October 13, 2025 • 35 mins
Explore Patti LaBelle’s pivotal year and the era that helped shape her legacy in popular music. In this episode, DJ Sir Daniel and Jay Ray look at the important milestones in Patti’s solo career, her memorable performances, and how established artists like her found new opportunities and audiences in the 1980s.
Hear about signature songs, collaborations, and appearances—from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack to Live Aid 1985—that marked this turning point. Whether you’re familiar with Patti’s music or interested in the evolution of classic R&B and pop, this episode offers insights and context that deepen your appreciation.
Links to Content Referenced in This Episode
Chapter Markers
00:00 Intro Theme
00:16 Introduction and Podcast Opening
00:33 The Rise of the Mature Dolls
02:56 Patti LaBelle's Breakthrough
14:40 Patti LaBelle's Iconic Style and Influence
18:06 Patti LaBelle's Rise to Pop Stardom
20:42 The Iconic 1985 Live Aid Performance
23:54 Transition
24:03 Thoughts after watching Patti at Live Aid
28:44 Patti LaBelle's Timeless Duets and Hits
32:17 Celebrating the Legacy of Mature Divas
34:43 Outro Theme
Get More From Us
- Pandora: https://qpnt.net/pandora
- Join Our Newsletter: https://plus.queuepoints.com
Support Us
- Become An Insider: https://queuepoints.com/#iaal9-2
- Shop Our Store: https://store.queuepoints.com
- Tip Via 'Buy Me A Coffee': https://buymeacoffee.com/queuepointspod
- Tip Via CashApp: https://cash.app/$queuepointspod
- Tip Via Paypal: https://paypal.me/queuepoints
Follow Us On Social Media
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/queuepointspod
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/queuepointspod
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/queuepointspod.com
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@queuepointspod
- TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@queuepointspod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sir Daniel (00:16):
Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast.
I'm DJ Sir Daniel
Jay Ray (00:21):
And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my governments as
Johnnie Ray Kornegay III, And Sir Daniel,
Sir Daniel (00:27):
Yoyo.
Jay Ray (00:27):
we about to talk about a diva!
Sir Daniel (00:31):
The, the diva of all divas.
You know, recently, um, Stephanie Mills,Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and the
incomparable Patti Labelle have takenthe United States by storm by going on
an amazing tour to showcase the talentsthat they have honed for the past.
Ooh, almost for half a century,
Jay Ray (00:54):
Absolutely.
Sir Daniel (00:56):
And they have been receiving nothing but love and
nothing but strong accolades.
And it got us to thinking aboutthe mature dolls, the mature I
call, I, I call them the mature
Jay Ray (01:09):
is your, you have coined that phrase because Sir Daniel, and
this is a very, um, I mean from theera that we grew up in, of course
we grew up seeing these women.
On tv, they would be on, on specials.
(01:29):
They would always be singing on something.
You know, they, theywere just omnipresent.
But when we really think aboutit, these women were seasoned
in their careers, right?
And in the, in the early tomid eighties, all of a sudden,
these mature dolls were next
(01:51):
level.
Sir Daniel (01:52):
So Jay Ray and I are discussing the fact that by the time we,
we, we became aware of Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (02:01):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (02:02):
By the time we became aware of Patti LaBelle.
Patti LaBelle had already beenin the industry for 20 years.
She was experiencing anew life as an artist.
She was a mature doll at the time.
Pat this, this around of time, thisspace of time that we're discussing,
(02:22):
Patti LaBelle had turned 41, 41 andfour, and when you think about it.
For women, especially30 is a death sentence.
30 is like they wanna push youin a corner and put you away.
But for the mature dolls, likea pat lapel, like Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (02:43):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (02:44):
They overcame that and they become something of a phenomenon.
And that's what we're gonna discusson this particular episode of Queue
Points podcast, the Mature Doll series.
And this first doll that we're gonnadiscuss is none other than Patti LaBelle.
You know what's Patti's real name is?
Patricia Holt.
Jay Ray (03:04):
let me look at, uh, what is Patti LaBelle's real name?
I got all my stuff here.
Patricia Louise Holt
Sir Daniel (03:12):
Yes.
Patricia.
Jay Ray (03:13):
Philly.
Sir Daniel (03:14):
From your neck of the woods and I love calling her, um, Patricia.
'cause it's just so you know.
Hey, Patricia.
Um, Jay Ray.
Why do you love Patti LaBelle?
Jay Ray (03:24):
Ooh, that is a good question.
Um, I love Patti LaBellebecause she combines.
Uh, immense talent withshowman, the show woman ship.
Sir Daniel (03:41):
Mm-hmm.
Jay Ray (03:42):
So it's not just that she is going to sing the roof
down, she is also going to beentertaining while she does it.
And you know, the other thing I like aboutPatti LaBelle is Pat Label be could cook.
Like Patti LaBelle has been veryclear about being able to cook.
You know, I like a kitchen, so that'swhat I really like about her is one,
she's incredibly talented and she'sgonna do that, but she's gonna be like
(04:05):
really entertaining while she does it.
Um, what about you?
What do you like about Patti?
Sir Daniel (04:10):
It's the, well, you know me, I love, um, I love people
that are outrageous and, but ina creative and beautiful way.
Um, there is a tenderness.
And, and in Agape love thatI feel from Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (04:33):
Yeah.
Sir Daniel (04:33):
Like when she says, when she sings, um, I'm love.
And, um, when she sings, when theysing, what I, what can I do for you?
And they talk about love.
What's your name?
I'm love, love.
I believe that.
I really do feel that.
From her, and I don't think, Ithink the, the history shows that
you cannot last in this industry.
(04:55):
You cannot maintain the fandom that shehas without being a genuine person and
without people really feeling that love.
From you.
So I think that is something that, um, shehas been able to channel using her gifts,
her voice, um, that's how she's ableto draw you in as her kitchen kinfolk.
(05:18):
That's how she's able to draw you inbecause she's, she's just that vessel.
So I. You know, and again, I, you knowme, I'm the king of camp around here.
I love foolishness.
I love, I love when it's done, right?
When people, that people that are,can do it and they can do it right.
Jay Ray (05:37):
And, and, and Patti is definitely that.
And so in, in terms of the era, right?
So.
Sir Daniel was talkingabout the fact that, so.
Patti LaBelle's breakoutyear kind of happens in 1984.
Um, so this is an interesting time period.
So we did a show, y'all shouldgo back and check it out.
(05:58):
On the divas of 83, 1 of the divasof 83 was of course, Patti LaBelle.
And Patti LaBelle had droppeda record that year, which I, we
talked about this on the show.
I did not realize.
That love, need, and want.
And, um, if only you knew wereon the same album, which was
on her, I'm in Love again.
(06:19):
Philadelphia InternationalRecord came out in 1983.
I literally, you could have, I thoughtthose was on two different records.
Anyway, that, so PattiLaBelle has a big year, right?
So 1983 becomes a big year.
This I'm in Love again, record includeslike some jazz number, jazzy numbers, um,
some, uh, quintessential kind of Philly.
(06:40):
Early eighties production, butthen it's these two big, these two
major ballots are on the album.
So coming out of that, um.
Patti's hot, you know what I'm saying?
And, and culturally, just to kind ofset the stage for why this could even
happen, I don't know if this is true, sirDaniel, but I think it might be, I think
(07:05):
actually Michael Jackson has somethingto do with why all of what we're talking
about with the mature doles able to bea thing because thriller happens in 82.
Michael Jackson kicks open the door.
Of MTV and just black artists existingoutside of black households, right?
