Whats Buzzing in the Streets – Page 63

Gabby Douglas

On this date in 2012, 16-year-old Gabrielle Douglas of the United States became the first African American to win the gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Individual All-Around final.

From Virginia Beach, VA, Douglas accomplished her feet on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic games at North Greenwich Arena in London, England.

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the United States women’s national gymnastics team, dubbed the Fierce Five by the media, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won gold medals in the individual all-around and team competitions. She was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships, and the all-around silver medalist at the 2015 World Championships. She was part of the Final Five at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she won gold in the team competition.

Douglas is the first African American or the first of African descent of any nationality in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion, and the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. She and Simone Biles are the only two American all-around champions to win multiple gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Douglas is the first female reigning Olympic all-around champion to return to the World Championships and medal in the all-around since Elena Davydova in 1981. Gabby Douglas was also the 2016 AT&T American Cup all-around champion.

As a public figure, Douglas’ gymnastics successes have led to her life story adaptation in the 2014 Lifetime biopic film, The Gabby Douglas Story,as well as the acquisition of her own reality television series, Douglas Family Gold. Douglas has also written a book about her life and what it takes to be an Olympic Gold Medalist by determination and perseverance.

Gabrielle Douglas was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to parents Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins-Douglas. She has three older siblings: two sisters, Joyelle and Arielle, and one brother, Johnathan. She began training in gymnastics at age six when her older sister convinced their mother to enroll her in gymnastics classes. In October 2002, Douglas began her training at Gymstrada.

At the age of eight, Douglas won the Level 4 all-around gymnastics title at the 2004 Virginia State Championships.

At 14, Gabby moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to train full-time with coach Liang Chow. Because her family had to stay in Virginia while her siblings finished school, Gabby lived with Travis and Missy Parton and their four daughters, one of them also trained at Chow’s gym.

Douglas is a Christian; she said, “I believe in God. He is the secret of my success. He gives people talent”, and “… I love sharing about my faith. God has given me this amazing God-given talent, so I’m going to go out and glorify His name.” Douglas has also stated in her biography that in the past her “family practiced some of the Jewish traditions”, including attending a Conservative Jewish synagogue, keeping kosher, and celebrating Hanukah.

Written by Dianne Washington

Ray, Goodman and Brown

My guys, The Moments, aka Ray, Goodman and Brown, boy the times we had!! Make no mistake they killed it, made some of the most memorable and classic music ever, they made our house parties memorable till this day! Missing you Harry and Al.

The original members of the Moments were Mark Greene, Eric Olfus Sr., Richard Gross (often incorrectly listed as “Richard Horsley”) and John Morgan. The Moments formed in Washington, D.C. during the mid-1960s. In 1965, at Washington D.C.’s Howard University, the Mizell Brothers and Freddie Perren (along with schoolmate Toby Jackson) founded Hog Records and signed the harmony group as the Moments. The Moments recorded “Baby I Want You” and “Pray For Me” for Hog. The lineup consisted of Olfus, Gross and Morgan.

Mark Greene joined after the single’s release. The group then signed with the newly established Stang Records label, set up by Sylvia Robinson at All Platinum Studios in Englewood, New Jersey with her husband Joe. The group had its first hit almost immediately late in 1968 with “Not On The Outside”, which reached #13 on the R&B chart and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 (with Greene on lead vocal). Robinson then hired a management firm headed by radio stars Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett and Eddie O’Jay. The trio began promoting the Moments and booking them for live events in major cities. When Hamlett moved to WCMF in Rochester, New York, he booked the Moments exclusively.

Their first Stang album release pictured William “Billy” Brown, Al Goodman and Morgan on the cover, although various members’ voices appeared on different tracks recorded between 1968 and 1969. There also appear to be female voices; although never confirmed, it is believed that Sylvia Robinson (herself a professional singer) supplied some of those parts, along with Stang artist Lezli Valentine and studio vocalist Rhetta Young. When members left (or were replaced) it was less costly to re-cut only the lead vocal (which, in the case of the Moments’ earliest studio productions, makes it difficult to determine who is backing the lead voice). Before three of the original members of the Moments left All Platinum, they recorded their breakthrough song “Love On A Two Way Street” (which reached #1 on the R&B chart and #3 on the pop chart in the spring of 1970). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[2] All Platinum also released a single recorded by Mark Greene entitled “My Confession of Love”, with the flip side “I’m So Lost”, on the Stang label. The B-side track appeared on the first Moments album (with Billy Brown’s replacement lead vocal) in 1969, and was released as a single later that year with moderate chart success. The group also released “My Confession of Love” under the name “Black Satin”, with Crocker speaking the lyrics.

