Podcast appearances and mentions of Berry Gordy

In this episode, Kirk and Paul review Berry Gordy's "The Last Dragon" and do a music trivia thingie.

Join me for a heartfelt and powerful conversation with the one and only Rhonda Ross, Emmy-nominated actor, Grammy-nominated songwriter, motivational singer, and a radiant force in the world of art and transformation. You may know her as the daughter of legends Diana Ross and Berry Gordy, but Rhonda's story is uniquely her own. In this deeply personal episode of Black Women Amplified, she opens up about what it's been like to navigate fame, identity, and healing on her own terms. We talk about:What it was really like growing up in the public eyeHer struggles with identity, depression, and not feeling “enough”The emotional and spiritual work it took to find balance and healingHer journey through the music industry—and back to herselfHow she now uses her voice to uplift, inspire, and teach othersThis conversation is filled with real talk, deep wisdom, and radical truth-telling. Rhonda reminds us that behind every headline is a human story and that you are not alone in your struggles, and you are powerful beyond measure.So grab your favorite drink, get cozy, and tune in. You'll laugh, cry, and leave with your soul nourished.Support the Show:Visit BlackWomenAmplified.com to explore the blog, grab your Black Women Amplified logo tee and cap, and sign up for the newsletter.Listen | Share | EnjoyWith love and light,Monica WisdomFounder & Host, Black Women AmplifiedBusiness and Life CoachSupport the show: (cashapp) $BWAMO444#BlackWomenAmplified #RhondaRoss #HealingJourney #BlackWomenInMusic #EmotionalHealing #FameAndIdentity #MotivationalMusic #WomenWhoInspire #MonicaWisdom #DianaRossDaughter #BlackVoicesMatter #MentalHealthAwareness #ArtistJourney #SelfLove #AuthenticLiving #BlackExcellence #WomenInEntertainment #PodcastForBlackWomen #InnerHealing #LiveYourTruth #BlackWomenLead

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 4 A pandemic survivor's harem continues to thrive amidst chaos.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 11 For the next hour or so, Andy explored the house on his own while the girls moved things from the car into the house, as well as letting the cats loose into their new environment. He wasn't sure who was more overwhelmed, himself or the cats. The building was immense, feeling both warm and alien all at the same time. Mostly, though, the space felt incomplete. It was a home that had been decorated by a real estate agent, not by someone looking to live in it. Everything was arranged for show not for actual use. He wandered into the gym first and found it stocked with free weights, resistance machines and a small aerobics area, all the machines in pristine condition, never used. Looking at himself in the mirror, he wasn't even sure he recognized himself in this new home. Andy strolled out of the gym and found himself in one of the three living rooms, with a wet bar off to one side. There were several couches arranged around the middle, as well as a handful of lounge chairs. Without warning, Muninn, his Russian blue cat, hopped up from behind one of the couches onto the back of it, which startled the hell out of Andy. As soon as the cat saw him, however, he sauntered over Andy's direction. Andy moved closer and pet the cat, who gave a healthy purr in response. "Yeah, I know, Mun, it's weird for me too. But we live here now, so explore away." "Are ya freaked out?" Aisling said to him as she moved into the room. "It's just a home." "That's just it, Ash," he sighed. "It's a home, but it's not my home, not our home. Not yet. I'm sure I'll get there at some point, but for right now, it's just reinforcing how weird all of this is. I mean, yesterday, there were seven of us crammed into that little tiny condo, and now Eric lives down the street, and we live, here. In the kind of place I never even dreamed about." Aisling moved over, a soft sympathetic smile on her face, as she wrapped her arms around him and held him in an inviting hug for a long moment. "The world's changing, and we have to change with it, Andy. That means we're all going to be a bit out of our comfort zones now and then, but think of it this way,  you can make one of these bedrooms into a full on study, and line the walls with bookshelves, like you said you'd always wanted to do. We'll put your desk in there, and you can turn it into a writer's cozy, a space where you can go and work on your next book and nobody'll bother you. What's wrong with that?" "There's nothing wrong with that, Ash. There's nothing wrong with any of this, except for the fact that I didn't really earn any of it." "Luv," she said to him, "most of the people who get lucky in life, it was right place right time, and all they did was have the good sense not to muck it up. That's what you're doing here. You were in the right place at the right time, and you had the good sense to let me into your bed. And I've been good to you, haven't I?" "Oh god, Ash, you and Lauren and Niko have all been amazing, far better than I deserve,” "There'll be none of that, mister," she scolded, slapping his shoulder. "You've been grand to all of us, and you've helped Eric and Lily get their shit sorted out. I know Jenny doesn't have her head sorted out yet, but when she does, I'm sure she'll thank you. You could've been a right shite about alla this, but instead you've been a stand-up guy. So take a deep breath." Andy stopped and took a deep breath. "It didn't help much." "It helped a little." "Okay, it helped a little." "Are you more bothered by the house, the staff or the fact that there's going to be a lot more women moving into our lives?" "It's a lot of women, Ash." "It will be a lot of women, Andy. Yes, that's absolutely true, but we'll manage it. Besides, the house is nice isn't it?" "Understating things a bit, aren't you Ash?" "Fine," she said with a wry grin, rolling her eyes in his direction. "It's a bloody magnificent place. Just in the tour alone, I wanted to strip down to my knickers and socks and play 'Risky Business' so if you hear 'Old Time Rock'n'Roll' blaring from the hi fi, look both ways when walking through the hallways." "You're changing the subject." "It'll be fine, Andy. Just stop worrying and enjoy this." She moved to sit down in the couch, and picked up a remote control from the coffee table in front of it. She looked around the room for a moment before she finally just pressed the power button on it, to see what happened. From a small overhang across the room, a giant television dropped down and turned on, as concealed speakers all around the room hummed to life. "That is hell of a television." Andy moved to slump down onto the couch