(07:30):
So black artists obviously werealways universal, but there was all,
there was like a black lane and thenthere was like a. A white pop lane.
Michael Jackson was like, I'mdoing both of those things.
So, and I'm not gonna justdo both of those things.
I'm gonna do them big.
So I wonder now in retrospect, if thefact that he kicked that door open, right.
(08:01):
Um, in 1982 and 1983 allowed for.
White audiences to be able to seeblack artists as like diverse and
different and which means that thesemature dolls are now like that.
Patti LaBelle.
I wanna sign her.
(08:22):
She is good.
And so she signs to MCA andand gets a deal over there.
A big major from PhillyInternational to MCA.
Sir Daniel (08:30):
Right.
Um, you know what, thank you forputting that in perspective that Yes.
Um, Michael Jackson was the primerfor all of these, um, heritage acts.
People that we already knewwere, like you said, were all
of a sudden becoming discovered.
You know, the whole Columbuseffect, all of a sudden being
discovered by broader audiences like,
Jay Ray (08:51):
Right.
I just learned there's anew artist I discovered.
Sir Daniel (08:56):
Ah, this, she's, she's, she's really fun.
She's got great hair, and soas you mentioned, Patti has
left Philly International andshe, now, she's on MCA records.
And we gotta mention at this time,um, Gerald Busby is in charge of black
music over there at MCA and MCA hasJody Watley, Bobby Brown, new Edition.
(09:19):
Um, who am I missing?
Jay Ray (09:20):
Oh, there's about the Jets.
One of my
Sir Daniel (09:22):
The jets.
Absolutely.
So MCA look, MCA got the black on lock.
You know they've gotthe blackness on lock.
But here we have Patti LaBelle,who is concretely stunt, um,
staunched, uh, r and b artist.
Right.
Um.
Breakout, uh, the labels,they did all their thing.
(09:44):
They did a rock and
Jay Ray (09:46):
Oh, yeah.
Sir Daniel (09:46):
thing.
Jay Ray (09:47):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (09:48):
and as a soloist, she's complete the Philadelphia sound.
She's RB through and through.
Now, what is MCA going todo with this mature doll?
What are they going to, what kindof music are they going to give the
public that people are going to eat up?
And so.
We see the, one of the very firstofferings comes in the form of a
(10:11):
song on the Beverly Hills soundtrack
Jay Ray (10:15):
Hills Cop.
Yep.
Sir Daniel (10:16):
Beverly Hills.
Yeah.
Beverly Hills Cop soundtrackstarring Eddie Murphy.
And sidebar, there's another, there'sanother song on the same soundtrack
by a trio of mature dolls who havekind of gone through the same thing.
It's like.
This era of the eighties, I don't knowwhat it is about mature black women,
(10:37):
but the people were eating them up.
Jay Ray (10:40):
Yes.
Sir Daniel (10:41):
They ate up Patti LaBelle because Patti LaBelle had,
well, she, no, this was stirredup before The new attitude.
But new attitude was like, new attitudewas out, out of there because that
was something that they could sell.
I remember they, I heard the song incommercials, you know, they were selling,
uh, hair care products, selling pantyholes, everything with new attitude.
(11:04):
You name it, but Stir it Up isa, is a special song though.
Jay Ray, and I think I told you whatI think the, the, the recipe behind
Stir it up is, but what do you thinkof stir it up when you hear it?
Jay Ray (11:17):
Oh no.
Stir it up is likesquarely an eighties jam.
And the reason why I say it in thatway is there are some songs that
you listen to that you're like, oh,this is just like a timeless sound.
The 1980s had a very specificsynthesized, um, sound where now
(11:37):
synthesizers are kind of part of it.
Uh, uh, producers are not using livemusicians, uh, in the same way anymore.
Live musicians are playing thesesym, these synthesizers, right?
So stir it up.
Um, is that, you know what I'm saying?
Stir it up is, but it's, it'salso rooted in blackness.
(11:58):
Like stir it up is like a,you know what I'm saying?
You can do a thing to it.
Sir Daniel (12:03):
I say stirred up is a, is a, is a church pop song.
It's a, it's a p praiseand worship hybrid.
It's got, like you said, it'sfully synthesized, right?
Fully synth pop.
They, there's no live drum That's a drummachine keeping that beat, but they,
that, that beat is a, is a church clap.
That's a dun dun.
(12:27):
And there are several, thereare several black songs that are
breaking into the pop landscape.
With that kind of, with that vibe,with that, um, what I call the
church clap beat, but stirred up isthat, um, the lyrics is about this
woman who is, you know, shakingthings up and changing things.
And that is the whole, that'sthe through line for Patti
(12:47):
LaBelle in this moment is that.
Through these new songs.
She's telling the story like,Hey, remember me, I'm back.
I'm a little bit older, but you know,I've got, I've changed things up.
I got a whole new lookand we gonna get into
Jay Ray (13:02):
We gonna get into the look in a minute.
Sir Daniel (13:05):
in a minute, but I've got a whole new look and
I've got a brand new song sound.
So get into it.
Here I am.
Jay Ray (13:12):
Yeah.
So, um, interesting factoidis by the time, new attitude,
first of all, new attitude.
Um, also from the Beverly Hills copsoundtrack, as DJ Sir mentioned, is a
runaway hit in like the black communitybecause first of all, it's, it's.
(13:33):
Okay.
It's all the hallmarks of PattiLaBelle, so it's like it's high
from the beginning where stirredup is a simmer and then it goes up.
New attitude is like she's, she'sup there at the beginning, right?
Sir Daniel (13:51):
At the beginning, and historically we gotta say
that this is the eighties.
The, we're talking about Reaganomicswomen are, are largely the
leaders of their households now.
And so you've got, this is the,the, the era of the woman's anthem.
The new woman's anthem.
You've got Donna Summers, she'sgot work hard for the money.
(14:12):
Now.
I got a new attitude, you know, Iput on my makeup, I'm, I'm gonna do
all kinds of things to my hair 'causeI've got, I've gotta make it now.
I've gotta, I have to makethings happen for myself.
So yes, you're absolutelyright there, Ray.
Jay Ray (14:25):
So interesting that you, you, you mentioned that because, um, if you go
back, um, and you watch the new attitudevideo, I had I, in preparation for this
show, I went back and I watched it.
So Patti, that's, uh, here's what happens.
Patti is very demure.
She's in her best, Dorothy Vak Whites.
(14:46):
A suit, uh, skirt suit.
It's, it's a lot going on.
Shoulder pads happening, and herhair is just like a regular, uh,
curl, you know, she went to the,the hairdresser and got it curled.
Well, Patti goes into, she comesin and she does the first verse.
Like that.
And then she goes into the dressingroom and she comes out all black
(15:11):
sequence number with the, the hair.
So there's like a, a, the, the, I don'teven know how to describe this hair.
It is straight up.
It is straight, huh?
Yes.
Oh, we have pictures.
Listen y'all.
Um, and we want, um, we aregonna describe what Patti was
serving, uh, in these pictures.
(15:31):
So gimme one second becauseI'm gonna pull this up.
Sir Daniel (15:35):
So what I think Jay Ray was describing was the vase hair.
I call it the vase hair.
Jay Ray (15:40):
the vase hair and it was specifically the one we're looking at
three pictures of Patti in the era.
There's the one, um, on the leftthat we're looking at is Patti
with kind of the bold vase.
It's like a big circle, right?
And then the one in thecenter is like the stir it up.
What is this?
(16:00):
A tease hair.
Sir Daniel (16:01):
So I call this, and I believe that the, um, black women
in the eighties called this look.
