15 (26:36):
I did, and I tried to do that, but of
course during that time, people had other ideas about how
they thought they should be in the business, and after
a while they thought they.

Speaker 13 (26:44):
Knew more than the person that was bringing them in.

Speaker 15 (26:47):
And it's like, oh, I have to cut you off
because you're not willing to learn.

Speaker 13 (26:50):
You're not willing to learn.

Speaker 15 (26:51):
You think you can come in with like everything out,
ass out, you know, chest out, And it's like that
doesn't doesn't work like that, because at the end of
the day, you have to be professional, you have to sing,
you have to get along with people. And then and
for my work is I got a lot of referrals.
I never had a business card or a manager I
just got by on. You know, people wrote him out,

(27:15):
so that meant a lot to me. And you know,
you have to t MA always told me you have
to remember what you represent when you go out, and
so I tried to instill that in the singers that
I tried to bring up.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
Who of the clientele that I mentioned, who is the
fondest memory of your of everyone that you work with,
who is your like?

Speaker 7 (27:37):
Ah? That was I always have great sessions with no doubt.

Speaker 15 (27:41):
Fontie Thornton, Fonzie Thornton. That's that's my That's that's my
ride to die.

Speaker 5 (27:46):
Why is he so unlike he? He is everyone's go
to guy for singing. I know he had solo records, yes,
Why why was he such a close banown cigar? Like
he should have been a contender?

Speaker 13 (27:59):
He do you always have to have the cigar?

Speaker 14 (28:03):
No?

Speaker 7 (28:04):
Well, okay.

Speaker 15 (28:08):
On the other side, well, you know the thing is
everybody doesn't want to be in the front. I mean
I was happy just singing background, and I was happy
to sing a background.

Speaker 13 (28:17):
It just so happened we had a song out that became.

Speaker 15 (28:21):
Number one, and then I had to be out there.
But it's not that I couldn't handle it. I mean,
because that's from my church background. I can handle a crowd,
I can't handle audience. But you know that wasn't my
goal was not to be in the front.

Speaker 5 (28:34):
Well okay, but in the case of Luther who started
out deep in the background and naturally became a star,
were there expectations for Phonzie Thornton to also following in
the footsteps to Well.

Speaker 15 (28:49):
You know what, We all did sessions and then we
all had opportunities to do solo records, and then if
that's where it took us, then that's where we would go.

Speaker 13 (28:56):
But if not, we could always.

Speaker 3 (28:57):
Still do that.

Speaker 7 (28:58):
I was like, oh, well, okay, for.

Speaker 13 (29:01):
Me, it was another project.

Speaker 15 (29:02):
It was another project, and the thing was to get
the projects, get the union time in, get the you
know you know, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
So can you talk about what you love about background
versus being out in the front.

Speaker 13 (29:15):
I love the support of it all.

Speaker 15 (29:17):
I love seeing the band playing and everybody's participating, everybody's
making a contribution to make something whole. You know, whether
it's Lenny Kravitz out there, whether it's the Dave Matthews band,
who I absolutely adore.

Speaker 13 (29:33):
It's like it's always a learning experience. I didn't have
to be in the front.

Speaker 15 (29:36):
I enjoyed participating and making something and creating something that
the audience was gonna love, so we didn't have I
didn't have to be in the front. I'd be so
happy singing behind the curtain as long as I getting
the same money.

Speaker 5 (29:49):
Talk about it, do you prefer as far as when
you're doing session work in studio?

Speaker 7 (29:54):
Is it is it mostly separate sessions? Are you in
front of the artists?

Speaker 5 (29:59):
Like sometimes I'll call background session or whatever and nobody's around.

Speaker 7 (30:03):
Just meet the producer and the.

Speaker 13 (30:05):
Artist doesn't have to be there. The artists doesn't have
to be there.

Speaker 15 (30:08):
Because when I was coming up, the producers knew what
it was supposed to be. You know, there weren't ten
different people doing the sign doing ten different things. The
producer knew what the parts, or the producer and the
contractor because usually the contractor was also the vocal arranger.

Speaker 13 (30:25):
So so in my case, I would hook up.

Speaker 15 (30:28):
With him two Man and Reggie to see what they wanted,
and you know, they get the song and you know,
we create some background parts and then I'd go in
and teach the parts to the singers and then we
you know, go on, Okay.

Speaker 5 (30:41):
Who was the hardest What was your hardest challenge as
a background singer as far as someone that you know
is a hard task masker or songs that you had
to go over and over and over, take after take
after James Brown.

Speaker 13 (30:57):
Well, that for me, that didn't.

Speaker 15 (30:59):
The only time time that happened was when I was
doing the Songwriters Hall of Fame and we had, you know,
there might be ten people on the show, you know,
so we're we're in the house band, so we have
to learn all these background parts for everybody, right, and
then it's almost over and Barry Manilow comes in.

Speaker 7 (31:15):
Someone has expectations and he.

Speaker 13 (31:16):
Has a seventeen page intro.

Speaker 15 (31:21):
You know, he's got we got seventeen pages of music
for his his his opening, and it's like, oh man,
it's and it's tomorrow.

Speaker 13 (31:28):
The performance is tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (31:30):
You read on site, no, okay, what that mean?

Speaker 14 (31:34):
Say music?

Speaker 15 (31:35):
People put I don't read, but I could spell because
because I used to do jingles, a lot of jingles,
and people would always tell me, you know, you have
to know how to read to do these jingles. And
then it's like what and the thing is if the
thing is only sixty seconds long. If I can't remember
something that's sixty seconds long, then I shouldn't even be here.

Speaker 7 (31:53):
So you know, my parent, I'm sorry, mom My dad
lies to me.

Speaker 5 (31:59):
No, he was like, you know, real musicians and you know,
you got to learn to read and d d and
I'm in the case of Quincy Jones, he would also say, like,
it helps to read and put something in front of you,
But I always felt that those who read didn't something.

Speaker 15 (32:14):
Something was missing and it was and it was never
whatever they wrote was it was they We never ended
up singing what was on the paper you put your
never never because it's like it's too sterile. And you know,
some people's like, well you you can't change any of
my music. It's like, well, okay, we'll sing it, but
it's not gonna sound right.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
So the option is to demo or to read it, right?
Is that what you're saying, Like, either you can hear
a demo or you have to read it.

Speaker 13 (32:37):
You should be able to do both.

Speaker 15 (32:38):
But the thing is some people who just read, you know,
some people read fly Doo doo.

Speaker 13 (32:42):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (32:43):
But it's like, yeah, I almost feel like I was
as a youngster, I was told like, you won't make
it unless you read, Like.

Speaker 13 (32:51):
At least it's good to know. But I haven't had to.

Speaker 10 (32:54):
Use it rummers for no reason at all. Yeah, but
if you're if you're reading, you're listening. I feel like
that's the big thing. It's like if you're too focused
on reading the piece of music. Because I can read
music and I.

Speaker 7 (33:07):
And I suck as a musician.

Speaker 10 (33:11):
Was terrible hears because I didn't. I didn't grow up
as a person who listened to things. I grew up
like it was visual with me, Like I saw the
notes on the page and that's what. So now when
people are like, what quarters that, I'm like, nope, nope, he.

Speaker 5 (33:21):
Has a non reader. I'm programmed to absorb like long phrases.

Speaker 7 (33:27):
Yes, that's what you're great at.

Speaker 14 (33:28):
Yeah, I'm not, thank you, just not.

Speaker 13 (33:31):
This is my confession.

Speaker 5 (33:34):
I admitted, so of your what what were some notable
jingles that you've done that we might know, Oh.

Speaker 15 (33:46):
Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, when the airlines had individual songs?

Speaker 2 (33:55):
No, no way, that's too early, right No, no, no
to that was you No, no, no, that was.

Speaker 15 (34:00):
Was mostly group stuff, you know, but Burger King. I
did have a like a solo, okay. And then but
my first foray intol like loving jingles, was hearing Philisheim
and singing.

Speaker 13 (34:11):
A Burger King commercially, she said, and she was singing.

Speaker 15 (34:16):
It was like ooh that hot and sizzling bacon. It
was a bacon cheeseburger. It was she did a jazz
you know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
It was for mc d l T.

Speaker 13 (34:26):
I think it was Burger King. I remember it was
a fast food.

Speaker 5 (34:29):
I remember, okay, okay, I remember thinking about the invested.

Speaker 7 (34:35):
McDonald was.

Speaker 11 (34:50):
My favorite favorite commercial, straight up all facts.

Speaker 13 (34:57):
I got moonlight in my head.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
That was.

Speaker 7 (35:04):
By day.

Speaker 5 (35:07):
So I would take it that you're one of those
singers that you know that you can dissect within four
seconds even someone's speaking voice, if if they could sing
or not sing, like just based on or that.

Speaker 7 (35:24):
Who are your who are your idols?

Speaker 5 (35:27):
As far as not favorites, like oh I love this record,
but as far as singing, like who is your You're
Michael Jordan.

Speaker 15 (35:35):
You're you know Michael Jordan's singing would be any of
the Clark sisters.

Speaker 13 (35:42):
Oh wow, okay, any of the Clark sisters.

Speaker 7 (35:44):
Yeah, I just saw my first Clark Sisters show like
two weeks ago.

Speaker 13 (35:47):
Man, did you enjoy it?

Speaker 5 (35:49):
Snoop brought them out, Yeah, gospel in essence and it
was amazing.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
You gotta played a dance record in you'll mix sometimes.

Speaker 7 (35:57):
So yeah, all right.

Speaker 15 (35:58):
Besides the Clark Sisters, I like the Clark Sisters. I
like DJ Rogers, Yeah, remember yeah, DJ Rogers I like
And these are like not not like the famous famous people, uh,
but they're famous anyway.

Speaker 13 (36:13):
Let's say DJ Rogers Karen Clark.

Speaker 15 (36:15):
I like all younger woman mis letusy, miss lettus.

Speaker 13 (36:21):
She's a she's a real she's she's good, She's really
really good.

Speaker 15 (36:25):
It is easy for her. That's that's the talent.

Speaker 13 (36:30):
But I also like.

Speaker 15 (36:35):
Richard Smallwood even though I you know, I went to school,
I went to school with him. But he's just such
a talented singer. But he doesn't sing as much as
you know. You hear his songs, but you don't hear
him singing that much. But he's a great singer. I
also love I love Marvin Marvin Gaye nineteen seventy five.
I want you any cut on that album. It's just amazing.

(36:57):
I like Leon Ware, which is like almost the same,
the same thing. Yeah, and who else love Little Jimmy Scott,
A Sarabon, Doug, Jene Krn, Jeane Karn. But the jazzy stuff,
the jazz stuff with Doug and Doug and Jean Doug and.

