May 21, 2025 • 57 mins
From the start, Questlove Supreme has been about giving legends their flowers and celebrating their impact. This podcast has always leaned more “thank ya” than “gotcha!” Questlove looks back through the archives to spotlight some of the most memorable moments where we gave some thoughtful and unique flowers to those who deserve them—at times while they can still smell them.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Loft Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good People. What's good, y'all?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
This is Questlove and your tune into Quest Love Supreme
and we got some things in the works for the
future of this podcast, but in the meantime, we are
looking back and celebrating our catalog. It's the month of May,
so thematically, I've been thinking a lot lately about the
idea of giving people their flowers while they're still.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Here or while they can still smell them. And this
is something we always talked about on QLs.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
It's not just the icons, the big names, but the
folks behind the scenes, the ones whose work and presence
quietly shape the future. The ones who change the room
just by walking into it, or change your.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Life by just being in it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's bigger than just saying, while you're a legend, you know,
give these people their flowers. On QLs, we always try
to say and say loud you met. And here's why,
because if we don't celebrate our heroes, our peers, our
people who will So anyway, today we're picking some May
flowers and some of these clips from the show. Over
(01:14):
the last nine years, we got the Pointer Sisters, three
different members of cool in the Gang runned Dette Cooper,
Climax producer and songwriter Leebroy Burgess. These are all icons
that you need to know, and what better place to
begin than with the legendary Frankie Beverly. So in twenty
(01:39):
twenty three, coustlep Supreme was granted an interview with Frankie
Beverly and the recent years he hasn't done that many
interviews at all, and this one was a rare opportunity.
And what's more, we were able to do it in
person at Iheart's Hollywood Studios, and we caught it off film.
(02:00):
All right, So in this clip you'll hear me Frankie Beverly,
his family members Will Beverly and Miss Deborah Beverly Pugh
as well as like you and Fonte heloone and I
really love what Fonte says to Frankly about soundtracking some
of the happiest times in life for so many of us.
As I called out in this episode, we titled this
(02:21):
one QLs gives.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Frankie Beverly his flowers. It's an integral.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Part of this two part retrospective.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
So would you say that songwriting was therapeutic for you?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
In terms of expressing yourself.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, because I'll say that love like oftentimes
I think people will tend to type cast soul music
in R and B as somewhat like meaningless love music
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I think coming from you, especially the way you sing.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
There's such a gentle comforting almost right, Yeah, And it's
such a gentle Normally, gentle singers are are like like
high like falsetto smoky stylistics, and so it's very rare
to hear a baritone voice that's that gentle and that.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
Sort of thing. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm reflecting to you.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What I'm only showing you what you what you are.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But yeah, like in the sixties and seventies, when most
lead black singers were high falsetto.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
High voices whatever.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
For you, was there was that ever an option like
to figure out because sometimes like Ronald Eisley.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Will go between his high voice and his low voice.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But for you, was there Oh okay, I was gonna
be the singer.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
All right, Yeah, the approachable every day guy.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Okay, I get that, And.
Speaker 7 (03:59):
That's what he really it was approachable.
Speaker 8 (04:01):
That's a that's a.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Good term approachable. I see that.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
Yeah, he was approachable.
Speaker 9 (04:06):
What do you What was I thinking?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
Yeah, what do you think?
Speaker 8 (04:09):
Now?
Speaker 9 (04:09):
I was you know what I was just thinking. I
was like, yeah, because I was thinking about awards, and
I was thinking about like these Grammys and these all
these awards, and I was like, to my recollection, you
guys don't have a lot of those. But the acceptance
of you in the community, and I've seen you speak
about this.
Speaker 10 (04:24):
Before, far exceeds.
Speaker 9 (04:26):
So that everyday manism that you're talking about, it's worth
so much more, it looks like than the untouchable of it.
Speaker 11 (04:35):
All right, Yeah, that's very true, honey. It seems like
our people really supported us, even from a young stage,
as much.
Speaker 9 (04:48):
As we could.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
Yes.
Speaker 12 (04:49):
Yeah, I've been to I've had the privilege attendant on
one of your shows. You came to my hometown at Raleigh,
North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
This was this was some years back, and y'all played
this emphathy.
Speaker 12 (05:00):
It was outside, and I mean you came out and
it was full of people and they sang every word.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
They sang every word. I was like, if Frank you
want to chill the night, he didn't got the same.
Speaker 12 (05:12):
We gonna sing form you know what I mean, but
I think you know, speaking of what like he was saying,
just you know, I just want to make sure that
we communicate to you today. You know, you were just
a staple in our households, you know what I'm saying.
Like your music was like always there, and it was
and it was oftentimes too. It wasn't just your music
was there, but your music was the soundtrack to some
(05:32):
of the best times of our lives. Like you always
associated I always associated Frankie, Beverly and Mads with good times,
you know what I'm saying. And like what you were
saying about him singing with love we need love to
live that was like one of my favorite songs.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Like I would always play that.
Speaker 13 (05:47):
I even a.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Very long time ago.
Speaker 12 (05:49):
I said it was like wow, I sampled it and
wrapped over it did not come out.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was sixteen. Yeah, shine, golden time of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
The shining part was the original music that clones Oh.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
My god, if you can ever mass but we couldn't
make the loop work and so then we start all
over again because yeah, but.
Speaker 12 (06:10):
But no, no, you It was just always a spirit
that came through in your music and just really spoke
just to all of us and just made us all
feel really good. And you know, I've seen it, just
the magic of you performing and people.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, it's like your family member.
Speaker 10 (06:26):
Yeah, that's so beautiful.
Speaker 11 (06:29):
You guys gonna make me start crying, all right.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So that excerpt into what Franklin Beverly saying he was
gonna start crying, which wow, it's just something. A year
after we take this interview that mister Beverley passed, so
we're the ones who are crying. But that interview means
so much to me and to the team. He was
all smiles and he has that coolness what you see
(06:59):
in the video of this episode. Twenty nineteen, Coustlef Supreme
got a visit from Anita Pointer, Bonnie Pointer and their brother,
Fritz Pointer. Bonnie and Anita have since then, you know, transition,
But this was a great career conversation with three as
(07:24):
the pointed sisters are mentioned.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
A lot on Quest Lef Supreme.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
One of the things we often did as co hosts
is leave time at the end for random or personal questions.
Is to really give the affirmation that happens here and
if you get a taste of the random and then
some heartfelt flowers from QLs, especially from Boss Bill. In
this conversation, we spoke about trying to get the Pointed
(07:51):
Sisters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, something
that has not happened yet, but I personally, I would
like very much well to see.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
What was it like being a part of USA for Africa.
We are the world night, Oh.
Speaker 14 (08:08):
God, what tonight.
Speaker 10 (08:10):
We had just come from the I think the am
A Awards and went to the studio and I was
in awe.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Everybody top secret like all these famous people.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I wound out about it and was the top secret
like we.
Speaker 10 (08:26):
Found out like the day before, because they sent us
sheet music and a cassette and.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Have in the frame.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Quincy's house and he has the lead sheet framed on it.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
Yeah, I got a.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Lead with everybody.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
I went around that night and made everybody designed my
music and I got home my frame and they're.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Kind of intimidated by anybody that was in the room
or you guys, like.
Speaker 10 (08:52):
Yeah, everybody everybody was like you, oh.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
My god, oh my god, to be cool.
Speaker 10 (09:04):
Michael Jackson, you want to, Lionel Richie, yes, wonderful, Yeah,
Bette Midler else was there, uh No, But chi LEI
was there.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think that's Oakland.
Speaker 10 (09:24):
Too, n So that's Oakland, and LaToya Jackson was like
right beside me, Turner, turn that was a wonderful, wonderful night.
I mean we got out of there, the sun was
coming up?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Were there all night? Did you have any experiences with
Aretha while she was alive?
Speaker 15 (09:47):
No, Well, Ruth, Ruth had some competition with Areas Edwards.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
In fact, in fact her daughters.
Speaker 15 (10:05):
Wow, the one who's singing with her, her daughter who
singing with her is product of Ruth and Dennis.
Speaker 10 (10:11):
Edwards, and she and Maria were dating Dennis like, oh
yeah the same time.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Wow, Wow, it's a frozen I don't even myself.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I'll do myself right now.
Speaker 10 (10:30):
Too much information, baby.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Well you know I have to say that enough, can I?
This is a pleasant, pleasant surprise. Again, Finnie, such a
fan and the myviewers for the longest.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So I'm glad to finally ad met you.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I never thought I would thank you that same for you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Your whole family. And again, yes, rock and Roll Hall
of Fame, I gotta be.
Speaker 10 (11:05):
We've got a star on the Hollywood Walk and welcome
fan Arkansas, Black Hall of Fame, everything.
Speaker 7 (11:24):
Don't matter.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yes, it doesn't matter. I just want to say that
something I said earlier today. You guys were in my childhood,
and every time I listen to your music, I'm just
taking back to such a wonderful place in time.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
In my life.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Wonderful just to be sitting across from you guys, like
beside out here.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
We see we taught you well, well, I see that
T shirt you have on.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
You got a lot of good information from the morning.
More questions before we before we break. May Staples was
she an influence?
Speaker 10 (12:04):
Oh lord, Yeah, we were listening to a song we
were We did Respect Yourself, Yes, in Vegas, and Fritz
brought up a c D and played it. We played
it last night with us singing in Vegas at Caesar's
Palace singing respect Yourself, Mays.
Speaker 14 (12:28):
We were on the road.
Speaker 10 (12:29):
But yeah, and Frince was very good friends with Mayvis
Staples and we had some fun, fun times together. Yeah,
and I was also the friends with with purpose.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
He was a differend than mine.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well, go to those night clubs and you go in there.
Speaker 10 (12:47):
Oh my god, this is a gun sitting right there
on the desk.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Where we have sound check.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
The gun on the desk.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I just got one of the silhouettes from that.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
You know that is that's a tattoo.
Speaker 7 (13:05):
Will look on the back and the tattoos.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You gotta be like a SoundCloud rapper. Put it on
your face. Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Thank you for coming on the show today.
Speaker 10 (13:27):
I love it, y'all.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
That was Anita, Bonnie and Fritz Pointer on QLs from
twenty nineteen. We had Robert Coop Bell on QLs in
twenty twenty one. It was the first series with band members.
This whole conversation had flowers from Corner Gang's excellent transition
(13:53):
from jazz funking to disco, message music and more.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Here's the tail end of that comment, which I loved.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
What are your three personal favorite songs that you've done
in your catalog?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
That's some of the manas is definitely one.
Speaker 16 (14:16):
Hollywood swinging, okay okay, and of course celebration now Hollywood Swinging.
It's all about when he's first, what's going about to Hollywood?
And again Frankie k Frankie Hollywood Crops.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
He broke that record in New York A.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
Ladies, can I ask you a capitalistic question before we go.
Speaker 14 (14:44):
If you were to stop.
Speaker 9 (14:46):
Doing music right now and no other music existed, could
you tell us what cooling the Gang song could feed
you for.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Life if I were to stop doing music.
Speaker 9 (14:55):
Yes, Like, if you just stop doing music and didn't
care about any other songs, records or whatever, what's the
cooling the Gang song that could have been feeding and
we'll feed you for life?
Speaker 16 (15:04):
Oh well, that's that's celebration, celebration.
Speaker 17 (15:11):
I wasn't sure.
Speaker 14 (15:12):
It's so many.
Speaker 16 (15:13):
Hey cool, it's even they're going to do a whole
big thing. I think TikTok live, that company all cool?