next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "And just think, this isn't even the theater room. Let's just relax for a little bit and watch some TV." Apparently whoever had set up their house had given them a deluxe cable package, with every optional channel Andy could think of, and loads he'd never even heard of. They settled on SpikeTV, which was in the middle of a James Bond marathon. They were showing "Goldeneye" and they'd had the luck to turn on right at the beginning. "I've always loved Brosnan as Bond," Aisling said to him a few hours later, as the movie was over. "I don't know that he's the best Bond, but he's my Bond. You?" "He was great, but I've always been a Connery man myself." "You Americans, you all have your own Bond, much like those of us across the pond have our own Doctor. You a fan of Doctor Who, luv?" Andy smirked wryly. "Tom Baker, but if I'm honest, I could watch David Tennant in anything. I watched "Good Omens" last year at least three times. I'm guessing you're a Capaldi girl." "Chris Eccleston's my Doctor," Aisling said. "But I'm glad you didn't say I should be a Matt Smith girl, just because he had a ginger companion." Andy shook his head. "So did Tennant, but neither of them were Irish. Catherine Tate's British and Karen Gillan's Scottish. I'm not an idiot, love." "Bless, Andy," she whispered, as she kissed his cheek. "It's so strange. I feel like I'm missing time, what with all the holidays we've basically skipped over. I was getting my first injections on July 4th, but I didn't even hear any crackers in the sky. Were there any?" "None that I could see, Ash. Halloween's just around the corner. Maybe now that we're in a gated community we'll get trick or treaters." "You think there's children in the estates?" "No idea. I'm not really sure what to expect here. We've barely seen the house, much less the small town that's formed up around it." "That's going to be just as strange, people we can sit and talk with, restaurants we can go and have dinner in, a movie theater filled with people, guaranteed not sick people. It all sounds so wonderful." "I'll talk to Eric, maybe we can get a Halloween costume party together." Aisling cooed at him. "That sounds wonderful." She glanced over his shoulder. "Looks like your maid in here." Andy looked back over his shoulder and saw Yvette standing there, nervously shifting back and forth, before he chuckled and curled a finger in her direction. "C'mon, Yvette. You look like you've got something you want to say." "Simply a request Master. I and the rest of your staff, well, we are having trouble keeping our heads clear. We do not wish to pressure you, naturally, but the longer you wait before imprinting us, the more difficulty we will have executing our responsibilities around the home. It is getting hard to focus." He removed his arm from around Aisling and rose to his feet, a wry smile on his face. "I'll say. I can't help but think about something Groucho Marx once said to his brother Chico." "I'm sorry, I don't know who those people are, Master." "Comedians. Groucho is the one with the bushy eyebrows and greasepaint mustache. Chico used to pretend to be Italian. Groucho would occasionally say to him, 'Chico, I think your accent is slipping.'" Andy grinned as he approached her. "Is your name really Yvette?" The maid visibly blanched. "Am I trouble?" "Answer the question," Aisling said, getting off the couch, heading to join them. "No, ma'am. It's Nicolette." "Are you actually French?" Andy asked. "Second generation, but I was putting on a show. Mr. Marcos seemed to think you might enjoy it." Andy shook his head and laughed. "Fucking Phil." "So you're not angry, sir?" "You don't have to lie to me, Nicolette." He gestured to the maid's outfit. "Do you really enjoy this kind of thing?" She smiled, almost coquettishly, and nodded. "I do, Master. I'm naturally submissive, and this is what I wanted to do in the new world." "Are you bisexual, Nicolette?" Aisling said. "I am, madam, if that's alright." Aisling leaned over and grabbed the girl by her mane of hair and pulled her into a firm, intense kiss that made Andy's breath catch a little. Nicolette seemed caught off guard only for a moment, before she leaned into the kiss, and pressed her busty body against the Irish girl. After they made out for a minute or so, Aisling pulled back and grinned at Andy. "Well, we should make sure the girl gets what she needs, but mama has needs too." Aisling pulled Nicolette with her over towards one of couches. She reached up beneath her skirt and pulled down her panties before stepping out of them. Then she laid back onto the couch and spread her legs, exposing that ginger cunt to Nicolette. "Tell you what. You lick my cunt, and I'll make sure he fucks you good." "Yes madam," Nicolette said as she moved down onto her knees, before Aisling pulled over a footstool. "Thank you madam." The maid moved up to kneel down on the footstool, her hands pressed on the couch, as she moved her lips down to press against Aisling's exposed snatch. Andy walked over towards them as he watched Aisling's fingertips move to get lost in the girl's thick blonde curls, rocking her hips up against the maid's mouth. "Shit, Andy, she's fucking good at this." "Umm, it certainly looks that way, but what if I wanted to see if those titanic tits of hers were real, hmm?" He unbuttoned his jeans, slowly unzipping them. "Oh, I can fix that," Aisling said with a laugh. She pushed Nicolette's face back. "Lay down and turn over. Are those enhanced or natural?" Nicolette rolled over, laying on her back on the footstool before she pulled the top off one shoulder then the other, tugging it down to her waist so her massive tits spilled free, thick and curvy. "All natural, madam. Any excess weight I put on seems to go straight to my tits or my ass and nowhere else." She curved her fingertips around her left tit and pulled it upward, bringing it up so she could lick her large pink nipple while Andy watched. Then she reached down and dragged her skirt upwards, as she moved to push her head onto the couch while Aisling moved up onto her knees, straddling the girl's face. "Come on, Andy, don't keep the poor slut waiting." Andy tugged his jeans and boxers down enough for him to fish his cock out, moving to step out, rubbing the tip of his cock across the maid's twat, finding it was still soaked. "Remember when I told you I never showed my cock to anyone I hadn't kissed, Ash?" "She doesn't want you to show her a good time, love. She's only got one thing on her mind, don't you whore?" "Yes madam," the maid said between licks at Aisling's cunt. "And what is that?" Aisling's question caught the maid off guard. "Ma'am?" "What is the one thing you've