1. Brokenhearted – Brandy and Boyz to Men
2. Careless Whisper – George Michael and Wham
3. One More Night – Phil Collins
4. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
5. I Wish It Would Rain – Temptations
On April 15, 1990 'In Living Color' premiered on the Fox network. This landmark series was created, written, and executive produced by Keenan Ivory Wayans, who also starred on the show. This sketch comedy helped to launch the career of Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davison, and later Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Ann Inaba (Dancing With the Stars) as well as the talented Wayans clan.
From the very beginning regular viewers knew the show would controversial, innovative, and dare I say something that had never been seen before on network television. The show made you think by poking fun at some serious and not so serious topics. From the theme song by Heavy D to the dances choreographed by Rosie Perez and performed by “The Fly Girls” the show was an absolute winner. In tribute of the eighteen year anniversary, I would like to remember and share some of the characterizations introduced on the show.
1. Fire Marshall Bill – Jim Carrey is the inept fire marshal, who starts more fires than he extinguishes.
2. Benita Betrell – Kim Wayans portrays neighborhood gossips who know and tells all.
3. Hey Mon – The Headley’s are a Jamaican family that believes work the most important priority. Father has fifteen jobs, while mother has 9 jobs besides her housework.
4. Snaky Shack – The restaurant where you will find the menus right next to the roach motel.
5. Homeboy Shopping Network – Keenan and Damon Wayans as Wiz and the Ice Man who attempt to sell stolen goods to the consumer.
6. Antoine – The bum who is a victim of society and an entertainer.
7. Cephus and Ressie Maywether – No singing, jheri curl wearing, wannabe entertainers.
8. Bob Jackson – Jim Carrey portrays the black belt who runs a self-defense class for women.
9. Jheri’s Kids – Jim Carrey as Jheri Lewis, an entertainer who holds telethons to stamp out jheri curl syndrome.
10. Go On Girl! - T'Keyah Crystal Keymah portrays author and talk show host Shawanda Harvey.
1. I Write A Fast Song – Kim Wayans does a send up of singer Tracey Chapman, who looks out the window and “write a fast song” about the happenings in the neighborhood.
2. Homey the Clown – Damon Wayans plays the disgruntled clown who always utters the catch phrase “Homey don’t play that”.
3. Men on Films, Art, Books – Blaine Edwards and Antoine Meriwether are two gay critics who give their view on the latest offerings in the world of art.
Recently I saw a PBS reunion of the Osmond family, which made me think about the Jackson family and how they had the world in the palm of their hands back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. A few months ago I posted a story about a reunion tour that was supposedly in the works. Now I don't know if that will happen, although it probably ought to. It would help with their financial woes.
Stiffed by their superstar brother Michael and plagued by decades of bad fiscal decisions, the once-mighty Jackson family is barely scraping by, with one brother stocking groceries, another repairing car and others living at home with mom while hoping for their sister Janet's next handout.
They have fallen far from their days as sequin-studded stage stars who could rake in seven-figure paydays for a single performance. Then they were the Jackson Five, the undisputed kings of Motown, a Berry Gordy-led, bell-bottomed global phenomenon. Their first four singles rocketed to the top of the charts, four albums went platinum, and the band of brothers sold more than 100 million albums, second only to the Beatles, while pioneering a multimedia empire that spanned radio, TV, cartoons and magazines.
Family patriarch Joseph Jackson, 79, spends most of his waking hours conjuring up schemes he hopes will replenish a bank account that once had more money than the FDIC cared to insure. Peddling musical girl groups in Las Vegas and a book about his family in Germany, Joseph, despite evidence to the contrary, is not convinced that time and the music industry has passed him by.
"We can get back out there and set the world on fire," he told The Post last week. "If the Rolling Stones can still rake in the money, so, too, can my boys."