Speaker 18 (15:22):
Get it?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Something mad?
Speaker 17 (15:26):
I mean you got?
Speaker 6 (15:26):
I mean Will Smith?
Speaker 17 (15:27):
I mean the movie.
Speaker 16 (15:31):
Yeah, even though what's my man? Lebron James did the
somemer man, he's up on dumping diving into the swimming
pool with something mad.
Speaker 9 (15:39):
Something mad is just it might be someone mad and
seeing that some celebration, it might be.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
It's definitely celebration. Kah, celebration ain't never going to die ever?
Speaker 19 (15:52):
Yeah, hey cool, the DJ played celebration at my mitch
for in nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You ever get paid for that, dude? And the nineteen
ninety three same thing?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah, that's wait, a minute, I will ask, have you
guys ever done celebration at a wedding or at the
bar mitzvah As school in the game?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yes?
Speaker 9 (16:17):
And what is that rate? I'm still in my capital
is bad?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How do I get that out of my next heavy price?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
I want to leave on this though. Oh when.
Speaker 17 (16:29):
Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, it was the Stealers.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
And who was it that Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
In nineteen eighty Were they playing the Cowboys? I'm not certain?
And looking up Steve.
Speaker 16 (16:46):
Bill and the Stealers one that was that one? And
the Steelers one by that one touchdown?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, the last few minutes of the game.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
So we were scared. Need to play.
Speaker 16 (17:00):
For whatever that team was anyway, And I only came
to us, I said, will you guys please don't play celebration?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You serious? Two thousand and nine against the Cardinals, but
we didn't play celebrations. You did not play celebration because.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
They lost that game.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Okay, well then ladies night it is.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
Anyway.
Speaker 16 (17:31):
I want to thank you guys. Was the support of men. Man,
you're just your whiz man. You know he asked me
questions that.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
I have to remember again.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Man, you know, I'm just your legacy. Wait, did you
have one last question? Oh I was, Yeah, I had
a question about fruit man. Was that song? Is that
a reference to the fruit of Islam? About that song? Okay, okay,
got you it was.
Speaker 16 (17:59):
Yeah, we just came up with different ideas than concept
you back in the day the fruit man come by
the truck and you want to get.
Speaker 14 (18:06):
Some wa.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yes, wow, okay, but good try No, I thought I
heard that. I never heard of red.
Speaker 17 (18:16):
As something like a belt.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
We had this conversation before, and y'all was laughing at
me and called me old. And I'm trying to explain
to y'all between at least the fruit, the fruit and
the fish man were the same. Dude on my Grandma's
blocked I remember.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The fish man. We didn't have a fruit man. We
had a fish man. When you see the look online's
face right now.
Speaker 17 (18:38):
I don't believe you.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
I think you're talking about your auntie down south, not
in Philly.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Fish in Philly.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yes, like just like, just like mister Softie comes by
every you know, every four point thirty on you know,
on his route.
Speaker 9 (18:51):
However, I will say the watermelon man is still a
very real thing in a lot of different cities.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, but for Southwest Philly.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Like the fishman would just you know, the back of
his truck would be like a whole bunch of ice
and a whole bunch of fish. He just go up
and down each block selling mackerel, poorgies, like different types
of fish. And then the next day he come back,
same truck, clean, have vegetables. Next day fruit Like they
would take fruit to the hood. Like that's the thing
(19:20):
I missed. We want to have the fruit man deliver.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You know. Now we gotta go to the suburbs. You
get the good fruit.
Speaker 20 (19:27):
Bill San your life?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
What'd you say?
Speaker 18 (19:31):
Bill?
Speaker 21 (19:32):
Long Island didn't have any man in a car. We
had to go to the store. Hey man, it was
different than it was called food deserts.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
See, we're getting to know each other America. Brother Cool.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I want to thank you personally for you know, your
legacy and sharing story with us.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Don't forget support Cool. You know the new album tell
me about them. After Jenna said that her she was like,
he was like, give my step mom loves that.
Speaker 12 (20:06):
So I was like, I gotta get something okay, cool, Yeah,
we're drinking on some lake cool.
Speaker 16 (20:12):
So we got the rose for the late days.
Speaker 9 (20:15):
Oh but that's all you had to say, Lady Stereo
type I do like.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
QLs also had Corner Gang's drummer, Funky George Brown on
and Uh late twenty twenty three, I asked him the
same question. This interview was taped in September and George
passed that November. That loss hit me hard because it
was amazing to have George share history as we compiled
(20:50):
several oral histories of Corner Gang. Could you tell me
what your three favorite Cool and Gang songs are? But
can you also just tell me what was your favorite
song to create?
Speaker 6 (21:09):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wait, are you one of those? They are all my
kids and I can't separate them.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
No, no, no, I'm not one of those guys. I
waldon Peace from the World and Peaceful Album. Okay, that's
the title song. I remember John Coltrane, I love that.
W Yeah that and it's just really none of the hits,
none of the.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Big us those other hits. You know me Little Children
is one of my favorites. Yeah, you know, never Don't Change.
And the third would be fruit Man.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
No, it's We've got some rhythm songs in the Caribbean Festival. Okay, yeah,
I'll take that. It had all that listeners in it.
It's it's fine and some of that. And so when
you hear it, you go, man, bubba about the Horns,
(22:07):
you know, just you know that group and you got that,
you know, so it was great.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Okay, So making making those three like your your your
favorite yeah, you know, as I said at the top
of the show, man, it's it's really kind of our
missioneer on the show, just you know, to give flowers
to legendary people that otherwise might not get there. They're
just too as far as you know, the legacy that
(22:42):
they set forth. And definitely you know for all of
us here, you know, Cooly Gang represents. I mean, it's
an institution of of of just brilliant and you know
it sustained all music, all times, you know, all spaces
and still strong to this day. And even my band,
you know, goes through a cool in a Gang moment
(23:04):
in our current show and you know the songs are.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Plus you'll have a Jermaine Jermaine bryceon.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Tub Yeah. Yeah, yes, I know that he plays with
you guys.
Speaker 22 (23:17):
Brother, Yeah, yeah, he plays he plays with them now
yeah yeah, man, But we just thank you for coming
on the show and we appreciate your you know, your
legacy and and and everything that you've done, and thank
you all your break beats and everything.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We love that. We love it to death.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Thank you. You know. I'm not going to say it's
been a long hard road. It's been a long beautiful
road being as a creator, you know, because Ronald and
I sit and come up materials, he and I especially
back in the late seventies and early eighties, that's what
we did. We just set in the studio and reverse things,
(24:00):
put together live albums, you know, from all the tapes.
You know, the deal just just had a ball and
being the all night six o'clock in the morning, you said,
I'll see it in a few hours, come back again into
that whole set. That that that's worth everything, you know,
as far as creative people is concerned. That's that's worth
(24:22):
it all, you know, and and and and it becoming
successful too. And if it doesn't become successful, you go
back in your tweet, what did we do?
Speaker 2 (24:32):
What?
Speaker 6 (24:33):
What's going on?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
So?
Speaker 6 (24:35):
And I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 23 (24:40):
As well, thank you, but it makes it, just like
all of us, it makes it a little harder, you know,
when you go I love your music and you gotta
you know that whole thing defended their doing.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
Loving fans, but truly truly hard folk. Thank you well,
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
From the same amazing family tree is James JT. Taylor.
QLs had him on the show last year.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
JT was with the group when they got inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and of course
he joined in the late seventies and the early eighties
boom and we really hit it off. There was some
serious flowers in this episode. JT has continued to really
support QLs and we love you JT. Taylor all right,
enjoy in the history of you being a professional singer,
(25:39):
as anyone ever yelled fire and rain to you from
the audience.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
You did steal my question, Denton.
Speaker 19 (25:49):
I was honestly wondering about that today about look at
his victory pose.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
That's great.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
No.
Speaker 19 (25:56):
I used to sort of study the publishing stuff, credits
and in like sort of books, and I was always
wondering if if the publishing ever got crossed between you guys,
you know, and anything.
Speaker 18 (26:09):
Not the money at that time he was making big
money and we weren't. But uh, but I used to
when I first went solo. The publishers got things mixed up.
In fact, at the at the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame, he came over to my room and I'm
in the dressing room and he came over to meet me.
Speaker 17 (26:28):
He said, I always wanted to beat you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I said, really, and no, that was the first time
y'all met.
Speaker 18 (26:33):
That's the first time we met, right.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I wish I could have been there for that.
Speaker 18 (26:37):
Yeah, man, And he came over and we hugged each
other and we share share some you know, conversation, and
I told him that story. I said, I was getting
these like kind of country songs, man, and you know,
my my manager said, wait a minute, I think this
supposed to me for the other James Taylor. So we
had a laugh and I said, I want to do
something with you, and he said, let's do that. You know,
so that might happen in the near few my voices.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I approve of that.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Do you know Marvin ever heard You're not to him
on take my heart if you want it?
Speaker 18 (27:11):
I don't know, man, but I'll bell tell you because
you know I'm a big Marvin fan as well. But
we were doing the that's when I was still with Cool.
We did the rain I think the Rainbow Room or
the Rainbow Theater in London.
Speaker 24 (27:25):
And we're on stage because I don't know what song
we were singing, and I looked to my left over
in the corner and Marvin is standing in the way, man,
almost like.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
There at the time.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
Yeah, he was living there, right, so of course I
had to bring him on and just walking on stage
place with berserk and you know, he walked off and
we were taking a picture to the other look, he's
looking over at me like.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
This, you know, looking down on me. He said, j T.
Speaker 17 (27:54):
You know I can slam dunk you.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
You know that, right, I.
Speaker 17 (27:57):
Said, bro, I can play ball too, but let's do this.
We never got to play.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
But he was.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
He was amazing.
Speaker 16 (28:04):
Man.
Speaker 18 (28:05):
I would have loved to just tick the ball to
him a little bit because he was a tall He
was kind of a tall guy.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
Would have been tough.
Speaker 18 (28:12):
But yeah, but uh no, I don't know if he
ever did.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
It's one of my favorite Ada libes of viewers.
Speaker 18 (28:19):
I was actually talking to George because George wrote the song,
and he was like, I said, like.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Marvin, Marvin, huh right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah exactly exactly.
You know, there was a time period in which videos
were not necessary but could be an option to help
you sell a little more if you were trying to
get your stuff played on like Top of the Pops
or you know, if you couldn't get to Europe in time.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
What was the video process like?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Because even that video for Misled, which I'll never understand,
like are you just showing up? And like okay, it's
a chase scene with in Indiana Jones and a bunch
of white dancing around me, Like yeah.
Speaker 25 (29:03):
Right, well, you know, you know, of course I've always
been into film, you know, and like even right now,
you know.
Speaker 17 (29:11):
My future project that I'm working on now I'll tell
you about that in a minute.
Speaker 25 (29:15):
But because I was in the film earlier in my life,
I was able to when videos came along, I could
process everything that's happened.
Speaker 17 (29:22):
Because most of our songs was like a storyboard. And
you mentioned Misled, it was about you know, it was
basically Caalice's.
Speaker 25 (29:30):
Life story, part of his life story, and my my input,
and it was the metaphor of the white dancer was
like she was like the cocaine that people were taking,
you know, misleading, looking beautiful and everything and taking you
down that rabbit hole, you know, and my nephew who
(29:51):
played me as a young kid, Yeah, that was my nephew, yeah,
you know. And so to bring that part, and that
was the the book and the special effects. So and
then the one thing that happened on that video is
that we said, how are we going to get the
band in? And I wrote most of that concept and
I said, well, you guys are going to be you know,
(30:13):
incognito as well. And it's a dream state. So that's
why you know, that happened. And when we came at
the end and they were like j T, we got
to go, man, we got a gig to do.
