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September 26, 1985
Page B8
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Magazines
It's the year of La
This is Patti LaBelle's year ? her spine-chilling
performance on Broadway, the NBC "Motown
Returns to the Apollo" show, CBS-Kraft's
"Salute to the Ford Theatre" and chart-busting
__ singles "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up" have
assured that.
The Philadelphia resident, who appears on the
cover of the October issue of Essence, was interviewed
by contributing editor Vertamae SmartGrosvenor.
Patti is known for never hesitating to
give her all when performing before an audience ?
from her outrageous "art deco" hair to her long,
white-painted fingernails.
"If you think I'm too outrageous for you, tell
me, and then I won't come," says Patti. "You
have to accept me the way I give me to you. If people
say I'm too much, I'm overkill, I love it. I
don't ever want to be just enough. I wanna give
you more, and then if you say, 'Patti, that's
enough,' I can cut back."
The "High Priestess of Soul," Nina Simone,
back in the United States after a 15-year self&
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Covacus will appear Sunday, Sept. 29, at Hlg
band will then,appear at Winston-Salem's pre
ment, the Black Velvet Lounge, at 8 p.m.
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Belle, says Es
imposed exile in Africa and Euri
ting a new attitude these day
pianist, composer and vocalist to
at-large Alexis De Veaux that she
tiring of the racist and sexist
scene and the "quality of life hei
Simone is best known for h
"Sunday in Savannah," "The
and "To Be Young, Gifted and
admitted revolutionary artist,
politics and social commentary
mine her music.
"At this point in time, my
because I want to make a hit r<
"That's entirely different from t
before. When Martin Luther Ki
example, we did songs that co
life. But since he's gone, and I ha
me now, I'm just trying to get a h
I can. And it doesn't have any
what's going on in this country,
what would be best for Nina Sir
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h Point Park in High Point. The
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Tina's eterr
By JOEY SASSO
Syndicated Columnist
Observations in covering the
Night Beat: ?
Sultry rock queen Tina Turner
says using psychic power to control
her body is the secret of her eternal
youth.
Tina, 46, a stunning, pumping,
grinding force in the music world ~
who can still out sing and out dance
most of the teenyboppers in the
business is crazy about anything
spiritual.
"Psychics are my drug. I won't
do anything without their advice,"
she says. "I get strength from the
stars."
A fervent believer in reincarnation,
she. maintains that she once lived
among the splendor of ancient
Egypt. And she says that in her immediate
past life she was a cabaret
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Paris.
For years, one of her most trusted
advisors has been top psychic Carol
Dryer. The psychic told her a decade
ago: "You will be among the biggest
of stars."
Says Tina now: 4'It's like looking
into the past and seeing a wonderful
movie of your life that can guide
you. My ultimate goal in life is to
open that third eye."
There is another important reason
^vhy the slinky singing sensation has
the looks and energy of a teen-ager.
She is a devout Buddhist, who
follows the way of Nichiren Shoshu.
"That means very clean living,"
she explains. "I don't drink, and I
don't take drugs. I don't smoke. I
sence
ope, is also spors.
The virtuoso
Id Essence editor- WwMlfl
loft CurAn.
ivn auci
American music
re and the pace.*' y
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Nina says that
no longer deter- $
music is chosen | ^ \S|
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he way I chose it f \
ng was alive, for **
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ive to take care of .
, At this point in t
nt record any way , \
thing to do with because I want to
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none."
Dennis Edwari
Dennis Edwards, a former
member of the Temptations, will
headline the musical entertainment
at this year's Dixie Classic Fair. Edwards
is scheduled to sing on
Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in
the grandstand.
Other musical guests joining Edwards
will be Ronnie McDowell,
John Conlee, Reba McEntire and
Gene Watson. No separate fee for
the concert will be charged. General
admission to the fair guarantees
tickets for the grandstand shows.
For more than a decade, Edwards
augmented the Temptations, one of
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uic muM lnnuenuai vocai groups in
the history of pop music. Now,
"Don't Look Any Further," Edwards'
long-awaited solo debut,
stands to create a whole new career
for an artist who possesses one of
the most distinctive voices in
popular R&B.
"This album is a big move for me
and something I've looked forward
to for a long time," says Edwards.
"After you've been a part of
Th
re\
lal youth seen
restrict my diet to lots of fish and
chicken ~ I don't touch red meat.
