Entertainment
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Cleavon Little Helps
Support Black Theater
NEW Yuiut, w.x. CAP)—Actor
Cleavon Little put his money where
his mouth is at a star-studded benefit
to support black theater.
Little, star of Mel Brooks’ riotous
film “Blazing Saddles,” and the
Broadway play “I’m Not
Rappaport,” drew the winning raffle
ticket Monday night at a midtown
restaurant, then pulled out a check
for (200.
“It’s just something important that
I think needs to be done, hopefully to
encourage otheY people,” said Little.
Annual Reggae
Sunsplash Set
For Jamaica
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica—Reg
gae music fans planning to attend the
Uth annual Reggae Sunsplash, the
world's largest outdoor reggae
festival, may take advantage of the
four- to seven-day packages at the all
inclusive SeaGarden Beach Resort in
Montego Bay.
Jamaica’s best-known musical
event. Reggae Sunsplash, will take
place Aug. 15-20 at Bob Marley Cen
tre, less than 10 minutes from
SeaGarden. The festival attracts
renowned performers and spectators
from around the world. Among the
artists appearing this year are Den
nis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Toots and
the Maytals, Yellow Man, Sophia
George, Freddie McGregor and Josie
Wales.
SeaGarden Beach Resort is offer
ing four-day/three-night packages
priced from $327 to $338 per person,
based on double occupancy. Five
days/four nights range from $436 to
$452; six days/five nights from $545 to
$565; and seven days/six nights from
$654 to $678. They include deluxe ac
commodations; airport/resort
transfers; three meals daily; com
plimentary beverages and snacks;
water sports and recreational ac
tivities; and all taxes and gratuities.
Freezing changes some
flavors: the potency of
onion flavor decreases;
that of spices and garlic in
creases.
He added that too often people enjoy
themselves at benefits without think
ing about how they can help others.
“I was overwhelmed. People just
don’t pull out checks,” said South
African trumpeter Hugh Masekela,
co-author of “Sarafina!,” a play
about children in his homeland cur
rently showing at Broadway’s Cort
Theater.
“If more people did that, black
theater would fly,” he added.
The benefit was staged to help the
Roger Furman Theatre, which bills
itself as the city’s oldest black not
for-profit theater.
The cast of “Sarafina!,” which was
nominated for five Tonys this year,
performed at the gathering. They
were joined by Anna Maria Horsford,
one of the stars of the NBC sitcom,
“Amen,” and Rosalind Cash, a movie
and theater actress with a recurring
role on “The Cosby Show’’.spinoff, “A
Different World.”
Realizing A Vision **
Kapper Carves Out Own Territory
If making it in the ultra
competitive world of rap these days
depends on a combination of style and
content, a balance of groove and at
titude, then Raheem Bashawn has got
the goods. At the age of 17, the
Houston-based rapper has carved
out a territory all his own—because
Raheem is not just another rapper,
but a rap vigilante.
. For a clue, just check out a verse or
two of the title cut from Raheem’s
debut A&M album, titled—that's
right—“The Vigilante.” “I’m rap’s
gladiator/I’ll make the speakers
smoke/Call me a leader, like At
tila/Son, I ain’t no joke!” Raheem
says. “I’m tough like A1 Pacino, Mike
Tyson and Darth Vader.” Starting to
get the message? Raheem has taken
the law of rap into his own hands. Rap
pretenders are hereby forewarned:
as long as the Vigilante ,is around,
lameness will not be tolerated.
Born in Trenton, N.J., where he liv
ed with his grandmother, Raheem
began rapping at age nine, inspired
by the Sugar Hill Gang. Three years
later, he relocated to Houston to,live
with his mother, and now, eight years
after he began rapping, Raheem (a
childhood name, given to him by his
uncle) is on top of his game.
It’s apparent from the opening
tune, “Dance Floor,” that the
Producing, Directing Artiste
Punk-Funk King Finds New Domain
AUtvUKA, N. Y. (AP)—Rick
James, the self-professed King of
Punk-Funk Rock, calls his latest
album “Wonderful,” with good
reason.
“That’s the way I feel since I’ve
been off Motown,” said James, refer
ring to the legendary recording label
which released the string of
singles—“You and I,” “Super Freak
I,” “Cold-Blooded”—that catanulted
James to sUperstardom during the
past 10 years.
The release of "Wonderful" last
month on Warner Bros. Records
marks a new phase in his career. He
said his fans will hear "a joy in it that
I haven't had for years.”
me parting was not amicable;
Motown is suing James for not fulfill*
ing his contracts with them, and
James is suing Motown, claiming the
company owes him money and never
gave a proper accounting of his
royalties.
