Labi Siffre 'So Strong'

TransGriot Note: I've always loved this song and the lyrics contained in it by British singer Labi Siffre. While this 1985 song was inspired by events in apartheid ruled South Africa, it reminds me of the struggles that trans African Americans face not only to claim our rightful place in American society, but our struggles within a TBLG community that seeks to denigrate and whitewash our existence out of a history we helped write, and elements of the African American community that tries to deny our existence on specious religious grounds.

***

The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The farther you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me
You can decide to turn your face away
No matter, cos there's...

Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

The more you refuse to hear my voice
The louder I will sing
You hide behind walls of Jericho
Your lies will come tumbling
Deny my place in time
You squander wealth that's mine
My light will shine so brightly
It will blind you
Cos there's...

Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just not good enough
When we know better
Just look 'em in the eyes and say
I'm gonna do it anyway
I'm gonna do it anyway

Something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just good not enough
When we know better
Just look 'em in the eyes and say
I'm gonna do it anyway
I'm gonna do it anyway
I'm gonna do it anyway
I'm gonna do it anyway

Because there's something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho' you're doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Because there's something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho' you're doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Still Miss You 'Lufer'

Today would have been the 59th birthday of one of my fave singers back in the day, Luther Ronzoni Vandross. He was born on this date in New York City in 1951.

Wow. Has it been five years since he heft us on July 1, 2005? Doesn't seem like it's been that long, but yep, it has.

The man left behind a musical legacy that will be hard to match. There are also probably a lot of people born in the 80's and 90's who probably owe their existence to being conceived while their parents were getting busy while listening to his music.

Anyway, happy birthday 'Lufer'. You are still missed by your fans, and no one as of yet has stepped up to fill your considerable shoes.

80's Music Better Than The 70's? Yeah, Right

Being the 70's music lover I am, there was an interesting topic posted on Womanist Musings in which Renee and Sparky debated 70's versus 80's music.

You know I had to say something about it.

I was a teenager in the 70's. There's no comparison. The 70's, no matter what genre you listened to, beats the 80's hands down.

Now just focusing on the R&B end of it...hmm.

Earth, Wind and Fire, WAR, The Brothers Johnson, The Commodores, Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman, Diana Ross, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Jackson Five, Bootsy's Rubber Band, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Whispers, Shalamar, Chic, The Emotions, The Staple Singers, Curtis Mayfield, Graham Central Station, Al Green, Barry White, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Rick James, Teena Marie, LTD, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Deniece Williams, Natalie Cole, Donna Summer, Change, Gil Scott-Heron, Minnie Riperton...



And that's just scratching the surface of it.

Even the artists you could counter with that had success in the 80's such as Cameo, Michael Jackson and Prince all released hit records in the 70's.



Luther Vandross? Released two hit singles with Change, sang backup with Bowie.
The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' was released in 1979 and used Chic's 'Good Times' as its music track.

As a matter of fact, without music from Parliament-Funkadelic, Chic and James Brown to sample, most 80's hip hop/rap wouldn't exist





Face the facts 80's music fans. The concerts were flashier and better, the music groups more talented, and may I point out, had to use real instruments and read and write music to do so.

And how many 80's artists won four consecutive Album of the Year Grammys as Stevie Wonder did, much less have their songs spark legislation or become signature anthems for various social issues such as Freda Payne's 'Bring the Boys Home', Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On', Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Out' , McFadden and Whitehead's 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' or 'Wake Up Everybody' by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes?

The Philly Sound, P-Funk, Disco, Motown jazz fusion and rap all either began or evolved during the 70's

Game, set and match to the 70's as the best and most innovative music decade.

2010 Battle of the Bands

If you watched the movie Drumline, you got a taste of this event that will be happening this Saturday in the ATL.

The 2010 edition of the Honda Battle of the Bands will be rocking the Georgia Dome starting at 3 PM. There will be nearly 65,000 fans cheering and dancing to the music of eight HBCU bands in what promises to be a very entertaining evening.

From 10 AM-2 PM there will be a HBCU Recruitment Fair that will be a great opportunity for young students to check out the various universities and colleges.

There were 41 bands that started on the road to the ATL, and these are the final eight HBCU bands selected to be part of the Georgia Dome fun.

Clark Atlanta University Mighty Marching Panthers
Virginia State University Marching Trojan Explosion
North Carolina Central University Marching Sound Machine
Prairie View A & M University Marching Storm
Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band
Albany State University Marching Rams
Tuskegee University Marching Crimson Piper Band
Florida A & M University Marching 100

While there won't be a final winner selected like there was in the movie, the 60,000 people dancing in the aisles will be the judges on which band 'won'.

