Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, making her wait till the mic
Speaker 1: they started dimming the lights. You started feeling all right
Speaker 1: from Birmingham home with the teddy lungs and the room
Speaker 1: and studies more. Once you discovered or rather the lovers
Speaker 1: Whitney Houston and Roman Reigns, all of the lovers, and
Speaker 1: Mickey James and Mark j all of the lovers. It's
Speaker 1: Asa Banks. You're them on a silk signing and page.
Speaker 1: Allow me to say, look.
Speaker 2: I just found the blessed weet escape.
Speaker 1: Every one of the buzz I was kind of laxed.
Speaker 1: I just made it up the trouble blood walking by
Speaker 1: the face because I know it's right in front of us.
Speaker 1: I ain't with the hay. You gotta focus on much
Speaker 1: great ladies and gentlemen, and steph Hardy is on the air.
Speaker 1: Had to drop a couple of bars just to make
Speaker 1: you all aware. So sit bad, relax, enjoy the show.
Speaker 1: You know why, go by Joe Well the wrestle.
Speaker 3: You Hey, y'all. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the second episode
Speaker 3: of HWP Extra of twenty twenty five. Of course, I'm
Speaker 3: your girl. Stephanie Hardy, Hosting creator of HWP, HWP Extra
Speaker 3: and co host of Stephan Kat Talk Wow and writer
Speaker 3: for Daily DDT and color commentator featuring in various promotions.
Speaker 3: And for this episode, I decided to do something completely
Speaker 3: different and just be bold and just strike out and
Speaker 3: talk about something that really blessed my soul at the
Speaker 3: very beginning of the year and something that has carried
Speaker 3: me through in my life. And before we get to that,
Speaker 3: I have to introduce my fabulous guests who are going
Speaker 3: to help me talk about this amazing subject. First off,
Speaker 3: we have one half of those Wrestling Girls, an absolute
Speaker 3: pioneer for black women in wrestling media and just an
Speaker 3: all around amazing person. She is also a work She
Speaker 3: is also a social media producer and creator for Hot
Speaker 3: ninety seven and just an amazing person. She is Christa b.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for coming on this show. And
Speaker 3: then and then finally, we have Vaughn who is King
Speaker 3: Vaughn Junior and he is the host of the Victorious
Speaker 3: Ones podcast and he is a great supporter of a
Speaker 3: lot of people in black wrestling media while also maintaining
Speaker 3: his own platform himself and just an all around amazing person.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys so much for coming on tonight. Thank
Speaker 2: you for having us. I'm excited to talk about Lucy Vandros.
Speaker 3: Yes, and I'm so happy and thrilled to be talking
Speaker 3: with you guys about Luthor, simply because a lot of
Speaker 3: the times, whenever I talk about the amazingness that is
Speaker 3: Luther and Ross, it's always with people like family members
Speaker 3: who are a little bit older than me, or people
Speaker 3: who are you know, who are alive during his boom
Speaker 3: period and during his time and all of the above.
Speaker 3: But to get to talk about it with people who appreciated,
Speaker 3: who are around the same age as me, it's a
Speaker 3: very rare thing and it's very special, definitely for HWP
Speaker 3: because most of.
Speaker 2: The time, a lot of the time, we talk wrestling
Speaker 2: in all of our platforms and such, so to be
Speaker 2: able to talk about something different it is really amazing. So, yes, guys,
Speaker 2: we are talking about the acclaim documentary Luthor Never Too Much,
Speaker 2: which aired on television on New Year's Day on CNA
Speaker 2: and on the old.
Speaker 3: Oprah Winfrey Network. But it was released in theaters and
Speaker 3: select theaters across the country I believe last fall, and
Speaker 3: it even aired and they also had like a screening
Speaker 3: for it here in Birmingham as well. But I didn't
Speaker 3: get to make it towards it, so I guess, you know,
Speaker 3: for me, I was just like, you know, I think
Speaker 3: I'll just catch it on television, and I am really
Speaker 3: happy that we get to discuss it. So, Krista, I'm
Speaker 3: going to start with you. When was the first time
Speaker 3: you heard Luther Van Dross And how did you feel
Speaker 3: when you heard him sing.
Speaker 2: Don't I don't know? So you know, growing up in
Speaker 2: a black household Saturday, yes, you get up clean and
Speaker 2: you hear all the oldie but goodies. But my aunt
Speaker 2: she used to when she used to pick this up
Speaker 2: from school a drop well, we used to drive home
Speaker 2: at night. She used to listen to ninety eight point
Speaker 2: seven Kids FM, and it was at that time it
Speaker 2: was just like why are we listening to to that?
Speaker 2: Like we want to listen to, you know, music of
Speaker 2: our generation, but it was a more of a older station.
Speaker 2: And then when Kiss had FIM left, she started listening
Speaker 2: to one or seven point five to VLS full Circle
Speaker 2: I work there now, but it was on those stations
Speaker 2: where we would listen to like Luther Vandros. Never too
Speaker 2: Much was literally one of the first songs I feel
Speaker 2: like I've heard along with if this were with mine,
Speaker 2: along with the superstar, and I've always loved his voice.
Speaker 2: His voice was something specially, something unique. And then when
Speaker 2: he you know, came out again in the late or
Speaker 2: the early two thousands, would you know, take you out
Speaker 2: dance with my father? It was just like, Okay, there's
Speaker 2: a resurgence of Luther Vandros, but it was I don't
Speaker 2: think there was ever a time where I never I
Speaker 2: haven't listened or haven't heard of Lutha Vandress song, whether
Speaker 2: it's a remake, whether it's him, whether you know it's
Speaker 2: I don't think there's ever been a time where I
Speaker 2: haven't listened to him.
Speaker 3: Right, And I think that's you know, poignant, the way
Speaker 3: that you put that. Even though you said you know
Speaker 3: you can't exactly remember the first time you heard him,
Speaker 3: you do know that his voice was ever present in
Speaker 3: your life.
Speaker 4: And funny enough, down here in Birmingham we.
Speaker 3: Have a ninety eight point seven Kids FM two that's
Speaker 3: been around for a very long time and it's still
Speaker 3: around to this day and it used to have the
Speaker 3: Tom Joiner Morning Show on it.
Speaker 2: Yes, listen to Tom Joiner up here till the simulcast
Speaker 2: but yeah, definitely Tom Joyner on the show up here
Speaker 2: ninety eight point seven Kiss FM, and I'm just like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, like I don't want to we're gonna
Speaker 2: listen to at that time again, we'll listen to HIG
Speaker 2: ninety seven worked there as well. You know, we don't
Speaker 2: want to listen to Kiss FM. We'll listen to all
Speaker 2: of the new music that's out right now. And this
Speaker 2: was like what ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven, So
Speaker 2: you know, you listen to b IG and we'll listen
Speaker 2: to one twelve. We'll listen to like the old hip
Speaker 2: hop and R and B. We won't listen to the
Speaker 2: old stuff, you know, as kids, we'll listen to what's
Speaker 2: what's the part of yet, I really you don't want
Speaker 2: to listen to the old but the old cultures, you like,
Speaker 2: it gives you a sense of uh, it gives you
Speaker 2: that that a sense of history, like knowing where your
Speaker 2: history comes. Because now go and be like listening to
Speaker 2: that music. I'd rather listen to that of the eighties
Speaker 2: and what we have of the nineties and early two thousands,
Speaker 2: because I don't know what sometimes I don't know what
Speaker 2: we're listening to today. And I'm just like, dang, it's
Speaker 2: not like my parents. But yeah, that's just the fact,
Speaker 2: the truth of the matter, Like and so throwing a
Speaker 2: Luther classic any day, even have a Luther Pandora station
Speaker 2: because it's just like so timeless period.
Speaker 4: Now, Vaughn, can you place the first time you listen to.
Speaker 3: Him or you know?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so so as far as like the first time
Speaker 5: I heard him, usually I've heard of in passing because
Speaker 5: of what not passible. The thing is, like, you know,
Speaker 5: because because like my parents or the people themselves, they're
Speaker 5: you know, like you know, in the same age range
Speaker 5: as as Luther. Anyway, he's like you know, like two
Speaker 5: or three is older than them. But the point is
Speaker 5: though over here, like you know, like a lot of
Speaker 5: stuff that we listen to, you know, how you talk
Speaker 5: about was it kissing? You know whatever? It is like
Speaker 5: a time Joiner uh for here in d C, they
Speaker 5: I've had one or two point three, so a lot
Speaker 5: of times you know that, like the station will play
Speaker 5: his music or w h u R ninety six point three.
Speaker 5: How are University's radio station?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 5: And so and even Donny Simpson like he's on w
Speaker 5: pg WPGC ninety five point five over here, he'll play
Speaker 5: a lot a lot of un Luther stuff, and so
Speaker 5: like growing up, it was like I couldn't tell, you know,
Speaker 5: like exactly like sometimes what the time period it was.
Speaker 5: All I know was it was classic. So I found
Speaker 5: out later on, oh, this is you know, stuff from
Speaker 5: the eighties, just like Risa. You know, a lot of
Speaker 5: stuff I was listened to, like especially in the nine
Speaker 5: five point five. You know, we listen to you know,
Speaker 5: to you know, to b I G. TUPI, you know
Speaker 5: these you know stuff like that, you know or you
Speaker 5: know whatever, you know as far as like our contemporary
Speaker 5: type of music. But as I got older, like like
Speaker 5: I learned to appreciate him more. And then even when
Speaker 5: he came back out like Christmas talking about like well
Speaker 5: I can't take you out, that was just you know,
Speaker 5: it's rejuvenation. But but it's it's not a time in
Speaker 5: my life where I haven't you know, come across a
Speaker 5: Luther vandrossung House, not at home, never too much superstar
Speaker 5: stuff like that. So this catalogs piece for.
Speaker 3: Myself absolutely, and what I will say, I think my
Speaker 3: my musical journey was very backwards in the sense that
Speaker 3: I was listening to gospel first, before I was listening
Speaker 3: before I was able to really listen to anything else.
Speaker 4: And I'm happy, you know it was that way.
Speaker 2: But you know, when a lot of people were listening
Speaker 2: to like the Biggies, India Alias and stuff like that, Like.
Speaker 3: I didn't know who a lot of these people were
Speaker 3: until later in life. So there's a sense of twistedness
Speaker 3: that I had in my musical journey where it was
Speaker 3: gospel and then it was R and B and pop,
Speaker 3: and then it was rapping hip hop and stuff. So
Speaker 3: the first time I had heard of Luther Vandross was
Speaker 3: when I was looking around in my house and my
Speaker 3: mom had cassette tapes just laying around, and you know,
Speaker 3: I looked at the pictures of this man and I
Speaker 3: was just like, Okay, well, you know, this is somebody
Speaker 3: that my mom really likes, because she had a bunch
Speaker 3: of cossets. And so around the time I got exposed
Speaker 3: to Luther Vandross was when Reuben Stuttered was competing on
Speaker 3: American Idol, and he's from Birmingham originally, and because of
Speaker 3: that time, you know, everybody was voting for him. You know,
Speaker 3: we was going real hard for him down here because
Speaker 3: we wanted him to win.
Speaker 2: And one of the best covers he ever had was
Speaker 2: a Luther Vandross song, So hearing that and then also
Speaker 2: hearing the Luther Vandross songs playing on a loop on
Speaker 2: nine eight point seven because of Ruben singing his songs,
Speaker 2: that's how I got exposed to him. So I was
Speaker 2: just like, okay, and so now I'm listening to Superstar,
Speaker 2: I'm listening to a house is not a home. I'm
Speaker 2: listening to all these other songs because someone else is
Speaker 2: singing them. And of course, ultimately Ruben won that second season.
Speaker 2: Even though a lot of people argue it should have
Speaker 2: been Clay, we voted it can't be changed. So yeah,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, that was my exposure
Speaker 2: to Luthor was through my mother and through the radio
Speaker 2: and through Ruben Stutter, so big shout out to them
Speaker 2: for that and to get more so into the documentary itself.
Speaker 3: This documentary was directed by Don Porter, who was a
Speaker 3: director that I hadn't really heard of before, but she
Speaker 3: comes highly respected when it comes to her filmmaking work,
Speaker 3: and a lot of people were very happy that she
Speaker 3: made this documentary and it was produced and executive produced
Speaker 3: by a lot of different people, but one of the
Speaker 3: main people who was listed as an executive producer was
Speaker 3: Jamie Fox, who is of course is an OSCAR winning actor, singer, writer, producer, comedian.
Speaker 4: All of the things.
Speaker 3: And he was also in the documentary too, you know,
Speaker 3: short of sharing his exposure and his journey as a
Speaker 3: luthor Van Dross admirer as well. So yeah, just looking
Speaker 3: at the way that it was crafted by both of
Speaker 3: these people and also the other people who work behind
Speaker 3: the scenes on it, you could tell that it was
Speaker 3: made with a level of cultural awareness and a level
Speaker 3: of love that and authenticity, and I really appreciated that
Speaker 3: from them.
Speaker 4: Do you guys have anything to add.
Speaker 2: I love the fact that and what you know, when
Speaker 2: you watch documentary, everybody who knows that said person is
Speaker 2: in it. Like it's too overpowering with celebrities and superstars.
Speaker 2: I love the fact that it was only those who
Speaker 2: everybody matters, but it was only those who were like, like,
Speaker 2: you had Jamie Fox who expressed like he was a fan,
Speaker 2: and you know, I didn't know that he had a
Speaker 2: hand in, you know, being a producer in the documentary,
Speaker 2: but then he also had somebody like Mariah Carey, who
Speaker 2: spoke about the first time she performed with him on
Speaker 2: stage and how he was given all the giving all
Speaker 2: these accolades, and she was like, Hey, I'm just starting
Speaker 2: out and I've never performed for somebody or with somebody
Speaker 2: that big of a stage at that moment, at that time.
Speaker 2: And then it was mostly like the people that he
Speaker 2: grew up with, that he knew when he was in
Speaker 2: the first when he was in his first group Listen Brother,
Speaker 2: when you know, those those who were closest to him.
Speaker 2: You had Valerie Simpson in the documentary. I can't think
Speaker 2: of their name, Carlos. I believe one of the guy's
Speaker 2: names was Carlos who was in Listen Brother with him.
Speaker 2: You had those whole It was really short, it was
Speaker 2: a really small group of people who were in it,
Speaker 2: but it made it all work and made it tie
Speaker 2: together because those are the ones who really told Luther's
Speaker 2: story the best.
Speaker 5: Yeah. And as far as as far as the Jamie
Speaker 5: Foster connection, you know, it's it's amazing that he has
Speaker 5: he as saying, tied into this because for those who
Speaker 5: already know the song Slow James, you know, like the
Speaker 5: line where it says you know, she says she wants
Speaker 5: to marveligate some Luther Vandross with the sample of a
Speaker 5: house not at home. So it's kind of like, you know,
Speaker 5: full circle moment. And you know, I like how he
Speaker 5: was helping involved in that told his story about Luther,
Speaker 5: how they had you know, like Dion warworking there as well,
Speaker 5: you know, like people people from you know, from Luther's
Speaker 5: original group, like I guess a friend guy named Phonsie Thornton,
Speaker 5: neither people like you know who spoke you know, spoke
Speaker 5: very highly of them and told all these different details
Speaker 5: about his story. And like even though I like certain
Speaker 5: stories I heard about, I knew like the Sesame Street thing,
Speaker 5: you know, like you know, when he first started, and
Speaker 5: just how instrumental, you know, like he like he was
Speaker 5: in having the hands in so many different so many
Speaker 5: different songs. I want to go too far into it,
Speaker 5: but that's pretty much what it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was so beautiful, you know, seeing the amount
Speaker 2: of people that they did get.
