QLS Classic: Siedah Garrett

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic
episode was produced by the team at Pandora Ladies and Gentlemen.
This is Quest Love Supreme Classic and what can I say?
Sayta Garrett is such a legend legendary writer, legendary performer,

(00:25):
one of the most exciting episodes and stories that we've
had on Quest Love Supreme. I hope you enjoyed as
much as we enjoyed doing it. This is Sayta Garrett's
QLs classic from May twenty seventeen.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
All Right, Supremo Supremo ro Suprema su Supremo roll, Suprema
Supremo Ro Suprema.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
So Supreme roll. What's love got a theory?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I thought y'all should know. Yeah that Jamli flavored yogurt
might be jumpas Supremo Supreme role. My name is Sugar. Yeah,
I'm never scared. Yeah even when Yeah, I'm unprepared.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
Bro Supreme some some Supreme roll call Supreme sup Supremo.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
Role called I'm on pay Bill, Yeah, flew in to
see you Yeah, and I will not Yeah say about mirrors.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Supreme s My name is Boss Bill.

Speaker 5 (01:52):
Got here in a rush, was back at the hotel
Jammy Twosome, Plush Supreme.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
Son Supremo, roll cal Subprema So some Supremo roll call.

Speaker 6 (02:06):
I'm lie yeah, and I just can't stop smiling, Yeah
because I wa Yeah, ain't gonna need to be rhyming ro.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Supremo, Who call.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
Son Son Supremo.

Speaker 7 (02:21):
Roll call my name saa Yeah, and I'm from Compton. Yeah.
When I'm not singing. Yeah, y'all know, I'm bumping Suprema.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
So Supremo, roll call Suprema something something Supremo, roll call
Suprema something something Supremo.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Roll call Suprema something something Supremo. Roll call, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Speaker 5 (02:48):
That was the most confident a guest of this yeah,
ever for someone who was very anxious about doing it,
came right in and nailed it.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, Ladies and gentlemen. Was panicking all of when we warned.

Speaker 7 (03:00):
Her about I will not be ushered. You.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
You You're the winner of the most confident delivery. Ladies
and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme,
only on Pandora. I'm your host Quest Love, I'm the
Punk Guard and I brought Team Supreme today. Uh sports references. Yeah,
my power forward is boss, Bill, our fearst leader and

(03:26):
sometimes coach. What's up? How you doing? Yeah, plus record,
it's kind of dope, Yeah, it is, it is. It's awesome. Yeah.
My shooting guard is a sugar Steve, our audio genius
and god of punchlines. How you I can shoot the
three too? From downtown You can't.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, they still call me Downtown Stevie Brown. That's I
can shoot the three pise. Okay, that is not why
they called you. That small forward is paid Bill small
the first time ever be called small very much. Yeah,
I'll take a small forward.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Bill. You are information and uh life lesson recorder. That's
what I do. Yeah, that's what you do. And our center,
I'll take that.

Speaker 8 (04:16):
I actually was the center in the Boys and Girls
club on my basketball team.

Speaker 7 (04:19):
On the bench.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Our center is aka Sweet Margaret for.

Speaker 8 (04:23):
Her sign age. That's right.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I'll take the organized stress. And you know she she
keeps us in line. Our guest today, Uh, she kind
of takes forward.

Speaker 7 (04:34):
Guest center six.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Man visiting the assistant coach. Yeah yeah, yeah, our guest today,
she takes what I'll say, Uh, she'll take the title.
She's living that Renaissance life and she takes it to
the next level. Uh, for over three decades side the
Garrett has done it all name it, singing, h acting, songwriting, arranging, producing, directing,

(05:03):
and conceptualizing. She's kind of like my favorite type of artists,
which she's basically you know, she's dependable. She shows up
on time, actually early. She Yeah, she shows up early
and basically you know, I think that she also inspires

(05:23):
uh others to be their best. And she comes through
in the clutch, ah with with with the winning shot.
And uh, not only has she worked the coach, does
the coach take the shot? Well, this time she is
in the fist of Saint Pittsburgh.

Speaker 9 (05:43):
Let's not talk about sports, okay, really a bunch of
music people anyway.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
I will say that not only not only has she,
in my opinion, work with the best, but I actually
believe that those that you her gifts and her talent
do so because she is actually the best at it
at what she does. Taxis you know, being at a

(06:15):
duetting the all time what I call barbecue classic don't
look any further, two step classics or one of Quincy
Jones's most reliable go to lyricists, depending U dare I
say it probably Michael Jackson's most important song. I think
Man in the Mirror is his most important song. I mean,
people are their favorites, and people have their go to classics,

(06:37):
but you know, like John Lennon has imagined that's his
cry song.

Speaker 8 (06:41):
That's the one that makes.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Michael Michael Jackson has Man in the Mirror. That's it.
I feel like that's one of his most important songs.
To her Oscar nominated work for the animated film Rio
and for dream Girls, which you want to grab me
for correct I did. Absolutely, I'm still on their homework. Absolutely,
welcome to saw you to Garrette Love Supreme. Yeah, thank you.

(07:06):
You're from Compton, Yeah, what about it? Really?

Speaker 7 (07:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (07:12):
One hundred nineteenth and Wilmington, honey content straight up Watts.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
You know, I have to say that probably the period
that where I ran into you the most was during
UH your your time with UH with brand new heavies.
What are you doing? The smoking grooves?

Speaker 7 (07:36):
And you know what, I watched you cletely forgot about.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
That, but I watched you every night because the thing
you're you're I'm sure you've heard this a lot. You're
you're very magnetic personnality.

Speaker 7 (07:49):
Darling. I can't hear it enough? When is your cancer?
I'm a moon child. I'm a moon child.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Well, yeah, you're very magnetic. And so it was to
the point where, like every night I was watching Guys
when you were on, even though it was I think
he only did like three weeks of that run.

Speaker 7 (08:07):
But they smoked and grooveed me out. I was done data.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, but I really, I really didn't want to overwhelm
you with the fandom because even Beckfn like, I'm sure
that you just get overwhelmed with people asking you like, man,
so tell.

Speaker 7 (08:26):
Me what it's like when I can't hear it's enough.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
I'm telling you this interview. Yeah, I was about to
say this is this is show which all we do
is we geek out on this show.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
Remember when Michael Jackson that was awesome? Remember when that's
all we're gonna do. Remember that song you wrote for
Preferred Camel.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Awesome, It's really good.

Speaker 7 (08:49):
You guys is stupid.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Only on Pandora. So you were born in and raised
in Compton.

Speaker 10 (08:57):
I was born at Saint Francis Hospital and Lynn It's California,
and spent the happiest part of my childhood on one
hundred and nineteenth in Wilmington. Okay, mm hmmm, so raised
by my grandmother who's passed.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
Now, what was it? What was Compton Lincoln?

Speaker 7 (09:15):
Because of course, okay, they had gangs, they had the
crips and all that, but the worst that the crips
would do to you if they caught you out was
steal your jacket. Really, that was it, dude, that they
would just steal your leather jacket, that jacket, and that
was it.

Speaker 10 (09:33):
Now they're shooting people and killing brothers, and I'm you know,
I'm glad I'm from there, but I'm glad I'm not
in it right now.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
I did time in Compton for a little bit. Yeah,
what kind of time when my parents were recording the
Congress Alley record. My grandmom lived in Compton, but my
cousins were all crips, and so to my parents just
made you know, me wearing blue. So you, Derby, you
were in Compton while your parents were working on a

(10:02):
record that would be sampled for a Compton classic. Nice thoughtful,
black man, well done. How crazy that was? That was
a great meta classic reference. Bill Bill's referring to nothing
but a cheap thing that yeah, we still haven't got

(10:23):
paid for someone. You might be able to get something.
He got a couple of all he can afford it.
So did you grow up in a musical family or
what's your musical beginnings.

Speaker 10 (10:37):
Well, my mom was in a singing group with her
twin sister and her baby sister, and they were trying
to pop off when the Supremes were happening, so they
called themselves.

Speaker 7 (10:48):
The other Three.

Speaker 10 (10:56):
So dude, I would watch them rehearse and they would
have their matching outfits and they do their makeup and
everything and go out and perform in one of these
things they called.

Speaker 7 (11:08):
A nightclub, And I was like, what is a nightclub?
That just sounds so hot? Like I want to go
to a night club?

Speaker 11 (11:16):
Can we go?

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Can we out?

Speaker 7 (11:18):
No, you can't go to no nightclub. But it's a
night club that just sounds so fun and you guys
are dressed up and you're singing, and I want to
go to the nightclub?

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Right?

Speaker 7 (11:30):
Did no? Really?

Speaker 1 (11:33):
Oh? Why?

Speaker 7 (11:33):
I was so?

Speaker 10 (11:35):
I was like eight or nine, and I was just
fascinated with the idea of those two words going together.

Speaker 7 (11:40):
Night club?

Speaker 1 (11:42):
What is that?

Speaker 7 (11:43):
I wanted to be a part of that.

Speaker 10 (11:45):
I think that's where the seed was planted. But my
mother was a blenda. She's not a soloist, she was
a blenza. So I think I learned about harmonies and
stuff like that. In fact, my first recording game was
with H R and B artist DJ Rogers.

Speaker 11 (12:05):
Oh yes.

Speaker 7 (12:07):
So it was right after the Say You Love Me album.
The next album he was.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Recording, Oh that's one of my favorite sor that's your Heart.

Speaker 10 (12:15):
So my mother was his interior decorator, and she was
hanging wallpaper in his house and she's like, you know, DJ,
my daughter can sing. He's like your daughter, my plumber's son,
the maid's nephew. Everybody gets no, no, but my mother
was very very persistent. He said, all right, bring her by,
but if she can't sing, I don't want to hear.
I don't wan hear shit else. I don't hear nothing else.

(12:37):
So my mother brought me to his house and he
sat me down on the piano bench and he said, okay,
sing this, and he plays some riff and I say it,
and he looked.

Speaker 7 (12:44):
At me like, oh, okay, sing this. So he played
something a little more intricate and I sang that and
he literally pushed me off the bench.

Speaker 10 (12:56):
I fell on the floor and next thing I know,
a couple of days later, I'm in the studio sing
background with these amazing singers and just blending in the harmonies.
They were just so luscious and I was on a high.
And I came home and three weeks later I got.

Speaker 7 (13:11):
A check.

Speaker 10 (13:13):
And I was like, this is some shit I think
I could do on a regular basis. And I think
that's what started it. It was like, that was my
first official recording session.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
What album was it?

Speaker 7 (13:24):
On? The album after the Say after Say You Love Me?
I forgot the name of it.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
So that might be love music in life.

Speaker 11 (13:32):
There you go.

Speaker 7 (13:33):
Yes, that sounds like it. That sounds like it.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Shit, I have e recon Yes, okay.

Speaker 7 (13:37):
Playing you'll hear me in the background bag I will
do so with the silstles.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
So that's when you were a teenager?

Speaker 7 (13:48):
Yes, I was but a child at the time.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, So when did you When did you decide? Were
you the only one in your family that had musical aspirations?
Did you know?

Speaker 7 (13:57):
My mom did? But that didn't Evidently that didn't work
out too well.

Speaker 10 (14:02):
But siblings or my sister wishes she could sing, Oh
my god, my sister wishes she could sing so badly,
but you can't send you so.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
I can tell you already I'm still going to love
this interview. Yeah, we're not even a love So when
when did you officially? I mean I guess when did
you officially start?

Speaker 8 (14:45):
Like?

Speaker 1 (14:45):
How did the Plus? Was plus your first situation?

Speaker 11 (14:47):
Yes?

Speaker 7 (14:48):
It was my first signage?

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Really how did you? How did you? How did you
run into Renee?

Speaker 6 (14:55):
And?

Speaker 7 (14:55):
I think I met them through my record label? You
were signed to I was signed to Quest, which fell
into Warner Brothers.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Wait, how you were signed the Quest before you did.

Speaker 7 (15:09):
The post problem. No, that was pre that was prequency.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
You're right.

Speaker 10 (15:12):
I signed R Yes, yes, RC Records and they were
staff producers there, Angela. It wasn't a very pleasant experience,
so I don't want to elaborate on that anyway. None
is an asshole? Can My manager is like freaking out

(15:34):
right now, But I really don't care because he was
he really is. Okay, we won't He was so mean
to me, so freaking I ran into him thirty years later,
working with Michael.

Speaker 7 (15:45):
Two months ago, I ran into him at the gas station.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
I saw him.

Speaker 7 (15:51):
Like I didn't see him really, Yeah, he was plumping
gas now two months ago, yes, just a couple of
months ago.

Speaker 10 (15:56):
I ran into him and uh, he said something about
I drove around him because he was parked, and I
drove around his car and he shouted something.

Speaker 7 (16:03):
Like, hey, lady, you can't even drive, so you didn't
even know he.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Knew it.

Speaker 10 (16:12):
And then he went in and I was trying to
get out of the lot and he just finished pumping
his gas and he said, hi, Saita, and I said hi, Renee,
and he said, I was trying to say that was
me that was saying something smart you. I said, I know,
that's why ignored your ass, because it was anyway, no

(16:33):
love lost.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
See, I was even going for the Renee angle because
what I wanted to know was it was also highly unusual,
uh for LEA producers to be female, which Angel right,
and because when was the album recorded.

Speaker 7 (16:52):
Late late early eighties or late seventies.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
I think there you go. Okay, So what I'm saying
that that was a highly unusual.

Speaker 7 (17:03):
Their whole situation was unusual, and they were very very
successful at it at the time.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
So what was it like under her tutelage?