The group quickly scaled down to a trio after one live appearance at the Apollo Theater as a quartet (some sources credit Greene, Gross—aka Richie Horsley and Morgan or sometimes Greene, Horsley and Johnny Moore as the trio lineup). Greene, Olfus and Gross left All Platinum together in 1969, replaced by baritone Goodman and new lead tenor/baritone singer William “Billy” Brown while Morgan stayed on. Gross was incorrectly credited as Richie Horsley on legal documents, liner notes, websites, articles and in books about the Moments. Brown had previously been a member of The Broadways, who had recorded on the MGM label. Goodman (after a couple of performances with The Corvettes and The Vipers) was hired by Joe Robinson as a studio-production creative assistant, singer and songwriter. On records, he played the substitute role of Mickey (in Mickey & Sylvia, of whom Sylvia Robinson was formerly one-half).

After three of the four original members of the Moments had left All Platinum, Billy Brown rerecorded a new lead-vocal track of “Love On A Two Way Street”. The song had originally been recorded by Stang artist Lezli Valentine, but failed to chart; the Moments’ version (produced by Sylvia Robinson) was originally included as a filler cut on their first LP (released in 1969) entitled Not On The Outside…But On The Inside, Strong! Early in 1970 it was remixed, issued as a single and reached the #1 R&B spot for five weeks. The first album also contained a Moments version of another Lezli Valentine song entitled “I Won’t Do Anything”, with Brown on lead vocals; it became the flip side of the hit single.

In 1971 Bert Keyes encouraged Greene, Gross and Olfus to sign with Volt Records, a subsidiary of Stax. Keyes had worked with the group at All Platinum Records as a producer, arranger and session keyboardist in the studio’s house band (later leaving the label because of disputes with the Robinsons). The group signed with the Volt/Stax label as The Leaders, recording in New York City. The Leaders
had four members: Greene, Gross, Olfus and Donald Spriggs. They were managed by songwriter Myrna March, and Keyes produced several of the songs they recorded for Volt.

Between the first album’s release and the Moments’ #1 hit, Morgan was briefly replaced by Sylvia Robinson’s brother-in-law Johnny Moore (not to be confused with the Drifters’ singer). He appeared with Goodman and Brown on the cover of the group’s 1970 second album; however, Moore was absent from a live appearance. Since the Moments were now considered a headline attraction, he was fired; Goodman and Brown worked as a duo until new arrival Harry Ray rounded out the trio. This lineup became Sylvia Robinson’s favorite, and the one most heavily promoted by All Platinum.[citation needed] Ray sang lead while Brown recovered from vocal overuse, and was the lead voice on many of the Moments’ subsequent hits including the follow-up “If I Didn’t Care” (#7 R&B, #44 pop, 1970), “Sexy Mama” (#3 R&B, #17 pop, 1973) and “Look At Me (I’m In Love)” (#1 R&B, #39 pop, 1975).

After Brown recovered, they shared lead vocal duties; occasionally Goodman took a turn, and served as spokesman for the group. Their album, entitled A Moment with the Moments, showed Goodman, Brown and Johnny Moore on the cover and was hastily released while Brown was still recovering. The release numbers ran out of sequence in their hurry to support the single “If I Didn’t Care” in 1970. This was the first Moments lead vocal for Ray, and the only track on which Ray appeared. Another remix of “Love On A Two Way Street” was included, but the rest of the album consisted of tracks recorded before Brown’s illness (mainly B-sides from earlier singles). Moore was gone from the group by the time the album reached the charts. After Brown’s voice returned, Stang began releasing singles from the On Top album, with Ray and Brown dividing lead vocals. Ray also recorded a duet with Sylvia Robinson, “Sho Nuff Boogie” (credited as Sylvia and the Moments), in 1973.