Speaker 4: But it's like you said, Chris, it was a small circle.
Speaker 3: And I think that in the case of this documentary,
Speaker 3: less is more because of course over the years that
Speaker 3: we've in the years since we've seen so many of
Speaker 3: our legends past. We've seen so many people do documentaries
Speaker 3: and do interviews about these people who might not have
Speaker 3: fully known them the way that they thought that they
Speaker 3: knew them, and they speak on them as if you
Speaker 3: know that they were like so close, but in actuality
Speaker 3: that wasn't the most authentic relationship that they were given.
Speaker 3: And I think that in this case, less being more
Speaker 3: definitely worked out because this is a man who is
Speaker 3: bioll intensive purposes, who was so talented, and he had
Speaker 3: a close knit, you know, set of people because you know,
Speaker 3: there was so much about him that he just did
Speaker 3: not want to be revealed to the public, which we
Speaker 3: will get into later, and also because you know, he
Speaker 3: was just very private. It seems so the idea that
Speaker 3: the people that were chosen to be a part of
Speaker 3: it were a part of it was really great. And
Speaker 3: just seeing a baby Mariah Carey, like who we know
Speaker 3: as the Queen of Christmas at this point of our lives,
Speaker 3: but also forgetting that this woman really has a catalog
Speaker 3: in and of herself, got her start as you know,
Speaker 3: a cover singer with the duet of Endless Love. And
Speaker 3: seeing you know, Jamie Fox with that full Circle moment.
Speaker 3: Like you said, Vinn Slow Jams is one of my
Speaker 3: favorite songs ever from a very special place, and it's
Speaker 3: just and so the idea of seeing all of those
Speaker 3: people you know who worked in music at Dinny, even
Speaker 3: his background singers talking about him, you know, and people
Speaker 3: he sang with at the start of his career be
Speaker 3: a part of it was really good too. And I
Speaker 3: did not know the Sesame Street part. There was a
Speaker 3: lot that I learned from this documentary, and I feel
Speaker 3: like a great documentary is one that teaches you things
Speaker 3: that you already knew about one of your favorite people,
Speaker 3: but it also teaches you things that.
Speaker 6: You might not have known.
Speaker 3: And I did not know that he was from New York.
Speaker 3: I did not know that he was born in New York.
Speaker 4: I was just like you read. Of course, absolutely, Krista.
Speaker 3: Of course, it wouldn't have been any other way. You know,
Speaker 3: he was from the Bronx, I think they said, and
Speaker 3: that's a part of New York I have not visited yet.
Speaker 3: But you know, just the thing that I love the
Speaker 3: most in the documentary as well was them sort of
Speaker 3: expressing what the world or what the US looked like
Speaker 3: and just how music was sort of evolving in terms of,
Speaker 3: you know, the different regions and what R and B
Speaker 3: was sounding like at a certain time. And of course
Speaker 3: the most dominant force at that point in black music
Speaker 3: was motown, but then you also had the Philly sound
Speaker 3: in the mixture of it all as well, and so
Speaker 3: Luther was finding his voice, you know, as a young child.
Speaker 3: And they also mentioned him growing up with his family,
Speaker 3: his mother and his father and his siblings, and how
Speaker 3: his father, you know, even though he worked a regular job,
Speaker 3: he was also a singer as well. And I was like, okay,
Speaker 3: you know now, so you're telling me it's in the blood, okay.
Speaker 3: So yeah, and him moving through and then growing up
Speaker 3: and realizing that music was what he wanted to do,
Speaker 3: and even while he was in college he realized that, no,
Speaker 3: I really want to sing and pursue this. And his
Speaker 3: family actually being supportive, his mother being supportive of his
Speaker 3: music career, you know, that was a very important thing.
Speaker 3: And his mother spoke lovingly of him even while he
Speaker 3: was going through his sickness, which we will discuss later,
Speaker 3: and even after his passing, she spoke very lovingly of
Speaker 3: his career and was a supportive force for him. And
Speaker 3: that was very great as well. So hearing how he
Speaker 3: got started and just knowing that he wanted to go
Speaker 3: all in immediately was just really great. So christ how
Speaker 3: did you you know? How did you feel? You know,
Speaker 3: already knowing he was from New York, but hearing how
Speaker 3: he got started and how he wanted to go all
Speaker 3: in on his career.
Speaker 2: Well, being from New York is really I really firmly
Speaker 2: believe this now, like if you can make it in
Speaker 2: New York, you can make it anywhere. And Lutho kind
Speaker 2: of epitomized that because of the fact, like he knew
Speaker 2: that he wanted to sing, Like he said, he didn't
Speaker 2: have a plan B, like going to the school and
Speaker 2: what was it, Kalamazoo, Missouri. It was not for him.
Speaker 2: And he just knew like he wanted to be a singer.
Speaker 2: So he went every route that he could possibly go
Speaker 2: in order to make sure that he was a singer.
Speaker 2: He went the route of doing jingles, He went the
Speaker 2: route of singing in the group he was in another
Speaker 2: group called Luther like he was writing. He did everything
Speaker 2: he needed to do until and I tweeted about this
Speaker 2: and I spoke about this on the those wrestling girls
Speaker 2: side that you had, everybody needs a friend like Roberta
Speaker 2: Flat because if it wasn't for a Berta Flat Luthor,
Speaker 2: we would have never known the Luther that we have
Speaker 2: or that we had because she saw something in him
Speaker 2: and she was just like, yeah, no, like you're going
Speaker 2: to sing the song, You're gonna miss it. Be in
Speaker 2: the front, like you have to stop, you know, making
Speaker 2: yourself so small, or you know, I see this in you,
Speaker 2: so now I'm gonna push you. If you have friends
Speaker 2: like that who can see the best in you, although
Speaker 2: you know it's there, like you know you have the
Speaker 2: potential and you're just trying to figure out how to
Speaker 2: get there, you have a friend who's willing to push
Speaker 2: you forward, push you there by all means, go for it.
Speaker 2: And for thank you, Roberta Fleck wherever you may be,
Speaker 2: for doing that for us, because we knew Lutha had
Speaker 2: a drive that he wanted to sing. As Bonne said,
Speaker 2: he was in that group and you know they did
Speaker 2: the Sesame. They sang a lot of the Sesame straight
Speaker 2: street songs during the seventies, and it was a shame
Speaker 2: because even though Lutha was like the main voice one
Speaker 2: of them I think it was Carlos who said, you
Speaker 2: can't look at Lutha as the main character in this group.
Speaker 2: And it was two factors. He was a dark male
Speaker 2: and he was big. He was a big male. And
Speaker 2: because if he was dark sing because he was a
Speaker 2: heavy set man, everybody was just like, Okay, he's the voice,
Speaker 2: but we could kind of like leave him a jar
Speaker 2: in the sense like we can leave him in the
Speaker 2: back in a sense, but we can bring his voice forward.
Speaker 2: And it stuck because his about his career unfortunately, his
Speaker 2: weight is really was really in the public eye more
Speaker 2: so than his voice.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so so so as far as so as far
Speaker 5: as that's concerned, you know, like it was it was
Speaker 5: great to see Luther's origins, origin story, you know in
Speaker 5: terms and also like to say personified that you know
Speaker 5: that that New York work ethic, that's that you know,
Speaker 5: that type of attitude like you can make here, make
Speaker 5: it anywhere, and so like in terms of him, you know,
Speaker 5: not selling for a plan B. I remember even a
Speaker 5: Murphy set an interview before in a minute, but as
Speaker 5: far as Adie had an interview before, like saying that
Speaker 5: with our senior he was he was saying like, look,
Speaker 5: you know, I don't know, I don't have a plan.
Speaker 5: You know, it's just like this, you know or nothing
Speaker 5: else is so Luca had that, had this, kept that
Speaker 5: same energy and and and in terms of those two
Speaker 5: strikes that he had against him, because of that, and
Speaker 5: it gave it gave him the drive to you know,
Speaker 5: to to to to supersede, to over to over excel
Speaker 5: because you know, because because when you have people like
Speaker 5: that who have you know, have those types of strikes,
Speaker 5: are like those type of you know, like you know,
Speaker 5: things that society holds against them. It's like that, it's
Speaker 5: like that they make up for that, they make up
Speaker 5: for whatever that is when it comes to their talent,
Speaker 5: when it comes to the type of stuff that they
Speaker 5: have when it comes to presentation. So so because of that,
Speaker 5: you know, like that that came out in Luther's work,
Speaker 5: and I like how Noli robta Flack, but also David
Speaker 5: Bowie gave you know, gave Luther a platform and opportunity.
Speaker 5: So so like in terms of him there you go
Speaker 5: in terms of him singing a singing background, I knew,
Speaker 5: I knew about that. That's why I've always had the
Speaker 5: most respectful David because because the thing is like he
Speaker 5: gave Luther a platform and even let let him to
Speaker 5: his own set, like during a tour, because he was like, look,
Speaker 5: this is what your career, your future is gonna be,
Speaker 5: so get used to it. So you're gonna you know,
Speaker 5: you're gonna you know, this is gonna be what you know,
Speaker 5: who you're gonna be, you know, like move and moving
Speaker 5: forward and so and like I said, the type of
Speaker 5: impact that he was having in the background before he
Speaker 5: became a name in the forefront, Like I said, you know,
Speaker 5: it just speaks for volumes to to you know, to
Speaker 5: his to the to the imprint that he has in
Speaker 5: so many different so many different facets of music.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, And in just mentioning Roberta Fleck and just
Speaker 3: having her and in the documentary and just talking about
Speaker 3: how she saw how talented he was and felt like, look,
Speaker 3: you really need to believe in yourself and put yourself
Speaker 3: out there, you know, and not just be the background singer.
Speaker 3: Because in the doc you know, they mentioned how when
Speaker 3: she wasn't able well, he mentioned in an archival footage
Speaker 3: that whenever she would do interviews and he and she
Speaker 3: wasn't able to come to the sound checks for the rehearsals.
Speaker 3: He was the one who was basically, you know, directing
Speaker 3: the background singers to do things and the instrumentalists to
Speaker 3: do their thing, and he would sing the part, like
Speaker 3: the lead part, and so she would come in and
Speaker 3: hear him doing this, and she was just like, Okay, well,
Speaker 3: since you got all this together, then you need to be.
Speaker 4: Do your own thing.
Speaker 3: And essentially, Luther said that she fired him from singing background,
Speaker 3: but I think it's you know, she was really propelling
Speaker 3: him forward because she really, like y'all said, she saw
Speaker 3: greatness within him, and like you said, Von with that
Speaker 3: work ethic that he had and trying to work past
Speaker 3: societal disadvantages because let's be real, like being bigger and
Speaker 3: also being darker skinned as a black person, it's not
Speaker 3: really a disadvantage. It's just a problem that other people
Speaker 3: create and put upon you, but really it's not a
Speaker 3: problem at all. He utilized and he worked so hard
Speaker 3: with his opportunities that he couldn't be denied. And that's
Speaker 3: something that I greatly admire in any person, but definitely
Speaker 3: in him, because he knew his gift, he knew what
Speaker 3: he had, He had the ear he had the work,
Speaker 3: ethic and the talent. All he needed was to push
Speaker 3: and ROBERTA. Flack gave him that push. And Chris said,
Speaker 3: just to let you know, ROBERTA. Flack is still with us.
Speaker 3: She is still alive.
Speaker 2: And even though I know, I'm just like wherever she
Speaker 2: may be like, not in the sense.
Speaker 4: Of like no, I'm sorry, no.
Speaker 2: I'm just like, hey, girl, wherever you have you find
Speaker 2: out you listen to this?
Speaker 7: Thank you?
Speaker 2: Right, but fun fact about David Bowie. I was in
Speaker 2: a journalism class, one of my journalism classes in grad school,
Speaker 2: and it was one of my favorite classes, and my
Speaker 2: professor was like, yeah, Luke, the vandrois singing background for
Speaker 2: David bow you know. I'm like, what, Like, I'm like,
Speaker 2: you're a liar, Kevin. What are you talking about his
Speaker 2: name is? She was like no, And the only reason
Speaker 2: I noticed is because he grew up in the same
Speaker 2: neighborhood as Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey, so he's like
Speaker 2: a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and you know all of that,
Speaker 2: And and I remember having that conversations like I didn't
Speaker 2: know that, So you know, everybody's pulling out their laptops
Speaker 2: just googling the see what And I think it was
Speaker 2: because we was reading something based on David Bowie and
Speaker 2: Luther vanderls or something like that at that time, and
Speaker 2: that's when it came up. Hey pee, That's when it
Speaker 2: came up. But yeah, Like, and I love how Duran
Speaker 2: like when New York kind of like shut him out
Speaker 2: in the syns in the music industry, or when when
Speaker 2: it didn't work out for the or the first book
Speaker 2: that he was a part of just didn't work out
Speaker 2: and the group Luther was kind of like on the rise
Speaker 2: in a sense. I love how David Bowie. I love
Speaker 2: how Nick Jagger was loved the sound that they was.
Speaker 2: They came because they loved that Philly sound, and that's
Speaker 2: how you know, David Bowie became. And I remember one day,
Speaker 2: like watching that, Luther was talking about how he didn't
Speaker 2: know David Bowie was in the room and he was
Speaker 2: doing some type of runs or ad libs or something
Speaker 2: like that, and he heard something that David didn't hear,
Speaker 2: and it's like he lutheran became like that musical director
Speaker 2: of the stance of the person who started to like
Speaker 2: do be the opening act for him because it's just
Speaker 2: like you have this talent, you hear everything. Like even
Speaker 2: in the very beginning, this is where that New York
Speaker 2: grit comes from. When he went to his friend's house
Speaker 2: and he asked his mother for twenty dollars, twenty five
Speaker 2: dollars for a pair of shoes, and he said it
Speaker 2: in Spanish, in the most broken type of Spanish you
Speaker 2: can ever say it, because you know, Lutha didn't speak Spanish,
Speaker 2: and the mom, who only spoke Spanish, was just like,
Speaker 2: get his man's twenty four dollars, so he'd get them
Speaker 2: shoes for y'all group. So even that hustle's mentality, like
Speaker 2: it's definitely a New York thing. Sorry, we really can't
Speaker 2: share it. I don't know. That's just what it is.
Speaker 2: And it was just amazing to see, like how you
Speaker 2: had people who was David Boy was huge in the seventies,
Speaker 2: Mick Jagger rolling Stones huge in the seventies and eighties.
Speaker 2: Oh Dave was huge in the eighties as well. All
Speaker 2: of the Paul McCartney, all of those people wanted to
Speaker 2: work with Luther, wanted to have, wanted to be a
Speaker 2: part of that Philly sound, wanted to learn and immerse
Speaker 2: themselves instead of taken over. And I love that. And
Speaker 2: I feel like Luther was a little bit too sassy
Speaker 2: to let anybody bully him because when it was he
Speaker 2: was like, why is your name Luther? Why is the
Speaker 2: group name after you? Why is the group named Luther?