Speaker 17 (37:17):
Jane Karn and uh oh yeah, so how how how
influential is I know that you were committed to gospel
and yeah, but uh, as far as jazz is.

Speaker 7 (37:32):
Concerned, how how influential is that?

Speaker 15 (37:36):
And oh no, no, no, no, no, no, it's it
all depends on if it's somebody that I like, It
doesn't matter what they're singing. Uh. It could be jazz,
it could be it could be country, it could be anything.
So I listened to a lot of music all the time.
That's all I did.

Speaker 13 (37:53):
Read books and listen listen to the radio.

Speaker 15 (37:55):
So whether it was W A B C or W
in New York or cousin Russie, or whether it was
a W any W which played like Frank Sinatra and
you know it was the guy uh.

Speaker 13 (38:09):
I left my Tony Bennett. You know, I listened to
all of that.

Speaker 15 (38:13):
So I would incorporate all of that into what I
was trying to do. So I took a little bit
from everybody and you didn't try to and just made
my own gumbo.

Speaker 5 (38:27):
So what was the proposition to join, uh the into
may Bind When you guys first started, I think my
I don't know if it wasn't In Search of Rainbow.
It was the eighty album that came out in nineteen eighty.
You guys were on Soul Train.

Speaker 7 (38:47):
Yeah, so.

Speaker 13 (38:51):
I wasn't doing anything else.

Speaker 15 (38:52):
I needed something to do and if I could make
a few coins, you know, and if I could support
myself and doing this something that I realized that I loved.
You know, It's like, well, then this is what I
should be doing, you know, and just luckily. I mean,
but I you know, you know, your parents always tell
you you have to have something to fall back on.

Speaker 13 (39:11):
That's why you went to school.

Speaker 15 (39:12):
But you know, by the time I needed to fall
back on something, it was way too late for me
to be teaching. So I mean then I just went
to the next adventure I call adventure in my life.
So either it was singing background, it was doing jingles,
It was going on tour with Brian Ferry and Roxy Music,
which was the first time I went out of the country.

Speaker 13 (39:31):
It's like I'm a girl from New York. You know.

Speaker 15 (39:34):
When I checked into my room in England, it's like
I thought I had Brian's room.

Speaker 13 (39:39):
The room was so big. I mean, I didn't know.
I didn't know.

Speaker 15 (39:42):
I'm just the lowly background singer. So it's like, you know,
it's an adventure. My life has been an adventure, and
every group that I've worked with it it's taken me
to bigger and better places.

Speaker 5 (39:53):
So we've had James and to me on the on
the show. Yeah, previously, yeah, I always. I know that
you also work with Reggie Lucas, his writing partner. Can
you describe, you know, because I don't know what was
Reggie like to work with.

Speaker 15 (40:09):
As far as Reggie, we called Reggie Lucas. We gave
everybody a name. We called Reggie Edgy Edgie Lucas. He
was constantly like twirling his hair trying to get get
stuff done, you know, twirling his his frog, trying to
get stuff done.

Speaker 13 (40:22):
He played the guitar and was like, why is it
so loud, Reggie, why are you playing it so loud?
You know, it's like the guitar.

Speaker 15 (40:28):
But you know, but then I realized he was definitely
one ear. I didn't know, so why didn't know, didn't know,
didn't know. But Reggie was cool and he and them
too may they worked well together. So and I was
just there. I was there for every single session. It
was so new to me. I would sit on the
sofa at Sigma Sound while they were tracking every song

(40:49):
that they had written, and it's like, oh my god,
I can't believe I'm sitting here watching this stuff being created,
and then for years later for it to still stand.

Speaker 13 (40:57):
You know, that's that's you know, that's.

Speaker 7 (41:00):
You were there for, like the beginnings of Closer. Yeah,
you know, you describe it.

Speaker 15 (41:06):
You know, how to love me because I used to
sing the reference I sing the reference vocals for each
artist that they produced, so you know, I was pretending like, Okay,
you know I'm not gonna be in the front, but
this is going to be my chance to pretend I'm
at the front.

Speaker 13 (41:19):
So I sing my little song, sing for Stephanie, sing
for Phyllis. You know, it was it was great.

Speaker 5 (41:24):
He told us that one of his artists followed her
to the t uh, that that she demoed the song,
and that uh they were they were so impressed with
your performance.

Speaker 7 (41:37):
I was. It wasn't Phyllis, it wasn't forget the song.

Speaker 13 (41:45):
Oh it's too hard.

Speaker 15 (41:45):
Stephanie and Stephanie and I sang two Hearts because we
had to, you know, put the song down for Teddy
to hear, and so Stephanie and I went in and
sang two hearts.

Speaker 13 (41:54):
And it was like you were, yeah, well I wrote
that song.

Speaker 14 (41:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 13 (41:58):
So it's like, you know, I'm singing.

Speaker 15 (42:00):
At first, I sang the whole thing, and then they
decided to make it a duet, you know. And then
because Teddy was like a you're gonna do this duet
with Teddy and and Stephanie. So it's like, okay, now
let's do the reference vocals. So Stephanie and I went
in and sang, and it was the battle Royale.

Speaker 13 (42:18):
I loved it.

Speaker 15 (42:19):
I loved it, and I have so much respect for
her because it was like, okay, two little girls, two
short girls, two munchkins at the mic, and it's like dump,
it's getting higher and higher and high, and it's getting
more intense and more intense.

Speaker 13 (42:31):
It's like, oh, it was.

Speaker 15 (42:32):
A heavyweight beout, and it's like yes, but but we
both wanted it was like much respect because people don't
do that anymore. It was, it was great, and nobody
can find the tape.

Speaker 13 (42:45):
Nobody can find the tape. It's like, where is the tape?

Speaker 11 (42:48):
Was?

Speaker 7 (42:48):
Casey might just need to have you to re recorded.

Speaker 13 (42:53):
I'm down for that because Stephanie's my girl. Oh Stephane,
my girl.

Speaker 12 (42:56):
Supreme compilations.

Speaker 15 (42:59):
Look, Stephanie Mills and Philip Hymon, the big ups to
them because they were the most amazing people on stage.
They gave great performances and it's Stephanie still doing it.

Speaker 5 (43:12):
So with Well, now now you got confused. No no, no, no, well,
because the thing is is that only in movies I
see people recording tandem, like at the same time. Oh yeah,
And I always say to myself, oh, I'd never do that.

Speaker 7 (43:28):
I have them do it separate. But then I'm like,
wait a minute.

Speaker 15 (43:31):
You get the vibe from the other person, you get
the vibe from the other person, You gotta you gotta
have somebody standing there.

Speaker 13 (43:36):
They gotta be singing.

Speaker 5 (43:37):
So y'all always like I do stuff alone.

Speaker 7 (43:42):
Imagine it sounds like in my head.

Speaker 15 (43:44):
Because we'd be tracking the songs and I'd be singing
and singing. The reference while the band is playing, and
I do always come up with here comes the bridge,
so they know when the bridge was coming in, you know,
like yeah, So I mean I love singing with singing
off of somebody. I mean, you know, you gotta, you know,
you gotta have something to bounce off of.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
Who's your other favorite bouncer outside of Stephanie most Worthy?

Speaker 13 (44:07):
She's most most Worthy? I love her. Let's say Luther
Luthor Luther.

Speaker 7 (44:15):
What's it like working with Luther?

Speaker 5 (44:17):
Because I there's there's there's only one clip on YouTube
of which he's teaching his background singers different parts, Like
I think that Adeley had a camera running and this
during the maybe the night I felt loved people, it
was like yeah, I felt like two hands were on

(44:37):
the on the camera.

Speaker 7 (44:41):
Like the thing front. But it was it was amazing
to watch.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
But then I don't know with I mean, musicians are
intimidating enough.

Speaker 7 (44:52):
How Luther was a he was for real, like even
we have Michael was Michael Brown.

Speaker 15 (44:57):
Yeah, he was saying like the engineer yeah on the show.

Speaker 7 (45:10):
So yeah, like.

Speaker 5 (45:13):
Was he is level of perfection, which is something that
I don't think even exists today.

Speaker 7 (45:19):
It's almost like you're one and done. But it was supreme.

Speaker 15 (45:22):
It was supreme, and everybody came in knowing that it
was going to be you know, it's going to be
some next level stuff, you know, But.

Speaker 7 (45:30):
Is it hard?

Speaker 5 (45:32):
Is it hard when someone graduates to that next level
and then they have to because I'm certain that no
one starts off with demands and I want it done
the right way. And but is it different relating to
someone when they're on a certain level and then they
graduate to a next level and then.

Speaker 13 (45:56):
Well, well you know what.

Speaker 15 (45:58):
We were there to see that, and it was like
we were all growing.

Speaker 13 (46:01):
I'm just part.

Speaker 15 (46:02):
I'm just happy to be happy to have been a
part of that family because we are all still close
to this day of those who are left. But Luther
had high expectations, but then so did I Cause it's like,
I'm coming in, I'm going to give you like two
hundred percent because you know, I know I can bring it,
So challenge me to do what you want and to
give you the sound that you want. And Luther knew

(46:24):
exactly what each person could do and could not do,
and so it's like, okay, ta Watha, do you want
to sing first? You want to sing second? I like
to sing second, because I like to push push the soprano,
so so Cissy, Miss Cissy Houston would be singing the top,
I'm singing under her. Then we'd have Oh my god,
who Cindy. Cindy came in later, Cindy and then Lisa

(46:48):
came in later. As a matter as a matter of fact,
Lisa replaced me because Juicy Food did come out and
I had to go, So Lisa and then oh my god.
It's like it the level of expertstation was high. But
we all came in there knowing that, you know, we
were special to be there because he selected us to sing.

Speaker 7 (47:08):
Did you ever tour with him as well? Or just
I did?

Speaker 15 (47:11):
I did the first couple of tours with with Luther.
As a matter of fact, there's a clip of us
on Saturday Night Live. We have on friends jumpsuits.

Speaker 13 (47:19):
Okay, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 7 (47:23):
So was his?

Speaker 5 (47:24):
Was his stage presentation? Like I I think by the
time after Busybody, No, No, No, the NFL.

Speaker 7 (47:33):
In Love always for oh, after the album, After.

Speaker 5 (47:36):
The NFL in Love was next, you know, after that's
when I first seen him. Then his presentation on the
next level the ball and everything. Did you guys have
to go through that rigorous like.

Speaker 13 (47:46):
Well by then, also, let me tell you this about Luther. Luther.

Speaker 15 (47:51):
Uh, I wanted to audition to be in Luther's group.
So this is when I had met him where I'd
called him for some sessions and he said, you know,
you know, looking for some people. I called his manager
and he says, no, it wasn't say his name is
David Cravat, And he said, well, how tall are you?