Since I have family members who have gone to various SWAC schools such as TSU and PVAMU and my dad was a play by play announcer for TSU athletics, I'm a SWAC band fan. I've seen all of the SWAC bands perform including the two that are representing the SWAC at this event from Prairie View A&M and Southern University.

I was surprised to see that Grambling elected not to participate this year.

But I have to give it up to the Florida A&M Marching 100 who are probably the faves going into this among the crowd that will be watching in the Georgia Dome Saturday.



Of course, I'm rooting for the homeboys and girls from Prairie View.

Bye, Teddy Bear

Was shocked to hear as I tuned in to the TJMS that Teddy Pendergrass, one of my favorite soul singers of the 70's and early 80's died Wednesday in his hometown of Philadelphia at age 59 after a long illness.

Teddy was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950 and started out his music career as a drummer. It wasn't long before we began hearing that sexy, powerful baritone voice on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes songs such as their 1972 Number One hit 'If You Don't Know Me by Now'.

Teddy left the group to go solo and had a string of hits such as "I Don't Love You Anymore', 'Love THO', 'Turn out The Lights' and 'Close The Door'.

Pendergrass had a string of 10 consecutive platinum albums while receiving several Grammy nominations, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award and an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978.

For the brothers of the late 70's, if you wanted some romantic attention from the ladies, Teddy Pendergrass' music or concert tickets became a requirement for setting the proper romantic mood. Teddy's music is probably responsible for many of the people who were born in the late 70's and early 80's being here.



Sisters back in the day loved them some Teddy and the 'Teddy Bear' loved them back. Teddy was one of the first artists to have 'For Ladies Only' concert tours that were sold out affairs.

I still chuckle about a 1980 Kool Jazz Festival I attended at the Dome with my uncle, brother and mom in which Rick James and Teddy were the highlight acts. We had floor seats twenty rows from the rotating stage, and five minutes into Teddy's set, two sexy sisters sweetly asked my uncle if they could borrow his binoculars because in their words, they wanted to see if Teddy had a big package.

As my Uncle Leo chuckled and handed over his binoculars, the stage rotated back in our direction. The first sister squealed in delight as her homegirl said 'Ooh girl, lemme see, lemme see' as panties started flying toward the stage.

In 1982 as Teddy's career was at its apex with him becoming an international superstar and sex symbol, Pendergrass and passenger Tenika Watson were involved in a near fatal Philadelphia car accident that left him paralyzed.

But Pendergrass returned to the studio in 1984 to record an album. That album featured a song in which a young female singer got her first recording opportunity.

That singer's name was Whitney Houston. Wonder what happened to her?

Teddy also did a lot of work through his Teddy Pendergrass Alliance founded in 1998 to help people suffering from spinal cord injuries.

But my feelings about Teddy are echoed by his son Teddy Pendergrass II.

"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."

That he will. But another one of the legendary R&B singers has passed on.

Woodstock 40th Anniversary

1969 was quite the year for historical events. This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of one that has taken on legendary proportions.

I was just a kid in elementary school when an estimated 300,000 people gathered on a muddy Bethel, New York dairy farm from August 15-17 to witness a concert called Woodstock.

Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Santana and the Who were some of the rock and roll greats were all assembled there for the three days of music. Sadly, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix would be gone a year later.

But it was a signature and touchstone event for a generation, and for those who were there it's hard to believe that 40 years have passed.

Sade's Working On A New Album!

I've loved me some Sade ever since her slammin' debut album 'Diamond Life' hit the airwaves in 1985.

I own every one of her albums, but unfortunately new Sade material is about as rare as NBA playoff appearances for the LA Clippers.

Even though I and 'errbody' else who loves Sade have to wait almost a decade before she records another album, it still doesn't dampen my enthusiastic love for her music.

Judging by her record sales I'm probably not the only person in the States who feels that way.

Since 1985 Sade has sold 17 million albums. The last album she released, 2000's 'Lovers Rock' sold 3.9 million copies in the States. 1992's 'Love Deluxe', the album that preceded it sold 3.4 million.

Now comes word confirmed by Billboard.com sources that Sade has been in the studio since June working on her first album of new songs in nine years. Her record company Sony is hoping for a late fall 2009-early 2010 release date on the new as yet untitled album.