Speaker 2: He's so because I write all this thought the producer
Speaker 2: all those like, you're gonna give you my credit and credits.
Speaker 3: Dude, exactly, I'm him.
Speaker 5: He said, I'm him back in the seventies.
Speaker 2: Him. That's it.
Speaker 3: Yes, literally, anything you want to add, fine, Yeah.
Speaker 5: So so as far as that, it's like you have
Speaker 5: noteworthy names like like Bowie, the Rolling Stones and stuff
Speaker 5: like that. It's like when you certain people are just
Speaker 5: like when you know music, you know this part and
Speaker 5: even it's out, it's out the window when it comes
Speaker 5: to that. And if you know if, if you're if,
Speaker 5: you're really smart about it, right. And so as far
Speaker 5: as Bowie, I found out like later on after he
Speaker 5: died that he was actually on an episode Soul Trained
Speaker 5: back in like the seventies. And also go qut you
Speaker 5: know litt quick note. The song of Fame was also
Speaker 5: in in the movie Next Friday. Little side note, but
Speaker 5: but in terms of in terms of in terms of
Speaker 5: Luther's determination, in terms of his drive, in terms of
Speaker 5: his work effort. Like I said, you know that that
Speaker 5: that definitely came out in full form, and you could
Speaker 5: you could definitely tell that he was someone you know
Speaker 5: who would take who would you know, was not gonna
Speaker 5: take no for an answer, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: And so and the thing about it was that like
Speaker 5: he was like, look, I'm gonna I'm gonna get I'm
Speaker 5: gonna get my I'm gonna make myself a name. I'm gonna,
Speaker 5: you know, like I said, be instrumental when it comes
Speaker 5: to songwriting, when it comes to arrangements, you know what
Speaker 5: I mean. And to the point where this dude's name
Speaker 5: was even the credits before he even had his own
Speaker 5: first solo album. So you to me, so like him
Speaker 5: singing for like back on for bet Midler and stuff
Speaker 5: like that. So you know, it's it's like like I said,
Speaker 5: he was this was his training ground, all this type
Speaker 5: of stuff that he was doing. All this, all this
Speaker 5: was was was Luther's training ground to what we would
Speaker 5: get by the time we get to the eighties. And
Speaker 5: so this was just all this was training day, all
Speaker 5: this was preparation for what for what we were getting later. HM.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely. And Christa you mentioning that journalism class thing
Speaker 3: where you just where your teacher said that he was
Speaker 3: in the same neighborhood as Bruce Springsteen. That reminds me
Speaker 3: of the time I found I found out that Eddie
Speaker 3: Kendricks of the Temptations actually didn't live that far.
Speaker 4: For my grandma, I was like, excuse.
Speaker 7: Me, excuse me, love Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3: Whoa, Yeah, like Eddie Kendrick, Eddie Kendrick, And I believe
Speaker 3: maybe two other Temptations or are from Birmingham or from Bestsemer, Alabama.
Speaker 3: And I think Eddie Kendrick lived in the Ansley portion,
Speaker 3: which is one of our ninety nine neighborhoods.
Speaker 4: And his son.
Speaker 6: Actually went to my parents high school.
Speaker 3: So and we have a park named after him, I
Speaker 3: believe in another street in downtown I believe named after
Speaker 3: him as well. So yeah, like when I found out
Speaker 3: he was from here, I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 4: I was like, you what.
Speaker 6: A sense of like.
Speaker 2: Knowing? Like all right, so you know, Brooklyn, we have
Speaker 2: Biggie Smalls, we have jay Z. You know, then you
Speaker 2: got people hip Hop started in the Bronx. It's just
Speaker 2: like you get a sense, you have a sense of
Speaker 2: entitlement when you know, like these things or these people
Speaker 2: like you can't tell me nothing. And they'd be like, oh,
Speaker 2: everybody from New York always got reminded from New York,
Speaker 2: they got ready from Brooklyn. Absolutely, I stand on that hill.
Speaker 2: I'm from Brooklyn. I'm not scared of nobody. I'm not
Speaker 2: scared of nothing. That we got this, that and the
Speaker 2: third it wasn't for us you when it had that,
Speaker 2: Like it gives you a sense of entitlement or a
Speaker 2: sense of some type of chip on your show with
Speaker 2: the knowing that you know you had Eddie Kendrick and
Speaker 2: some of the Temptations, you got Robted Fleck and don't
Speaker 2: let me talk up start talking about the DC music
Speaker 2: that's down there, Lady Jesus, like it's it's so legendary.
Speaker 2: Now if you find somebody who's literally from No Name, Utah,
Speaker 2: they're gonna yeah, periods Dan watching because never me Like
Speaker 2: You're gonna sit here and it's like No Name, Utah
Speaker 2: where the population is fifteen hundred people, and now that
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred three of them become famous you're gonna ride
Speaker 2: that waves. You're going to ride that wave. So if
Speaker 2: I love the fact like we can, I can talk
Speaker 2: about Luther Vandels being from New York. I can talk
Speaker 2: about you know, Biggie Small's growing up right downtown. Or
Speaker 2: I can talk about the places that jay Z has
Speaker 2: been to because I've driven through these, through them neighborhoods
Speaker 2: like Marcia Projects and Dog Up and Down Marty like
Speaker 2: I went to school, Like I can do that and
Speaker 2: be like, oh, I know what you're talking about. Now
Speaker 2: for others, if like can you explain this and I'm
Speaker 2: just listening, I can't help you this too much to
Speaker 2: explain to know it?
Speaker 4: Actually, yes, I mean.
Speaker 5: So definitely because of ROBERTA. Flack, Like I said before,
Speaker 5: she's from watching DC. Marvin Gaye was from DC, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean? So like, can't nobody tell me
Speaker 5: nothing about that fun fact? As far as New York,
Speaker 5: there's a guy that go to church with he actually
Speaker 5: you know, like somehow like he's from New York. He's
Speaker 5: from Queens. So like somewhere or another he somehow like
Speaker 5: knows Yellow Guja or something, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: So like in terms of in terms of like that
Speaker 5: six degrees separation type of thing, like you know what
Speaker 5: I mean. Like in my aspect, can't nobody tell me
Speaker 5: tell me nothing either, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 5: so so as far as like when you know what
Speaker 5: you know, you know what I mean. Kevin Durant's from
Speaker 5: my area as well, it's just like, hey, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean, so like it just it builds up
Speaker 5: that type of confidence, like you know, like, like I said,
Speaker 5: I have nothing to fear at all whatsoever, you know.
Speaker 5: So it's just like you know that you take certain
Speaker 5: stamps where you know who you are and where you know,
Speaker 5: you know where you're from and what builds your character.
Speaker 3: So mm absolutely nobody can take it away from you.
Speaker 3: Home is home, and it's home for a reason. So
Speaker 3: and also speaking of home, finding out that Luther M.
Speaker 3: Draws wrote brand New Day from the Wiz come on.
Speaker 2: Well, I knew that. I knew that. I don't like
Speaker 2: first of all, you hear him singing it. See, I
Speaker 2: am a huge Michael Jackson fan. That's just me and
Speaker 2: my daddy huge make Jackson fan. Like, so, I always
Speaker 2: had this running joke like my daddy had a connection
Speaker 2: with the cable company because every holiday we're either watching
Speaker 2: The Jackson American Dream or street Walker or like the
Speaker 2: long versions of Bad and Thriller and stuff like every holiday.
Speaker 2: So when The Whiz came out, of course I'm going
Speaker 2: to watch it because Michael Jackson as a scared throw.
Speaker 2: I don't care how many people say it was whack.
Speaker 2: I don't know how people say it was horrible. I
Speaker 2: don't care how many people whatever, y'all not cultured. That's say,
Speaker 2: go put more seasoning than salt and peper on your
Speaker 2: food and leave us alone. But then I think I
Speaker 2: was like watching like a documentary or whatever case and
Speaker 2: I feel like that. But even he was Luthor was
Speaker 2: singing in the in the movie, like you heard his voice,
Speaker 2: Like Luther's voice is so distinct that you just know
Speaker 2: that it's him. So yeah, I already knew that he
Speaker 2: wrote that, Like I knew that for a fact. So
Speaker 2: when I was at the Whitney Museum last weekend with
Speaker 2: my friends, they have an Alvin Ailey section, like the
Speaker 2: whole third floor is about Alvin Ailey, and I'm like, yo,
Speaker 2: I need to go home and watch The Whiz now,
Speaker 2: because not only do I get to hear Luthor thing
Speaker 2: brand new day. I get to see these Alvin Ailey
Speaker 2: performers do their thing, and that damn in that part
Speaker 2: because who better but us to do it?
Speaker 3: Okay exactly, and A like those dancers even to this day,
Speaker 3: they eat everything they do. So I've seen them perform
Speaker 3: in Lord Jesus, They're so amazing, Like I.
Speaker 2: Can't I think I was in person and I went
Speaker 2: to when I was the undergrad. My undergrad was a
Speaker 2: few blocks up from the album Ali Dance Institute. Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah in the city, yes, And I never went, and
Speaker 2: I'm just like, damn, like not a low key want
Speaker 2: to go, but yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I saw them an undergrad when they went
Speaker 3: on tour and they came.
Speaker 6: Through Kentucky and I saw them and I was just like,
Speaker 6: oh my gosh, we have to go see this now.
Speaker 3: And seeing revelations in person it will bring you to tears.
Speaker 3: So yes, it was amazing. So moving forward with talking
Speaker 3: about the start of Luther's solo career, we get to
Speaker 3: his debut album, Never Too Much, And the thing that
Speaker 3: gagged me was Never too Much. It's just in your
Speaker 3: bones as a black person, it's in your life. You
Speaker 3: hear it at every get together. You hear it at
Speaker 3: every barbecue, you hear it at everything right where black people,
Speaker 3: every party, whatever. But the idea that this man wrote
Speaker 3: this song, performed this song, basically composed the song, and
Speaker 3: this was his first single on his first album. And
Speaker 3: then you have don't you Know That on the same
Speaker 3: album too, two songs that eat you up, like excuse me,
Speaker 3: like your first album told you to do this?
Speaker 2: Like who told me when you went solo to sit
Speaker 2: here and give a no skip album zero like this,
Speaker 2: like no one told you to sit here and be
Speaker 2: in your black greatness as you were to give us
Speaker 2: Never too much, don't you know? Like when I used
Speaker 2: to school, still skate hearing never too much of the
Speaker 2: skating ring on the Saturday child you would, or at
Speaker 2: a barbecue like I can't go to a barbicane No,
Speaker 2: and y'all don't play never too much because at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, I'm leaving because it's not songs
Speaker 2: that you have to play at a barbecue for to
Speaker 2: be known as a black barbecue. And never too much
Speaker 2: for Luther Van Druss is on that list, So so
Speaker 2: we're gonna do that to us.
Speaker 4: Sir, sir, came out the gates swinging, wasn't playing, don't
Speaker 4: care that's game.
Speaker 3: And in the documentary Marcus Miller, who performed with Luther
Speaker 3: for many years, talked about how he had the sound
Speaker 3: of Never too much in his head and how and
Speaker 3: just the idea that you know he has, he had
Speaker 3: this musical sense of hearing the bassline and how I
Speaker 3: was supposed to be and how it was supposed to
Speaker 3: be this hard driving thing and how different it was
Speaker 3: in comparison to what was being played at the time,
Speaker 3: and it just coming on and then you can see
Speaker 3: him in the music video, you know, just singing the
Speaker 3: song and just going super fast and da da.
Speaker 4: Da da da da da da da da da.
Speaker 3: Da da da and him having all this sass and
Speaker 3: all of this confidence knowing that.
Speaker 4: He's eating us up in this music video. It's just
Speaker 4: like the most insane thing ever.
Speaker 3: And I remember the moment I realized I deeply loved
Speaker 3: this song was when it was in Think like a Man. Like,
Speaker 3: when the song was in Think like a Man and
Speaker 3: then all of a sudden, all of her was dun
Speaker 3: dun du du dau, and it hit my soul because
Speaker 3: I was away from home I was in college and
Speaker 3: I was in Kentucky, and I was missing the music
Speaker 3: of Home so much that once I finally watched this
Speaker 3: movie and that song hit, I was like, Oh, that's
Speaker 3: when I'm realized I couldn't live without it in my life.
Speaker 3: So the idea that that's his first.
Speaker 7: Single Jesus debut, and I didn't even know.
Speaker 2: I don't know what I was his first single because
Speaker 2: it just sounds like although he's been in the music
Speaker 2: game for so long, it just sounds like something I'll
Speaker 2: come off of his second album or third album. That's
Speaker 2: the first single. I never knew that.
Speaker 5: It's all all about making the best first impression. He
Speaker 5: nailed the over over delivered on that impression. So like
Speaker 5: when Marcus guitar player was somebody the sound that couldn't
Speaker 5: get out, I can relate. Like when it comes to
Speaker 5: even drawing, it's like I did, I got, I gotta
Speaker 5: put on paper and so so for this to this
Speaker 5: to be his very first impression, this dude at a
Speaker 5: home run in the very in the very beginning, even
Speaker 5: in the video, they're they're in the video, they even escaping,
Speaker 5: you know, you know, a little a little signing it
Speaker 5: with that. But and like even when I look at
Speaker 5: the look at the album cover, right, so I was
Speaker 5: thinking I had an idea of doing like a design
Speaker 5: shirt and like and just and like recreating it, having
Speaker 5: big eat you know with you know, like I pretty
Speaker 5: much redo that and so so like that that type
Speaker 5: of thing, and so so a brand new day, right,
Speaker 5: you know, a little full circle. But yeah, but in
Speaker 5: terms of that, I mean, if you want to talk
Speaker 5: about Ko, that album itself, from beginning to end, it
Speaker 5: is a straight up t K.
Speaker 3: Yes, he had a point to prove, y'all, and he
Speaker 3: proved it and it.
Speaker 2: Was very successful and in the Black community of course,
Speaker 2: you know, it was being played and of course still
Speaker 2: being played to this very day. They even used it
Speaker 2: in a Google doodle for his seventieth heavenly birthday, and
Speaker 2: I was so excited, you know, just to see, you know,
Speaker 2: in the doodle them just showing all the ways in
Speaker 2: which his music touched different people while they were driving
Speaker 2: the car or even at get togethers and block parties
Speaker 2: and everything, and showing illustrations of him on stage.
Speaker 4: It was just such a beautiful tribute.
Speaker 3: Even with that, so the song definitely aged incredibly well
Speaker 3: and the album Age is incredibly well too, so just
Speaker 3: the idea that he came out.
Speaker 4: With a point to prove and just everything to give.
Speaker 3: But of course, with a level of fame and a
Speaker 3: level of drive and a level of music that you're
Speaker 3: putting out constantly, and with the level of exposure that
Speaker 3: you're getting, and with all the albums that he met,
Speaker 3: I put the second one up here because of course
Speaker 3: this is the album cover Forever for Always for Love.
