mt
U. s. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 217
Rocky Mount, N. C.
Non-Profit Organization
Vote!
VOLUME X, NUMBER 10
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1973
Tams To Appear
“The Tams and Tams Re
vue” will be the feature this
year of Spring Fling weekend,
April 6&7. Sponsored by the
Social Commission the show
and dance will take place at
the Shrine Club Saturday, April
7 from 9 until 1, All members
of the student body and their
guests are invited to attend.
Below is the Tam’s story,
supplied by Bill Lowery Ta
lent,
The Tams, newly signed Dun-
hill recording artists, are
one of those incredible groups
who can don a doers dream and
never lose sight of it. The
dream? To make a sweet
soul music that is simple, stra
ight forward, right-on honest
music.
The basic ingredients in a
success recipe that has been
baking to perfection “way down
yonder” in Atlanta, Georgia are
well integrated harmonies, dy
namic showmanship, pride in
each and every presentation,
and the ability to leave audi
ences with a sense of gratitude
and pleasure.
In a “rags to riches” trek
out of an Atlanta ghetto — The
Tams have managed to keep
the jive going and presevere
through even the worst sort of
adversity. The four original
Tams (Charles and Joe Pope,
Robert Smith, and Horace Key)
can recall standing on sultry
street corners, sharing com
mon dreams and disappoint
ments, then getting together
and performing for $1,25 apiece
per night.
Their loyal first fans na
med the group after the multi
colored tams that were worn
as the only stage attire they
could afford in those earlydays
working ghetto bars.
In 1962 The Tams came to
the attention . of Bill Lowery,
acknowledged “Kingpin of the
Atlanta Sound”, After the
Tam’s first record “Untie Me”
bedame a local Georgia hit,
Lowery secured a long term
contract for the group with
ABC Records,
Inevitably, The Tams wor
ked their way from Atlanta str
eet corners to the stages of
the well known theatres of the
day (the Howard in Washing
ton; New York’s Apollo; The
Regal in Chicago; the Uptown
in Philadelphia; and Detroit’s
Downtown Fox),
A fifth Tams (choreograph
er, A1 Cottle) was added when
the group embarked on the bus
tours of the mid-60's with such
headliners as James Brown,
Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson,
and Paul Revere,
At all points that positive,
straight-ahead, no shuck, total
ly together Tams' music was
being made with self - ex
planatory titles like “What Kin-
da Food Do You Think I Am?”
“Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me”,
“Silly Little Girl”, “You Lied
To Your Daddy”, and “I’ve
Been Hurt”,
Much like a fine wine that
improves with age. The Tams
continued to build their stage
act with the experience gain
ed in the days of consistent
work at the rhythm and blues
theatres and on the rock and
roll bus tours.
Demand for personal ap
pearances had built to such a
pinnacle that The Tams be
gan building their own self -
contained 17 piece Revue, As a
matter of fact. The Tams were
on the road with bookings up
Boyfriend Smash Hit
By ARCHIE BUNKER
Better than Valentine candy,
a trip to the pines or a date
chaperoned by Mama Hagins,
the production of “The Boy
friend”, tickled the audience
pink. (And in some occa
sions - red,)
“The Boyfriend,” a knee -
slapper and smile - jerker
musical comedy by Sandy Wil
son, was performed in the D,S.
Coltrane Theater of Braswell
Building at Wesleyan College,
The dates included February
15-17, and February 21-23,
This highly spirited, highly ap
plauded work, dramatically di
rected by Mr, Richard G. Ka-
gey and musically minded by
Dr. John Davis, culminated af
ter many weeks of blood, sweat
and tears. The biggest bulk of
the work lay in the 17 songs
to memorize with elaborate
choregraphy to master. In ad
dition to these two valuable as
sets, the 1920 costumes and
artistic scenery gave the play
constant movement and chan
ge, With enthusiasm so high,
the audience felt as though they
were on the stage themselves
and frequently had to stifle the
urge to sing or tap their feet.
The theme involved a sweet
young thing, Polly Brown,
who wanted to be loved for her
self and not for her money. She
attended a girls’ school in Fra
nce, Madame Dubonnet’s, where
she wrote love letters to her
self, This was to convince the
other girls that she would have
a date for the upcoming carni-
vaL Finally, her boj^riend
arrived as a messenger boy,
Tony, After much confusion of
the flirtatious game of love
and declarations of feelings, the
climax occurred at 12:00 mid
night at the carnival. All the
girls, including Madame Du
bonnet pledged for Polly’s wi
dowed father, all announced
their decisions to marry their
boyfriends, “After due con
sideration, we have come tothe
conclusion, that the decision is
unanimously yes,” (Tres chi-
que, n’est pas?)