got on your mind?" "Being imprinted, ma'am." Aisling reached down and pinched one of Nicolette's nipples hard enough to make the maid yip audibly. "The master likes a dirty mouth on his girls, Nicolette. Maybe Phil didn't tell you that, but as Andy's first girl, it's my job to make sure everyone in the house knows exactly what he likes. So let me ask you again,  what's the one thing you've got on your mind?" "Getting the Master to fuck me, ma'am." "Why?" "So I can be imprinted, to be owned, to belong to him, and be part of his house." "Then tell him." "Yes ma'am." Nicolette pulled her head back for a moment to look up at Andy, and the look on her face was one he was starting to get quite familiar with, a heady mix of need and lust. "Sir, let me offer you my body, my drenched holes for your use. I need to be fucked to belong to you, to feel your jizz blasting inside of my cunt or asshole, marking me as yours, imprinting me, claiming me. Take me, sir. Own me. Fuck my tight young snatch and brand me as your slut, your maid, your little French fucktoy. It hurts, sir, aches. I can't think straight. I'm a rutting bitch in heat, needy for a cock to clear her head. Can I serve you, Master? Will you grant me that privilege? Fuck me, sir. Do it." "Put your mouth back to work, Nicolette, and I will," Andy said, as he pushed his cock along her cunt, feeling her shiver, her body instinctively trying to line it up so his wood would penetrate her. "Yes, Master. Of course, Master." Nicolette slid her head back between Aisling's thighs, pressing her face up against the redhead's cunt, her tongue pushing into the girl. Aisling leaned forward a little bit, reaching a hand forward to grab Andy's face, pulling him closer, kissing him as Andy pushed his cock inside of Nicolette's cunt. Beneath her, Aisling could feel the girl already lost in the throes of her first orgasm, muffling the scream by pressing her hips down against the maid's face. "How is she?" "I think I might have killed the poor girl." One of Nicolette's hands lifted and offered a thumb up gesture to them, which made Andy and Aisling both laugh until Aisling kissed Andy hard again. She reached down and grabbed Andy's hip to pull him hard into Nicolette, slamming his cock hilt deep into the French maid with enough force to make those heavy tits of hers jiggle and bounce. "That's it, Andy. Just rail the girl." "You're trying to make me cum inside of her, aren't you?" "It's working, isn't it?" Aisling giggled a little bit. "I'm giving up my load for the day to her. I want you to fill her cunt so full of cum that there's enough for me to lick a little bit out of her gash when you're done. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Andy groaned a little bit. "You're wicked, Ash." " Umm, just like you want me to be. I have to admit, I'm a little addicted to it, seeing a new slut fuckdrunk on your spunk for the first time, her eyes rolled back in her head, the orgasm so intense that she's trembling like she's been struck by lightning. It make you seem so powerful." "I don't think I can last long," he mumbled. "She's fucking tight." "Then why wait? She wants your jizz. I want you to jizz inside of her. You want to jizz inside of her." She kissed his cheek and then moved nibble on his earlobe. "Go on. Give your newest slut her nut. Fill her up with that hot spunk and claim her. Your girlfriend is telling you to do it. Cream her up. In your house. Make her your slut, your maid, your personal fuckhole. Give to us. Please Master, she fucking needs it. I need it. Cum for us. Flood the little bitch with your cum. Show her who the lord of the house is." Aisling licked her tongue along the shell of his ear, then breathed hot onto his flesh, before whispering, "Own her. Cum!" Nicolette's heels pressed into the small of his back as he pushed his cock hilt deep inside of her cunt and began to erupt inside of her. As soon as the first blast of his jism hit the back of her cunt, Nicolette began to thrash, her heels lifting off his skin as her legs pointed straight up into the air and began to practically vibrate, quaking like she had her own personal earthquake. Eventually Andy's release ebbed back, and Aisling leaned to kiss him once more, her hand reaching up to brush sweat from his face. "Another one bites the dust," she giggled against his mouth before he pulled his hips back, letting his cock slide out from Nicolette's snatch as the girl's legs moved to slump down on the footstool, her whole body lying ragdoll limp, her lips very quietly mumbling that familiar word over and over again. Aisling lifted her hips up and moved back to her feet, shifting Nicolette to move the maid's entire body up onto the couch, cradling the girl's head against the pillow on the armrest. Andy was starting to adjust to tuck his cock away before he felt Aisling's hand stop him. "Just wait there, mister." The Irish girl grabbed a blanket and moved to lay it over Nicolette's unconscious form, covering her up, making sure the maid looked cozy. After Nicolette was properly tucked in, she turned around and kneeled down to lick his cock clean. It had still been glistening with a bit of his cum, as well as juices from Nicolette's cunt, but Aisling gave it a spit shine. Andy could feel himself struggling to get hard again, but as soon as Aisling had his cock clean, she tucked it away. "Tomorrow you can take care of the gardener and the cook." "Fucking this many people is exhausting, Ash." "Awww. Poor baby. Do you know how much sympathy I have for you, half a dozen women craving your cum so much they'll fling themselves at you?" "Very little?" "Not even that much." Andy chuckled, helping Aisling to her feet. "Yeah, I guess that's fair." Chapter 12 Andy awoke the next morning much earlier than he normally did. It was the fact that the bed beneath him was new to him. New bed, new house, but the house itself didn't change as much of his perspective as the bed did. Sure, the four of them had fit in his old bed back at the condo, but the new bed had plenty of room for them to sprawl out if they wanted, and yet, he still awoke with all the girls basically pressing up against him, Aisling and Niko on either side of him, and Lauren mostly draped over Aisling. The cats were nowhere to be seen, although he wouldn't be surprised if they wandered across the bed several times during the night. He did his best to extricate one arm free so he could look at his watch, only to find it was actually nearly nine a.m., far later than he'd expected. The girls remained zonked, and he had to admit, they'd all been up a bit late into the wee hours of the morning just wandering around and exploring the house. He still felt like he didn't have a great handle on the layout