entertainment
MARILYN MCCOO
5th Dimension Meets
For 25th Anniversary
After 15 years apart, the original
members of the 5th Dimension
reunited last weekend for perfor
mances at Trump Plaza Hotel and
Casino in Atlantic City that will also
marie the group’s 25th anniversary.
“It seems like it’s only been a cou
ple of weeks away from each other,”
said group member Florence LaRue.
“It feels wonderful and we sound bet
ter than ever.”
LaRue, Ron Townson, Lamonte
McLemore, Marilyn McCoo and Billy
Davis, Jr. teamed up in 1965 under
the eye of former Motown record pro
ducer Marc Gordon. Two years later,
they topped the charts with the song
“Up, Up and Away,” which won five
Grammy Awards, including Song of
the Year, Record of the Year and
Best Performance by a Vocal Group.
“We didn’t think ‘Up, Up and
Away’ would be a hit because the
music was so psychedelic and loud,”
LaRue said. “But it was different,
and that’s what the public wanted,
something different. And it was much
more musical and pretty than most of
the music around that time.”
The Los Angeles-based group’s
“Champagne Soul” was also out of
sync with what most other black
groups were offering at the time—the
blaring, gritty Southern soul of Stax
Records and the polished pop sound
of Motown’s Detroit brand of soul.
“We weren’t into any sound but we
got criticized for sounding ‘white,’”
LaRue said. “We weren’t a black
group that sounded black, and a lot of
people didn’t know we were black un
hi thevsaw us ”
Criticism aside, the 5th Dimension
garnered fans and three more Gram
my Awards during a career that also
included songs such as “One Less
Bell to Answer,” “Aquarius—Let the
Sun Shine In,” “Stone Soul Picnic,”
and “Wedding Bell Blues.”
With the advent of disco and album
oriented rock in the 1970s, the band
had stopped recording by 1975, when
McCoo and Davis—now mar
ried-left the group. The husband
and-wife team went on to earn a
Grammy in 1976 for “You Don’t Have
to be a Star” and starred in their own
variety show on CBS-TV.
McCoo hosted the syndicated ^
television show “Solid Gold” and is •
now a correspondent for the NBC-TV
show “Personalities.” Davis is a
businessman.
LaRue, McLemore and Townson
continued to tour with a new 5th
Dimension that has recruited other i
singers for the two open spots. The
newly configured group has played
Las Vegas, performed with sym- *
phony orchestras and starred in the
Broadway musical “Ain’t
Misbehavin’.”
LaRue said the original three have
been rehearsing in Los Angeles with
McCoo and Davis while honoring
commitments with the new group.
“I don’t consider it hard work,” she
-said: “It's really fun, like getting
back with two members of the family
we haven’t seen in quite a while.”
The group is waiting to see how the
weekend shows go before deciding
whether to undertake more reunion
performances. Meanwhle, the new
5th Dimension is working on getting a
recording contract, she said.
‘ ‘We would like to begin a recording
life and make a video, because of the
fan pressure and our own desire to do
so ” T j>Rue said.
TRY MY LOVE—Tin Wooten Brotlwre (Louis, 27; Georgs, 20; and fiary, 24)
liavo boon maklno music together sines thay were kids In Dalas, Taxas when
they would enlortata at famby gatherings and sing In the church whore their
father was a minister. Their rich Mend of Metown/rhythm & blues, gospel-soul
funk has Rnalv surfaced in the form of their debut album antitied, “Try Mv Love.”
“Blackbird Fly” Aims
Drama At Sexual Abuse
LOS ANGELES, Calif.
(AP)—Esther Rolle didn’t mind tak
ing time out of her already busy
schedule to film a movie she isn’t get
ting paid for.
Ms. Rolle donated her time to make
"Blackbird Fly," a 38-minute drama
about adolescent sexual abuse, and
takes pride in the final product.
“It was my feeling that if I don’t do
it, who will?” said Ms. Rolle, who
starred in "Driving Miss Daisy” and
whose television credits include the
situation comedy “Good Times.”
TO complete the firm, Ms. Rolle had
to work a regular five-day week dur
ing the Riming of “Driving Miss
Daisy,” then put in two additional
days on "Blackbird Fly.”
"I enjoy doing anything I can thi
might help,” Ms. Rollesaid. “I hoj
it does the children some good."
