INTERVIEW: Donnie Simpson On Radio's Impact, Frankie Beverly, Studio Time With Prince, Marvin Gaye + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 3 (01:00):
Program your alarm to power one O five point one
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Speaker 1 (01:04):
Morning, Everybody's DJ n V Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne, the Guy,
We Are the Breakfast Club long the Roses here as well,
and we got a special guest.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
In the building icon the Legend.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
It wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here today, Media Royalty.
That is right, ladies and gentlemen, we have the legend
Donnie Simpson.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Wow, thank you, thank you, think good morning, good morning,
Thank you for that. Man. I feel like a million
dollars and some change.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
In the nineties.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
That in a while bro Ban in a while man,
season two of The Donnie Simpson Show. Yes, sir, it's
a podcast, and I mean you've seen all forms of
media throughout the years.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
What about podcasting?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Do you like that I own it?

Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
You know, that's what it's about for me at this point. Man.
You know, I've always felt that I was a hired smile,
you know, and I did well. I'm not going plaining
about it, man, you know it was great, but nothing
like owning you.

Speaker 5 (02:05):
You know.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I want to own me at this point, and that's
what this allows me. Man.

Speaker 6 (02:09):
What has been the new things you're learning as you're
owning you and you're not just the higher smile You're
handling everything.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's hard. It's hard. It's hard, you know, it's a
lot easy to walk in and have somebody hand you
a check for what you do. But when you got
to make all the calls, man, and you know, all
the disappointments that happened in business, it's hard. But you know,
I've been blessed. I have as a mentor Bob Johnson,

(02:37):
you know, the world's first black billionaire. That's my boy, man,
that's you know. And so Bob has been with me
every step of the way, man, helping me, you know,
run into walls that Bob you need to do this.
You know, he's just he's so brilliant, man. Bob's he's
just fascinating guy. Man. It's like, I don't care what
you ask Bob about. He's already thought about it.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah, Bob don't get enough credit. You know, we interviewed
Bob via zoom. But you know I've had this say,
I've had that pleasure to it being able to reach
out to Bob and just ask, yeah, advice. It's like,
why wouldn't you ask America's first black billionaire advice, especially
about media?

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Right right? No question, he knows it.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
Man.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
I want to go back if you don't mind, because
a lot of people know Donnie Simpson for so many
different things, right, some people just know him from radio,
some people know him from television, some people know him
for back in the day radio. So I want to
get the start, Detroit. What got you into this thing
called radio?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Man? I my mother owned a record shop from the
time I was twelve, so I was always around music.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Because they kind of young.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
People used to come to the record shop all the time.
I had this deep voice. My voice changed between seventh
and eighth grade, which I hate it, because I used
to sit. I was the only first soprano in the choir,
so I got to sit with the girls next get
to see with the girls the next year. But people
would always come to the record shop and go say,
now you sound like a DJ. You ought to be
a DJ. And it was in one ear out the

(04:07):
other man. I wanted to be a Baptist minister. That
was my first goal in life. And but one day
my mother had a live broadcast or the local DJs.
Al Perkins came in well set up his booth out front.
They had a portable booth with the young glass incase,
and did his show from there for three hours. And

(04:28):
so he invited me into the studio to do specials.
You know, you know, we got the Temptation's Greatest hits
on sale for two ninety nine. It's hour or whatever.
But while I'm in there, man, I'm sitting there, Man,
I'm watching him, and he's got his headphones on. Man,
he's chamming to the music. Man. I was like, Man,
I could do that. I could. That's what I want

(04:48):
to do right there. I mean, it's just just light.
It was just no doubt that's what I wanted to do.
And within three months I was on the air. I
was fifteen years old, you know, in Detroit. Detroit's fifth
largest market in the country at that time. So you know,
I mean, what a blessing to get us start that young.
And I mean I couldn't even do my whole show live.
I was on from eight to midnight, and Law stated,

(05:10):
I couldn't work past ten thirty. So after school, I
have to go home, I mean, go to the station,
record my last hour and a half, then go home,
have dinner, do my homework, and go back and go
live from eight to ten thirty, put the tape on
and leave.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
What were you talking about at age fifteen in Detroit
when this is when what Temptations and all love and singing?
What were you talking about at fifteen in Detroit?

Speaker 2 (05:36):
The Temptations, the Miracles, it's four tops, I mean nineteen
sixty nine Detroit, right. But you know I would I've
always loved music, so I would go into a smoky set,
right or I remember this happened with Smokey and Stevie.

(05:56):
I played four or five songs by them. They would
call on the quest line. They don't even have a
hotline number, just call, man. I was listening to you, baby,
you know, talk to Smokey, talk to Stevie. Man. It
was just it was magical Detroit at that time, right there. Yeah,
it was right there.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
You were in the heart of it.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Was in the heart of it. And you pick the
records you play back then. I've always done that always.
Well that was you know, that was a norm back then.
Of course, now you know nobody gets that privilege. But
my whole career, I'm proud of that. I always had
total control of what happened on my show. Man. I
wouldn't have done it any other way, you know, because

(06:35):
you know, I'm not a bit It was never a
bit driven show. You know, it was for me, everything
was it was the music I was. That was the
main focus for me. So I had to have control
of it or I wouldn't do it.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
And how did you get to d C because most people,
a lot of people thought you were from DC.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah? No, how did you get from DC?

Speaker 7 (06:53):
So your radio and Detroit?

Speaker 1 (06:55):
You're fifteen, your radio career starts. Yeah, And how does
this this young individual get out the way?

Speaker 4 (07:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well I got a call one night on the air
on the request line, and this guy's sound a very
official voice. Hello is this Donnie Simpson? I go, yeah,
this is Bob Hennaberry from NBC in New York, and
we'd like to talk to you about working at one
of our stations. At our station in Washington, I said,
come on, man, who the hell is this really? Because
your boys would play tricks like that going and then

(07:22):
they hear you get all official and then they go,
oh man, it's called man. What you doing after the
show tonight? You don't, but it was real, and so
I went there to meet with him. At first I
didn't want to go because it was a disco station,
and I said, no way I would do that. But
then my oldest brother who's had a very smart business mind.
I always wish I had his business mind. But he said,

(07:45):
you always have to talk. Whatever they offer is you
just you have to listen. So I went. They picked
me up, took me on an interview at Arlington Cemetery.
It's like, is this Washington, DC or not? I mean,
why is clandestine at the cemetery? It just was weird.
But I ended up going because when I went there,

(08:07):
they were playing the Enchantment and some stuff other than
just disco and uh. But you know, I felt like
it was opportunity for me that it was NBC, that
the station I was at Detroit, we were their biggest
station in their chain, that you had opportunity for growth there,
and they were gonna make me rich. Man, I left
Detroit making thirteen thousand. They were paying me twenty seventy five.

(08:29):
Baby what.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
The first car? Boy?

Speaker 2 (08:35):
But well, let me first car. First car I ever
bought was in nineteen sixty four to Ford fair Lane
two hundred and twenty five dollars. Man, I burned so
much oil mapple in the gas station, telling them fill
up the oil and check the gas. But I thought

(08:55):
I was rich when I moved there. With that money, man.
But I was broke as hell, man, I mean very
because I didn't factor in cost of living from Detroit
to d C. It was like three times more. And
I lost my side hustle because it wasn't popular. So
you know, so I didn't you know, you're not doing
the concerts and all that stuff. I didn't think about
all that, man. Man, it was tight four a minute.

(09:16):
And for me, Man, the moment that I remember most
from that is I had a set of pictures. Back
then you had to get pictures developed, and it was
twenty six dollars man, and I couldn't afford to get
him out of the shop. And he kept sending me notices. Man,
it was the last pictures of my grandfather. Man, and
that you know, we're going to destroy him. You got

(09:38):
three months, finally got enough money. Man, it was too late,
You're gone.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
Wow. You know.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
So that was always a motivating factor for me. It
still is, man, that I don't ever want to be
in that position again, you know, But it was that
kind of tight for me.

Speaker 5 (09:51):
For me, I'm sorry, go ahead, yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
No, I said four minutes. But you know that was
seventy seven when I moved to DC, and by night
the end of seventy nine started, things just started to really,
really really pop. For me.