It was called the poodle,the poodle cut because No.
Yes, because at the very top, theywould take the, the hair at the top.
They would, um, section it off, uh,and cut like a a and, and cut it
into a platform where there it waslike this spiky hair at the top.
(16:24):
You would either wear it spikylike that, or they would curl it.
And then they would leave thehair that was, that was left
down to their shoulders straight.
And so it would resemble a poodle.
You know how poodles would get thelittle curly top and then they'd
have the, the, um, their ears hangingdown, and so that's what this is,
but it's straightened at the top.
(16:44):
And of course it's theeighties, so you have to have
a headband every now and then.
Jay Ray (16:48):
Absolutely.
And then on the rightis performance Patti.
This is actually Patti at Lave, whichwe're gonna talk about in a minute.
But Patti has the, the straightuh, hair, but it has like a
lot of a coutre on in the hair.
And, and while we're.
Sir Daniel (17:03):
Breath.
That's isn't.
Jay Ray (17:04):
breath.
That's, that is what that's called.
Um, we need to give a shoutout to Norma Harris Gordon.
She was the woman who was doingPatti LaBelle's hair in this era.
And baby, these were, these were worksof art that she was creating for Patti to
put on top of her head because Patti wouldjust have this hair sitting up there.
Sir Daniel (17:29):
I would go further to say that this, um, that Norma
helped Patti to become an icon
Jay Ray (17:35):
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
Sir Daniel (17:37):
because once you, when your look.
You, the way you present, um, canbe mimicked and is used to as a
Halloween costume or you know, itis parody and it turn and it still
points back to you because you did it.
That's iconic and you've become an icon.
(18:00):
So yes, shout out to Norma.
Jay Ray (18:02):
Shout out to her.
So 1984 becomes PattiLaBelle's Breakout year.
Uh, new attitude goes to number17 on the, uh, billboard Hot 100.
This is Patti's first Pop Crossover.
Hit her fir as a solo artist, right?
'cause you know, she has a wholeother life with Pat LaBelle
and the Blue Bells and LaBelle.
(18:22):
So that's another story.
But.
So coming into, there's a lot of momentum.
Around Patti LaBelle, um, andBaby Hollywood comes calling.
So of course we talkedabout Sir Daniel in 1985.
Patti LaBelle gets our ownspecial, the Patti LaBelle show.
(18:43):
It's a, it's a one night special.
And of course we talked about, uh,the fact that Patti LaBelle and
Cyndi Lauper performed together.
They did, uh, lady Marmaladeand was it true colors?
Sir Daniel (18:56):
I believe it's Truco.
Yes.
Jay Ray (18:57):
Yeah.
And, and time after time.
Sir Daniel (19:00):
Truco no time.
You're right.
Time after time, whichwas huge for Cyndi Lauper.
Jay Ray (19:05):
Yes.
Yes.
'cause she was new.
Sir Daniel (19:07):
Huge.
Yes, she's right out the box.
She was brand.
Well kind of new when youhear about Cindy's history.
She had been, um, clawing herway to the top for a minute too.
But this was a huge momentfor Cyndi Lauper to.
Kind of share her moment with anestablished older black, um, musician.
(19:30):
And to, for Patti to get this, havethis variety show and to open up her
space to this up and coming ingenue.
It was just one of those things wherewe, we still looked back to it on this
day with affection because Patti, there'sa part where they're sitting down,
seeing time after time, and, you know.
(19:50):
It's kind of a, um, a mammy moment where,
Jay Ray (19:54):
it
Sir Daniel (19:54):
where Cindy is, is, is nestled in Patti's bosom very, it's very mothering
and it's very lovely and, you know,white people love that kind of stuff.
So, you know, it was a moment, it was amoment for both of them, but it was great.
They both like Patti, you could tellPatti was um, impressed that Cindy
was hanging with her and Cindy wasjust having the time in her life.
Jay Ray (20:17):
Yeah.
And so one of the things we talkedabout, uh, in that episode too,
is the fact that Patti is reallyintroducing herself to Nate.
The, you know, the nationmeanwhile, which is crazy, right?
'cause she's 21 years into her career, andliterally Patti LaBelle is a star black.
Like black folks are like, that is PattiLaBelle, she's black famous, right?
(20:39):
But she's now introducing herselfto this entirely new audience.
In 1985, she gets a special, butSir Daniel, another amazing thing
happens at 85 and that's live aid.
Live Aid is this huge concert.
Um, Bob Geldoff, uh, in the uk,um, puts together this concert,
(21:03):
but it, it, it happens in the UKand then it happens in Philly.
So it's happening internationallyat the exact same time.
Right.
So there are performances that arekind of running concurrent with
performance, you know, in both countries.
Patti LaBelle is on the bill for live aid.
But Sir Daniel, I mentioned this to youwhen we were getting ready for this show.
(21:27):
I didn't know this because I was akid and, and I didn't see it, right?
I don't even think it aired here.
I'm, we're about to play PattiLaBelle's intro in a minute.
I'm not sure if it aired inthe US but, 'cause we're about
to watch a Portugal version.
But here's the dope thingabout Patti LaBelle.
So she's on the Philly show,which makes perfect sense.
(21:49):
The Philly show.
Okay.
Patti LaBelle is one of the finalacts to perform at the Philly show.
So here's who Patti LaBelle iscoming before and this matters.
Okay.
Patti LaBelle is getting a 30 minute set.
(22:10):
She has a 30 minute set.
That's a big, that's a longset in a thing like this.
She is coming before Halling Oates,
Sir Daniel (22:20):
Hmm.
Jay Ray (22:20):
Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, and then we are, the World happens.
So Patti LaBelle is one of the finalfive acts that hit the stage that day.
That's huge.
Sir Daniel (22:40):
That is huge.
And I'm thinking and looking at the actsthat she's, that she's lumped in with,
they kind of are, are from the same era.
Well, I know at least Mick Jagger is, and
Jay Ray (22:55):
And Tina Turner was there with Mick Jagger, by the way.
Sir Daniel (22:58):
See, you see what I'm saying?
So I think it was done onpurpose, which was very smart.
But um, yeah, these benefit showswere huge in the mid eighties.
Um, and they would often interrupt regularprogramming, schedule programming to
bring these to you so that they couldwear, raise awareness and raise money.
(23:18):
People would call in.
Kids, they were call in on 800numbers and donate money live
while these things were going on.
So I'm interested.
I, I can't wait.
And if you are lucky enough to be inhere while we're recording this, because
we have an audience of, um, of ourloyal, um, listeners and viewers that
is getting to share this moment with us.
(23:40):
You're not gonna be able to see thisbecause, you know, we ain't trying
to get flagged on YouTube, but we'reabout to watch this, um, LaBelle's
introduction and the person that's,we're gonna talk about it, let's just
Jay Ray (23:52):
we gonna talk about it and then we gonna talk about it.
My God.
Sir Daniel (24:05):
Listen, I, first of all you, did you see this?
It was a sea of people.
Jay Ray (24:13):
Yes,
Sir Daniel (24:14):
But the en, and she matched that energy.
She came out there, out thegate on a on a hundred, Jamie.
She was singing for the peoplethat was in Philadelphia.
She was singing forthe people in Delaware.
Jay Ray (24:27):
yes.
Sir Daniel (24:28):
People in Delaware could hear her.
That's crazy that, I mean, God.
Jay Ray (24:35):
Yeah.
So.
There are so many thingsthat you can parse through.
So for, uh, for folks, um, to watchthis, we'll make sure that it's
in the description for this show.