Speaker 7 (17:12):
Like I said, it wasn't all pleasant, darling. Okay, so
from the look on my manager's face and the stuff right.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Now, okay, damn, before it goes all.

Speaker 7 (17:22):
The way to the heel of my shoe that's been
inserted in my mouth.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
This is this is this is one. This is one observation.
Let me just let you know, let me let you
know that we're not in the burning bridges here Quest
Supreme only like a little not all, a little bit
bridge Madison County.

Speaker 11 (17:51):
I will move on.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
No.

Speaker 7 (17:53):
I hadn't started writing yet, so I was just signed
as a you know, a singer in.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
This group and they remembers were there.

Speaker 10 (18:00):
There was myself and two other guys. I'm sorry, dude,
the other three shut up.

Speaker 7 (18:06):
Yeah, we were plushed and that record lasted like a summer.
But it was fun to make.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Okay, Okay. I was going to say that the your
solo turne the I Don't Know where love comes from?
There's what the second to last song one side.

Speaker 7 (18:23):
To killing you are killing me right now? No, no, no, no,
But remember the single from that album, let alone, this
third song on plaid two what what?

Speaker 1 (18:36):
But here's the thing that let's that's how this works.
It's like you have to remember your career. But if
you don't they do. Yeah, wait a question about around
I know, so I want to I want to play
a little bit of it because there's a very interesting
uh uh observation.

Speaker 11 (18:54):
Give me all right, where is it a mark?

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Okay? Well, I was waiting for the ad lib to come.
But the reason why I wanted to ask about this
song is the fact that I found it very interesting
that even though this album came out before Thrilling, you
channeled one of Mike's iconic ad libs before he even

(19:41):
got to capitalize on it, which told me you must
be a deep Michael Jackson fan because his trademark he
he really wasn't a thing until it was a thing
Thriller came out. I mean he did it once on
Walk right now. He kind of did it working day
and night. I mean he did a lot on the

(20:01):
live record, but by that point for you to reference.

Speaker 7 (20:05):
That, he I want to hear this rip so bad
right now?

Speaker 1 (20:10):
That was it right exactly?

Speaker 7 (20:13):
You know what?

Speaker 8 (20:16):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (20:17):
And that's the thing. I was like, wait a minute,
this came out before my god, I have.

Speaker 7 (20:23):
No idea, but you know what, I sound a lot
like Angela. She was producing that vocal.

Speaker 10 (20:28):
They wanted me to be her, and it was killing me.
Every song I had to sing it like she sang it,
because she did all the demo.

Speaker 12 (20:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (20:38):
So, like she said, that doesn't even sound like me,
that sounds like Angela.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Well, I mean, I still I was. I have a
soft spot in my heart for like really good obscure
boogie era music, like between seventy nine and eighty three,
like I love it, pre prints post disco like that zone.
So yeah, but sweet spot, man, I love the fact

(21:03):
that you managed to reference an iconic ad lib before
that iconic ad lib even got to the icon raised
the heights. But that's that's sort of the Dewey Bey
stuff we do here. I love it. Free. So you
said that the group and that it only lasted the summer,
so that the group imploded.

Speaker 10 (21:22):
Truly, Plush got flushed basically from our records.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Not even one show or two shows or.

Speaker 7 (21:34):
Really it was I think it was just right off
kind of thing, you know whatever.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
But did you get the days, my friend, did you
get anything out.

Speaker 7 (21:44):
Of it or like, I mean, recording experience. Recording experience
was really valuable. Yeah, so learned just what not to
do for the you know, the next.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
So for the next year, for the next year. I've
heard many a story from Dennis Edwards and of don't
look any further, one of which I heard that his
original intended duet partner was I supposed to be Shaka Khan.
Wow refute or what happened?

Speaker 6 (22:19):
Was?

Speaker 1 (22:20):
How? How did this happen?

Speaker 10 (22:22):
When I auditioned for Quincy Jones, there were a butt
load of songwriters and producers in the room during the auditions.

Speaker 7 (22:35):
Quincy at the time was recording.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
He's putting together album Okay every Home One.

Speaker 10 (22:43):
Yes recording that album, and and songwriters were submitting songs
to Quincy for Patty's album.

Speaker 7 (22:50):
And I was the demo chick at the time. I
was since they saw me at those auditions, I started
doing everybody's demos for Quincy.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
For Patty, well, rewind where are the auditions because now
it's just a little different. I was like, I see
your YouTube page, Oh let me let me check them out.
But what was the circuit?

Speaker 7 (23:09):
It was a cattle call from Music Writer magazine.

Speaker 10 (23:13):
A friend of mine and an ex singer friend of
mine whose group I was in since I was a kid,
was going to the auditions.

Speaker 7 (23:22):
But she didn't tell me about it. Her boyfriend had
told me, right, So the barfriend called me and said
whence he's doing this?

Speaker 10 (23:30):
And then I said, okay, okay, where is it? So
he gave me the address over at SI R Hollywood
and I said, Okay, what time? He said, I don't know,
So Baby, I showed up at seven a m. And
it was me and two other people and we stood
in line until the thing didn't start till noon, but

(23:51):
by then the line was around the block.

Speaker 7 (23:54):
I was number three, right, So once you were.

Speaker 10 (23:57):
Inside, there were two card table and paper clipboards at
each for each day, with fifteen fifteen intervals fifteen minute intervals.
Who reading is fundamental, isn't it. So you were supposed
to go to the table and write down the time
and the day you wanted to audition.

Speaker 7 (24:17):
And I'm thinking, I'm here now.

Speaker 10 (24:21):
I think I'll audition now because I'm not gonna be
anymore ready on Tuesday at ten fifteen than I am
right now. So I was one of the first few
people to audition, and Quincy told me years later that
everyone who performed after me had to be as good
as me or better than me.

Speaker 7 (24:41):
So I went home that day. Baby, the bar was set.

Speaker 10 (24:45):
I went home, and over the course of nine months,
I would get these letters, Congratulations, you're one of five
hunters the quizy. The next letter, you're still in the running,
two hundred and fifty, one hundred, seventy five, fifty, twenty five, fifteen, ten, five, four,

(25:09):
me and three dudes.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Wait. I wonder what was like for the fifth person
to get like seven letters I'm gonna quit my job,
Holy Hands that Night Onions Act the one.

Speaker 10 (25:27):
This is a little known fact, since you're into all
this kind of minutia. Yeah, you know, the little known
fact is that.

Speaker 7 (25:35):
Lisa Melvoy, Wendy's sister, he told us you wanted the
fifth member of the group.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, because when we first found Plush, I was like,
is this the group that Susanna was talking about? So
he wanted to put together a he wanted to know.

Speaker 10 (25:56):
He wanted uh uh, he wanted a fifth mention or
Manhattan Transfer. He just wanted men and women who sang together,
or a group.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
You know.

Speaker 7 (26:06):
He really wanted to take six, but they hadn't been
discovered yet.

Speaker 8 (26:09):
Who were the other guys?

Speaker 10 (26:10):
And one was Kevin Dorsey, one was Darryl Finnassy and
the other guy was David Swanson. But the guys that
ended up going on the road with me was Darryl Fits,
Kevin Dorsey, and a guy named Dorian Holly.

Speaker 7 (26:30):
He's on. He used to sing, We used to sing
on everybody everything. Yeah, and he had a really amazing
rich bass voice.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Daryl, I know from the Michael Jackson with Michael for years.

Speaker 7 (26:42):
Right, Yes, let me apologize in advance for his no.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Okay, so fired swinging. So that's what. So this was
in eighty one, Okay, I believe this was eighty one

(27:09):
or eighty two, because I think Susannah was going to
take the gig and then Prince talked her out of
doing it, yes and said come with.

Speaker 5 (27:21):
Us and Whndy, But Wendy didn't come around until like
eighty three, eighty eighty two.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
Okay, but I remember her conclusion. The conclusion was that
he told her, like.

Speaker 7 (27:33):
I always wondered what that was about. They never told
us why. She was no longer.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
Very ambiguous with it. Yeah, So thanks for that was
the name of the group or the project Deco.

Speaker 7 (27:46):
We had one. Okay, we were signed and we were
offered artist contracts and writers contracts. I was I hadn't
written no song poems, okay.

Speaker 10 (28:01):
And I wasn't about to be on the other end
of the lawsuit with Quincy Jones for not fulfilling my
contractual obligations. So I was like, you know what, guys,
I'm just gonna sign the artist part and you guys
you signed the writers. They were like fine, whatever, So
they took our contracts, went to Quincy's house, I mean
the Quincy's office, and he did the equivalent of just
like shuffling their contracts on the desk and said, well,

(28:24):
we're Sayita's contract. They said, oh, she didn't. She didn't
want She just wants the artist thing. She doesn't want
a songwriter's thing.

Speaker 7 (28:30):
So Quincy pushed their papers back across the desk to
them and said, you either all sign or nobody signs.
Next thing, I know, saita.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Bitch, what open his door.

Speaker 7 (28:50):
When three large black men calling you signed the contract?

Speaker 10 (28:55):
So I signed, and then I began the process of
learning the craft of writing a song. They began the
process of cashing their checks. So I was kept on
for seven years. They were dismissed after one year.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
So you had no designs whatsoever to.

Speaker 7 (29:16):
Be a because here's why. No, no, no, here's why.

Speaker 10 (29:20):
Because let's just say, Quincy said, okay, you guys have
to write twelve songs a year, twelve songs that I
own the publishing too. So they were like, fine, they're musicians.
They can whip up a song, you know, just them
twelve songs and you're fine.

Speaker 7 (29:36):
I okay. If I if they had to whip up twelve,
that means fifty percent. That means I gotta whip up
twenty four and don't let three people be in the room.
I was like, no, no, I don't. I don't need this.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
I just want to be an artist, and he wants
individual songs, so it's not like you as a collective, Like, okay,
so Bill and I have the song we want to
submit to you.

Speaker 10 (29:56):
Sure if if you're signed to him, then he owns
fifty percent of your s and Bill gets to keep
his part.

Speaker 7 (30:01):
But that's only half a song for you. So you
still got living to have most songs deliver crazy. Yes, exactly,
exactly exactly.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
That's another thinking meme moment is there's an audio equivalent that's.

Speaker 7 (30:19):
Crazy things that make you go DN.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
Okay, So that's interesting. So how does so once that's
in place. How does don't look any further come in
to okay? And the thing is, if you're signed to him,
are there restrictions for writing for other people or like,
does he get first DIBs on all that? Y? Yes, yes, yes,
okay the latter.

Speaker 10 (30:46):
Once I was waiting those nine months, that's when all
those producers, Barry Mann and Cynthia while Dennis Lamberton, Franny Goldie,
they were all in the rooms, all in the room,
and I started doing I even did Shaka's demo Through
the Fire. Let me tell you said the wait a minute,

(31:06):
wait since a while.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
I'm sorry, somewhere on this earth is your version Through
the Fire?

Speaker 10 (31:14):
I wanted it so bad she she claimed she couldn't
find the couldn't find the demo wink wink anyway, so
she uh, when I was singing the demo, she did
not know. Shaka Khan is the reason I sing okay.
Shaka Khan was my vocal idol. I loved her riffs,
I loved her tone. I love the fact that Miles

(31:37):
Davis sounds told her her voice sounds like a horn,
because it does. She's just She's just so sharp and
crisp and I love Shaka. So I was doing this
demo and they said, well, we're writing a song for
Shaka Khan. I said, uh, sure, I'll sing it. So
I was singing this song and I sang through the Fire.

(31:58):
She said, don't do the art like that, don't roll,
don't I said, you have no idea.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
That is shack. I said, trust me, I've been singing
Shaka Khan songs since I can remember. That is Shaka
through the Fire. And I did that ship Shaka loved it.
She did every lick that I did on the demo,
and I was like, praise the Lord.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
I have I have know you you were.

Speaker 10 (32:22):
Then I was the demonstration singer Dolly.

Speaker 7 (32:26):
I demonstrated how the song should be sung.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
God.

Speaker 10 (32:33):
So so then it goes back to Dennis Edwards and
Chaka Khan. Right, yes, so I'm getting getting hot in here.

Speaker 7 (32:40):
Okay, what you're talking about, don't be blocking nobodys.

Speaker 8 (32:47):
I didn't looking over there, girl, So congratulations.

Speaker 10 (32:51):
I did this demo for for Freddy Goldie and Dennis
Lambert and it was the song Don't Look any Further.
So that was supposed to be a day, but they
couldn't get the two in the room at the same time.
I don't know what was happening, and Shaka was on tour,
Dennis was down somewhere. Anyway, I did the demo, and

(33:11):
I did the demo the whole song. Dennis Edwards came
in a few weeks later and put his vocal on.
So in the meantime, they were trying to find Shaka,
couldn't Warner Motown said, look, we got to we have
a release date. We have to release this single. Who
we can't find Shaka? No, Well, who's on the record.

Speaker 7 (33:31):
Some chick named Saya Garrett Great, leave her on it.

Speaker 10 (33:36):
So I go back to the studio thinking, I'm gonna
I'm gonna do my real vocal now, right, gets you
a real fang? Dennis LeVert said, oh, no, no, no, no,
We're keeping the vocal you did. So the vocal you
hear bitches, it's my demo vocal. So the next time
somebody tell you, oh, it's just a demo, smack them
in the box for me, Just smack them right in

(33:58):
the damn mouth that I can.