The Moments were co-credited with labelmates The Whatnauts on their hit “Girls (Part 1)”; it reached #25 on the U.S. R&B charts and became one of their biggest international successes, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975. Ray and Goodman were strongly involved in writing and producing much of the Moments’ material from the mid-1970s, as well as producing and writing for The Whatnauts and All-Platinum’s other artists.[who?]

By 1979, the group had had a total of 27 R&B chart hits and decided to leave Stang, signing with the larger Polydor Records label. A legal dispute arose, barring them from using “The Moments” on their new label, so they renamed the group with their last names: Ray, Goodman & Brown.

The first single under their new name, “Special Lady,” became one of their biggest hits, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the pop chart in early 1980. The B-side featured “Déjà Vu”, with lyrics by Bob Natiello and music by Lou Toby. They followed up with more hits, including “Inside Of You” (#14 R&B, 1980). In 1982, following the release of their fourth (and final) Polydor album, Ray left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Kevin “Ray” Owens, a backing vocalist for Luther Vandross. Ray re-joined Sylvia and Joe Robinson at their new venture (Sugar Hill Records), but after one album and a minor hit, “Sweet Baby,” he rejoined Goodman and Brown in 1983 for their comeback on EMI with the ballad “Take It To the Limit” (which put them back on the R&B charts at #8 in 1987). In 1991, Harold “Eban” Brown, former vocalist for The Delfonics, became the lead vocalist for Ray, Goodman & Brown. He stayed for two and a half years before joining The Manhattans and became lead vocalist for The Stylistics in 2000.

Ray suffered a fatal stroke in 1992 and was again replaced in the group by Kevin “Ray” Owens. Occasionally solo artist Greg Willis joined Ray, Goodman and Brown in performances (and later on records), but never became a full-time member. Vocalist Wade “Silky” Elliott also did a stint, before signing a solo contract with CBS Records during the 1990s and temporarily joining Blue Magic. With Owens’ return, the trio continued to perform and tour as Ray, Goodman & Brown. They released two albums in 2002 and 2003: one with new material, and the other featuring re-workings of soul songs by other male vocal groups. These albums reunited them with former All-Platinum producer George Kerr. In one of their public appearances, they teamed with Gerald Alston to perform The Manhattans’ hit “Kiss And Say Goodbye”. They sang backup vocals for Alicia Keys song “You Don’t Know My Name,” which was a #1 soul/R&B song in 2003. As of 2008 Owens, Goodman and Brown continued to record together and tour (sometimes with vocalist Larry “Ice” Winfree), performing hits from both the Moments and Ray, Goodman and Brown.

On July 26, 2010 Goodman died at the age of 67. In 2012, Harold “Eban” Brown rejoined remaining original member Billy Brown to re-record The Moments Greatest Hits – Volume 1. It was released in April 2014 on the Universal Music Group label – featuring the vocals of Harold “Eban” Brown and Billy Brown only. As of 2014, Winfree was officially welcomed into the group as the replacement for Goodman, with Owens and Brown, bringing the group back to its regular trio status.

Written by Dianne Washington

Helen Martin

Helen Martin was born on this day in 1909 in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Amanda Frankie (née Fox) and William Martin, a minister.

She later moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. She was a Broadway character actress for many decades, debuting in Orson Welles’ production of “Native Son” in 1937. She appeared in at least a dozen Broadway shows, including Jean Genet’s “The Blacks,” the musical “Raisin” from 1973 to 1975, Ossie Davis’ “Purlie Victorious “(and later the musical version, which was called “Purlie”), “The Amen Corner” and Tennessee Williams’ “Period of Adjustment.” She was an original member of the American Negro Theater.

Martin became widely known later in life due to her roles in popular television series, which brought her a large audience. She had a recurring role as Wanda on the television series “Good Times,” and later as the neighbor Pearl Shay on the television sitcom “227,” which lasted from 1985 until 1990. She also played on the short sitcoms “Baby, I’m Back” (as mother in-law, Luzelle) and “That’s My Mama.”