But I think what's important toremember is one that's now a 42-year-old
The fact that she is commanding thatstage and commanding that space.
(24:57):
This is for live aid whothey're raising money for.
You know, folks in Africa,this is a big, big deal and I
love that they saw the power.
You have to know when you arebooking her for that slot, what she's
going to give you, and they knew.
Sir Daniel (25:17):
Yep.
'cause by that time you've had, theaudience has sat, has sat through maybe
what, five art, five groups already.
And
Jay Ray (25:25):
Oh, way more.
No, they've been there since.
They've been there since 9:00 AM
Sir Daniel (25:29):
Oh Lord.
So, and, and you saw that crowd.
At that time of day, whoever is puton the stage has to shift the energy.
I mean, you've gotta, you haveto recycle it, you gotta shift
it, you gotta reamp it up.
And Patti LaBelle is the personthat comes in and will do that.
(25:49):
Who you think Patti Labelle or somebody?
So I, she's literally an, she's, she's anenergy, um, what's the word I want to use?
An energy conduit.
You know, there are peoplethat you associate with energy.
Tina, another mature doll, uh, Patti.
(26:12):
There's people that cannot be containedon, especially when they're on stage.
And we know for a fact that you do not.
You do not.
If you are in a, in a a, a, a,pass the mic situation, you do
not pass the mic to Patti Label.
Jay Ray (26:30):
Because that, that happened and that that next year, you know, we
talked about this on one of those showswhere, you know, of course Diana Ross.
Yeah.
Diana Ross there at Motown, uh,went back to the Apollo and you
know, Diana Ross is there and, youknow, giving a, can anybody help me?
And Pat,
(26:51):
you don't even have to ask.
She g And so that's thething about Patti LaBelle.
You know that when you, you know that ifyou're giving Patti LaBelle the mic, she
is going to like burn the mic up and younot gonna be able to pick it back up.
(27:14):
So you have to be reallystrategic about where she sits.
Sir Daniel (27:20):
Yeah, and I think, again, harping on the fact that she's one of the
mature dolls at this point in her career.
One, she knows this is a second chance.
Jay Ray (27:32):
Yes.
Sir Daniel (27:33):
moment that I'm in front of a large audience, especially if I'm
invited to be on a television specialthat's gonna be beamed into millions of
people's homes, that mean that equatesto sales, that equates to ticket sales.
That equates to me havinganother leg in my career.
So whenever I have the opportunity,I'm going to give it to you.
(27:55):
I'm gonna give you a hundredpercent and then she can't.
That's and.
When you're coming up in the, you know,in the, the chitlin circuit days, you
know, coming up on the scene and you,you know, you went through talent
shows to become, uh, to become knownand to be, and to hone your craft.
You are not half stepping.
Jay Ray (28:15):
Mm.
Sir Daniel (28:16):
There's nobody that's gonna out sing you.
Those people, they, they lived, breathed,eat, performing, they rehearsed all
the time so that when the time came.
You are presented with an opportunity,you are giving it a hundred percent.
So that's where she comes from.
And so you're not going to, she'snot going to give you less than a
(28:37):
hundred percent, and to this day,she's still doing the same thing.
Jay Ray (28:41):
Yeah, man, like so.
If we think about this era,you know, Patti continues to
one hit the hit the pop charts.
Um, so of course we get theeternally iconic duet in 87
with uh, Michael McDonald on my.
Sir Daniel (29:06):
So many times,
you know what?
I just realized that they, both the, um,their, um, verses both start the same,
same lyric, but the way that they bothapproach them is completely different.
Jay Ray (29:22):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (29:24):
Hmm.
Jay Ray (29:24):
Yeah.
Um, and to that point, um, one of thethings that you mentioned actually
as we were preparing for the show,and I think it's important, is that.
Um, on my own gets to show Pattiwi in restraint, like she's
showing restraint in this song.
Um, because one of the things weloved about Patti Grow, I, well,
(29:46):
I'm gonna use a I statement.
I'm not sure Sir Daniel, but Iremember Patti LaBelle used to do,
my God, somewhere over the rainbow.
She would tear all the award showsdown, she would kick off a shoe.
Judy Garland could never, okay.
Sir Daniel (30:06):
Could never of her reto when people literally.
They, if they, if she was gonnaend the show and she didn't sing
some Somewhere Over the Rainbow,people thought something was wrong.
Jay Ray (30:20):
like,
what's wrong with
Sir Daniel (30:21):
sure it was one of those moments where it was like,
all right, goodnight, everybody.
I, I can, I can't.
And people
Jay Ray (30:26):
Sat way over the
Sir Daniel (30:26):
no, we want more.
We want, really tired, but okay.
Here we.
Jay Ray (30:36):
Yes.
And we go in.
Yeah, so I, on on my own is won a timelessclassic, gave her another pop hit.
Michael McDonald is foreverour dude, you know what I mean?
And Patti LaBelle got a chance tosing a little different, um, and
and this is a squarely a pop song?
Sir Daniel (30:58):
Squarely a pop song.
Squarely a, um, a, a a a yacht rock.
Jay Ray (31:04):
Song, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (31:06):
she's, she's, she's checking off all the boxes.
Jay Ray (31:10):
and So we round out the decade.
Patti LaBelle's incredibly successful,uh, 1980s especially that that
back half of the, the decade with,if you ask me to, which, um, was
for the soundtrack to James Bond'sLicense to Kill, which is super dope.
Sir Daniel (31:34):
You know, Pat's not the only, Pat's, wasn't the only mature
doll to have a James Bond song.
Jay Ray (31:41):
No
Sir Daniel (31:42):
Gladys Knight had one,
Jay Ray (31:43):
Tina Turner,
Sir Daniel (31:45):
the mature, see the mature dolls.
We, we had a good in the eighties,Jay Ray, and you know what?
Jay Ray (31:52):
Did.
Sir Daniel (31:53):
We really did.
And I think the fact that we gotthat version of them, we got that
version of the pointer sisters,we got the mature, um, Donna
Summer, we got the, um, who else?
Gladys, we got those mature Diana.
Jay Ray (32:08):
Diana Ross, um, all of
Sir Daniel (32:10):
mature doll versions and they, and that was when they were
at the height of their superpowers.
Jay Ray (32:16):
Absolutely.
Sir Daniel (32:17):
So, uh, I think one of the things we could take away from this
conversation is that we know that, um,especially nowadays, everybody has a
shelf life, particularly female artists.
And if the, and we've nowadays, sexis such a crutch that is heavily
relied on that once you get to acertain age, you're deemed not.
(32:40):
Viable.
You're deemed not a moneymakeranymore, but we had a magical time in
the eighties where the mature dollscame out and they raked in the dough.
They cre, they gave us classicsand they became iconic.
Jay Ray (32:58):
Yes, absolutely.
So shout out to the Patti LaBelle, whoas of the taping of this is still on
tour with Stephanie Mills and GladysKnight and Chaka Khan, um, tearing
down houses all over the world.
Um, but yeah, um, we are happy tocelebrate Pat's iconic, uh, pop.
(33:20):
Culture breakthrough.
Um, and thank y'all for hanging outwith us as always on Queue Points.
If you can see our faces andhear our voices, go ahead
and subscribe to the show.
Tell your friends, tell your familycolleagues, anybody you think would
like cue points, because if you loveit, chances are they will love it too.
Visit our website at queuepoints.comwhere you can listen to the
(33:41):
entire archive of episodes of theshow and there is a lot to see.
We are live every singlesolitary Thursday.
Most times at 8:00 PMEastern Standard Time.