Motown “denies all of that 1,000
percent,” said company attorney i
Mark Gottridge. James denies the
charges Motown has made against ■
him.
“They’re trying to say I’m in viola- i
tion of a contract, which I’m not,”
said James, adding that he had finish
ed and delivered both his own final
LP for Motown and a third LP by the
group he produces, the Mary Jane
“They [Motown] never totally understood
'yhat I was trying to do, where I was trying to
come from with my music. For the whole 10
years it was a constant battle in me trying to
acquaint them with what I wanted to say...”
* Rick James
"it’s just a very happy album,”
said James, who is known for his ris
que lyrics, throbbing dance rhythms
and long, curly hair.
“With so many years of unhap
piness with Motown, so many of my
albums after ‘Street Songs,’ which
was my biggest album, were kind of
downhill as far as the ambiance and
the joy because I really wasn’t feeling
a lot,” he said. “On this album, I kind
of got it all back.”
James has severed his 10-year rela
tionship with Motown: “They just
didn’t allow me to have the freedom
that I needed to really make the kind
of records and do the kinds of things
in the industry that I wanted to do.”
Working at Motown, which produc
ed such stars as the Jacksons, the
Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey
Robinson and the Miracles, the
Temptations and the Four Tops, was
initially invigorating for James.
Then the tension between the sex
ually graphic themes coursing
through much of his work and
Motown’s traditionally conservative
approach to pop music began getting
to him.
“They never totally understood
what 1 was trying to do, where I was
trying to come from with my music,”
he said. “For the whole 10 years, it
was a constant battle in me trying to
acquaint them with what I wanted to
say and how I wanted to say it.”
Girls.
During the past three years, James
has spent much of his time producing
both the artists in his stable—the
Mary Jane Girls, Val Young and Pro
cess and the Doo-Rags—and others,
including comedian Eddie Murphy
and his successful single, “Party All
the Time.”
He also says that during that time,
he's been free of a cocaine addiction
that he feels was a serious threat to
his life.
“There was a bad period in my life
some years ago when I got into a
serious cocaine habit, $10,000 to $15,00
a week,” said James. “I didn’t really
see it. My lawyers and accountants
and friends really saw ifbefore I did.
They saw that my usage of coke was
getting to be a million-dollar-a-year
habit. I didn’t see it until I went into
rehab and I didn’t understand it until
I got out.”
James said he got caught up in liv
ing the “bad boy” persona he had
cultivated.
“There was a time when I was just
trying to live the image wholeheart
edly ; I wasn’t thinking about the per
son, James Jackson,” he said. “I
mean, Rick James was just a man
made image, the image I created.
Just trying to live Rick James almost
killed me.” He was born' James A.
Johnson, Jr., on Buffalo’s rough East
Side 39 years ago.
Raheem style is a departure from
most rappers, iui uuc thing, the
tracks depend not only on rap and
rhythm, but on music and melody.
Naming Kraftwerk, the German
high-tech, but 1 liked it, ana tnought
maybe I could use it. So we both came
to the conclusion that we were gonna
mix the two sounds together.
“The thing is, if a rapper comes out
“I m trying to mix hard-core lyrics with
high-tech music, and create a new type of
sound. You can never say that you invented a
style of rap...”
syntn pioneers, as a prime iniiuence,
Raheem explains, "I’m trying to mix
hard-core lyrics with high-tech
music, and create a new type of
sound, okay? Now you can never say
that you invented a style of rap,
’cause there’s always somebody else
out there doing the same thingnot the
same words, but the same style—but
musically, I’m trying to do something
different by mixing these two
elements together.”
Karl Stephenson, a fellow Rap-a
Lot (Raheem’s Texas label) artist
who composed and produced "The
Vigilante's dense music tracks,
helped Raheem realize his vision.
“We hooked up and got to talkin,’”
Raheem recalls. “I let him know
what I was doing, and he made a cou
ple of beats for me that sounded
good—it was kinda hip-hop and kinda
wun more music, it'll turn more peo
ple onto rap. I mean, after so many
years of just drum beat, turntable
and hi-hat, it gets boring. If you put
music with those elements, you’ll
have something that [more people]
can get into.”
Expose’ To Reveal
Collective Talent
tJHAKLOTTE—summer concerts at Carowinds in August will feature the
refreshing Miami beat of Expose, the laid-back music of James Taylor, the
remarkable pop music sounds of Tiffany and a free concert by contemporary
gospel artist Larnelle Harris.
On Saturday, Aug. 13, at 8 p.m., Expose will fill the Carowinds Paladium
with the appealing blend of dance grooves and Latin ni^ia that has become
theih trademark. V
Expose’s debut album, “Exposure,” shows off the collective and in
dividual talents of group members Jeannette Jurado, Gioia Bruno and Ann
Curless, who tike turns expertly handling lead vocals.