of the place, but he figured that would come in time. Determined not to wake anyone, he wriggled his way downward, disentangling the gilded cage of arms and legs he found himself wrapped in. Once free, he was pleased to see that he hadn't woken any of the trio, so he headed into the closet to grab a change of clothes. Immediately, he feared he might have made a terrible mistake, as the walk in closet was larger than the old condo's living room, but thankfully, most of his t shirts were hanging on clothes hangers directly in front of him, and a dresser there seemed to have his pants, boxers and socks. In fact, as he glanced at the walk in closet, he was a little amused to see how little of what he saw was actually his own clothes. Sure, all of his clothes were there, but they took up a fraction of the amount of space the walk in closet had on offer. Each of the girls had carved up their own section of the closet space, although if the Major was to be believed, this wouldn't be enough room eventually. The Major had even suggested each partner consider taking one of the bedrooms of the manor as their own, simply to have their own space, and their own place to keep their clothes. "Personal space is going to be important," she had told them yesterday. Andy had immediately decided it was advice worth heeding. He grabbed a change of clothes and headed towards the bathroom. After stepping foot inside of the bathroom, he closed the door behind him, doing his best to keep the noise volume down, so as to not wake anyone. He imagined the girls would be up any minute now, but saw no reason to get anyone up before they awoke naturally. Some nights they all wore pajamas, but last night, they'd all just piled in one naked mess into the new bed, so the only thing Andy had to take off before he got into the shower was his watch and glasses, setting both on the counter next to his clothes. The shower space was just about the same size as the bathroom in the old condo, but it was a thing Andy had decided he was just going to have to come to terms with. Everything in the new home was going to be bigger, because it had more people to accommodate. It did, however, give him plenty of room to maneuver as he attempted to get the water's temperature to a level he was comfortable with. He hadn't even thought to ask how the utilities of the new home were going to be paid for. He made a mental note to ask someone about it as he stepped under the soothing warm water. Ten minutes later, he'd finished the shower, dried himself off and gotten dressed. As he passed through the bedroom, he could see that while none of the girls were awake yet, they had shifted to make up for his absence, now lined up like three little spoons, with Niko's ass pressed against Aisling's hips, and Aisling's ass against Lauren's hips. The cats had also joined them on the bed, sitting at either corner of it, almost like they were on guard duty. Andy reached down to pet Huginn, and the black cat leaned his head up to lean into Andy's touch. He smirked as the cat slowly pulled away from Andy's hand, but it was only to roll onto his back, exposing his belly, hoping Andy would give it a rub. He patted the plump cat's tummy briefly, but not long enough so that Huginn would think it was a game of Attack The Hand. He didn't want to remain long enough to wake the girls, so he grabbed his phone from the charger on the nightstand, moved to the door of the bedroom and slipped out, closing it shut behind him as he moved into the hallway. The layout of the house was still fuzzy in his head, but he knew for certain that if he wanted to grab some breakfast, he needed to head downstairs. As he wandered downstairs, the cook, Jennifer, he thought her name was, awaited him. She still had on the same apron from the day before, but the clothes she had on beneath it had changed to warmer colors. The t shirt was a light green and the slacks a cream color. "Good morning, sir. Would you like some breakfast?" she asked, a smile beaming at him. She was fidgeting, he noticed, and he was certain that the effects of the vaccine were starting to claw at her. He would have to make sure to take care of both her and the gardener today. "Sure, Jennifer, that'd be nice. Is it Jennifer, or do you prefer Jen or Jenny?" he asked her, as she started to lead him towards the dining room. "Whatever you'd like, sir," she said, demurely. "No," he chuckled, "I'm asking you what you prefer to be called. I don't mind being in charge of the house and all that, but I'm not about to go around deciding what people are called. What do you prefer to be called?" "Jenny, sir," she giggled. "Sorry, sir. What would you like for breakfast today?" "Just, like, a croissant or a bagel with egg, cheese and ham on it? I don't need anything special." "Give me five minutes and I'll whip something up for you." Andy moved to sit down at the dining room table. The chairs were aimed at a much more formal environment, something he was going to have to make sure got corrected. He felt a little bit like Michael Keaton as Batman, sitting at a massively empty table all by himself. He opened his friend group's Discord chat channel and typed in a message to Eric “ you okay in your new place, man? “ but he saw that Eric was off line and didn't respond, so he figured he'd hear back from him later in the day. Phil was up, though, and the two chatted for a little bit while Andy waited for breakfast to arrive. Jenny poked her head in. "Did you want juice or milk, or should I make coffee?" "God, the girls made drink coffee, but I can't fucking stand it. So it wouldn't hurt to put a pot on, but none for me, thanks. I'll just have some orange juice or pineapple juice or whatever." "Got it," she said, dipping back into the kitchen, the swinging door closed behind her. Phil was in good spirits, and let Andy know that he would be behind the wall in the gated community before the end of the week, which meant they could all hang out again. Phil insisted that on Saturday, they should all get together and play poker while the new families intermingled, something Andy agreed to immediately, and suspected Eric wouldn't have any problem with. "Sir, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jenny said, as she brought out a tray with a bagel filled exactly as he'd asked and a glass of orange juice on it. "I don't mean to be rude or impatient, but,” "No no, Jenny, I know. You're having trouble thinking clearly, and would like to get imprinted as soon as possible. Let me eat my breakfast, and then we can go take care of it if you like." "I would like, sir, but that's not it." The girl looked at her hands as she wrung them together nervously before she looked up at him. "May I speak