Speaker 6 (10:03):
I was just wondering what you did in that time
between when that was happening before things started to pop again,
because there wasn't social media, so it's not like you're
posting or like whatever. So how are you building back
up your popularity in his new market that you're in
on the ground, Like, what are you doing well?

Speaker 2 (10:17):
For me? Well with that station? At first, the first
two years, first two years I was there, before I
started programming it, the station was just very It was wow.
They had a thing that instead of like ninety three
point nine, they said we want to be sophisticated. You know,
I was looking at the like some people in their house.

(10:40):
Instead of having the numbers, they have the written out
nine through nine. So that's what they became. Nine through
nine A sound as sophisticated as Washington man, get out
of here with that message. It was horrible. Station was
sixteenth place. They made me music director and eventually I

(11:01):
was gonna leave because you know, I worked under this
program director. He was a white guy, and you know,
we had these meetings because I was the music director
and I had two guys that worked under me. So
you go around the room, Donnie, what do you think
of this? You know, like I remember the classic one
for me? He plays the Rolling Stones Beast of Burden.

(11:25):
So it goes around the room to my says, Dave,
what do you think of this? Well, I think it's great.
I think it's great. John, what do you think? Oh?
I love it. I love it. Donnie, what do you think? Oh?
I love it? But we can't play that. He's like
I said, man, black people don't want to hear that,
you know. I mean, I was just always real with it,
you know. And he got tired of hearing that and
asked me for my resignation one day, and so I said, okay, cool.

(11:49):
Was that what happened? No, I just walked out. I
just walked out. I just walked out.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, I just walked out there, walked out. What you
go to the station across the street. What did you
do from there?

Speaker 4 (11:59):
No?

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Well, I just wasn't going to work for a few days.
And then the general manager called me, and uh, the
program director kept calling my house, and my wife would
take the call and said, now, well he's you know,
he's not here, and Finally, after three days of that,
the general manager called said, Donnie, will we have dinner
with me tonight? So yeah, So I sit down with dinner.
He told me, well, what's the problem. I said, Man,

(12:21):
station is terrible. We're sixteenth place. You know, we play
music that doesn't nobody can relate to. I said, it's
just awful. We're not part of the community, you know.
He said, well, what would you do? I said, well,
you know, you got to be involved, said we and
I remember what we used to do. We had a
basketball team and a baseball team. That would I know,
to be stuff like that? And so he said, will

(12:44):
you meet with me tomorrow? I said sure. He said
would you put that an outline for him? Just some
simple you can just write? And I say, yeah, I
do that. So I met with him the next day
at noon and brought my outline, brought him a I
told him, I said, man, I have argued mets with
the program director about brick House the Commodo Ores, which

(13:05):
he tells me is a ballot. I'm telling you, man,
the biggest dance record of the year. He's a ballot.
How can you How can I even have a conversation
with somebody that thinks like that. Man.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
He didn't like the content at the time.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
He thought it was a ballot. So I put together
a cassette tape that's recording old and told him why
you know these songs are here because of this is
this is the way it should flow, you know, and
gave my outline. He sat there, looked at him, and
he said, okay, will you implement this? H I was like,

(13:44):
what do you mean? He says, I want to make
you program director.

Speaker 4 (13:47):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
It had never crossed my mind that that's when he
was where he was going. I never wanted to be
a program director, you know. So I thought about it
for all of two minutes. Man, I said, you know
what I can do better than this. Let's go. Man.
He fired the PD. By three o'clock hour was the
program director. And that was one of the greatest days

(14:08):
ever man, to go into that studio. This is out,
this is out, put this in who and in nine months, man,
we weren't from sixteenth to number one. Wow, in nine months, man,
just it was gone, man, you know. And then I
would go to these conventions, man, where you got all
these whiz kid white programmers, you know, and they all
got two shares. But I'm sitting in the audience listening

(14:30):
to them. I don't know nothing, and we got a
ten shit.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
People.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Absolutely, Man, that's it right there, Charla Man. You know,
I remember one of the stations did this big research project.
Man said, Man, we spent sixty five thousand dollars the
research music. Man. Guess what showed up as the number
one song with our audience? I said, Marvin Gay, let's
get them all. How'd you know that?

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Because you are we all know that hoody right now?
Right bar there you go, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (15:05):
Did that previous program director have and he smoked for
you on the way out?

Speaker 8 (15:09):
I didn't know, okay, because you said you was a
program director by three o'clock.

Speaker 5 (15:13):
Yeah, he was waiting for you about two forty five.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
No, he was, he was gone. They let him go
before I came in, you know, and we made that transition.
But it was you know, it's just been a remarkable
career for me, you know, it really has. I'm just
really blessed, man. I just feel like God's been with
me every step of the way.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
Was there a mentor who gave you like a piece
of advice that still guide you today.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Wow. Well I'll give you this and it's from well,
my greatest mentor and the greatest advice I ever got
from anyone, and that's my mom. And my mom told
me something, man, that helps me in all situations, contract, negotiations,
and just in life in general. And she said, Baby,

(15:58):
when the time is right, the Lord will let you know,
because there will be no question. And it's true. When
you get in hard times, man, and you don't know
which way to go, you're trying to figure out what's
right for you. What you know, Man, I know it's hard,
but that time comes eventually, when it's crystal clear what

(16:20):
you are to do. It always comes, you know. It's similar.
But Frankie Beverly once told me some I mean, it
was personal stuff I was going through, man, thirty years ago,
and Frankie said, Man, Donnie, don't worry about it. Man.
Life always works itself out. It has no choice, and
it doesn't it has no choice. It always works itself out,

(16:44):
you know it does.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
I feel like I'm glad you brought up mister Beverly.
I feel like his passing I don't feel like he
got celebrated.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
The way, Yeah should Yeah, why do you think that is?

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Well? You know, I think Black America is celebrating him
like he should to a great degree. White America just
kind of never really gravitated to them, right, they didn't.
You know. First time I had Frankie on video soul Man,
we became instant boys. I mean, that was my man.
And but after the show, we were in the green

(17:17):
room talking and he was telling me. He says, Man,
we're going to London in two weeks. You know, we're
bigger than the Beatles in London. Was like, yeah, right,
he said, no, I'm serious, Man, you should come see.
I said, okay, let's go. So I went. Man, it
was amazing. It was the complete opposite of America. The audience,

(17:39):
who is ninety percent white. Everywhere I went. All you
heard on the radio stations was Frankie, Beverly and Mays
all day. Twice while I'm in the stores, white guy comes.
I don't even know him, he doesn't know me, just
walks it going to see Maze tonight. Got my ticket. Wow,

(18:00):
it was crazy. He played the Hammersmith odeon forty five
hundred seats. The Beatles had the record for fourteen sold
out nights Frankie did seventeen wo So it's amazing how
it can change from one culture to another. You know
how Frankie was so loved in these in this other

(18:20):
market in London like that, and I just always wish
it was like that for him here, you know. And
we had this conversation one night just hear one more thing,
just we were talking about. I was saying to Frankie.
I said, to a great degree, me and you are
similar in this way that we have this. Black folks
in America they know you, they love you. White folks

(18:44):
they don't really know you. I said, Frankie, I would
never speak for you, but I think I would on this.
I think you would feel the same way that I do.
That I would love to have everybody else. But man,
I can dive totally happy that I just had this.
That's what's important to me. That my people feel this

(19:05):
way about me is bigger than the rest. Man, That's
nothing's bigger than that for me. Frankie said, Man, one
thousand percent, when.