Their first 12-inch single, “Point of No Return,” reached the No. l spot on
Billboard’s Dance Chart and then went on to be named “Dance Record of the
year.” Other hit singles, including “Exposed to Love," “Come Go with Me,”
and “I Know You Know,” to name a few, brought even more tana out onto the
dance floor and have gained Expose a broad-based national following.
Appearing with Expose at the Paladium on Aug. IS will be Pretty Poison.
One of America’s premier singer/songwriters, James Taylor will appear
in a sold-out concert at the Carowinds Paladium on Sunday, Aug. M, at 7 p.,m.
All tickets for the James Taylor concert have been sold and there will be no
additional tickets available on the day of the concert.
On Saturday, Aug. 27, contemporary gospel artist Larnelle Harris will
treat Carowinds Paladium guests to inspirational music in a free concert at 4
p.m. The concert is free to Carowinds guests and no Paladium ticket is re
quired. Seating for this concert will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tiffany, whose hit single, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” has rocketed into
the U.S. top five, will rock the Carowinds Paladium on Sunday, Aug. 28, at 7
p.m.
Tiffany’s huge success was paved by a high-visibility series of shows at
shopping malls across America and a concert series with the Jets that took
her to schools coast to coast.
Her age aside, 16-year-old Tiffany has proven herself a remarkable new
star on the pop music horizon and her debut album, “Tiffany," captures her
still evolving talent with hits like “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Could've
Been,” and “Spanish Eyes.”
Appearing with Tiffany at Carowinds on Aug. 28 will be the New Kids on
the Block who will mix up a potent batch of danceable RAB, pop and rock for
Paladium guests.
This incredibly talented group from Boston, whose members were
discovered in a city-wide talent search for five fellows under 18 who could
sing, rap, dance and had unique personalities, offers a wide selection of hits
from its second album, “Hangin’ Tough.”
As tor his vigilante persona,
Raheem has a definite purpose. As he
explains it, “I was with the Ghetto
Boys [a Houston rap crew] at one
time. We performed with LL [Cool J] !
at a ‘Just Say No’ rap, and he dissed j
us. I mean, he dissed us real bad. Ice
T was another one who dissed us; you
know, they all said, ‘Well, they’re
from Texas, they ain’t about
nothin’.” So therefore, when I went
solo, I decided that I was gonna go
after LL, and all the others that was
dissin’ us. So there it is: I’m a ,
vigilante.”
Still, while Raheem may be on a
definite revenge kick, he’s not into
rating the other rappers, a practice
favored by Kool Moe Dee and others.
“T ain’t out to ipte nobody, and say
who s good and who s had. i m just
here to hold my title. I stay up to date,
you know; I mean, every other rap
per is trying to hold their position and
make names for themselves,, so I
ain’t failin’ behind. But I'm lettin’
'em know there’s a limit to it. My
whole album ain’t just talkin’ about
what I can do and what I’m gonna do
and all that ”
Eddie Murphy
Responds To
Film Critics
NEW YORK, N Y. (AP)-Eddie
Murphy took out a three-page adver
tisement in a Brooklyn newspaper to
respond to criticism that his new
movie makes fun of black life, the
weekly said last week.
The City Sun published a column by
Armond White in its July 6 issue that
said “Coming to America” was full of
“ethnic self-loathing and
humiliation.”
‘“Coming to America’ is not a
satire with the point that the black
community has to get its act together.
The film is simply making fun of
Mack life,” he wrote.
White said that for Murphy, “the
rery idea of black politics or the
political expression of black pride is
ibsurd.”
The tabloid, which has a largely
Mack readership, relased excerpts of
Murphy’s response. In a letter ad
dressed to the public, Murphy re
counted White’s remarks and then
concluded, “I found the lack of chari
ty on the Dart of this black man for
toeeuKiHL.*, r.
RICK JAMES
Kins of Funk
Ulitk kin
— ~ j " • WWUUJ UIV JWUUUUI
swagger of his earlier years, says his
drug rehabilitation made him more
patient and less angry.
“I was like the angry young man
years ago,” he said. “It wasn’t
anything specific. I was angry at the
politics of the country. I was angry
about the poor people in Ethiopia. I
was angry at bigots and racism. I was
angry that the Buffalo Bills were los
ing. You name it and I’d be angry
about it.”
on the music scene, James is not wor
ried that people won’t remember him
because of his absence from the
charts. “Wonderful” is his first LP in
almost two yeafs.
“I’ve sold close to 30 million
albums,” he said. “It’s not like 30
million people that bought your
music are going to forget about you.
I’ve never really had worries about
being forgotten; I’ve had worries
about losing myself in the interim ”
J.
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