Speaker 17 (30:24):
They were in the dream and that's when they turned around.
Speaker 25 (30:26):
So Michael definitely influenced that as far as the video
because remember MTV.
Speaker 17 (30:32):
Wasn't playing us, and Michael turned that around.
Speaker 25 (30:36):
So that's when the whole video thing for black artists
started kicking in. And we knew that Michael had raised
the bar. So we had to raise the bar because
if you remember, on most of the charts, if we
knew Michael was coming, we had to get our position first,
you know, because came you know, we're going to knock
you out a number one, but being there in the
(30:58):
top five, top ten, that means in the stores your
music was right there along inside his and it would
help your sales. Yeah, all of that the video world
actually helped me with the project I'm doing.
Speaker 17 (31:12):
Now and what my future is going to be.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Got it at the time. Do you guys get invited
to do band aid? Like, do you have any ankling
of the clue what you guys walked into?
Speaker 17 (31:25):
No, because we were on tour again.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
I just had a night off in London.
Speaker 17 (31:31):
We were actually just I don't know if we I
think we did have a night off.
Speaker 25 (31:34):
But the thing that bothered me was that they had mentioned,
I think on the news of something that you know,
it was all of these big stars there and when
we got there, there was no cameras and I remember
telling DT, I said, you know, with the press, man,
I'll be you all people telling about the press and
we walked in. No one said, you know, okay, JT,
(31:58):
you're going to be doing this and it's going to
be and that we kind of just walked in the
studio and there was everybody was just sitting around the
room and and Phil Collins and and Geldolph and they
were behind the board and they just kind of waved
and you know, and later on I thought somebody mentioned
that they wanted me to do the part that what
(32:21):
to Night thank God, and I didn't. And I'm glad
they didn't ask me because I would have never done that.
Bear Bono's line, thank God it's you, it's them instead
of you. I said, well, no, I would have never
sang that anyway, because that's just a little too much
for me. You know, I wouldn't thank God it's you.
You know that, that's not my vibe, you know what
(32:42):
I mean. But yeah, it was. It was awesome, man,
but we still didn't know how it was going to
come out. I just enjoyed, you know, meet and you know,
Sting and Phil, but it was it was intense.
Speaker 17 (32:55):
It was like no.
Speaker 25 (32:55):
Time to really hang out and talk about it. And
when they put us all on stands together, it was
just like, Okay, this is what we're.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Going to sing.
Speaker 17 (33:03):
We learned the song and we went through the process.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
For you, what was the best Like when you think
of like the good times or whatever, like places you played,
or even people you met or people that you never
thought you meet, what's a career highlight for you of
something like like, wow, I can't believe this happened.
Speaker 17 (33:25):
There's many, okay, But.
Speaker 25 (33:28):
I think going to Africa for the first time was
monumental because I remember when we were at House of
Music once and this was doing a part type and
this agent came to the studio and asked us to play.
(33:51):
And that's when everybody was refusing to play some city.
Speaker 17 (33:53):
It was part of.
Speaker 25 (33:54):
Our protests, and I remember looking at this guy almost
tearing up that how could he have the nerve to
come here and ask us to perform there, knowing the
atrocities that were going on, right And I remember we
got a silver record I think from South Africa, and
(34:19):
when we got it, I said, I refuse to hang
this up in my house until Mandela is freed, and
I put it in the closet, and when he was freed,
I took it out and celebrated that. But I think
going to Liberia and then learning about.
Speaker 17 (34:39):
The slave quarters and where our people.
Speaker 25 (34:43):
Were brought from the shores and things like that, the
Ivory Coast up and down, you know, And I'd always
felt like I didn't want to take money out of there,
like like I because it wasn't really built up as
much like Ghana right like it is now, you know,
And I just didn't understand what I understood. But I
(35:04):
didn't feel good about doing a concert and taking money
from a place that we should have just left it there,
you know.
Speaker 17 (35:14):
But I think Africa was. It's still to this day,
the feeling I get that touches my heart most.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
One. Congratulations on getting in the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 17 (35:29):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Were you surprised or were you actively hoping for this?
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Well?
Speaker 17 (35:35):
You know, I tell the story.
Speaker 25 (35:36):
I said, it's when I think back to being at thirteen,
you never think about it. You never think about any accolades,
at least I did.
Speaker 17 (35:45):
My whole thing was just a love for music, man.
Speaker 25 (35:48):
And you know, when they told us about the rock
of course, I called all my family and I think
they announced it on the American Idol or something like that,
and we were all sitting around watching waiting for it
to come on. When they said bam, cool in the gang,
my phone jumping off the hook, people talking about how
can I get there?
Speaker 17 (36:06):
I want to come.
Speaker 25 (36:08):
We had a lot of family there, but it was
just a culmination of all of the years of the sweat,
being away from my family, having my family there and
enjoying some of it, coming into cooling the gang and
then leaving the group. And also, you know, I brought
(36:28):
everything from Hackensack High School to you know, the bands
I was in to you know, Jersey City.
Speaker 17 (36:36):
Anybody that I met along the way were a part
of it.
Speaker 25 (36:39):
And that's including you, your group, the Philly Sound, motown Son,
you know anything.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
It was like I was.
Speaker 17 (36:48):
It was like I was bringing all.
Speaker 25 (36:49):
Of you with me, you know, and then of course,
you know, to find out that you were going to
be with me, I'm.
Speaker 17 (36:55):
Like, oh man, this is too good to be true,
you know.
Speaker 25 (36:58):
So you know when I walked up and met you,
you know, like yo, right in the middle of playing Yo, man,
what's up?
Speaker 17 (37:04):
And I got a good picture. I want to say
to you about that too.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
But I was nervous, man, and like, you know, well
you were nervous.
Speaker 17 (37:10):
Come on, man, you were smacking.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Na I mean, but just you the only legendary illuminaria like.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
My life soundcheck track that I haven't met yet, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 17 (37:21):
So, yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
In the cool and.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Gang adjacent universe, there's Leeroy Burgess. Last month, Fonte cited
this twenty twenty three to two part of Conversation that's
one of the most underrated episodes of QLs. We were
delighted to have Lee Roy with us, and he.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Gave us the kind of history that you can't find.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
In a Wikipedia page, while we got the chance to
celebrate his career. Let's listen in as he tells us
about a musical bloodline that is truly mind blowing. You know,
I told, like some of my friends and luminaries and
music heads that you were coming on the show. I
(38:04):
have to say, you're probably the most connected human being
I know, because the first response that every music head
tells me when I'm like, yo, we're about to get
him on the show, they tell me like, Yo, you
know he's related to Tom Bell, right, Yo?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
You know he's related to Archie Bell, right, Yo? You
know he's related to how many the bells bells?
Speaker 3 (38:27):
So you're trying to tell me that Tom and Robert
and Ronald of Cool and Gang and Al Bell.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Of Stacks and Archie Bell of that you're all related?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (38:39):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
How come no one has? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (38:45):
I don't know. Listen, you do well.
Speaker 13 (38:50):
With that Patty LaBelle No, no, right, I thought Patty
was the strength.
Speaker 26 (39:02):
But Ricky Bell Ricky Yes, Okay, we are all the
descendants of an enslaved individual named Prince Bell from the
eighteen twenties and eighteen you know, eighteen sixties, seventies or
(39:22):
something like that.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
Prince Belle had a total of three wives. With each
of his wedding unions, he made a bunch of kids, right,
those kids became my grandparents and my mom and my
dad and the same as two full Tom Bell or
the Bell Brothers from Cooon, the Gang, Jerry Bell from
(39:47):
the Dads band Bell Al Bell, Ricky Bell from Bell
Bidevaux Tom.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I was only playing that's real, goddamn.
Speaker 7 (40:00):
Outside of the Bell family or Judge Mathis, Greg Mathis
is a cousin, and the actor Richard browntree Is, all
of us are descendants of Prince Bell.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
I also heard Betty Right as well.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
Betty Right.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
I met Betty Right and.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Are we relatedly working?
Speaker 9 (40:20):
Right?
Speaker 6 (40:21):
We all?
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Well?
Speaker 7 (40:22):
I believe that I believe that I'm related to everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
In the world. I mean, well, I see why that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Yeah, So shout out to our fire burges who also
I mean you know fire right.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Uh yeah, yeah, player absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Absolutely fire urges who definitely want this episode to happen
while you are connected to everyone, right.
Speaker 7 (40:46):
So when I think about where, you know, was it
I predestined to enter the music industry, I'm kind of
leaning towards feeling like that because there's so many loom
nerves in my family that are not just in entertainment
(41:06):
but in music specifically, who have made a definitive monk
on the industry as a whole. So I'm just bringing
up the.
Speaker 9 (41:17):
Rear Common's Bell thing might be real too.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'm just saying it was predetermined, like your your future
was everyone in your family has singing talent, and it's
push the envelope.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
That's crazy.
Speaker 9 (41:31):
Can I just ask who found who first? Like when
did y'all know that this was the story behind your family?
Speaker 7 (41:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Tom Bell.
Speaker 7 (41:39):
Back in my when.
Speaker 9 (41:40):
I was very very Alexander.
Speaker 7 (41:44):
Four, five and six and stuff like that, he used
to come to the family picnics down that we used
to have down in Jamesburg, New Judge. We still have
him in the same place every year. He used to
come and I used to follow him around like a
little pubblic dog. Right, because he was always talking music.
That's that was then he stopped coming right fairt forward
(42:07):
to about nineteen somewhere in the nineteen nineties, the Bell
the South Jersey Bell Picnic couldn't happen, So the North
Jersey Bell the Bell Aiken's Picnic happened, and my mother
traveled to that because I was on the road. Right,
That's where my mother met Cool's Cool and Robert and
(42:30):
Ronald and Ali and Kevin's mother and she was son
sings my son's things in the music. Also my son Hell,
who's your son Black Habby? Who's jo son Coonigan?
Speaker 27 (42:42):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (42:43):
We need to do right?
Speaker 2 (42:45):
So wow.
Speaker 7 (42:46):
So that's how they And then a wonderful cousin of
mine that I didn't know, I met her on Facebook.
Her name is Geneva Norman Right, and she asked she
was a cousin and she relaid, and then she presented
me with a document, the Bell family history, going all
(43:08):
the way back to Prince Belle right, and it contained
every single everybody in the whole family, including all my brothers,
all my siblings, all my cousins, all you know. It
was just really a definitive document, sixteen page document that
(43:28):
told me who everybody was and where everybody was, and
so forth and so on. So as I proceeded through
life after finding that out. The last one that I
met officially was Betty She was called to the look.
When she was called to her ascension, I met on
(43:50):
the National R and B Music Society was giving her
a Lifetime Achievement award, and I was, you know, I
was at president at that awards presentation, and I walked
over to her after she got the award and I said, congratulations.
Was right by the way, I'm a descendant of Prince Bell.
(44:16):
And she jumped up and said cousin and and and
and so you know, things like that. That's been my
life to to uh with Jerry Bell from dazz Man
and formerly of new Birth. He was the lead thing
of new Birth.
Speaker 16 (44:34):
Uh.