freely, sir?" "Jenny, you're now and forever under orders to always speak freely in the house, okay? What is it?" "It's my partner, sir, Katie." "What about her?" "Well, she, ah, she lied on her forms. Sir." "About, what exactly, Jenny?" Andy wanted to know what was going on, but he was also famished, so he took a bite from his breakfast sandwich, as if encouraging the girl to continue speaking. "It's, well, it's a bit embarrassing, sir, but, you know that Katie and I are partners, right?" Andy swallowed his mouthful and took a sip from his orange juice before he spoke again. "You did mention it yesterday when you introduced yourselves." He gestured to a chair across the table from him. "Sit, sit. Now tell me what's up?" Jenny looked at the chair like it might bite her, but then nervously moved to sit down, her hands still folded together on top of the table. "So, uh, while I'm bisexual, Katie isn't. Sir. She's strictly a lesbian." Andy tried to keep his face blank. "Alright." "So while she's going to need to intake your jism regularly, she's, uh,” "She's going to be a pain in the ass about it," Katie said, moving into the room, clearly sounding cross. "Is that what you were going to say, Jen?" Katie was dressed in work clothes, having been outside working in the gardens, and had dirt on her knees, although she'd been careful not to drag any loose dirt into the house. "We're so fucked." "Baby, no! I just wanted to explain,” "You just wanted to explain that I wasn't going to do my job to our new boss. That's just great, Jenny! Now we're going to get hauled out of here and thrown in jail!" "Katie, please!" "We're fucked. We're so fucked, just because you had to grow a fucking conscience! I could've faked it! I could've pretended and just gotten through it, but no, you had to,” "Ah Hem!" Andy said, loudly clearing his throat to get both of them to settle down. "Can I interject into this, or do you two want to go on arguing about what I'm going to do without actually knowing anything?" Katie moved to nervously sit down in a chair next to Jenny, looking a little taken aback. "Sorry, sir." "Sorry, sir," Jenny echoed. "Thank you." Andy took another bite from his sandwich, which was delicious, while he let the two women sit in silence a moment, as if almost daring them to start arguing again. They made it past him finishing the sandwich without speaking again, but he was on his last sip of orange juice when Katie, the Hispanic girl, couldn't help herself and spoke again. "I love my wife, sir, and I want to remain faithful to her. And you seem like a nice enough man, but I'm just not attracted to you in any way. Sorry, sir." Andy smiled and shook his head a little bit. "Good lord, they barely told me anything, and somehow I still know more about all of this than you two do. Jenny, are you bisexual, or are you also lesbian?" "Bisexual, sir, but I'm married. To Katie." He nodded. "Look, I get that. So here's your options. If you want, I can tell the army you've changed your mind, and you can go back there, but if you've already been given the vaccination, you're unfortunately going to have to get paired up with some man." "That part's actually true?" Andy nodded. "I'm sure you're already feeling it, that unfamiliar blaze in your body. It'll get worse, a lot worse, until it's harder and harder to think, and you're just a raw, rutting creature, yearning for male sperm of some kind." "How horrible," Jenny whispered. "Better than the disease, Jenny," Katie said, patting her arm. "So what are our other options?" "The obvious one is, naturally, that you both continue to be here, do your jobs, and I simply provide sperm for you to consume. I mean, I could just bring you in towards the end of a session with me and one of my partners, or with Nicolette,” "Who?" Katie asked. "He knows," Nicolette said, standing in the door, leaning against the doorframe. She was wearing another maid's outfit, but it was subtly different than the one she'd worn yesterday. "And he wasn't mad. He even thought the whole Yvette thing was funny." "Or I could just agree to always use the two of you together, but the only person I touch would be Jenny, and Katie could touch Jenny. It's not strictly what you had in mind, but,” "But it would satisfy Katie's insistence that she remain faithful," Jenny said. "Would you be okay with that, baby?" "Okay?" Katie said, rolling her eyes. "Well, I might be able to get to okay eventually, if that's okay with you. Sir." "Come on," Andy said, rising to his feet. "Take me to your room and we'll get you both imprinted." "I'd, I'd rather you not come into our room, sir," Katie said. "If that's okay, sir. I'd like that to be just our special place, mine and Jenny's." "That's fine, but we'll need to have some place to lay you both down once you're done." "I did just fine on one of the couches, Master," Nicolette giggled. "Maybe we should use one of the living room spaces again." "Alright, but let's use one more off to the side." "There's always the lounge out in the pool house," Katie suggested. "I have a pool house? Y'know what, forget I asked. Of course I have a pool house. Fine, let's go out to the pool house. Nicolette, if the girls wake up, let them know I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" "Of course Master," she said with a curtsey, as Katie put her arm around Jenny's waist, and the two started to lead him to the back yard. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, sir," Katie said, as they walked past the pool. Sure enough, on the other side, there was a small house, which Andy could see had showers, a sauna, bathrooms, a small bedroom, and a little lounge. Hell, by itself, it was bigger than the old condo, and clearly this was a little guest house. "But I don't think your sperm is going to do anything for me." "Mentally, sure, probably not, Katie. But on a biological level, you'll find this whole thing is a little surreal. When you meet Niko, you'll get to know what sort of state she was in when she came into my life. She'll tell you the story herself, I'm sure, but from my point of view, she practically assaulted me before I even got her name." Jenny grinned impishly, as she closed the door behind Andy. The lounge had three couches in a U shape pointing towards a massive television, with a picture window on the side wall facing the pool. "I have to admit, that sounds kinda hot." "It was," Andy said, as the two girls pushed him to sit down in the middle of the couch. "A little terrifying, but kinda hot. So how do you want to do this?" Katie leaned up and pressed her lips against Jenny's, as Jenny's hand smoothed down her wife's hip. The kiss intensified and Andy could see the tongues dancing together, as Katie's hand moved to cup one of Jenny's plump tits through the apron before reaching behind her to untie it, pulling it up and over her head, tossing it aside. "I'm thinking Jenny here'll blow you, and I'll just share it at the end, so you have to tell us when you're close. If that's okay. Sir." "That's fine, Katie. If you always want to do it this way, that's fine, or if you want to switch it up now and again, we can do that too." Katie nodded, and reached down to pull Jenny's t shirt up and over her head, exposing the brunette's overabundance of titflesh that had actually been quite concealed by the apron. "We, uh,” She blushed a little bit before continuing, pushing Jenny down to her knees. "We've had threesomes before. I don't mind if Jenny gets a little cock now and then, as long as I'm always there, but it's hard to get men to understand I don't want any. They usually try to pressure me to join in." "Well I won't ever do that, Katie," Andy said. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, although,” Jenny had unbuttoned his jeans, and unzipped them, as the other two continued to talk. Katie smirked, rolling her eyes a little. "As long as you don't care if I say no, you can always ask, sir." "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind taking your top off as well, so we're all at least a little exposed here." "No, I can do that," she said, unzipping the top of the worksuit. "My tits aren't anywhere near as nice as Jenny's, though." She peeled the top down to her waist, exposing a perky caramel colored pair of tits, capped with darker tan nipples. "You've got excellent tits, Katie," Andy said to her, as she tied the arms of the top around her waist to tie it in place. "And don't you ever take shit from anyone who says otherwise." "Aw, you're sweet, Andy," she said before looking down at her wife. "How's it look, hon? Something you can work with?" Jenny nodded, having fished out Andy's cock, her fingertips stroking up and down it slowly. "It's a good size. I may want to have a ride on it now and again, if that's okay, baby." "Let's take it all one step at a time, okay?" Katie said. She moved to sit down on the couch next to Andy, laughing softly. "She's always been over eager. But I'll probably let you fuck her now and again. And I know she's a very good cocksucker. Her old boyfriend used to brag about it all the time." "Pig," Jenny said, before she wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, letting her tongue brush over it slowly, evoking a shiver from Andy. "Oh! Not you, sir, him." "I figured that one out, Jenny." Andy glanced over at Katie. "So are you both really submissive? Did you really want to do this, be a gardener and a cook?" "Jenny's mostly submissive, and I'm a switch," the Hispanic woman said. "And these were the jobs we had in the before times, just at different places. I was the gardener for some tech millionaire, and Jenny worked in the kitchen at the S F O airport Marriott, so we'll do our jobs well, and the other thing reasonably well." "I just want to make sure I'm not forcing anyone to do anything they don't want to." "We will be sure to tell if you're pushing it. Sir." She laughed slightly at herself, as if chiding herself not to forget to call him that. "Remember, you're going to have to tell us when you're close, sir," Katie said. "I'm a man of my word, Katie." "I hope so." Jenny pushed her head down onto his cock, sliding her lips down a few inches before pulling her head back up. "Oh, if you're going to do it, just fucking do it, Jen." Katie took her hand and pushed on the back of Jenny's head, forcing her face down hard into Andy's lap, until he could feel the girl's lips around the base of his cock, her throat twitching as she was struggling not to gag. Katie leaned in to whisper into Andy's ear. "She fucking loves shit like this." After a few seconds, Katie pulled Jenny's head back, and the girl coughed, laughing throatily, spit dripping from her mouth onto his cock, tears running down her eyes, a crazy smile on her face. "Oh god, I think I fucking came when you did that, Kat." "Well, not to take credit for it, but that was my precum. You're starting the imprinting process now." "I call bullshit," Katie said. "Prove it." Andy decided the best way to do this was to mostly remain out of it, so he took Jenny's arm by the wrist, rubbing her palm over the tip of his cock, which oozed out a little bit of precum, then lifted it up towards Katie, palm facing her face. "Lick. Prove me wrong." Katie cocked an eyebrow at him, then leaned forward to run her tongue along Jenny's palm. As soon as her tongue slurped in that precum, she leaned back suddenly against the back of the couch, pulling up her knees to her chest, her face scrunched tightly as she spasmed violently. Andy was fairly certain that Katie's panties were drenched, but didn't want to embarrass the girl by looking. After a few seconds, Katie's eyes opened again, and she groaned, a sultry wanton sound. "Oh you utter bastard," she moaned. "I know that's all physiological, but fuck was that good,” "You're going to get that same sensation each time you get any of my cum. Both of you. Ash's been with me the longest, about two months now, and she says it's never gotten any less intense, and from time to time, it's even way more intense than that." Katie pushed Jenny's head back down into Andy's lap, forcing her mouth back onto his shaft, as she wriggled in her seat. "How often do we have to have it?" "We've experimented around a little bit with trying to wean a girl off of it, but after about a week or so, it starts impairing logic. Not a lot, at first, but a little bit. It's harder to think clearly, you find sex popping into your head unwarranted more than usual. And by ten days, it's like a painful gnawing hunger. Lauren wanted to try and go two full weeks without, but on day eleven, ah,” Katie laughed softly. "Go on. You said we have no secrets here." Andy nodded with a slight shrug. "She, uh, when I went to take my shower in the morning, she followed me in and forced me to fuck her by trapping me between the wall and the sink. She bent over the sink and braced her hands against it and pinned me. I mostly just stood there, my ass pressed against the wallpaper while she thrust back against me hard and fast. She's, ah, she's a lot stronger than I am." Both girls laughed, although Jenny's laugh was a bit muffled, as she still had most of his cock in her mouth. "I think once a week or so is something we can make work," Katie said, brushing her hand along the back of Jenny's neck. "See? I told you she was good." "Fuck, her tongue keeps teasing against the bottom of my balls. I'm not going to last long like this. You may want to,” "Sure," Katie said, sliding off the couch