Speaker 3: But as you can see, like we mentioned previously, you know,
Speaker 3: he was darker skinned, and we did mention that he
Speaker 3: did struggle with his weight a bit. So as he
Speaker 3: gained more and more success in the black community, there
Speaker 3: were people who saw that his weight would be up
Speaker 3: and down and would say sort of un kind things
Speaker 3: about his way and how he looked, and one of
Speaker 3: them being Eddie Murphy and his Delirious Comedy Special, which
Speaker 3: of course you know back then, you know, there was
Speaker 3: levels of comedy that was acceptable for back then, whereas
Speaker 3: now if you were to say anything like that, it
Speaker 3: wouldn't be kosher. But one of the things that people
Speaker 3: have joked about over the years, even you know, into
Speaker 3: like into the nineties, you have people joking about Big
Speaker 3: Luthor and Little Luthor and how there's a difference, but
Speaker 3: of course if you listen to the music, there was
Speaker 3: no difference. But you know, let's just but whatever, How
Speaker 3: did it make you guys feel in the documentary when
Speaker 3: you heard the struggles that he faced and how he
Speaker 3: utilized his own sense of humor to rise above it
Speaker 3: even though.
Speaker 6: It was hard at certain times.
Speaker 2: Well, I was one of those people out of pure
Speaker 2: probably pure ignorance now and fear like for communic value
Speaker 2: to be like the big Lutha, that little Luke. Like
Speaker 2: I was one of them people, just because it's something
Speaker 2: that I've seen, Like you said, Eddie Murphy's delirious, like
Speaker 2: they pointed out Cedric entertainers on King the Kings of Comedy.
Speaker 2: You know, I was one of those people. However, seeing
Speaker 2: it in the documentary, it kind of hit like, yo,
Speaker 2: like you can't be a part of the ignorance. Because
Speaker 2: Luther's voice, though his weight may have went up and
Speaker 2: down and fluctuated, though people may not have realized, likee me,
Speaker 2: I didn't realize that he was going through excuse me.
Speaker 2: He had this obsession with food, He had this unhealthy
Speaker 2: relationship with food. He was also a diabetic. I didn't
Speaker 2: realize like that was the cause of it. It was
Speaker 2: just like, you know, growing up in the nineties, you
Speaker 2: didn't have money, You didn't really have cell phones and
Speaker 2: internet and stuff like that to see like, oh, this
Speaker 2: is what's happening. You didn't really have those conversations either,
Speaker 2: So to learn like he was really struggling, he used
Speaker 2: joking as an outlet to combat what he was going
Speaker 2: through or to mask what he was going through. Set
Speaker 2: a perspective for me like, yeah, I'm grown now, Like
Speaker 2: I can have a body fluctuating. I could wake up
Speaker 2: one day and you know, be really big and people
Speaker 2: make fun of my weight, you know. So it just
Speaker 2: had me like damn, Like I had to throw my
Speaker 2: apology to Luthor though he don't know me, like my
Speaker 2: bad Luther, Like I would never sit here, like because
Speaker 2: your music is timeless regardless, like the a mount of
Speaker 2: Luther Viandro songs I have on my phone right now, timeless,
Speaker 2: Like the weight shouldn't never mattered, between the weight and
Speaker 2: his relationship status, or you know, it should have never mattered.
Speaker 2: It shouldn't matter, like who's producing the greatest music, who's
Speaker 2: putting out the greatest songs. How Luther's become a household staple,
Speaker 2: household name, that's what mattered, and that's what that's what
Speaker 2: we're fans of.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean, you know what, to be honest
Speaker 5: with you, to be honest with y'all, this is one
Speaker 5: of the parts I've been looking forward to to talk
Speaker 5: about the most because Luther's clap back game is on
Speaker 5: one because you know, because the thing about it is that,
Speaker 5: you know, for one, you know, we all heard the
Speaker 5: jokes about Big Luther Luther that was like the staple
Speaker 5: when when it came when it comes to us as
Speaker 5: far you know, as far as the black community, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean, like those types of quest signs
Speaker 5: lo done know that the genesis of it was delirious, right.
Speaker 5: So anyway, like I said, I like how Luther clapt
Speaker 5: back on it because you know, because they talked about
Speaker 5: his concert, you know, how he found out that Eddie's
Speaker 5: name was on the list. He was like, look, I
Speaker 5: don't want to let any murkh down. So because of that,
Speaker 5: you know, obviously it gets this huge prop like this
Speaker 5: giant giant bucket the KFC, and so then he starts
Speaker 5: singing the KFC KFC jingle you know to you know,
Speaker 5: to go along with that. I was like the way
Speaker 5: he he, you know, turned what was a struggle for
Speaker 5: him and and and like weaponized in his favor few
Speaker 5: excuse expression, you know, like like I said that that
Speaker 5: speaks volumes, and I think it's very ironic. I think
Speaker 5: it's almost down hilarious that Eddie would make a joke
Speaker 5: like that. Delirious. But then over a decade later, he
Speaker 5: does a movie called The Night Professor where his character
Speaker 5: so I mean, come on, now, you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: So like, isn't it isn't it funny? How how that
Speaker 5: how that ends up turn turn around later on? But
Speaker 5: but yeah, you know, I mean, like you know, as
Speaker 5: far as that knowing we know now you know, I said,
Speaker 5: you know, apologies for ignorance, because when you know better,
Speaker 5: you do better, you know. So so like I said,
Speaker 5: big ups to uh, you know, to Luther for you know,
Speaker 5: for heaven a SESSI you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So also Jamie Fox touched on it too. It was
Speaker 2: just like if Luther would have just said, this is
Speaker 2: like we're gonna love you regardless, you understand, Luther We're
Speaker 2: gonna love you regardless. But if you would have just said, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: this is what I'm going through, this is what I'm
Speaker 2: going through, the jokes would have ceased, Like now it's
Speaker 2: it's gonna it's coming from a real serious side of
Speaker 2: things instead of a side of just jokes and laughter.
Speaker 2: Because yeah, and now listen, I wholeheartedly watch Delirious and
Speaker 2: Raw like I know them them stand up word for
Speaker 2: word like Verdbatim and yeah when he uh talked about Luther,
Speaker 2: but Eddie Murphy talks about Luther, he talked about Michael Jackson,
Speaker 2: he talked about Stevie Wonder, he talked about Teddy Pindigrads,
Speaker 2: he talks about he talked about everybody. So for for
Speaker 2: Luthen Andres to have that sense of human it's literally
Speaker 2: it was literally a defense mechanism. And I want to
Speaker 2: kind of attribute it to being back from the York
Speaker 2: because New York, like you can't really have you can't
Speaker 2: really be soft, like, you gotta have tough skin because
Speaker 2: somebody's gonna cut your ass every day. Sorry for curse
Speaker 2: and stuff, somebody's gonna cut you behind every day, like
Speaker 2: you just that's just how you know, community is out here.
Speaker 2: That's just how or I don't know what it is
Speaker 2: with these kids. Now I chend to mind my business,
Speaker 2: but yeah, that's just how it is. And also Eddie
Speaker 2: Murphy's from Brooklyn.
Speaker 5: Exactly.
Speaker 2: Eddie Murphy's from Brooklyn.
Speaker 4: So it's just really didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Eddie Murphy's from Brooklyn. Chris Rock is from Brooklyn.
Speaker 4: Wow, yeah, I know Chris Rock was from Brooklyn. I
Speaker 4: didn't know Eddie Murphy.
Speaker 2: Was Eddie Murphy was from Brownsville, I believe.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Wow, interesting it's a New York connection.
Speaker 2: Okays, like one New York are cutting ass, like your
Speaker 2: friend cutting your ass, Like that's just what That's just
Speaker 2: how New York is. Get get like, that's just how
Speaker 2: it is. Sometimes that you take it or you don't
Speaker 2: take it. You know, you don't take it. You are
Speaker 2: the thrown hands like cauld you not go on the bay,
Speaker 2: so you.
Speaker 5: Cry exactly, you know what I mean. So it's it's
Speaker 5: just because it's like to the point where after Eddie,
Speaker 5: now I got like once the other one started doing it.
Speaker 5: Now it's gotten to the point where it's like, all right,
Speaker 5: now now you're bullying. Now it's now you're now you're
Speaker 5: just straight up trolling, like a bunch of Twitter bullian
Speaker 5: type of stuff, you know, like in these group pages.
Speaker 5: Now it's gotten to that point, like after the Eddie part.
Speaker 5: Now right now it's like, you know what a funny
Speaker 5: nomal So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: It's funny that you guys mentioned that because of course,
Speaker 3: you know, I hearing how much of a sense of
Speaker 3: humor luth I had like that made me happy and
Speaker 3: knowing that, you know, he was very silly because I'm
Speaker 3: a very silly person, so I'm just like seeing him
Speaker 3: be very.
Speaker 6: Silly just made him feel more relatable to me.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, using your sense of humor
Speaker 3: to laugh through it. It was Deadfinitely. It's definitely a
Speaker 3: defense mechanism that can work. But I know, as as
Speaker 3: a person, as a softie, as the softy in the room.
Speaker 4: Hearing stuff like that can hurt.
Speaker 3: And for me, it's just you know, knowing that people
Speaker 3: were sort of dumbling down on asking about him, even
Speaker 3: even in interviews, and making rumors about him, you know,
Speaker 3: saying that if he, you know, gained a lot of weight,
Speaker 3: then something was wrong, or if he lost a lot
Speaker 3: of weight, then something was wrong. I feel like in
Speaker 3: some cases in the black community, I feel like us
Speaker 3: joking about it. It's like sometimes it can be like
Speaker 3: disguised as concern, but in actuality it can be unkind
Speaker 3: because I can't tell you how many times I had
Speaker 3: heard weird things when I started gaining weight. I was
Speaker 3: a little smaller around like high school into like my
Speaker 3: first year of college. But then when I started gaining.
Speaker 4: Weight, I started hearing it from everybody.
Speaker 3: And it's just like bruh, Like I'm not entirely sure
Speaker 3: if anything is wrong me. I think my metabolism just
Speaker 3: slowed down whatever, And I love food. But at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, you know, people's lives are people's lives,
Speaker 3: and you know we are all human beings, and even
Speaker 3: though we might take it with a grain of salt
Speaker 3: and we might laugh back at you or laugh at
Speaker 3: or laugh with you with the joke, it doesn't take
Speaker 3: away from the effect of what the words can have.
Speaker 4: Or maybe I'm just a softie. I don't know, but
Speaker 4: you know you're.
Speaker 2: Absolutely right, like, okay, a little bit of back, so
Speaker 2: grown up For me, I was always the smallest, slimmest
Speaker 2: in my family. Everybody had something like the you know,
Speaker 2: hit some type of body part was more developed than
Speaker 2: the next or whatever, or it was just like everyone
Speaker 2: was just you know, I was always the smallest. So
Speaker 2: for me, I had I was very chest heavy, but
Speaker 2: I was very skinny, so wearhing like eighty ninety pounds
Speaker 2: with a heavy chest. It's just like you would get
Speaker 2: picked on a lot being skinny, Like, hey, you need
Speaker 2: to gain weight. The amounts and measures that I had
Speaker 2: to go through for them to try to help me
Speaker 2: gain some weight was crazy, the most ridiculous thing ever.
Speaker 2: There was a moment where I did gain weight at
Speaker 2: one moment, and then they start to be like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's cause you know, she's doing something that she's not
Speaker 2: supposed to be doing. That's why she gained weight. And
Speaker 2: then in the stressing that I had, I remember I
Speaker 2: blacked out. I was just like this, I'm not doing this,
Speaker 2: I'm not doing that. And then next year I lost
Speaker 2: it and I was just like, oh, so, what's the
Speaker 2: issue was the cause of this up? You know, come
Speaker 2: to find out I have an overactive thyroid. I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: so it's like a health concern, but it's not too
Speaker 2: much of a health le something that's detrimental. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: instead of assuming ask questions in a way that it's
Speaker 2: not hurtful. And that's what sometimes people don't understand. It's
Speaker 2: easier to make a joke and to make to laugh
Speaker 2: about it when they don't know. And that's that was
Speaker 2: the problem in Luther's case because later on it when
Speaker 2: they were just like, yeah, Luther was a diabetic, that's
Speaker 2: when they I remembered, oh, snap, Luther was a diabetic.
Speaker 2: Luther did have diabetes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a struggle, a struggle. And then it's not
Speaker 3: only just a struggle that he dealt with, his entire.
Speaker 4: Family dealt with it.
Speaker 3: Like when you really like look into the family history
Speaker 3: of it, like that is something that it can be
Speaker 3: hard to shape. And the idea that he was able
Speaker 3: to deal with it with however, he was able to
Speaker 3: deal with it while also still pursuing his music career,
Speaker 3: you know, just speaks volumes about what he was put
Speaker 3: on this earth to do. And he didn't, let you know,
Speaker 3: his body defied him. And I thought that and I
Speaker 3: thought that was amazing. But I also feel like the
Speaker 3: way that we talk about celebrities to a degree, even now,
Speaker 3: when it comes to the choices they make. Well, you know,
Speaker 3: if their bodies are changing, we don't know what's going on.
Speaker 3: So I feel like, unless you are in a place
Speaker 3: to ask him, you should just leave them alone, because
Speaker 3: you know, these may be celebrities back the end of
Speaker 3: the day, you know they're human beings as well.
Speaker 4: So yeah, something that I did.
Speaker 3: Want to address in the documentary to change it up
Speaker 3: a bit, I should have put it in the other
Speaker 3: order because on his first album he did have the
Speaker 3: cover of a house It's not a Home, And this
Speaker 3: was Dion Warwick's song originally, which was something I did
Speaker 3: not know You're again. I thought I grew up thinking
Speaker 3: this was his song, And so to find out that
Speaker 3: this was his way of paying tribute to someone that
Speaker 3: he deeply admired as a singer in Dion Warwick, was
Speaker 3: just absolutely amazing. And of course she comes from a
Speaker 3: real family of singers as well, but just the idea
Speaker 3: of him performing this song for her and her being
Speaker 3: in the documentary and being able to talk about it
Speaker 3: was just like absolutely amazing. And of course, at any
Speaker 3: random point in time, you can be on TikTok and
Speaker 3: then all of a sudden you'll see him and this
Speaker 3: performance from the NAACP Image Awards of him singing A
Speaker 3: House is not a Home live and he's just standing
Speaker 3: there in the suit, just singing.
Speaker 2: And that's it.
Speaker 3: And Dion is happy. They keep putting the camera on her.
Speaker 3: She's almost in tears or in tears because she's just
Speaker 3: so honored. And in the documentary she stated, look, this
Speaker 3: is the definitive cover of this song and you can
Speaker 3: have it.
Speaker 4: Who else?
Speaker 2: Nobody? Right, But you know it's crazy. I did not
Speaker 2: know that this was a cover. And I did not
Speaker 2: know that Superstar was a cover.
Speaker 5: Oh man, yeah right, Like hold on what Because.
Speaker 2: I love the music of the old because people will
Speaker 2: take it and make it their own. And you know, lately,
Speaker 2: I've been saying, I just love how black people. Black
Speaker 2: people put seasoning on everything song included. Because Louke ain't
Speaker 2: have to do what he did on Superstar. I ain't
Speaker 2: have to do that. Whitney Houston. We're not even gonna
Speaker 2: talk about the Queen of remakes over there, Whitney Houston.