The film is scheduled to be broai
cast Feb. 27 on the Learning Chann
and is being screened for Acadeir
Award consideration in the short-fili
category.
In “Blackbird Fly,” Ms. Rol
plays a counselor at a communii
center who encourages a sexual'
abused teenager to take control of h<
life. The teen abused by her father
played by Rain Pryor, who appeal
orf"ABC‘s “Head of the < 'las.
Ms. Pryor and Whoopi (ioidbci,
who plays a sympathetic piar
teacher, also donated their perfo
mances to the project.
Soldiers Cheered By
James Brown Concert
COLUMBIA, S.C.
(AP)—Thousands of Fort Jackson
soldiers whose Christinas leaves
were canceled because of the Middle
East crisis were treated to two con
certs by the “Godfather of Soul.”
It was James Brown’s first public
performance since he was jailed two
years ago.
Brown, on a 72-hour Christmas
furlough until last Wednesday, head
ed a two-show Christmas Day ticket
that also featured the rock group Wet
Willie and rhythm and blues musi
cians Point of View. Base officials
limited each performance to about
2,000 soldiers.
Brown, jailed in December 1988 for
assault, sang four songs at the end of
the concerts with the two other
groups. Trainees in crew cuts jumped
to their feet as he came out singing “I
Feel Good.” They clapped, cheered
and swayed to his four songs, which
ended with “God Bless America.”
He got special permission to per
form for the soldiers by the Correc
tions Department following an in
tervention by Gov. Carroll Campbell.
Brown’s manager said Brown would
not talk to reporters after the first
performance.
But all the good cheer did not make
up for the homesickness, though
many soldiers said the concerts
helped get their minds off missing
home on Christmas Day. For many of
the young soldiers, it was the first
Christmas away from home.
“I’m not the saddest person in the
world, but I’m not the happieste,
either,” said Brent France, 19. “The
concert makes it a little easier on us,
because we’re basically down and
depressed.”
Community leaders organized the
variety show to entertain soldiers in
basic training whose regular holiday
leaves were canceled because of the
troop buildup in Saudi Arabia.
Their campaign has included visits
to the base and holiday cards by
school children and the placing of
soldiers with local families for
r—
Organizers achieved a coup with
the addition of Brown, a two-time
Grammy Award winner.
A disappointing Christmas wasn’t
the only thing worrying Delila Carson
last Tuesday. The 18-year-old from
Union, Calif, said she is also thinking
about being shipped out to Saudi
Arabia when she completes basic
training on Jan. 31.
She said the trainees will find out on
Jan. 15 if they’ll have to head to the
Middle East.
“It’s scary,” Ms. Carson said.
“What’s really basically on my mind
is worrying about w,hat’s happening
over there, because we could be sent
there.”
The soldiers were hugged by Santa
Claus, who is the command chief of
the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve
Center in Columbia when he unglues
his white beard. John Isakson said
one soldier tugged on his beard, but it
didn’t come off.
Brown is serving a six-year
sentence for aggravated assault,
failure to stop for police and weapons
violations. He was imprisoned in
December 1988 on a concurrent
sentence in South Carolina and
Georgia.
The charges stemmed from a two
state, high speed chase. The incident
began when a gun-toting Brown
stormed an insurance agency next to
his Aiken office and claimed
strangers had used his bathroom.
Tests showed Brown hadused the il
legal drug PCP. He Had several
previous drug arrests.
In April, after serving 15 months in
a prison outside Columbia, Brown
transferred to a prison work-release
program in Aiken where he counsels
youths on drug abuse. He spends his
nights at a Corrections Department
minimum-security facility near
Aiken.
Brown, who is eligible for parole in
South Carolina on March 8, is
scheduled ot meet with the parole
board on Feb. 27.
my tune
by
Obataiye B. Akinwole
When Columbus, of “I discovered
America” fame, arrived in the Carib
bean in 1492 he “passed ships filled
with merchandise and manned by
Africans returning from the West In
. dies to their homeland.” As early as
1310 Mansa Abubakari I believed it
possible to “sail to the limits of the
neighboring seas [the Atlantic
Ocean].” The Indians were here
when we got here. So much for being
discovered.