She played a variety of grandmothers in films: “Hollywood Shuffle” (1987), “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood” (1996), “I Got the Hook Up” (1998), and Mama Doll in “Bulworth” (1998).

Helen Martin passed away on March 25, 2000, at the age of 90.

Written by Dianne Washington

George Clinton

George Edward Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective (which primarily recorded under the distinct band names Parliament and Funkadelic) developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science-fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelic culture, and surreal humor. He launched a solo career in 1981, and would go on to influence 1990s hip-hop and G-funk. He is regarded, along with James Brown and Sly Stone, as one of the foremost innovators of funk music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida. During his teen years Clinton formed a doo-wop group inspired by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers called The Parliaments, while straightening hair at a barber salon in Plainfield.

The West End of Plainfield, New Jersey was once home to the Silk Palace, a barbershop at 216 Plainfield Avenue owned in part by Clinton, staffed by various members of Parliament-Funkadelic and known as the “hangout for all the local singers and musicians” in Plainfield’s 1950s and 1960s doo-wop, soul, rock and proto-funk music scene.

For a period in the 1960s Clinton was a staff songwriter for Motown. Despite initial commercial failure and one major hit single, (“(I Wanna) Testify” in 1967), as well as arranging and producing scores of singles on many of the independent Detroit soul music labels, The Parliaments eventually found success under the names Parliament and Funkadelic in the 1970s (see also P-Funk). These two bands combined the elements of musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, Frank Zappa, and James Brown while exploring various sounds, technology, and lyricism. Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic dominated diverse music during the 1970s with over 40 R&B hit singles (including three number ones) and three platinum albums.

From 1971 to late 1973, Clinton and several other members of the band settled in Toronto. During the years in Toronto, they honed their live show and recorded the album America Eats Its Young, which was their first to feature Bootsy Collins.

Clinton’s efforts as a solo artist began in 1982. He is also a notable music producer who works on almost all the albums he performs on, and has produced albums for Bootsy Collins and Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others. Beginning in the early 1980s, Clinton recorded several nominal solo albums, although all of these records featured contributions from P-Funk’s core musicians. The primary reason for recording under his own name was legal difficulties, due to the complex copyright and trademark issues surrounding the name “Parliament” (primarily) and Polygram’s purchase of that group’s former label Casablanca Records.

Danny Glover

Danny Glover was born on this date in 1946. He is an African American actor and director and an activist.

Danny Lebern Glover was born in San Francisco. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University. As a young man he was a member of the Black Panther Party.

At the University, he met and married his wife, Asake Bomani, in 1975; they have one child named Mandisa.

Glover received his dramatic training at the American Conservatory Theatre’s Black Actors’ Workshop. He made his film debut in “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979). In the early 1980s, Glover made his name portraying characters ranging from the sympathetic in “Places in the Heart” (1984) to the menacing in Witness (1985) and “The Color Purple” (1984).

He reached box office gold status with the three Lethal Weapon movies. Glover contributed an amusing cameo in “Maverick”(1994). That same year Glover made his directorial debut with the Showtime channel short film “Override.” In 1998, Glover again had his role for “Lethal Weapon 4,” and that same year gave a stirring performance in the little-seen “Beloved.” He also joined the ranks of actors such as Humphrey Bogart, Elliot Gould, and Robert Mitchum who have portrayed Raymond Chandler’s private eye detective Phillip Marlowe in the episode “Red Wind” of the Showtime network’s 1995 series “Fallen Angels.”

On television, Glover played the title role in “Mandela” (1987), Joshua Deets in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” legendary railroad man John Henry in a 1988 installment of Shelley Duvall’s “Tall Tales,” and the mercurial leading character in the 1989 “American Playhouse” revival of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

In March 1998, he was appointed ambassador to the United Nations Development Program. Among his many awards, he has won five NAACP Image Awards for his achievements as a Black actor. Danny Glover is also chairman of TransAfrica.

While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students Union, which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history. It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.