Speaker 2: I will always love you higher love. I forget the
Speaker 2: other ones. Oh I'm every woman. It's just like when
Speaker 2: you this is why I'm like, I see why they mad,
Speaker 2: they're not us. I see why they're mad. But that
Speaker 2: was like a mind blowing thing to me, like, not,
Speaker 2: what did you only do one? But you did two
Speaker 2: covers and you made it your own to and it
Speaker 2: sounded like they were your songs, especially yeah and yeah.
Speaker 3: And he has an album actually called Songs, which are
Speaker 3: him doing just straight.
Speaker 4: Covers of other people's songs. It didn't get it didn't.
Speaker 3: Get a lot of attention as far as I was
Speaker 3: able to see in terms of research. But I do
Speaker 3: know he made one. Uh, he made a cover of
Speaker 3: love the one You're With.
Speaker 6: And it sounded like a gospel song, and that.
Speaker 3: Was featured in the documentary as well. Because he performed
Speaker 3: live with a choir, and because I'm a choir junkie
Speaker 3: because I was in choir growing up, I was just like,
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 4: Exactly.
Speaker 3: So it's just like the idea that he could just
Speaker 3: take people's songs and just make it a whole lot
Speaker 3: more and add.
Speaker 6: Extra seasoning to it, like you said, Krista.
Speaker 3: Like he was really good at it, and just the
Speaker 3: idea that you can add extra seasoning to a song
Speaker 3: that already had seasoning on it, like Dion is seasoning,
Speaker 3: but then you and your seasoning and it's just like yummy.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Luther was like the trinity to that song. He
Speaker 2: was like the bell, pepper, the onions, the all of that.
Speaker 6: He was.
Speaker 2: He was the extra today.
Speaker 5: Tell me about it because you know, because the thing
Speaker 5: is for her to pass it towards him and say
Speaker 5: that that was that was like his version was definitive.
Speaker 5: Spoke volumes also Anyone who had a Heart. That was
Speaker 5: another Dion cover. And now when they went into detail
Speaker 5: about Superstar, you know, I mean that was the cover
Speaker 5: from from the Carpenters, like my dad, you know about that.
Speaker 5: And so the thing with Theirs is that Theirs was
Speaker 5: you know, it was more sped up version Superstar, and
Speaker 5: whereas with Luther he slows it down because it's all
Speaker 5: about the anticipation, you know what I mean, and so
Speaker 5: like and throughout that song it's you know, it's nothing,
Speaker 5: but like you know, certain peaks and moments I'm like,
Speaker 5: you know, I mean like that, like out of all
Speaker 5: Luther songs, that's my that's my all time favorite. And
Speaker 5: also he even did a cover of a Stevie Wonder song.
Speaker 5: There was a song called Creeping that it was on
Speaker 5: nineteen five that. Come to find out, I to find
Speaker 5: out un till later that was a Stevie song from
Speaker 5: like the seventies, and so he so he did his
Speaker 5: own version. So the thing is, Luther, when you talk
Speaker 5: about somebode who's the king of covers, he was. He
Speaker 5: was definitely that guy, you know what I mean? So
Speaker 5: Superstar is my definitive go to, like the way that
Speaker 5: Billy genis from Michael Jackson and when Doves cried for
Speaker 5: Prince Superstars like that for me when it comes to Luther.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's definitely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, go ahead, Chris No, I was gonna say, I
Speaker 2: definitely agree. I think what drawn me more to Superstar funny,
Speaker 2: funny but not funny. I think it's coincidental, and I
Speaker 2: don't know how if they matched it that way. But
Speaker 2: the woman of the Carpenters, I forget her name. She
Speaker 2: also had to eat in disorder. She passed away from anarexia.
Speaker 2: Ar Carpenter, Karen Carpenter. She passed away from anorexia. So
Speaker 2: if you've seen that clip on how skinny she was,
Speaker 2: she was fighting anorexia the entire time. So you have
Speaker 2: a person who's fighting this unhealthy relationship with food, and
Speaker 2: then you have this person who is fighting this unhealthy
Speaker 2: relationship without food.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: So to see that, I don't know, like in my
Speaker 2: mind it paralleled, but I just had to make that connection.
Speaker 2: Also Superstar, I feel like I was more drawn into Superstars.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I have the Pandora radio station. There
Speaker 2: was a live segment of Superstar when he was performed
Speaker 2: at Madison Square Garden and he just lets the piano
Speaker 2: have their solo, the pianists have her solo spot and
Speaker 2: mind you, that performs probably about between eight to twelve
Speaker 2: minutes long already. And when I heard that pianist and
Speaker 2: how he was just doing ad libs, It's just like
Speaker 2: Lutha Light, why couldn't we got married yesterday? Like it
Speaker 2: was just like the most amazing thing. Like his voice
Speaker 2: is just so timeless. Like I feel like, moving forward,
Speaker 2: I need to see documentaries like that. Like it touched
Speaker 2: on everything, and the undertone of the whole thing was
Speaker 2: the weight, was his weight and his relationship status. But
Speaker 2: it still touched on the success of Luther Vandels And
Speaker 2: it was a sad part of it of course, where
Speaker 2: he said that any love was like his anthem because
Speaker 2: that's what he wanted. He never had love, he never
Speaker 2: could experience love. And my heart broke for this system.
Speaker 2: And it was just like I hate that song now
Speaker 2: because he wasn't just looking for love, he was looking
Speaker 2: for any love just because he wanted to experience.
Speaker 4: It was and that was a sad part.
Speaker 3: And going back to Vond's point about and you guys's
Speaker 3: point about the covers, like I'll never forget the first
Speaker 3: time I heard Stevie Wonder's version of Creeping, I was
Speaker 3: just like, why are you singing Lutha's song?
Speaker 4: Because I heard Luther's version first.
Speaker 3: Here're getting backwards, but either way, I was just like
Speaker 3: I heard Luther's version first, but then when I heard
Speaker 3: Stevie's version, I was like okay. And then the fact
Speaker 3: that Luther's same background for Stevie Wonder's song part time Lover,
Speaker 3: like it's almost like a it's not a duet, but
Speaker 3: then it kind of is one because you can clearly
Speaker 3: hear Luther da da da da da da da da, and.
Speaker 4: Then Stevie comes in with his part and I'm just like, this.
Speaker 6: Is just nuts.
Speaker 3: So much talent, just too much talent. Oh god, it's
Speaker 3: so much. But yeah, in getting to any love like
Speaker 3: that part really got to me because that's a song
Speaker 3: that I love to listen to that I get excited
Speaker 3: about because it's somewhat upbeat but still very much kind
Speaker 3: of slow. And you know, I like the song too,
Speaker 3: because to a degree, I was just like, I thought,
Speaker 3: maybe it was just him just having hope for the idea.
Speaker 6: That maybe I can have this type of love.
Speaker 3: But then when they showed the version of him performing
Speaker 3: it live and the way that other people were talking
Speaker 3: about it, I was just like, oh, so, this isn't
Speaker 3: that type of vibe at all. I've been listening to
Speaker 3: it with. I felt like I was listening to it
Speaker 3: with the wrong vibe for so very long because I
Speaker 3: was just like, WHOA, So he was longing for something
Speaker 3: that he felt like he couldn't have or just never
Speaker 3: got to have in certain aspects of his life. And
Speaker 3: it's really that part really did make me kind of
Speaker 3: just sit down for a second and just think about,
Speaker 3: you know, the differences in how life was then for people,
Speaker 3: and it was just like, man, like that is just
Speaker 3: so sad, Like I wish that.
Speaker 4: It could have been different for him.
Speaker 3: I really do, because for someone to sing so beautifully
Speaker 3: about love, for someone to have all of these songs
Speaker 3: that people use in weddings and sing for their significant
Speaker 3: others and put in and then for people to use
Speaker 3: his music, sample his music, put it in rap songs
Speaker 3: that give off love, you know, within that, only for
Speaker 3: him to not have that romantic love.
Speaker 6: It's just like, wow, it's really saying.
Speaker 2: It's a sad thing, and I feel like everybody should
Speaker 2: experience love. Like it's crazy. We're talking about this because
Speaker 2: I just shared a story from BLS's on the website
Speaker 2: now that my coworker le I just shared it on
Speaker 2: social how Pague la Belle was disappointed about her portrayal
Speaker 2: and the documentary. But I'm just like, you were the
Speaker 2: main one speaking about Luth Evangel's sexuality. You were the
Speaker 2: main one who came on and was like, yeah, Luther
Speaker 2: was gay, Luther wanted this, he couldn't have that, and this,
Speaker 2: that and that. We spoke about it, and I get
Speaker 2: that that's your friend and you want him. You won it.
Speaker 2: I don't know what the reasoning or the purpose was
Speaker 2: behind it now like since he's passed, but you can't
Speaker 2: really be upset at something that you've said on TV
Speaker 2: or multiple times before, like you you said it on
Speaker 2: Andy Cohen sitting in between Sam Smith and Andy Cohen,
Speaker 2: like how are you how are you upset at the fact,
Speaker 2: like when I talked about his sexuality, Like how did
Speaker 2: you think you were not going to come up when
Speaker 2: you were the main You're the main one. Don't get
Speaker 2: me wrong. I love anti Patty, love anti Patty seeing
Speaker 2: how essence that's amazing. But you're a celebrity like you have.
Speaker 2: These are recorded. Things will come back, so you know,
Speaker 2: bite you in the faith sometimes unfortunately whether and I
Speaker 2: know you didn't mean no mouths and no ill will
Speaker 2: or no bad intention behind it, but you still said it.
Speaker 2: You still talked about his sexuality. Maybe that's something that
Speaker 2: he wanted you to take to the grave with you
Speaker 2: when it's time, when it's your time to go, you know,
Speaker 2: but for you to just kind of out him although
Speaker 2: he's not here in the in the present and the physical,
Speaker 2: it should it just shouldn't have been said.
Speaker 5: Absolutely not certain certain things you just like you said,
Speaker 5: just carries to the great buds. As much as I
Speaker 5: love Hey La Belle, she's an icon and everything like that,
Speaker 5: But the thing is you know, I realized words are
Speaker 5: weapons definite life from the power of the time. And
Speaker 5: so the thing is, you know, every word that you know,
Speaker 5: like type of word that you speak, is going to
Speaker 5: be recorded and so and the thing is for somebody
Speaker 5: to sit to sit there. She was super comfortable, you know,
Speaker 5: you know, being on a Andy Cohen show like that,
Speaker 5: you know, to to you know, to say that. And
Speaker 5: this is because this is for you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: and being because a lot a lot of times people
Speaker 5: say things by somebody that's not hear that they would
Speaker 5: never say in their face or in their presence, but
Speaker 5: while they're still around, you know what I mean. So like,
Speaker 5: you know, like if Luther was still here, I'm not
Speaker 5: speaking for him, of the thing is, if he was
Speaker 5: still here, especially with the age of the Internet, I
Speaker 5: seriously doubt that Patty would keep the same energy that
Speaker 5: she had, you know, with you know, with with with
Speaker 5: with with those interviews. So it's just like, you know,
Speaker 5: you put those words out there, and so when they
Speaker 5: come back like a boomerang, you can't be you know, dumbfounded,
Speaker 5: like you're surprised by it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I remember when I first heard her say it.
Speaker 3: I was just like, huh, Like I was just like,
Speaker 3: why why would you bring that up now when he
Speaker 3: can't speak on it himself. I literally feel like whenever
Speaker 3: you speak on something the which is why I feel
Speaker 3: like documentaries like this and interviews where people are speaking
Speaker 3: on celebrities who are no longer here, it's like they
Speaker 3: draw like it's like you walk a fine line because
Speaker 3: of course you want to be you know, you want
Speaker 3: to speak about the comfort that you had with this person,
Speaker 3: but at the same time, you also have to know
Speaker 3: where to stop, and you have to know where the
Speaker 3: boundaries are. And in that moment, as much as I
Speaker 3: love Patti LaBelle, love her down like that wasn't her
Speaker 3: place to say that, Like as far as like nobody
Speaker 3: in the circle, in the friendship circle ever truly said
Speaker 3: anything about his sexuality, like people had wondered about it
Speaker 3: for years, But even he said in the in the documentary,
Speaker 3: in the past interview, that is none of y'all damn business.
Speaker 3: And honestly, it should have just ended that forgive me.
Speaker 3: But you know, either way, it should have just ended there.
Speaker 3: Because when somebody says it's none of your business, it's
Speaker 3: none of your business.
Speaker 4: And you just got to live with that.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I remember hearing from my parents that whenever
Speaker 3: he would come for concerts, girls would scream over him,
Speaker 3: you know, and love his voice because you know, he
Speaker 3: would sing about love and give off the impression he
Speaker 3: was singing tense to them as an entertainer.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: But either way, you know, regardless, that should have been
Speaker 3: what truly mattered, even and I feel like he should
Speaker 3: have had control over that. And if he's not here
Speaker 3: to have control over that, then don't talk about it.
Speaker 3: It's not your place, too. And I just really wish
Speaker 3: that he lived in a time where he felt like
Speaker 3: he could have his success and truly be who he was.
Speaker 3: And I can't help but think about the parallel of
Speaker 3: his story along also with Whitney Houston's too to a degree,
Speaker 3: because there was a level of success that both of
Speaker 3: these people reached, but did not necessarily have a love
Speaker 3: that was healthy for them, or a love at all
Speaker 3: that was truly authentic to who they were.
Speaker 4: And it's just so sad.
Speaker 3: Now, of course now it's a little bit different, but
Speaker 3: at the same time, I really wish that they could
Speaker 3: have freely been who they were, because there's a part
Speaker 3: of me that hopes that maybe that could have I
Speaker 3: guess for me in a selfish way, like maybe that
Speaker 3: could have kept them here to a degree.
Speaker 4: But I don't know. I'm not in charge of that.
Speaker 4: But either way, you know, I wish.
Speaker 3: That they had felt okay enough and loved enough to
Speaker 3: truly be who they authentically were. But I know they
Speaker 3: have that freedom now wherever they are, so in speaking
Speaker 3: of that, another thing that I couldn't believe.
Speaker 4: Was how long it took him to win a Grammy.
Speaker 3: It was so funny that even in one of his
Speaker 3: live shows, his document his background singer saying it's about time,
Speaker 3: I was just like, that is so hilarious, but so sad,
Speaker 3: like the Grammys. But what's so funny is is that
Speaker 3: when they kept showing every time he was nominated for
Speaker 3: a Grammy.
Speaker 4: It didn't win.
Speaker 3: It was like the categories he were in were always
Speaker 3: so stacked with talents like Terrence Trent Darby, even though
Speaker 3: I know he doesn't go by that name anymore, or
Speaker 3: like James Brown, or like Stevie Wonder. So it was
Speaker 3: always heavy hitters back there. But the idea that it
Speaker 3: took Luther such a long time to even get one,
Speaker 3: maybe even two Grammys is just it just nuts to
Speaker 3: even think about. So how did you guys feel when
Speaker 3: y'all found out like it took him so long to
Speaker 3: get one?
Speaker 2: At this point, we're squaring up because why he had
Speaker 2: been nominated nine times and he went on the tenth time.
Speaker 2: What because while we at this point we squaring up
Speaker 2: because do y'all not know that this is Lutha, F
Speaker 2: and vandros Like I'm so confused, Like to this day,
Speaker 2: I'm surprised that Diana Ross has never won a Grammy ever,
Speaker 2: Dana Russ has no Grammys to her name. Very surprised.