Over the years many Africans
came to this country. Many were ex
plorers, some were craftsmen, some
were servants and of course many
were slaves. Of course with us came
our art. It is both a blessing and a
curse that many others consider our
music, dance, and art to be our most
significant cultural contribution to
America. Take some time, as I often
do, to research the many contribu
tions we made to every facet of life in
America.
Of the many song forms brought to
America by Africans, the form that
eventually became the blues is
perhaps the most distinctive. My wife
is a blues “fanatic.” I mean that
literally. I hear the blues almost
every day. My weekends are filled
with the sounds of the blues, even
when I want to hear something else.
Not surprisingly, we talk a lot about
the blues. We come to some conclu
sions often. Sometimes we don’t ar
rive at the same conclusion.
mf U>e blues has grown out of
the confusion and violence of our
times. African-Americans are literal
ly caught between two worlds. On the
one hand we are Africans with proud
heritages. On the other we are
Americans trying to accept a culture
that is not and will never be ours. The
blues is a unique song style. It is not
only a musical expression. It is also a
social statement. Again, our songs
and song styles ire evidence of our
separateness from the larger society.
We have been compelled to live
. separate from the larger culture.
11 Even those of us who think we have
e arrived discover it difficult to find our
niche. This kind of existence gave us,
j the difficulties and pain that provided
' much of the materials for this music.
I My wife says, “The blues is
n spiritual, akin to cos’s soul. It is
thrived from low self-esteem brought
e on by slavery.” Of course my next
y question to bar was, because the
l blues is so popular today, doss that
« mean slavery still exists? 8&o quickly
responded, “We suppress our fosUngs
* for the blues today because of our ne
ly found social status. In other words,
we’ve arrived and can’t relate to the
' blues. The only problem is that we
are in reality no bettor off than our
*-a-*i-M
lOioiiuNn,
SARAfINA
African Musical Set
For UNC Campus Tour
CHAPEL HILL—“Sarafina!”, a
musical celebration of South African
high school students’ resistance to
and rebellion against apartheid,
comes to Memorial Hall on the UNC
campus Jan. 22. Premiered in Johan
nesburg, South Africa, in 1987,
“Sarafina! ’ ’ quickly became a smash
hit on Broadway, and played to
capacity audiences at the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C., before
embarking on its current national
tour.
The story of “Sarafina!” follows
the activities of a class of the Morris
Isaacson High School in Soweto, site
of the now famous 1976 student upris
ings. For an end-of-the-schonl-year
concert, the students decide to put on
a play about the day when Nelson
Mandela, jailed leader of the African
National Congress, will be released
after more than 20 years and the Day
of Liberation that is sure to follow.
The show features a cast of ex
uberant young men and women bet
ween the ages of 15 and 25, drawn
from throughout South Africa. None
of the actors were professional per
formers when they auditioned and
they were put through eight months
of extensive training to prepare for
their stage debut.
The critics leave no doubt that such
training paid off, as the show leaves a
trail of rave reviews in its wake as the
tour winds its way across the nation.
“Sarafina!” was conceived, writ
ten and directed by Mbongeni
Ngema, the noted South African
author and musician. The idea for the
production came in 1984, when Winnie
Mandela, wife of African National
Congress leader Nelson Mandela,
spoke with Mbongeni about doing a
show to celebrate the children of
South Africa’s townships.
Ngema, who had achieved interna
tional fame as one of the co-creators
and stars of the play “Woia Albert,’*
began to develop the idea and saw it
as a terrific opportunity to also
celebrate the music of the townships,
a driving dance music called Mba
qanga in Zulu.
Curtain time for “Sarafina!” is 8
p.m. Tickets are $25 for the general
public, $13.50 for UNC students, and
are available from the Carolina
Union Box Office. Call (919) 961-1448
weekdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. VISA
and MasterCard accepted. Due to the
popularity of the show, early ticket
i purchase is advised.
CAROLINA UNION PERFORMING ARTS SERIES
presents
"THE ENTHUSIASM and extraordinary musicianship of tha east
of young South Arfrlcans Is irresistible." - Howard Kiaaalli
Dally News
8 p.m. Tuesday, January 22
Memorial Hall - UNC
Ticket*: $25 General Public. $13 UNC Students
Carolina Union Box Office 962-1449
(Box Office Open for Telephone Orders Only January 2 - 7)