Speaker 7 (34:00):
Curse on this.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Let it be known that Eric's will in his eyes
in the corner. Eric's having the best time that anybody's having.

Speaker 7 (34:15):
No you gotta see.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
So that's how it happened. It's it's amazing because it's
amazing to me because the very first time I saw
you was on Soul Train.

Speaker 7 (34:33):
I'm sorry, go ahead, yes, I'll take all.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, it was on Soul Train. And you know, even
in the show introduction when you know, sim McCoy is like,
you know and guest stars you see Dinnis Edwards. I
was like, Wow, who's that woman that's standing with Dennis
Edwards in the digital box intro? And I watched it
and it was like you, that was your set. Dennis

(35:01):
wasn't even I'm I'm I'm a Soul Train of file
as well, so I'm not trying to freak you guys out,
but that was such that was a star making turn.
Like you took over, not even took over because it
feels like a code top, but it was like presence.
I remembered, Yes, I remembered you more than Dennis Edward

(35:27):
having the best hit of his career since what standing
on the top forever. Yeah, And and that was such
a star making like you really made the most of it.
I also have to say that that video is okay.

Speaker 7 (35:46):
I'm gonna smack you, so listen, listen.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
I love it for the right reasons.

Speaker 7 (35:51):
Okay, check this out.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
I'm in love.

Speaker 10 (36:00):
That video was shot in the basement of Motown Records.
I think it costs eleven dollars and fifty seven cents
including the.

Speaker 7 (36:10):
Electricity that customer. Yeah, and Dennis was not in his
best form.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Though.

Speaker 10 (36:18):
In fact, Dennis was like he was so amped up.
The video director between shoots, she would come over. At
one point she came over with a piece of paper
and she said, let me, can you put your gum in?

Speaker 7 (36:30):
And Dennis was like, Ain't got no gum, Ain't got
no gum. I go my mama, mama. He was just
chewing the ship out of his own tongue.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
Now look at it.

Speaker 7 (36:46):
Yes, and then I didn't know it at the time,
but you know when I turned around with my back
to Dennis with the capitol K now, you never be
able to look at that video on the same look.

Speaker 8 (37:05):
I'm sorry, g that dress, that blue, the.

Speaker 7 (37:07):
Blue with loose way child blu. Wait. But listen, when
I turned around, I didn't know that he was humping
me behind me. I had no idea when that happened.
That move and when I saw it, I said, that
nasty best.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
You, but you made the most of them, Like, how
how long did you have to promote the song with?

Speaker 7 (37:32):
It was a It was a hot summer on the
East Coast. It was not pleasant.

Speaker 10 (37:36):
We did clubs and Dennis had Okay, you know he
had groupies, and you know Usher has groupies, but these were.

Speaker 7 (37:47):
Not like mama. Okay, So Dennis's groupies correlated with his age.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
I get it. So we had some a little one.

Speaker 10 (38:03):
So I'll tell you one experience. We were at this
club called Silver Something in Jersey, right, silver Shadow. So
it was one big dressing room. You there, I told him, So,
I guess he's been in that club. You know, Garrett
Eric used to do an R for Epic Okay, okay,

(38:24):
VPR you remember Clive Davis.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah, I didn't even know it. Ok just a little
nugget for your thank you for this is the honor
of my life, right should ringtone? I know? Okay?

Speaker 10 (38:41):
So thens it was almost time to do the show,
and he had all these people and they were smoking
and drinking and going in the bathroom to smoke.

Speaker 11 (38:49):
What I'm saying.

Speaker 10 (38:51):
So yeah, So I said, excuse me, I you know,
I'd like to get dressed now. One of his groupie said, oh,
you ain't got nothing. He ain't never saying before.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Never ever.

Speaker 10 (39:07):
I said, he hasn't seen this one before, so can
I just change my clothes? So he left went to
the bathroom. But it was those kind of things.

Speaker 7 (39:16):
I'm trying to do a show and he and his
other buddies and their chicks and his chick all in
the room and it's like one little dressing room. I'm like,
can you please? Anyway?

Speaker 10 (39:25):
Years later he sent me he called me and apologized
because I guess that's.

Speaker 7 (39:32):
An that's a thing you have to do when you go.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Through the steps.

Speaker 7 (39:35):
Yeah, whatever, it.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Is one of the steps. Yes, not HR a little
further past HR. That's A and N A not HR
wrung acronym.

Speaker 10 (39:47):
Okay, Yeah, he was making amends and I accepted his apology,
but I said, you were so mean to me.

Speaker 7 (39:54):
He's not I know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, are you only there for one song? And that
there's smart I can take. Really, Yes, I would have
incorporate you in this show.

Speaker 10 (40:07):
And like, but Dennis wasn't trying to be in no
show with anybody else. He was just trying to do Dennis. Yeah,
and we were just promoting the single at the time.

Speaker 8 (40:17):
So can I just ask the dumb question here?

Speaker 7 (40:19):
Yes, I think this is the platform.

Speaker 8 (40:24):
Even the dumb ones got to be smart.

Speaker 7 (40:25):
Let me see how I say this.

Speaker 8 (40:27):
I'm at de jump.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
Just please.

Speaker 7 (40:31):
With your job of juice.

Speaker 10 (40:32):
Wait, it's the name I asked for any and Dennis,
it's They just looked up names of African cities.

Speaker 11 (40:43):
We thought it was.

Speaker 7 (40:45):
It might be, it might be, it might be.

Speaker 10 (40:47):
I'm not sure, but it's just that they like the
sound of certain cities and they just strung them together.

Speaker 7 (40:52):
But here's how it goes.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yes, dao y.

Speaker 7 (40:57):
Owned by now jambay m Bayo ca no no Cairo.

Speaker 8 (41:12):
Jamba the jumbe by you now jambem.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
By your no Cairo still no Cairo? Wrong?

Speaker 8 (41:21):
The jambey by shot.

Speaker 7 (41:26):
Jam you all right?

Speaker 11 (41:31):
What was the other one?

Speaker 7 (41:31):
Dale Nambu I o.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
I in the wrong room. Some wandered into both.

Speaker 7 (41:45):
He got that sugar hit in the right room.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
Thank you for finally settling that.

Speaker 7 (41:55):
So welcome because it was a problem.

Speaker 8 (41:58):
It was a problem like I'm a day they put
them in there that.

Speaker 7 (42:03):
I got my juice up in there my city, Cairo.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
So can you explain to us and the listeners, but
mostly to me, what is what is it like pounding
the pavement on the background singer uh circuit, which I'm
sure that was your next step. I mean you've done

(42:32):
countless of Yeah.

Speaker 7 (42:33):
That was an education though, man, that was the real.

Speaker 10 (42:37):
Learning experience for me, because, like I said, I started
doing demos for l A songwriters and producers, so I
got to I got to experience completely different styles from
every you know, pop producer that was on the charts
and was writing songs for whatever Quincy's next artist was.

Speaker 7 (43:00):
So it was it was a true training ground for
me as a as a singer.

Speaker 10 (43:07):
And singing uh lead is a completely different animal than
blending with other people to make a cohesive background sound
to the way you have to You can't you can't stand,
you can't step out, and you can't be too silent.

Speaker 7 (43:25):
You have to blend.

Speaker 10 (43:26):
You have to create a sound, a harmonious sound with
the other people that you're singing with. And that's what
I loved so much about singing background on other people's
records that in the fact that I got to work
with producers that I never would ever work with because
I'm not that that big artist that they're writing for,
But I'm the chick that shows the artists how to
sing the song. It's just such an amazing, powerful feeling.

(43:50):
And nobody does demos anymore. Nobody, you know, it's a
sad state of affairs.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Well, yes, I don't know. Maybe they just become the
final the final product. So I guess you worked with
who did True Blue? Steve, Stephen Bray and Patrick Lennon, Right, Yes, so.

Speaker 7 (44:10):
Oh, I have a great story for you. Yes, this
is this is about Madonna, and she she fucking loves
the story.

Speaker 10 (44:24):
So we're making music on the True Blue album and
Steve says to me, we need some background singers.

Speaker 7 (44:30):
I'm like, okay, I'll call you know, I'll call somebody.
So I called. I'm trying to think of what kind
of blend for this song. So I called my friend, uh.

Speaker 10 (44:40):
Uh, Eddie Layman, who was like the jingle singer, the person,
perfect pitch.

Speaker 7 (44:48):
She was on every every movie score. She was the singer.
So I called Edie because I'd sung with her before,
and I said, they need one more person. And before
I thought too much more about it, Madonna was right there.
I said, you want to sing on this record because
I can hire you to sing. Donna yet, yes, this Madonna. No,
it's Madonna.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
Madonna.

Speaker 8 (45:10):
I know she was status.

Speaker 7 (45:11):
She was Madonna.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
This was like second album, yird al.

Speaker 7 (45:15):
So she said, yeah, so we're singing, right, and Madonna
would uh uh.

Speaker 10 (45:23):
She We would joke and laughing, and every time she
would make a joke, she would just like tap that ass.
She would make a joke and just tap me on that.
So after two or three times the ass tapping, I said, bits,

(45:43):
you touched my.

Speaker 7 (45:51):
She said, oh, saying I'm just.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
But that was it.

Speaker 7 (45:56):
She didn't.

Speaker 10 (45:58):
But you know what, three or four years later, maybe
ten years later, I'm in this restaurant on Lasi mantohisa,
I'm in the private dining area because that's how I.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
Ma.

Speaker 7 (46:12):
I'm by myself. I don't give a shit. I don't
care you find myself.

Speaker 10 (46:15):
I don't care what people think about me sitting along
and in the I don't give a shit. So it
was me and then an walks Madonna and her.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Husband, so trying which one.

Speaker 8 (46:26):
Yeah, okay, okay, the husband has been I got the director.

Speaker 7 (46:30):
Yeah, yeah, mister Ritchie. So I said to her. She goes, hey, sayta,
how are you. I'm like, I'm great, Hi missus Richie
and her husband just being because.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
Who calls her that?

Speaker 10 (46:42):
You know what I'm saying, Hi missus Richie. So she said, so, Sayda,
what have you been doing? What are you doing lately?
And I said I had heard that one of her
background singers was was not working out too well.

Speaker 7 (46:56):
So when she said, so, what are you up to?
I said, I'm waiting for Donna to fuck up so
I can take her place.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Where it was.

Speaker 7 (47:10):
Yeah, that demon. Anyway, that's another that I'm not getting.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
My husband.

Speaker 7 (47:16):
Okay, I don't.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
Get so many bodies have been discussing right now.

Speaker 7 (47:23):
So anyway, all right, anyway.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
So we have to go dig more holes.

Speaker 7 (47:27):
What I was gonna say, anyway, we got the shovel
in the car.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
Okay, Jesus, keep going. I don't even know what I
was saying in my head. Wait, you're Dona. Donna walked
past and you smacked on the ass. That's really wanted
the wrong.

Speaker 8 (47:45):
Ass, you said, I heard Donna. Fuck Yeah, she laughed.

Speaker 7 (47:49):
So three years later I get a call.

Speaker 10 (47:52):
Three years maybe a year and a half but it
was a lengthy maybe almost almost two years, maybe three.
So I get this call and uh, I ended up
going on the road with her for a summer, the
Reinvention Tour. We rehearsed for a month and we were
out for three months, and it was the longest year
and a half of my life.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
How Yeah, when when you are a when you're a
natural born magnet and your own planet.

Speaker 8 (48:22):
Yeah, that's a good description.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
No, when you are your own how do you know
when to fall back and just blending when you're so
obviously like you shined.

Speaker 10 (48:37):
Well here, I have to give Madonna kudos because she
knows that no matter who else is on stage, it's
all about Madonna.

Speaker 7 (48:45):
So if you understand that, then you can roll with her.
It's not a problem.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
But you have to resign to that. Like sign for
the gig.

Speaker 10 (48:54):
I knew what I was doing when I signed up
for the gig. I knew who the star of the
planet was. And it wasn't say to get it right,
I wasn't filling up stadiums.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
They can't to see her right, right, So there's no
never any temptations.

Speaker 7 (49:07):
Well, she would bring me.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
She brought me out to do a solo.

Speaker 7 (49:11):
I mean the other Donna had been on the road
with her for seventeen years.

Speaker 10 (49:14):
I've been never got a solo, So I knew there
was something about me that she understood and she respected.
But Donna, if you if you don't cower, if you
don't back down, then she respects that.

Speaker 7 (49:27):
Mmm. She truly does.

Speaker 10 (49:29):
And she knows she's not the best dancer. No, she's
not the best singer. Will be the first to tell
you that. But that bitch is the hardest worker I've
ever met in my life.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
True, she works her arts off. You're right, You're right.

Speaker 7 (49:44):
And if she was saying for twenty fucking ye, that's
what she'd say. I'm the cherry picker to all her
fans that she hovered above them. Its for being my
fans for twenty fucking It's awesome.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
Wow. What are the rules to to surviving in that
that kind of world?

Speaker 7 (50:07):
That circuit you know who the star is and it's
usually not the background.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
Well no, no, no, no, I don't even mean for
conscious I'm talking about like, when you're called for work,
is it do producers look for? Like, Okay, who sings
the flatts without the most vibrato? Who shows up a
half hour early.

Speaker 10 (50:25):
Who a good producer will consider all of those things
because they already know what kind of sound they're looking for,
and they'll just hire the singers that they think can
create that sound for them.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
Is it easy for you to track everything yourself or
to do it with like who are your who are
the contemporaries, who are the go to people in background work?
In the first half of the eighties, it had to
be like, you.