Speaker 2: So for Lutha to be overlooked nine times out of ten,
Speaker 2: that's that was the most craziest thing to me. Craziest
Speaker 2: thing to me. And then when he won his I
Speaker 2: think the Grammy that he won four again was I
Speaker 2: think when he was working with Richard Markus shout out
Speaker 2: to Richard Marx because Penn game crazy, yes, and he
Speaker 2: couldn't even really enjoy it because that's when he had
Speaker 2: his stroke. Not saying that that was like the first
Speaker 2: Grammy that he won, because like you said, this was
Speaker 2: one of these were the first two but that last
Speaker 2: one that he won, he couldn't even enjoy it because
Speaker 2: he was recovering from a stroke. Like I don't understand
Speaker 2: what the Music Academy was about then. I mean someone
Speaker 2: still don't understand it now. But that's another conversation for
Speaker 2: another day.
Speaker 4: Hmm.
Speaker 5: What they were talking about this, because yeah, see, for
Speaker 5: him to get nominated and for them to play in
Speaker 5: his face nine times like that, now only are we
Speaker 5: throwing hands with remembers, uh, throwing feet as well, because
Speaker 5: you know what I mean, SMI's side thirteen's to whoever
Speaker 5: was in you know, whoever was in charge of the
Speaker 5: voting committee. Because the thing is, of course, I'm glad
Speaker 5: he finally got that remy from here now. But if
Speaker 5: you look at some of his best, absolute best years,
Speaker 5: we're in the eighties, in the same time frame as
Speaker 5: Michael's Thriller, Princess Peple Rain, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, it's just like,
Speaker 5: you know, I know, the I know the table was
Speaker 5: super different stack, but for for him to be overlooked
Speaker 5: that many times, you know, which was it was just like,
Speaker 5: I mean, come on now, like that, like it ain't
Speaker 5: ain't ain't no way I get it. It taler Pool
Speaker 5: was deep, but come on, it had to be a
Speaker 5: certain point like in even like in like where that
Speaker 5: Superstar the album Superstar was on whatever, at least he
Speaker 5: could have got, you know, gotten an R and B
Speaker 5: album for that. Let Michael have the pop album for
Speaker 5: for thrillering and all that type of stuff. But at
Speaker 5: least let Luther get get get something for one of those,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean. So it's just like like
Speaker 5: I said, you know, and the Dinah Ross thing, I
Speaker 5: was very surprised to see me hear that. But yeah,
Speaker 5: like like I said, for him to finally get it,
Speaker 5: but come on now like this, that and and the
Speaker 5: thing is for Luther to still not be in the
Speaker 5: Hall of Fame yet, it is mind blowing. So hopefully
Speaker 5: this documentary will be a vehicle for you know, for
Speaker 5: for that, for that to come to come to play.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he has a star. He's not in a rock
Speaker 2: and roll Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4: No, not yet, I don't think so.
Speaker 5: Not yet. So he's got the Hollywood Walker Fame star.
Speaker 5: But in terms of the rock roll Hall of Fame, no,
Speaker 5: not yet, not yet. That's like I said, that's another
Speaker 5: thing about the not the non Brandy Snubs and stuff
Speaker 5: like that. So you know, like like, hopefully this this
Speaker 5: will be a vehicle, like some of the documentaries will
Speaker 5: be for other people like to go in you know,
Speaker 5: hopefully this would be a vehicle for that. But I'm
Speaker 5: just saying like, still, yeah, that's that's red fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's insane how some of these institutions, you know,
Speaker 3: take such a long time to give black artists their things,
Speaker 3: because oh my gosh, I'll never forget when Whitney passed.
Speaker 3: I actually found so many Facebook pages that were sharing
Speaker 3: stuff about her because I was in deep sadness off
Speaker 3: of that. And I remember finding one Facebook page in
Speaker 3: particular that was called induct Whitney Houston into the Rock
Speaker 3: and Roll Hall of Fame, and it was active for
Speaker 3: many years until she finally was so the idea that
Speaker 3: it was active, that page was active for about maybe
Speaker 3: I want to say, at least seven six to eight
Speaker 3: years after she had passed, pushing for her to get inducted.
Speaker 3: And when she was finally inducted, that was when, you know,
Speaker 3: they you know, just unplugged the page and just the
Speaker 3: idea that there are so many artists that are just
Speaker 3: put in a box in terms of the genres and
Speaker 3: not honored the way they deserve to be. It's like
Speaker 3: Beyonce really hit on something when she said when she
Speaker 3: had Linda Martell, Saint genres are a funny little concept,
Speaker 3: aren't they. I always go back to cowboy Carter. That's
Speaker 3: just like my new boy.
Speaker 2: Carter is a two no, But you're right, like one,
Speaker 2: I didn't know that Ludu was inducted into the National Blues,
Speaker 2: Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: But for you not, not for them not to induct
Speaker 2: him and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after
Speaker 2: all of the jingles, after all the songs that he's written,
Speaker 2: after all the people that he's been a part of,
Speaker 2: after all rock and roll celebrities he's been ad libbing
Speaker 2: the thing and back round singers.
Speaker 3: For Like, why did it take so long for him
Speaker 3: to getting the R and B one? It's my question
Speaker 3: because twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5: Yeah, forty years artist.
Speaker 2: Well you have to remember, yeah, like his album Technically
Speaker 2: Speak and it wasn't that long ago, but it was
Speaker 2: that long ago. If your first album's coming out in
Speaker 2: the mid eighties, mid eighties, like it may seem like
Speaker 2: a long time. But literally, I'm born in you born
Speaker 2: and I'm born in ninety I understand, Like, right, I
Speaker 2: was born in ninety three, Okay, so that's thirty well,
Speaker 2: thirty five, thirty six, and thirty three, thirty two or
Speaker 2: thirty one. Yeah, Like that's not that long ago, so
Speaker 2: I can understand, like why it kind of took a
Speaker 2: little while saying I'm sorry.
Speaker 4: Sorry, thank you for saying it, because I can't tell you.
Speaker 6: Oh Jesus, I'm.
Speaker 2: Sorry, But it's not it's not that long ago when
Speaker 2: it comes down to to thing like it may seem
Speaker 2: like I could see if Luthevangel's first album came out
Speaker 2: in nineteen fifty eight, during the time where Sevnation was
Speaker 2: a really really heavy thing and they wasn't even trying
Speaker 2: to hold black music to a higher regardings like they
Speaker 2: have now, and it took him that long to be
Speaker 2: inducted in an Blues and Rhythm and Blues Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame into twenty twenty one, I could see it. But really, nice,
Speaker 2: eighty five, it's really not that long ago. Every one
Speaker 2: still eighty not.
Speaker 6: That wrong ago. Yeah, and you're right, Chris, thank you're welcome.
Speaker 2: I had to put them perspective.
Speaker 4: That's right, right.
Speaker 5: And one more thing, one last thing also because the
Speaker 5: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame their criteria, because because
Speaker 5: the thing is, I keep tabs on this stuff, you know,
Speaker 5: because you know, because I'm you know, like one of
Speaker 5: the people you know does the fan boats, right, So
Speaker 5: like usually maybe you know, send me emails as far
Speaker 5: as like you know, as far as stuff you know,
Speaker 5: like you know, the list to vote for and things
Speaker 5: like that, right, and so you know, got kept tabs
Speaker 5: on like when ll finally got in, like when Whitney
Speaker 5: finally got in. Right, Their criteria is at least twenty
Speaker 5: five years since your very first album for the for you,
Speaker 5: the first for the first time to be eligible, right,
Speaker 5: And so I kept tabs with his first album for
Speaker 5: your album nineteen eighty one whole time yet to be
Speaker 5: even on the boubt, right, And so like that, you know,
Speaker 5: like I said, so that right there, and Whitney criterion wise,
Speaker 5: really really she should have gone like in twenty ten,
Speaker 5: twenty eleven, you know, because her album came a come
Speaker 5: out in eighty five. So you know, so like when
Speaker 5: it comes to you know, the people that are you
Speaker 5: know behind behind these you know, boardrooms and stuff like that.
Speaker 5: That's just you know what I mean like that, that's
Speaker 5: just us mind blowing, you know, like to you know,
Speaker 5: to to realize that so you know, you do better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is mind blowing. But you know, at least
Speaker 3: he finally did get in. And what's so funny is
Speaker 3: there was that cute moment's background singers to have. And
Speaker 3: something that I did appreciate was seeing footage of his
Speaker 3: live shows because you know, sadly I did not. I
Speaker 3: was never able to attend the Luther show. But my mom,
Speaker 3: shout out to her, was able to attend two of them,
Speaker 3: one by herself and one was my dad, and she
Speaker 3: just always you know, parents, Oh please, if I could
Speaker 3: sit here and tell you all of the people that
Speaker 3: they have seen.
Speaker 2: Told me that she saw the Jackson's perform one year
Speaker 2: and her favorite one is, uh was it Jackie Jackie
Speaker 2: or Jumaine? It wasn't Michael. I said, excuse me, ma'am,
Speaker 2: what but neither here?
Speaker 3: Like, if I could just sit here and tell you
Speaker 3: the list of people that my parents have seen, like
Speaker 3: you you would it would just make you want to
Speaker 3: just just cry.
Speaker 4: But yeah, like my mom saw too.
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong, I've been to a lot of concerts.
Speaker 2: I've probably seen them too. Who would not hear them?
Speaker 2: I never saw, never saw Michael, never saw Lutha, never
Speaker 2: seen Did I see Whitney, Never seen Whitney, I've seen.
Speaker 2: I feel like I want to say asking the temptations,
Speaker 2: I feel like I want to say that, oh wow, cool,
Speaker 2: who knows? Okay, we continue, I'm sorry, but yeah, like,
Speaker 2: you know, just hearing how they felt, you know, at
Speaker 2: his shows everything, So seeing the shows pop up at
Speaker 2: in the documentary and just seeing how intricate he was
Speaker 2: with their rehearsals and how one of them, one of
Speaker 2: the musicians, said, you.
Speaker 3: Know, you were happy to come to work because you
Speaker 3: knew he was going to crack that whip, but you
Speaker 3: knew he did it out of excellence. And I appreciated that.
Speaker 3: And even when they went to London and he had
Speaker 3: the background singers dress up in those beautiful sparkly green dresses.
Speaker 3: You know, like he was just very intricate and very
Speaker 3: thoughtful about his performances, you know, in a way that
Speaker 3: was very unique for the time, and it makes you think,
Speaker 3: you know about the people who we see perform to
Speaker 3: higher standards even now, and it makes you very appreciative
Speaker 3: of Luther and what he did for back then for
Speaker 3: live shows and just how he reached for excellence in
Speaker 3: his live shows. So I really loved that. So that
Speaker 3: was a really cool part to hear about and to
Speaker 3: put together in my own life, just hearing my parents
Speaker 3: about him finally visually singing it. And then I found
Speaker 3: a clip on Twitter that somebody posted of an audio
Speaker 3: from his final concert where he was singing a verse
Speaker 3: of Missy Elliott's work it, and it was the funniest
Speaker 3: thing I ever heard, and he called the song a masterpiece,
Speaker 3: and I was cackling on the phone. Do you hear
Speaker 3: me cackling? So I do recommend for those who are
Speaker 3: watching this, if you have not found that clip, please
Speaker 3: go find it. It will make your day and it
Speaker 3: will make you laugh and cackle because hearing Luther Vandross
Speaker 3: sing Missy Elliott's work it, it's just like bro It's nuts.
Speaker 3: And it also makes me wish that he had more
Speaker 3: time with people of the newer generation because could you
Speaker 3: imagine the amount of music this man would have made
Speaker 3: with more artists.
Speaker 2: And come out aside from Luther Vandros singing Missy Elliot's
Speaker 2: working and being a part of that. You know Luther
Speaker 2: was a wrestling.
Speaker 7: Fan, Yes, yes, yes, Luther was me.
Speaker 2: Oh, smack guns on, you gotta stop this. I used
Speaker 2: to stop everything a nineties kick, growing from the nineties
Speaker 2: outside playing with your friends in the summertime. I'd be like, oh,
Speaker 2: it's nine o'clock, I gotta go Monday night, ro is
Speaker 2: coming on. I see how tomorrow or I see you
Speaker 2: when I get back when I'm done. Like, and I
Speaker 2: didn't know that he was such a wrestling fan. I
Speaker 2: imagine Luther n w W like, hey, hey, Randy, imagine
Speaker 2: him in w W. E like imagining him sing just singing,
Speaker 2: lift every voice because we ain't gonna do the national anthem.
Speaker 2: Let him sing lift every voice. Let him sing an
Speaker 2: entrance song.
Speaker 4: What oh my gosh. Now you know he would have been.
Speaker 2: Him singing somebody entrance music, like he could really revent Bianca.
Speaker 2: But as I'm on my own, you know, he could.
Speaker 4: Have been on. He could have been on the New
Speaker 4: Day track.
Speaker 2: Yep, right, oh yeah, the way I would have literally
Speaker 2: been praising or something because LUSA and thinking themes he
Speaker 2: could have been the new because he's so good at jingles.
Speaker 2: He could have been the new CFC. What was the
Speaker 2: CFC band? Who was doing the songs or.
Speaker 4: Death?
Speaker 2: Probably we would have had We would have had bops, okay, bops,
Speaker 2: endless bops, endless bops, like it's no changing, like who
Speaker 2: want to change from Luth Evangel's song theme.
Speaker 5: Song like this. Dude even talked about even ordering Wrestleman.
Speaker 5: Can you imagine if Luther had sung it like Wrestmen three,
Speaker 5: Arrestmen four, something like that, like come on.
Speaker 3: Now, okay, Like I'm sad because they gotta read the
Speaker 3: Franklin this thing for them?
Speaker 4: How did you miss Luthor doing America the Beautiful? Like
Speaker 4: that would have ate Chris.
Speaker 2: But and just and just gave me chills because I
Speaker 2: don't know what them ads that have been hitting for.
Speaker 2: He would have been on a riff, a good three
Speaker 2: minute rip and America Beautiful.
Speaker 3: And then on top of that he and then on
Speaker 3: top of that, he would have been in the audience
Speaker 3: last night.
Speaker 4: Y'all know he would have been there last night for sure.
Speaker 4: He would have been sat.
Speaker 2: If everybody last night, I would have literally threw the
Speaker 2: TV across the wall. If I would have sawte just
Speaker 2: to the nine, Okay, I would have child wouldn't rock
Speaker 2: and Luther would have had a shot.
Speaker 4: Is just thinking.
Speaker 2: I would have been in tears, tears, ugly cry, who's
Speaker 2: snap from nothing, nose everything like unhinged, unhinged.
Speaker 8: Behavior, unhinged. Yeah, lu in Vegas, come on now, I need.
Speaker 4: To go because you're not doing this right now.
Speaker 2: We're not gonna stay handy this.
Speaker 4: Look, we have so much to still come back and
Speaker 4: say time.
Speaker 3: I understand the excitement, but you know, even in the industry,
Speaker 3: like he would have been amazing on the song with
Speaker 3: Victoria Money because they both have, you know, the same
Speaker 3: type of meticulous hearing with her as a producer and
Speaker 3: a songwriter.