(48:11):
And it's like, what difference does that make? He said, well,
Luther has a height requirement. So I couldn't sing on
stage with Luther by the at that time, because he
would have four people on stage, but you know, they
would all they would all.

Speaker 13 (48:24):
Be tall, and they'd have to look a certain.

Speaker 15 (48:26):
Way because you know he's going to have like the
ball downs and stuff, you know.

Speaker 13 (48:30):
But then he also had a set of singers in.

Speaker 15 (48:32):
The pit, right, so I'd be in the pit, sitting
on the stool, still looking fabulous. But you know, in
the pit, are you still dressed to the nines like
the ones that are on the stage. Well, we didn't
have ballgowns on, but we had fabulous suits on. You know,
just that was a requirement and you know, and every
night after each show, you know, because he'd had those
like the crystals on the stone on the ball gowns,

(48:55):
they'd come up and sweep the stage to get the.

Speaker 13 (48:59):
Crystals that falling off.

Speaker 15 (49:03):
Too much much, It's just much so glitters you got
to sweet and put back on.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
So speaking of juicy fruit, yes, now, I mean no,
one can never plan on lightning strike and.

Speaker 13 (49:22):
And told me unprepared.

Speaker 5 (49:25):
So at the time when you were recording it, it
was just like, all right, another song for as you
just did it as an after thought.

Speaker 7 (49:34):
Not really.

Speaker 15 (49:35):
I was out on tour where Brian Ferry Roxy Music
in Europe once again, and then you May called and said,
I got one more song for the album.

Speaker 13 (49:41):
You got to come back do this song. Came back.
Did the song. It's like and did he tell you
about the candy kisses?

Speaker 14 (49:50):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (49:50):
No, not the lyrics.

Speaker 15 (49:52):
So this is about the recording. Oh he didn't tell
you about it? Tellas is my confession. Okay, So uh,
and two May wanted to try something different. He said,
I got this brilliant idea of we're going to sing
this dry. It's like two May sing it dry, you know. Okay,
let's try it. It's like that.

Speaker 7 (50:12):
It was terrible and to him singing it dry meaning
no nothing.

Speaker 15 (50:16):
Just like you're singing into it like an empty pit,
and it's like I can't feel anything because there's no reverb.
It's no, the sound is not bouncing off of anything.
But just try it if that had come out.

Speaker 7 (50:28):
So there's an initial version take where well we we.

Speaker 15 (50:32):
I finally came up with a compromise. I said, let's
put the reverb on it while I'm singing, and then
you can take it off when you do it the
mix right, And that's what he did. Oh, because it
was like this is not gonna work. The dryness, it
doesn't work with the voice, so that I need to
have it.

Speaker 13 (50:47):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (50:48):
I always wanted to know, Like I meant, you know,
mostly work with rappers, so you know the monitor man
isn't no no, no, I mean you would think that
rappers are hard on my they're hard on manageorment with
having their volume up.

Speaker 7 (51:03):
Yeah, my heads right.

Speaker 5 (51:05):
But you know it's only when I work with singers,
you know, they'll use like I wet my voice.

Speaker 13 (51:11):
A little bit, could I have a little reverb? Please?

Speaker 7 (51:14):
And I never knew.

Speaker 5 (51:15):
I was like, oh, okay, because I don't want effects
on but that helps you get into a.

Speaker 7 (51:20):
Mind frame up.

Speaker 13 (51:21):
Yes, exactly, I see.

Speaker 5 (51:23):
So when it came out, at what point did you
realize like, holy crap, this is this is something.

Speaker 13 (51:29):
Well, when Juicy came out, I was still on tour.

Speaker 15 (51:32):
I was on tour with Roxy Music for like six
months and the record, the record came out here in
the state, and so I would call home to see
how it was doing. You said, oh, well, it's like
number like eighty, you know, and then it was like sixty,
and then you know, twenty, then ten.

Speaker 13 (51:50):
Then he said, you know, gonna believe this, think it's
number one.

Speaker 15 (51:53):
And the record became number one the week we Roxy
Music came to New York City and performed it at
uh Radio City Music Hall, and they played it during
the you know, during the intermission they and they played it.
They played it so many times and too they said,
woll you please have them stop?

Speaker 13 (52:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (52:13):
So, I mean, you know, I was working while that
was happening, so I didn't have to sit home and
worry about it, because if I was at home, I'd
be worried about the record, how the record was doing.

Speaker 5 (52:23):
Since you guys weren't not a traditional band, But how
is it able to even rise? I mean, besides the
word and mouth of it all on the video, you'll
weren't touring, Yeah, if you weren't actively like well.

Speaker 15 (52:35):
This was when the when the record first came out,
and then after it was like number one for like
eight weeks, it's like, well, we got to we got
to get together and go out and play for the people,
and that's what we did.

Speaker 13 (52:47):
That's what we did. But that that was the people's record.

Speaker 15 (52:49):
Juicy was the people's record because the record company was
not behind that at all.

Speaker 7 (52:53):
Yeah, he said the same thing at all. I believe that.

Speaker 13 (52:57):
Yeah, well I believe.

Speaker 7 (52:58):
That it that he was writing you were singing the
first verse.

Speaker 13 (53:05):
Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. He likes that. He likes that.

Speaker 15 (53:07):
He likes that pressure because it's like, look, I'm here
for two days, okay, so let's let's do this, you know,
I mean for.

Speaker 7 (53:14):
Two days, let's have a whole album completed.

Speaker 15 (53:16):
Well, no, no, it was just it was the last song.
It was the last song, and then we had you know,
Freddie Jackson sang on Juicy Fruit. It was one of
his first sessions. Yeah, he was on the best discover
discovery must have because it's like, I don't know why
else he would be.

Speaker 7 (53:33):
Yeah, he was, yeah before after the Mystic Marlin records.

Speaker 13 (53:37):
Oh, I think this was before. This was before.

Speaker 7 (53:42):
Wow, I did not know that.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
I have a really this is a frivolous question, but
I just have to know. It's like old eighties gossip.
Do you know if Freddy Jackson and Luther Van Draws
really got along?

Speaker 15 (53:54):
Well, you know what I saw them at astron Assumption
had an a picnic every year at the fourth of July,
White white picnic.

Speaker 13 (54:02):
And they were there and they were just talking.

Speaker 15 (54:04):
I mean it was I didn't see any animosity, but
you know that's that's I don't know what, but you
know what, that was two different lanes. That was two
different lanes. That was you know, that wasn't the same.

Speaker 12 (54:18):
They're very big presence, both of them.

Speaker 7 (54:20):
Yes, yes, I see.

Speaker 5 (54:23):
Okay, Now due to your strong gospel convictions.

Speaker 7 (54:28):
Look, I was putting punishment for Juicy Food.

Speaker 5 (54:34):
If I was putting punishment for owning that record, how how.

Speaker 13 (54:43):
Must have must into I progressed.

Speaker 15 (54:48):
My thinking was more progressive changed, I mean.

Speaker 7 (54:53):
He was, but that was the album. Later they I took.

Speaker 13 (55:02):
My thinking. You know, I read a little more and
it became a little more knowledgeable.

Speaker 7 (55:09):
Progress mister Wata was out there in the world.

Speaker 13 (55:14):
I'll say that I wasn't as sheltered. Let me put
it on that rock.

Speaker 15 (55:19):
Music for six months, but King it was King Music
and Adrian Blue really and I didn't know who anybody was.

Speaker 7 (55:31):
Well. See that's that level background singing in the second.
But the thing is is that with with Juicy Fruit.

Speaker 5 (55:41):
See, the thing is, Prince is a cult artist with
his own cult following. So it's almost like Prince became
famous kind of an alternative land, whereas Juicy Fruit was
such a straight ahead mainstream song that really really pushed

(56:03):
the envelope. I mean minus I mean the double one
time dres is like super obvious.

Speaker 7 (56:07):
So were you.

Speaker 15 (56:11):
I had no problem singing that song, I I.

Speaker 7 (56:21):
I was.

Speaker 15 (56:21):
I was just happy to be singing. I was happy
to be singing. That was happy. But that the group,
that the band was doing something. So it's like I'm
just I'm happy to be singing. I'm on the road
back with my band. It's like I'm cool. It's like whatever, whatever.

Speaker 5 (56:36):
Now the question that I really have is since you're
such a stickler for perfection, vocal perfection.

Speaker 7 (56:45):
Let's let's go ten years later in nineteen ninety four. Now,
come on a man dream. You know you hate Total
slan Yes, background on Juicy, that's Total? Oh yeah, okay?

(57:07):
Is that who that was?

Speaker 13 (57:10):
Do you know?

Speaker 15 (57:11):
I tried to find out who was singing that, and
I could never find out because I never I never
saw the credit because see, I'm like, I'm one of
those people. If I sing on it, I want to
see my name on it. You know, I'm the credits.

Speaker 13 (57:22):
But I never saw that, and I inquired Basic based.

Speaker 5 (57:27):
Some of those background vocals Ground not Toyo's BIG's Juicy
were saying by Total, I did you know that?

Speaker 3 (57:34):
I know it's a different I don't understand.

Speaker 13 (57:36):
Well, I think that's wonderful.

Speaker 14 (57:38):
Oh yes, but let me.

Speaker 11 (57:49):
No.

Speaker 7 (57:49):
But this is the thing. Though I analyzed it, and
all right, me and Boss Bill's.

Speaker 5 (57:56):
Battle, it's probably second only to post nineteen eighty eight
Prince material.

Speaker 3 (58:02):
As far as our war is a concern, who's on
what side?

Speaker 9 (58:05):
Total?

Speaker 5 (58:05):
I like Total, but fur the Total album the second one.

Speaker 7 (58:10):
I didn't said I didn't like Total, but this.

Speaker 5 (58:13):
Is the thing I figured Steve fig total cereal.

Speaker 7 (58:21):
It was coming. I don't. But what I'm saying is that.

Speaker 5 (58:29):
And and analyzing that song years later, I think the
regularness of their back they sounded like they sound like.

Speaker 7 (58:42):
Totally right, and I think that's what worked. I think
that's what that was like.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
In my mind about to play it, but you're not right.

Speaker 5 (58:51):
No, I'm in no you.

Speaker 7 (58:56):
Play if you won't mean I'm just saying.

Speaker 5 (58:58):
Did you sound like did you feel a certain way
about like kind of pitch?

Speaker 16 (59:02):
Well?

Speaker 15 (59:02):
You know what I thought. First of all, it's like,
why didn't they ask us to do it? That was
my first question. But then it's like, okay, it's it's
a different time. It's like so many years later, it's
the next generation.