Speaker 28 (44:35):
Yes, I performed with new Birth, and I believe didn't
didn't He eventually join Cool in the Gang in eighty
seven when JT left.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Jerry Bell was the one that sing led her web.
Speaker 11 (44:50):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
He Oh. That explains it. That explains it.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
That is what yo, Because you don't understand when they
made an album nineteen eighty seven or eighty eight, and
you know Jat had left the group and they did
an appearance on Soul Train and Don was trying to
put two and two together, like, wait, where I know
(45:18):
you from?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Where I know you from? He said, Oh, man, Dad's
been and that is wow. Okay they're cousins.
Speaker 28 (45:29):
Yeah, that is crazy all right.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
So in twenty twenty one, we also had Stephanie Mills
on the show. Stephanie Dinomant's words when it came to
her opinions on things, but she did with a love
and care for the music, especially her peers. And you know,
Team Supreme showered Stephanie love and she gave it right back,
and there's a clip reflective of that energy.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Makes sense of what's happening today at all?
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Or is it just like R and B.
Speaker 20 (46:05):
Well, I think that they've just kind of like killed
dur and B. They're trying to but we're trying to
hold on to it as you know. No, I think
it's very easy for people today to become pop stars
and they use the word legends and icons and things
very loosely, and I think that's why a lot of
(46:29):
people can't sing live. I mean a lot of shows
are taped a lot of shows you'd be surprised. I've
been on the road with quite a few artists, and
mostly predominantly all their whole show is taped. Yeah so,
but I come from theater, you know, And I'm so glad.
I'm so thankful every day that, you know, I've learned
(46:51):
how to sing, whether I can hit that note that night,
or point to my background singer and hit it. But
what I do before I go on the road. Does
I sing all my songs every day so that I
can sound somewhat like I sounded, you know, and and
and people won't be scared to hear me. I do
sing every day because I just love to sing. But
(47:12):
today's music, I don't think any of today's music you'll
hear five and ten, fifteen years from now, like you
do Stevie and Aretha and and and the people from
the seventies and eighties. I don't think that you'll hear
this music today.
Speaker 7 (47:30):
Not one y'all don't.
Speaker 9 (47:31):
I'm trying to think in my head like you. I'm sorry,
I was trying to argue that fact, but okay.
Speaker 14 (47:37):
I don't do.
Speaker 9 (47:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 20 (47:38):
I mean, I love Jasmine Sullivan, but I feel I
love her as a vocalist, Deborah Cox. I think it's
a brilliant vocalists.
Speaker 6 (47:50):
And.
Speaker 9 (47:52):
But that's still not in this in the next to
ten years, in this last years.
Speaker 14 (47:56):
That's not that's not like immediate.
Speaker 20 (47:59):
Like do you think that we'll hear Cardi b stuffed ten.
Speaker 14 (48:02):
To fifteen years from them?
Speaker 18 (48:03):
No?
Speaker 14 (48:03):
Man, So you know that. And that's not to take
away from anybody.
Speaker 20 (48:10):
I'm not because I don't knock anybody's hustling, But I
just don't think that you know, their music is gonna
last ten to fifteen years.
Speaker 12 (48:18):
For me, Miss Stephan, I was gonna ask, so with
your jam with hip hop? When hip hop, you know,
kind of came into the just into the industry. You know,
every episode of Unsung they all have the same story.
It's like they they were doing great and then rap
it was over.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
You know what I'm saying. How what was it like
for you?
Speaker 12 (48:41):
You know what I'm saying when you saw the industry
kind of starting to shift and you saw what hip
hop was becoming.
Speaker 2 (48:47):
What was that like for you? And what was your
relationship to hip hop? If any I didn't have.
Speaker 14 (48:52):
A relationship with hip hop, but I enjoyed it.
Speaker 10 (48:56):
I mean I I don't know.
Speaker 20 (48:58):
I guess some different because I just I just keep
doing me. I just kept doing what I did. I
didn't try to change and try to adapt, you know,
I just I just kept doing another version of me
whatever that. You know, just keep doing another version of me.
I love hip hop, you know I I would. I
Oh my Christmas album I rapped, I wrapped the Red.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
Bars, you know, Yes, I don't know.
Speaker 20 (49:29):
I just I you know, everybody has their thing to do,
and I think, you know, hey, you just keep on
going and to come back around.
Speaker 9 (49:37):
I've seen it, but it didn't bother you like the
Unsung bother me.
Speaker 20 (49:42):
No, I didn't freak out about it now because I could.
Speaker 14 (49:45):
Always go and do theater. I can do other things.
Speaker 20 (49:48):
So I didn't.
Speaker 7 (49:49):
I didn't like.
Speaker 20 (49:50):
Oh god, no, I didn't want anymore anyway.
Speaker 9 (49:55):
If there was a show, what would the show? Is
there a show you have in mind that you would
love to do as far as the theater, Yes.
Speaker 20 (50:02):
Melbourne and I are going to do Run.
Speaker 14 (50:04):
It's a woman show.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Make it happen.
Speaker 14 (50:07):
We're writing it now.
Speaker 9 (50:09):
Oh yes, I'm here.
Speaker 14 (50:10):
We're here for that.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
We're writing.
Speaker 20 (50:14):
Melbourne is just wonderful on stage. We did a We
did a show called up If Your Hat to Talk,
and it was just wonderful being on stage with her.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
I can't wait.
Speaker 20 (50:24):
Talk recently and that she was like, let's work together.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
I said, let's do it.
Speaker 14 (50:28):
We found a writer.
Speaker 20 (50:29):
So they're writing it now.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Oh it's good.
Speaker 17 (50:32):
Get my ears ready?
Speaker 3 (50:33):
Okay, since I wasn't going to ask the question, but
I mine as well. Have you heard back from Sam
Smith back at him?
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Oh? Holy forgot about that. She's the she brought smoke.
Speaker 10 (50:51):
I love.
Speaker 20 (50:54):
You know what it is? This is really what it is.
Speaker 6 (50:56):
Talk about it.
Speaker 20 (50:57):
People don't really know my personality because I've always just
been a singer and on Broadway. But I'm really just
a hood girl from Brooklyn, you know what I'm saying.
I'm really just that that girl. And I love Michael.
He's not here to take care of herself and I
to speak up for herself. And I get tired of
people who I know have copied sounds. I mean, Sam
(51:21):
Smith is nothing but Sylvester all over. So you know,
when you say you don't like our music, how can
you say that? So I really had to. I felt
like I have to say something. And my manager's always
like Okay, I'm gonna let you say this, but you
(51:42):
gotta say it like this, because sometimes I just think
people need to back off.
Speaker 9 (51:48):
I don't like when they're they need an education.
Speaker 20 (51:50):
And they need an education, they need it. And I
don't think people should say things about people and they're
not here to defend themselves. I mean, if you wanted to.
It's just like when fifty he was talking about Michael
and you know, and then his daughter said, please don't
talk about my father, and then fifty wanted to, you know, go,
she's a child, you know so I kind of I said,
(52:12):
why don't you talk to me? I'm more your speed,
I'm older, you know. So I just I just don't
like when people are bullies.
Speaker 14 (52:19):
I don't like bullies.
Speaker 18 (52:21):
I don't.
Speaker 9 (52:21):
There you go, Stephanie Miles. I'm telling you, Stephie Mills
deon word they said in Twitter on fire.
Speaker 20 (52:28):
Okay, he doesn't play, Leon does not play.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
And you know who didn't.
Speaker 14 (52:34):
Play, Aretha?
Speaker 20 (52:35):
Aretha didn't play.
Speaker 17 (52:36):
She didn't really.
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Oh now what was she like? Did you y'all have
worked together and anything or were y'all just colleagues.
Speaker 20 (52:43):
I lived in Detroit for a couple of years. And
she used to come. I did a play there and
she used to come and see me, and towards the
end of her life we would talk. I talked to
her about two months before she passed away, and she
told me a lot of things about Motown and how
Barry started it and how his sister was involved and
(53:05):
a father, and it's a conversation I could never talk about.
But I Lovedaretha. But Aretha took no prisoners.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
When I tell you, she didn't, she didn't.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
Yeah, So I you know, I guess in closing, I
would just like to know from this journey you had, like,
what is your in her career with so many highlights
in it, what is your like, your your favorite what
means the most to you of your entire journey, your
creative journey.
Speaker 20 (53:38):
That I'm still here, That I didn't get on drugs.
I didn't, you know, because I think about Whitney, and
I think about Michael, and I think about Prince, I
think about Gerald and so many times as artists, we
have so much pressure and wait on us that just
(54:00):
destroys us. And people don't really understand sometimes what an
artist is going through. So I think that I'm still here,
and somewhat my right mind, and that I enjoyed it.
I'm able to enjoy it and sit back and relax
and just enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
All right.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
Yeah, compliments are important, I know, learning how to take it.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
When we have Bernardette Cooper or on QLs.
Speaker 4 (54:26):
The singer from Climax, and that conversation seems supreme.
Speaker 3 (54:30):
And I pointed out how Bernadette's style and persona or
it was kind of a precursor to hip hop, name dropping,
design of.
Speaker 4 (54:38):
Brands, confidence, etc.
Speaker 6 (54:39):
Etc.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
It was great to share with them. This was a
different way of giving flowers.
Speaker 29 (54:44):
I felt, right, if you really look at the character
that you built, I mean, it's so it's such a
precursor to what hip hop became ten years later. You
are probably the first person I ever heard name drop
(55:04):
like Versace. Yeah, names I never heard of before that
rappers would start just I became their birthright ten years later.
Speaker 27 (55:13):
And in Tiva, In Tiva, I was fearless. You have
to understand she and I was and I was in
and I was in too close and they started sending
me close and I just kind of like, I just
kind of spoke my mind.
Speaker 14 (55:32):
I wish I really allowed myself to have, you.
Speaker 27 (55:35):
Know, now you have to be a little bit more
resolved because everybody is so sensitive and the things that
you say.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
You know, but that's what age was for, so you
don't have to do you know.
Speaker 27 (55:45):
You know, I even think about it, you know, I
even think about my demographics, what they want to hear
from me, you know, they you know, and I don't
want to continue and be a caricature of my old self.
Speaker 14 (55:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
I was going to say, do you get tired of
having to turn it on in a snap like other
days where you just wish like you never had to
invent that character too?
Speaker 14 (56:08):
You know, I'm naturally a.
Speaker 27 (56:12):
Comedian, so I'm always that comes very easy from me.
The character is easy. The character is more easier than
me being myself.
Speaker 6 (56:20):
You know.
Speaker 27 (56:21):
Yeah, I could bring the character, and I'm much more
comfortable on stage than I am anywhere, you know, so
I don't struggle with it at all.
Speaker 14 (56:30):
I don't struggle with it.
Speaker 27 (56:31):
I'm working on now in the product that you hear
me putting out is kind of the evolution of Bernadette
Cooper and me who has evolved into the woman and
kind of like slowing down a little bit so that
I can perform my songs way until you know, I
get older and older, my songs will be able to
(56:52):
And I wish I could do a song on an
album on Janet Jackson because I think she would be
good at doing that so she doesn't have to get
up and do realthm nation and then all of those things.
Speaker 14 (57:02):
That's a lot to be dancing and all that.
Speaker 27 (57:05):
You know, now's the time to kind of slow it
down and go into the new you and your and
your demographics will follow because they they're there too.
Speaker 14 (57:13):
They're there too. There's a tram age, you know.
Speaker 27 (57:16):
So that's what I'm doing right now with the projects
that I'm that I'm working on.