Hari Dillon, current president of the Vanguard Public Foundation, was a fellow striker at SFSU. Glover later co-chaired Vanguard’s board. He is also a board member of The Algebra Project, The Black AIDS Institute, Walden House, and Cheryl Byron’s Something Positive Dance Group. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after being arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during a protest over Sudan’s humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Glover’s long history of union activism includes support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, and numerous service unions. In March 2010, Glover supported 375 Union workers in Ohio by calling upon all actors at the 2010 Academy Awards to boycott Hugo Boss suits following announcement of Hugo Boss’s decision to close a manufacturing plant in Ohio after a proposed pay decrease from $13 to $8.30 an hour was rejected by the Workers United Union.

In January 2006, Harry Belafonte led a delegation of activists, including Glover and activist/professor Cornel West, in a meeting with President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez.

Glover was an early supporter of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries until Edwards’ withdrawal, although some news reports indicated that he had endorsed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich,[27] whom he had endorsed in 2004. After Edwards dropped out, Glover then endorsed Barack Obama.

Glover was an outspoken critic of George W. Bush, calling him a known racist. “Yes, he’s racist. We all knew that. As Texas’s governor, Bush led a penitentiary system that executed more people than all the other U.S. states together. And most of the people who died were Afro-Americans or Hispanics.”

Glover’s support of California Proposition 7 (2008) led him to use his voice in an automated phone call to generate support for the measure before the election.

On April 6, 2009, Glover was given a chieftaincy title in Imo State, Nigeria. Glover was given the title Enyioma of Nkwerre, which means A Good Friend in the language of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria.

Glover has become an active member of board of directors of The Jazz Foundation of America.[33] Danny became involved with The Jazz Foundation in 2005, and has been a featured host for their annual benefit A Great Night in Harlem[34] for several years, as well appearing as a celebrity MC at other events for the foundation. In 2006, Britain’s leading African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi appointed Glover as one of its three Patrons, joining Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jocelyn Jee Esien opening the organization’s tenth-anniversary celebrations (Sunday, February 2, 2008) at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London.

Glover is also an active board member of the TransAfrica Forum.

On January 13, 2010, Glover compared the scale and devastation of the 2010 Haiti earthquake to the predicament other island nations may face as a result of the failed Copenhagen summit the previous year. Glover said: “…the threat of what happens to Haiti is a threat that can happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations… they’re all in peril because of global warming… because of climate change… when we did what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens…”In the same statement, he called for a new form of international partnership with Haiti and other Caribbean nations and praised Venezuela, Brazil, and Cuba, for already accepting this partnership.

On November 1, 2011, Glover spoke to the crowd at Occupy Oakland on the day before the Oakland General Strike where thousands of protestors shut down the Port of Oakland.

Glover is a member of the board of directors of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank led by economist Dean Baker.

Glover wrote the foreword to Phyllis Bennis’ book, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power.

Martha Reeves

Martha Reeves was born on this date in 1941. She is an African American singer, was a city council member, and the lead singer of Martha & the Vandellas.

Born in Eufaula, Alabama, Martha Rose Reeves is the eldest of 11 children born to Elijah Joshua and Ruby Lee Gilmore Reeves. The Reeves family moved to Detroit right after she was born. She was brought up in the church, since her grandfather was a minister at Detroit’s Metropolitan Church. She went to Northeastern High School, where she was vocally coached by Abraham Silver.

After graduating from high school, she sang often and joined a group with friends Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard, and Gloria Williamson to form the Del-Phis in 1960. The group struggled although Reeves was discovered by Motown’s A&R man, William “Mickey” Stevenson, and asked to an audition that accidentally landed her a job as a Motown’s secretary. Often Reeves and her friends from the Del-Phis (now known as the Vells) sang background for Marvin Gaye’s first hit records, “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” “Hitch Hike,” and “Pride & Joy.”

An opportunity to record occurred after Motown’s Mary Wells failed to show up for a session and Stevenson asked Reeves to do the song titled “I’ll Have to Let Him Go.” Eventually recruiting her friends Ashford and Beard, the record became the first record by the newly-christened Martha and the Vandellas in the fall of 1962. As lead singer, Reeves was responsible for some of the most up-tempo singles to come out of the label including the top hits, “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” (1963), “Live Wire,” “Wild One,” “Dancing in the Street,” and “Nowhere to Run”.