People, I know what one of the presents high on my 2009 Christmas list is going to be besides some new shoes. But whenever the new Sade jam comes out, I'll be at my local music store picking it up if it doesn't arrive in my Christmas stocking.

I Love The 70's Music

While I'm a huge fan of current R&B artists such as Alicia Keys, John Legend, Chrisette Michele, Beyonce, Jill Scott and others, my real musical passion lies with the music and artists of the 70's.

I am a Funkateer who possesses a Doctorate in Funkology, and love all things musically about the 70's.

Yes, that includes disco, and no disco didn't suck.

If you get the opportunity to peruse my massive CD collection (no I haven't broken down and bought an iPod yet and I still DJ from time to time) you'd find all things Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band in it.

You'd also discover Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, Minnie Riperton, The Brothers Johnson, The Isley Brothers, The Bar-Kays, Cameo, Patrice Rushen, Prince, Donna Summer, Chic, Earth, Wind & Fire, War, Graham Central Station, Sly and The Family Stone, Natalie Cole, The O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman...

Shall I continue?



Let's put it this way, If I were DJing a 70's themed party, I would have enough music on hand to go four hours without repeating a song.

To me, the 70's were just an unparalleled explosion of quality music. It was packed with cutting edge innovative musicians, powerhouse bands, legendary male and female singers, and unabashed musical creativity which those of us who were fortunate enough to witness it lament we'll probably never see again in our lifetimes.

And some of those artists, like Patrice Rushen and the late Michael Jackson went on to make more groundbreaking musical history or branch out to do movies, television and Broadway shows like the late Phyllis Hyman did.

I hope that some young musical prodigy somewhere proves me wrong, but the current state of the music industry combined with lack of music education in public schools doesn't leave me much hope that I'll be seeing the next Stevie Wonder or Minnie Riperton in my lifetime.

But a girl can dream can't she?

In the interim, time to pull out some of that great music I own and get busy with my next post. Time to play 'Aqua Boogie' and see if I remember how to spell psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop correctly.

Still Missing 'Lufer'

April 20 has a lot of negativity associated with it in terms of being Adolf Hitler's birthday and the anniversary date of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, CO. The 10th anniversary of that event is being marked today.

But it's also the birthday of one of my favorite singers in Luther Vandross, who was born in New York on this date in 1951.

He's been gone from us since July 1, 2005, but for those of us who bought his albums, got our groove on or conceived our children by candlelight with his voice in the background, got married with someone trying to sing one of his songs or attended his sold out concerts, we definitely love and miss him.







'Lufer' was a once in a generation kind of singer, and this legend was taken away from us far too soon.

Transwomen Rap!

These Black transwomen have the skillz to pay the bills. Introducing Foxxjazell and Pam Jones from the 310 and Katey Red from the 504.



That's Los Angeles and New Orleans for you peeps who don't know the area codes for those cities.

Club White House-Washington's Hottest Music Venue

When I wrote my 'If I Were President' post a year before Election Day 2008, little did I suspect that the thinking exercise I engaged in that day would become reality in the person of Barack Obama a year later.

There are some days when I'm watching the news and listening to some of the policy stuff they've been pushing and I wonder if peeps in the Obama administration read my blog posts.

One of the things I talked about in my presidential daydreaming post was having some slammin' entertainment in the White House, and last night that part of my post came to pass.

While I was watching CNN this morning they reported that Earth, Wind and Fire, one of my (and President Obama's) fave groups during my teen years performed in the East Room for an event honoring US governors in town for the National Governors Association meeting.



It was cool seeing the guys in tuxedos, some of the guests and the president and First Lady jamming to some of my fave EWF songs.

Stevie Wonder is going to be honored with a Gershwin Award presented by President Obama on February 25.

The "Stevie Wonder in Performance at the White House: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize” event will be taped and televised on PBS the following day. This event will take place in the East Room as well and include performances by Will.i.am, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall and many more.

And oh yeah, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours was the official song for the Obama campaign.



So if you're living in the DC area and happen to get one of those coveted invitations to a White House event, clear your calendar and go. For the next four to eight years, 'Club White House', as DJ Tom Joyner calls it is going to have some interesting music groups and artists performing there.

'Spotlight' On Angelica Ross

It's been a while since I talked about Angelica Ross and what she's been up to. I recently received an e-mail from her stating that she was about to begin pursue a dream of a music career.