Like their days growing up in hardscrabble Gary, Ind., the Jacksons are approaching poverty. Tough times have the clan recalling how the six boys and three girls shared a shingled home with a two-car garage, when Joseph worked in a steel mill and mother Katherine, 77, scoured thrift shops to clothe her brood.
But the beauty belies the family's dark fiscal troubles - workers often go months without a paycheck, and Janet Jackson, 41, the new breadwinner in the family, purchased a Vegas home for her mother in anticipation of her eventually losing Hayvenhurst.
How did their fortunes crumble? A slew of bad investments, poor advice, bankruptcy, stubborn pride, divorces, IRS debt, child support and a brother, Michael, who would rather give $1 million to Marlon Brando than do a concert tour or record to help make his brothers whole again.
The family's downfall is not entirely Michael's fault, others argue. The Gloved One footed their bills for years. But his generosity came at a devastating price: The King of Pop used his vast power and influence to prevent his siblings from plying the trade that led to such mega-hits as "I Want You Back," "The Love You Save" and "ABC."
The family filed for Chapter 11 protection in 1997, listing debts of more than $45 million following the collapse of Jackson Communications Inc., which was started by Jermaine. Only Michael, Janet and sister La Toya were spared from the many lawsuits connected to JCI.
Janet is said to be worth upward of $150 million, while controversial sister La Toya, 52, is a millionaire. Rebbie, 57, the oldest, has been married for more than 35 years to a successful businessman she met in Gary, and the two live in an exclusive Las Vegas enclave.
More broken promises followed Jacko's acquittal.
"Michael said after the trial ends, and we know he is going to walk, that we are definitely going out on tour," Jermaine said. "We are going to set the world on fire." Instead Michael fled to the Middle East. Randy Jackson, who persuaded several friends to remortgage their homes, used the cash to help pay Michael's legal and other expenses. Randy said he was left holding the bag when Michael fled to Bahrain. When Michael returned to the States, taking up residence in Las Vegas in December 2006, Randy tried to confront him, but Michael would not have it. A desperate Randy charged the compound housing Michael, but bodyguards stopped him.
"We are willing now to go out and do some things without [Michael]," one of the brothers said recently. "We have to."
This is how family members stand today:
Joseph Jackson, 79 and Katherine Jackson, 77
Dad hustles various girl groups in Las Vegas. Mom is still a stay-at-home housewife and the only family member in contact with Michael. Both have previously filed for bankruptcy
Janet Jackson, 41
The current family breadwinner. She bought her mom a Vegas home in anticipation of losing the family's mansion, Hayvenhurst, to foreclosure. Like their Neverland colleagues, workers at Hayvenhurst have not been paid for months.
La Toya Jackson, 52
Family turncoat who declared Michael guilty during the 1993 molestation case, she earns a living mostly in Europe and in the UAE judging beauty and singing contests. She lives with a wealthy boyfriend in Beverly Hills and has little contact with her siblings.
Rebbie Jackson, 57
The oldest, she's married to successful businessman Nathaniel Brown.
Tito Jackson, 55
Formed a blues band several years ago and plays at small venues for $500 to $1,500 a gig.
Michael Jackson, 49
On the verge of losing Neverland ranch as well as the family's Encino, Calif., home. He's hiding out in Las Vegas and repeatedly makes promises to his brothers while sabotaging any attempts by them to ply their musical trade.
Randy Jackson, 46
Randy does odd jobs like changing tires to support himself. He was Michael's business manager during the 2005 molestation trial but ran into serious problems with friends after he persuaded three people to take out lines of credits against their homes to help Michael pay his attorney fees and Michael stiffed them.
Marlon Jackson, 51
Lives in San Diego, where he works stocking groceries at a Vons supermarket. He fell on hard times three years ago when he was forced to leave his foreclosed home and move into an Extended Stay America hotel with his wife, Carol.
Jackie Jackson, 56
The oldest son started an Internet clothing business and is trying to produce records by his sons. Nothing has panned out.