Speaker 7 (59:15):
Just to jump in. A lot of times people think
you're gonna say.

Speaker 13 (59:17):
No, yes, Well nobody asked, all right.

Speaker 7 (59:21):
This is this is how we connected.

Speaker 5 (59:23):
Because once I realized, I mean, I've seen you a
billion times in the thirty Rock building sing on other people,
and every time I didn't know that was you.

Speaker 7 (59:31):
And then once you came in with Lenny Kravitz, You're like,
why are we working together? Even?

Speaker 5 (59:37):
And then in my mind I was just like she
knows one of us, Like, wait, you've heard of me too.
It was like, wait, you come down to my level
to work for me, Like, yes, why would you ever
want to work with I think, Yeah, in our minds,
it's just like, I mean, you replaced Billy. Don't think no,

(01:00:02):
now I know. And that's the thing, like I think
most of the time, like in my mind, yes, of
all the things that's iconic about Juicy Juicy is what
finally dislidged Billy Jean from the number one slot on
that black music. So my mind is just like, I
think you're above that. So I don't think it occurred

(01:00:25):
to anyone.

Speaker 13 (01:00:26):
I don't Oh, well, nobody asks.

Speaker 7 (01:00:29):
Get a DeLorean. I want to hear that sounds like.

Speaker 15 (01:00:34):
Oh nobody asked about that. And I said, I think
I too. May said they wanted us to be in.

Speaker 13 (01:00:39):
The video, but it's like.

Speaker 15 (01:00:42):
Video on the boat and it's like no, it's like, no,
two old people with all the.

Speaker 13 (01:00:47):
Young the youngsters out there.

Speaker 15 (01:00:49):
I'd rather I'd rather sing, you know, but I'd rather
I did not know who was singing on that, And
I just know it was just so different from I
think what we would have done.

Speaker 7 (01:01:04):
So different yeah, I think. Uh so, did you guys
tour much with with the with that album?

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
Is?

Speaker 6 (01:01:12):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (01:01:12):
We did? We did.

Speaker 13 (01:01:14):
I think we toured a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:01:16):
But usually with accidental hits or at least unplanned hits
from the label.

Speaker 7 (01:01:20):
It's like did they finally see the lights?

Speaker 15 (01:01:22):
Like okay, well, you know we toured with we opened
it was a juicy fruit in between the sheets and
Sexual Healing.

Speaker 13 (01:01:30):
It was Marmon, Gay Brothers and two Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:01:34):
That was the tour.

Speaker 13 (01:01:35):
That was the tour. Wow, that was the tour.

Speaker 15 (01:01:38):
And this is when when Marmon came out.

Speaker 13 (01:01:41):
And he had the roll.

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
That yeah, that was he was stripping.

Speaker 13 (01:01:45):
He was stripping.

Speaker 7 (01:01:46):
But what was that like hindsight?

Speaker 5 (01:01:50):
You know, that's something that legendary, could never happen again.
So it's like, did you appreciate that moment or was
it like the show's over, I'm going on.

Speaker 13 (01:02:01):
When it when it?

Speaker 15 (01:02:02):
When it was for m too May no always always
appreciated because it was like people will hear us. We
were We were a really really good band and and
the performances were amazing and and I just want to
say that when I from working with them two May
and then going to work with Luther was was interesting

(01:02:23):
because with him two May, everything was improvisational everything because
they're all like jazz guys up there. So we'd start
out with an intro and the intro would turn into
something else, and you know, and everybody's singing and whatever,
so we'd have the core of the song and then
it would just go someplace else. But working with other people,
it was the same thing every night, and which I

(01:02:43):
had to get used to. It's like, you sing the
same the song the same way every night. Nobody branches
out and you know, does like an interest in solo
or the same solo every night. It was the same.
Everything was the same. Even the dialogue was the same
every night. So you know, I I prefer.

Speaker 13 (01:03:00):
Him to May because we we would stretch out you know.

Speaker 7 (01:03:04):
Nice.

Speaker 5 (01:03:05):
Yeah, so with Theater of the Mind, Oh no, no,
you mean he was nice.

Speaker 7 (01:03:10):
You know, that was pushing the boundaries.

Speaker 5 (01:03:14):
So were you at that point where you guys like, okay,
we're the boundary pushing.

Speaker 15 (01:03:19):
But no, it wasn't even about pushing boundaries. That's just
who we were. How did the concept of that song, mister.

Speaker 12 (01:03:32):
Because you said something that I want to say.

Speaker 7 (01:03:36):
The lyrics, the lyrics shut you down, I asked him.
I was like, I was like, so were you and
y'all live gate man.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Did?

Speaker 7 (01:03:53):
He was cool, like he was like he did like.

Speaker 5 (01:03:56):
He got a side step and then I guess he
walked and we were might take the picture, asked me about
to watch man it.

Speaker 9 (01:04:03):
Was about.

Speaker 7 (01:04:11):
And then wept each other up and yeah, because it
got real.

Speaker 10 (01:04:15):
Quiet when you when you're like, it was like, and
then about that's right.

Speaker 5 (01:04:25):
I actually thought that you guys were a husband and
wife at first, based on the chemistry of the video.

Speaker 7 (01:04:30):
I thought, yeah, say something.

Speaker 15 (01:04:33):
I'm sorry those who know, those.

Speaker 13 (01:04:37):
Who say don't know exactly what.

Speaker 5 (01:04:42):
She hit out with the push your t you know,
you know.

Speaker 13 (01:04:49):
A lot of people love that song. It's wrong, but
we got threats and everything that. Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:04:57):
Yeah, one guy was his wife kept playing the song
like it was in the bar. She kept playing the
song like on the jukebox or something, and you know,
he said, you're trying.

Speaker 13 (01:05:05):
To tell me something.

Speaker 15 (01:05:07):
And then and then did somebody called, like a radio station,
said don't they better not come.

Speaker 13 (01:05:12):
To the venue?

Speaker 15 (01:05:14):
Oh wow, because of that song. So they were having
personal problems had nothing to.

Speaker 13 (01:05:18):
Do with us.

Speaker 3 (01:05:19):
It was like they want you to trigger.

Speaker 13 (01:05:23):
I'm just singing a song. You want to hear it?

Speaker 7 (01:05:26):
Here you go? That video came on night tracks.

Speaker 13 (01:05:32):
Was like, I'm going to be listening to that.

Speaker 7 (01:05:42):
So how well?

Speaker 5 (01:05:44):
I mean when you when you did your solo record
in eighty seven, did you do it officially leaving what?

Speaker 7 (01:05:52):
No?

Speaker 5 (01:05:53):
Because they worked on the record. Was it just like okay,
we'll go back to the group. But the group included after.

Speaker 15 (01:05:59):
It was it was you know what we had, We
had projects. It was a it was a The Towatha
record was a project. If it happened, fine, if not,
more projects and the group didn't break up.

Speaker 13 (01:06:10):
We sort of just faded away, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:06:12):
There was it.

Speaker 15 (01:06:12):
The music was changing, and it's like everybody was trying
to do their own thing.

Speaker 7 (01:06:17):
It was like, you know, nobody wanted the new Jack swing.

Speaker 13 (01:06:20):
No, but you know, because we had that, we had
the New Jack Swing.

Speaker 5 (01:06:24):
So I mean, you know, so, okay, what I want
to ask about the the stage that you're at now
with your uh with your background work as far as
doing uh uh live stuff. And I always wanted to
know what is it with because I always noticed that

(01:06:45):
the rock guys will always pick women of color to
be their their background vocalists from the Stones.

Speaker 7 (01:06:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:06:56):
Yeah, so what well they needed for that silo?

Speaker 13 (01:07:04):
That's right, had the sweets the sweet inspirations.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
Yeah, so where it is right now? Wait, I'm sorry,
time out. Yes, Steve go Ahead asked, I totally what
j Giles band?

Speaker 15 (01:07:20):
Oh that was so much fun? And I ran into
oh my god, this is a guy from the group Peter. Yeah,
because he was on David Letterman and It's it and
and he was there performing and I was, I was
there and I said, you know, I sang on that record,
so I remember you.

Speaker 13 (01:07:38):
And it was like twenty years so, I mean free
His frame was great. They were good. They were they
were funny guys.

Speaker 8 (01:07:43):
But just that one song or a bunch of songs.

Speaker 13 (01:07:46):
You know. I did that with Luther and I think
Sissy wait what yeah, check the credits. I think I
think it was because it's like, that's all we got
to sing.

Speaker 14 (01:08:01):
Yeah, that part get into it.

Speaker 5 (01:08:03):
Yeah, it just says you are a search engine nightmare man.

Speaker 7 (01:08:10):
Your name is spelled every type of way. Oh.

Speaker 13 (01:08:14):
I don't know if I want you looking at that.
I might have notes on there.

Speaker 7 (01:08:16):
Yeah, you know, I want I want.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
To tell the audience that Wata got so many credits
that she had to bring in the cheese because because
sometimes I don't remember, it.

Speaker 8 (01:08:25):
Wasn't Centerfold on that record on centerphone, you know what.

Speaker 13 (01:08:30):
I don't remember, but I do remember free Frame.

Speaker 15 (01:08:32):
And that is so crazy, screedy POLITI each night I
go to Franklin, I just remember bits and pieces of
the songs.

Speaker 18 (01:08:43):
I'm not I'm not singling out. I just saw a
freeze Frame.

Speaker 7 (01:08:47):
I did sing Yeah, what what? What has been your
most surprising request? Like they want me on?

Speaker 13 (01:08:54):
Oh you need to work? Yes, Oh oh, I'm never surprised.

Speaker 14 (01:08:59):
Good answer.

Speaker 15 (01:08:59):
I'm never surprised because because if they if they if
they seek if they seek me out, then they know
what I can do and maybe I can add something
to add a little flavor to what they're doing.

Speaker 13 (01:09:11):
Never trying to outshadow whoever's in the front.

Speaker 15 (01:09:14):
It's I'm just there for support, which goes back to
your question.

Speaker 10 (01:09:16):
Answer your question, because the question is interesting about women
of color, why fans?

Speaker 7 (01:09:22):
I forgot to ask that, Yeah, this is your show question.

Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
Body language vibe was more like, are you you'll never
get to answer my question?

Speaker 14 (01:09:32):
Are you really reading Steve's body language?

Speaker 10 (01:09:34):
Seriously, just the sugar energy went down diabetic energy skip.

Speaker 18 (01:09:45):
To eighty seven and I knew freeze frame was probably
eighty seven.

Speaker 7 (01:09:49):
Well yeah, freet frame was eighty one.