and onto her knees, off to the side of Andy's right leg. "I know how we can do this." She pulled Jenny's head up and free of his cock before pushing her over to the other side of Andy's legs, his legs pressed together. "C'mere, babe." Katie pulled Jenny close, and then the two women kissed with the length of his cock between them, blocking their lips from reaching each other until they both slid up and kissed with the head of his cock between them. Jenny reached down to fondle his balls, and he felt a second hand join, a little surprised that it was Katie's, as the two tongues danced against each other, and over the head of his cock, and he couldn't resist any longer, his body tensing up as he had a hand resting on either of their shoulders. When that release hit him, he could see Katie's other hand on the back of Jenny's neck, as if holding her in place, as he saw Jenny suddenly reach up and do the same, helping each other to stay locked in place around the tip of his cock, as he blasted a hot load of spunk into their mouths. He felt like he gave at least a few pumps of jizz into each of their mouths, and certainly they were both affected, as each of them began to tremble, the clasp of hands and necks keeping them all in place, as both of them swallowed mouthfuls until finally they could resist no longer and both girls slumped their heads back and to the side, the full weight of their unconscious bodies pressed into the couch. Each of them trembled and vibrated a little, the aftershocks of the process clearly still coursing through their veins. Both girls were quietly murmuring that familiar word, imprinting, over and over again. It took Andy a few seconds to regain his composure, but once he finally did, he tucked his cock away beneath his boxers and jeans, zipping them up and rebuttoning them before he stood up and extracted himself from between them. He moved to lift Katie up onto the couch first, laying the girl out on it, before picking up Jenny, pushing her onto the couch with Katie, draping one arm over the Hispanic girl. Then he picked up an afghan laying in the room and covered them both up, for warmth as much as modesty. It wasn't freezing cold, but Halloween was next week, and California in October could get cold. He assumed the guest house had heating, but didn't even have the slightest idea how to turn it on. He was about to leave, then decided to scout the pool house out a little more. Sure enough, he found a thermostat, and noticed it was set to off, so he set the temperature to 70F and turned it from Off to Auto, hearing a heater kick on along the far side of the building. His work done, he decided to head back inside. He stopped to look at the pool, marveling the fact that he had his very own swimming pool, something southern Californians might have in spades, but certainly came at a premium in the northern California area, where real estate was a scarcity. He'd had dreams of his works being optioned, turned into movies or some such, and hoped that they would make him oodles of money, but the books hadn't developed a big enough audience where Andy would've felt comfortable enough letting someone adapt his works while remaining faithful to what he'd written. A producer had once offered him ten grand for the rights in perpetuity for everything, offering Andy no creative influence, no backend profits and no altering of the deal if things performed well. Andy had, in response, made a Berry Gordy joke that he was sure went over the producer's head, then politely declined. He'd jokingly referred to it to his friends as the "you'll take our money, shut your mouth and like it" deal. But he didn't, he wouldn't and so he didn't have to. In the end, he'd still ended up with a pool. He continued heading towards the house, seeing Niko, wearing just one of his over sized t shirts, although he suspected she probably had panties on underneath. Her arms were crossed over her chest, so he couldn't be sure, but he thought that it was one of his Catherine Wheel t shirts. It looked like the orange corners of the "Ferment" album cover peeking around her arms. "Morning, sleepyhead," he said, as he walked up towards her. "Everyone else up?" "Ash was toweling off when I came downstairs and Lauren was just heading into the shower, so she should be down in a little bit," Niko said to him. If Aisling had fallen into the role of his girlfriend, Niko had worked herself into becoming his right hand woman. Aisling took care of him emotionally, and Niko seemed to enjoy making sure everything was humming along. She'd been the one to structure their packing, and made sure Andy didn't forget anything he would regret leaving behind. Sure, all of that stuff was being brought over, but Niko had made certain that Andy hadn't left anything truly important to other people. "Also, your newest girl is here. She's waiting in the living room. Well, the front living room. One of the front living rooms. The one closest to the door. I signed for her, figured you wouldn't mind. That's her car parked out front, and the Uhaul attached to it has the rest of the stuff from the condo." "Nice." Andy was surprised another girl had arrived so soon, but the Major had made it clear that they would be coming at a steady rate until he was at capacity, which meant at least another nine or so, maybe even as many as thirteen more, although Andy had stressed to the Major that stopping early was absolutely fine. The Major had seemed to think that was funny. They'd walked inside of the house and headed towards the front living room. "What's her name?" "Her name is,” "Taylor!" Lauren's voice shouted as Andy and Niko walked into the room. Sitting on the couch was a young blonde, barely five feet tall, in a white muscle t shirt that didn't cover all of her toned stomach, and a pair of jeans that looked like they were practically painted on. A denim jacket was draped over the back of the couch. The girl's hair was platinum blonde, bordering on white, clearly dyed or bleached, but had dark eyebrows, and Andy could see dark hair down at the roots. She had a gold belly ring and heavy Doc Martin shoes. Small diamond earrings adorned her ears, and around her right wrist was a gold bangle bracelet. Her lipstick was a bright pink. In fact, it was clear that the girl, who looked like she was in her early twenties, had spent a decent amount of time on both her outfit and her makeup, like she wanted to make a good first impression. It was also worth noting that she was more than a little buxom for her small height, the top strained over her large tits enough that Andy could make out a white bra on underneath it. If not for the dark roots, she almost reminded him a little of a smaller version of Lauren. Both girls