Speaker 6 (19:12):
You were in it and you were doing what you
were doing with video, So did you feel you felt
that all the time at the support from your people.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh, without doubt.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Well, before well, how did you get to video? So
break that down before you jump into.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Okay, Well, I was doing radio in Detroit in DC.
WKYS was my station at that time. It was owned
by NBC. They're trying to sweeten the pot for me,
so they started they gave me television locally there. I
did backup sports. I was a sportscaster for George Michael.
I don't know if y'all remember him, but George Michael

(19:44):
did the George Michael Sports Machine, which is people considered
the precursor to ESPN. And so I was George's backup
for about three years. And but Bob Johnson had seen
me doing TV. He knew, of course, of my music
interests and law, and they were starting up this show
called Video Soul, and he wanted to know if I.
He called and wanted to know if I would be

(20:06):
interested in doing it, And at first I wasn't well
because I've always felt that I was always very careful
about what I got involved in because I only have
one thing to sell, this image. I can't give you
twenty rebounds a night. You know, it's just image, and

(20:27):
so you have to be very protective of that and
I only got involved in things that were top shelf
be et in its infancy. Wasn't a very pretty baby, No,
it wasn't. It looked like access to public access TV.
You know. So after two days of thinking about it,
it came down to this for me, that this is
our first black television network. If you have something to

(20:51):
offer it, you gotta do it. Let's go. And I
was so glad I did, man, you know, I mean,
I had no idea that would go as far as
it did. I honestly only thought the show would last
eight or nine months because we didn't have the titles
for videos that the white artists had. We had like
twenty videos. You know, record companies didn't give black artists

(21:16):
budgets like that, and so but man, that thing just
blew up. Man. We went from one and that we
were in one and a half million homes when I
first joined it, and when I left, it was numbers
like forty forty million, you know, and you know, and
then for me, it gave me, you know, it put
you in every nook and cranny of this country. Man.

(21:39):
Just you know, I'm just grateful for that. I'm just
so glad that I did that.

Speaker 5 (21:43):
You know, i'd asked did you feel the support at first?

Speaker 6 (21:47):
And the reason why with from your people for real,
because from the outside looking in, it does feel like that.
But I know a lot of times people celebrate people
and things after the fact, and being here at the
Breakfast Club and coming from a non black outlet always
say that. I feel like people don't appreciate the Breakfast
Club the way that they should right now, and it's
unfortunate to see because you know, you've lived this in
real time and you had that support. I just think

(22:09):
that we, I mean, we do a lot, but I
think it would be the conversation around breakfast Club amongst us.
I just feel like should be different sometimes get I
think breakfast club gets the flowers. But I think on
the other hand, I don't think people understand what's happening
as it's happening.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah, I think hate coming with I mean, you got
you got both always to have people that that's something
negative to say, That's just like I.

Speaker 6 (22:29):
Just wonder what it felt like to have the support
and like how that helped you to further what you
were doing.

Speaker 5 (22:34):
Just show why.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Knocking knocking down all these women, listening to all these
you know.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Back in the day, man, bro, I was old early.
I'm telling you seriously, because we were married, me and my wife. Man,
we we were high school sweethearts. Yeah, married at nineteen,

(23:04):
had our first child one year or two days later.
We all got I mean like, I never even lived
a college life, the campus life, oh wow, you know.
I mean I went to school, but man, I had
a house with a wife and kid at home, you know,
so I never So that's why I was old early, man.
But Jimmy Javan, Terry Lewis, we always they always say

(23:24):
this that that had everything to do with my success
because you had your base set so early. Man. So
we're still hat you know, we're twenty nine, thirty years old,
still trying to look for what you got. You know,
you got it, man, You've had it for ten years
at that point, you know. So yeah, So it was
always solid like that for me. But the support of
the people of Man people have always given me mad love.

(23:49):
I'm telling you, that's all I've ever known. And it's
just the most consistent thing that I've ever experienced in life. Man.
Just the what my fan base gives me, it's just amazing. Man.

Speaker 8 (24:04):
Is that why you're still so passionate about radio today. Yeah,
casting and people hearing your voice because you've always been connected.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
To the people, always, always, you know, and it reminds me.
I said this at Frankie's funeral, frank Beverly's funeral, that
because you know how people loved him. I said, you
don't get love like that unless you give love like that.
You got to give it first, and that's why it gets.
And I think that's what people feel for me. You know,
I love people, man, I just I love people. Man.

(24:33):
They've just been good to me. You know, it really
has been all my life, you know.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
To give you a platform that became essential to black culture.
Was there a moment on Video Soul where you felt like,
this isn't just entertainment, We're documenting our culture.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
And really, no, not not when I was doing it, man.
You know, it's like to me, I think that you know,
whatever it is that you do, you're just doing it.
When you're doing it. It's it's a line in Elton
Johnsaw a rocket Man that I love so much when
he says, and all the science I don't understand is
just my job five days a week a rocket man,

(25:11):
you know, it's like I'm an astronaut. People look like, wow,
this is just an astro man. And that's just what
I do. Man, That's just my job man, you know,
And and that's why I feel like when you're doing
what you do, you know, now all these years later,
you look back because people make you look back and
see the importance of it, and uh, it's it's it's

(25:33):
it's mind blowing because I know I didn't have those
thoughts when I was doing it. Man, I was just
going to work.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
To do between this generation. Now in generation, we watched
y'all make history. Y'all didn't know y'all would make a history.
So now we understand we're in history in no time.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, you know, and y'all are, man. I mean, what
y'all doing is amazing man, you know. I mean the
platform that you have, the reach that you have. You know,
I never had that in radio and my show was
always low. It did come to me once about syndicating it,
but the problem for me was, well we go back
to music. I said, well, what happens if I'm on

(26:10):
this particular station. I know they're all slows adult contemporaries.
Just you know, it's Kim And you know what happens
when I play Tupac. Well, we covered a Tupac song.
You can talk about Tupac because everybody knows them, but
we'll cover that with a Luther song. See, you have

(26:32):
no interest in that, you know. It's the whole experience
or it's nothing.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
That's why does what she does. It doesn't change for
nobody doesn't care what market it is, what area she's whatever.
That what you get on that breakroag club is what
you're getting.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
I love that, man, That's where it should be. You know,
you want the whole experience. This is you know, what
you're presenting. This is who you are. I can't do
a moderated version of me, you know, no, you know.
And then plus for me, I felt like the only
reason to do it was for money. I was okay,
you know, well two reasons. Money and then for to

(27:08):
further your brand, you know. And it's like, man, BT
gave me that in the way radio could never give
it to me. You know, you put me in every
nook and cranny of this country. I don't need it
for that. I just I'm not going to compromise on
me on who I am.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
You talk about owning your brand and owning the podcast,
because that's very important to you. At any point, do
you think about owning your own radio station because you
were programming stations, you were making the station millions millions?

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Do you think about, you know, what I can do
this myself? Yeah, I did think about it. I mean,
we can go back a whole bunch of years where
I had conversations with people about doing that. Now not
so much. You know, a lot of local radio stations
are struggling. It's not the kind of you know, the
dollar is not the same, you know, as you know,

(27:57):
I mean that money, the advertising dollar, A lot of
it's gone to the internet, you know, And so I
don't know that I would want to do that. I see,
you know, watch how they cut staffs and stuff. Man,
It's just you know, I.

Speaker 4 (28:10):
Don't know moms and exist.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Yeah right, you gotta exactly exactly.

Speaker 7 (28:17):
Man, you talk about brand.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
You look amazing for your age right now, like you
like you in your thirties and forties.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
When your wife got to watch out, Donnie, get the flirting,
Donnie to keep trying to take me down on the road.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
Amazing. Continue.

Speaker 7 (28:42):
I'm a married man now, I got six kids.

Speaker 4 (28:44):
Don't let him play with you.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
But what I was, what I was saying, you know,
did you focus on brand to make sure, Like I.

Speaker 7 (28:49):
Gotta stay in shape, I gotta eat right.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
I gotta make sure because you look at a lot
of people, they get older, they get bigger, Yeah, got
of shape, they look bad.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
Was that part of the brand, like I gotta look
this way.