Speaker 10 (50:51):
Know, Lisa Fisher, all those New York Audrew Wheeler, Sendy Mizelle.

Speaker 7 (51:00):
La singers were not even.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
Featured in this twenty Steps.

Speaker 10 (51:03):
Yeah, and then there was background singers that didn't really
have a background anyway. That's something else I can't oh Tatha,
all these all these amazing singers, and Tauatha might have even.

Speaker 7 (51:16):
Been on that DJ Rodgers thing of mine, yeah, my
first gig.

Speaker 10 (51:20):
But anyway, you get to know who you know, the
ones that are dependable, the ones who get the job done,
the ones that do it quickly, and the ones that
also Producers are looking for people to come up with
ideas that they didn't think of, you know, different harmony parts,
different counter melody parts that you could come.

Speaker 7 (51:36):
Up with on the spot.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
So do they send you the track pronto learn.

Speaker 8 (51:42):
And if you make changes you get a check for that.

Speaker 7 (51:44):
No, No, that's part of why they hired you. They
knew you could make the product better without, you.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Know, being a writer. I work for higher So you
know what I this this morning when I was recapping everything,
I freaking forgot about Do you want it right now?

Speaker 2 (52:04):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Wow, it's just one of those things that escaped me.

Speaker 7 (52:07):
Check this out.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Yes, nerder Rama, Yes, ringtone song.

Speaker 7 (52:17):
Was produced by Jellybeans.

Speaker 10 (52:20):
Okay, he was one of the three producers that I
had after one of my ill fated albums that is
on the Shelf and Warner Brothers that will be never
never ever be heard or seen from in life.

Speaker 1 (52:29):
But he would wait, wait, Marie Wind.

Speaker 7 (52:33):
It was after the fact. I my first album on
Quest had three producers jelly Bean, Glenn Ballard and and
Cliff Magnus and Robbie Neville and it.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
Never came out eighty five five. Remember so this before
life there was an album.

Speaker 7 (52:53):
Yes, yes, there were two albums.

Speaker 10 (52:55):
There were a lot of changes that went from Quest,
transition to Warner Brothers and Divorced, and it was a
lot of it was a lot of shit going on.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
So, yeah, do we have anybody. I'm gonna find one.

Speaker 7 (53:11):
You're gonna find one.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
Oh, we do that. We're gonna we're gonna're gonna try
and find that record. Both of them.

Speaker 7 (53:16):
They were never released. They're on but we're gonna find Oh,
I'm scared of you guys, anyway.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
To do that? Yeah, we lost, don't be scared.

Speaker 7 (53:26):
So this, this single do you Want It Right Now?
Was in the Sydney Pontier directorial debut Fast Forward, and
the song is in the movie in the guitar solo.
So you never even heard me say a word on
the film, But that song was released to the dance

(53:47):
clubs and it was number one dance record.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
It was inescapable. Yeah argument, I thought it was Shannon
in the beginning, but it was No. I know no,
I mean I was what thirteen at the time, but
they always played it on Power ninety nine and Philly.

Speaker 8 (54:03):
This is the fast forward the movie, the dance the
song before the movie right fast.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
You've seen that movie.

Speaker 8 (54:10):
What I seen all the dancing movies.

Speaker 7 (54:14):
That movie was like twenty minutes.

Speaker 6 (54:17):
We had the Blonde and then the Rich I remember,
and then the Black guy and the white guy and
their friends team together.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
This is this is a key moment. I wish was
here that on top of us on what you're experiencing now,
what you feel it's never happened. You know some ship
that's okay. Have you seen Body Rock? Yeah? Must be,

(54:46):
must be your spike. Lee Glasses said, all right, we're
falling to a rabbit right here.

Speaker 7 (54:53):
So it's dark in there.

Speaker 1 (54:55):
On it is. So even on the strength of having
that single, no one at Warners was like, Okay, let's
let's get that out. Let's get the product out.

Speaker 10 (55:11):
There was a lot of upheaval and the Warner family
and the Quest family, and it was I just sort
of fell through the cracks. I'm an artist, but as
a songwriter, you know, it behooved Quest to you know,
plug me into different projects, which is how I came
to meet Michael.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
What what keeps you? What keeps you sing?

Speaker 11 (55:33):
That keeps me saying it was married?

Speaker 1 (55:36):
What keeps you saying? The little he's the loudest one
in the room, but you didn't hear one boy.

Speaker 7 (55:51):
So he's glad he went from twenty Okay, so shut up.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
But what I want to know, Damn they just gave
each other high five. That's amazing relationship. He's like, I'll
go get the shovel. What so, But I'm just saying,
man too, you know, to start when you did, and

(56:20):
then to have the Plus project almost be a contender,
and then you might get some heat on the dennist
at Wards problem. It's almost a contender and kind of
some close. No Cigars not my year. It's not my year.
I'm sure every like New Year's Eve, you're like, okay,
nineteen eighty five, it's gonna be the It's gonna be it.
And like, what keeps you grounded? Because usually in the

(56:45):
cases I know, a lot of bitterness starts to enter
artist lives, usually by the sixth year of like the
no Cigar situation, Like, okay, if it doesn't happen this year, well,
and what what keeps you what by this point mentally speaking,

(57:08):
like with the way that the label was, what keeps
you hanging on?

Speaker 11 (57:14):
Wait?

Speaker 1 (57:14):
Is this where Benny enters the picture? God? Sorry, all right,
I'm sorry, Eric, he was already no, no, no, let

(57:35):
me just I'm trying to explain that this show is
is not This is probably the deepest we've ever gotten
into yeah, because I know, But seriously, I'm more curious
about the creative process and getting from point A to
point Z, not just like give me this insation his stories,

(57:57):
like you know what Sirt was that and I were
in that day. But I am curious about obstacles that
are in your way and how you deal with it
and overcome such a thing to get to.

Speaker 7 (58:09):
Man, you just I don't know.

Speaker 8 (58:10):
You just don't.

Speaker 7 (58:11):
I just haven't stopped. You can't stop. You just got
to keep focused.

Speaker 10 (58:16):
I on the prize, just keep your keep focused on
your goals, no matter. And then all that other stuff
is just extraneous stuff that's happening while you're focused on
your goal.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
So what okay for that point? What in your eyes?
And you know everyone has a plan and quote God
laughs at you. Whatever that thing is that that's that's saying.
What were your aspirations during that period?

Speaker 10 (58:47):
I was gonna be Madonna and then I was gonna
be Beyonce. I was gonna be it, but that part
of my career just never kind of took off. But
as a songwriter, because the focus wasn't on me as
an artist, I think I had to concentrate on what
was happening, and as a songwriter, I was doing a

(59:08):
lot more than I was as my own artist. I mean,
if you can't have a hit song after having a
duet with the king of pop, the biggest pop songwriter
in the world, if your record company can't get it
together after that, and then a few months after that,
you wrote the fifth single from the biggest pop song

(59:29):
right pop artist in the world, and you still can't
get to get it going.

Speaker 7 (59:32):
It just wasn't meant for me. Like I was on
the Bad Tour, the single had just come out.

Speaker 10 (59:38):
Warner Brothers like, you gotta you gotta stay here and
we gotta make your record.

Speaker 7 (59:41):
You gotta, you know, while this is hot, you gotta
do this, and the Men of the Mirror is coming out.
You got to make your own record.

Speaker 10 (59:46):
So I rehearsed with the Bad Tour for like a week, right,
And after a week I told Michael, I said, dude,
I gotta, I gotta do my own sit.

Speaker 7 (59:56):
I mean, Warner Brothers is saying so sorry. I I
left entered Sheryl Crow and the rest herstory bitches her history.

Speaker 6 (01:00:08):
I see the executives ever come to you like you
know in that artist type of way. Well, if you
change this, and if you change.

Speaker 8 (01:00:14):
That, because I always thought it was dope, you were
ahead of your time.

Speaker 10 (01:00:16):
You know how I feel about here, blig They I was,
you know, they looked at me and they saw an
R and B singer, and which is which I wasn't.
I'm a pop singer, but I'm not Madonna, so they
were the look didn't match the road I was trying
to go down. So after a while, you gotta go
with the flow, baby, You gotta however it's flowing.

Speaker 7 (01:00:37):
You gotta make that work.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
But you can't. You you have to understand that usually
the conclusion that you just told me, that's always reached
in hindsight. Now, I mean, the key reason why I
even have this show as a platform is for what

(01:01:01):
you just said, because I got about six or seven
people in my lives. My lives. I have six or
seven people in my life who their narrative is constantly
going down dead in the streets and just like, nope, nope,
you read that.

Speaker 7 (01:01:20):
Book about the Cheese and the Rats and the New Cheese.
I forgot the name of it, but but who moved
my cheese? Okay?

Speaker 10 (01:01:31):
That book is about these two little rats who every
day they would get out of their little house and
get dressed for work, and they go then the maize
and they find the cheese.

Speaker 7 (01:01:40):
And then they go home and.

Speaker 10 (01:01:41):
Get undressed, go to sleep. Next day to get up,
get dressed, go down the maize and find the cheese.
One day there was no cheese, but one little rat
just kept getting up, getting dressed, going down the road,
find them looking for the other rat started looking for
some new cheese.

Speaker 7 (01:01:59):
So as an artist, I was looking for the new cheese.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
That's the best cheese story I've ever heard of. This,
it was I just want to know I've been in
that new chiese situation. Yeah, because again I personally and
I hate I know I'm regressing the older mirror where
I start taking all the interviews and making the interview

(01:02:25):
about me and instead of the artist.

Speaker 7 (01:02:27):
But I got it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
This This is a rare This is rare tell us
about the cheese, tell us about the cheese. But I'm
just saying that ever Blue was a Swiss. As an
artist in the beginning, when you're first starting, you have
these lofty goals of what you want your life to be. Yes,
I didn't ask to you know it wasn't a dream.
I mean, yeah, you said, oh yeah, I like the

(01:02:50):
host of radio show or be the new doc Severson
on a But I didn't grow up like as an
eight year old, like hmm, like half of the stuff
like writing, you know, books about food and all that stuff.
I had a specific goal that I thought was going
to get me to where my dream was. And then
you know, but I also have about four or five

(01:03:11):
ledge talkers that talked me off the ledge from sabotage
and stuff. Because when stuff doesn't go right for me,
my first instinct is fuck it. And now none of
us can play ball, you know, like I'm that person.

Speaker 13 (01:03:27):
But oh you I'm taking my ball and I'm going home.
I'll take the ball and roof it so nobody can
have it. But I'm also smart enough to listen if three,
like fifty million Elevis fans can't be wrong. So if
four people are telling me I think you need to
fuck you're fucking up. I need you to breathe, calm

(01:03:49):
down different way.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
You need to Yeah, who, I'm not saying that you're
I'm just saying that I had that.

Speaker 7 (01:03:59):
But how did you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:02):
Because the narrative of anyone else I talked to this
is where the downside of the period happened. But you
just went with a punch and like, okay, well it
wasn't meant for me to what what?

Speaker 10 (01:04:16):
I had no other options like what were There was
no other alternative you either. It was not about I
was not about to just go down like that. I
I was just not going out like that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
I had.

Speaker 10 (01:04:29):
I wanted to just find a new way to make
my name, to get my music out there. And if
it wasn't through me, then I'll just write it for
somebody else to do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:41):
All right, Yeah, I'm gonna bookmark this part of the
interview and make sure that ninety five billion people listen
to you. You saying that because I that's yes. Can
we title this new case so fund check this out
For those of.

Speaker 10 (01:04:58):
You who are who are living southern California. For the
last sixteen years, from two thousand to January twenty sixteen,
I was the voice of Toyota for Southern California.

Speaker 1 (01:05:11):
Jingle new Cheese, Cheese Baby.

Speaker 10 (01:05:13):
Now it's your Toyota dealer. You can get a great
deal on our twenty sixteen Toyota.

Speaker 7 (01:05:19):
Let's go places. Let's go places, viness. Listen where my
career goes. Yes, yeah, new cheese.

Speaker 10 (01:05:31):
Now who I didn't wake up going, oh my god,
I want to I want to be that announcer girl.

Speaker 7 (01:05:35):
It happened. I was singing the jingle we make It Easy,
Oh so easy.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
I'm in that.

Speaker 7 (01:05:40):
You done many, many for many name something that I
don't know or I might know, or uh.

Speaker 10 (01:05:46):
Well, I've done likes of PEPSI likes of Coca Cola commercials,
Jack in the box, McDonald's just ooz and ohs all
over the place, and and the dang you real rich No, no.

Speaker 7 (01:06:01):
Wrong, I'm on that too, and.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
I'm just let me And that's another thing. This is
gonna be that episode.

Speaker 8 (01:06:09):
Okay, that's fine.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
Just because you work a lot doesn't mean that you're
bringing in the dough.

Speaker 8 (01:06:14):
I know, like the trash man at work a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
But when you are doing like plumber, I consider myself
mister nineteen jobs.

Speaker 8 (01:06:23):
You don't know what a lot of dough is anymore.
You're in a bubble. But to the director of the system, okay, I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
Just saying it means that you're consistently working. You're a
working class nigga.

Speaker 7 (01:06:37):
Anyway, I miss something.

Speaker 1 (01:06:44):
In it still j thoms they're.

Speaker 8 (01:06:47):
Good, but the jingles amazing.