She has produced an album that will be dropping this spring on her indie Know Better Records label called 'When Two Worlds Collide' and has released the first single for it called 'Spotlight'

You can check out the song and the video for it on her website and also download it at the usual music spots of iTunes, Napster and Amazon.com.

Let's do our part to help support a sistah and get her career jump started. You never know, if it does well enough she may end up with a major label recording deal like Kim Petras did, and to be honest, I'd like to see her succeed.

Motown's 50th Anniversary

If you are a music lover like I am, take a moment today to bow in the direction of Detroit before it's over.

Today was the day 50 years ago that Berry Gordy received an $800 loan that he used to found Motown Records.

The 'Sound of Young America' eventually became a music juggernaut that swept the country. Music fans of all races danced to its infectious beat and Motown was the label that signed and launched the musical careers of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Jackson 5, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mary Wells, and later Rick James, Johnny Gill and Teena Marie.

The 'Hitsville USA' moniker that was on the outside of Motown headquarters was prophetic. An astounding 75% of the songs released under its label made the Billboard and other national Top 40 lists.

Shoot, is it any wonder with the talent assembled there? Don't even get me started talking about the producing team of Holland, Dozier, Holland or the 'Funk Brothers' or the marvelous musicians that backed up the vocal talents of that Motown stable of talent.

Motown has long since left Detroit and after spending time headquartered in LA, moved to New York. It eventually became the largest Black owned entertainment company in the US before it was eventually sold to MCA.

But during that time it built a proud, pioneering legacy. It has even left its mark on Detroit politics with Martha Reeves currently serving as a Detroit city councilmember.

Motown is not only credited with paving the way for integration to happen in some cases, it radically altered the perceptions of African-American artists, how they are marketed and left an indelible mark not only on our culture, but American music forever.

Tona Brown

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

I haven't had an opportunity to meet her in person yet, but Tona is someone I've known for a few years, chat with on a regular basis and marvel at her musical gifts.

The Norfolk, VA resident has been involved in the music world since she started learning how to play the violin at age 10. She attended the prestigious Governor's School For The Arts in Norfolk and has won numerous musical competitions and garnered awards since age 14.

She's continued her lifelong involvement with music since her transition several years ago, and was selected in April 2006 to take part in the Tranny Roadshow, a touring group of transgender performance artists and is studying with mezzo soprano Robynne Redmond among her other ongoing projects.

Tona feels that it's important to show that an African descended transwoman can achieve and succeed in any endeavor that we put our minds to, and she's been a wonderful role model in that regard.

She's making her mark in the classical music world, and best of all she's doing it as an out transwoman.

You can check out her website at http://www.tonabrown.net/home

Chic Nominated Again For Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Pardon Nile Rodgers and the rest of Chic if they're starting to feel like All my Children's Susan Lucci. Susan was nominated 18 times for a Daytime Emmy Best Actress Award before she finally won it in 1999.

They've been nominated in 2003, 2006, 2007, and now 2008 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and when the votes are counted, they fall just short of becoming one of the five inductees in that year's class.

Chic is one of my my fave groups from my high school days (and still are). For those of you with knee-jerk reactions to disco, you can stop right now because this band was cutting edge.





Ask the Sugarhill Gang, because without Chic's Good Times song, Rapper's Delight, the song that catapulted hip hop into prominence doesn't happen.



Ask Sister Sledge, who thanks to Nile and 'Nard's production talents, created a song that became a championship anthem for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.



Once again Chic has been nominated along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., the Stooges, War and Bobby Womack, but only five of these outstanding nominees will get in. After the votes are tabulated, the announcement will be made next month as to who will comprise the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

The induction ceremony will take place in April, and this time I'm hoping along with other Chic fans that they'll FINALLY get in.

Kim Petras Update

Remember Kim Petras, the German teen who is believed to be the youngest person in the world to ever undergo GRS?

Boy, how time flies. Three years ago the controversy was raging all over the world whether Kim, much less any transkid was too young to transition at age 12. We had a rather spirited debate about it on TSTB, and it led me to compose a post about the issue of teen transition and my thoughts on it.

Just an FYI, I'm in favor of doing it in your teens.

Kim is now a stunning looking 16 year old. After enduring years of taunts from fellow classmates she shook it off and focused on her music, which became cult hits on MySpace and You Tube.

The cult hit status has paid dividends for Kim and led to her recently being signed by a German company to a recording contract. She's now focused on her budding music career and achieving pop star status, not her unique path to womanhood.