Speaker 13 (01:09:51):
Oh so that was before juicy.

Speaker 7 (01:09:53):
Yes, oh okay, I see that.

Speaker 12 (01:09:57):
But back to the question, yes.

Speaker 7 (01:09:59):
But so why do you think that is?

Speaker 13 (01:10:01):
And I just think we just add so much more flavor?

Speaker 5 (01:10:05):
But are there church? Are there the are there the
white counterparts that.

Speaker 7 (01:10:11):
Have roads, charmers and roads? Who Al Green's background singers?
They're white? Yeah? Oh that's right, let's say together.

Speaker 5 (01:10:20):
I totally forgot about How did you know that?

Speaker 13 (01:10:24):
I don't know why.

Speaker 7 (01:10:25):
I don't know.

Speaker 11 (01:10:28):
You just got the one who knows about things.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:10:35):
They're just in a documentary about them, and I was like,
oh wow, they're why on Netflix?

Speaker 5 (01:10:42):
I've seen something, you know on YouTube? They these three
women saying for everybody there.

Speaker 7 (01:10:49):
No roads, charmers and roads. I think that we just
have a.

Speaker 15 (01:10:55):
Feeling because you know what, you didn't see these people,
so I mean, and if I would read the credits,
you know, I wouldn't know where they were from.

Speaker 2 (01:11:04):
Do you remember any dope white background singers or you
know what?

Speaker 15 (01:11:13):
No, I know the people from Philly International, because that's you.

Speaker 13 (01:11:17):
And I used to read the line.

Speaker 15 (01:11:17):
I know it's like I want to be like these
ladies right here, and and that's all I ever wanted
to do was be like those ladies from Philly International.
So because they sang on everything that Philly International did.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
What are the ladies from Philly National? Who's that?

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
Uh?

Speaker 15 (01:11:31):
Barbara Benson? Barbara Benson because her brother went to Howard
he was a drummer.

Speaker 7 (01:11:37):
Barbara Benson.

Speaker 5 (01:11:38):
She okay, I know she's on sit down and talk
to me from like she's on lou Rawls and stuff.
And yes, I mentioned that.

Speaker 13 (01:11:49):
Oh wait, wait a minute, did you know you watch Power?

Speaker 15 (01:11:51):
Yes, now you know the theme song is its dead
in Street.

Speaker 12 (01:11:57):
And that's your your voice on the background.

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
I was no, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 13 (01:12:02):
That's just some trivia trivia, Okay, Okay.

Speaker 15 (01:12:05):
So I don't I don't know the ladies that sang
with al Green, but I mean I know that I
like the fact that the rock stars and rock artists
would would call for people women of color because you know, because.

Speaker 7 (01:12:18):
It's so white.

Speaker 15 (01:12:24):
Well back in the day, like with Joe Cocker, because
you know, I loved Joe Cocker with him, I did,
and he was he was great up at what's the
place in the Western studio?

Speaker 13 (01:12:37):
I want to say house of Music.

Speaker 15 (01:12:40):
No, house of Music. It was a studio in West Orange.
Did I sing with the Joe Cocker. He was such
a great guy. Loved Heineken, he loves but you know,
a little help from my friends because he had he
always had a mixed group. So but and I just

(01:13:01):
assume that's because they were in Europe. But you know,
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:13:05):
I'm sorry, Joe, he wasn't from here.

Speaker 7 (01:13:07):
No hes u K I did not know.

Speaker 13 (01:13:09):
Okay, Okay, you gotta be UK for that. Yeah, because
because they.

Speaker 7 (01:13:15):
Level approximation is on average. White Bean is one of
my favorites.

Speaker 15 (01:13:24):
Amy Stewart, Yes, yes, yes, and yeah. So I can't answer.
I can't answer that. I just know that I like
to see the women of color, well people of color
singing background.

Speaker 12 (01:13:40):
You know that's everybody's got a lot of dudes too.

Speaker 13 (01:13:43):
Right, Yeah, because if I went out, I would want
to have dudes with me.

Speaker 15 (01:13:47):
Yeah, like, let us think in the pipst.

Speaker 5 (01:13:56):
I worked with the first time last month, I was like, okay,
I see yeah, Joe, oh yeah, so for.

Speaker 7 (01:14:05):
Damn, I literally just took my question.

Speaker 13 (01:14:10):
Street.

Speaker 7 (01:14:16):
That's always a good start about no, no, no, I got it.

Speaker 5 (01:14:18):
So right now with an what's your what's your current
in twenty eighteen?

Speaker 7 (01:14:22):
Who are your current clientele that you that.

Speaker 13 (01:14:25):
I'm working with?

Speaker 15 (01:14:26):
Yes, oh oh no, right now, I'm just working with Tawafa.
I've been doing like like I'm doing the funk Fest,
coming up with Marstaying, the time Confunction, Mary Jane Girls,
Evan Champagne, you.

Speaker 13 (01:14:38):
Know, like the you know, the fun thing.

Speaker 15 (01:14:40):
I'm doing that, and and I've been doing that like
those those kinds of concerts.

Speaker 13 (01:14:46):
You know, what do you call it, like old school?

Speaker 15 (01:14:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you know, ten fifteen minutes and
you know, sing uh you me and he juicy fruit
and then another dance piece.

Speaker 3 (01:14:58):
Oh crap wait saying that she did she didn't see
you me and.

Speaker 5 (01:15:03):
He, well no, no no. But in my mind I
was like, damn, we got it. I wouldn't please you.
And then it just hit me that she did. She did,
and it was amazing.

Speaker 7 (01:15:13):
I did.

Speaker 13 (01:15:14):
It was so much fun.

Speaker 3 (01:15:16):
You mean here, I want to fell out child.

Speaker 13 (01:15:19):
That was it and I really appreciate that. That was like,
that was that was good. That was really good for me.

Speaker 5 (01:15:24):
I loved it, and and and James and was their
backstage like okay, you got everything, got everything?

Speaker 7 (01:15:34):
You know where the.

Speaker 12 (01:15:34):
Bridge comes in, he takes care of his friend, stopped like.

Speaker 9 (01:15:42):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 7 (01:15:47):
Right now, not shut it down the water And I
don't know why I think it was that.

Speaker 13 (01:15:52):
Look, okay, yes, the dust.

Speaker 5 (01:15:57):
Not that I'm trying to not lie he of this
and ask for a scandalous story. But is there one
act in the arsenal of of of work that you've
done that you would never work with again? You don't
have to name anything.

Speaker 13 (01:16:13):
Oh absolutely, you don't have to name a name. I'm
not going to name a name.

Speaker 5 (01:16:18):
But how bad is the treatment? Because I know that
sometimes background singers get.

Speaker 7 (01:16:23):
Treated like absolutely, I tell you, did you ever walk
off stage? And just like I'm never.

Speaker 13 (01:16:30):
Again, No, no, because I'll you know, if I agreed
to do the job, I'll do the job. But you
know you always have that option.

Speaker 7 (01:16:36):
Again.

Speaker 15 (01:16:37):
There was one artist, very famous singer who was at
Radio City.

Speaker 7 (01:16:43):
I already know who this is. This No, and she
might be royalty.

Speaker 13 (01:16:55):
No, not that No, not not that one. There's another one.
There's another one like right around in here.

Speaker 15 (01:16:59):
Who's recently recently retired, recently retired, had us come on
stage the clothes we're not fitting, we had pinned in
the back of our dresses. I had never in all
my life had to go out on stage like that,
and it was just such disrespect for the band and
and everybody.

Speaker 13 (01:17:18):
It's like, no thanks, thanks, but no thanks for if
you call me again.

Speaker 7 (01:17:23):
Really, I was playing to gold her show. Her show
is crazy, that's all she came.

Speaker 15 (01:17:31):
But I'm not talking about the music part. Andreated the
way people are treated.

Speaker 7 (01:17:35):
It's like no and not.

Speaker 5 (01:17:38):
I know, I know exactly you're talking about because I
worked with this person too, and they walked out.

Speaker 15 (01:17:44):
On okay, you want to rearrange the whole stage and
and just like put this here and put this there,
and and it's like, oh no, I think.

Speaker 13 (01:17:55):
It takes the joy out of it for me.

Speaker 5 (01:17:57):
I think sometimes when a person is nervous, they might micromanage,
and that's the way it comes out. When someone really
micromanages things, like in this Chinese details on it's like,
I like perfection, but really you're scared of shit fear
right line, which is weird because this person is.

Speaker 7 (01:18:19):
Such a Maverick, phenomenal singer.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
But this person just admitted that they were scared to
do certain things and now they're starting to do certain thing.

Speaker 14 (01:18:25):
I love avoid talking code.

Speaker 6 (01:18:27):
Well I.

Speaker 7 (01:18:29):
Could, I got it, but I don't know neither.

Speaker 3 (01:18:31):
I was just in make some shit up.

Speaker 13 (01:18:34):
I'm just making stuff up.

Speaker 7 (01:18:36):
Questions. Oh man, God, I'm trying to think how many questions?
So much?

Speaker 5 (01:18:41):
Yeah with the ps, how did you come aboard with
Dave Matthews Band? And how long has it been since
you've been with those guys?

Speaker 15 (01:18:48):
Okay, I met them in like nineteen ninety nine or
something like that, and they were in New York City
and they were about to do They were in the
studio doing a song and they wanted that. I got
called from someone from the record company to come and
do a session.

Speaker 7 (01:19:05):
You know what you're on?

Speaker 14 (01:19:07):
Stay?

Speaker 15 (01:19:08):
That was a song that was the song Stay, and
we I was I had just been a secession with Luther.
So I had my girls, Brenda White King and Cindy Myzell,
said come on, let's go down to Electric Lady and
did a session with Dave Matthews Band and it's this
one song and so we did the one song they
loved it so much. They said, we're going to be
at the Meadowlands or whatever they call it now, the Meadowlands,

(01:19:32):
and could you come out and sing this one song.

Speaker 13 (01:19:36):
We had a bus, okay, a bus to ourselves. It's like,
where's everybody else? Oh no, this is for you.

Speaker 15 (01:19:43):
I said, we're singing one song. And then we did
it like that weekend and I said, you know, we
can sing more than one song, you know. And that
turned into two years. Two years but wait a minute.

Speaker 7 (01:19:54):
And then.

Speaker 15 (01:19:56):
Three years ago they called me back to Watha. We
still saying we want to can you get some girls
and come back and do the tour. And we did
two more tours with Dave Matthew's bands, and that's like
the that's the the supreme, ultimate Supreme and treatment Dave
Matthews band.

Speaker 13 (01:20:12):
Oh I loved them forever.

Speaker 5 (01:20:13):
I think I saw you were you on because you
toured that album with the Before These Crowded Streets album.