So you can tune in, um, on YouTube,on Facebook, on our substack,
which is where you should be toget all the extra stuff for Queue
(34:01):
Points, um, and on Instagram too.
Um, and once again, uh, shop our store.
Uh, keep the lights onhere at Queue Points.
So if you visit store dot QueuePoints.com, you can buy merch, you
can buy all types of other stuff.
We appreciate y'all.
We love y'all.
Sir Daniel (34:17):
Thank you once again, and like I always say in this
life you have an opportunity.
You can either pick up the needleor you could let the record play.
I'm DJ Sir Daniel.
Jay Ray (34:26):
And my name is Jay Ray.
Sir Daniel (34:28):
And this is Queue Points podcast, dropping the
needle on black music history.
We will see you on the next go round.
[Singing]*Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Ohhhh*
Jay Ray (34:37):
[Singing]*I got a new attitude.* Peace y'all.
Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast.
I'm DJ Sir Daniel
Jay Ray (00:21):
And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my governments as
Johnnie Ray Kornegay III, And Sir Daniel,
Sir Daniel (00:27):
Yoyo.
Jay Ray (00:27):
we about to talk about a diva!
Sir Daniel (00:31):
The, the diva of all divas.
You know, recently, um, Stephanie Mills,Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and the
incomparable Patti Labelle have takenthe United States by storm by going on
an amazing tour to showcase the talentsthat they have honed for the past.
Ooh, almost for half a century,
Jay Ray (00:54):
Absolutely.
Sir Daniel (00:56):
And they have been receiving nothing but love and
nothing but strong accolades.
And it got us to thinking aboutthe mature dolls, the mature I
call, I, I call them the mature
Jay Ray (01:09):
is your, you have coined that phrase because Sir Daniel, and
this is a very, um, I mean from theera that we grew up in, of course
we grew up seeing these women.
On tv, they would be on, on specials.
(01:29):
They would always be singing on something.
You know, they, theywere just omnipresent.
But when we really think aboutit, these women were seasoned
in their careers, right?
And in the, in the early tomid eighties, all of a sudden,
these mature dolls were next
(01:51):
level.
Sir Daniel (01:52):
So Jay Ray and I are discussing the fact that by the time we,
we, we became aware of Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (02:01):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (02:02):
By the time we became aware of Patti LaBelle.
Patti LaBelle had already beenin the industry for 20 years.
She was experiencing anew life as an artist.
She was a mature doll at the time.
Pat this, this around of time, thisspace of time that we're discussing,
(02:22):
Patti LaBelle had turned 41, 41 andfour, and when you think about it.
For women, especially30 is a death sentence.
30 is like they wanna push youin a corner and put you away.
But for the mature dolls, likea pat lapel, like Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (02:43):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (02:44):
They overcame that and they become something of a phenomenon.
And that's what we're gonna discusson this particular episode of Queue
Points podcast, the Mature Doll series.
And this first doll that we're gonnadiscuss is none other than Patti LaBelle.
You know what's Patti's real name is?
Patricia Holt.
Jay Ray (03:04):
let me look at, uh, what is Patti LaBelle's real name?
I got all my stuff here.
Patricia Louise Holt
Sir Daniel (03:12):
Yes.
Patricia.
Jay Ray (03:13):
Philly.
Sir Daniel (03:14):
From your neck of the woods and I love calling her, um, Patricia.
'cause it's just so you know.
Hey, Patricia.
Um, Jay Ray.
Why do you love Patti LaBelle?
Jay Ray (03:24):
Ooh, that is a good question.
Um, I love Patti LaBellebecause she combines.
Uh, immense talent withshowman, the show woman ship.
Sir Daniel (03:41):
Mm-hmm.
Jay Ray (03:42):
So it's not just that she is going to sing the roof
down, she is also going to beentertaining while she does it.
And you know, the other thing I like aboutPatti LaBelle is Pat Label be could cook.
Like Patti LaBelle has been veryclear about being able to cook.
You know, I like a kitchen, so that'swhat I really like about her is one,
she's incredibly talented and she'sgonna do that, but she's gonna be like
(04:05):
really entertaining while she does it.
Um, what about you?
What do you like about Patti?
Sir Daniel (04:10):
It's the, well, you know me, I love, um, I love people
that are outrageous and, but ina creative and beautiful way.
Um, there is a tenderness.
And, and in Agape love thatI feel from Patti LaBelle.
Jay Ray (04:33):
Yeah.
Sir Daniel (04:33):
Like when she says, when she sings, um, I'm love.
And, um, when she sings, when theysing, what I, what can I do for you?
And they talk about love.
What's your name?
I'm love, love.
I believe that.
I really do feel that.
From her, and I don't think, Ithink the, the history shows that
you cannot last in this industry.
(04:55):
You cannot maintain the fandom that shehas without being a genuine person and
without people really feeling that love.
From you.
So I think that is something that, um, shehas been able to channel using her gifts,
her voice, um, that's how she's ableto draw you in as her kitchen kinfolk.
(05:18):
That's how she's able to draw you inbecause she's, she's just that vessel.
So I. You know, and again, I, you knowme, I'm the king of camp around here.
I love foolishness.
I love, I love when it's done, right?
When people, that people that are,can do it and they can do it right.
Jay Ray (05:37):
And, and, and Patti is definitely that.
And so in, in terms of the era, right?
So.
Sir Daniel was talkingabout the fact that, so.
Patti LaBelle's breakoutyear kind of happens in 1984.
Um, so this is an interesting time period.
So we did a show, y'all shouldgo back and check it out.
(05:58):
On the divas of 83, 1 of the divasof 83 was of course, Patti LaBelle.
And Patti LaBelle had droppeda record that year, which I, we
talked about this on the show.
I did not realize.
That love, need, and want.
And, um, if only you knew wereon the same album, which was
on her, I'm in Love again.
(06:19):
Philadelphia InternationalRecord came out in 1983.
I literally, you could have, I thoughtthose was on two different records.
Anyway, that, so PattiLaBelle has a big year, right?
So 1983 becomes a big year.
This I'm in Love again, record includeslike some jazz number, jazzy numbers, um,
some, uh, quintessential kind of Philly.
(06:40):
Early eighties production, butthen it's these two big, these two
major ballots are on the album.
So coming out of that, um.
Patti's hot, you know what I'm saying?
And, and culturally, just to kind ofset the stage for why this could even
happen, I don't know if this is true, sirDaniel, but I think it might be, I think
(07:05):
actually Michael Jackson has somethingto do with why all of what we're talking
about with the mature doles able to bea thing because thriller happens in 82.
Michael Jackson kicks open the door.
Of MTV and just black artists existingoutside of black households, right?
(07:30):
So black artists obviously werealways universal, but there was all,
there was like a black lane and thenthere was like a. A white pop lane.
Michael Jackson was like, I'mdoing both of those things.
So, and I'm not gonna justdo both of those things.
I'm gonna do them big.
So I wonder now in retrospect, if thefact that he kicked that door open, right.
(08:01):
Um, in 1982 and 1983 allowed for.
White audiences to be able to seeblack artists as like diverse and
different and which means that thesemature dolls are now like that.
Patti LaBelle.
I wanna sign her.
(08:22):
She is good.
And so she signs to MCA andand gets a deal over there.
A big major from PhillyInternational to MCA.
Sir Daniel (08:30):
Right.
Um, you know what, thank you forputting that in perspective that Yes.
Um, Michael Jackson was the primerfor all of these, um, heritage acts.
People that we already knewwere, like you said, were all
of a sudden becoming discovered.