Speaker 4: That would have been an amazing deal.
Speaker 3: And even if he had the chance to work with
Speaker 3: Beyonce a whole lot more like he did a song
Speaker 3: a duet with her at the beginning of her solo career.
Speaker 3: Could I imagine I could you imagine how much more
Speaker 3: they could have done together had he lived Lord crazy?
Speaker 2: You know, he would have been on this cowboy car
Speaker 2: all right, you know, he would have been on Renaissance somewhere.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, oh yes, him on Renaissance would have
Speaker 3: ate all the way down a house boots down.
Speaker 2: If if you know the rumors and stuff were true
Speaker 2: about sexuality. Ohole m Renaissance album. I feel like he
Speaker 2: could have did a remixed Church Girl.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, that would have been spelt. But yes, you know,
Speaker 5: it's just like you know, like the like, the thing is,
Speaker 5: he created such a for so many people, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. It's it's just it's just like you
Speaker 5: want to talk about what if you want to talk
Speaker 5: about a huge what if? When? When when it comes
Speaker 5: to Luther Vandross in terms in terms of music wise,
Speaker 5: in terms of today's landscape, Oh my, Like, And the
Speaker 5: thing is, like I know Usher had a song on
Speaker 5: Professions called Superstar. It's like every time I every time
Speaker 5: I see that that title, the first thing I think
Speaker 5: about is Luther Usher did a did a nice version
Speaker 5: of his own, but nobody touches that ninety eight three Superstars.
Speaker 3: It's so funny, Like if they hit mashed that together,
Speaker 3: I just, oh god, I would have just wept because
Speaker 3: it's just Superstar. Superstar is like one of my favorite
Speaker 3: Usher songs of all time. Like if you play that
Speaker 3: song like I am just like if anybody like, oh
Speaker 3: my god, if my boyfriend played that song before he
Speaker 3: proposed to me, I'm passing out.
Speaker 4: Hints. But either way, like.
Speaker 2: When you hear that hints.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, but you know, it's just just thinking
Speaker 3: about that. It's just really lit. But then they also
Speaker 3: end the documentary discussed his jump from Arista Records to
Speaker 3: J Records, which at the time during the two thousands,
Speaker 3: hip hop was becoming more of its own thing, and
Speaker 3: R and B was sort of it was almost they
Speaker 3: were making it seem like if you didn't necessarily combined
Speaker 3: with hip hop, then you didn't sssarily transition as well
Speaker 3: to the charts during this time, so Luther was looking
Speaker 3: to sort of branch out more as an artist, so
Speaker 3: he moved to Jay Records. That was all by Clive Davis,
Speaker 3: who was the famous manager of Whitney Houston and also
Speaker 3: Alicia Keys at the beginning of her career, and Ruben
Speaker 3: was also on this record label as well when he
Speaker 3: won American Idol too, and that was how I found
Speaker 3: out about them. So in the midst of him signing
Speaker 3: with Jay Records, he made the self titled album Luther
Speaker 3: Vandross and when I say this is like one of
Speaker 3: my favorite album covers ever, it just is like you
Speaker 3: got the blue background, you got the palm trees. He
Speaker 3: looked like he is ready to just have a great
Speaker 3: adult life.
Speaker 4: In this picture.
Speaker 3: And it had taken Me Out, well take You Out,
Speaker 3: which is just an iconic R and B song of
Speaker 3: the two thousand. It also had can Heaven Wait. It
Speaker 3: also had I'd Rather, which is one of my deep,
Speaker 3: deep cut favorite Lutheran Draws songs like he came out
Speaker 3: here ready to slay the two thousands with this album
Speaker 3: and it and here again it age as well. You
Speaker 3: can listen to it now and it sounds very very
Speaker 3: current in terms of, you know, dealing with relationships in
Speaker 3: life and longing for love and asking people out.
Speaker 4: And I'll never.
Speaker 3: Forget in his music video for Take You Out, it
Speaker 3: was Garcel Boufa, just to bring it back to the
Speaker 3: Jamie Fox connection. And for a minute, you know, growing up,
Speaker 3: I thought maybe they was going out for real and.
Speaker 7: I was like yeah, but you know, I know.
Speaker 2: It was like BT when we have music videos watching
Speaker 2: on BT Washington BT or is it the one to
Speaker 2: come on at midnight? I can't remember now, but Midnight Soul,
Speaker 2: No Midnight Love, Midnight sound like it was Midnight Love,
Speaker 2: and then Park and dropping the video off.
Speaker 3: And Park a j and Free.
Speaker 5: Exactly you know what I mean. So I mean, yeah,
Speaker 5: you know like that that was definitely a revival of
Speaker 5: his career and and and the funny thing about it
Speaker 5: was that, you know, even early on Luther on the
Speaker 5: other end, Luther was known for, you know, for reviving
Speaker 5: other people's careers, like he did with Franklin, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. So, like as far as as far
Speaker 5: as that, so so here it is like a full circle,
Speaker 5: full circle moment where he's where he's having his own
Speaker 5: sort of excuse me expression ring renaissance if you will,
Speaker 5: resurgence rather, you know what I mean. So so so
Speaker 5: as far as that, I mean, this was definitely you know,
Speaker 5: much need It was a preview of what we could
Speaker 5: have had further down the line. So we talk about
Speaker 5: what Luther you know, could have been now that that
Speaker 5: album would have been like the beginning point, you know
Speaker 5: of what we could have sing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, like this album was so good and just
Speaker 3: the fact that he was, you know, being more modern,
Speaker 3: even to the point to where even Jay Z Excuse
Speaker 3: Me had a song called excuse Me, miss Rush himself
Speaker 3: of him singing whisper singing the song or whatever and
Speaker 3: asking a lady out or whatever, like talking about how.
Speaker 4: He got two dishwashers. That's like the funniest song to me.
Speaker 3: The funniest part of the song to me, like I
Speaker 3: got two dishwashers. Okay, what does that have to do
Speaker 3: with me? But I mean, I guess it's impressive depending
Speaker 3: on who you are. But but just having that and
Speaker 3: then having Pharrell, you know, produced produced that song as well,
Speaker 3: who was a great in and of himself as well
Speaker 3: in music like It's just Luther's start in the two
Speaker 3: thousands was pretty lit with that album, and just for me,
Speaker 3: I felt like, you know, it was very current for
Speaker 3: me for where I was as an R and B
Speaker 3: listener because in the two thousands that's where I became
Speaker 3: more exposed to R and B and more hip hop
Speaker 3: as well. So it was just a nice little time
Speaker 3: for me growing up and learning what that was. Because
Speaker 3: here again I'm late, so.
Speaker 2: It was behind me four years. Bahama, bah You're not
Speaker 2: that far.
Speaker 3: You're still there, You're right, but you know, just all
Speaker 3: of that, it was just really beautiful to see where
Speaker 3: he was going. But in the midst of him trying
Speaker 3: to create his second album, which was Dance with My Father,
Speaker 3: he was up and down with his weight again, and
Speaker 3: his friends were talking about that in the documentary as well.
Speaker 3: And in the midst of all the stress that he
Speaker 3: was dealing with with trying to finish the album on
Speaker 3: time and trying to play and shows and all of
Speaker 3: the above and promote what he could have been doing.
Speaker 4: He got sick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he suffered his stroke, and it was very devastating
Speaker 3: to hear. I know, like I remember when it happened.
Speaker 6: It was all over the news.
Speaker 3: You couldn't really like escape it at that point, and
Speaker 3: a lot of people were very worried about, you know,
Speaker 3: what could have happened to him in that regard. But
Speaker 3: of course they addressed in the documentary that he was
Speaker 3: rehabbing and trying to come back, even though there was
Speaker 3: levels of himself that wasn't the same in terms of
Speaker 3: speech or in terms of other things. But they did
Speaker 3: say that he was able to still understand people and
Speaker 3: hear them speak, and also still understand music to a
Speaker 3: degree as well. So he rehabbed for a number of months,
Speaker 3: and in the midst of him rehabbing, his album Dance
Speaker 3: with My Father was released, and this album wound up
Speaker 3: being his final one, but it had a number of
Speaker 3: great hits on it, like think About You, which was
Speaker 3: written by Alicia Keys, and he had Lovely Day on there,
Speaker 3: and then he also had the song Dance with My Father.
Speaker 3: And in the documentary they talked about for the first
Speaker 3: time what his creative process was behind writing this song
Speaker 3: and knowing that and just telling the story of his
Speaker 3: life and how much he loved his dad and how
Speaker 3: much he just enjoyed the relationship he had with him,
Speaker 3: even though it was cut short because his father passed
Speaker 3: when he was eight years old. And just if you
Speaker 3: have ever heard the song, it is very, very heart
Speaker 3: wrenching and it's very real. And then in the music video,
Speaker 3: since he couldn't be in it due to his condition,
Speaker 3: he had people and other celebrities and family members dancing
Speaker 3: with their fathers in the video, because even Beyonce was
Speaker 3: in it dancing with Matthew. So this was probably the
Speaker 3: most one of the most authentic songs he had ever written.
Speaker 3: And his mama said in an interview and said that
Speaker 3: I didn't even know he remembered any of that stuff,
Speaker 3: but the idea that it was put in this song,
Speaker 3: like she just cherished it, and even hearing it now,
Speaker 3: it just makes you think about people who are close
Speaker 3: to you that you might miss on another plane. So
Speaker 3: this gained a lot of acclaim and a lot of
Speaker 3: fame during the time of which he was rehabbing, and
Speaker 3: of course it did wind up winning him another grand
Speaker 3: I mean that we did mention that was accepted by
Speaker 3: Richard Marx, who wrote the song with him, and he
Speaker 3: accepted it. But then Luther had a video where he
Speaker 3: talked about how he wished he could be with them
Speaker 3: to accept the award, but he said, you know, when
Speaker 3: we say goodbye, it's never for long.
Speaker 6: Because I believe in the power of love.
Speaker 3: And he sang that part and my dad got excited
Speaker 3: at that part because he was just like, oh, this's
Speaker 3: mean he on his way back.
Speaker 4: But you know, either.
Speaker 3: Way, this was an iconic body of work. So Christa
Speaker 3: and Vonn, how did you guys feel the first time
Speaker 3: you heard Dance with my Father?
Speaker 2: For me, I loved the song, but it, like you said,
Speaker 2: it was also a sad time because it was really
Speaker 2: around the time where he had his stroke, so you
Speaker 2: he wasn't in the video. So they had all of
Speaker 2: these people who were who love of Luther, who had
Speaker 2: their dads, and then Beyonce and her father was in it.
Speaker 2: You had Grace and then Garcel Sorry, and then you
Speaker 2: had all these celebrities and they're like just reminiscing about
Speaker 2: their dads and sharing photos if their dads, if their
Speaker 2: dads was no longer around. It hit a little bit
Speaker 2: different as I grew older, like as I lost my father,
Speaker 2: Like I never danced with mine, but I get the
Speaker 2: sentiment behind it and to touch on like the when
Speaker 2: Richard Marx accepted the Grammy, there was an interview that
Speaker 2: he did with that Luther did with Oprah and when
Speaker 2: he was just like, I'm just living in this this
Speaker 2: new phase, knowing that this is the end, Like he
Speaker 2: knew that he was not going to recover from this
Speaker 2: and for dance with my father to come out and
Speaker 2: he wanted that solely his for him and his mom.
Speaker 2: It was like damn, It's like dam are you giving up?
Speaker 2: Or you just solely know like this is it, Like
Speaker 2: you solely know that you have to go on to
Speaker 2: the other side for this song to be that number,
Speaker 2: this song on this album to be to get that
Speaker 2: that pop crossover that you was looking for for the
Speaker 2: the longest while. So it's kind of aerie in a sense,
Speaker 2: just like Sam's Cook a change Gonna come. Bobby Womeck said, Yo,
Speaker 2: this is an aerie song, Like what do you like?
Speaker 2: What's going on is so eerie? And then a few
Speaker 2: days later Sam Cook ends up being murdered in a hotel.
Speaker 2: Like I feel like a lot of these celebrities have
Speaker 2: premonitions and they know when their time is coming up,
Speaker 2: so they need to put out something that's going to
Speaker 2: leave that staple behind. And Dance with My Father is
Speaker 2: definitely one of those staples for Luther Vandros for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So it's crazy that Stephanie happens to be talking, you know,
Speaker 5: like this this PROTECT podcast talking about Dance with My
Speaker 5: Father because I'm you know, Simon Tamsen watching nx T
Speaker 5: and there's a segment with with the rock and Eva
Speaker 5: watching absolutely right and and and I think about it,
Speaker 5: is you know, very funny how how that how that
Speaker 5: plays out right? And so and the thing the thing is,
Speaker 5: when it comes to Dance with My father, Like you know,
Speaker 5: my dad and I always had the tightest relationship. I
Speaker 5: mean I'm named after you know. First of first off,
Speaker 5: like you I remember when I was a kid, like
Speaker 5: my elementary school they even had like this, you know,
Speaker 5: like a like father son breakfast before you know, I mean,
Speaker 5: so that type of thing. So those those type of
Speaker 5: those type of you know, memories and relationship I have
Speaker 5: still have with them to this day and always right,
Speaker 5: so that so that you know, is always you know,
Speaker 5: that song is always always going to hit you know,
Speaker 5: differently with me. And it's great to see the video.
Speaker 5: They even had Damon Wayanams you know, you know in
Speaker 5: the video with his kids, right, and so everybody that
Speaker 5: you know that that was the type of Luther and
Speaker 5: Beyonce and and everybody like that. But the thing is
Speaker 5: when it came to when it came to the song, no,
Speaker 5: you know now it's just like it's a bitter sweet
Speaker 5: type of bitter sweet type of thing. And also like
Speaker 5: just to see you know, like when we realize, like
Speaker 5: they said the documentary, this is where Luther planet is
Speaker 5: with like planet is flag and so and and and
Speaker 5: then just you know, because because apparently like he knew like, look,
Speaker 5: you know this ain't gonna be flong, just like when
Speaker 5: Michael did Michael did this is it like you could,
Speaker 5: like you already tell the title of it spoke for
Speaker 5: himself like he knew like this was gonna be the end.
Speaker 5: This it's gonna be my you know, my small song.
Speaker 5: And so when it came, when it came to that,
Speaker 5: you know, like you know, for Luther, like you apparently
Speaker 5: he knew, you know, like like this the hourglast is
Speaker 5: running out, and so like like I said, it was,
Speaker 5: it's great. It's one. It's great to hear, but sometimes
Speaker 5: like looking back, it's kind of like hard too, knowing
Speaker 5: that this is the finality, like you know, I mean,
Speaker 5: you know, like I said, it just hits differently.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it definitely does hit differently.
Speaker 3: And my condolences to you, Krista, and.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Yes absolutely, like because I have watched people close to
Speaker 3: me have to deal with that type of loss and
Speaker 3: it is one of the hardest things ever and I am.
Speaker 3: And the thing with me and my dad, like we
Speaker 3: watch me and my dad. Our thing was that we
Speaker 3: watched wrestling together because he was the one who got
Speaker 3: me into it, and me and my dad is like,
Speaker 3: even though we're different, because we just we just have
Speaker 3: different personalities. I just feel like I love my parents
Speaker 3: so much, like it's always been a and also my
Speaker 3: sister as well, like it's always been us. So the
Speaker 3: idea of going through that type of loss, it's just
Speaker 3: like I just can't even imagine it. So I just
Speaker 3: try to cherish as much time, you know, as possible,
Speaker 3: because you just never know. And you know, but the
Speaker 3: thing that always stays with me is that you know
Speaker 3: that that love is always there and it always connects you.