Speaker 7 (01:20:17):
It was ninety nine. Yeah, you toured with them. I
want to say I saw you guys.

Speaker 5 (01:20:21):
Y'all came to Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, and I saw
remember the.

Speaker 13 (01:20:27):
Lovely ladies, that's what he called us the Lovely Ladies.

Speaker 7 (01:20:29):
Yeah, that was a great show.

Speaker 14 (01:20:31):
All this I like it, quotes Dave Matthews Concerts. I
didn't see that.

Speaker 7 (01:20:34):
Yeah, man, I was there. I was there, and I
was trying to explain because I took my little brother
at the time. They loved it. He loved it.

Speaker 3 (01:20:42):
I've never been I've heard stories like.

Speaker 14 (01:20:46):
Show improvising and jamming, like that's the ship and on.

Speaker 13 (01:20:50):
But you know, to me, it was like like the
further extension of him too may because that's what we
would do. And they they played forever.

Speaker 15 (01:20:56):
But they also they sounded amazing and everyone was nice
and and everyone is That's the happiest tour I've ever
been on tours because even even the crew was happy.

Speaker 13 (01:21:05):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 15 (01:21:06):
Everybody was just, oh, this is just wonderful just to
be here because it was everybody was cool.

Speaker 10 (01:21:11):
They all stay in the nicest hotels and take everybody.
Everybody's on the A team in that.

Speaker 7 (01:21:16):
This is true.

Speaker 14 (01:21:16):
There's no bees, no bees.

Speaker 5 (01:21:19):
What is the How how long you've been just touring?
I guess how do you protect your voice? To take
care of yourself?

Speaker 15 (01:21:25):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (01:21:25):
You know what, you have to protect your instrument.

Speaker 15 (01:21:27):
You know, you got to warm up, just like the
guitar players, you know, you know they're constantly fiddling and
warm you know, just playing to keep their fingers flexible.
You have to do the same thing with your voice.
You gotta protect it because you know what, I can't
take it and put it in the case and plug
it in. This is all I got, so I have
to take care of it. So you'll see me in
the summertime with a scarf on, and you know, even

(01:21:49):
in the summer, I gotta protect my throat.

Speaker 3 (01:21:51):
Do you're like non dairy type?

Speaker 7 (01:21:53):
You go that far?

Speaker 15 (01:21:53):
Like, oh, no, ice cream is was was my first
love and I used to be able to eat that
and then go sing. I can't do it anymore, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:22:01):
So what's like your pre show? So like if you
if they're saying, I showtime is it nine? We do
on stage at nine? When do you start? Like, what's
your pre show regimen? Oh?

Speaker 15 (01:22:09):
Well, you know we've been rehearsing up to I rehearse
the singers, you know, we rehearse constantly, so we're always singing,
so we're warmed up by the time by the by
the time it's showtime. So you know, you just have
to even if it's just talking, humming, but not excessive,
not not anything loud. You know, you got to keep
it like at a minimum and then you're ready for

(01:22:30):
the show.

Speaker 7 (01:22:31):
You gotta.

Speaker 15 (01:22:32):
But you gotta practice every day, you know. You just
like a horn player, you gotta you gotta constantly practice.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
Do you do those like classic warm up exercises that
are like a lot of singers do oh yeah for
the ladies, ladies that are listening.

Speaker 13 (01:22:43):
Yes, oh, I have to have to do that.

Speaker 7 (01:22:45):
You gotta warm up.

Speaker 15 (01:22:46):
Even if you just get a basic book with basic
vocal exercises, you gotta do something every day just to
keep keep it open.

Speaker 13 (01:22:52):
Because your voice a lockdown, it a lockdown.

Speaker 10 (01:22:56):
What's your what's your process when it comes to the
arranging vocals, Like when you're in the studio with three
different people, because I always find.

Speaker 14 (01:23:01):
That all of the vocalists I work with, they all
it's either there's.

Speaker 10 (01:23:05):
A common language, which is like I got the bottom,
you got the middle together the top right, and we
all just know what that is. The top could be,
but that being said, the top middle could be three
different notes depending on kind of where we are the
thing and also feel like people also, they'll be like
they're like church at when you church it you like
flat to third, you do all these there's this is

(01:23:25):
common like everybody, all background singers. I know that that's
how they speak. And it's awesome is that it sibol.

Speaker 13 (01:23:30):
It's the same thing.

Speaker 15 (01:23:31):
It's like if I bring if I if I'm saying
I'm coming in with my girls, with Brenda and Sandy,
I'm the top, Sandy's the.

Speaker 13 (01:23:38):
Middle, BRender is the bottom.

Speaker 15 (01:23:39):
Always that's always, unless unless we want and we will
switch it up every now and then, you know, just
for texture for texture. But uh, you know, usually if
I'm at the session, I'm usually the contractor, which means
I call them for the session, and which means I
know what the parts are going to be.

Speaker 13 (01:23:55):
So I just teach them the parts and we just
going from.

Speaker 14 (01:23:57):
It's all hard of time.

Speaker 7 (01:23:58):
You just go like piece by piece, just going yeah,
oh yeah, and it's feel easy.

Speaker 13 (01:24:01):
Just go in and now there's nothing that you have
to learn the night before.

Speaker 15 (01:24:04):
It's like coming, Look, we got two hours to get
these three songs, so you know, let's just focus in one, two, three,
that's it.

Speaker 5 (01:24:11):
Well, one of the things I always admire and just
I mean, I just as a kid. How I got
to know you was through reading credits and I just knew,
I mean, I knew you were from M to May.

Speaker 7 (01:24:19):
But like I just remember reading like credits and I.

Speaker 5 (01:24:22):
Was like, this lady is on every album that my
mom has everything And one of the things I always like,
particularly once I started making music myself and singing and
arranging vocals, I always admire and I came to appreciate
much more later. How well, all y'all singing unison because
it's harder to sing unison that it is in and
like y'all like and we all sang together.

Speaker 15 (01:24:43):
They didn't do one track at a time and then
just you know, put it together. No, you got to
learn how to sing with somebody. You can't just you
know who used to cut shef used to We used.

Speaker 13 (01:24:53):
To go in one at a time and sing.

Speaker 15 (01:24:56):
It's like, you got four people here, why can't we
just all sing together and knock it out instead of
being here for six hours?

Speaker 13 (01:25:01):
We can be here for two hours.

Speaker 10 (01:25:02):
So what's your take on tuning and stuff like that
these days? Because you know, people just like they create
backgrounds by just tuning people.

Speaker 13 (01:25:09):
Oh, you know, I'm not. I'm just not accustomed to that.

Speaker 7 (01:25:11):
It's like, what do you need that for?

Speaker 13 (01:25:14):
You got a singer, she should they should already be
able to sing in tune.

Speaker 14 (01:25:17):
I mean you say that, but I hear what you're saying.
I hear you.

Speaker 13 (01:25:23):
But where I come from, that's that. That's just the
way it is.

Speaker 15 (01:25:26):
Anything different, it's like, oh, we'll change it with the
auto tuning. It's a little album with It's like, what
are you talking about? Let's just sing it, you know,
it's it's a new world. I'm not you know, I
feel like a dinosaur when it comes to that.

Speaker 11 (01:25:38):
You know, yeah, I actually had a question in doing
vocal arrangements when you're you know, have you ever run
into a situation where you weren't credited for work that
you did?

Speaker 7 (01:25:49):
And how did you handle that?

Speaker 13 (01:25:51):
Yeah? Well, you know what, I just I look at
that as tuition for for something better to come?

Speaker 7 (01:25:57):
Is that something that would happen a lot, especially to women,
not to me?

Speaker 13 (01:26:02):
No, you know, you gotta go in you look, I'm
the person that you called.

Speaker 7 (01:26:09):
I was.

Speaker 15 (01:26:09):
I'm the person that you call. When that the singers
were called to make sure they got that money. You know,
I would make sure that the union that secessions were correct,
the money was right, and I send the report into
the union. So I took care of business. I did
the paperwork. So and not only did I do the paperwork,
I sang and did the arrangement. So it's like, if
you're doing a job for me as a contractor, then

(01:26:31):
you would you know you're gonna get your money. Yeah,
but I always got credits for contracting because that was
a union thing.

Speaker 7 (01:26:37):
That makes sense.

Speaker 5 (01:26:39):
What was it like for y'all when when hip hop
kind of took over for lack of a better word,
how did you guys adjust to that and what were
your thoughts on hip hop at that time?

Speaker 15 (01:26:48):
Well, one thing that I started noticing is that they
were playing like songs in two different keys, and like
the music, the track would being one key and the
singer would be singing in another key, and it's like
why did they let that happened? But you know, that's
I think that was called progress. I think that was
called that was that was progressed. But you know, but

(01:27:09):
then you you know, you hear it enough and you
get accustomed to hearing that, But still I have to
allow myself to have a certain level of you know,
a certain standard of music.

Speaker 13 (01:27:20):
Music neess you know. So it's like, okay, that's what
they're doing, but I can't do that.

Speaker 7 (01:27:25):
I understand.

Speaker 5 (01:27:26):
Have you ever had like a bad day in the studio,
Because every time I've ever heard your music or your lead, like,
it always sound fantastic.

Speaker 13 (01:27:33):
Yeah, but you're always hear the finished product.

Speaker 7 (01:27:36):
Everybody, like what is a bad to watch? The day
would probably be like a great day for anyone else.

Speaker 15 (01:27:42):
So well, it's probably would be a day when I
wasn't feeling well and couldn't hit the notes like I
wanted to. I can still hit the notes, but it
wouldn't be like the full power that I would want
to have.

Speaker 5 (01:27:53):
So so like if you like, if you're sick or
something and you're on tour, how do you I guess,
like if you have a cold or something, like, how
do you sing over cold?

Speaker 7 (01:28:00):
How do you fight through that?

Speaker 13 (01:28:02):
Sometimes you have to.

Speaker 15 (01:28:04):
What I can do is if if I know I
can't my high note are gone, I'll switch the parts
with the singer and let let the singer, you know,
take the higher note, and then I'll just sing in
the middle there's alwa, there's always ways around it because
you got to be thinking on your feet because you're like,
this is this is performance, it's it's showtime.

Speaker 13 (01:28:20):
You know, you can't say I don't feel good?

Speaker 14 (01:28:23):
No, do you do it on the spot, like right
before the show would start, you just switch around the
parts like.

Speaker 13 (01:28:26):
Oh we could do that.

Speaker 14 (01:28:27):
Yeah, I know, I've that my head up.

Speaker 7 (01:28:31):
I total.

Speaker 14 (01:28:31):
I just I've watched people do that and it's just.