Speaker 7 (01:06:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:06:52):
So yeah, that was another way for me to still
sing and be musical, but not be an artist, and
not be signed to a label and not be you
know what else I hated about being signed to a label.
They have their own agenda and it doesn't matter what
kind of artists you want to be, or what artists
you think you can be, or who you think you are.
If you don't fit into that box that they have,

(01:07:14):
the R and B box, the pop box with all
the looks and everything that goes with it, then you
are just looked over and you fall through the cracks.
I know so many artists like that. Tevin was like that.
Tevin had his sweet spot was before his balls dropped
and his voice changed.

Speaker 7 (01:07:29):
So after that, nobody wanted.

Speaker 10 (01:07:30):
To Nobody wanted to fuck with seven because he didn't
have those high notes anymore. But Tevin took his uh
gift and his talent and he went to Broadway, so
he found some new cheese.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
Wow. Not to mention your your your your your your
acting game is is oh god, quite awesome. My first
yeah right now, oh my god. You know, like when
you get your first VCR. You gotta record everything when

(01:08:05):
you were a kid.

Speaker 9 (01:08:05):
Yeah, Steve's like again some stuff my dad recorded that
I happened to find out. Yeah, pretty much. Recording everything.

Speaker 7 (01:08:20):
Changed my life.

Speaker 1 (01:08:21):
We got a v c R. I recorded everything that
was on television. It just happened. Her episode of the
Facts of Life was the one that that I did well.

Speaker 7 (01:08:30):
I did Amen. I did an episode of Amen. I
remember the episode.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
Yeah, you wanted to be U singer? I want to
be No, Yeah she was, uh, I guess missus Garrett's girls.
I wanted to enter Sing with the Elder Barge contest.

(01:08:53):
Oh yeah, and I think George Clooney's character and whoever
the kid was.

Speaker 7 (01:08:59):
Worked with George before.

Speaker 8 (01:09:04):
When they had their own bakery and whatnot.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
So they organized them to enter this contest and then.

Speaker 7 (01:09:10):
Tots Group one. It's the show.

Speaker 8 (01:09:22):
She lost the whole two of hearts things. Remember that one.

Speaker 7 (01:09:27):
Lost?

Speaker 1 (01:09:30):
Wait anyway, Stacy.

Speaker 7 (01:09:34):
Let me let me tell you. I was on an
ill fated pilot called.

Speaker 10 (01:09:41):
The Valentine's On that that pilot episode was Tevin Campbell, Ali,
Cindy Harron, Saya Garrett. They were like and and everybody
was like nobody then and after that they went on
to do what they went on to do. But Jeff

(01:10:03):
Franklin was the producer of that and he produced Family
Ties Full House.

Speaker 7 (01:10:11):
Right, so they did.

Speaker 10 (01:10:15):
They rebooted the show. And one of the actresses on
the show, whose name is Jody's that one Sweden. She
is in a rock band, her little band, and I
wrote the song that her band sings. So this is
like thirty years later that producer who hired me as

(01:10:36):
a as an actress, and I was on the pilot
as the sister of Cindy and Tevin, and we were in.

Speaker 7 (01:10:45):
This vocal group. Anyway, the pilot went nowhere, but he
and I remained friends, and like thirty years after the fact,
I got married at his house.

Speaker 10 (01:10:57):
In Beverly Hills and then he's said, well, we got
this show, you want to write this, So I'm right.
So those relationships that are forged early on in your career,
if you know how to nurture them, they're just valuable.
People remember how a professional you were, how important you
were to the project they were working on, how you
added your ideas.

Speaker 7 (01:11:16):
And they remember you for other things. But had I
been an.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
Asshole on that set, Wait a minute, I'd have.

Speaker 7 (01:11:23):
Probably gotten married at the town Hall and Compton. Thank
you very much.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
Wait a minute, you just did you bring Tevin to Quincy?

Speaker 11 (01:11:34):
I did.

Speaker 7 (01:11:34):
I was one of the first few people.

Speaker 10 (01:11:40):
Quincy heard about Tevin from me and from Benny Bedina
around the same time, because I was I was in
the show with him, and I knew he could sing.

Speaker 7 (01:11:48):
Tevin had such a thick accent that I remember talking
to him about some mark he had on his arm,
or some really scar on his arm.

Speaker 10 (01:11:58):
I said, how'd you get that? He said, oh me,
And we was running and I was running with some silzls.
I said, you were running with what? Some sizzles? I said, child, where.

Speaker 8 (01:12:13):
Are you from?

Speaker 7 (01:12:14):
A waxahatchie Texas.

Speaker 1 (01:12:18):
Wed.

Speaker 7 (01:12:18):
They pronounced scissors like silzls.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
Watch, wax a hatchie, that on ju that's that's a
watch wax.

Speaker 7 (01:12:28):
A hatchet and the genre baio. There will be a
test later.

Speaker 8 (01:12:32):
He loves to ask him.

Speaker 6 (01:12:32):
By the time he did Frest Prince, that's interesting because
I was thinking about the Tatiana reunion on the Fresh
Prince Yeah TV.

Speaker 7 (01:12:38):
It was deep South. Okay, so you brought him to Quincy?

Speaker 1 (01:12:46):
Okay?

Speaker 7 (01:12:47):
Because around the same time that Benny did.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
Like, because I often might have Sunday brunch in a
certain New York establishment and I and I'll still see
Bobby Humphrey occasionally, and She'll be like, I'll just covered

(01:13:09):
Darren and Gimble because her name was her like logo
or something was on the first two albums or something
like that.

Speaker 7 (01:13:15):
Right, right, sorry, Bobby.

Speaker 1 (01:13:19):
The way that I've always heard Quincy Jones describe the
creative process in sourcing material for Michael is that I'm
always hearing numbers like, yeah, we sat and listened to
three hundred songs. We sat listened to five hundred songs.
So I mean, again, today's a whole new different standard.

(01:13:39):
So am I to believe that the standard for then
was that you would go to a certain publishing house
and just have cassettes and all these songs submitted to you,
and you just sit there and listen.

Speaker 10 (01:13:52):
And well, no, Quincy would put the word out to
songwriters that he respected, yeah, and the new could deliver,
so and then they would start submitting songs, and I
would I wouldn't doubt that they've.

Speaker 7 (01:14:04):
Heard up to three hundred, five hundred songs.

Speaker 10 (01:14:07):
Because Quincy informed me after I delivered the cassette to
man in the mirror that he and Michael had been
in the studio for like two and a half years
and Michael had yet to record a song he didn't write.

Speaker 7 (01:14:22):
So Quincy was like, I don't know, ye, I don't know.

Speaker 10 (01:14:25):
But then he said, don't worry sid if we don't
record it with Michael on his album, The Bad Album,
I'll recorded with James Ingram on my album.

Speaker 7 (01:14:34):
And I'm thinking Michael Jackson James ing had to let
it go.

Speaker 10 (01:14:40):
But as it turned out, Michael loved the song, and
in fact, the first thing he said to me.

Speaker 7 (01:14:47):
Was I love this song. The second thing he said
to me was I love your voice.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:14:56):
It was just I was on Cloud fifty eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:15:00):
Because this is one of two songs that weren't written
by him.

Speaker 7 (01:15:04):
On the album, right. The other one was She's Out
of My Life Tom Baylor, No, no, no, Well just
good Friends was oh yeah, yeah, I'm the wrong album song.

Speaker 1 (01:15:12):
Right right? Okay, so you were hinting to place the song,
but Quincy was sort of saying.

Speaker 10 (01:15:19):
Like you knows what Quincy called the meeting with his songwriters,
his West Coast writers. I think there were like six
or seven of us, and I was late for the meeting,
so I tried to sneak in, and everybody's sitting around
in his living room and he's talking in the middle
of a sentence, and I'm trying to just stay in
the back of the room and just sort of slink
on the side and find.

Speaker 7 (01:15:35):
Some place to sit out as if. Yeah, and he's
tracking me with his eyes.

Speaker 10 (01:15:38):
As I walk across the back of the room and
he says as I was saying before, I was so rudely.

Speaker 7 (01:15:45):
Interrupted, you know, just following me, and I'm like going,
oh shit.

Speaker 10 (01:15:48):
So, you know, sat in the corner and I took
copious notes. Then I went to my friend Glenn Balad
and I said, Quincy's looking for a song for Michael.
And he said, well, what kind of song does he want?
And I was like, I don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:15:58):
So he gets up to go to the keyboard to
turn it on to get some sounds.

Speaker 10 (01:16:04):
Cut to two years prior to this day, I'm in
a writing session with famous jazz pianist John Beasley. Right,
So John and I are writing, and John also introduced
me to Sergio Mendez, which is another story. So John
and I are writing and the phone rings, and I
thought we were doing some pretty good work. So I

(01:16:25):
was waiting for the machine to pick up, and instead
of him letting his machine pick up the phone, he
picks up the phone and begins.

Speaker 7 (01:16:32):
This very banal conversation.

Speaker 10 (01:16:35):
Ah, nothing, I'm just saying, I'm not and I'm flipping
through my lyric book saying to myself, No, he didn't
just say he wasn't doing nothing.

Speaker 7 (01:16:44):
No, no he didn't. You know, I'm just like, I'm seething, right,
And then I hear him say the man, what man, Oh,
the man in the mirror.

Speaker 10 (01:16:54):
So I wrote down Man in the Mirror. Two years later,
I'm at Glenn's house. He gets up to turn on
the keyboard and he's starts.

Speaker 7 (01:17:00):
Playing doom Doom, Doom, Doom, Doom, doom doom, just to
get a sound on the keyboard.

Speaker 10 (01:17:07):
And I'm flipping through my lyric book again, and the
phrase man in the Mirror literally leapt off the page
and I could not.

Speaker 7 (01:17:17):
Write the lyric. Fast en up, I'll tell Glenn. Wait,
I'm just scribbling frantically, right.

Speaker 10 (01:17:24):
So in like ten twelve minutes we had the first
verse and the first chorus to Man in the mirror.
That was Wednesday night. He said, you go home, finish
the lyric. I'll finish the track and on Friday we'll
demo the song. So I demoed this song Friday and
we finished Friday night, too late to turn it into
Quest Records. So I called Quincy and I said, cute, Glenn,

(01:17:48):
and I have written a great song. He said, great, Sid,
just turn it into the publishing office and I'll hear
it on Monday or Tuesday.

Speaker 7 (01:17:55):
And I said, Quincy, no week. I really just want
you to he said, sit. I said, just let me.
Let me hang it over. He said, Sid, I'm in
a meeting. I have like twelve people sitting in my
dining room. I know I can't. Quincy has six daughters,
so he knew he was not going to win this argument,
so he just said, okay, shit and bring it.

Speaker 10 (01:18:18):
So I brought this cassette to Quincy's house, knocked on
the door, and the housekeeper opens the door and calls
for Quincy. He opens the dining room doors. Sure enough,
twelve fucking suits looking up at me, going looking at
their watches like, what the fuck is she? This is
the look on all what the this must be really
important because we're doing some shit and she's our meeting.

(01:18:39):
So Quincy goes to the door. I give him this
cassette and I said, cue. The only thing I asked
is that you just get back to me.

Speaker 7 (01:18:46):
He said, don't worry. I said, just just he said,
don't worry shit, close the door, right.

Speaker 1 (01:18:52):
So I was for him on the spot.

Speaker 10 (01:18:54):
I wanted to, but he was like, no, look like,
look at this. No, I got these people. So you know,
I was glad that he let me bring it. So
he called me two hours later. I was that house
at my house, cooking dinner and he picked up the
I picked up the phone and he said, Sid.

Speaker 7 (01:19:11):
This is the best song that I've heard in ten years.

Speaker 10 (01:19:15):
I'm like, yes, and I'm living and best song in
ten years And I know, he said, but I didn't
want to hear whatever shit came after you. I just
want to live in best song in ten years. And
then he said, but you know, Michael, we've been in
the studio two and a half years. Michael wasn't Michael.
He hasn't recorded anything.

Speaker 7 (01:19:34):
Don't worry, Goods and Donalds, Michael Jackson, James Inger, don't worry.

Speaker 11 (01:19:39):
So I had to let that go.

Speaker 10 (01:19:41):
I got a call three days later and Quincy says,
and I quote Sid, we in the studio recording your
old piece of song.

Speaker 7 (01:19:53):
And I'm like yeah. Then he said, but and you
know how Charlie Brown's teacher talking. You know, you don't
want you don't want to hear ship so everything after
but I was, we're recording your song. Let me just
be in that for a moment. They said, Uh, Michael
wants you.

Speaker 10 (01:20:12):
The only thing is the chorus that Michael wants four
more lines in the chorus and he really want you.

Speaker 7 (01:20:18):
And he says hold on, and I hear. And Quincy
gets back on the phone and says, and he really
wants you to bring home the message that and he
says things hold on and then I hear.

Speaker 10 (01:20:35):
Right, So Quincy Jones, he puts Michael Jackson on the motherfucking.

Speaker 7 (01:20:43):
Phone right now. I don't know about y'all, but when
I was coming up right now, Michael was my husband,
was my husband. Mother cousins had teeto with Michael was
my husband. So in my mind, I'm a on the
phone with my husband right.

Speaker 1 (01:21:04):
So I did not want to be Oh.

Speaker 7 (01:21:08):
My god, my god, let me sit. He said a pass.
I'm so glad.

Speaker 10 (01:21:13):
I wanted to be the antithesis of that fan anti fan,
so I went.

Speaker 7 (01:21:24):
I went straight telephone operator.

Speaker 10 (01:21:28):
And I said, how can I help you? I swear
to God and like I said, the first thing he
said to me was I love this song. Second thing
and I love your voice.

Speaker 8 (01:21:38):
I'm like.

