Entertainment
Frankie Beverly kept the culture happy until the very end — Andscape
The drums start rolling. The rhythm begins. Frankie Beverly’s voice screams a well-known, elongated “whoa.” Then, for a split second, all the pieces falls silent until an electrical guitar begins playing over the speakers. In the right crowd, those first few seconds of “Before I Let Go” create a proverbial tsunami, with waves of friends, family, and even strangers vibrating together. Like lots of Beverly’s works with Maze, the song has turn out to be the soundtrack to family celebrations for generations.
On Tuesday, the man behind those sounds died at age 77. Beverly’s profession spanned a long time as he built a brand in R&B and funk that was unique to him and his band. It all revolved around a private connection to the black community. Beverly and Maze have toured relentlessly since their early days, first opening for Marvin Gaye in 1971.
Beverly, whose full name is Howard Stanley Beverly, loved touring a lot that he didn’t retire from performing until this yr. The band released its last studio album in 1993. How many musicians can hit the road and play to sold-out audiences 30 years after their last album? As the drummer of the cover band Maze once said, “Maze is like the urban Grateful Dead.” Like the late Jerry Garcia’s band, Maze’s music represented a life-style. Their melodies and the man behind them became greater than just music.
Beverly never really broke through to mainstream white listeners. Despite the undeniable fact that they played his shows, hearing “Happy Feelin’s” or “Joy and Pain” on a white radio station was just as rare. Former Capitol Records vice chairman Larkin Arnold attributes this to racism. “I had a lot of arguments with my pop promotion department because they would never put that album on white FM stations,” Arnold said. “When I first saw Maze, the audience was all white. I know if white people were exposed to Maze, they would have liked it, but at the time, the idea was, ‘Well, white people really don’t want to hear black music.’” Arnold tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade his colleagues that Beverly’s band was greater than just “black” music.
Nine gold albums is nothing to sneeze at, nevertheless it’s nowhere near the level Beverly deserves. Or, perhaps more importantly, what you may consider to have achieved, given the universality of his music. Perhaps the music never gained mainstream attention because the band’s record labels, Capitol Records and Warner Bros., didn’t market it properly. Or perhaps it was because Beverly stuck to his vision and made his music without compromising on radio play or awards. “I just refuse to compromise on the music, and therefore I’m going to have a problem with radio.” – Beverly he said in 1985. “You start changing your music and it will end up hurting you.”
Like the Grateful Dead, the Philadelphia artist stuck to what worked for the individuals who paid to see him and his band perform. Even as the genre gave technique to Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, and later Jodeci and Mary J. Blige, Beverly stuck to his principles. In an ever-changing world, his music remained constant.
“The love that people give us is amazing” Beverly he saiddescribing his group’s continued success. “I don’t care about the Grammys. It’s about the award, not the accolade.” While some fans gasp when their favorite artists don’t get the props they feel they deserve from awards shows or the industry, the lack of trophies on his mantel never bothered Beverly. He made music to unite people and encourage them with love, kindness and joy. “I look out at the audience and see so many generations coming together, and that excites me.” Beverly he said. He reveled in performing in front of an audience, irrespective of how many individuals showed up. His dedication to pure performance began at the age of 16. Beverly held on to that core belief throughout his profession. “It’s just something special. It’s probably the most powerful art form, music, and it’s all live.” – Beverly he told NPR in 2005. “You know, you say, ‘Hey,’ they say, ‘Hey.’ You say, ‘Ho,’ and it just comes back to you. It’s — it’s just nothing like that, man.”
For Beverly, the guy Gaye discovered who grew up fearing Sam Cooke, his music has at all times been about people. When the podcast host Questlove from The Roots I interviewed him In February, Beverly paid tribute to the fans who gave his soul songs a deeper meaning. He dismissed the praise from Questlove and his co-hosts. He at all times thought of how the music affected the fans, not what the fans could do for him. That’s how “Before I Let Go,” a song released in 1981 about heartbreak, was transformed right into a fast-paced anthem that is still played at barbecues, street parties, weddings and anywhere black people gather to have a good time.
When Beyoncé covered “Before I Let Go” on her live album in 2019, Beverly said how excited he was that somebody of her caliber had done a version of her. “She’s done so much. It’s one of the highlights of my life.”