Speaker 15 (01:28:33):
Like I'm feeling a little I'm feeling my throats a
little scratchy today. Could you just sing the top for
me and I'll sing the middle okay, and just going out.

Speaker 14 (01:28:40):
And say, yeah, that's great, that's that's true profession. Yes, sir,
I know how to read music.

Speaker 7 (01:28:45):
Yes, Freeze Frame, that's a cool nickname.

Speaker 8 (01:28:51):
Keep that.

Speaker 18 (01:28:52):
We recently had Jeffrey Osbourne on our show, So what
was your experience like working with him?

Speaker 13 (01:28:58):
I work with Jeffrey.

Speaker 8 (01:28:59):
I didn't with Jeffrey, but I like him, Okay.

Speaker 15 (01:29:03):
I love his voice, love ballid, love ballad.

Speaker 8 (01:29:08):
Your credits.

Speaker 13 (01:29:09):
Really it must have been a group thing. I don't
remember that.

Speaker 18 (01:29:14):
I have a follow up question, but it's unrelated to Jeffrey.
Osborne's really just another question. It's not really where is
Irene Karra?

Speaker 7 (01:29:22):
Oh that.

Speaker 15 (01:29:25):
I have not seen Irene Karra in forever? Yeah, but
fame right, I haven't seen her? What a oh yeah,
well flash dance right right. I haven't seen her in years.

Speaker 17 (01:29:41):
I know.

Speaker 15 (01:29:41):
You know, sometimes when people go off the scene, they
either they desaturates the family or something, or you know,
some health concerns that they're not you know, available, or
they're just not they just try to.

Speaker 13 (01:29:52):
Doing what they did.

Speaker 8 (01:29:53):
I mean, I haven't researched where she is.

Speaker 13 (01:29:56):
I'm just okay, no, no, I haven't seen Iron Car.

Speaker 2 (01:30:00):
Does that mean you weren't in the room Because I
saw Gregory Hines on your on your credit list too,
Does that.

Speaker 3 (01:30:05):
Mean you weren't the room during that time either?

Speaker 13 (01:30:07):
Okay, because I was up there for that one, because
that one I loved that album.

Speaker 15 (01:30:11):
But so he had a whole solo, Yes he did,
and then they had this duet that they said, oh
my goodness, Jeffrey, I mean, I mean Jeffrey Gregory.

Speaker 13 (01:30:25):
Hines was like a great great Yeah. I was there
for that one.

Speaker 7 (01:30:30):
Yeah, I saw recently, my buddy of mine, Static Selector,
you were doing I haven't heard the song. Is it out?

Speaker 15 (01:30:44):
That's in b and uh yeah yeah static static in
terminology yeah, m yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:30:50):
So are you still like, I mean writing, producing, like working,
like writing new music.

Speaker 15 (01:30:55):
Now we're working on a project for me now, you know. So,
so look for something probably by the end of the year,
a single or something. But static static is cool.

Speaker 7 (01:31:05):
I like her.

Speaker 13 (01:31:06):
Yeah, go out to Brooklyn and just like, yo, what
you want? You know, I got it?

Speaker 2 (01:31:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:31:13):
Is it still home for you?

Speaker 14 (01:31:14):
Newark?

Speaker 13 (01:31:14):
Are you still well, I'm in the No, I'm not
in Newark, but I'm like two exits Jersey. Yeah, I'm
in Jersey.

Speaker 7 (01:31:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:31:20):
Are you like an active Newark? Well, I know you're
not in Newark, but you're an active Newark like community person,
because now they're like, who's the mayor nowco whatnot?

Speaker 13 (01:31:28):
Oh no, I'm in another city.

Speaker 3 (01:31:32):
I'm out.

Speaker 13 (01:31:36):
My mom lived there for like fifty some odd years
and she she just moved recently.

Speaker 2 (01:31:41):
So, you know, always curious about Jersey people, and I
like Newark and Corey Booker and the politics and everything
that's going on.

Speaker 13 (01:31:47):
That's oh yeah, please Cory Booker. Yeah, Senator, yes.

Speaker 7 (01:31:52):
Yeah, I was actually to look on her face.

Speaker 13 (01:31:56):
Well, no, no, because I'm you know, I'm not familiar.
I mean, I know what I read in what I
see in the news.

Speaker 7 (01:32:02):
Yeah, you any children and kids.

Speaker 2 (01:32:08):
I know.

Speaker 13 (01:32:08):
I am married to the music. And that's it.

Speaker 3 (01:32:11):
Has it.

Speaker 13 (01:32:12):
There's no time for.

Speaker 3 (01:32:14):
No time, no time for that interesting I wanted to.

Speaker 12 (01:32:19):
I'm not thinking about Lisa Fisher and some of the
other people that.

Speaker 3 (01:32:23):
She don't have. She's not married. I don't think she
hasn't no time.

Speaker 13 (01:32:27):
We're working.

Speaker 3 (01:32:28):
So this is a background singer thing.

Speaker 15 (01:32:30):
Well for some, for some, and and and I applaud
those who can do both because, you know, because I
would have to like focus.

Speaker 13 (01:32:36):
All my time on my family. I couldn't. I couldn't
not have you know, you know, thank you for the sacrifice,
thank you for your service.

Speaker 11 (01:32:48):
All right, So I hit up to my friends that
I know are big to out the fans. My friend
Rachel actually says she's to send you fe mail in
the back in the day. So one of the questions
that they sent me Monica wanted to know about some
of the work you did with some of the Japanese
artists like.

Speaker 13 (01:33:04):
Oh Terra Masahino.

Speaker 7 (01:33:07):
She loves my friend Monica, she loves the work that
you do on the HIPSI.

Speaker 13 (01:33:09):
Go out, yes, Terra Masino, oh yes, oh he was cool.
I got a chance that.

Speaker 7 (01:33:15):
Oh my god.

Speaker 15 (01:33:16):
I went to Japan so many. I went there so
often in one year. It was like maybe I should
find a place here, you know. It was like that, No,
Terre Massa was cool, great trumpet player.

Speaker 7 (01:33:28):
What was what was question? Well, Rachel's questions. She wanted
to know about hot Tea and oh.

Speaker 13 (01:33:33):
Hot Tea.

Speaker 15 (01:33:34):
You know what I'm what I'm trying to do is
what I wanted to do was to put something on
YouTube or like a round table discussion with hot Tea.

Speaker 7 (01:33:42):
You know.

Speaker 15 (01:33:43):
But it's so hard to get everybody together and and
and that's how I got my social media because I
didn't have any I was trying to get everybody together.
It's like, wait a minute, you don't even have social media,
So get yourself together first, and then you know. But
it's time because I think because we all went to Howard,
I think that it it's such a testament to the
to the university that you know.

Speaker 13 (01:34:03):
We achieved.

Speaker 15 (01:34:04):
We we all graduated, and we all went on to
do something really good for our careers. And we didn't
stay together. But we're still doing We're still in music,
and everybody's doing very well.

Speaker 13 (01:34:15):
In in their particular areas recorded. No, we never, we
never made a record.

Speaker 3 (01:34:20):
Sounds like something just happened to Crampton, like a conversation.

Speaker 13 (01:34:23):
Wouldn't that be nice?

Speaker 15 (01:34:24):
That would be great, That would be great because I
just want people to know that it can be done.

Speaker 13 (01:34:28):
We can go to Crampton how it can be done.

Speaker 15 (01:34:31):
It can be done, and you know, and we're all
successful in our own rights, so you know, I think
it would be a really cool thing to do.

Speaker 5 (01:34:39):
Luther at the time when uh, what was the name
Ivan Hampton was playing drums for him? It was he
had a drummer Ivan. The reason why I asked, you.

Speaker 15 (01:34:47):
Mean when was playing and then and then Ivan Ivan
came on after Yogi Ivan.

Speaker 13 (01:34:52):
Okay, he was at Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 7 (01:34:55):
Oh okay, yeah, his reason why? I asked his wife,
who also went to Howard. I know she was out
of class.

Speaker 5 (01:35:02):
Ivan's wife, Brenda, she was I think she was like
a music student as well, but she ended up teaching.

Speaker 7 (01:35:08):
Law music law, and she was like our music professor.
And if you guys were in.

Speaker 13 (01:35:12):
The same no, I don't I don't know her.

Speaker 15 (01:35:14):
I don't know her, okay, but what you were with,
Oh no, Ivan was there when I was in Okay, gotcha?
And then you know what I used to do was
Luther would have me come back if somebody was it
was ill or had to be away, or if somebody
was working with somebody else or somebody's own maternity leave,
I would go in and fill in, you know, for
whoever was nothing because I knew all this. I was
there from the beginning, so I knew all the material.

Speaker 5 (01:35:35):
Was he ever like because all the footage that I've
ever seen in a film, he just always just seemed
so straight, Like was he ever like funny or hilarious?

Speaker 13 (01:35:44):
Oh my god, he was so hilarious.

Speaker 15 (01:35:46):
He was so witty, and he was a great dancer,
and he was just and we of course we're all foodies,
so I mean we just we had a lot in common,
and we all had a real love for the music.

Speaker 13 (01:35:58):
Yeah, and you know, I sang on every Luther album
except for maybe two not Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:36:03):
My mother was a huge Luther fan. Like every every
album I saw, like your name and like.

Speaker 13 (01:36:09):
It was that was if I wasn't on stage, that
was one record yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:36:15):
Oh, I'm good. I'm just wondering, uh, if you were
tight with Alphonse moves on.

Speaker 13 (01:36:21):
No, no, I don't know, no, no, no no.

Speaker 15 (01:36:24):
I remember when I was at Howard Donald Bird Donald
Bird and the Blackbirds and and and hot Tea, and
we did a performance with uh Professor Bird and the Blackbirds,
and I was supposed to get in touch with Alphonse
was on and I never did.

Speaker 13 (01:36:42):
So it is our paths were I supposed to cross.

Speaker 18 (01:36:46):
But of course I know, I know I'm nothing.

Speaker 7 (01:36:53):
After him.

Speaker 14 (01:37:00):
In your on your credits, she got right there.

Speaker 3 (01:37:05):
Looking pack.

Speaker 14 (01:37:08):
A lot in big letters.

Speaker 3 (01:37:11):
We can edit edited.

Speaker 14 (01:37:17):
She didn't even hear glasses.

Speaker 15 (01:37:18):
Look, Lorie Anderson, Bonnie Tyler, Lori Anderson, Jim steinmon Richie
sambora nice guy by the way, Stevie Ray Vaughan family style.
I say that, Rick okay sic.

Speaker 7 (01:37:36):
God David Bowie.

Speaker 13 (01:37:40):
Black tied White.