Speaker 2 (28:59):
For well yeah, But more importantly, it's just a lifestyle.
It's like important for me to live, you know that
I want to be healthy. One of my best friends
in Detroit, my best friend period, really was a guy
named Lim Barney. Lim was a cornerback for the Detroit
Lions Hall of Fame. Man, look him up. Man, dude

(29:20):
was a beast, man, I mean amazing. And I used
to work out with Lim. You know, I remember getting
ready for camp with him, and man, I just I
learned discipline from Lim, you know, just to stay in shape, man,
to give your body an hour a day or whatever.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
You know.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
And but you know, Lim also tried to talk me
into trying out for the Lions. He's like, man, he
should try out. This is the hardest part, Man, he
should try out. Man. First day of camp, I went
out there and saw them refrigerators walking around there. Man,
these boys ain't never getting their hands on me.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
You want to actually you thought of no, no, no,
I want I just wanted.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
To see but just going to camp with him, but no.
But he also Marvin Gaye was one of Lim's best friends.
As a matter of fact, it's Lim. Lim was the
first the second round pick in nineteen sixty seven for
the Detroit Lions. The first round pick was Mel far
running back. It's Mel and Lim that started off. Marvin
Gaye's what's going on? Yeah, what's happening? Brother? Yeah, like

(30:23):
solid right on. Yeah, that's them. And Marvin wanted to
be a running back. And I used see Marvin running
down the street man with his hoodie on, trying to
get in shape. And the day he was supposed to
try out, coach Rick Verzano wouldn't allow it. Said if
something happened to you out here, I could never live
it down. And Lim told me, man, Marvin went home
and cried like a baby. Man.

Speaker 4 (30:45):
He was serious about.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
Yeah, he wanted to play football.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Man. He was Marvin.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
Yeah, he was oh yeah, this is yeah, he was Marvin, Marvin,
this is after what's going on, let's get it on.

Speaker 5 (30:57):
He thought they was gonna him walk on the field.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
Hey yeah, wow, But Lim told him, He said, Man,
since I was eight, I was on the football fields
and you were on that piano. That's why you do
what you do. And I do what I do.

Speaker 3 (31:10):
Whenever I meet people who met people like Marvin gag.
You know those are like mythical figures. Does right, Yeah,
Like what type of person was Marvin?

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Man? I'll just tell you this first time I met Marvin.
I'm riding down the street with Ronnie Banks from the Dramatics, right,
and he says, man, that's Marvin Man. Let's you want
to stop and sell us? Yeah? Man, let's so we
stopped and uh get out Marvin, he says.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
Mother, who was just walking down the street.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
He's walking from his car to his house. Yeah, and
uh he says. Uh So Ronnie says, hey, Marvin, this
is Donnie Simpson. Man. He works on w j l
B at night. He says, yeah, Man, I know I
listened to him every night. Man. I said, wow, wow,
how cool is that? And uh so Marvin invites me
to the studio with him, and he says, hey, man,
let me give you my number. Call me tomorrow morning

(31:55):
before you come, because I'll get up in the morning
and decide to climb Ount Everest and I'll be gone.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
You know.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
And it just I've never forgot that. It was just
he was you know, some people try to say stuff
like they're trying to come off eccentric. He's just telling you, dude,
this is who I am. Man. I get up in
the morning, I'll be doing something else and I'm gone.
But I went into the studio with him that night, man,
and it was just magical, man, for me to four

(32:24):
people that just blowed me away, that I got a
chance to spend time in a studio with Marvin Prince,
sly In, Stevie. Just what what an experience, man, for
somebody who loves music so much to be there in
the studio and watch these guys create legends.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
Man, you remember what they recorded.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Stevie was doing good morning evening friends. Oh wow, a
friendly announcer. Yeah, loves in need of loved. Oh isn't
that the truth? Well? I don't know. God, I hope
there's a day that that song does not apply. But
it's so far every day fits that love's in need
of love. Today Marvin was actually working on the Originals,

(33:07):
a group of Motown group. So he's recording someone else,
but he's singing, showing them how to sing the song.
And uh, Sly Sly was the weirdest thing. Sly was
working on three different songs. Sly would say, all right,
to let you all right, they down a lang ah,
all right, put up. He laid down one line one

(33:29):
grown or whatever. All right, now put up with. It
was just so it was. It was different. But Stevie,
what an experience that was. Man to see Prince Prince
Prince was actually doing Uh, he was in DC. He'd
performed that night. I went to see him before the
show and he sent me a note that he said, Man,

(33:49):
I'm sorry I can't see you before the show, but
I'm going in the studio tonight after the show. Would
love to have you join me. So me and my
wife went and Uh, for me, it was just a
great into the music. My wife was just like, God,
you see those turquoise pumpsy had on. My God, But.

Speaker 8 (34:09):
The fact that he went to the studio after a show.
Prince here a horse, never got tired of performing.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
The dude was always at it. Man, Prince is amazing
more cool night with Prince. I went to David Bowie
was on the show on Video Soul. So after the
show we were talking to David says, man, you know
I'm going to Minneapolis this weekend. I said, well, me too.
I got to go Friday to interview for the Time reunion.
He said, well, you should come to the show. I said,

(34:36):
I would love to. So I go home. Call my
boy sugar Ray Leonard. It's just too much name dropping,
let me know. That's what it was, you know. And
so I said, I'm going to Minneapolis Friday. Man, you
want to go? Yeah, man, let's go. So me and
Ray go to the show. Dave set us up at
the soundboard and uh like twelve seats there or something.

(34:58):
So as I'm walking to my seat, I bump into
the lady in front of me, and I said, oh,
excuse me, ma'am. Prince turned around and said, no, it's
all right, ninety it's cool. I said, oh, Prince, I'm sorry. Man.
He said, no, it's cool, man, it's cool. So then

(35:19):
he turns back around the minute the lady says, man, look,
I'm having a party to night at Paisley Park. Man,
you and Ray ought to come. I said, all right, cool,
we'll come. So we went there. Man, it was like
a dozen people, man, a Prince party. It was me
and Ray, David boy In, two or three of his
room bandmates, Cat Princess Dancer, who later claimed that he

(35:42):
had his baby. Ah wow, my producer Jeff Newman, just
two three other people. Man, it was but it was
the coolest night. And he played the Black Album that night,
and it was notorious because it had not been released.
And so I told her and I said, man, god, Prince,
you released this. Man, this is such a groove. Man.

(36:03):
I run into him again, maybe two years later, and
he says, you know you're the reason I didn't release
the Black album, don't you. I said, what do you mean?
He said, you know what you said that night at
Paisley Park. You said this is such a groove. And
I was about so much more than that. Wow, oh
d And then and so now let's fast forward another

(36:24):
six months. So I'm thinking about it. I'm going damn.
I wish I would have thought to tell him. Man,
all I hear is groove. I don't hear lyrics. You know,
that's really it's a struggle for me to hear lyrics
unless I'm going through something, then you everything because you're
looking for answers. You know.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
That's so interesting becase they always talk about the Black Album,
and I thought it was an intention. I thought he
just wanted to record something and not put it out.
He had intentions to put it up.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
Yeah, yeah, well eventually he did. But I got a
copy of it. This is cool, This is so cool.
Donnie Osman sent me a copy of the Black Album.
It was when it didn't exist them a video sold
with me. We were talking about it. Next day or two,
I get it a package at home from Dottie Osk.
I said, how can somebody this white in Utah send

(37:10):
me something this freaking cool? It's the Black Album from
Donny Osmen.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
I want to ask you.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
A question, right, what's the biggest mistake new radio and
TV hosts make when they're trying to find their voice?

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Wow, using someone else's voice and not theirs? I think,
you know, I think that it's inevitable when you come
into this, that you come in emulating styles that you like.
People that do good radio do good TV. I get that,
but eventually you have to find yours. You have to

(37:49):
find your voice, you know who you are, because well,
for me, it took I was doing radio for twelve
years before I got to that. When that morning came
and man, I was like, Wow, I'm not Teddy Richards
c KLW anymore. I'm not doing it. You know, I'm
not Jay Roberts Night Flight ninety six. You know, I'm

(38:10):
Donnie Simpson. And when you get to that point, man,
that's when it gets good, bro, you know, because you're
not trying to do anything, You're just doing you. And
that's the thing that people connect with, you know. It's
like I've always felt this that there were a thousand
people out there waiting to take my job. Five hundred
of them are just as good as I am. The

(38:32):
other five hundred are better. The only thing I can
beat them all at is being me. You can't beat
me doing that, man. So that's and that's what people
connect to. They connect to what's real when they feel you,
you know, that's what gives you longevity. They feel you,
they know you, and that's the magic. I remember, look

(38:55):
at Johnny Carson, to me, was just the greatest TV host.
I look at so many of these guys now they
use their guests to set up their lines. Johnny, Man,
this is your time. Johnny was this ultimate setup guy man.
You know, he was a facilitator. Man, this is your moment,

(39:15):
do your thing man. And it's something that I learned
from Johnny Carson, not personally never met Johnny got close
mad Ed McMahon. But Johnny talked about this something that
he got from the legendary Jack Benny, and it was this,
he said, Jack Benny told him that it doesn't matter

(39:36):
who has the line. It only matters that it's on
your show, because tomorrow all they're going to say is
did you see Jack Benny last night? Right? And that's
so important man. You know that only matters this on
your show. So you got to let other people shine man,
you know, And so it would be that to be you,

(39:58):
and you know, to let others shine around. Use enough
life for everybody, you know.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
Radio and media, right, because you're talking about it now,
I want to expound on it. It used to be about
personality connection, but now it's about virality, right, and just
garnering attention by any means. Where do you think the
industry lost its way.