It’s typical of a person who at all times had us in mind with every lyric he wrote and each move he made on stage. Throughout his 60-year profession, he put his music and his fans first. That’s why Frankie Beverly and Maze have lasted six a long time and can last for an additional six.
We won’t ever leave you.
Entertainment
The ‘controversy’ surrounding Michael Strahan’s alleged disrespect towards the US military is proof that some people really need a hobby
Like Michael Strahan, I’m a military brat. Both of my parents are army veterans; my father retired after twenty-three years of service in the military, and my mother served in the military for no less than 4 years. Like Strahan, I even have spent my entire life in and around the military – if you might have a parent who rose through the ranks and ultimately retired from service, the military lifestyle cannot help but be a a part of who you’re. I respect the military and in some ways I appreciate the life it has provided my family, each when it comes to stability and the places it allowed me to see as a child. I used to be born abroad, grew up abroad, and when my family finally returned permanently to the United States, I needed to culturally adapt to each a non-military lifestyle and American popular culture.
For most of us who were raised this fashion, appreciation, respect and admiration for many who serve and who’ve served is more innate than learned. While I am unable to pretend to know the whole lot about Strahan’s life, from the bits and pieces I learned through his second profession as a television personality, I do know of his respect and adoration for the military, largely through his service to his father… retired Army Major Gene W. Strahan, Sr. – and all those that were in his life through his father’s ministry.
So seeing Strahan get criticized, even just a little bit, because he didn’t put his hand over his heart during a Veterans Day segment on “NFL Fox Sunday.”proves to me that some people really hate happiness and need higher ways to spend their time. Strahan stood respectfully, along with his hands in front of him. It’s okay. I do not at all times (rarely, actually) put my hand over my heart when I’m forced to hearken to the national anthem played during games where it seems unnecessary to me. This has NOTHING to do with my position on the military, but for me it is a alternative.
Even though he didn’t really should do it, Strahan kept talking Instagram and I shot the whole video explaining his love and appreciation for the military (which again is obvious) after which explained how he got caught up in the moment and realized it but didn’t wish to be distracted. He even apologized if he offended anyone in the military because that’s clearly not what his service is about.
Listen, we spent a week here in America. For many people, the results of the presidential election were depressing, saddening and even painful. There is good enough negativity circulating on the web and social media without creating a negative story about a guy who, no less than on this case, has done nothing incorrect and is the last person you must query about his respect for the US military.
Entertainment
Gayle King is releasing a shocking bombshell about her bedroom habits, months after revealing her efforts to woo a man
Gayle King invites fans to her bedroom.
The “CBS Mornings” co-host sat down with Drew Barrymore on her eponymous talk show, where the 2 talked about their sleep habits.
The discussion led to the women wondering whether or not they were going to bed with any clothes on or not. In King’s case, she said she was wearing some sleepwear, but preferred not to wear underwear.
“I always sleep in a big, old, worn-out T-shirt, but I don’t like wearing underwear,” she said. “Because I like feeling the breeze there. At night, yes.”
Barrymore agreed with King’s views that he wanted to “feel the breeze there”. The mother of two claimed she taught her daughters the identical lesson.
“I used to tell the girls they would be terrified of it, but I thought, ‘You’ve got to let it breathe.’ Let’s take a break to breathe. In those diapers all the time? Nuh-uh. We’ll just go for a walk and whatever happens, happens. And yes, women should feel the breeze.”
One person commented “tmi” on Decyder’s Instagram post clip.
When it comes to sleeping naked, King may not feel prefer it, but she says there was a time when she felt comfortable enough to pose nude for a college boy.
The 69-year-old gave a virtual interview on the now-finished “Ellen Degeneres Show” by which she told Ellen Degeneres how this moment in 2020 got here.
But apparently King was sensible enough to keep her future in mind. “But you realize what I did? I went with him to a dark room to develop them. I took the negatives, they are going to never see the sunshine of day,” she continued. “I destroyed them since it may very well be blackmail material in the event that they still existed, but I do know they do not because I physically destroyed them. You know whenever you’re young you do cool things.