"My music is most important to me at the moment. It's the way I can best express myself."

"I know that because of my past people will always bring up the subject, I can't get away from it. But I hope that one day I might be better known for my music than for my past."



As Kim prepares to release her first CD, it's what her sisters and brothers all over the world wish for her as well.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Today is Michael Jackson's 50th Birthday!

It kind of blows me away that the shy kid I met at a Houston hotel when my dad's station was sponsoring a 'Meet the Jackson 5' contest' is now a few years from qualifying for senior discounts.





He's had a long, innovative and ground breaking career and will go down in history as one of our legendary artists.

T-Tunes With Soul

I reread the Elisabeth Withers post I wrote last year. While I was doing so it reminded me of a project I was working on before I moved to Louisville in 2001.

During the 1999 Texas Lobby Day, as a token of appreciation to all the participants one of the organizing team members put together a compilation cassette tape of transgender themed music called T-Tunes. When I received mine I looked at the songs listed and noted that it was devoid of African-American music.

I pointed out to the person that compiled it that there were songs that you could definitely interpret in the R&B end of the music spectrum as having a transgender theme, even if it wasn't specifically written that way like Elisabeth Withers' 'The World Ain't Ready'.

Well, without further ado I decided to start compiling my own list of what is going to become an ongoing project of TransGriot, the T-Tunes with Soul

'The World Ain't Ready' Elisabeth Withers

'Transformation' Nona Hendryx


'Skeletons' Stevie Wonder


'You're Not The Man' Sade

''Unpretty' TLC

'Imagine' Earth, Wind and Fire

'I Can Only Be Me' Keith John (from the School Daze soundtrack)


So R&B fans.. any other songs you can think of that could be considered transgender themed?


TransGriot Note: person in photo is singer Nona Hendryx in her home studio

How The Heck Did I Forget This One?

I did a post in honor of the Fourth of July called National Anthems with Soul. I put together a short list of great African-American performances of the national anthem.

Well, that list wouldn't be complete without this one. The late great Jimi Hendrix playing the national anthem on his guitar 40 years ago at Woodstock.



Enjoy

National Anthems With Soul

Today is our country's 234th birthday. Later tonight, depending on where you are, there will be fireworks, celebrations, and concerts galore.

We African-Americans love this country too. Enough to bitch and make it better, but that's a whole 'nother post.

We've all heard the national anthem being sung in myriad ways, but every now and then you hear a version of it by a singer that just makes you stop in your tracks, tear up, or just wanna testify. Some of those anthem versions have been sung by peeps that share my ethnic heritage.

As far as anthems with soul, this is hands down the version I consider the best. Marvin Gaye sang this version at the 1983 NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles. Unfortunately it would be one of his last public appearances before he was tragically shot to death by his father on April 1, 1984.



The best anthem with soul, version 1.1 is Whitney Houston's done before the 1991 Super Bowl in Tampa. It was done with the political backdrop of a major troop buildup happening in the Middle East and Desert Storm about to jump off.



Here's Mariah Carey's at the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans, only a few months after the 9-11 attacks.



Did you think I was gonna leave out my Houston homegirl Beyonce Knowles Carter?

Once again, another Super Bowl, the 2004 one played in Houston. And who better to sing the national anthem than one of our hometown Grammy winning girls? (Yolanda Adams wouldn't have been a bad pick either)



21 years later, the NBA All-Star game returns to Los Angeles, and Marvin's daughter Nona Gaye does a special duet with dad at the 2004 NBA All-Star game.



The 2004 MLB All-Star game in Houston. Fantasia sung this version, although at the time I was channeling my inner Maya Wilkes. I felt since the game was being played here, we should have had a Houston homeboy or homegirl sing it. But Fox was televising the game, and they have this maddening tendency to stick their American Idol singers in these slots to cross promote the show (which I hate with a passion). I quit bitching after the first few notes.



The 2006 NBA All Star game in Houston. The national anthem singers for this event? Destiny's Child. Y'all better recognize that Houston's got talent.



As of yet I haven't found the video of the all-harmonica version Stevie Wonder played before the Super Bowl in his hometown of Detroit. When I do it's definitely going on this post.

I hope I've made the point that love of country is not just for white conservative 'christian' Republican males. There are 300 plus million of us multricultural souls living inside and outside the borders of this piece of planet Earth we call the USA. There are thousands of others serving in our military around the world. Thanks for all you do and the personal sacrifices you make to serve our country.

Happy Birthday, USA!