Speaker 4 (40:17):
Or do you think is just evolve it?

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Wow? I don't know exactly when it lost its way,
but for me, you know, I mean, this issue of
personality is so important that I was taught from the
very beginning that we all get the same records, we
all get the same music. The only thing that's different
is the presenter is how it's presented, you know. And

(40:42):
I think that radio has lost its way in that
arena that you know, well a couple of things for
me radio. I had this There was a seminar with
programmers from all around the country, about two hundred programmers
one day, and they asked me to be there to interview.
They wanted to interview me in front of it was like,

(41:02):
why would they want me? I'm like the most anti
programming guy ever. Would they want to hear from me?
And I was kind of nervous about it. And then
that morning on the way there, I just said, many, man,
do you you know whatever that is? Just whatever they asked,
just tell them truth. So we got to talking about it, man,
and at one point and this became the headline from
this thing. It was all over the internet. Donnie Simpson

(41:22):
says radio has lost its balls, because that's what I said.
I said, you know, the radio is always a progressive
form of broadcasting. You know, we pushed the envelope. We
just push it. We licked it sometimes, you know. And
all of a sudden he got very conservative. People got
scared of losing their jobs, you know, not just talent,

(41:47):
but uh, management, people, programmers, everybody. It's it's just like that, Yeah,
just you lost your balls. Man. You can't you know,
you can't do this afraid. You know, yeah, you gotta
be progressive. Man. That's the way i've and that's the
way I feel about radio now that it's not as
aggressive as it used to be. I missed that. I

(42:09):
was talking about my radio station in particular at that
time that I said, I walk in the station, man,
I said, I hear more music at the dentist office.
When I walk in. It's so it's like a hell
I walk It's like, is this are we doing accounting? Now?
What is this? You know? Man? I'm sorry, but it's
old school for me. When you walk into a radio station,

(42:29):
it used to be a special place. Man. You walk in,
you hare the music blast. It was a vibe. Man.
It was just magical, just magical, man, And that's what
it should be, you know, you know, for me, man,
like when I would do my show, Like I would
not listen to music all day when this was leader,
When I was doing afternoons by design, I wouldn't hear

(42:52):
any music. Just if I listened to radio would be
a talk show or whatever. Because when three o'clock hit, Man,
when I sit down in that seat, man and put
those headphones on, Man, it's the first time I heard
music that day. Oh my god, it's just magical. Man,
It's like time to go. This is what I lived for.

(43:12):
You know, I think that programmers had taken control from talent,
which is that's that's the thing that I hate most man.
You know, like for me, one of the biggest moments
of my career, Man, I broke Benny in the Jets
by Elton John in Detroit. You know, I loved Elton.

(43:34):
My boy had turned me on to Elton. Sit there
every night, man, I was listening. God, I love this
song Ben in the Jets, Man, And but I was
scared to play it because Elton. Black folks didn't know Elton. Finally,
after week of that fear, I said, Man, Man, I'm
playing it. I went on and played it that night.
I played it twice because the phones were jumping off
the hook. From the first time I played it, I've

(43:55):
never seen anything like it before nor since. Man, it
was amazing. The next more morning, the morning DJ calls me, Donnie,
what's this song you played last night? Jenny and the
Nets or something. Man, you gotta bring that thing down here. Man,
I get in the car take it down to him
so he can play it. In two days, Elton is
on the phone from London called the radio station. What
is this? I hear Benn in the jets is breaking black?

(44:16):
And it was Yeah. Six months later, he comes to
Detroit to hold a press conference to present me with
a gold record for this thing. It became his biggest
selling single ever until he redid Candle in the Wind
for Lady Die And but he wasn't in town for

(44:37):
a cops. He came there for that reason. That's how
big this was. And it was just amazing to me, man,
and it was important to him. He always wanted arm
he always wanted the black market. Bring all that up
to say this that it saddens me greatly that there
are young people out there now with great ears man

(45:00):
to hear this great music and can't play it. They
can't create a moment like that. Being in the JETSA
was for me because they're not allowed. Everything's programmed for
They can tell you today what they're gonna play next
Monday at three. You know, man, that's not radio man.
You know, I always look out the window kind of guy.
You know, I want to feel the day. I would
get out go walk around during a break. I literally

(45:23):
would go out sidely. I need to feel the day.
You know.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
I know that sounds kind of hokey to some people. True, man, Yeah,
Like it's like you know, you lock your fingers and
hold it right exactly, Like everything is too Dada driven
that right, Like everything.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Is about Daddy. Go feel the motherfucking days, no question,
brou no question.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
We used to go out and see what the DJ
and the club is playing and bring it back to radio.
This was the biggest record last night, and break it
to an audience that never heard it before. Go to
another market and hear something. But like you said, now,
it's it's more of an algorithm. What song is, what
do we get more calls for? And it's it's if
some in our listeners know, they'd be like, I'm tired
of hearing I'm tired of that.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
To be that part of your job as a DJ. Man,
I'm solutely telling you or something, and they blame him.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
They'd be like, what DJ, But they know I think
they're playing with it too.

Speaker 4 (46:16):
They know that.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
Ain't that You know that ain't.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Don't In that seminar that I told you, I spoke
before all the programmers, man a one point I got.
I just yelled, let my people go. Let them go.
You know, really, man, you got to let let creative
people create, right, let them do what they do, you know,

(46:41):
I mean you, man, it's a whole different thing that
you will get when you control it. And uh as
as opposed to having someone it's a different show if
I'm presenting me, you know, if I have the freedom
to be me and to do but if you know, man,
I remember one stretch when I first moved to DC

(47:03):
and we had it's the only time I ever worked
under control of a program director, and man, it was crazy.
He would come in with his stop watch, gul that's
eighteen seconds. You know, you're only allowed to speak for
fifteen seconds. And eventually I told him, man, I'm talking
to your watch. You know, I'm not talking to the

(47:23):
people I'm talking to your watch man. So when I
started programming, Man, Man, I'm telling you could talk to
any of the jocks that ever worked for me. Man,
they never got a call from me on the hot.
If they got a call from me, it was Man,
what's up? Man? Talked to you in a while? Man,
You good? Yeah? Kids good? Yeah? All right? All right Man,
love you bro later. You know that it was never

(47:44):
correcting you on anything. Man, you already knew it was bad.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
You did it, canack And you just said about talking
to the watch. The reason I think that's so dope
is because that program director wasn't even listening to the
content that was coming out of your mouth. I want
to know what the content good. If the content is good,
do your thing. Yeah, I say it all the time.
I'm like, man, stop listening for time, Listen for the content.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
There you go, there you go. Good content is just
as good as music. Man. If you're saying something that's
powerful to people, you know, you know, I think about
you sharing you know, your struggles and stuff. Man, what
what that means to people?

Speaker 4 (48:20):
You know?

Speaker 2 (48:20):
How do you put that on a watch? Man? You
know you're talking about it, You're helping people. You're saving lives, man,
you know, for real, man, it's uh, you know, it
can't be it can't be all data driven, you know,
it's you know, it's just like to me, the new
thing ai. You know, it's like you better embrace it

(48:43):
because it's here, this is happening, this is real, So
you better figure out how to use it. But don't
let it use you. You know, you got to use it.
And that's the way I look at all data. Man.
It's like it's okay, it's input, but it can't dictate,
you know, it's just input. It's just another tool. That's
the only way to look at it. You have to
look at all that stuff like that, you know.