Speaker 3: And clearly when it came to Luther, he was writing
Speaker 3: that song and he created this album from a place
Speaker 3: of love and the love that he shared with his father,
Speaker 3: you know, it's still very much real. And even though
Speaker 3: you know, he was sick and all the above, and
Speaker 3: he couldn't really enjoy the success of the album that
Speaker 3: he normally would have, you know, in a will mindset,
Speaker 3: there was still the idea that he made this accomplishment.
Speaker 3: But he had made his peace, so in making peace
Speaker 3: with that, as he you know, even still tried to recover,
Speaker 3: but still making peace with that. He passed away in
Speaker 3: July of two thousand and five, and I remember where
Speaker 3: I was when I heard the news. I was at
Speaker 3: my Big Mama's house and my mama had well, actually no,
Speaker 3: my cousin had picked me and my other two cousins
Speaker 3: up from girl Scout camp, and so we came home
Speaker 3: to Big Mama's house and then Mom was getting ready
Speaker 3: to pick me up, and then the news was on
Speaker 3: and they had announced that he had passed away, and
Speaker 3: my mom just gasped and she could not believe it.
Speaker 3: And I could kind of see that she felt away
Speaker 3: about it, because of course it was an artist that
Speaker 3: she loved. And then my dad, I found out. He
Speaker 3: was at work when he heard the news. My dad famously
Speaker 3: said that when he found out about it, he went
Speaker 3: outside the parking lot and yelled a really bad word. So,
Speaker 3: you know, people have their ways of mourning in the moment.
Speaker 3: And yeah, it was just a very real outpouring of
Speaker 3: emotion that took place on the radio. You heard his
Speaker 3: music everywhere. You couldn't escape it in that, you know aspect.
Speaker 3: There were tributes all over and as a kid then
Speaker 3: I didn't fully process it. But the older I got,
Speaker 3: the more I really begun I had. It's like I
Speaker 3: knew I appreciated his art, but I was still little
Speaker 3: and had not matured, you know, enough to fully appreciate
Speaker 3: that art. But now that I'm much older and over
Speaker 3: the years, I totally get it. And in the documentary
Speaker 3: they showed his funeral and the outpouring of emotion of
Speaker 3: seeing fans, you know, even touching his heart and everyone
Speaker 3: who came out to sing at the funeral, along with
Speaker 3: Dion Warwick speaking at it, Sissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother
Speaker 3: singing at it, with the choir and everything. It seemed
Speaker 3: like it was a very beautiful service. But his friends
Speaker 3: stated that, you know, they were just too full of
Speaker 3: emotion to really even process what was going on that day,
Speaker 3: which I completely understand.
Speaker 2: She got herself that day. She didn't even remember, like
Speaker 2: she don't. Her memory of that day is kind of like,
Speaker 2: you know, like you remember where you were. I don't remember.
Speaker 2: You said it was July twenty.
Speaker 4: Two, two thousand and five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was fifteen July. It depends on when,
Speaker 2: because I know July was my mom's birthday. Mom, so
Speaker 2: I don't know if I was like with her. I
Speaker 2: feel like it depends on the date. Thirty passed I
Speaker 2: feel like I was probably with my mom because she
Speaker 2: probably came down to visit or something. Well, I do
Speaker 2: remember being outside. I probably was outside fifteen years old,
Speaker 2: so outside. I do probably remember being outside somewhere. But
Speaker 2: I don't remember where I was when I heard it.
Speaker 2: And that's probably a sad thing for me, because I
Speaker 2: kind of remember where I was where I like when
Speaker 2: other people passed away. Aliah, I remember I was in
Speaker 2: the house. My brother came to the house to talk
Speaker 2: it to my sister, like, yo, well Leah passed away.
Speaker 2: I saw it on the news, Biggie Biggie down on
Speaker 2: my seventh birthday, So I know that. Yeah, uh Tupac.
Speaker 2: My brother loved Tupac, So I remember that. Michael Jackson,
Speaker 2: don't even get me started, please, I just know where
Speaker 2: I was. So for Lutha, like, I really don't remember
Speaker 2: where I was or how I heard that he passed
Speaker 2: on that I'm gonna have to go and try to
Speaker 2: unlock a memory. But it's still like a it's still
Speaker 2: a detrip. It's still sad because Luther was so young, right,
Speaker 2: He's only in his fifties. If I'm not mistaken, like
Speaker 2: fifty three or fifty two or something like he was
Speaker 2: fifty four, Like I'm just like yo. And then I
Speaker 2: actually was in well years later, I wasn't at the funeral.
Speaker 2: I actually was in the church that his friend would
Speaker 2: take place at to see to thee in person conversation
Speaker 2: with Angela Davis, And as I'm looking it up, I'm like, yo,
Speaker 2: this is the same church that luth Vangrels was. They
Speaker 2: had luth Vandrols service at, Like wow, right up in Harlem.
Speaker 2: Like it's such a I don't want to say it's
Speaker 2: such a sad thing just to quote Superstar, but it is,
Speaker 2: like it is such a sad thing to know, like
Speaker 2: he has so much more life to live, and because
Speaker 2: he puts so much stress on himself trying to please others,
Speaker 2: and those conversations wouldn't have been those conversations weren't had
Speaker 2: we lost him at a young age message age.
Speaker 5: Yeah, speaking of you remember where you were? I remember
Speaker 5: where I was. My founder Luther died. Matter of fact,
Speaker 5: it was it was. It was in the summer. I
Speaker 5: was going to the mall my parents, right, and I
Speaker 5: was I was sixteen fifteen going on sixteen July first,
Speaker 5: so my birthday July twenty, so you know, might as
Speaker 5: well six sixteen right round up. You know, so we
Speaker 5: just you know, actually happen to be driving and you know,
Speaker 5: get the news to find out about it. Uh, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So like I because I you know,
Speaker 5: grew up you know, listen listen to listeners music when
Speaker 5: we talked about early on, you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: So and so like to find that out just so
Speaker 5: sudden it was. It was painful because Luther, it was
Speaker 5: fifty four, he was. Matter of fact, he died four
Speaker 5: days before my dad's birthday. My dad's persons birthday is
Speaker 5: July fifth, so so he died four days before my
Speaker 5: dad's fifty second, fifty second birthday at the time. Right,
Speaker 5: So Luther was bornineteen fifty one. Day was born nineteen
Speaker 5: fifty three. My mom was born nineteen fifty four, right,
Speaker 5: so you know, like that that close, you know, age wise,
Speaker 5: you know, like it was just insane itself. And the
Speaker 5: thing is, as far as Michael, I know, I was
Speaker 5: working at Target at the time, so I think I was.
Speaker 5: I was off that day.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, so the time too, I didn't know my
Speaker 2: mife was muted.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, go ahead, yeah, but but yeah, Like, like
Speaker 5: I said, that's like two thousand and nine. I was
Speaker 5: working a target at the time, you know, like I
Speaker 5: think I was off or whatever or just gotten off
Speaker 5: and find out that Michael had died and his and
Speaker 5: his another my blowing thing, right, So you're talking about this, Uh,
Speaker 5: Prince died on April twenty first, between sixteen. That was
Speaker 5: the that was the day after what would have been
Speaker 5: Luther Vandross's sixty fifth birthday. So yeah, and I remember
Speaker 5: remember that day very well. So like when it comes
Speaker 5: when it came to Luther, oh absolutely, I could almost remember,
Speaker 5: like you know, seats you know, almost received in terms
Speaker 5: of like where it was and stuff like that. So
Speaker 5: it's it's still surreal to realize this dude is still
Speaker 5: not it's not here. And what more we could you know, contributions,
Speaker 5: you know, we could have seen from him as far
Speaker 5: as being not just a singer boss with a songwriter
Speaker 5: and producer for for a munch of these other artists
Speaker 5: that will that will follow later on. I mean imagine
Speaker 5: him songwrighting, doing songwriting for us, you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: that kind of thing, and you know, and and other
Speaker 5: people other people that you can think of that you
Speaker 5: can name. I mean, like yeah, so as far as
Speaker 5: you know, remember when I was absolutely.
Speaker 4: Yes, so in the midst of all of that.
Speaker 3: Since I think it's very poignant how this documentary was
Speaker 3: aired on television on New Year's Day and it's twenty
Speaker 3: twenty five, which now marks twenty years since he's passed,
Speaker 3: and I am watching this documentary and watching even just
Speaker 3: the way it ended, and watching all these people talk
Speaker 3: about how much they loved him and just talk about
Speaker 3: how musically he just gave so much of himself. It
Speaker 3: just meant a lot, and it just gave so it
Speaker 3: just showed so much. I feel like it was just
Speaker 3: filled with all the love that I felt in my heart.
Speaker 6: For Luther, and just knowing that other people felt the same,
Speaker 6: it just felt really good.
Speaker 4: So it was.
Speaker 3: It was definitely an emotional watch for sure. But his
Speaker 3: life was well lived. Though it was short, it was
Speaker 3: still well lived. He did what he came here to do,
Speaker 3: which was be himself, be excellent, and be an amazing singer.
Speaker 3: And as far as I'm concerned, he is the king
Speaker 3: of R and B. You know, like, forget what you
Speaker 3: heard about anybody else is king of our beings. You know,
Speaker 3: and yeah, he gave what he gave, and what he
Speaker 3: gave was great, and his influence will live throughout the
Speaker 3: generations and his music speaks to that.
Speaker 4: His impact speaks to that.
Speaker 3: And this documentary speaks to that. And I'm just really
Speaker 3: happy that now we live in a time where we
Speaker 3: can go back and look at documentaries, look at music,
Speaker 3: and even listen to current music and hear his voice
Speaker 3: and his influence.
Speaker 4: Like, it's not.
Speaker 3: Lost on me that in the midst of all the
Speaker 3: drama with Kendrick Lamar, we got a song where he's
Speaker 3: sampled if this love were mine, Like, like that's something
Speaker 3: that you know, just doesn't that just it's not lost
Speaker 3: on me at all.
Speaker 4: So I'm just.
Speaker 3: Really grateful that we had him for as song as
Speaker 3: we had him, and we still have him even though
Speaker 3: it's not in the physical and we can live our
Speaker 3: beautiful black lives and love his music and love him
Speaker 3: forever for always, for love. And with that in mind,
Speaker 3: thank you guys so much for watching.
Speaker 4: If you're watching live, thank you.
Speaker 6: I know there's a lot of other stuff going on,
Speaker 6: especially even NXT happening.
Speaker 4: Like oh my god, like I but either way, thank
Speaker 4: all of you.
Speaker 3: So much for watching this very different episode of HWUP.
Speaker 3: Extra thank you guys Krista and Vaughn for coming on
Speaker 3: and talking with me about this and being game to
Speaker 3: even do an.
Speaker 4: Episode like this.
Speaker 3: So it can just just tell everybody where they can
Speaker 3: find you and follow you and what you guys got
Speaker 3: going on.
Speaker 2: Okay, you can follow me MS christ B, MS Underscore
Speaker 2: kr I s t a B Underscore on Instagram, M's
Speaker 2: Underscore kr I s t a B on Twitter. You
Speaker 2: can follow those wrestling girls on every stream of platform.
Speaker 2: Also make sure you follow my other platform, unapologetically Eclectic.
Speaker 2: I am doing my third annual Take Up your Space,
Speaker 2: Take Up your Space this brunch and panel. The tickets
Speaker 2: went on sale to day, so yeah, I'm very excited
Speaker 2: about it. It's going to be a women empowerment brunch
Speaker 2: and panel. But the guys can come out. They can
Speaker 2: come support these women, these talented, amazing, beautiful Black women
Speaker 2: and stand around us as a part of the community.
Speaker 2: So please make sure you follow all me everywhere and
Speaker 2: Steph thank you for having me. I love talking music
Speaker 2: and documentaries and Lutha and everything, so thank you.
Speaker 5: So of course you can follow me on Twitter as
Speaker 5: it says and up on the bottom of my name
Speaker 5: at three or one, King bon Jr. You can follow
Speaker 5: me on Instagram at mister King bon Jingior. I'm the
Speaker 5: hosted to be Victorious Ones podcast.
Speaker 9: We consistently do episodes on you of course on on Wednesdays,
Speaker 9: you know, about eight oh five, and so of course
Speaker 9: I'm also you can follow the show's Twitter page at
Speaker 9: Victory Pop one and of course you can follow.
Speaker 5: The show's Instagram page at Victoria's Ones Podcast. And so
Speaker 5: so of course I'm gonna be doing an episode, uh
Speaker 5: you know, coming up this week in terms of giving
Speaker 5: my review of Raw on Netflix and also on my
Speaker 5: show on my podcast. I've done the Luther documentary documentary
Speaker 5: documentary review after after I saw the special screening back
Speaker 5: in November, and so so so so as far as that,
Speaker 5: like I said, you know that, those are some of
Speaker 5: the things, those are some of the main things I'm doing.
Speaker 5: I'm also work finishing up some articles about New Day
Speaker 5: as well as as well as Randy Orton just to
Speaker 5: name a few, you know. So of course we'll be
Speaker 5: updating my top fifty wrestlers uh you know lists sometime
Speaker 5: after wrestling it. So so those some of the things
Speaker 5: I'm doing as well, so you do always hear support
Speaker 5: and thank you very much, Steph, because I've been looking
Speaker 5: forward to talking about this, so thank you very much
Speaker 5: for this platform.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and of course y'all know you can follow me
Speaker 3: your girl Stephanie Harty on Instagram and Twitter, slash x
Speaker 3: at Queen step Party, Listen to the show, the Hardy
Speaker 3: Wrestling Podcast and other episodes of HWB Extra everywhere you
Speaker 3: get your podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, all of the
Speaker 3: audio places, go and find it and subscribe to the
Speaker 3: YouTube channel which is the Hearty Wrestling Podcast with the
Speaker 3: logo that you see in the corner over there. And
Speaker 3: just check out my episode that I did put out
Speaker 3: yesterday about the Raw on Netflix premiere because it was
Speaker 3: a time and it was great, So please go listen
Speaker 3: or watch that and just continue to be on the
Speaker 3: lookout for what else I might have going on, read
Speaker 3: all my articles at DAILYDDT dot com, and just continue
Speaker 3: to support your girl. As you know, we continue to
Speaker 3: change the game. I think a new episode of stephan
Speaker 3: Kat Talk Wow will be coming out tomorrow as well,
Speaker 3: so be on the lookout for that, unless, of course,
Speaker 3: we announced that there's a schedule change but either way
Speaker 3: be on the lookout for that as well. And thank
Speaker 3: you guys so much for watching this very different episode,
Speaker 3: and of course, and if you have not watched this documentary,
Speaker 3: please do. It's very emotional but very joyful at the
Speaker 3: same time, and if you love Luther, you'll love it.
Speaker 3: So of course, this has been the Hardy Wrestling Podcast
Speaker 3: Extra with your Girl Stephanie Hardy and christ By and
Speaker 3: Vaughan and until next time, bye y'all.