You know, the whole Columbuseffect, all of a sudden being
discovered by broader audiences like,
Jay Ray (08:51):
Right.
I just learned there's anew artist I discovered.
Sir Daniel (08:56):
Ah, this, she's, she's, she's really fun.
She's got great hair, and soas you mentioned, Patti has
left Philly International andshe, now, she's on MCA records.
And we gotta mention at this time,um, Gerald Busby is in charge of black
music over there at MCA and MCA hasJody Watley, Bobby Brown, new Edition.
(09:19):
Um, who am I missing?
Jay Ray (09:20):
Oh, there's about the Jets.
One of my
Sir Daniel (09:22):
The jets.
Absolutely.
So MCA look, MCA got the black on lock.
You know they've gotthe blackness on lock.
But here we have Patti LaBelle,who is concretely stunt, um,
staunched, uh, r and b artist.
Right.
Um.
Breakout, uh, the labels,they did all their thing.
(09:44):
They did a rock and
Jay Ray (09:46):
Oh, yeah.
Sir Daniel (09:46):
thing.
Jay Ray (09:47):
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (09:48):
and as a soloist, she's complete the Philadelphia sound.
She's RB through and through.
Now, what is MCA going todo with this mature doll?
What are they going to, what kindof music are they going to give the
public that people are going to eat up?
And so.
We see the, one of the very firstofferings comes in the form of a
(10:11):
song on the Beverly Hills soundtrack
Jay Ray (10:15):
Hills Cop.
Yep.
Sir Daniel (10:16):
Beverly Hills.
Yeah.
Beverly Hills Cop soundtrackstarring Eddie Murphy.
And sidebar, there's another, there'sanother song on the same soundtrack
by a trio of mature dolls who havekind of gone through the same thing.
It's like.
This era of the eighties, I don't knowwhat it is about mature black women,
(10:37):
but the people were eating them up.
Jay Ray (10:40):
Yes.
Sir Daniel (10:41):
They ate up Patti LaBelle because Patti LaBelle had,
well, she, no, this was stirredup before The new attitude.
But new attitude was like, new attitudewas out, out of there because that
was something that they could sell.
I remember they, I heard the song incommercials, you know, they were selling,
uh, hair care products, selling pantyholes, everything with new attitude.
(11:04):
You name it, but Stir it Up isa, is a special song though.
Jay Ray, and I think I told you whatI think the, the, the recipe behind
Stir it up is, but what do you thinkof stir it up when you hear it?
Jay Ray (11:17):
Oh no.
Stir it up is likesquarely an eighties jam.
And the reason why I say it in thatway is there are some songs that
you listen to that you're like, oh,this is just like a timeless sound.
The 1980s had a very specificsynthesized, um, sound where now
(11:37):
synthesizers are kind of part of it.
Uh, uh, producers are not using livemusicians, uh, in the same way anymore.
Live musicians are playing thesesym, these synthesizers, right?
So stir it up.
Um, is that, you know what I'm saying?
Stir it up is, but it's, it'salso rooted in blackness.
(11:58):
Like stir it up is like a,you know what I'm saying?
You can do a thing to it.
Sir Daniel (12:03):
I say stirred up is a, is a, is a church pop song.
It's a, it's a p praiseand worship hybrid.
It's got, like you said, it'sfully synthesized, right?
Fully synth pop.
They, there's no live drum That's a drummachine keeping that beat, but they,
that, that beat is a, is a church clap.
That's a dun dun.
(12:27):
And there are several, thereare several black songs that are
breaking into the pop landscape.
With that kind of, with that vibe,with that, um, what I call the
church clap beat, but stirred up isthat, um, the lyrics is about this
woman who is, you know, shakingthings up and changing things.
And that is the whole, that'sthe through line for Patti
(12:47):
LaBelle in this moment is that.
Through these new songs.
She's telling the story like,Hey, remember me, I'm back.
I'm a little bit older, but you know,I've got, I've changed things up.
I got a whole new lookand we gonna get into
Jay Ray (13:02):
We gonna get into the look in a minute.
Sir Daniel (13:05):
in a minute, but I've got a whole new look and
I've got a brand new song sound.
So get into it.
Here I am.
Jay Ray (13:12):
Yeah.
So, um, interesting factoidis by the time, new attitude,
first of all, new attitude.
Um, also from the Beverly Hills copsoundtrack, as DJ Sir mentioned, is a
runaway hit in like the black communitybecause first of all, it's, it's.
(13:33):
Okay.
It's all the hallmarks of PattiLaBelle, so it's like it's high
from the beginning where stirredup is a simmer and then it goes up.
New attitude is like she's, she'sup there at the beginning, right?
Sir Daniel (13:51):
At the beginning, and historically we gotta say
that this is the eighties.
The, we're talking about Reaganomicswomen are, are largely the
leaders of their households now.
And so you've got, this is the,the, the era of the woman's anthem.
The new woman's anthem.
You've got Donna Summers, she'sgot work hard for the money.
(14:12):
Now.
I got a new attitude, you know, Iput on my makeup, I'm, I'm gonna do
all kinds of things to my hair 'causeI've got, I've gotta make it now.
I've gotta, I have to makethings happen for myself.
So yes, you're absolutelyright there, Ray.
Jay Ray (14:25):
So interesting that you, you, you mentioned that because, um, if you go
back, um, and you watch the new attitudevideo, I had I, in preparation for this
show, I went back and I watched it.
So Patti, that's, uh, here's what happens.
Patti is very demure.
She's in her best, Dorothy Vak Whites.
(14:46):
A suit, uh, skirt suit.
It's, it's a lot going on.
Shoulder pads happening, and herhair is just like a regular, uh,
curl, you know, she went to the,the hairdresser and got it curled.
Well, Patti goes into, she comesin and she does the first verse.
Like that.
And then she goes into the dressingroom and she comes out all black
(15:11):
sequence number with the, the hair.
So there's like a, a, the, the, I don'teven know how to describe this hair.
It is straight up.
It is straight, huh?
Yes.
Oh, we have pictures.
Listen y'all.
Um, and we want, um, we aregonna describe what Patti was
serving, uh, in these pictures.
(15:31):
So gimme one second becauseI'm gonna pull this up.
Sir Daniel (15:35):
So what I think Jay Ray was describing was the vase hair.
I call it the vase hair.
Jay Ray (15:40):
the vase hair and it was specifically the one we're looking at
three pictures of Patti in the era.
There's the one, um, on the leftthat we're looking at is Patti
with kind of the bold vase.
It's like a big circle, right?
And then the one in thecenter is like the stir it up.
What is this?
(16:00):
A tease hair.
Sir Daniel (16:01):
So I call this, and I believe that the, um, black women
in the eighties called this look.
It was called the poodle,the poodle cut because No.
Yes, because at the very top, theywould take the, the hair at the top.
They would, um, section it off, uh,and cut like a a and, and cut it
into a platform where there it waslike this spiky hair at the top.
(16:24):
You would either wear it spikylike that, or they would curl it.
And then they would leave thehair that was, that was left
down to their shoulders straight.
And so it would resemble a poodle.
You know how poodles would get thelittle curly top and then they'd
have the, the, um, their ears hangingdown, and so that's what this is,
but it's straightened at the top.
(16:44):
And of course it's theeighties, so you have to have
a headband every now and then.
Jay Ray (16:48):
Absolutely.
And then on the rightis performance Patti.
This is actually Patti at Lave, whichwe're gonna talk about in a minute.
But Patti has the, the straightuh, hair, but it has like a
lot of a coutre on in the hair.
And, and while we're.