Speaker 4 (49:05):
And how do you pivot? How did you pivot?

Speaker 1 (49:07):
When music change?

Speaker 4 (49:07):
Right?

Speaker 1 (49:08):
A lot of jock's a lot of radio stations. When
they get older, they stop looking to the music like you.
You mentioned the Temptations, to Frankie Beverly, to Tupac. How
did you know to pivot and say this is the
new type of music and have your ears open for
all types of music?

Speaker 2 (49:23):
Well, man, I'm that's just makeup, bro, That's who I am.
You know, it's I love music. Period. I don't care
what it is. I listen everything. Man, when I'm on
the golf course every day. Man, I have my phone
on random and I'm telling you it could play Johnny Cash,
Vladimir Horwitz, Mahelia Jackson, Biggie Sizza, and it all makes

(49:50):
sense to me. You know, it's so for me. It's
I always felt this that I never wanted to be
that guy that' said. Man, they don't make music like
they used to. First of all, it's true they don't.
They never have and they never will. It's always changing.

(50:13):
You know, the perfect example for me, Quincy Jones is
back on the Block album. You know, man, I sit down.
When I first got it, I talked to La Reid.
He had the same experience. I said, here, I'm expecting
old jazzy Quincy, Gulamataria or whatever, you know. Put it on.
First thing I hear is iced tea. Let me kick
my credentials. Young player bred in south central LA. Home

(50:36):
with a body bag you want to die, wear the
wrong color. Rag. I used to walk in stores and yell,
lay down you flinching inch eight case pray down. I
was like, whoa, what I mean? It just it took
me forty minutes to get through that song. Man. Through
the first song, I kept backing it up, couldn't believe
what I was hearing. But the point I'm trying to
make is that Quincy understood what you're talking about. The

(50:59):
change that all the beatbox thing. Oh see music without instruments? Okay,
did we be doing it so? But the beat boxes
Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Bobby McFerrin and takes six. It's like,
all right, So again that comes up with what I'm

(51:20):
talking just using whatever it is it's new, to make
it fit what you do, you know, And that was
just such a lesson to be That album is just
so amazing that people that don't know it. It's like
a black music history lesson. You should check it out.
They met, We did a special with Berry White for
that album for video soul Man and uh with Quincy.

(51:40):
Everybody was there at his house. Man that was on
the album, Ray, Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Big Daddy Kane,
a twelve year old Tevin Campbell, coom O d.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Man.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
It was unbelieved, Well, you know, it's Quincy Man Quincy,
but so so for me that that's that defines me. Man.
Just I don't care what it is, you know, I
just love music. Man, I want to hear everything. What
are you doing? You know, I'm always asking my kids,
my grandkids, man, what do you I have a feature
As a matter of fact, on UH, I have a platform.

(52:17):
Well this is going back to what we're talking about
at the beginning, by owning your own stuff. Discovered dot
tv right that I'm part owner of, and on that
we have a feature that I created called play Something
for Me. And and the trigger for that for me
was you remember these two young brothers that went viral
like three four years ago listening to Phil Collins in

(52:39):
the air tonight for the first time. I don't know
if you ever saw it. And when the drums going
and they were, oh my god, they were freaking out,
I was like, wow, you know what. I love that
and I love playing music for people and uh, but
to see their natural reaction to stuff that they haven't
heard before. So all of my guests on the podcast,
I have to do a segment of play something for Me.

(53:02):
The first one was Big Daddy Kane and Man, I
played something for Caine and UH, I played this song
by eld Barge. That's so serenading you. It's so smooth man.
So I put it on. It was and this was
exactly what I envisioned it to be because he's scenario.
You know, we both groove unto it. He starts group,

(53:23):
He's like, man, like this, man, what is this? Just wait, man,
just wait for the chorus. Man. You hear the background vocals,
you'll know Helda bars Man. I love Elder bars Man.
Why you play this? I say, because it's smooth man,
you don't this is the smooth operator baby. And then

(53:46):
he plays something for me and he played a real
cool so he played Marvin Gaye piece of Clay and
he was talking about how today everybody wants to mold
someone into what they want them to be, into their
own pieces. You want to mold their own piece of clay,
which is you. And just wow, listen, I didn't go
that deep. I just went with groove. But that song

(54:09):
discovered dot TV. That feature, Man, it's really cool. I
love that.

Speaker 6 (54:12):
How are you finding like your new music now? Like?

Speaker 5 (54:15):
Are you listening to radio? Is it Pandora?

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Like?

Speaker 5 (54:18):
What's feeding you now?

Speaker 6 (54:19):
Because I saw a list of your like top music
pics for people to listen to and Dochi was on
there I and I'm like, or is it social media
that you're like using as kind of like and r like, well,
how do you find music today?

Speaker 2 (54:32):
Well? From asking my kids, grandkids from for her was
just on the Grammys. She just blew me off. Was like, man,
who was his sister? She she killed me. She I
thought she was just amazing to me. So I download
the album masks like, oh my god, I love her.
The same thing happened to me. Were like the first
time I saw Lady Gaga, you know, it was on

(54:54):
the Grammys, and I'll never forget it. Because she comes
out and say, okay, all let's make up up and
get up and all this stuff's boy George, you know whatever,
that's cool. And then she sits down on the piano.
She starts singing, I go damn, there's a voice there too.
Right then she gets to this dramatic passage in the song.
She reaches behind her and grabs a champagne bottle and

(55:15):
crashes across the piano and said, damn, I'm in love.
Who is this that dares to be this different? You know?
I love different? You know, I just do. I mean,
I just meet again. I talked Jimy and Terror all
the time because those are my boys. But we had
this conversation about that that for us, different is the

(55:36):
norm because we've always been around music. Man. She George
clings my friend. You know, Man, I know different, you know,
and I'm okay with it. Man. My son always tells
people like when he was fourteen, he came home, I
forget the rapper that it inspire him, but he had
died his hair orange at fourteen. He said, Man, I
walked in and my dad said, I like it. Hey, man,

(56:00):
as you're here, you know, express yourself.

Speaker 4 (56:03):
Man, just you know, I got a couple more ques.

Speaker 8 (56:07):
Is the journalism right? What was your most challenging interview?

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Ooh, that's a great question. The most challenging. Well, I'll
give you two. And they were challenging, but they shouldn't
have been. They were challenging only because I was afraid.
And that was Maya Angelou and doctor Cornell West. And
it's amazing. It's interesting that they're both word masters, and

(56:37):
I think that's what intimidated me. They're just so brilliant
and I just I dreaded today. I just felt intimidated,
like almost to the point of just not feeling worthy
of talking to these people. You know, I'm telling you,
I just did not. I was not looking forward to it.

(56:57):
Then doctor West comes in walks into the student brother Simpson.
But Donald's knees, Man, what for? You wouldn't be no
b e T what I mean? I was like, whoa?
You know, it was just immediately all of that was gone,
All of it was gone. He was so cool. He
reminded me about my oldest brother Calvin, same kind of guy,

(57:20):
looks just and uh. And then the same thing with Maya.
She can get down her knees and do all the
bowing and all that stuff. But uh, it was just
so cool and so sweet, and it's just like, Wow,
you had nothing to be afraid of, you know.

Speaker 5 (57:35):
But you know, I guess you realize they want to
meet you too, so it's like.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
That's always a trip, ain't it. Know y'all experience that too.
It's like, man, you know, Wow, you're excited to meet me. Wow?