Speaker 3 (57:22):
Thank you for listening in good people, and we have
more Maine Flowers on QLs dropping next week.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. For
more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Quest Loft Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good People. What's good, y'all?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
This is Questlove and your tune into Quest Love Supreme
and we got some things in the works for the
future of this podcast, but in the meantime, we are
looking back and celebrating our catalog. It's the month of May,
so thematically, I've been thinking a lot lately about the
idea of giving people their flowers while they're still.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Here or while they can still smell them. And this
is something we always talked about on QLs.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
It's not just the icons, the big names, but the
folks behind the scenes, the ones whose work and presence
quietly shape the future. The ones who change the room
just by walking into it, or change your.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Life by just being in it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's bigger than just saying, while you're a legend, you know,
give these people their flowers. On QLs, we always try
to say and say loud you met. And here's why,
because if we don't celebrate our heroes, our peers, our
people who will So anyway, today we're picking some May
flowers and some of these clips from the show. Over
(01:14):
the last nine years, we got the Pointer Sisters, three
different members of cool in the Gang runned Dette Cooper,
Climax producer and songwriter Leebroy Burgess. These are all icons
that you need to know, and what better place to
begin than with the legendary Frankie Beverly. So in twenty
(01:39):
twenty three, coustlep Supreme was granted an interview with Frankie
Beverly and the recent years he hasn't done that many
interviews at all, and this one was a rare opportunity.
And what's more, we were able to do it in
person at Iheart's Hollywood Studios, and we caught it off film.
(02:00):
All right, So in this clip you'll hear me Frankie Beverly,
his family members Will Beverly and Miss Deborah Beverly Pugh
as well as like you and Fonte heloone and I
really love what Fonte says to Frankly about soundtracking some
of the happiest times in life for so many of us.
As I called out in this episode, we titled this
(02:21):
one QLs gives.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Frankie Beverly his flowers. It's an integral.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Part of this two part retrospective.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
So would you say that songwriting was therapeutic for you?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
In terms of expressing yourself.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, because I'll say that love like oftentimes
I think people will tend to type cast soul music
in R and B as somewhat like meaningless love music
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I think coming from you, especially the way you sing.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
There's such a gentle comforting almost right, Yeah, And it's
such a gentle Normally, gentle singers are are like like
high like falsetto smoky stylistics, and so it's very rare
to hear a baritone voice that's that gentle and that.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
Sort of thing. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm reflecting to you.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What I'm only showing you what you what you are.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But yeah, like in the sixties and seventies, when most
lead black singers were high falsetto.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
High voices whatever.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
For you, was there was that ever an option like
to figure out because sometimes like Ronald Eisley.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Will go between his high voice and his low voice.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But for you, was there Oh okay, I was gonna
be the singer.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
All right, Yeah, the approachable every day guy.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Okay, I get that, And.
Speaker 7 (03:59):
That's what he really it was approachable.
Speaker 8 (04:01):
That's a that's a.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Good term approachable. I see that.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
Yeah, he was approachable.
Speaker 9 (04:06):
What do you What was I thinking?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
Yeah, what do you think?
Speaker 8 (04:09):
Now?
Speaker 9 (04:09):
I was you know what I was just thinking. I
was like, yeah, because I was thinking about awards, and
I was thinking about like these Grammys and these all
these awards, and I was like, to my recollection, you
guys don't have a lot of those. But the acceptance
of you in the community, and I've seen you speak
about this.
Speaker 10 (04:24):
Before, far exceeds.
Speaker 9 (04:26):
So that everyday manism that you're talking about, it's worth
so much more, it looks like than the untouchable of it.
Speaker 11 (04:35):
All right, Yeah, that's very true, honey. It seems like
our people really supported us, even from a young stage,
as much.
Speaker 9 (04:48):
As we could.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
Yes.
Speaker 12 (04:49):
Yeah, I've been to I've had the privilege attendant on
one of your shows. You came to my hometown at Raleigh,
North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
This was this was some years back, and y'all played
this emphathy.
Speaker 12 (05:00):
It was outside, and I mean you came out and
it was full of people and they sang every word.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
They sang every word. I was like, if Frank you
want to chill the night, he didn't got the same.
Speaker 12 (05:12):
We gonna sing form you know what I mean, but
I think you know, speaking of what like he was saying,
just you know, I just want to make sure that
we communicate to you today. You know, you were just
a staple in our households, you know what I'm saying.
Like your music was like always there, and it was
and it was oftentimes too. It wasn't just your music
was there, but your music was the soundtrack to some
(05:32):
of the best times of our lives. Like you always
associated I always associated Frankie, Beverly and Mads with good times,
you know what I'm saying. And like what you were
saying about him singing with love we need love to
live that was like one of my favorite songs.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Like I would always play that.
Speaker 13 (05:47):
I even a.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Very long time ago.
Speaker 12 (05:49):
I said it was like wow, I sampled it and
wrapped over it did not come out.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was sixteen. Yeah, shine, golden time of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
The shining part was the original music that clones Oh.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
My god, if you can ever mass but we couldn't
make the loop work and so then we start all
over again because yeah, but.
Speaker 12 (06:10):
But no, no, you It was just always a spirit
that came through in your music and just really spoke
just to all of us and just made us all
feel really good. And you know, I've seen it, just
the magic of you performing and people.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, it's like your family member.
Speaker 10 (06:26):
Yeah, that's so beautiful.
Speaker 11 (06:29):
You guys gonna make me start crying, all right.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So that excerpt into what Franklin Beverly saying he was
gonna start crying, which wow, it's just something. A year
after we take this interview that mister Beverley passed, so
we're the ones who are crying. But that interview means
so much to me and to the team. He was
all smiles and he has that coolness what you see
(06:59):
in the video of this episode. Twenty nineteen, Coustlef Supreme
got a visit from Anita Pointer, Bonnie Pointer and their brother,
Fritz Pointer. Bonnie and Anita have since then, you know, transition,
But this was a great career conversation with three as
(07:24):
the pointed sisters are mentioned.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
A lot on Quest Lef Supreme.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
One of the things we often did as co hosts
is leave time at the end for random or personal questions.
Is to really give the affirmation that happens here and
if you get a taste of the random and then
some heartfelt flowers from QLs, especially from Boss Bill. In
this conversation, we spoke about trying to get the Pointed
(07:51):
Sisters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, something
that has not happened yet, but I personally, I would
like very much well to see.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
What was it like being a part of USA for Africa.
We are the world night, Oh.
Speaker 14 (08:08):
God, what tonight.
Speaker 10 (08:10):
We had just come from the I think the am
A Awards and went to the studio and I was
in awe.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Everybody top secret like all these famous people.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I wound out about it and was the top secret
like we.
Speaker 10 (08:26):
Found out like the day before, because they sent us
sheet music and a cassette and.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Have in the frame.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Quincy's house and he has the lead sheet framed on it.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
Yeah, I got a.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Lead with everybody.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
I went around that night and made everybody designed my
music and I got home my frame and they're.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Kind of intimidated by anybody that was in the room
or you guys, like.
Speaker 10 (08:52):
Yeah, everybody everybody was like you, oh.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
My god, oh my god, to be cool.
Speaker 10 (09:04):
Michael Jackson, you want to, Lionel Richie, yes, wonderful, Yeah,
Bette Midler else was there, uh No, But chi LEI
was there.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think that's Oakland.
Speaker 10 (09:24):
Too, n So that's Oakland, and LaToya Jackson was like
right beside me, Turner, turn that was a wonderful, wonderful night.
I mean we got out of there, the sun was
coming up?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Were there all night? Did you have any experiences with
Aretha while she was alive?
Speaker 15 (09:47):
No, Well, Ruth, Ruth had some competition with Areas Edwards.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
In fact, in fact her daughters.
Speaker 15 (10:05):
Wow, the one who's singing with her, her daughter who
singing with her is product of Ruth and Dennis.
Speaker 10 (10:11):
Edwards, and she and Maria were dating Dennis like, oh
yeah the same time.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Wow, Wow, it's a frozen I don't even myself.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I'll do myself right now.
Speaker 10 (10:30):
Too much information, baby.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Well you know I have to say that enough, can I?
This is a pleasant, pleasant surprise. Again, Finnie, such a
fan and the myviewers for the longest.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So I'm glad to finally ad met you.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I never thought I would thank you that same for you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Your whole family. And again, yes, rock and Roll Hall
of Fame, I gotta be.
Speaker 10 (11:05):
We've got a star on the Hollywood Walk and welcome
fan Arkansas, Black Hall of Fame, everything.
Speaker 7 (11:24):
Don't matter.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yes, it doesn't matter. I just want to say that
something I said earlier today. You guys were in my childhood,
and every time I listen to your music, I'm just
taking back to such a wonderful place in time.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
In my life.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Wonderful just to be sitting across from you guys, like
beside out here.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
We see we taught you well, well, I see that
T shirt you have on.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
You got a lot of good information from the morning.
More questions before we before we break. May Staples was
she an influence?
Speaker 10 (12:04):
Oh lord, Yeah, we were listening to a song we
were We did Respect Yourself, Yes, in Vegas, and Fritz
brought up a c D and played it. We played
it last night with us singing in Vegas at Caesar's
Palace singing respect Yourself, Mays.
Speaker 14 (12:28):
We were on the road.
Speaker 10 (12:29):
But yeah, and Frince was very good friends with Mayvis
Staples and we had some fun, fun times together. Yeah,
and I was also the friends with with purpose.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
He was a differend than mine.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well, go to those night clubs and you go in there.
Speaker 10 (12:47):
Oh my god, this is a gun sitting right there
on the desk.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Where we have sound check.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
The gun on the desk.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I just got one of the silhouettes from that.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
You know that is that's a tattoo.
Speaker 7 (13:05):
Will look on the back and the tattoos.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You gotta be like a SoundCloud rapper. Put it on
your face. Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Thank you for coming on the show today.
Speaker 10 (13:27):
I love it, y'all.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
That was Anita, Bonnie and Fritz Pointer on QLs from
twenty nineteen. We had Robert Coop Bell on QLs in
twenty twenty one. It was the first series with band members.
This whole conversation had flowers from Corner Gang's excellent transition
(13:53):
from jazz funking to disco, message music and more.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Here's the tail end of that comment, which I loved.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
What are your three personal favorite songs that you've done
in your catalog?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
That's some of the manas is definitely one.
Speaker 16 (14:16):
Hollywood swinging, okay okay, and of course celebration now Hollywood Swinging.
It's all about when he's first, what's going about to Hollywood?
And again Frankie k Frankie Hollywood Crops.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
He broke that record in New York A.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
Ladies, can I ask you a capitalistic question before we go.
Speaker 14 (14:44):
If you were to stop.
Speaker 9 (14:46):
Doing music right now and no other music existed, could
you tell us what cooling the Gang song could feed
you for.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Life if I were to stop doing music.
Speaker 9 (14:55):
Yes, Like, if you just stop doing music and didn't
care about any other songs, records or whatever, what's the
cooling the Gang song that could have been feeding and
we'll feed you for life?
Speaker 16 (15:04):
Oh well, that's that's celebration, celebration.
Speaker 17 (15:11):
I wasn't sure.
Speaker 14 (15:12):
It's so many.
Speaker 16 (15:13):
Hey cool, it's even they're going to do a whole
big thing. I think TikTok live, that company all cool?
Speaker 18 (15:22):
Get it?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Something mad?
Speaker 17 (15:26):
I mean you got?
