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THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1997
4BiARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Wonder
CD spans
career
little fitting sports director job like a glove
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
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☆☆☆☆
Stevie Wonder’s 36-year
career is one of the greatest
success stories in the music
industry. Few artists have cap
tured the heart of America as
he has. There is not a day
when some radio station - be it
r&b, pop, easy listening or
urban adult contemporary -
isn’t playing one of his hits.
And Wonder’s hits are
astounding. His earliest
recordings such as
“Fingertips,” “I Was Made To
Love Her” and “Sho-be-do-be-
do-da-day” are joyous testa
ments to youth and puppy
love. As he grew older, so did
the scope of his music. Protest
songs such as “You Haven’t
Done Nothing” or songs that
addressed the social ills of
America such as “Village
Ghetto Land” are the stuff
that made him famous.
Wonder has done a niunber
of “best of” packages, most
notably “Original
Musiquarium, Vol. 1,” but
none have attempted to survey
his entire career. There was
Looking Back, but that was
before the plethora of Grammy
Awards and multi-platinum
albums.
Motown has made an
attempt to rectify that situa
tion with A Song Review: A
Greatest Hits Collection, the
most comprehensive package
to date. It doesn’t follow any
kind of order. Nineteen eighty-
five’s “Part-Time Lover” opens
the two-CD, 31-song set and is
followed by “My Cherie
Amour,” “Hey Love,” and
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m
Yours” — all done in the ‘60s
and ‘70s. It was disconcerting
at first, but upon closer review,
you find that it fits. Wonder’s
music is timeless and compli
ments itself
The second disc concentrates
on the largest part of his
career, 1976-present. Included
is the hard-to-find “Ebony &
Ivory” duet with Paul
McCartney, a sappy but uplift
ing song. Five of the songs
have never appeared on
Wonder collections before.
“Stay Gold,” from the motion
picture “The Outsiders” is
achingly beautiful, as is “Kiss
Lonely Good-Bye,” from “The
Adventures of Pinocchio.” The
only song I don’t care for is
“Redemption Song,” a bombas
tic version of Bob Manley’s
classic.
Still that’s not enough to
spoil this collection. There are
a few things I miss, such as
“Rocket Love,” “All In Love Is
Fair” and “Never Dreamed
You’d Leave In Summer,” but
it would take a five-CD set to
be fully representative of this
ma^iwork. That’s a ☆☆☆☆☆
coll^ion waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, this will do nicely.
See SOUNDS page SB
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
D elano Little didn’t know
a whole lot about
NASCAR racing before
taking a job with WBTV in
1989 as a sports reporter, but
he learned quickly. He had to.
His first assignment was a
race weekend.
“Talk about a culture shock,”
Little said, then laughed.
“Let’s just say it’s an acquired
taste now. I know so many of
the drivers. I know a lot of the
fans that call the station. If I’m
not up on racing. I’m in a lot of
trouble.”
Actually, Little’s up on a lot
of things. Moving up, that is.
He’s sports director at WB'TV,
getting the job when veteran
sportscaster Paul Cameron
was moved into the lead news
anchor chair. It was the poten
tial for advancement that
brought Little to Charlotte
from Savannah, Ga.
“It was certainly a step up,”
said the 32-year-old Little.
“Savannah was the 123rd
market. This was 31st at the
time. That’s a huge jump. Plus,
I knew there was room for
expansion in the city as far as
sports was concerned. That
was before they started talk
ing about the NFL.”
Ironically, it’s been the NFL
that’s kept Little busy. He
hosted “The Don Capers
Show,”named for the Carolina
Panthers’ head coach, and the
highlight show “Panthers
Game Day.” He also followed
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Little broadcasts from fridgid Greenbay during playoffs.
the team to the frozen tundra
of Lambeau Field.
“I’m still thawing out from
that one,” said Little, who this
week follows seven Panthers to
the Pro Bowl in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
High school football has been
a large part of schedule as
well. He and sports reporter
John Roberts host “Football
Friday Night.” Little was co
host with Cameron before this
year.
“The high school football
show is probably the most pop
ular show we do,” Little said.
‘Tfou develop a rapport with
the audience to know what
they like and dislike. When
you meet people on the street
it is good because they need to
know that you’re a real person
and not just someone on televi
sion. I love the city of
Charlotte.”
Little puts his heart where
his mouth is. He’s done a great
deal of community outreach by
doing motivational speaking
for the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education (D.A.R.E.) program.
Big Brothers and Big Sisters
and just about any other pro
gram that mentors kids.
“There are a lot of good kids
out there,” he said. “We gener
ally see something different in
the news. . . .If you reach one
kid with one thing you said
that will make a difference in
his life, then it’s time well
spent. I haven’t done as much
as when I first arrived. It
seemed I was doing stuff once
a week. Now it depends on the
season. From July to
December I was working seven
days a week.”
Why is Little so passionate
about community involve
ment? His answer is simple.
“Whether I like it or not, I
am a role model,” he said. “I
have to keep that in considera
tion when I go out on the
town. It’s a community kind of
duty. The community has been
so good to me, so I need to give
back.”
There was one instance dur
ing which Little could have
lost the community’s trust. In
October 1995 he was arrested
and charged with drunk dri
ving.
“It was just one of those
things - going out with some
friends and not realizing
you’ve had enough,” he said.
“Alcohol will do that to you.
Since that day I have not
taken a drink of alcohol. Not a
taste of beer, not a taste of
liquor, not a taste of anything.”