Sir Daniel (17:03):
Breath.
That's isn't.
Jay Ray (17:04):
breath.
That's, that is what that's called.
Um, we need to give a shoutout to Norma Harris Gordon.
She was the woman who was doingPatti LaBelle's hair in this era.
And baby, these were, these were worksof art that she was creating for Patti to
put on top of her head because Patti wouldjust have this hair sitting up there.
Sir Daniel (17:29):
I would go further to say that this, um, that Norma
helped Patti to become an icon
Jay Ray (17:35):
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
Sir Daniel (17:37):
because once you, when your look.
You, the way you present, um, canbe mimicked and is used to as a
Halloween costume or you know, itis parody and it turn and it still
points back to you because you did it.
That's iconic and you've become an icon.
(18:00):
So yes, shout out to Norma.
Jay Ray (18:02):
Shout out to her.
So 1984 becomes PattiLaBelle's Breakout year.
Uh, new attitude goes to number17 on the, uh, billboard Hot 100.
This is Patti's first Pop Crossover.
Hit her fir as a solo artist, right?
'cause you know, she has a wholeother life with Pat LaBelle
and the Blue Bells and LaBelle.
(18:22):
So that's another story.
But.
So coming into, there's a lot of momentum.
Around Patti LaBelle, um, andBaby Hollywood comes calling.
So of course we talkedabout Sir Daniel in 1985.
Patti LaBelle gets our ownspecial, the Patti LaBelle show.
(18:43):
It's a, it's a one night special.
And of course we talked about, uh,the fact that Patti LaBelle and
Cyndi Lauper performed together.
They did, uh, lady Marmaladeand was it true colors?
Sir Daniel (18:56):
I believe it's Truco.
Yes.
Jay Ray (18:57):
Yeah.
And, and time after time.
Sir Daniel (19:00):
Truco no time.
You're right.
Time after time, whichwas huge for Cyndi Lauper.
Jay Ray (19:05):
Yes.
Yes.
'cause she was new.
Sir Daniel (19:07):
Huge.
Yes, she's right out the box.
She was brand.
Well kind of new when youhear about Cindy's history.
She had been, um, clawing herway to the top for a minute too.
But this was a huge momentfor Cyndi Lauper to.
Kind of share her moment with anestablished older black, um, musician.
(19:30):
And to, for Patti to get this, havethis variety show and to open up her
space to this up and coming ingenue.
It was just one of those things wherewe, we still looked back to it on this
day with affection because Patti, there'sa part where they're sitting down,
seeing time after time, and, you know.
(19:50):
It's kind of a, um, a mammy moment where,
Jay Ray (19:54):
it
Sir Daniel (19:54):
where Cindy is, is, is nestled in Patti's bosom very, it's very mothering
and it's very lovely and, you know,white people love that kind of stuff.
So, you know, it was a moment, it was amoment for both of them, but it was great.
They both like Patti, you could tellPatti was um, impressed that Cindy
was hanging with her and Cindy wasjust having the time in her life.
Jay Ray (20:17):
Yeah.
And so one of the things we talkedabout, uh, in that episode too,
is the fact that Patti is reallyintroducing herself to Nate.
The, you know, the nationmeanwhile, which is crazy, right?
'cause she's 21 years into her career, andliterally Patti LaBelle is a star black.
Like black folks are like, that is PattiLaBelle, she's black famous, right?
(20:39):
But she's now introducing herselfto this entirely new audience.
In 1985, she gets a special, butSir Daniel, another amazing thing
happens at 85 and that's live aid.
Live Aid is this huge concert.
Um, Bob Geldoff, uh, in the uk,um, puts together this concert,
(21:03):
but it, it, it happens in the UKand then it happens in Philly.
So it's happening internationallyat the exact same time.
Right.
So there are performances that arekind of running concurrent with
performance, you know, in both countries.
Patti LaBelle is on the bill for live aid.
But Sir Daniel, I mentioned this to youwhen we were getting ready for this show.
(21:27):
I didn't know this because I was akid and, and I didn't see it, right?
I don't even think it aired here.
I'm, we're about to play PattiLaBelle's intro in a minute.
I'm not sure if it aired inthe US but, 'cause we're about
to watch a Portugal version.
But here's the dope thingabout Patti LaBelle.
So she's on the Philly show,which makes perfect sense.
(21:49):
The Philly show.
Okay.
Patti LaBelle is one of the finalacts to perform at the Philly show.
So here's who Patti LaBelle iscoming before and this matters.
Okay.
Patti LaBelle is getting a 30 minute set.
(22:10):
She has a 30 minute set.
That's a big, that's a longset in a thing like this.
She is coming before Halling Oates,
Sir Daniel (22:20):
Hmm.
Jay Ray (22:20):
Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, and then we are, the World happens.
So Patti LaBelle is one of the finalfive acts that hit the stage that day.
That's huge.
Sir Daniel (22:40):
That is huge.
And I'm thinking and looking at the actsthat she's, that she's lumped in with,
they kind of are, are from the same era.
Well, I know at least Mick Jagger is, and
Jay Ray (22:55):
And Tina Turner was there with Mick Jagger, by the way.
Sir Daniel (22:58):
See, you see what I'm saying?
So I think it was done onpurpose, which was very smart.
But um, yeah, these benefit showswere huge in the mid eighties.
Um, and they would often interrupt regularprogramming, schedule programming to
bring these to you so that they couldwear, raise awareness and raise money.
(23:18):
People would call in.
Kids, they were call in on 800numbers and donate money live
while these things were going on.
So I'm interested.
I, I can't wait.
And if you are lucky enough to be inhere while we're recording this, because
we have an audience of, um, of ourloyal, um, listeners and viewers that
is getting to share this moment with us.
(23:40):
You're not gonna be able to see thisbecause, you know, we ain't trying
to get flagged on YouTube, but we'reabout to watch this, um, LaBelle's
introduction and the person that's,we're gonna talk about it, let's just
Jay Ray (23:52):
we gonna talk about it and then we gonna talk about it.
My God.
Sir Daniel (24:05):
Listen, I, first of all you, did you see this?
It was a sea of people.
Jay Ray (24:13):
Yes,
Sir Daniel (24:14):
But the en, and she matched that energy.
She came out there, out thegate on a on a hundred, Jamie.
She was singing for the peoplethat was in Philadelphia.
She was singing forthe people in Delaware.
Jay Ray (24:27):
yes.
Sir Daniel (24:28):
People in Delaware could hear her.
That's crazy that, I mean, God.
Jay Ray (24:35):
Yeah.
So.
There are so many thingsthat you can parse through.
So for, uh, for folks, um, to watchthis, we'll make sure that it's
in the description for this show.
But I think what's important toremember is one that's now a 42-year-old
The fact that she is commanding thatstage and commanding that space.
(24:57):
This is for live aid whothey're raising money for.
You know, folks in Africa,this is a big, big deal and I
love that they saw the power.
You have to know when you arebooking her for that slot, what she's
going to give you, and they knew.
Sir Daniel (25:17):
Yep.
'cause by that time you've had, theaudience has sat, has sat through maybe
what, five art, five groups already.
And
Jay Ray (25:25):
Oh, way more.
No, they've been there since.
They've been there since 9:00 AM
Sir Daniel (25:29):
Oh Lord.
So, and, and you saw that crowd.
At that time of day, whoever is puton the stage has to shift the energy.
I mean, you've gotta, you haveto recycle it, you gotta shift
it, you gotta reamp it up.
And Patti LaBelle is the personthat comes in and will do that.
(25:49):
Who you think Patti Labelle or somebody?