Speaker 3 (57:47):
Did people ever tell you stay in your lane because
of those interviews? Like you shouldn't be an interviewing, No
Maya angelan.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Coin out, No, no, no, I never heard that. No,
but I did hear that line stay in your lane
when we were in those conversations about syndication, and because
they were saying, man, like, you know we have in
syndication if you're on these different stations like we have
because once the conglomerate took so took over. You know,

(58:14):
well we have a station that plays hip hop, we
have a station that does smooth R and B. You know,
so you need to stay in your lane. I said, man,
you know what, I'm old school man. I was taught
that this was broadcasting, not narrow casting, right. You know,
see in my lane, I drive like this, man, I'm
all I play everything, man, I mean seriously. On the air,

(58:37):
I played BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Garth Brooks, I play
some everything, play something Garth Brooks. Man, it's all in
setup because you wouldn't expect a black station to play Garth, right.
But I didn't know who he was. But I'm white.
I mean I didn't. I don't mean to say I

(58:59):
know who. I didn't know his music. So but I'm curious.
And so one night I went to the store when
you had to buy records, went to Tower and got a
couple of his albums. Listen to it. Next morning, I
go on the show and by then I given up
programming of Kiss in DC, and so I said, Man,
I wanted to know this guy, Garth Brooks, I said,

(59:20):
because I know. I look at the charts. He's got
six albums on the left hand side of the chart,
meaning top fifty. Behind them little pyramids denoting a million
in sales behind that numbers twelve six eight. You know,
it's like sixty seven million in cells on the chart

(59:42):
right now. I need to know who this is. So
I went and got a couple of owls. Man, listen, Man,
I love this dude. Just gonna play a little sample
of quick things for you, just to show you who
he is. So I do a little snippets of three songs. Man,
The whole thing takes me five minutes something like that,
you know. Man. After the show, program director, who was

(01:00:03):
used to be my assistant now she's a programmer, comes
to me, Donnie, why would you play Garth Brooks? I said, Barbara,
you don't talk to me about music, but why would you?
We don't have this conversation. You don't talk to me
about my music. And next thing, I know that the
general manager calls me once we come down his office.
I go down there. He says, Donnie, you know Barber

(01:00:25):
has a problem with he playing Garth Brooks. Why would you?
I said, skip? With all due respect, man, y'all do
not talk to me about music. See you. I was gone.
Next morning, front page of the Style section in the
Washington Post has a three quarter page article on Garth Brooks.

(01:00:46):
First paragraph, it starts out with how big is Garth Brooks?
He crossed over to the Donnie Simpsons show yesterday. That's right, man, right,
so you know, so he goes back to what I
was saying early about not being scared, being aggressive. Do
what you do do radio man, people. You know I
always felt like this, man, if one song is going

(01:01:09):
to end my career, I shouldn't have been doing this anyway.
That's true. You know, I ain't scared of that man.
Not scared of that man. Do what you do, Do
what you do, don't no fear man, be creative.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
I got a couple more questions. You always radiate.

Speaker 3 (01:01:24):
Joy, right, but you carry a lot of joy, especially
on air. But joy is heavy work. So what's something
the public has never understood about? What it takes to
be that consistent, joyful presence all of these years.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
You know, for me, I think, man, it probably goes
back to my beginning man, And what I told you
was my first ambition in life is to be a
Baptist minister. It's the joy of the Lord that I feel,
you know, it's it's the joy that the richest me
every day.

Speaker 4 (01:01:51):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
I don't mean to get too preachy.

Speaker 4 (01:01:53):
But it is.

Speaker 2 (01:01:54):
And but what about when you down just the moments happened? Yeah,
but you know, even when I'm in that, man, I
still know that, as Frankie said, life always works itself out.
It has no choice. And you know, and I'm not

(01:02:15):
gonna lie the times when all this advice you've given
that you need yourself. It's like, God, I need to
remember that myself because I'm struggling here right now. You know,
you have those moments, man, but tomorrow always comes, man.
And you know it's like even in marriage, man, we

(01:02:36):
you know there always struggles, but always looked at it
like a tennis match. You know that you can lose
a game and not lose the set. You lose a
set and not lose the match. You know, So it's
about that final score, man, And so you know I've
stuck through it through the years. Man, Me and my
wife have been together now for fifty two years. It's

(01:02:59):
not been easy, you know, Thank you, bro. And it's
not all been easy, you know, but it's you know,
And I'm gonna give you one more story, man. Just
the day we did the Quincy Jones special for Back
on the Block, I get lost trying to get to
Quincy's house. I see this elderly white.

Speaker 7 (01:03:17):
Guy navigation back then, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
But I see this white guy walking down the street
for exercise, and I stopped him this excuse me, Can
you tell me how to Do you know where Quincy
Jones lives? Yeah? Sure, man. You should have seen the
smile on this guy's face. It was so radiant that
I knew it could only come from one place, you know.
And he says, go up two blocks. It was Tony Curtis,

(01:03:50):
legendary actor Tony Curtis man, and I just I never
forgot his I see it just as clearly right now.
And for me, I always felt that that's what I
want people to see in me when they see me.
I want you to see that joy, you know, And
you know, and I don't want to think about it

(01:04:11):
too much. I think it's just who you are. It's
the makeup, man, it's I'm always upbeat, just you know,
I was. You don't ready write a book my story
for ten years we're talking about this, but the guy
was working with said we should call it silver Linings
because every story you tell ends there with a silver lining.

(01:04:34):
And it's true. That's how I feel. I always see
good and stuff, man, It's always something, you know, Like
for me, I always felt like there's no such thing
as a bad experience. If the word experience is attached
to it, then it's good. You know, you learn something
from it, you know. That's the way I feel.

Speaker 3 (01:04:53):
Man, How do you want your legacy taught to the
next generation of wholes broadcast black?

Speaker 4 (01:05:00):
What's the headline of Donnie Simpson's store?

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Wow? He did him? You know, he did his thing.
You should do yours, you know. Just never trying to
be anybody else. I never I've never met the band
I wanted to be, you know, never have man, you know,
and I've met some great people, from Bob Johnson to

(01:05:24):
Michael Jordan. I never wanted to be any of them.
I'm the only person I ever wanted to be, you know.
I remember this guy was up playing golf one day.
I was with this older guy and these kids were
in the playground next to the golf course and I
hit my ball over there, and so I'm over there

(01:05:45):
and it's this kid, it's about six seven years old,
and he says, Hi, mister, I know you wish you
were Tiger Woods. I said, no, I like who I am.
And the guy I was playing with said, that is
just the greatest response I've ever heard of anything. I mean,
without hesitation, No, I like who I am. You know,
I don't be Tiger, you know, his money, his golf game, whatever. Yeah,

(01:06:11):
I love it, hit ball like him. But you know,
I just I'm happy with who I am. You know
I am. I always have been. You know, I'm not perfect.
We all have faults, you know, but uh, you know,
even the bad things that have you know, the stuff
in my closet, man, whatever it is, all of it

(01:06:31):
has made me who I am, you know, And I
like who I am because even those bad things, man,
that you are tests you know, to correct you and
to make you. You know, who God wants you to be,
you know, And so you know, so I like who

(01:06:52):
I am?

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
Man, What do you tell the next generation of broadcasters,
the one that's waking up right now listening to this,
is say I want to do this.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
That if this is what you want to do. First
of all, just to know that it's possible, you know
that anything can happen, that it's not some pipe dream,
that it's real. You know, like I used to take
my kids with me to everything. Man, my kid's been
to Neverland Ranch. You know, they knew Michael and Janet

(01:07:20):
and Prince, everybody, you know. And it was for two reasons.
It was by design. One was that if you meet Michael,
then you know that he's human. Two is that if
you know one, then you must know that you could
do that too. It's not magic, it's not you know,
whatever it is. I don't care who it is. That

(01:07:41):
it's real. I would say that to kids when I
spoken to schools that you know that I know parents
tell you something. Well, let's you know, I want to
be an actor. I want to be a basketball player.
You know that's such a full yeh, somebody's gonna do it.
There will be the next Denzel Washington, there will be
the next Michael Jordan, it may as well be you.

(01:08:02):
Why not? Why not dream big? That's what I would
say to them, Just dream big man. Just don't be
afraid of big man. I love people with big eyes. Man,
you know, don't be afraid of big man. Whatever that
big is to you. And it doesn't necessarily mean money.
Not everybody keep score like that. You know, Oh, whatever

(01:08:23):
it is, man. So if this is what you want
to do, then you can go after it. Be relentless,
be great, and be you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:29):
I love it real quick.

Speaker 8 (01:08:33):
There's so many things that you're known for. So many
people know you from different things.

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Right.

Speaker 5 (01:08:37):
I didn't study radio, you know what I mean.

