The Dean's List

Originally written in 2008 The year was 1979 - I was 16 years old and had just been hired by WDKX as an intern. My first week on the job, Mr. Langston gave me 10 tickets to the Parliment Funkadelic show with opening act the Sugar Hill Gang. Needless to say, I was a big hit with all of my friends that I invited to go with me. That was one of the perks about working at the station. I was able to attend all of the concerts that came to town. But at 16, of course I was only interested in going to the hottest shows at the time. So understand my hesitation to go see Al Jarreau. Who? Why would I want to go see him? The afternoon drive host on WDKX at the time was Marge Bell. She kind of assumed the role of my big sister. She asked me to go see Al Jarreau with her at the Auditorium Theatre. I asked her, "Who is that?" She told me that he was one of the best performers in the business. Even though I didn't believe her and didn't want to go, I went anyway to shut he...

This is a blog I wrote in 2012. Reading all of the Beyonce hate since her performance on the Grammy's on Sunday, I blew the dust off of this one....And since it's Valentine's Day, I want to spread love..... I was elated when I heard the news that Beyonce would be the half-time entertainment for the Superbowl in February!!!  That last few years haven't been too good (in my opinion). While browsing the blogoshere, I've been overwhelmed with the number of people who, for lack of a better word, have been "hating" on Bey!!!  99% of the people bashing her are black girls/women!  I am not the biggest Beyonce fan.  I don't have all of her CD's, I don't jam to all of her songs while riding in the car, and I wouldn't stand in a line for hours to buy a ticket to see one of her concerts, even though I did see her in concert in Phoenix a few years ago and she was AMAZING!!!! I am a fan for the following reasons: She is a beautiful ...

I have tons of stories about working at a radio station at such a young age. I was 16 years old and working at WDKX Radio as an intern. One of the air personalities was Marge Bell. She instantly became like a big sister to me. Wherever she was, I was tagging along.  She told me her favorite singer was performing at the Auditorium Theatre and Mr. Langston had given her tickets and backstage passes. She invited me to come with her. I hadn’t heard of this artist, but I was always open to try new things. The singer was Al Jarreau! I had no idea that he would become my favorite singer of all time! Most people know him as the guy who sings, “We’re In This Love Together” or the theme from “Moonlighting.” True fans of his wouldn’t count those songs as favorites from his extensive discography! Combine jazz, pop, R&B and gospel, and you have Al!  The only vocalist in history to net Grammy Awards in three different categories (jazz, pop, and R&B, respectively), But m...