Between 1963 and 1967, and only second to Diana Ross and The Supremes, Reeves became one of the top-selling hit makers of the label helping to carry both the Motown sound and the girl group sound into 1967 with such hits such as “I’m Ready for Love,” “Jimmy Mack,” and “Honey Chile.” By 1968, however, the Vandellas’ success streak had weakened after several lineup changes and Reeves’ reported addictions to prescription drugs, which resulted in several nervous breakdowns. She briefly entered an institution to recover in 1969. Returning to the Vandellas in 1970, the group released “Bless You” in 1971, and in 1972, they released their last record, “Tear It On Down.”

Reeves announced a solo career in 1973 but after Motown had moved their offices to Los Angeles, she negotiated to get released from the label. She is said to have been close with Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks. Reeves released her first solo album in 1974 for MCA.

In 1977, Reeves ended her long bout of drug addiction and became a born-again Baptist. After one more album in 1980, Reeves semi-retired from the spotlight and in 1983, she successfully sued Motown for back royalties yet performed solo on the famed Motown 25 special. She then performed in a Broadway production of “Ain’t Misbehavin'” and reunited with original members of the Vandellas in 1989.

In 1995, Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and eight years after that were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004, Reeves released her first album in 24 years with “Home to You.”

In 2005, Reeves ran for and won a seat on the Detroit City Council. Reeves said she was running for the “youths of the city” and for adequate policing of the neighborhoods. One of her ideas to boost Detroit’s economy was a series of downtown statues of such Motown figures as Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

Reeves was been a vocal critic of landlords that own decaying property. However, in 2006, the Detroit News reported that she was the owner of at least 15 lots and two rental properties in Detroit. According to city, county, and court records Reeves owned properties that have been cited for 25 code violations that have never been repaired and one of her houses had to be razed, at a cost to the city of $5,000.

Martha continues to perform concerts under the bill Martha Reeves of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas with sisters Lois and Delphine Reeves. Martha Reeves is twice divorced, has one son, Eric, and three grandchildren all living in Detroit.

In 2007, Martha Reeves returned to the Old Motown Studio in Detroit to sing “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” with Australian group Human Nature for their Get Ready album.

In January 2012, Martha held court at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with a sold out six-show stand that drew celebrity friends like Phil Collins and Boy George. Other recent appearances include Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note (Milan, Italy), the Howard Theater (Washington, DC), the Dakota Jazz Club (Minneapolis), BB King Blues Club (NYC), the Cheltenhem Jazz Festival and the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. In November 2015, just weeks after the terrorist bombings in Brussels and Paris, Reeves and her co-horts embarked on a sold-out tour of clubs and theatres in the city of lights and throughout Belgium.

Reeves received an honorary PhD in Humanities on November 25, 2012, in Detroit. She was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in September 2015. Reeves received the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award at the Artists Music Guild’s 2015 AMG Heritage Awards on November 14, 2015, in Monroe, North Carolina. She is featured in Alabama’s 2016 Black History calendar, sponsored by AT&T.

In August 2016, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas will be presented in concert at London’s Hippodrome Theatre, where various Motown artists recorded live albums in the 1960s and 1970s

Eddie Griffin

Edward “Eddie” Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman on the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie and the title character in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother.

Griffin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and was raised by his single mother, Doris Thomas, a phone company operator.[2] After attending high school in Kansas City, he enrolled as a biological engineering major at Kansas State University, but left after three months.

Griffin has starred in films such as The Meteor Man (1993), Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Double Take (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), John Q (2002), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005) and Norbit (2007). In 2007, he starred in Urban Justice, a thriller set in New Mexico. He also starred in the UPN television series Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000).

Griffin was ranked at number 62 on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. In 2011 Comedy Central released You Can Tell ‘Em I Said It on DVD. It was 82 minutes of unedited and uncensored content.