Jermaine Jackson, 54
Splits time between the parents' Hayvenhurst mansion and his girlfriend's home in the San Fernando Valley. With more than $5 million in federal, state and other liens against him and a 1995 bankruptcy filing, he doesn't work or have a regular income.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Ever have one of those days when you beat up on yourself because you felt unattractive? Have you ever looked at the Hollywood's rendition of women and found yourself coming up way short of America's idea of beauty. If only we could look like Cameron Diaz or Julia Roberts then everything would be alright. NOT! Get a load of some of our "icons of beauty" sans their makeup. Just goes to show you that they are no different than the rest of the women in the world.
1. Chalize Theron - Can you say Monster?
3. Drew Barrymore - At least the photo looks like her.
I'll admit it, I love gossip and I have kept abreast of the escapades of Whitney and Bobby over the years. Bobby Brown has written his memoirs that divulges the intimate details of his relationship with Whitney and some other ladies in show business. I thought it couldn't get much worse than his highly-rated reality series (train wreck) 'Being Bobby Brown,' but he may outdo himself this time. The public has maintained an infatuating love affair with the 39-year-old trouble-prone R&B crooner and his former mega star wife.
With his latest endeavor, the forthcoming autobiography 'Being Bobby Brown: The Truth and Nothing But ...,' Brown lets loose on an array of controversial subjects, dishes dirt on fellow celebrities and make startling self revelations. In the kiss and tell chronicle Brown will reveal information detailing Whitney and his drug use, marital problems and even admits that she may have married him to dodge rampant rumors of her longtime lesbian relationship with gal pal Robin Crawford.
About Janet Jackson, Brown says he never abused alcohol as much as he has until his relationship with the 'Rhythm Nation' singer hit the skids: "I can recall that I started drinking heavily when Janet Jackson and I broke up," he writes. "Before I met Janet I would never drink hard liquor, I only drank beer. But after our break up, I started drinking hard liquor abundantly. I took the way our relationship ended very hard. Not to say we were head over heels in love, but she was someone I had a lot of feelings for. Besides, we were young and naive. I was only about 19 or 20 years old. Young love is no joke!"
On Steffans, who is also known as "Superhead" for her admitted sexual acts, Brown was less diplomatic: "Yes, she was a friend of mine. Yes, I've slept with her. Yes, I've spent several nights at her house," he stated point blank, adding, "but she was only good for what her nickname stood for and nothing else ... she is a terrible mother ...If there is one thing I can't stand, that's a woman who is not a mother to her children. That's a big turn-off to me!"
Steffans, who blew the bed-sheets off of the hip-hop industry exposing her sexual exploits with some of the biggest names in Black Hollywood via two 'New York Times' best-selling memoirs, has spoken on record about her love for Brown ; her latest book, 'The Vixen Diaries,' has a chapter titled "How To Save a Life, Part Two" where she writes "While the rest of the world continued guessing the nature of my relationship with Bobby, I was working hard to help him be happy, healthy and sane."
Bobby Brown thinks otherwise: "To be totally honest, I feel this woman isn't even worth acknowledging," he writes. "I think she is trying to make a quick buck. I also think she needs some psychological help. She has been mentally and emotionally scarred. She needs a hug!" There are less than six degrees between Steffans and Houston; they both have had tumultuous, tabloid-ready relationships with Brown, and also are or were romantically associated with young R&B singer Ray-J who Brown supposedly refers to as "the little guy" throughout his book.
Brown admits that he is no angel, alleging “encounters” with many high profile celebrities in the industry, including Holly Robinson-Peete, Madonna, The Real Roxanne, Karyn White, and soap opera veteran, Debbi Morgan. He boasts that “I probably had dated half of the industry, from everybody to everybody…the list goes on from the who’s who to the flava of the month”. He tells all about his cocaine addiction and 2001 heroin overdose.