Each character had to be hi
ghly versatile, was able to sing,
and dance as well as act, Polly,
played by Jane Gravely, portra
yed a mature and sensitive girl
who seemed less lighteheaded
than the rest of her peers.
Posing as Perret, her dreams
finally came true at the carni
val, Kevin Kilroy as Tony,
Polly’s boyfriend, came a-
cross as a somewhat bashful
young buck. Money upset him,
for all that he longed for was a
room on Bloomsberry, Polly’s
father, Percy, knew little what
was going on. His abrupt cha
racter contrasted with Madame
(Continued on Page 4)
/
to two years in advance at
Southern colleges and univer
sities, Through it all, The
Tams were enjoying ABC Re
cords hits “Be Young, Be Foo
lish, Be Happy”, “Riding For
A Fall” and many others.
New facets are being add
ed to The Tams’ career with
their “Hey Girl Don’t' Bother
Me” single becoming one of
l971’s top British singles and
with the group embarking on
their first European tours.
Here then are The Tams at
the peak of their craft, the ma
kers of a warm, sincere music
that is its own best possible
justification,
Joseph Lee Pope has a stro
ng, mellow lead voice which
he has refined into a beauti
ful and tender instrument, Joe,
speaking on the group’s first
British tour says, he wants to
have people all over the world
see The Tams perform because
“once they see us, they’ll be
lieve us and hopefully we can
make someone else a little hap
pier and a little more soul
ful.”
Charles Walter Pope’s favo
rite Tams song is “Be Young,
Be Foolish, Be Happy”, “It
is most meaningful,” he says,
“in that it helps younger kids
to realize that happiness comes
from within and that you must
always try to be what you are,
no more and no less.”
Robert Lee Smith, The Tams’
bass singer, believes the
group’s greatest virtue, per
haps, lies in its ability to
“get down with the people”.
Filled with great enthusiasms,
Robert’s favorite singer is El
vis Presley and his hobbies in
clude baseball and basketball,
Horace Key, tenor, recogni
zes the importance of hard work
in the creation of good soul
music. He has no hobbies and
his favorite song (no surprise)
is The Tams^ own “A Little
More Soul”, a song which he
says characterizes what the
group tries to do — leave a lit
tle more soul and understanding
with audiences.
Albert Cottle, Jr. has had
show business under his skin
since his mother took him on
tours with The Queen City Gos
pel Singers. Diversions include
listening to Ben E. King re
cords and watching television.
Now that you have met the
Tams make plans to attend
Wesleyan’s second annual Spr
ing Fling to listen and enjoy
in person as they show a world
that is troubled with pain and
agony how to confront and trans
cend problems with happy,
good-feeling music.
Social Commission
The advanced ticket drive
for Spring Fling Weekend was
termed “a demoralizing fail
ure” recently by Tom Hardi
son, member of the Social Com
mission in charge of the week
end. More than two weeks ago
the Social Commission an
nounced that “The Tams” and
their revue would appear Sat
urday night April 7 and announ
ced, during a dinner speech that
because of budget cuts enough
money was not available to fi
nance a Friday night event.
The student body was informed
that in order to make possi
ble the “total weekend” con
cept that has been the aim of the
Commission, advance tickets
would be sold. This was done
to have money on hand to finance
a Friday night event. Tickets
were on sale for two weeks at a
price of two dollars per person
for the entire weekend. Those
that chose not to buy in ad
vance were warned that tickets
at the door would be three dol
lars per person.
“We made it clear, I be
lieve,” said Hardison, “our
aim. It was simple; the money
raised from advance sales
(Continued on Page 4)
Elections Announced
As SGA elections draw near
and the time has run out for
being ballot candidates the field
for the offices is, in certain
ares, thin,
Tom Hardison finds himself
as the sole contender for the
Presidency for the second time
in as many years, Sharon Loc
kwood is the sole candidate for
Treasurer, Bettie Garrick is
alone in her quest for Secre
tary and Ted Hudson is unap
posed for the office of Defense
Attorney. The office of Vice-
President is the only office to
have two candidates. They are
Weldon Lloyd and Ed Scarboro.
The office for Attorney General
has no candidate.
In Senior Class elections Ro
bin Boehm is the only candidate
for President. Howard Payne
is the sole candidate for Vice-
President. For the office of
Secretary candidates are Fran
Masfield and Terry Everette.
The lone candidate for Treas
urer is Myra Dean,
Elbert Wampler and Jac-
quelin Patshou will be on the
Junior Class ballot for the of
fice of President. Stewart Scott
and Ellen Godson are the can
didates for Vice - President.
Molly Pollack and Judith Vila-
gos are contenders for the of
fice for Secretary. The office
of Treasurer has no candidates.
The Sophomore class has fai
led to fill any candidate slots.
The election will be held
March 30,