Speaker 15 (01:37:41):
Noise with Albi and did the promotional tour with him
and we did TV was great.

Speaker 13 (01:37:49):
But Jeffrey Osborne it was.

Speaker 7 (01:37:52):
I just think it was on the Only Human album.
The song was called The Morning After I Made Love
to You.

Speaker 13 (01:37:57):
You know what I'm not saying I did it. I
just don't.

Speaker 7 (01:38:00):
I don't remember it a lot.

Speaker 13 (01:38:02):
Remember, I don't even have him on here on my list.
I got the spinners.

Speaker 3 (01:38:07):
Your list looks a little small.

Speaker 7 (01:38:09):
Well, you know what this was.

Speaker 12 (01:38:10):
I might have left some people out, but it's still
heavy as hell.

Speaker 13 (01:38:13):
Yeah, blues blues traveler John and we never mentioned the
Queen for for real queen, Yeah for Rtha Franklin.

Speaker 7 (01:38:26):
Yes, that was all on jump to it, right, that's
jumped to it.

Speaker 15 (01:38:29):
Yes, Yes, and I did several uh uh. I did
quite a few shows with the Queen.

Speaker 13 (01:38:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:38:36):
What was that like? The Queen?

Speaker 15 (01:38:38):
I mean, let me tell you. That voice, that instrument
is like sometimes I would cry. I'm standing there, I'm
one of the background sings and I'm listening to her singing.
I'm like in tears, be intimidating, in tears. And then
she still plays, Oh my god, she can still play. So,
I mean, you know, she's been off the scene for
a minute, but that she is, She is and always
will be the Queen, the Queen.

Speaker 7 (01:39:01):
And how was she was she like accepting of like
new young singers. It wasn't. I wasn't like that.

Speaker 2 (01:39:06):
Okay, that's I think somebody on your list who I
want to have here, but I don't know anything about
him personally.

Speaker 13 (01:39:16):
Michael Frank, Michael Franks, that was a long time ago.
Oh my good well all of them were long time ago.

Speaker 3 (01:39:22):
All of them a long time ago, so long as
you like, I don't even know, well.

Speaker 13 (01:39:25):
I don't remember Blue Man Group.

Speaker 2 (01:39:28):
Wow.

Speaker 13 (01:39:29):
What yeah, bun oh chromeo, you know.

Speaker 12 (01:39:34):
Yeah, I don't think they said Steely Dan though, well,
you know what, that's not.

Speaker 13 (01:39:39):
Up there, so that might be with no but Stilley Dan.
Stilley Dan. I did an album with with Walter Walter
Becker and and yes, and I did.

Speaker 15 (01:39:52):
I did two or three tours with them, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And that was that was, you know, a quest that
asked me about, you know, what I wanted to do.

Speaker 13 (01:40:00):
And I'd always liked Steely Dan. I would hear them
on the radio and it's like, how did you get
those hard?

Speaker 14 (01:40:05):
Yes? What's what is that?

Speaker 6 (01:40:07):
What is that?

Speaker 15 (01:40:08):
And then when they called me to sing with them,
it's like, oh my goodness, it's like everything dropped. There
was nothing but Steely Dan twenty four to seven in
the house. That's all you heard twenty four seven?

Speaker 5 (01:40:18):
Were they super like perfectionists too? Because they were known
for being like that in the studio.

Speaker 7 (01:40:22):
Was it the same?

Speaker 16 (01:40:23):
You know what?

Speaker 13 (01:40:23):
That was one of those like note for note things.

Speaker 15 (01:40:26):
It's like no group stuff because you know there was
like they would like put everything together and like they
wanted more of this and less of that. It was
like whoa, okay, just just sing, just sing, that's all that.
So you had to do you know what they what
came out in the mix is like another another thing.
But then the live performance, it's like impeccable.

Speaker 7 (01:40:46):
Dope, yeah, pope, the B fifty two s oh yeah, wow,
oh yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:40:51):
I did that with with Nile Nah nol Rogers. And
I also did when when I did Stevie ray Vaughan,
that was with Na and Rick Okaseik.

Speaker 7 (01:40:58):
Was with Noale.

Speaker 8 (01:41:00):
I didn't realize No Nile did that.

Speaker 15 (01:41:04):
The family style Family style right before one of the
brothers died in the helicopter accident. Yeah yeah, and then
they made us do a video right after it.

Speaker 13 (01:41:17):
It's like, are you kidding me?

Speaker 15 (01:41:19):
I mean his brother was like so destroyed, but we
know we did record company crap. You know, they made
him made him do a video right after to capitalize
off the you know, it's crazy after you did your
solo for epic?

Speaker 7 (01:41:31):
Was that? Did you were you off the label?

Speaker 8 (01:41:33):
After that?

Speaker 7 (01:41:33):
Did you lead how to that situation?

Speaker 13 (01:41:36):
It faded away, It faded away, just all faded away.
Just nothing.

Speaker 3 (01:41:40):
It's like, oh see they ain't come back asking for nothing.

Speaker 13 (01:41:43):
Oh no, no, nothing like that. But the business was
straight though, you know, business was straight, you.

Speaker 7 (01:41:49):
Know, in too many you know, So can you can
you describe?

Speaker 11 (01:41:54):
Because I'm not a singer, I always wanted to be
a singer, But can you describe what it's like when
you find.

Speaker 7 (01:42:01):
The people that your voice works with? Like what does
that feel like? Yes?

Speaker 15 (01:42:08):
You can. You can just sort of relax and be
free because the blend is so perfect and and the
and the vibe is just so melo into. It's like
whatever you do is just gonna be cool because you know,
the voice is meshed so well. It's like it doesn't
happen all the time, but when it does, it's like
it's it's almost orgasmic.

Speaker 7 (01:42:27):
Who's your blend? Who's your my blend?

Speaker 13 (01:42:30):
My blend?

Speaker 7 (01:42:31):
Cindy Brenda, Like, what do you look for when you're
when you're when you're hiring singers?

Speaker 13 (01:42:37):
Well, it's just can can our tonal qualities match.

Speaker 15 (01:42:41):
That's that's the most important thing, because it might be
different genres of music, but you know, we still the
tonal qualities have to match so we can blend to
fit into whatever it is we're doing.

Speaker 7 (01:42:52):
And you still play correct.

Speaker 13 (01:42:54):
I play, I play in the house. I don't play
out you know, you know lit some something.

Speaker 8 (01:43:01):
Yeah, well i'm over too, but I'm I'm willing to.

Speaker 18 (01:43:07):
All right, there's a Danish Uh, there's a Danish pianist
named old Cock.

Speaker 8 (01:43:12):
Hanson ever worked with him?

Speaker 14 (01:43:16):
Look it up?

Speaker 7 (01:43:18):
Looking at I don't know.

Speaker 14 (01:43:20):
All right, Well, I don't know.

Speaker 8 (01:43:21):
I'm over three.

Speaker 12 (01:43:22):
Then that was another money.

Speaker 7 (01:43:26):
Just old Cock hanted holy ship.

Speaker 13 (01:43:29):
Yeah sorry, I had no comment.

Speaker 12 (01:43:33):
I didn't have to walk upbout her old Cock.

Speaker 3 (01:43:34):
It got really uncomfortable, right, what happened?

Speaker 7 (01:43:44):
That's what.

Speaker 8 (01:43:45):
Yeah, that's a real dude. I was kidding, but that's
a real dude. It's spelled with a k.

Speaker 5 (01:43:50):
Okay, just make it better, Okay at the end, Okay, seriously,
thank you so much for coming on the show.

Speaker 13 (01:44:09):
It's been a pleasure. I had a ball. I had
a ball, and I said i'd have fun.

Speaker 7 (01:44:13):
Oh yeah, and thank you.

Speaker 11 (01:44:15):
Just correct he actually, yeah, one more thing I told
mister and this, But Juicy Fruit was one of the
first songs I ever remember hearing. Like, there's a a
list about maybe ten songs that like are the first
ones that I remember.

Speaker 14 (01:44:26):
You didn't get hit for it.

Speaker 7 (01:44:27):
No, I didn't get here for it. It was a
neighbors record. She had it, and she was always playing it.
It was like one of those songs that is stuck
in my head.

Speaker 11 (01:44:34):
And like every time I hear Juicy Fruit, it always
feels like I'm having a very special experience.

Speaker 7 (01:44:38):
So I just want to thank you for that. It's
I carry that with me for years.

Speaker 13 (01:44:44):
I'm so happy that you received it. Thank you, Thank you.
I appreciate that.

Speaker 6 (01:44:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:44:48):
I've been cheating juicy fruit for about forty years.

Speaker 7 (01:44:54):
Yeah, just bought it just to watch.

Speaker 8 (01:44:56):
This is weird. I bought this like weeks ago and
it just ended.

Speaker 7 (01:44:59):
Up in my.

Speaker 11 (01:45:01):
I will tell you a really weird coincidence with this
interview though, Like I had a flood my story June
about two years ago, and a whole bunch of my
records got damage, and about two weeks about a week before,
you sent me an email saying that this interview was confirmed.
I replaced my copy of Tawatha's debut album.

Speaker 3 (01:45:16):
Oh my, really how much that she got for.

Speaker 7 (01:45:23):
That much?

Speaker 13 (01:45:24):
If that much?

Speaker 7 (01:45:26):
So it's kind of weird.

Speaker 11 (01:45:27):
Oh yeah, I just you know, replaced my copy of
the album We got to coming in now, coming in
the show.

Speaker 5 (01:45:35):
Well, yes, we thank you so much and I appreciate
all those weeks I was sent to my room. It
was worth it for defying my parents and buying that
forty five. I hope you enjoyed it or be half
of Sugar Steve and this Sugar Steve Network.

Speaker 7 (01:45:56):
You're hilarious. You're hilarious girl. Is that what I'm saying? Now?
You've got me wanting to do the end of you
me and he.

Speaker 13 (01:46:22):
What what what I understood when you had another?

Speaker 7 (01:46:27):
Oh yeah, humans, I was human too.

Speaker 5 (01:46:36):
All right, listen, we want be half a fan Tickelot,
Boss Bill, Sugar Steve, unpaid Bill.

Speaker 7 (01:46:42):
It's like EA and the the the amazing great mister
Watha g thank you so much.

Speaker 13 (01:46:48):
For coming on the pleasure.

Speaker 7 (01:46:50):
Thanks you, pledge.

Speaker 13 (01:46:51):
I had a fall.

Speaker 5 (01:46:52):
This is Quest Love another episode Quest Love Supreme in
the can only on Pandora.

Speaker 16 (01:46:57):
And We'll see you on the Next Go Round Sequest.

Speaker 1 (01:47:09):
Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode
was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.