Little was suspended from
his duties at the station. At his
own request, he was allowed to
video tape an explanation and
apology and have it run during
the 6 p.m. telecast and “Friday
Night Football” program.
“I thought it was necessary
to do that instead of hiding
from the issue,” Little said. “I
had spoken to so many organi
zations about abuse. I felt it
was hypocritical to support
those views and make such a
huge mess and not take
responsibility.”
Little received lots of mail on
the incident. According to him,
none of it was negative.
Little has had other set
backs. He and his wife are sep
arated. Still, he’s upbeat about
life.
“Everything is going great,”
he said. “I’ve got a new staff,
mixed in with a lot of veterans.
I’m tickled to death with my
staff. Everyone comes to work
with a smile.”
Little was born in Fort
Eustis, Va. His father was in
the military, which is why
Little describes himself as an
‘international brat.”
Little is a 1986 Georgia
Southern University graduate
with a degree in biology and
minor in broadcasting. He
played wide receiver and
helped the team earn two
Division I-AA national cham
pionships in 1985 and 1986.
Little has two children.
Greeks lift voices to raise college funds
By Winfred B. Cross
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Area Greek organization
graduate members will lift
their voices in song to raise
money for needy college stu
dents.
And if Smith Turner IV,
director of the Alpha Phi Alpha
fraternity’s ensemble, has his
way, the get together may
raise the roof of Johnson C.
Smith University’s Biddle
Auditorium in the process.
The event is called “Lift
Every Voice,” an annual pro
gram sponsored by Charlotte’s
Beta Nu Lambda chapter of
Alpha Phi Alpha. It takes
place 4 p.m. Feb. 9. Food Lion
is cosponsoring the program.
“It’s a variety of music being
done,” said Smith 'Turner TV,
coordinator of the event.
“Spirituals, gospels, anthems
and maybe some show tunes
will be done.
Smith said he expects
ensembles from the Omega Psi
Phi fraternity and the Zeta Phi
Beta, Delta Sigma Theta and
Alpha Kappa Alpha (Gastonia
■ chapter) sororities will partici
pate in the program. Members
the program has grown each
year. The first year featured
the AKA’s Rho Psi Omega
( chapter. Omegas’ Pi Phi
Chapter and the Deltas. The
following year, both Charlotte:
AKA chapters (Rho Psi Omegai
and Alpha Lambda Omega),;
the Omegas and Kappas par-;
ticipated. The Zetas partici
pated the following year.
Tickets for the show are $10:
for adults and $5 for students.;
Tickets will be sold at the door;
or by calling 'Turner at 567-;
5941.
Practice for the finale will be-
2 p.m. Saturday at JCSU.
PHOTO/MARK PENDEGRASS
Members of the Beta Nu Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha rehearse at Our Lady of
Consolation Catholic church in preparation of the fourth annual “Lift Every Voice” concert.
of those ensembles as well as
members of the Phi Beta
Sigma, Kappa Alpha Psi and
Iota Phi Theta fraternities and
the Sigma Gamma Rho sorori
ty will participate in the
finale, “The Battle Hjnnn.”
This is the fourth year for the
program first held in
November 1993, nine months
lafter the Alphas formed a
'vocal ensemble.
“After we formed our ensem
ble, we chose this because we
wanted to do something as a
fund raiser for the United
Negro College Fund,” 'Turner
said. “We talked to the UNCF
representatives at JCSU and
decided this would be a good
idea for the Greek organiza
tions to showcase the talent of
their ensembles and a fun way
to raise money.”
'Turner said participation in
Accused extortionist bond set at $250,000
Samuel Maull
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NE’W YORK - A woman who
says she is Bill Cosby’s out-of-
wedlock daughter and a man
who says he can’t remember
who his father is were held on
$250,000 bond Friday on
charges of trying to blackmail
the actor.
Autumn Jackson, 22, and
Jose Medina, 51, are accused
of trying to extort $40 million
I from Cosby, whose son was
murdered last week, by threat
ening to tell the news media
that Jackson is his illegitimate
daughter - a claim Cosby
denies.
Meanwhile, a Southern
California truck driver came
forward to say he is her father.
“It would be one hell of a sur
prise to me” that anyone else
could he Autumn’s father,
Jerald Jackson told The
Associated Press.
He said he went out with
Jackson’s mother, Shawn
Thompson, for more than two
years, during which time she
became pregnant with
Autumn. He then went to
prison for more than two
years.
Shawn Thompson has said
Jackson - listed as Autumn’s
father on her birth certificate —
is not in fact the father, the
Cosby
Daily News reported this
week. She would not say who
was.
Autumn Jackson was one of
numerous students who
received tuition help from
Cosby, but she began asking
for additional money in
November, an FBI complaint
said.
On the day Cosby’s 27-year-
old son, Ennis, was slain, she
allegedly sent a fax to Cosby’s
representative, demanding
money.
She and Medina have been
jailed since their arrests last
week in Cosby’s lawyer’s office,
where they allegedly tried to
negotiate a payoff.
In federal court Friday;
Jackson’s lawyer, Robert;
Baum, did not comment on the
case. His client sat motionless;
looking straight ahead. When;
the judge asked whether she
understood that an arrest war
rant would be issued if she
jumped bail, she replied, ‘Yes)
sir.” ;
Federal Magistrate Andrew
J. Peck said Jackson, of Los
Angeles, and Medina, of
Bethesda, Ohio, could be
released on bond if two court’
approved parties put up
$250,000. ;
On Friday, Medina’s employ-j
er, Dixie Dunn, came forward
See COSBY, page 5B