Speaker 6 (15:26):
I mean Will Smith?
Speaker 17 (15:27):
I mean the movie.
Speaker 16 (15:31):
Yeah, even though what's my man? Lebron James did the
somemer man, he's up on dumping diving into the swimming
pool with something mad.
Speaker 9 (15:39):
Something mad is just it might be someone mad and
seeing that some celebration, it might be.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
It's definitely celebration. Kah, celebration ain't never going to die ever?
Speaker 19 (15:52):
Yeah, hey cool, the DJ played celebration at my mitch
for in nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You ever get paid for that, dude? And the nineteen
ninety three same thing?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah, that's wait, a minute, I will ask, have you
guys ever done celebration at a wedding or at the
bar mitzvah As school in the game?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yes?
Speaker 9 (16:17):
And what is that rate? I'm still in my capital
is bad?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How do I get that out of my next heavy price?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
I want to leave on this though. Oh when.
Speaker 17 (16:29):
Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, it was the Stealers.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
And who was it that Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
In nineteen eighty Were they playing the Cowboys? I'm not certain?
And looking up Steve.
Speaker 16 (16:46):
Bill and the Stealers one that was that one? And
the Steelers one by that one touchdown?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, the last few minutes of the game.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
So we were scared. Need to play.
Speaker 16 (17:00):
For whatever that team was anyway, And I only came
to us, I said, will you guys please don't play celebration?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You serious? Two thousand and nine against the Cardinals, but
we didn't play celebrations. You did not play celebration because.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
They lost that game.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Okay, well then ladies night it is.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
Anyway.
Speaker 16 (17:31):
I want to thank you guys. Was the support of men. Man,
you're just your whiz man. You know he asked me
questions that.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
I have to remember again.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Man, you know, I'm just your legacy. Wait, did you
have one last question? Oh I was, Yeah, I had
a question about fruit man. Was that song? Is that
a reference to the fruit of Islam? About that song? Okay, okay,
got you it was.
Speaker 16 (17:59):
Yeah, we just came up with different ideas than concept
you back in the day the fruit man come by
the truck and you want to get.
Speaker 14 (18:06):
Some wa.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yes, wow, okay, but good try No, I thought I
heard that. I never heard of red.
Speaker 17 (18:16):
As something like a belt.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
We had this conversation before, and y'all was laughing at
me and called me old. And I'm trying to explain
to y'all between at least the fruit, the fruit and
the fish man were the same. Dude on my Grandma's
blocked I remember.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The fish man. We didn't have a fruit man. We
had a fish man. When you see the look online's
face right now.
Speaker 17 (18:38):
I don't believe you.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
I think you're talking about your auntie down south, not
in Philly.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Fish in Philly.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yes, like just like, just like mister Softie comes by
every you know, every four point thirty on you know,
on his route.
Speaker 9 (18:51):
However, I will say the watermelon man is still a
very real thing in a lot of different cities.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, but for Southwest Philly.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Like the fishman would just you know, the back of
his truck would be like a whole bunch of ice
and a whole bunch of fish. He just go up
and down each block selling mackerel, poorgies, like different types
of fish. And then the next day he come back,
same truck, clean, have vegetables. Next day fruit Like they
would take fruit to the hood. Like that's the thing
(19:20):
I missed. We want to have the fruit man deliver.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You know. Now we gotta go to the suburbs. You
get the good fruit.
Speaker 20 (19:27):
Bill San your life?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
What'd you say?
Speaker 18 (19:31):
Bill?
Speaker 21 (19:32):
Long Island didn't have any man in a car. We
had to go to the store. Hey man, it was
different than it was called food deserts.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
See, we're getting to know each other America. Brother Cool.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I want to thank you personally for you know, your
legacy and sharing story with us.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Don't forget support Cool. You know the new album tell
me about them. After Jenna said that her she was like,
he was like, give my step mom loves that.
Speaker 12 (20:06):
So I was like, I gotta get something okay, cool, Yeah,
we're drinking on some lake cool.
Speaker 16 (20:12):
So we got the rose for the late days.
Speaker 9 (20:15):
Oh but that's all you had to say, Lady Stereo
type I do like.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
QLs also had Corner Gang's drummer, Funky George Brown on
and Uh late twenty twenty three, I asked him the
same question. This interview was taped in September and George
passed that November. That loss hit me hard because it
was amazing to have George share history as we compiled
(20:50):
several oral histories of Corner Gang. Could you tell me
what your three favorite Cool and Gang songs are? But
can you also just tell me what was your favorite
song to create?
Speaker 6 (21:09):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wait, are you one of those? They are all my
kids and I can't separate them.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
No, no, no, I'm not one of those guys. I
waldon Peace from the World and Peaceful Album. Okay, that's
the title song. I remember John Coltrane, I love that.
W Yeah that and it's just really none of the hits,
none of the.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Big us those other hits. You know me Little Children
is one of my favorites. Yeah, you know, never Don't Change.
And the third would be fruit Man.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
No, it's We've got some rhythm songs in the Caribbean Festival. Okay, yeah,
I'll take that. It had all that listeners in it.
It's it's fine and some of that. And so when
you hear it, you go, man, bubba about the Horns,
(22:07):
you know, just you know that group and you got that,
you know, so it was great.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Okay, So making making those three like your your your
favorite yeah, you know, as I said at the top
of the show, man, it's it's really kind of our
missioneer on the show, just you know, to give flowers
to legendary people that otherwise might not get there. They're
just too as far as you know, the legacy that
(22:42):
they set forth. And definitely you know for all of
us here, you know, Cooly Gang represents. I mean, it's
an institution of of of just brilliant and you know
it sustained all music, all times, you know, all spaces
and still strong to this day. And even my band,
you know, goes through a cool in a Gang moment
(23:04):
in our current show and you know the songs are.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Plus you'll have a Jermaine Jermaine bryceon.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Tub Yeah. Yeah, yes, I know that he plays with
you guys.
Speaker 22 (23:17):
Brother, Yeah, yeah, he plays he plays with them now
yeah yeah, man, But we just thank you for coming
on the show and we appreciate your you know, your
legacy and and and everything that you've done, and thank
you all your break beats and everything.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We love that. We love it to death.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Thank you. You know. I'm not going to say it's
been a long hard road. It's been a long beautiful
road being as a creator, you know, because Ronald and
I sit and come up materials, he and I especially
back in the late seventies and early eighties, that's what
we did. We just set in the studio and reverse things,
(24:00):
put together live albums, you know, from all the tapes.
You know, the deal just just had a ball and
being the all night six o'clock in the morning, you said,
I'll see it in a few hours, come back again into
that whole set. That that that's worth everything, you know,
as far as creative people is concerned. That's that's worth
(24:22):
it all, you know, and and and and it becoming
successful too. And if it doesn't become successful, you go
back in your tweet, what did we do?
Speaker 2 (24:32):
What?
Speaker 6 (24:33):
What's going on?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
So?
Speaker 6 (24:35):
And I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 23 (24:40):
As well, thank you, but it makes it, just like
all of us, it makes it a little harder, you know,
when you go I love your music and you gotta
you know that whole thing defended their doing.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
Loving fans, but truly truly hard folk. Thank you well,
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
From the same amazing family tree is James JT. Taylor.
QLs had him on the show last year.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
JT was with the group when they got inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and of course
he joined in the late seventies and the early eighties
boom and we really hit it off. There was some
serious flowers in this episode. JT has continued to really
support QLs and we love you JT. Taylor all right,
enjoy in the history of you being a professional singer,
(25:39):
as anyone ever yelled fire and rain to you from
the audience.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
You did steal my question, Denton.
Speaker 19 (25:49):
I was honestly wondering about that today about look at
his victory pose.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
That's great.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
No.
Speaker 19 (25:56):
I used to sort of study the publishing stuff, credits
and in like sort of books, and I was always
wondering if if the publishing ever got crossed between you guys,
you know, and anything.
Speaker 18 (26:09):
Not the money at that time he was making big
money and we weren't. But uh, but I used to
when I first went solo. The publishers got things mixed up.
In fact, at the at the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame, he came over to my room and I'm
in the dressing room and he came over to meet me.
Speaker 17 (26:28):
He said, I always wanted to beat you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I said, really, and no, that was the first time
y'all met.
Speaker 18 (26:33):
That's the first time we met, right.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I wish I could have been there for that.
Speaker 18 (26:37):
Yeah, man, And he came over and we hugged each
other and we share share some you know, conversation, and
I told him that story. I said, I was getting
these like kind of country songs, man, and you know,
my my manager said, wait a minute, I think this
supposed to me for the other James Taylor. So we
had a laugh and I said, I want to do
something with you, and he said, let's do that. You know,
so that might happen in the near few my voices.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I approve of that.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Do you know Marvin ever heard You're not to him
on take my heart if you want it?
Speaker 18 (27:11):
I don't know, man, but I'll bell tell you because
you know I'm a big Marvin fan as well. But
we were doing the that's when I was still with Cool.
We did the rain I think the Rainbow Room or
the Rainbow Theater in London.
Speaker 24 (27:25):
And we're on stage because I don't know what song
we were singing, and I looked to my left over
in the corner and Marvin is standing in the way, man,
almost like.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
There at the time.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
Yeah, he was living there, right, so of course I
had to bring him on and just walking on stage
place with berserk and you know, he walked off and
we were taking a picture to the other look, he's
looking over at me like.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
This, you know, looking down on me. He said, j T.
Speaker 17 (27:54):
You know I can slam dunk you.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
You know that, right, I.
Speaker 17 (27:57):
Said, bro, I can play ball too, but let's do this.
We never got to play.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
But he was.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
He was amazing.
Speaker 16 (28:04):
Man.
Speaker 18 (28:05):
I would have loved to just tick the ball to
him a little bit because he was a tall He
was kind of a tall guy.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
Would have been tough.
Speaker 18 (28:12):
But yeah, but uh no, I don't know if he
ever did.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
It's one of my favorite Ada libes of viewers.
Speaker 18 (28:19):
I was actually talking to George because George wrote the song,
and he was like, I said, like.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Marvin, Marvin, huh right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah exactly exactly.
You know, there was a time period in which videos
were not necessary but could be an option to help
you sell a little more if you were trying to
get your stuff played on like Top of the Pops
or you know, if you couldn't get to Europe in time.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
What was the video process like?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Because even that video for Misled, which I'll never understand,
like are you just showing up? And like okay, it's
a chase scene with in Indiana Jones and a bunch
of white dancing around me, Like yeah.
Speaker 25 (29:03):
Right, well, you know, you know, of course I've always
been into film, you know, and like even right now,
you know.
Speaker 17 (29:11):
My future project that I'm working on now I'll tell
you about that in a minute.
Speaker 25 (29:15):
But because I was in the film earlier in my life,
I was able to when videos came along, I could
process everything that's happened.
Speaker 17 (29:22):
Because most of our songs was like a storyboard. And
you mentioned Misled, it was about you know, it was
basically Caalice's.
Speaker 25 (29:30):
Life story, part of his life story, and my my input,
and it was the metaphor of the white dancer was
like she was like the cocaine that people were taking,
you know, misleading, looking beautiful and everything and taking you
down that rabbit hole, you know, and my nephew who
(29:51):
played me as a young kid, Yeah, that was my nephew, yeah,
you know. And so to bring that part, and that
was the the book and the special effects. So and
then the one thing that happened on that video is
that we said, how are we going to get the
band in? And I wrote most of that concept and
I said, well, you guys are going to be you know,
(30:13):
incognito as well. And it's a dream state. So that's
why you know, that happened. And when we came at
the end and they were like j T, we got
to go, man, we got a gig to do.