Speaker 8 (01:08:39):
But I studied comedy and that's where I saw you
on Martin season for episode Knight Saying and Love Jones
two episodes and then he was on a Jamie Fox
show in ninety seven. I saw the shows, right, and
I'm a comedian, so I love those shows that you
have fun doing those Oh that was like Chris Rock.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
Oh it was awesome, especially with Chris Rock. And I can't.

Speaker 8 (01:09:04):
See you at this time, but like my ogs yea,
and to see you on that show that that's that
you're sitting in front of me.

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
Yeah, Well, Chris was so brilliant because I mean every
day in rehearsal, you know, because you're there for a week,
and it was he would do something different, and then
they finally tape still Chris is gonna do something totally different,
just have you cracking up the whole time. It was
just awesome. But for me, it was it was unbelievable
that they asked me to do that because I used

(01:09:33):
to watch The Love Connection and it's the only time
I ever watched the show and win I would love
to host that. That would fit me. Well, I could
do that and never told anybody that, and then I
get this call to be the host of The Love
Jones Connection to do two and two. You know it
was it was awesome. But you know what you got

(01:09:54):
to check out now the coolest thing I've done an
episode well if last season and now we got a
new one for this season. But a little calv.

Speaker 8 (01:10:04):
I did little too, you did, Yeah, I miss Loretta,
so I actually go into episode tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (01:10:10):
But yes, it's awesome. Well I'm Donnie Simpson. That the
whole thing. I just would love it. You know, I've
been in like three four movies, but I'm always me.
It's like, man, I want to be somebody else once.
I want to have But but it was really cool
to see yourself in animation. I never never seen that before,

(01:10:31):
and I hadn't seen the episode until just two weeks
ago and it's been out a year because I never
thought about it. It's like, you know, I just did
the voice over. I never thought, like, no, there has
to be an image, like it's like wow. And then
it was really cool the way they played and you know,
and it's so raw. It's awesome.

Speaker 5 (01:10:48):
So now I can say I'm on a project with
Donnie Simpson.

Speaker 4 (01:10:51):
That's what's up?

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
Man, that's awesome. I love it. How long have you
done comedy?

Speaker 4 (01:10:56):
Comedy?

Speaker 5 (01:10:56):
For eleven years?

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
Wow? Comedy? Have you seen Eddie's the documentary?

Speaker 5 (01:11:01):
Yes?

Speaker 4 (01:11:03):
Twice?

Speaker 2 (01:11:03):
I love it? Man. Awesome. Man, you talk about inspirational man.

Speaker 3 (01:11:07):
I wanted him to go deeper just in like maybe
just like his personal life. But as far as like
how they documented his career and how big he was,
I thought it was cool, but I still don't think
they captured how big he actually was.

Speaker 2 (01:11:20):
Yeah, man, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:11:21):
What, you even captured that though?

Speaker 3 (01:11:23):
I don't know because like that was real celebrity. This
ship we're seeing now in real celebrity. That was real celebrity, man, No.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
Question, man, just like as big a star as you
could be. It's Eddie Murphy man. Not even black this period,
period period, but that dude.

Speaker 1 (01:11:40):
Before we close out, you got to tell us a
Michael story before you before you leave.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
Michael George went to the never layd ranch.

Speaker 4 (01:11:48):
You didn't hear what he said.

Speaker 8 (01:11:48):
He said, I just can't say I took the kids
never Laying.

Speaker 4 (01:11:57):
It was on rides.

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
Bio pit coming out and speaking of celebrity, that's another
person we be trying to say.

Speaker 4 (01:12:04):
Stop saying somebody is the new Michael Jackson.

Speaker 2 (01:12:06):
There is no such number one man, That's right.

Speaker 4 (01:12:09):
That dude.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
Man, when I first met him, he was God. I
was sixteen, so Michael would have been fourteen I think,
I think that's right, or thirteen or something like that
first time I met him. But uh, man, you know,
Michael was just he's just a special dude, man. He was.

Speaker 8 (01:12:24):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:12:25):
The first time I went to the house, and this
was before you own Neverland, this was the Havenhurst House,
I couldn't believe they had a little cookout for me.
There right, And uh so when I got there, man,
all these people standing out across the street, I thought
it was a bus stop. You're just fans. Wow, it's
like that twenty four to seven man, twenty four to

(01:12:48):
seven man people out there. It was just it's just crazy.
But Michael, Michael was very, very cool as long as
it's a small group. You know, if it gets more
than five six seven people, he kind of tightens up,
you know. He was just be a little uncomfortable in that.
But you know, just me and him or a couple

(01:13:09):
of people, he's, you know, kick it. Just a regular
dude man, you know, but just brilliant man. And to me,
I look at people like him and Eddie and you
don't get to that level of success without being smart.
You know, there ain't no accident. That's not just talent.
This just brains. Man. Michael was just the dude was Bally.

(01:13:32):
I knew a guy who used to do lighting for
him and he told me, he said, one night, Michael
came to him and said, to look, when you know
we get to this point in this song, I want
you to hit me with this particular light. Told him
what light, which light to hit, and the angle to
hit him from, and he said, I'm sitting there man, like, man, dude,
I've been doing this for thirty years. Man told me
what to do, he said, But I did it because
he's paying me, you know, he said. But it created

(01:13:54):
the exact effect that Michael said that it would, he said,
And then I realized he's been doing this for thirty
used to Michael, he was like, like Jimmy jam And
Terry Lewis told me Prince was.

Speaker 4 (01:14:06):
That.

Speaker 2 (01:14:06):
Jimmy says, Man, I was a great piano player. I
could play. Prince would come in and show me how
to play my instrument. So I don't care who you
were he could, I'll play you on your instrument. That's
Michael Jackson to me. Man. You know, he can look
at the reverence which all the dancers looked at him,

(01:14:28):
and this is it. I mean, they're just freaking These
are dancers, professional dancers. When Michael does it, it's just
and on top of that, he's a singer and a
writer and perform and all that. But he can do
that part two better than anybody.

Speaker 3 (01:14:43):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
You know, that's just.

Speaker 5 (01:14:46):
Did he have a deep voice for real?

Speaker 2 (01:14:47):
That room? Yeah? Man, he talked like Berry right, No, no, no, no, no, no,
it was l I remember one day we had he
had a party here in New York. As a matter
of fact, he had just done I think a show
show for the UNCF and he has a little small
party and so we went and it couldn't have been
but twenty people there. Me and my wife Eliza Minnelli

(01:15:09):
was there, Cindy Lauper, she had just happened with girls
just want to have fun, Jimmy and Terry and just
a few more people. But Michael was upstairs. It was
a two story townhouse in the hotel. And so finally
Michael comes down after about forty five minutes, and he
comes in and he says he's with his bodyguard, Chucky
the Beasts, and that was his name, d ib Is

(01:15:31):
s E. But he looked like the Beasts because he's
like six foot. Ain't always were top hat if you
remember that guy. It's very imposing. And Michael walks into
the room and he goes he says, God, it's so
bright in here, Chucky standing here, and he posied Chucky
next to a lamp with the block out the light
in the room. I was like, damn, this is crazy.

(01:15:52):
This is crazy man, a human light sheat now I've
seen it all, Man.

Speaker 1 (01:15:56):
Dot and we appreciate you.

Speaker 4 (01:15:57):
Man. I can't wait to read your book.

Speaker 1 (01:15:59):
Man, thank you so much for all you've done for us.

Speaker 2 (01:16:03):
I appreciate you. Thank you man, Thank y'all and you too.
Thank y'all for having me. Man. I really appreciate y'all.

Speaker 5 (01:16:10):
The show Season two to Donny Simpson Show. It's right,
Season two of the Donny Simpson Show.

Speaker 2 (01:16:14):
That's right, the podcast, check it out, Thank you, check again, man,
Thank you, Man, God, bless y'all.

Speaker 4 (01:16:18):
Thank you for you. Donny Simpson.

Speaker 7 (01:16:19):
It's the Breakfast Club.

Speaker 4 (01:16:20):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:16:21):
Hold up every day I wake click your ass up
the Breakfast Club. You're finish for y'all.

Speaker 5 (01:16:27):
Done