And I take vitamins and herbs to
keep my skin looking fresh."
Tina takes her new-found religion
so seriously that she predicts that
she will quit showbiz some day to
teach Buddhism.
"Buddhism has changed my
life," she says. "It helped me find
strength and confidence in myself
and make decisions - especially
when I'm under stress."
According to music world insiders,
when she goes away on tour
she takes a special altar with her to
set up in her hotel room. The altar
contains a scroll with chants inscribed
on it ...
The script for the sequel to
"Beverly Hills Cop" has been com
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pieiea ana, accoraing to nigh level
Paramount sources, has all the makings
of another major winner for
Eddie Murphy. However, it will be a
while -- a long while ? before Murphy
goes into action with the caper.
He's tentatively set to start Paramount's
"Golden Child" in
January, will follow that with "Butterscotch,"
and after that "Cop II"
-- unless it turns out there's
something else he'd rather do. With
Murphy, you don't count on
something happening until it actually
does....
Mirage Records, distributed in?
North America by Atlantic/Atco
Records, has signed the Spinners to
a long-term recording contract. The
announcement was made this week
by Mirage President Jerry
Greenberg, who also reported that
wanna
Li
mm
ime, my music is chosen
make a hit record." I
- Nina Simone
Is headlines fair
something like the Temptations, the
only thing left is doing it on your
own."
Plowing new musical ground is
nothing for Edwards, an only child
born in Birmingham, Ala., before
his family moved to Detroit seven
years later. After all, to many, the
vocalist was treading sacred territory
that night at New York's
Copa in 1968, when, as the Temptations'
first replacement ever, he
stepped after the exit of David Ruffin.
Edwards and the Temptations
went on to record some 30
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have gone gold and platinum.
However, even Edwards' induction
into the group was only the formal
tapping of a talent that began
performing in church at the age of
2, studied piano and composition at
the Detroit Music Conservatory
during high school years, and who
fronted local gospel groups like the
Crowns of Joy.
After a stint in the Army during
the Berlin crisis, Edwards formed
sv
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e arts, television,
news and columns.
et: Psychics
the Spinners are currently at work in
their first album for the label. Due
for release in October, the LP will
be preceded by a single release in
September.
Outside of North America, Spinners'
records will continue to be
released on the Atlantic label. In
making the announcement, Jerry
vji vviiuvi 5 cuiuiiibiiivu. 11 is wiiii
great personal pleasure that 1
welcome the Spinners to Mirage.
Our association goes back 13 years,
when the group first joined the
Atlantic Records family. The Spinners
have always made timeless
magic that transcends fads and
trends, an unmistakable sound that
never loses its universal appeal. We
are looking forward to their first
Mirage release, which is shaping up
as some of their best music ever.*'...
Dionne Warwick is back on the
road again -- with a limp and a lisp.
The soul singer reveals she had part
of a hipbone transplanted to her jaw
to correct gum problems. But she
says she has no plans to alter her
new sound.,..
Pop Superstar Michael Jackson
nas a weird obsession with freaks ?
and once asked to be smuggled into
a museum so he could view the remains
of the horribly deformed
Elephant Man.-During a visit to
England, Jackson was hustled into
the London Hospital Museum with '
a coat over his head to see the
skeleton of the famous 19th century
freak, the subject of a movie a few
years ago....
ever want to be just enough. I 1
'eyou more ...."
-- Patti LaBelle
SSSS^SSSS^S
entertainment
his own Detroit-based group, Dennis
Edwards and the Firebirds. His
running buddies during the period
were vocalist Phillipe Wynn and
G.C. Cameron (who would both go
on to sing with the Spinners). Eventually,
the late James Jameson,
Motown s bassist extraordinaire, invited
Edwards to audition for
Motown as a solo act, but he ended
up doing time with the Contours,
another Motown vocal group,
before joining the Temptations.
"I'm proud of the album," Edwards
says of his solo venture. "I
went into the studio witVi
I.IJ KJducer,
Dennis Lambert, with the
hopes of coming out with something
special, and I think we accomplished
that. The next one will be even
better." ^
With that in mind, Edwards is
taking special consideration in
blueprinting this second career
phase.
"I learned a lot about show
business and life in general," he
says. 44I would like my solo thing to
go as far as it can, and I look forward
to the challenge."
* ?
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