Speaker 10 (01:21:40):
So two or three days later, quenty calls and says,
we need you to come down the studio because the
demo the key is too high for Michael singh, so
we need to re sing the demo.

Speaker 1 (01:21:50):
Great.

Speaker 7 (01:21:51):
I didn't know in the.

Speaker 10 (01:21:52):
Studio with Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedeen and Michael Jackson.

Speaker 7 (01:21:58):
So I walk in and he's like, Hi, yeah, you know,
we're talking and whatever, but I I didn't know why
he was filming.

Speaker 10 (01:22:13):
So Quincy said, going and go in the booth and
sing the song. So I get up to go in
the booth and Michael gets up with this. It was
eighties so it was a huge video camera, right, and
he's following me, and in Spike Lee's Bad twenty five
Reunion you can see Michael in a reflection in the
mirror in the studio videotaping me getting ready to sing

(01:22:38):
the demo in the new key.

Speaker 7 (01:22:40):
So I'm looking at the man in.

Speaker 10 (01:22:41):
The mirror and recording the man in the mirror as
he's you know. It was just insane, insane. So I'm
singing this, getting ready to sing the song. I said,
why are you?

Speaker 7 (01:22:52):
What are you over my shoulder? I'm like, what are you?
What are you doing? He says, I want to film
you singing this song. I said why, Yeah, he said,
because I want to sing it like you. Wait a minute,
Wait a minute, I said, wait. I said, great, Mike, Oh,

(01:23:13):
my friends are gonna believe me when I tell him
he wants to sing it like me. So it was
just just such a weird, weird day. But it was
one of the the I can't stop smiling talking about it.

Speaker 1 (01:23:28):
To concentrate with that much pressure because Quincy's there, Michael,
I got a gazillion Bruce Been questions, Like.

Speaker 10 (01:23:39):
I just saw Bruce last week. We went to Florida
to visit. He's in Orlando, Florida, and.

Speaker 7 (01:23:50):
Oh snap, I could have got you an interview.

Speaker 1 (01:23:52):
Dude. I will let me know if you go back.

Speaker 10 (01:23:56):
He would love it. He would absolutely love it. They
got a horse, rabbits, They got cats.

Speaker 7 (01:24:05):
They got chickens.

Speaker 10 (01:24:06):
Oh be Sweeteen has the best chickens I've ever met,
because they delivered.

Speaker 8 (01:24:14):
No no, no, I tasted.

Speaker 10 (01:24:15):
They have amazing eggs and the yolks are so rich.

Speaker 7 (01:24:20):
They're orange. They're the color of your shirt. Instead of yellow,
pale ass yellow eggs, these yolks are orange and they
are delicious. It's because their chickens just eat grass on
the on the farm chicken and free range eggs. They're fabulous.

Speaker 1 (01:24:38):
We went from Michael Jackson to free range so fast?
Have you done this so much that you can effortlessly
just sing in front of someone when Michael Jackson's freaking
watching you.

Speaker 7 (01:24:50):
Okay, here's the thing. And somebody asked me this the
other day. What's it like to, you know, to record
with Quincy Jones. Let me just tell you.

Speaker 10 (01:24:59):
When you're in the room room with someone like that,
someone of that magnitude, someone who's at the top of
their game in their game, you want to do the
best that you can do to impress them.

Speaker 7 (01:25:14):
So you're you're in it to do your best.

Speaker 10 (01:25:16):
You're gonna you're gonna bring your best game to this
table because this is the table that your game needs
to be played at. So you're gonna be the best
that you. You're gonna be bring your best self, and
they're gonna draw even more of that out of you
because that's their gift.

Speaker 1 (01:25:32):
Wow.

Speaker 9 (01:25:34):
Did you take any drugs or anything that day or anything?

Speaker 7 (01:25:37):
I think, fuck me up. You think I was bouncing
off the walls, but nothing. I can't. I couldn't know.
It was.

Speaker 10 (01:25:44):
Oh, I have a great story for I've told this
story a couple of times, but it just shows how
truly human he was. The first time I met him,
he you know, I just sang the demo and then
we had some downtime and we were chatting and and
I looked down. He had on his black Fedora, white

(01:26:05):
T shirt Forrest, green corduroy shirt, black pants, one gray sock,
and one green sock or some shit, right, I said, dude,
what's up with your socks? He said, oh it was

(01:26:28):
it was early in the morning and the room was dark,
and I just pulled out what was whatever was in
the door?

Speaker 7 (01:26:33):
I said, obviously, So we laughed. Whatever.

Speaker 10 (01:26:35):
So the next time I saw him, a few days
later to record, we did the duet in Spanish and
French and in English.

Speaker 7 (01:26:44):
So I was with him for a week recording right.
So the next time I saw him, he said sid
and he called me over, like come here, and he
pulled pulled his pants up a little higher.

Speaker 10 (01:26:54):
He said, look at my socks now he was still
wearing this time. It was a red shirt and the
white T shirt and the black people. I said, your
socks are sky blue.

Speaker 7 (01:27:05):
Okay, they match.

Speaker 10 (01:27:06):
Each other, but they don't match nothing else you got on.
So he just he just he just called me crazy
and he and he said, your name sounds like you
you you just you just the country. So I'm gonna
just call you miss Gaary. So he called me Miss Gary.
There's no joke, that's that's just the story.

Speaker 1 (01:27:37):
You did the bad tour only for a few weeks.

Speaker 7 (01:27:41):
Or we rehearsed for They rehearsed for like a month
and the week.

Speaker 1 (01:27:46):
Of that, yeah, okay, I was like, wait a minute,
I saw you sing that just in touring with him.
How how tedious are rehearsals? How tedious are no?

Speaker 10 (01:27:58):
Once we rehearsed, it wasn't like Madonna where you would
you would rehearse and sound check wink wink every show
because we would always have to rehearse whatever didn't go
well on the show.

Speaker 7 (01:28:15):
Oh honey, she would have notede for almost everyone. My cords,
my guitar, strap, my boot, you know, everything thing everything.
So but with Michael, we rehearsed for three months and
that was it. I didn't see him except for two
hours on the show every night. He didn't rehearse every
new city. We know, no, because he knew, you know,

(01:28:38):
so time.

Speaker 1 (01:28:39):
For band prayer, He's there and then hit the stage.

Speaker 7 (01:28:41):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (01:28:43):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:28:43):
So was it?

Speaker 1 (01:28:44):
I mean, was it a fun experience.

Speaker 7 (01:28:45):
Or was it just like, oh my god, it was
the most fun I've ever had in my life because
we didn't it wasn't like a bus tour.

Speaker 10 (01:28:52):
And the part that was the bus tour. I wasn't
having no bus. No I flew, I couldn't they. I
did one twelve hour bus us ride and afterwards I.

Speaker 7 (01:29:01):
Was like, oh, well, no, that's not fun. Hell to
the now.

Speaker 1 (01:29:07):
In fact, we.

Speaker 10 (01:29:07):
Would do a show and me and Greg, me and
Greg were flying the other you know, we would do
a show.

Speaker 7 (01:29:13):
They would shower whatever they're gonna do, get in their pajamas,
get on the bus, drive to the next city. Me
and Greg would go back to our hotels, hit it
with our beds, get up the next day, pack our shit,
fly in meet them before their bus arrived from the
day before, and they're getting off the bus Dragon and
Greg and I are like, we're going to lunch, so

(01:29:35):
you got the sound check.

Speaker 8 (01:29:36):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:29:37):
So touring like that was amazing. And when there weren't.

Speaker 10 (01:29:43):
Buses, we would just fly everywhere because we had our
own plane and Michael was on his own plane, you know.
And there was nothing like making fun of the stewardesses
when they have to do the white lines and we
would all unbuckle and buckle our seat belts when they
would do that. And when she would do this like
the airplanes are coming in the hangar, we'd all do
our hands like the airplanes would going.

Speaker 7 (01:30:04):
It was just so much fun. But listen, traveling with
Michael Jackson. Being on tour with Michael was like being
one of Jesus's disciples. Baby.

Speaker 10 (01:30:18):
We used to hate it when we were in the
same hotel as Michael because usually the hotel would coordinate
with your position on the tour. A hotels were for Michael,
his guests, his friends. B hotels was for the band
and the singers. C hotels was for the crew, right,
So there were times when there was no A and B,
it was only A and C. So those are the
times when we had to be in Michael's hotel. Fucking

(01:30:41):
hated it because all night, you know, it was just insane,
could not and then Michael would like peek out the
window and then they'd go in freakingsane, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:30:55):
So it was never he liked that kind of energy.
We just wanted some wrist. We wanted to get some
So we were happy when we were.

Speaker 10 (01:31:01):
In a different hotel than Michael was in because his
fans are like fanatics, they are truly fanatic.

Speaker 7 (01:31:08):
In fact, we were in Spain and I will never
forget this.

Speaker 10 (01:31:14):
We had a day off in Spain and Spain leather shoes, handbags, hello,
So we were going shopping. So we changed the money
at the desk, so we got our little Spanish money
and we're going out of the hotel. Now they cordoned
off the fans because it was like a sea of
fans in front of this hotel. So but for the guests,
they needed to rope off a path so the guests
can come. So we're counting the money and putting money

(01:31:36):
in my person was trying to figure out where we're
gonna go have lunch.

Speaker 7 (01:31:39):
And we walked down through this sea of people, this
opening like Moses, and from behind me, I hear, hey,
that's sight to Garrett baby. I look behind me and
people were like, come.

Speaker 10 (01:31:54):
Me and my friend took off running down the street
in Spain and we're running, running and looking at him
and they're coming.

Speaker 7 (01:32:00):
Afterwards, I said, oh my god, what are they gonna
do when they fucking kiss us? It was just insane
and we were running and running and then somebody must
have said, hey, we're three blocks from the hotel. We
better what if Michael comes out? So they then turned around.
But that was the most harrowing time, and that's when
I realized, this is Michael every day. It's insane. Well,

(01:32:25):
they're gonna pull my hair and just have a remnant.
Look what I got. Yeah, I don't know. It was insane,
and it really scared me to think about that's what
his whole life was.

Speaker 8 (01:32:34):
Did y'all sing I just can't stop loving you together?
Did y'all record that together? Or was it so you
you were in his face?

Speaker 11 (01:32:41):
Yes? I told you two.

Speaker 10 (01:32:42):
Mike stands one here, one here, and and the lyrics said,
I just can't stop loving you, Michael sayidam that it
was in that moment that I realized, oh my god,
I'm singing a duet with the fucking king of pop.

Speaker 7 (01:32:55):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 10 (01:32:56):
And I, in answer to your question, all I wanted
to do was just delivered my best to impress him
and Quincy, look what I can do.

Speaker 1 (01:33:06):
That's man, that's so much pressure though, because it's like
I felt, it was.

Speaker 8 (01:33:10):
Like, this is where I get to show them what
I have. No, there was no crackage.

Speaker 1 (01:33:15):
You were just completely confident.

Speaker 7 (01:33:17):
Yeah, because I've been dying.

Speaker 8 (01:33:19):
So they hear it in a song you do, I
just can't stop loving and you're like, oh oh that moment.
I just wondered when Michael Jackson was thinking.

Speaker 11 (01:33:24):
He loved it.

Speaker 10 (01:33:25):
He loved it, he loved it. We had so much fun, man.
And there was one time in Japan, I think it
was New Year's Eve or something. I came out on
stage and this was before people were doing colors in
their hair. I came out on stage with a little
hot magenta pink bob and then when Michael turned and
said each time he started laughing so.

Speaker 7 (01:33:48):
Hard he couldn't even sing. He was laughing so hard.
It was so funny. It was so funny. My hair
was usually like this, and I want to switch it
up just to see what fucking happened.

Speaker 10 (01:34:00):
And he could not stop laughing. He said, that was
really funny. That was really funny.

Speaker 1 (01:34:04):
Wow, that's thank you for sharing that. Thank you all
right back on the block. Actually have a Michael. Were
there any other songs that you guys recorded together that
didn't come out or no?

Speaker 7 (01:34:18):
The only other thing we did was keep the Faith
right off, Keep the Faith? Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:34:23):
Wait a minute, Okay, now we can get to the
bottom of Got the Hots versus? Oh yeah, okay, So
on your solo record.

Speaker 7 (01:34:35):
My ill fated solo we have it, all right, So
we have it. We had to.

Speaker 1 (01:34:45):
You did baby got a bed with Rod Temperton?

Speaker 10 (01:34:48):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:34:50):
Can you? Yeah? He's what is Rod Temperton? Like I
know one of my one of my regrets was just
not I mean, besides the Twitter relationship, I really didn't
get a you know, a chance to stick the brain
And yeah he was.

Speaker 10 (01:35:09):
Rod Temperton was the most amazing songwriter that I've ever met.
Rod Temperton has a work ethic that was like none other.
Rod Temperton hated the press, he hated the interviews. He
would never agree to do any he didn't want. He

(01:35:31):
just wanted to be the guy who wrote the great
songs and was behind the behind the scenes kind of guy.
When we were recording my Kiss of Life album, we
were in the student at this studio on Westlake Studios
and Rod had a couple of studios going at the

(01:35:52):
same time because we were under pressure to get this
record done. So one night we were recording and Rod
add a toothache and he was he was like a
serious smoker. I can't even remember seeing his face without
him having a cigarette hanging from his fingers. So he
was smoking a cigarette and he's going like this with

(01:36:13):
his hand on his face, on his jaw.