So I, she's literally an, she's, she's anenergy, um, what's the word I want to use?
An energy conduit.
You know, there are peoplethat you associate with energy.
Tina, another mature doll, uh, Patti.
(26:12):
There's people that cannot be containedon, especially when they're on stage.
And we know for a fact that you do not.
You do not.
If you are in a, in a a, a, a,pass the mic situation, you do
not pass the mic to Patti Label.
Jay Ray (26:30):
Because that, that happened and that that next year, you know, we
talked about this on one of those showswhere, you know, of course Diana Ross.
Yeah.
Diana Ross there at Motown, uh,went back to the Apollo and you
know, Diana Ross is there and, youknow, giving a, can anybody help me?
And Pat,
(26:51):
you don't even have to ask.
She g And so that's thething about Patti LaBelle.
You know that when you, you know that ifyou're giving Patti LaBelle the mic, she
is going to like burn the mic up and younot gonna be able to pick it back up.
(27:14):
So you have to be reallystrategic about where she sits.
Sir Daniel (27:20):
Yeah, and I think, again, harping on the fact that she's one of the
mature dolls at this point in her career.
One, she knows this is a second chance.
Jay Ray (27:32):
Yes.
Sir Daniel (27:33):
moment that I'm in front of a large audience, especially if I'm
invited to be on a television specialthat's gonna be beamed into millions of
people's homes, that mean that equatesto sales, that equates to ticket sales.
That equates to me havinganother leg in my career.
So whenever I have the opportunity,I'm going to give it to you.
(27:55):
I'm gonna give you a hundredpercent and then she can't.
That's and.
When you're coming up in the, you know,in the, the chitlin circuit days, you
know, coming up on the scene and you,you know, you went through talent
shows to become, uh, to become knownand to be, and to hone your craft.
You are not half stepping.
Jay Ray (28:15):
Mm.
Sir Daniel (28:16):
There's nobody that's gonna out sing you.
Those people, they, they lived, breathed,eat, performing, they rehearsed all
the time so that when the time came.
You are presented with an opportunity,you are giving it a hundred percent.
So that's where she comes from.
And so you're not going to, she'snot going to give you less than a
(28:37):
hundred percent, and to this day,she's still doing the same thing.
Jay Ray (28:41):
Yeah, man, like so.
If we think about this era,you know, Patti continues to
one hit the hit the pop charts.
Um, so of course we get theeternally iconic duet in 87
with uh, Michael McDonald on my.
Sir Daniel (29:06):
So many times,
you know what?
I just realized that they, both the, um,their, um, verses both start the same,
same lyric, but the way that they bothapproach them is completely different.
Jay Ray (29:22):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (29:24):
Hmm.
Jay Ray (29:24):
Yeah.
Um, and to that point, um, one of thethings that you mentioned actually
as we were preparing for the show,and I think it's important, is that.
Um, on my own gets to show Pattiwi in restraint, like she's
showing restraint in this song.
Um, because one of the things weloved about Patti Grow, I, well,
(29:46):
I'm gonna use a I statement.
I'm not sure Sir Daniel, but Iremember Patti LaBelle used to do,
my God, somewhere over the rainbow.
She would tear all the award showsdown, she would kick off a shoe.
Judy Garland could never, okay.
Sir Daniel (30:06):
Could never of her reto when people literally.
They, if they, if she was gonnaend the show and she didn't sing
some Somewhere Over the Rainbow,people thought something was wrong.
Jay Ray (30:20):
like,
what's wrong with
Sir Daniel (30:21):
sure it was one of those moments where it was like,
all right, goodnight, everybody.
I, I can, I can't.
And people
Jay Ray (30:26):
Sat way over the
Sir Daniel (30:26):
no, we want more.
We want, really tired, but okay.
Here we.
Jay Ray (30:36):
Yes.
And we go in.
Yeah, so I, on on my own is won a timelessclassic, gave her another pop hit.
Michael McDonald is foreverour dude, you know what I mean?
And Patti LaBelle got a chance tosing a little different, um, and
and this is a squarely a pop song?
Sir Daniel (30:58):
Squarely a pop song.
Squarely a, um, a, a a a yacht rock.
Jay Ray (31:04):
Song, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Sir Daniel (31:06):
she's, she's, she's checking off all the boxes.
Jay Ray (31:10):
and So we round out the decade.
Patti LaBelle's incredibly successful,uh, 1980s especially that that
back half of the, the decade with,if you ask me to, which, um, was
for the soundtrack to James Bond'sLicense to Kill, which is super dope.
Sir Daniel (31:34):
You know, Pat's not the only, Pat's, wasn't the only mature
doll to have a James Bond song.
Jay Ray (31:41):
No
Sir Daniel (31:42):
Gladys Knight had one,
Jay Ray (31:43):
Tina Turner,
Sir Daniel (31:45):
the mature, see the mature dolls.
We, we had a good in the eighties,Jay Ray, and you know what?
Jay Ray (31:52):
Did.
Sir Daniel (31:53):
We really did.
And I think the fact that we gotthat version of them, we got that
version of the pointer sisters,we got the mature, um, Donna
Summer, we got the, um, who else?
Gladys, we got those mature Diana.
Jay Ray (32:08):
Diana Ross, um, all of
Sir Daniel (32:10):
mature doll versions and they, and that was when they were
at the height of their superpowers.
Jay Ray (32:16):
Absolutely.
Sir Daniel (32:17):
So, uh, I think one of the things we could take away from this
conversation is that we know that, um,especially nowadays, everybody has a
shelf life, particularly female artists.
And if the, and we've nowadays, sexis such a crutch that is heavily
relied on that once you get to acertain age, you're deemed not.
(32:40):
Viable.
You're deemed not a moneymakeranymore, but we had a magical time in
the eighties where the mature dollscame out and they raked in the dough.
They cre, they gave us classicsand they became iconic.
Jay Ray (32:58):
Yes, absolutely.
So shout out to the Patti LaBelle, whoas of the taping of this is still on
tour with Stephanie Mills and GladysKnight and Chaka Khan, um, tearing
down houses all over the world.
Um, but yeah, um, we are happy tocelebrate Pat's iconic, uh, pop.
(33:20):
Culture breakthrough.
Um, and thank y'all for hanging outwith us as always on Queue Points.
If you can see our faces andhear our voices, go ahead
and subscribe to the show.
Tell your friends, tell your familycolleagues, anybody you think would
like cue points, because if you loveit, chances are they will love it too.
Visit our website at queuepoints.comwhere you can listen to the
(33:41):
entire archive of episodes of theshow and there is a lot to see.
We are live every singlesolitary Thursday.
Most times at 8:00 PMEastern Standard Time.
So you can tune in, um, on YouTube,on Facebook, on our substack,
which is where you should be toget all the extra stuff for Queue
(34:01):
Points, um, and on Instagram too.
Um, and once again, uh, shop our store.
Uh, keep the lights onhere at Queue Points.
So if you visit store dot QueuePoints.com, you can buy merch, you
can buy all types of other stuff.
We appreciate y'all.
We love y'all.
Sir Daniel (34:17):
Thank you once again, and like I always say in this
life you have an opportunity.
You can either pick up the needleor you could let the record play.
I'm DJ Sir Daniel.
Jay Ray (34:26):
And my name is Jay Ray.
Sir Daniel (34:28):
And this is Queue Points podcast, dropping the
needle on black music history.
We will see you on the next go round.
[Singing]*Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Ohhhh*
Jay Ray (34:37):
[Singing]*I got a new attitude.* Peace y'all.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com