Griffin performed on two tracks from Dr. Dre’s 1999 album, 2001, and the intro track from The D.O.C.’s 1996 album Helter Skelter. He also has appeared on commercials for Miller Beer’s Man Laws. He is well known for his comedic routine of imitating Michael Jackson on crack cocaine. He also made an appearance on Chappelle’s Show in the skit “World Series of Dice” as Grits n’ Gravy.

Written by Dianne Washington

Gerald Levert

Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an American soul singer, songwriter and producer. He sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the trio LeVert. He was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. His father, Eddie Levert, is the lead singer of the 1970s soul group The O’Jays.

Gerald Levert was born to The O’Jays frontman Eddie Levert and his wife Martha in Philadelphia, PA on July 13, 1966. Levert grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Due to his father’s career, Levert would travel with the band regularly. While in high school, Levert’s inclination towards music became apparent when he formed the trio LeVert, with his younger brother Sean Levert (deceased, March 30, 2008) and friend Marc Gordon in 1984. Four of the group’s seven albums went platinum. These include, I Get Hot in 1985, Bloodline in 1986, The Big Throwdown in 1987, and Just Coolin in 1988. Among the group’s singles were, “(Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind”, “Casanova” and “ABC-123”.

In 1991, Levert went solo with the albums, Private Line, which went to number one on the R&B charts. The following year, Gerald and his father, Eddie Levert, hit number one on the R&B charts with the single, Baby Hold On to Me. Levert recorded a string of albums throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, that contained the hit singles, “Thinkin’ About It” (Pop #12) which was released on September 1, 1998, “Taking Everything” (Pop #11), “Funny”, “Mr. Too Damn Good to You”, “U Got That Love”, and a remake of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”, along with gospel singer Yolanda Adams.

Levert also sang lead vocals in two songs on the 2002 film documentary “Standing in the Shadows of Motown” – the story of The Funk Brothers. Levert performed “Shotgun” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There”.

Levert released his tenth album,Voices, in 2005.

Levert wrote and produced songs for other artists such as Barry White, Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker, Eugene Wilde, Teddy Pendergrass, James Ingram, Freddie Jackson, Chuckii Booker, The Winans, Troop and The O’Jays. In the early 1990s, he also helped launch the careers of three Cleveland-area ensembles: The Rude Boys, Men at Large and 1 of the Girls. During the release of Groove On, Levert appeared in the group Black Men United for the hit single “U Will Know” for the film Jason’s Lyric, the movie’s soundtrack. who was participated in the group and joining with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill as well. In 1997, Levert teamed up again with fellow singers Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill, to form the supergroup, LSG. The trio released the album Levert-Sweat-Gill the same year, selling over two million copies; it was followed by LSG2 in 2003. In 1999, Levert sang the chorus on the Chris Rock spoken-word comedy piece, “No Sex (In the Champagne Room)”. Levert performed a duet with Teena Marie on the latter’s 2004 album La Doña. Levert’s last collaborations included Jim Brickman on the song “My Angel”, for Brickman’s 2006 album entitled Escape and on the song “Real S***” from rapper Styles P’s album, Time Is Money. Levert was posthumously featured again on former groupmates Keith Sweat’s “Knew It All Along” and Johnny Gill from the singer’s Til the Morning album, which was released two days after the fifth anniversary of Levert’s death.

Levert began his acting career as Charles Young, his first appearance on The Jamie Foxx Show for 2 episodes with “Just Don’t Do It”, that aired on November 5, 1998 and Jamie disapproves of his mother (Jo Marie Payton) because she decided to marry him in the episode. In January 2001, Gerald appears again in the series finale “Always and Forever” when Jamie (Jamie Foxx) and Fancy (Garcelle Beauvais) got married and sang the opening ceremony at the wedding and joined by fellow singers Gladys Knight and Marilyn McCoo (without her husband Billy Davis, Jr.). On November 10, 2003, three years prior to his death, Levert’s final acting role that aired during his lifetime was when he appeared in an episode of The Parkers, He played T’s father in the episode and comes for a visit to start a new band with T.