Speaker 17 (30:24):
They were in the dream and that's when they turned around.
Speaker 25 (30:26):
So Michael definitely influenced that as far as the video
because remember MTV.
Speaker 17 (30:32):
Wasn't playing us, and Michael turned that around.
Speaker 25 (30:36):
So that's when the whole video thing for black artists
started kicking in. And we knew that Michael had raised
the bar. So we had to raise the bar because
if you remember, on most of the charts, if we
knew Michael was coming, we had to get our position first,
you know, because came you know, we're going to knock
you out a number one, but being there in the
(30:58):
top five, top ten, that means in the stores your
music was right there along inside his and it would
help your sales. Yeah, all of that the video world
actually helped me with the project I'm doing.
Speaker 17 (31:12):
Now and what my future is going to be.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Got it at the time. Do you guys get invited
to do band aid? Like, do you have any ankling
of the clue what you guys walked into?
Speaker 17 (31:25):
No, because we were on tour again.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
I just had a night off in London.
Speaker 17 (31:31):
We were actually just I don't know if we I
think we did have a night off.
Speaker 25 (31:34):
But the thing that bothered me was that they had mentioned,
I think on the news of something that you know,
it was all of these big stars there and when
we got there, there was no cameras and I remember
telling DT, I said, you know, with the press, man,
I'll be you all people telling about the press and
we walked in. No one said, you know, okay, JT,
(31:58):
you're going to be doing this and it's going to
be and that we kind of just walked in the
studio and there was everybody was just sitting around the
room and and Phil Collins and and Geldolph and they
were behind the board and they just kind of waved
and you know, and later on I thought somebody mentioned
that they wanted me to do the part that what
(32:21):
to Night thank God, and I didn't. And I'm glad
they didn't ask me because I would have never done that.
Bear Bono's line, thank God it's you, it's them instead
of you. I said, well, no, I would have never
sang that anyway, because that's just a little too much
for me. You know, I wouldn't thank God it's you.
You know that, that's not my vibe, you know what
(32:42):
I mean. But yeah, it was. It was awesome, man,
but we still didn't know how it was going to
come out. I just enjoyed, you know, meet and you know,
Sting and Phil, but it was it was intense.
Speaker 17 (32:55):
It was like no.
Speaker 25 (32:55):
Time to really hang out and talk about it. And
when they put us all on stands together, it was
just like, Okay, this is what we're.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Going to sing.
Speaker 17 (33:03):
We learned the song and we went through the process.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
For you, what was the best Like when you think
of like the good times or whatever, like places you played,
or even people you met or people that you never
thought you meet, what's a career highlight for you of
something like like, wow, I can't believe this happened.
Speaker 17 (33:25):
There's many, okay, But.
Speaker 25 (33:28):
I think going to Africa for the first time was
monumental because I remember when we were at House of
Music once and this was doing a part type and
this agent came to the studio and asked us to play.
(33:51):
And that's when everybody was refusing to play some city.
Speaker 17 (33:53):
It was part of.
Speaker 25 (33:54):
Our protests, and I remember looking at this guy almost
tearing up that how could he have the nerve to
come here and ask us to perform there, knowing the
atrocities that were going on, right And I remember we
got a silver record I think from South Africa, and
(34:19):
when we got it, I said, I refuse to hang
this up in my house until Mandela is freed, and
I put it in the closet, and when he was freed,
I took it out and celebrated that. But I think
going to Liberia and then learning about.
Speaker 17 (34:39):
The slave quarters and where our people.
Speaker 25 (34:43):
Were brought from the shores and things like that, the
Ivory Coast up and down, you know, And I'd always
felt like I didn't want to take money out of there,
like like I because it wasn't really built up as
much like Ghana right like it is now, you know,
And I just didn't understand what I understood. But I
(35:04):
didn't feel good about doing a concert and taking money
from a place that we should have just left it there,
you know.
Speaker 17 (35:14):
But I think Africa was. It's still to this day,
the feeling I get that touches my heart most.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
One. Congratulations on getting in the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 17 (35:29):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Were you surprised or were you actively hoping for this?
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Well?
Speaker 17 (35:35):
You know, I tell the story.
Speaker 25 (35:36):
I said, it's when I think back to being at thirteen,
you never think about it. You never think about any accolades,
at least I did.
Speaker 17 (35:45):
My whole thing was just a love for music, man.
Speaker 25 (35:48):
And you know, when they told us about the rock
of course, I called all my family and I think
they announced it on the American Idol or something like that,
and we were all sitting around watching waiting for it
to come on. When they said bam, cool in the gang,
my phone jumping off the hook, people talking about how
can I get there?
Speaker 17 (36:06):
I want to come.
Speaker 25 (36:08):
We had a lot of family there, but it was
just a culmination of all of the years of the sweat,
being away from my family, having my family there and
enjoying some of it, coming into cooling the gang and
then leaving the group. And also, you know, I brought
(36:28):
everything from Hackensack High School to you know, the bands
I was in to you know, Jersey City.
Speaker 17 (36:36):
Anybody that I met along the way were a part
of it.
Speaker 25 (36:39):
And that's including you, your group, the Philly Sound, motown Son,
you know anything.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
It was like I was.
Speaker 17 (36:48):
It was like I was bringing all.
Speaker 25 (36:49):
Of you with me, you know, and then of course,
you know, to find out that you were going to
be with me, I'm.
Speaker 17 (36:55):
Like, oh man, this is too good to be true,
you know.
Speaker 25 (36:58):
So you know when I walked up and met you,
you know, like yo, right in the middle of playing Yo, man,
what's up?
Speaker 17 (37:04):
And I got a good picture. I want to say
to you about that too.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
But I was nervous, man, and like, you know, well
you were nervous.
Speaker 17 (37:10):
Come on, man, you were smacking.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Na I mean, but just you the only legendary illuminaria like.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
My life soundcheck track that I haven't met yet, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 17 (37:21):
So, yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
In the cool and.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Gang adjacent universe, there's Leeroy Burgess. Last month, Fonte cited
this twenty twenty three to two part of Conversation that's
one of the most underrated episodes of QLs. We were
delighted to have Lee Roy with us, and he.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Gave us the kind of history that you can't find.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
In a Wikipedia page, while we got the chance to
celebrate his career. Let's listen in as he tells us
about a musical bloodline that is truly mind blowing. You know,
I told, like some of my friends and luminaries and
music heads that you were coming on the show. I
(38:04):
have to say, you're probably the most connected human being
I know, because the first response that every music head
tells me when I'm like, yo, we're about to get
him on the show, they tell me like, Yo, you
know he's related to Tom Bell, right, Yo?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
You know he's related to Archie Bell, right, Yo? You
know he's related to how many the bells bells?
Speaker 3 (38:27):
So you're trying to tell me that Tom and Robert
and Ronald of Cool and Gang and Al Bell.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Of Stacks and Archie Bell of that you're all related?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (38:39):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
How come no one has? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (38:45):
I don't know. Listen, you do well.
Speaker 13 (38:50):
With that Patty LaBelle No, no, right, I thought Patty
was the strength.
Speaker 26 (39:02):
But Ricky Bell Ricky Yes, Okay, we are all the
descendants of an enslaved individual named Prince Bell from the
eighteen twenties and eighteen you know, eighteen sixties, seventies or
(39:22):
something like that.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
Prince Belle had a total of three wives. With each
of his wedding unions, he made a bunch of kids, right,
those kids became my grandparents and my mom and my
dad and the same as two full Tom Bell or
the Bell Brothers from Cooon, the Gang, Jerry Bell from
(39:47):
the Dads band Bell Al Bell, Ricky Bell from Bell
Bidevaux Tom.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I was only playing that's real, goddamn.
Speaker 7 (40:00):
Outside of the Bell family or Judge Mathis, Greg Mathis
is a cousin, and the actor Richard browntree Is, all
of us are descendants of Prince Bell.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
I also heard Betty Right as well.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
Betty Right.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
I met Betty Right and.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Are we relatedly working?
Speaker 9 (40:20):
Right?
Speaker 6 (40:21):
We all?
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Well?
Speaker 7 (40:22):
I believe that I believe that I'm related to everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
In the world. I mean, well, I see why that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Yeah, So shout out to our fire burges who also
I mean you know fire right.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Uh yeah, yeah, player absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Absolutely fire urges who definitely want this episode to happen
while you are connected to everyone, right.
Speaker 7 (40:46):
So when I think about where, you know, was it
I predestined to enter the music industry, I'm kind of
leaning towards feeling like that because there's so many loom
nerves in my family that are not just in entertainment
(41:06):
but in music specifically, who have made a definitive monk
on the industry as a whole. So I'm just bringing
up the.
Speaker 9 (41:17):
Rear Common's Bell thing might be real too.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'm just saying it was predetermined, like your your future
was everyone in your family has singing talent, and it's
push the envelope.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
That's crazy.
Speaker 9 (41:31):
Can I just ask who found who first? Like when
did y'all know that this was the story behind your family?
Speaker 7 (41:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Tom Bell.
Speaker 7 (41:39):
Back in my when.
Speaker 9 (41:40):
I was very very Alexander.
Speaker 7 (41:44):
Four, five and six and stuff like that, he used
to come to the family picnics down that we used
to have down in Jamesburg, New Judge. We still have
him in the same place every year. He used to
come and I used to follow him around like a
little pubblic dog. Right, because he was always talking music.
That's that was then he stopped coming right fairt forward
(42:07):
to about nineteen somewhere in the nineteen nineties, the Bell
the South Jersey Bell Picnic couldn't happen, So the North
Jersey Bell the Bell Aiken's Picnic happened, and my mother
traveled to that because I was on the road. Right,
That's where my mother met Cool's Cool and Robert and
(42:30):
Ronald and Ali and Kevin's mother and she was son
sings my son's things in the music. Also my son Hell,
who's your son Black Habby? Who's jo son Coonigan?
Speaker 27 (42:42):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (42:43):
We need to do right?
Speaker 2 (42:45):
So wow.
Speaker 7 (42:46):
So that's how they And then a wonderful cousin of
mine that I didn't know, I met her on Facebook.
Her name is Geneva Norman Right, and she asked she
was a cousin and she relaid, and then she presented
me with a document, the Bell family history, going all
(43:08):
the way back to Prince Belle right, and it contained
every single everybody in the whole family, including all my brothers,
all my siblings, all my cousins, all you know. It
was just really a definitive document, sixteen page document that
(43:28):
told me who everybody was and where everybody was, and
so forth and so on. So as I proceeded through
life after finding that out. The last one that I
met officially was Betty She was called to the look.
When she was called to her ascension, I met on
(43:50):
the National R and B Music Society was giving her
a Lifetime Achievement award, and I was, you know, I
was at president at that awards presentation, and I walked
over to her after she got the award and I said, congratulations.
Was right by the way, I'm a descendant of Prince Bell.
(44:16):
And she jumped up and said cousin and and and
and so you know, things like that. That's been my
life to to uh with Jerry Bell from dazz Man
and formerly of new Birth. He was the lead thing
of new Birth.
Speaker 16 (44:34):
Uh.
Speaker 28 (44:35):
Yes, I performed with new Birth, and I believe didn't
didn't He eventually join Cool in the Gang in eighty
seven when JT left.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Jerry Bell was the one that sing led her web.