Speaker 7 (01:36:16):
I'm like, what's wrong? He said of a toothache. Was
that s all right? Can we can we do it
one more time? I'm like, Rod, you should call a dentist.

Speaker 10 (01:36:24):
He said, all right, he said it's all right, So
he said, go ahead and sing song one more time.
While I was singing the song, Rod had sent one
of the engineers into the toolbox.

Speaker 7 (01:36:34):
No wait for it, No rod took a pair of flyers.

Speaker 10 (01:36:53):
He gripped that tooth, yanked it out of his mouth,
took a swig of his cigarette, a drink of his coffee,
and said one more take please.

Speaker 1 (01:37:10):
Gangster Wow, wow, gangster wow.

Speaker 7 (01:37:17):
He was like that, that's the kind of hell man.

Speaker 1 (01:37:25):
You said there and watched that I was, and then
he's like.

Speaker 7 (01:37:31):
And then he's like, you gotta be bleeding profusely washing
it all down with the coffee and cigarette coffee.

Speaker 1 (01:37:38):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's cool.

Speaker 7 (01:37:46):
Sounds like the white guy thing.

Speaker 1 (01:37:49):
I gotta be a white that's something. Yeah, but you
could never pull that.

Speaker 9 (01:37:54):
I wouldn't have the You could never pull coffee coffee.

Speaker 5 (01:37:59):
You were for thirty years. You don't know that his
dad's a dentist. I'm like, I've known you for all
my life and I didn't know your dad was a
Gis that explains your teeth?

Speaker 1 (01:38:11):
Well? Gifts?

Speaker 12 (01:38:15):
What are the.

Speaker 1 (01:38:18):
Checks? I love it? Okay, wait, yeah for it? Yeah
I got so. We didn't get the answer. It's a
baby got a bed. Yeah, I was going to say.

Speaker 4 (01:38:32):
So.

Speaker 1 (01:38:33):
The thing is is that we have a version who
got the Hots that's on kind of a Michael box
set that has him credit as the sole writer of it.

Speaker 7 (01:38:43):
Michael, Right, Okay, so when we.

Speaker 1 (01:38:46):
Heard baby Got in Bed, I realized that that's basically
Got the Hots, which explains to me that so that
Rod Timperton did the music correct.

Speaker 7 (01:39:00):
Probably I'm trying.

Speaker 1 (01:39:01):
To figure out how. So how did you get the
track before?

Speaker 7 (01:39:06):
I don't know what track you're talking about, Got the Hots?

Speaker 1 (01:39:09):
I'm not okay, it was a thriller out take? Play it?
Do you never heard the original reference that Got the Hots?

Speaker 8 (01:39:16):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:39:17):
This is incredible. Okay, so this is uh, Got the
Hots an outtake? So you got to the bottom of nothing, right,
But now we're all going to walk away in lighten
and I get to hear it Got the Hots for
a minute.

Speaker 10 (01:39:30):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I have heard this before. Okay,
that's Rod Tipperton.

Speaker 12 (01:39:44):
To his core.

Speaker 1 (01:39:47):
Does he demo everything himself?

Speaker 7 (01:39:50):
Yeah? I sang a lot of his demos.

Speaker 1 (01:39:55):
Can you play the other one? Okay? Has he played?

Speaker 7 (01:39:58):
Have you heard Groove of Midnight? Michael's version of Groove
of Midnight? Yeah, that was one of the songs that
didn't make the album.

Speaker 1 (01:40:06):
Wait, I love it when you freak out the nerds night.

Speaker 7 (01:40:12):
We're in the wam the sweetest?

Speaker 1 (01:40:17):
Do you do you own this.

Speaker 7 (01:40:22):
Somewhere?

Speaker 1 (01:40:23):
Are we going to be best friend?

Speaker 7 (01:40:24):
You gotta be my friend now of course, shake my
hand again.

Speaker 8 (01:40:28):
Absolutely, Larry again.

Speaker 5 (01:40:30):
You know I'm gonna start calling you lady. That's fine,
I'll be Larry. Let's compare it to babies, yes, Nerd,
all right, so this baby's got it also with take
rude off from production right.

Speaker 12 (01:40:47):
Yes, I used to love to sing Chariot, I.

Speaker 7 (01:41:07):
Think study it's get to say that the bull and
crazy my body is a fuck the law.

Speaker 14 (01:41:27):
When come down to the mole, take them and you know,
preble to let up the bread.

Speaker 15 (01:41:45):
Robot, spose all your backgrounds and when you're doing that,

(01:42:07):
are you making?

Speaker 1 (01:42:08):
Are you Is that just like off the top of
your head? Oh no, no, no, no no no.

Speaker 10 (01:42:12):
Rod had all the chords, all the notes written out,
and he played me what notes to say, yes.

Speaker 1 (01:42:19):
Yes, I always. I concluded that maybe praps Mike didn't
see it to completion because it didn't allow him to
as an entertainer exactly because he was confined. It was
a brilliant song, though, And that's the thing, like, especially
with the work that Right has done, especially when like

(01:42:42):
Johnny Wilder is in the lead doing the heat heat
wave stuff and oh yeah, all those harm you know.
There's there's one song in on Central Heating where at
the very end it's called put the word out out.
Yes yes, yes, yes, so's There's there's one song which

(01:43:04):
Johnny Wilder actually gives himself some debt because he mastered
like for like nine minutes he had to sing this
really intricate harmony part and at the end, at the
end of the song, Johnny Wilders like, I'm the best.
I did that for ten moretherfucking minutes. It's it's it's

(01:43:26):
really great movie. I love the callback. So when when
when you when you're called for a project like back
on the Block and subsequently listen up and there's so
many players in it, like how God, what are your

(01:43:47):
memories of tackling that project?

Speaker 10 (01:43:51):
That was I was just in awe to be in
the room because you never knew who was gonna show up.
I mean that album was Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah von.

Speaker 7 (01:44:02):
Barry White of Miles Davis, Algirou, who's the cheeks, che Dizzey,
the last Pitch, all these people that was their last project, right,
So I have a story. Barry White was doing the
Secret Garden, right, So Quincy and Barry are talking in

(01:44:26):
a little area between the recording booth and the vocal booth.
There was like a little hallway at Westlake Gifts.

Speaker 10 (01:44:33):
So they're and they're talking, and I'm going from either
from the booth into the studio or from the studio
into the booth, but I had to pass them. And
they're talking, and Barry's dog talking, and I'm standing there waiting.

Speaker 7 (01:44:45):
To say something to Quincy. And while Barry is speaking,
my ribs are vibrating, and I said, excuse me, mister White,
I'm gonna have.

Speaker 10 (01:44:57):
To lead, because right now you are inside me. Yeah,
it was just so intense. He his voice was so
rich and so deep. My rib cage was vibrating from
the tone in his voice. Baby, they nothing like having
Berry White inside. I'm telling you.

Speaker 1 (01:45:16):
I'm telling you now, but it is something like that
overwhelming or by this point, you're just like eight. I
was loving it every day.

Speaker 10 (01:45:24):
Oh hey, no, No, you knew it was special. You
knew that that was some shit that didn't happen every day.
You knew that these people only came because it was Quincy.
I mean, Ray Charles, you know, Dizzy Gillespie, come on.
So it was just it was a rich history lesson

(01:45:47):
every day the musical history that Quincy surrounds himself with
and has inside of him.

Speaker 7 (01:45:54):
I mean since he was fourteen years old. That's and
almost every decade he's been relevant ever since. Six decades
of relevance in the music business. Who does that? You know?
It's just I just wanted to be a sponge.

Speaker 10 (01:46:09):
I just wanted to soak up all the goodness, all
the richness, all the musicality, all the experience, all the
talent that I could possibly soak up while I was
in their presence.

Speaker 7 (01:46:23):
What did they say you you are?

Speaker 10 (01:46:25):
Your collective intelligence is is a some of the seven
people you surround yourself with or something like that.

Speaker 7 (01:46:31):
That's well in a room like that, But.

Speaker 8 (01:46:47):
That was that was to me as the only new
person at the time of.

Speaker 1 (01:46:52):
She was on cut Joint, Joint Joint.

Speaker 7 (01:46:54):
Right back of the block, and Rod wrote the song
for her and I sang the demo.

Speaker 8 (01:46:59):
Voices was my baby angela Field in my head.

Speaker 10 (01:47:04):
Want to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:47:06):
First? Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:47:07):
Misha had a great relationship with Rod. He loved going
back to London and recording stuff with her. She's awesome.

Speaker 7 (01:47:12):
I sang her demos too.

Speaker 10 (01:47:14):
For when Rod would write in La, I'd sing the
demos and then he'd go to Europe and playing for Misha.

Speaker 7 (01:47:20):
Rod never let out his music.

Speaker 10 (01:47:23):
If he was going to have a meeting with an
an R person for to play music for their artists,
he would go there, play the music and take his
ship right back with him, because if.

Speaker 7 (01:47:33):
You didn't like it, then you're not gonna like it
in twenty minutes, so you're not gonna like it.

Speaker 10 (01:47:37):
He never left any of his music with anybody. No,
and he didn't do the demos until he got the job.
Then he would demo, do you like this song?

Speaker 1 (01:47:46):
This song?

Speaker 7 (01:47:47):
Or we were like that?

Speaker 10 (01:47:49):
Really, because right had that thriller money, he didn't give
a ship, he really didn't. He did it because he
loved the music. He didn't need the money. In fact
that you know, he didn't care about that. Rod Timber
didn't didn't even drive a car. He didn't own a vehicle.
In fact, his wife had to come on, Roddie, I
need a car, you know to you know. But Rod

(01:48:11):
had a relationship with the Yellow Cab service Way before Uber.
Rod was like having the cabs coming, taking to get groceries,
taking him buy cigarettes.

Speaker 8 (01:48:18):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:48:19):
Wow, he was a trip.

Speaker 7 (01:48:20):
And Quincy doesn't drive either.

Speaker 1 (01:48:23):
Wowow, Quincy Jones, I wouldn't drive.

Speaker 7 (01:48:25):
Quincy never learned to drive.

Speaker 1 (01:48:26):
You're not Quincy Johnes know how to drive.

Speaker 8 (01:48:28):
Quincy Jones? Do you so often?

Speaker 1 (01:48:30):
Do you really him?

Speaker 10 (01:48:32):
I spend every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with Quincy Jones.
And I talked to him throughout the year, depending on
who dies, what's happening, because he said, all my friends
are dead. It's very worry about him.

Speaker 1 (01:48:44):
So yeah, yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:48:46):
And he said to me, like when Ray Charles passed
and then Rod Temperton passed and I was talking to
him about funerals.

Speaker 7 (01:48:51):
He said, oh shit, I can't. I can't go to
another funeral. Said if I went to every funeral with
the people that I know, I'd be at a funeral
every week.

Speaker 1 (01:49:00):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:49:00):
He said, I'm done with funerals.

Speaker 1 (01:49:03):
Wow. I gotta respect that respect until you die, until
I won't know that. So you, uh, you wrote the
lyrics for tomorrow correct? Yes, for.

Speaker 7 (01:49:20):
Better you better Me?

Speaker 2 (01:49:21):
Babe?

Speaker 1 (01:49:24):
Oh you said it was your favorite?

Speaker 6 (01:49:25):
It was?

Speaker 8 (01:49:25):
Do you know they will show our hopes and yes,
you never cry any of these songs. Man in the mirror.
Tomorrow you never.

Speaker 1 (01:49:31):
Tomorrow actually makes me kind of yeah, like that's tomorrow
will be okay. I'll tell you what.

Speaker 5 (01:49:37):
It reminds me when I was a kid and tomorrow
is so far away and now tomorrow's here and I'm like, damn,
this is tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (01:49:44):
But it's never far away.

Speaker 1 (01:49:45):
It's not.

Speaker 10 (01:49:47):
I can always be sure of Yeah, get it all
to be strong, get it on, get on to be strong.

Speaker 5 (01:49:55):
Yeah, I mean I'm pep. Actually, I I'm gonna make
a confession. Actually didn't know that that song was originally
an instrumental. Yeah, because the lyrics just fit it so perfectly.

Speaker 7 (01:50:06):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:50:09):
No, see, I didn't know that there were lyrics. Well
that's the thing. There weren't, right, I get it now,
just like, uh, what's his name? The jazz guy that
Eddie Eddie Harris who always adds lyrics to you know.
So as a soul training a file, I have to

(01:50:31):
say that usually where I come from in soul training ology,
depending on what time it comes on, either wrestling's coming
on right before that or America's Top ten. Yes, So
I was really happy during your duration.

Speaker 7 (01:50:49):
Of that was so much fun, man.

Speaker 10 (01:50:51):
I mean, Casey Kasem called me one day and tell
me I was doing a really great job because I
would suffer him when he was go on vacation or
if he something. I don't remember how that happened, I
really don't, but I remember doing the show and they
really wanted me to continue, but I it was painful
for me because every week I would announce all my

(01:51:14):
friends going up.

Speaker 7 (01:51:15):
The charts, Tevin Madonna, they were all, you know, and
I would this week on the you know, and I
felt kind of left out. It was like on the
outside and it was kind of painful. So I didn't
want to do it anymore. And they were like, but
you're so good at this. I said, but I don't.
I don't want to do it. It was fun. I
remember when Casey Casem was having his first child and

(01:51:36):
he was trying to figure out what to name the kid,
and I said, you know what, Casey, I don't care
what you call them, just don't call them justin Casey.

Speaker 12 (01:51:50):
But I actually did say that.

Speaker 7 (01:52:01):
But I'm working on.