Love him or hate him, he has been able to hold the attention of the public for well over twenty years. I might read the book just to find out what in the world all these women were thinking because frankly I don’t get it…Bobby Brown???
While on spring break vacation with his family in Washington DC, Kenton Stufflebeam, an eleven year old Allegan Michigan boy found an error in one of the exhibit’s notation. The notation, in bold lettering, mistakenly identified the Precambrian as an era. Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Kenton was the first to point out the error.Kenton, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, said his fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake about the Precambrian in a classroom earth-science lesson before catching himself. Kevin Stufflebeam, father of Kenton, took his son to the museum's information desk to report Kenton's concern on a comment form. Last week, the boy received a letter from the museum acknowledging that his observation was "spot on."
"The Precambrian is a dimensionless unit of time, which embraces all the time between the origin of Earth and the beginning of the Cambrian Period of geologic time," the letter says. The solution to the problem would not involve advanced science but rather simply painting over the word "era," the note says.
While no previous visitors to the museum had brought up the error, it has long bothered the paleobiology department's staff, who noticed it even before the Tower of Time was erected 27 years ago, said Lorraine Ramsdell, educational technician for the museum.
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 April 4th will mark the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III will lead a march to the hotel to commemorate this historical event. I will take time on Friday to reflect on how far the world has come in these 40 years and how much will still need to strive for both globally and in America. For this edition of Thursday Thirteen I will share some little known facts about Dr. King. 1. Dr. King was a Republican - Most people would assume that because Dr. King was black, and fought for the rights of the underprivileged, that he would naturally be a Democrat. But the truth is that by many accounts, Dr. King was a Republican, and more conservative in his views. 2. Dr. King was a dedicated Fraternity man – He was a member of Sigma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as the number 5 of his line in spring of '52. 3. He changed his name from Michael to Martin, but there is no evidence that he changed it legally. 4. In 1964, Dr. King became the first black American to be honored as Time magazine's Man of the Year. 5. King's efforts were not limited to securing civil rights; he also spoke out vehemently against poverty and the Vietnam War. 6. Besides his doctoral degree from Boston University, Dr. King was awarded 20 honorary doctoral degrees, from numerous colleges. 7. Dr. King became an ordained minister in 1948 at the age of nineteen. 9. He entered Morehouse College at 15 and in 1948 he graduated with a B.A. degree in Sociology. 10. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover waged a bitter war of surveillance and harassment, declaring him "the most dangerous man in America. 12. The Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated became a civil rights museum in 1991. 13. Mrs. Coretta Scott King spoke at the funeral of her husband, eloquently stating, "The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day `want' is abolished, on the day `wars' are no more, on that day, I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace." |
Today Marvin Gaye would have been 69 years old. While I don't usually acknowledge celebrity birthdays I figured today I would make an exception for my favorite male singer of all time. The original "Trouble Man" started his career in his hometown of Washington DC, where he sung in several groups, including The Marquees with Bo Diddley, which produced a song entitled "Wyatt Earp". He was recruited by Harvey Fuqua to become a member of the Moonglows. He had his first recorded lead with the group on "Mama Loocie" in 1959 on Chess Records. When the Moonglows disbanded, Harvey Fuqua, with Marvin in tow, left the Windy City for Motown and the rest is history.
I mentioned it in a post several weeks ago that Beyonce Knowles would be portraying Etta James in the upcoming film entitled "Cadillac Records". Now it has been announced that rapper Mos Def will play Chuck Berry in the film. Mos Def is no stranger to acting, having won critical acclaim as Vivien Thomas in "Something The Lord Made". He also sang and performed in HBO's "Lackawanna Blues". I for one think that he will probably do an excellent job as Berry, if his previous acting endeavors are any indication.