Unlike King, Barrymore said she doesn’t actually mind being completely naked if she’s home alone.
She said, “This is how I roll. If no one is home, including the kids – they go and stay the night at dad’s – I will sleep naked. Love it. I lock all the doors and just parade around like little J Bird.”
King doesn’t have to worry an excessive amount of about this because her two children are actually adults and he or she hasn’t remarried since divorcing their dad, her ex William Bumpus, in 1993.
They split up after a television journalist caught her then-husband in bed with one other woman after a trip with the youngsters. They now appear to have a warm, friendly relationship, but many believed he wanted to return to that old style after gracing the duvet of King’s Sports Illustrated.
“Well, I can check one more item off my wish list that will probably never happen!” Bumpus said Page six in May. “My teenage fantasy of hooking up with a Sports Illustrated model finally came true. WOW! Good for you Gayle… You look fantastic! Kudos to Sports Illustrated for choosing YOU,” he further exclaimed.
“Gayle King, 69,” writes in the most recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue pic.twitter.com/mQMdQjJu1O
— Ebro within the morning (@EBROINTHEAM) May 15, 2024
When it comes to dating, King recently it opened about her struggles to find the fitting man for Tamron Hall. Although she claimed to be “alert and available”, she found it “difficult” to find what she truly wanted in a partner.
“It’s not really about the money, guys. It’s about someone who has his own business, his own affairs. They are very confident in their own skin,” she told Hall and her audience. “You know, I remember my ex once telling me, ‘I’m going to be tired when this Gayle King beeping stops.’ So you want someone who celebrates you, who is excited about you, and who is comfortable in their own skin. And this is very difficult. But no mercy for me. I feel really good.”
Entertainment
Whoopi Goldberg launches the first online sports network for women – Essence
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 23: Whoopi Goldberg visits SiriusXM Studios on July 23, 2024 in New York City. (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
For the first time, female athletes, teams and leagues around the world could have a dedicated platform to rejoice their achievements in a way often reserved for male-dominated sports. It’s all thanks partly to the incomparable Whoopi Goldberg.
The Oscar-winning actress, renowned comedian and outspoken social justice advocate has long been a cultural force, and now she’s extending her influence to sports with the launch of a movie All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN).
“It will be a place where women’s sporting events from around the world will be broadcast live,” Goldberg said last week on the show.
Launched in partnership with international streaming company JungoTV, the network is now available in the United States via VIZIO WatchFree+, in addition to globally via Jio TV in India, Evision in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and Jungo Pinoy in the Philippines. The network’s mission is straightforward yet groundbreaking: to offer a platform where female athletes, sporting leagues and events gain unparalleled visibility and celebration.
“Our goal is to have the world’s largest distributed women’s sports network, digital or broadcast.” Goldberg said.
The launch of AWSN is timely. Despite a big increase in interest in women’s sports, opportunities for media presence remain limited. All Women’s Sports Network goals to fill this gap, providing over 2,000 hours of live programming from the first broadcasts of sports similar to UEFA football, FIBA basketball and field hockey.
Thanks to its partnership with CommonSpirit Health, the network’s primary brand sponsor in the US, AWSN already has good contacts with entities supporting holistic representation and health in sports. Goldberg, who has long used her platform to advocate for social justice and social representation, shared her enthusiasm for the initiative. “The world is finally recognizing the amazing female athletes who have always been here but didn’t get the attention they deserved,” Goldberg said. “Making these athletes, teams and leagues available to over 2 billion people is a historic event.”
The network’s founding team also includes CEO George Chung, who emphasized the huge need for a dedicated space for women’s sports coverage. “Women’s track and field is growing exponentially and there is not a single platform that showcases these incredible stories, athletes and events year-round,” Chung noted.
AWSN’s unique programming offering covers a formidable range of sports, making it a groundbreaking destination for viewers and fans of women’s sports around the world. From the coverage of the International Basketball Federation and the Women’s Football Association to the field hockey and football leagues of OBOS Damallsvenskan – the network’s offer reflects the diversity and dynamics of women’s sport. To follow AWSN’s progress and access its live programming, viewers can tune into the platform’s appropriate streams or visit AWSN.television.
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