Speaker 11 (44:50):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
He Oh. That explains it. That explains it.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
That is what yo, Because you don't understand when they
made an album nineteen eighty seven or eighty eight, and
you know Jat had left the group and they did
an appearance on Soul Train and Don was trying to
put two and two together, like, wait, where I know
(45:18):
you from?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Where I know you from? He said, Oh, man, Dad's
been and that is wow. Okay they're cousins.
Speaker 28 (45:29):
Yeah, that is crazy all right.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
So in twenty twenty one, we also had Stephanie Mills
on the show. Stephanie Dinomant's words when it came to
her opinions on things, but she did with a love
and care for the music, especially her peers. And you know,
Team Supreme showered Stephanie love and she gave it right back,
and there's a clip reflective of that energy.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Makes sense of what's happening today at all?
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Or is it just like R and B.
Speaker 20 (46:05):
Well, I think that they've just kind of like killed
dur and B. They're trying to but we're trying to
hold on to it as you know. No, I think
it's very easy for people today to become pop stars
and they use the word legends and icons and things
very loosely, and I think that's why a lot of
(46:29):
people can't sing live. I mean a lot of shows
are taped a lot of shows you'd be surprised. I've
been on the road with quite a few artists, and
mostly predominantly all their whole show is taped. Yeah so,
but I come from theater, you know, And I'm so glad.
I'm so thankful every day that, you know, I've learned
(46:51):
how to sing, whether I can hit that note that night,
or point to my background singer and hit it. But
what I do before I go on the road. Does
I sing all my songs every day so that I
can sound somewhat like I sounded, you know, and and
and people won't be scared to hear me. I do
sing every day because I just love to sing. But
(47:12):
today's music, I don't think any of today's music you'll
hear five and ten, fifteen years from now, like you
do Stevie and Aretha and and and the people from
the seventies and eighties. I don't think that you'll hear
this music today.
Speaker 7 (47:30):
Not one y'all don't.
Speaker 9 (47:31):
I'm trying to think in my head like you. I'm sorry,
I was trying to argue that fact, but okay.
Speaker 14 (47:37):
I don't do.
Speaker 9 (47:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 20 (47:38):
I mean, I love Jasmine Sullivan, but I feel I
love her as a vocalist, Deborah Cox. I think it's
a brilliant vocalists.
Speaker 6 (47:50):
And.
Speaker 9 (47:52):
But that's still not in this in the next to
ten years, in this last years.
Speaker 14 (47:56):
That's not that's not like immediate.
Speaker 20 (47:59):
Like do you think that we'll hear Cardi b stuffed ten.
Speaker 14 (48:02):
To fifteen years from them?
Speaker 18 (48:03):
No?
Speaker 14 (48:03):
Man, So you know that. And that's not to take
away from anybody.
Speaker 20 (48:10):
I'm not because I don't knock anybody's hustling, But I
just don't think that you know, their music is gonna
last ten to fifteen years.
Speaker 12 (48:18):
For me, Miss Stephan, I was gonna ask, so with
your jam with hip hop? When hip hop, you know,
kind of came into the just into the industry. You know,
every episode of Unsung they all have the same story.
It's like they they were doing great and then rap
it was over.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
You know what I'm saying. How what was it like
for you?
Speaker 12 (48:41):
You know what I'm saying when you saw the industry
kind of starting to shift and you saw what hip
hop was becoming.
Speaker 2 (48:47):
What was that like for you? And what was your
relationship to hip hop? If any I didn't have.
Speaker 14 (48:52):
A relationship with hip hop, but I enjoyed it.
Speaker 10 (48:56):
I mean I I don't know.
Speaker 20 (48:58):
I guess some different because I just I just keep
doing me. I just kept doing what I did. I
didn't try to change and try to adapt, you know,
I just I just kept doing another version of me
whatever that. You know, just keep doing another version of me.
I love hip hop, you know I I would. I
Oh my Christmas album I rapped, I wrapped the Red.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
Bars, you know, Yes, I don't know.
Speaker 20 (49:29):
I just I you know, everybody has their thing to do,
and I think, you know, hey, you just keep on
going and to come back around.
Speaker 9 (49:37):
I've seen it, but it didn't bother you like the
Unsung bother me.
Speaker 20 (49:42):
No, I didn't freak out about it now because I could.
Speaker 14 (49:45):
Always go and do theater. I can do other things.
Speaker 20 (49:48):
So I didn't.
Speaker 7 (49:49):
I didn't like.
Speaker 20 (49:50):
Oh god, no, I didn't want anymore anyway.
Speaker 9 (49:55):
If there was a show, what would the show? Is
there a show you have in mind that you would
love to do as far as the theater, Yes.
Speaker 20 (50:02):
Melbourne and I are going to do Run.
Speaker 14 (50:04):
It's a woman show.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Make it happen.
Speaker 14 (50:07):
We're writing it now.
Speaker 9 (50:09):
Oh yes, I'm here.
Speaker 14 (50:10):
We're here for that.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
We're writing.
Speaker 20 (50:14):
Melbourne is just wonderful on stage. We did a We
did a show called up If Your Hat to Talk,
and it was just wonderful being on stage with her.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
I can't wait.
Speaker 20 (50:24):
Talk recently and that she was like, let's work together.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
I said, let's do it.
Speaker 14 (50:28):
We found a writer.
Speaker 20 (50:29):
So they're writing it now.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Oh it's good.
Speaker 17 (50:32):
Get my ears ready?
Speaker 3 (50:33):
Okay, since I wasn't going to ask the question, but
I mine as well. Have you heard back from Sam
Smith back at him?
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Oh? Holy forgot about that. She's the she brought smoke.
Speaker 10 (50:51):
I love.
Speaker 20 (50:54):
You know what it is? This is really what it is.
Speaker 6 (50:56):
Talk about it.
Speaker 20 (50:57):
People don't really know my personality because I've always just
been a singer and on Broadway. But I'm really just
a hood girl from Brooklyn, you know what I'm saying.
I'm really just that that girl. And I love Michael.
He's not here to take care of herself and I
to speak up for herself. And I get tired of
people who I know have copied sounds. I mean, Sam
(51:21):
Smith is nothing but Sylvester all over. So you know,
when you say you don't like our music, how can
you say that? So I really had to. I felt
like I have to say something. And my manager's always
like Okay, I'm gonna let you say this, but you
(51:42):
gotta say it like this, because sometimes I just think
people need to back off.
Speaker 9 (51:48):
I don't like when they're they need an education.
Speaker 20 (51:50):
And they need an education, they need it. And I
don't think people should say things about people and they're
not here to defend themselves. I mean, if you wanted to.
It's just like when fifty he was talking about Michael
and you know, and then his daughter said, please don't
talk about my father, and then fifty wanted to, you know, go,
she's a child, you know so I kind of I said,
(52:12):
why don't you talk to me? I'm more your speed,
I'm older, you know. So I just I just don't
like when people are bullies.
Speaker 14 (52:19):
I don't like bullies.
Speaker 18 (52:21):
I don't.
Speaker 9 (52:21):
There you go, Stephanie Miles. I'm telling you, Stephie Mills
deon word they said in Twitter on fire.
Speaker 20 (52:28):
Okay, he doesn't play, Leon does not play.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
And you know who didn't.
Speaker 14 (52:34):
Play, Aretha?
Speaker 20 (52:35):
Aretha didn't play.
Speaker 17 (52:36):
She didn't really.
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Oh now what was she like? Did you y'all have
worked together and anything or were y'all just colleagues.
Speaker 20 (52:43):
I lived in Detroit for a couple of years. And
she used to come. I did a play there and
she used to come and see me, and towards the
end of her life we would talk. I talked to
her about two months before she passed away, and she
told me a lot of things about Motown and how
Barry started it and how his sister was involved and
(53:05):
a father, and it's a conversation I could never talk about.
But I Lovedaretha. But Aretha took no prisoners.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
When I tell you, she didn't, she didn't.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
Yeah, So I you know, I guess in closing, I
would just like to know from this journey you had, like,
what is your in her career with so many highlights
in it, what is your like, your your favorite what
means the most to you of your entire journey, your
creative journey.
Speaker 20 (53:38):
That I'm still here, That I didn't get on drugs.
I didn't, you know, because I think about Whitney, and
I think about Michael, and I think about Prince, I
think about Gerald and so many times as artists, we
have so much pressure and wait on us that just
(54:00):
destroys us. And people don't really understand sometimes what an
artist is going through. So I think that I'm still here,
and somewhat my right mind, and that I enjoyed it.
I'm able to enjoy it and sit back and relax
and just enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
All right.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
Yeah, compliments are important, I know, learning how to take it.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
When we have Bernardette Cooper or on QLs.
Speaker 4 (54:26):
The singer from Climax, and that conversation seems supreme.
Speaker 3 (54:30):
And I pointed out how Bernadette's style and persona or
it was kind of a precursor to hip hop, name dropping,
design of.
Speaker 4 (54:38):
Brands, confidence, etc.
Speaker 6 (54:39):
Etc.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
It was great to share with them. This was a
different way of giving flowers.
Speaker 29 (54:44):
I felt, right, if you really look at the character
that you built, I mean, it's so it's such a
precursor to what hip hop became ten years later. You
are probably the first person I ever heard name drop
(55:04):
like Versace. Yeah, names I never heard of before that
rappers would start just I became their birthright ten years later.
Speaker 27 (55:13):
And in Tiva, In Tiva, I was fearless. You have
to understand she and I was and I was in
and I was in too close and they started sending
me close and I just kind of like, I just
kind of spoke my mind.
Speaker 14 (55:32):
I wish I really allowed myself to have, you.
Speaker 27 (55:35):
Know, now you have to be a little bit more
resolved because everybody is so sensitive and the things that
you say.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
You know, but that's what age was for, so you
don't have to do you know.
Speaker 27 (55:45):
You know, I even think about it, you know, I
even think about my demographics, what they want to hear
from me, you know, they you know, and I don't
want to continue and be a caricature of my old self.
Speaker 14 (55:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
I was going to say, do you get tired of
having to turn it on in a snap like other
days where you just wish like you never had to
invent that character too?
Speaker 14 (56:08):
You know, I'm naturally a.
Speaker 27 (56:12):
Comedian, so I'm always that comes very easy from me.
The character is easy. The character is more easier than
me being myself.
Speaker 6 (56:20):
You know.
Speaker 27 (56:21):
Yeah, I could bring the character, and I'm much more
comfortable on stage than I am anywhere, you know, so
I don't struggle with it at all.
Speaker 14 (56:30):
I don't struggle with it.
Speaker 27 (56:31):
I'm working on now in the product that you hear
me putting out is kind of the evolution of Bernadette
Cooper and me who has evolved into the woman and
kind of like slowing down a little bit so that
I can perform my songs way until you know, I
get older and older, my songs will be able to
(56:52):
And I wish I could do a song on an
album on Janet Jackson because I think she would be
good at doing that so she doesn't have to get
up and do realthm nation and then all of those things.
Speaker 14 (57:02):
That's a lot to be dancing and all that.
Speaker 27 (57:05):
You know, now's the time to kind of slow it
down and go into the new you and your and
your demographics will follow because they they're there too.
Speaker 14 (57:13):
They're there too. There's a tram age, you know.
Speaker 27 (57:16):
So that's what I'm doing right now with the projects
that I'm that I'm working on.
Speaker 3 (57:22):
Thank you for listening in good people, and we have
more Maine Flowers on QLs dropping next week.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. For
more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Laiya St. Clair
Questlove
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