Her first foray into the music business came about this time, as a member of a short-lived Latin soul group named Arriva. It was as a member of Arriva that she first performed the song “Smooth Operator” which would eventually become her first US hit. This song was co-written by guitarist/bassist Ray St. John. Shortly thereafter, she joined St. John's band Pride, which also included guitarist Stuart Matthewman, bassist Paul Denman, and drummer Paul Cooke. When St. John left Pride the remaining members morphed into Sade, with the addition of Andrew Hale on keyboard.
I was fortunate enough to catch the band in the summer of 1988 at what was then called Pine Knob Theater, an outdoor venue in Clarkston, Michigan. It was a warm summer night filled with the sweet sounds of “Cherry Pie”, “Your Love Is King”, ”Sweetest Taboo”, “Is It A Crime”, Stronger Than Pride” and a host of other songs from her first three albums. I remember leaving the park satisfied that I had witnessed one of the best concerts that I had attended so far.
So if you are out there Sade, please know that your fan base certainly miss you and your multi genre music. Hopefully you will return sometimes soon. If anyone sees her or any of the band members tell them the fans are waiting for her return. Until then I will have to be satisfied with listening to the excellent and perfect “Diamond Life”, “Promise”, “Stronger Than Pride”, “Love Deluxe” and “Lover’s Rock” CD’s. Check out this performance of the group in its heyday.
Sunny Anderson has a new show on the Food Network entitled "Cooking For Real". The first episode will air on Sunday, April 6th at 10:30 am EST/9:30 am CST. I love food and I love with the Food Network is doing these days by recognizing the diversity in food preparation. They truly have something for everyone now.Upon finishing her tour of duty with the Air Force, Sunny kept on her broadcast career playing radio host at stations in New Orleans, Montgomery, Detroit, and finally, in New York at hip hop radio powerhouse, HOT 97. Within a year, Vibe Magazine rated her show as one of the top 9 to listen to nationwide and crowned her, "Ruler of the Airwaves." Her radio success landed her guest hosting duties on MTV2, and voice over gigs on television and radio ads for Destiny's Child, LL Cool J, and John Legend.
Check out Ms. Anderson in this promo for a show she hosted on the network last year entitled "Gotta Get It".
I was channel surfing and stopped on BET because a show from the early nineties was showing. Thea only aired for nineteen episodes, but it helped to launch the career of Brandy Norwood (Moesha). Stand-up comedienne Thea Vidale stars as Thea Turrell, a widowed mother of four who works in a Houston supermarket by day and runs a one-chair beauty salon on the corner of her porch in the evenings. Vidale was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series for her portrayal of the no-nonsense Thea. The series was cancelled shortly after only one season due to low ratings. Veteran actors Yvette Wilson, Jason Weaver, and Adam Jeffries round out the cast of the show. I really enjoyed the show when it first telecasted back in the day and I found that I still enjoy it. Thea airs on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am EST on BET.
A federal appeals court on Thursday said former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal cannot be executed for murdering a Philadelphia police officer without a new penalty hearing. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Abu-Jamal's conviction should stand, but that he should get a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions. If prosecutors don't want to give him a new death penalty hearing, Abu-Jamal would be sentenced automatically to life in prison.
Abu-Jamal, 53, once a radio reporter, has attracted a legion of artists and activists to his cause in a quarter-century on death row. A Philadelphia jury convicted him in 1982 of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner, 25, after the patrolman pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in an overnight traffic stop.
He had appealed, arguing that racism by the judge and prosecutors corrupted his conviction at the hands of a mostly white jury. Prosecutors, meanwhile, had appealed a federal judge's 2001 decision to grant Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing because of the jury instructions.
Hundreds of people protested outside the federal building in Philadelphia in May and an overflow crowd - including legal scholars, students, lawyers, the policeman's widow and Abu-Jamal's brother - filled the courtroom when the appeals court heard arguments about the case.
The officer's widow, Maureen Faulkner, has kept her husband's memory alive over the years, and recently co-wrote a book about the case. The book, "Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain and Injustice," written with radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish, came out in December.