Speaker 1 (01:52:06):
Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna cut to the chase just
because we'll be here for nine hours. How did you
come across Brand New Heavies?

Speaker 7 (01:52:14):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 10 (01:52:15):
I was assigned to write with each one of the
members of the Brand New Heavies for the next album,
just as a songwriter. So I would get these tracks
and I would demo them and send them to London,
or I would go to London and demo the songs
after I'd written. It was just me writing with an

(01:52:36):
equal number of songs for an equal for each member
of the group.

Speaker 1 (01:52:40):
Right, did they know they were all writing with you?

Speaker 7 (01:52:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:52:43):
Okay, I thought it was like no, no, no, no,
no no no no, no, no, no no.

Speaker 10 (01:52:46):
It was my job to write with each one of
them for their record because the last album, the drummer
wrote all the songs. And they were great on the road,
you know, buying clothes and living it up on the road,
and then they went home to their little apartments while
the drummer bought a car and got.

Speaker 7 (01:53:00):
A new flat and you know.

Speaker 10 (01:53:01):
So they were like, hey, we're equal members of the group, right,
so we should all get a part of the written, right,
We're all.

Speaker 7 (01:53:09):
Going to be written, right, We're all writing.

Speaker 10 (01:53:11):
So I had to write with any equal number of
songs for each member of the group song.

Speaker 7 (01:53:18):
I think it was the drummer. Yeah, y.

Speaker 1 (01:53:24):
That you might not be aware, but that Dili remix
changed lives. Oh my god, I remember, don't even know
it what REMIXX?

Speaker 7 (01:53:37):
Yes, yes, yes, I love you And I see him.
I hadn't seen him since for like ten years after
the record, and I didn't know if he'd remember whatever.
And he said, the am a mix, of course I
remember you. The I'm a mixed brand new. It was
really good. That was that was an awesome that was
that mix was better than the record.

Speaker 1 (01:53:58):
Yeah, the whole record. I don't even know if you're
ware it. Like the guy who did the track music
what j Dilla is Like, he's are Jay Dilla? Yes,
he's He's all right. So J Dilla is a producer
from Detroit that Q Tip discovered, who's like, are Guru?

(01:54:23):
No you well he passed away, but I mean of
office work, Yeah, but I.

Speaker 7 (01:54:32):
Mean you you.

Speaker 1 (01:54:34):
You hold the honor of like you're on one of
his signature tracks, like every the tracks that he's done
that really inspired the Neil Soul movement. The way that
Danzelo's record sound, the way it does the way that
Eric Abadu's records, the way the Roots album sound, the
way that Jill Scott's like that whole neo soul movement
between ninety six and like two thousand and five. He's

(01:54:56):
really the epicenter of it all. So it's like you,
I mean, you're you're basically on the Duke Ellington of
that movement.

Speaker 7 (01:55:07):
Wow, that's so cool.

Speaker 1 (01:55:09):
Use it? Yeah, yeah, and so I did not know that.
Yeah when it came out, that just that changed lives.
So talk about your your new all right, this acronym
is a nightmare?

Speaker 7 (01:55:23):
Why ghetto?

Speaker 1 (01:55:26):
Give me the acronym?

Speaker 7 (01:55:27):
Greatness, Yes, happens even though there's oppression.

Speaker 8 (01:55:34):
Mmmm, what you're saying you couldn't say ghetto.

Speaker 1 (01:55:38):
I didn't say. I couldn't say ghetto. Like I said,
I couldn't remember the acronym. Yes, what is it? Greatness
happens even to those.

Speaker 7 (01:55:49):
Greatness happens even though there's oppression.

Speaker 1 (01:55:52):
My dear, how apropos for the times we's living trying
to How did it come to be?

Speaker 7 (01:55:58):
Well comment?

Speaker 10 (01:56:01):
I've always been a fan of his energy and the
message in his music, in his rap, and I really
started to know him as a person when we found
out we were on the the same oscar board.

Speaker 7 (01:56:19):
Thank you Darling. We were on the the Academy.

Speaker 10 (01:56:22):
He's an Academy member, and I decided when I decided
to add a Verse to this song, I had a
little wish list and Common was at the top of
the list.

Speaker 7 (01:56:30):
I wasn't.

Speaker 1 (01:56:31):
I didn't.

Speaker 10 (01:56:31):
I didn't really expect to get him on it. But
all say is no, and you know nothing, nothing beats
so failure but a try. So I just posed it
to him and sent him the song. He loved the song,
and I kind of got his information while we were

(01:56:51):
on the on this music branch, and he just seems
so just kind of cool and just open to it.
And when he said yes because he loved the message
of the song, I was like great. And then it
was about waiting for him to have time to put
on his twelve bars. But baby, when they finally came in,
it was so dope. I just loved it, and it

(01:57:14):
just elevated the song to another level.

Speaker 1 (01:57:17):
He's a He's the man special individual. That comment. I'll say, wait,
why am I talking?

Speaker 7 (01:57:24):
You can wear some crochet, chance use a special I'm
trying to.

Speaker 1 (01:57:27):
Tell you, sit and Gary, you are everything I ever
wanted uh in the interview, and.

Speaker 7 (01:57:39):
You brought a bag of chips.

Speaker 6 (01:57:43):
I hate him on the way before we say go back,
can you explain because aren't you involved this T shirt.

Speaker 7 (01:57:48):
That you're wearing, Yeah, the girl's code.

Speaker 8 (01:57:50):
Can you just talk about that?

Speaker 7 (01:57:51):
Ro dude. I was at a graduation for some.

Speaker 10 (01:57:58):
Some some people that are learning code and learning how
to impact uh technology through art and music and business, and.

Speaker 7 (01:58:08):
We wanted to this. This movement is to teach black
girls that they can code their own computer games and
they can program their own uh. They can they can compute.

Speaker 10 (01:58:20):
Themselves, and they don't have to be young white boys
to learn how to uh to to code and and
create your own video games and and computer programs.

Speaker 7 (01:58:31):
You could. Black girls can do it. And I think
the movie Hidden No Hidden Fences. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 10 (01:58:39):
Hidden Figures did a lot to sort of show people
that math is good for girls, and you know, black.

Speaker 7 (01:58:47):
Girls can compute some ship. So I'm just here to
support that that.

Speaker 10 (01:58:54):
Every black child looks at a video game or looks
at something on their program on their computer or an
app or something and think I wanted to be able
to think, hey, I can improve that, or I can
make a nap for this, or I can do that.

Speaker 6 (01:59:08):
You.

Speaker 10 (01:59:09):
I don't think they don't even teach that in school.
So no, nobody really hasn't an idea that they can
aspire to do something like that. So I'm here to
be the liaison and just to be a vessel to
promote that message. Black girls can do it, we can code,
we can do some ship up in here.

Speaker 1 (01:59:27):
So yes, I got a friend who has two daughters
that are like their dream is to be video games and.

Speaker 7 (01:59:35):
Black girls code.

Speaker 1 (01:59:37):
Okay, that's crazy. Yeah, I think I've learned everything. Yeah, boss, Bill,
what did you learn to day man?

Speaker 5 (01:59:45):
What didn't I learn? Hold on, let me go through
my notes. You keep come back to me, come back
to me. Really all right, I'm paid, Bill Man, save
as the ship.

Speaker 1 (01:59:58):
This is. This is amazing.

Speaker 5 (01:59:59):
This is to talk about being an artist and all
this other stuff is super amazing and awesome. One of
the things I learned that I'm going to treasure most
is what the hell you guys were saying and don't
look any further.

Speaker 1 (02:00:09):
That was going to come in to handy just I've
always been a fan of yours, like I think.

Speaker 11 (02:00:16):
Sorry, no, it's okay.

Speaker 1 (02:00:17):
It's okay, don't apologize, don't apologize.

Speaker 5 (02:00:21):
I think I'm not Michael Jackson. But I love your voice.
I love your voice, and you write amazing songs. I'm
very honored to be in this room with you right now.
So thank you for being here, Thanks for having me.
This has been relatively painless, relatively.

Speaker 10 (02:00:37):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (02:00:39):
Into what you say, Shoe, I want to go this shoe.

Speaker 9 (02:00:46):
There's no version of James Ingram singing man in the mirror.

Speaker 7 (02:00:49):
Hell, we can all rest a little easier.

Speaker 9 (02:00:52):
And no, no, I'm a fan of his.

Speaker 7 (02:00:55):
Wicked man. I have a question. You don't have to
raise your hand this. Actually, yeah, I did Philip Ingram.

Speaker 10 (02:01:09):
Yeah, he was one of the guys that was at
the auditions for Quincy and he started hiring me to
do background session.

Speaker 1 (02:01:15):
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. The carjack your memories. This happens,
but he didn't mean to. To Selena and Barnes, you
mentioned James Ingram and it just hit me that she
did a song with Philip Ingram. And I was a

(02:01:36):
massive switchman, And you know what.

Speaker 10 (02:01:38):
Switch came to my high school and I told Philip word, Yeah,
I like went up to meet him, and he was
so snotty, and I said, you were a bitch to me.
You were just so mean, he said, when so when
I was in high school, your group came and you
didn't You didn't even I was.

Speaker 7 (02:01:53):
I just read them the riot Act. He said. I'm sorry,
I didn't know. You know, he's so sweet. I just
adore him, him, Philipping, great singer.

Speaker 1 (02:02:02):
What you got to say?

Speaker 7 (02:02:03):
Shooting got that sugar?

Speaker 16 (02:02:07):
I mean, it's it's clearly. I mean, I guess I'm
staying the obvious. But you know, Michael Jackson was your husband,
and then you end up doing the duet across the microphone.

Speaker 1 (02:02:18):
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty, it's pretty incredible.

Speaker 7 (02:02:21):
It was a dream. It was a dream I didn't
even know I had.

Speaker 10 (02:02:24):
I mean, if somebody had told me that that would
have happened, I would have just laughed them out of
the room, because, you know, who, how could that happen?

Speaker 7 (02:02:33):
How can that possibly happen?

Speaker 1 (02:02:34):
It happens, you know once in a while.

Speaker 7 (02:02:36):
I guess the moon must have been blue that day.

Speaker 1 (02:02:39):
Sweet sweet Margaret, any last words? Cheese throw off?

Speaker 7 (02:02:45):
Margaret?

Speaker 1 (02:02:47):
Margaret?

Speaker 7 (02:02:48):
Does she know that?

Speaker 6 (02:02:49):
No?

Speaker 7 (02:02:50):
No, yes, Okay, you're gonna leave a sweet Margret today.

Speaker 1 (02:02:56):
Why is it sweet? There's a basketball reference?

Speaker 6 (02:03:00):
Oh oh okay, I learned number one that one of
my heroes loves to cuss as much as I do.

Speaker 8 (02:03:06):
I love that profanity.

Speaker 1 (02:03:07):
Also, this.

Speaker 7 (02:03:15):
Power of new Cheese.

Speaker 8 (02:03:17):
I am taking this now. I don't really think I
need to read the book at this point, because y'all
gave me the whole thing.

Speaker 7 (02:03:21):
You got the gist.

Speaker 8 (02:03:22):
But what you did with your new Cheese is so
fucking amazing.

Speaker 6 (02:03:25):
And I hope that you realize one day that even
though you did not go necessarily the path that you
wanted to, what you have done is so much bigger
to so many people and individually, like the words that
you bring bring people to so many emotions joy and
you know, and sadness and everything else, everything they need
to feel.

Speaker 8 (02:03:42):
So anyway, this is what I learned, and I learned
Cya to Garrett is the ship was.

Speaker 6 (02:03:47):
Yeah, well today officially personality wise, this is the first
time meeting, so yeah, the work was a ship.

Speaker 1 (02:03:53):
I know she was shipped to uh my lesson what
about so forgettable? Just guess in case you had scratching
when we after we conclude a sermon or an interview.

(02:04:14):
We all have our reflections on what we learned. But yeah,
I'll say again that and I'll double down on what
Laiah said. For all of you listening, and if I
made you or texted you to listen to this episode,
yes I'm talking to you. And if I tweeted it

(02:04:34):
more than once, yes I was really talking to you.
Yeah if if, if it's time for new cheese. And
you know, I'm bringing it back to my basketball metaphor,
like everyone's trying to be Jordan's, everyone's trying to be Lebron.
But you know what I'm saying, at the end of
the day, the the the trainer might move up to
assistant coach, might move to defensive coach, might make it

(02:04:57):
to owner of the team. You know, like not everyone.
There's you know, there's there's there's a little glory and
being Alan Iverson or being Lebron, But at the end
of the day that the cats, the Simon checks the
guys behind the scenes, there's new cheese, not just the
Spotlight cheese, but there's other cheese there. And that's that's

(02:05:18):
the lesson I want people. That's where I really wanted
you on the show, so that you could share that
story and I thank you.

Speaker 5 (02:05:34):
So much.

Speaker 1 (02:05:36):
For this episode.

Speaker 8 (02:05:38):
And we will I am Studio Bam.

Speaker 1 (02:05:40):
I just want to say to that, yes, thank you,
will I am for Where is White? And they have
all the Japanese and actually assault about what are you
talking about? The turlet said hello when you walk in
anyway or app of Missing Fonte. I'm Ve Bill, Quoss, Bill,

(02:06:07):
Sugar Steve, Sweet Margaret and the Lovely Sight Garrett and
loud As Eric, Yeah, Camera, this is Quest Love Supreme.
We will see you on the next go round. Thank you.
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic

(02:06:30):
episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more
podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Laiya St. Clair

Questlove

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