On November 10, 2006, Gerald Levert was found dead in his bed at his Cleveland, Ohio home when his cousin tried to wake him. Initial reports stated that Levert had died of an apparent heart attack. In February 2007, an autopsy report conducted by the Cuyahoga County coroner’s office concluded that Levert’s death was caused by a fatal combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs. The drugs in his bloodstream included the narcotic pain relievers Vicodin, Percocet, and Darvocet, along with anxiety medication Xanax and two over-the-counter antihistamines. The autopsy also revealed that Levert had pneumonia. The official cause of death was acute intoxication, and the death was ruled accidental. Gerald Levert was only 40 years old.

Following the disclosure of Gerald Levert’s cause of death, a family spokesman stated that all the drugs found in Levert’s bloodstream were prescribed to the singer. Levert was taking the pain medication because of chronic pain from a lingering shoulder problem and surgery in 2005 to repair a severed Achilles tendon.[

Cover for Levert’s final album, In My Songs, released after his death. Shortly before his death, Levert completed work on what would be his final album, In My Songs. The album was released on February 13, 2007. In June 2007, a book Gerald was working to complete entitled, I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep it Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship, was released. The book was initially planned as a tie-in for a Levert album of the same name. I Got Your Back explores Gerald and Eddie’s father/son relationship, the necessity of male bonding, and importance of repairing fractured families. Levert was also working on a reality show in which he was losing weight along with 12 of his female fans, who were training with him at his palatial home.

Levert had three children: LeMicah, Camryn, and Carlysia. Carlysia, an aspiring singer, appeared on the MTV series My Super Sweet 16, with her father in 2005.

Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, is an American rapper, singer, dancer and record producer. Elliott embarked on her music career with all-female R&B group Sista in the early 1990s and later became a member of the Swing Mob collective along with childhood friend and longtime collaborator Timbaland, with whom she worked on projects for Aaliyah, 702, Total, and SWV. Following several collaborations and guest appearances, she launched her solo career in 1997 with her debut album Supa Dupa Fly, which spawned the hit singles “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and “Sock It 2 Me”. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, the highest-charting debut for a female rapper at the time.

Written by Dianne Washington

Evelyn “Champagne” King

Evelyn “Champagne” King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer. She is best known for her hit disco single “Shame”, which was released in 1977 during the height of disco’s popularity. King had other hits from the early through the mid–1980s including; “I’m in Love” (1981) and “Love Come Down” (1982). Evelyn Champagne King

Evelyn King was born in the Bronx, New York, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her uncle Avon Long had played the part of Sportin’ Life in the first Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess and worked with Lena Horne at the Cotton Club. Her father sang back-up for groups at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Her mother managed a group called Quality Red.

She was discovered as a young woman while working with her mother at Philadelphia International Records as an office cleaner. Producer Theodore T. Life overheard her singing in a washroom and began coaching her. She was eventually signed to a production deal with Life’s Galaxy Productions and a recording contract with RCA Records.

King released her debut album, Smooth Talk, in 1977. It included the song “Shame”, which is her only top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9; the song also reached #7 R&B and #8 on the dance chart. The record was eventually certified gold. Another single from that album, “I Don’t Know If It’s Right”, peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 R&B; it would become her second certified gold single. In 1981, the single “I’m in Love” was released from the same-titled album; it reached #1 on the R&B singles chart and dance chart in August of that year; it also peaked at #40 on the pop chart.

In 1982, King released the album, Get Loose. It yielded a top twenty pop and #1 R&B hit with the single, “Love Come Down”. The song also peaked at #1 on the dance chart and reached the UK Singles Chart top ten, peaking at #7 for three weeks. The follow-up, “Betcha She Don’t Love You”, peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #49 on the pop chart. From the mid- to late-1980s, King would continue to chart on the R&B chart, placing eight singles in the R&B top twenty, with three making it to the top ten.

On September 20, 2004, King’s “Shame” became one of the first records to be inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York’s Spirit club.

On August 14, 2007, King released her first studio album in 12 years, Open Book. It featured the single “The Dance”, which peaked at #12 on the Hot Dance Club Play Chart.

In 2011, King also collaborated with deep house producer Miguel Migs, on the track “Everybody”, which was included on his album Outside the Skyline. The single for “Everybody” was released on July 19, 2011.

Written by Dianne Washington