had a bit of that 'I'm showing off for Instagram' vibe to them, although Andy would never have said it that way to Lauren. "Andy, no fucking way! I do not want that bitch in this house!" The girl on the couch looked like she was about ready to break down crying, as Lauren loomed over her. His Aussie partner had put on a bit more than Niko, in that she was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra. "I'm sorry, Lauren," the girl, Taylor, said. "I'm so, so sorry, baby." "Don't fucking 'baby' me, you whore!" Lauren shouted, turning to walk towards Andy. "This is intolerable! Figure it out!" Lauren kept walking right past him and headed towards the stairs, each step heavy, almost like she was trying to stomp her anger out. "Figure It Out!" she shouted from upstairs, just before he heard the bedroom door slam loud enough to rattle the house. "I take it you know her?" Niko said to Taylor. "Yeah," Taylor mumbled. "I'm her ex girlfriend." Chapter 13 Andy looked at Niko, then at Taylor, then back to Niko, unsure of what to say to anyone. "Look, Niko, can you figure out her side of the story?" he said, gesturing to Taylor. "I'm going to go talk to Lauren and find out what the hell is going on." "Good luck, babe," Niko said, kissing his cheek. "Tell her," Taylor said before stopping, biting her bottom lip in a pout, then starting again. "Tell her if she'll let me, I'll spend the rest of my life apologizing to her." Andy didn't know what to say to that, so he walked out of the room and started heading to the stairs, trying to follow the sound he'd heard a minute or so ago of Lauren stomping off. Clearly there was bad blood here, but talking to Taylor first would only hurt Lauren's feelings, so he needed to check on his partner. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he saw Aisling leaning against the outside of the master bedroom door, which was closed. "What's all this then?" she said, jerking her finger to the door. "Lauren stormed in here crying a minute ago and told me to go away." "We just had a new girl show up, and apparently she used to be Lauren's girlfriend. I'm going to go talk to Lauren about it right now." Ash raised her hand. "Are you sure about this, Andy?" He shook his head with a sigh. "No, but I'm not going to sit around and do nothing, so I'm going in there." "You want me to go in with you?" Andy shook his head again. "No, better let me go in on my own." "Don't have to tell me twice. Who's keeping an eye on the ex?" "Niko's down talking to her. You're welcome to join her." "I'll do that," she said, moving to kiss his cheek, much as Niko had done. "You're a good man, Andy Rook. I'm sure you'll figure it out." "I think my spaceship knows which way to go. Tell,” "She knows," Aisling giggled, as she strolled past him and headed to the stairs. Andy moved to the bedroom door and considered knocking, but decided that it would only encourage Lauren to tell him to go away, so he simply opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He saw his Aussie partner sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms folded atop of them, her face buried against her arms. "Okay, Laur, tell me the whole story," he said, moving over to sit down on the bed. "Taylor and I dated for about a year. She was even living with me for a few months, until one day I came home from work early and found her banging some guy in our,” She paused, wiping her eyes. "She was fucking some fella in my bed. I threw her out that night, and told her to pick her shit up the next day. I packed it up and left it in the hallway for her so I didn't even have to look at her. I haven't even seen her since." "Okay. What do you want me to do here?" "Do?" She curled her fingers together into fists before forcing herself to relax them. "What I want you to do is throw the bitch out on her ass and leave her to rot in the sun." "I somehow think the Air Force will come pick her up and take her back, if that's what you want." "She deserves a lot worse." "Well, she's already been injected with the vaccine, so the urge for male cum is probably eating away at her pretty badly right now, and you know what that's like." Lauren's face scrunched up. "It's a need, but it's not punishment." "And if I send her away, I'm pretty sure the Air Force is just going to give her to someone else in New Eden, so it's not like I can make her just disappear," he said, sighing softly. "But you're the one with the history here. So you tell me what you want. Should I throw her out? Is that what you want?" "What I want? What I want is for her to be punished and learn some fucking loyalty." "Do you want to be the one to do that?" Lauren rubbed her eyes again, then reached to take one of Andy's hands that had been resting atop of her knee. "What do you mean?" "Phil told me that if a woman partakes of the cum of a man other than the one she's imprinted to, it can have, consequences. Dire consequences. Which means she's going to have to be loyal to our family, if you want her to be a part of it." "She can't just come in without some retribution, Andy," Lauren said, shaking her head. "I won't let her just walk all over me like that." "Lauren. Love. At this point, you have the upper hand. You hold all the power right now. Your ex is here, and more than anything she wants to stay here, it looks like. Right before I came up here, she said she'd do everything she could to spend the rest of her life apologizing to you, to try and make it up to you. Have you talked to her at all since you threw her out?" "I didn't even talk to her when I threw her out, Andy!" Lauren said, tossing her

Achoo! We're falling in love with the one and only Faith Prince. You Might Know Her From Modern Family, Emily in Paris, Melissa & Joey, Spin City, My Father the Hero, The Last Dragon, and Broadway productions of Guys & Dolls, A Catered Affair, Bells Are Ringing, and BOOP!  Faith talked to us about grounding her character, Valentina, in the cartoonish plot of BOOP!, coping with fame during her star-making turn in Guys & Dolls, and leaning on her co-star Gerard Depardieu in one of her first leading roles on camera in My Father the Hero.  Faith also shared stories from working as a Broadway replacement in the cumbersome costume of Ursula in The Little Mermaid and the notoriously “realistic” production of Anne as Miss Hannigan. All that, plus working with theatre legends like Jerome Robbins, Abe Burrows, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, doing dialect work at Joey Lawrence and Lily Collins, doing her best Cyndi Lauper in cult fave The Last Dragon (and making pals with Berry Gordy, and working with Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell in the short-lived High Society.   This one was a HOOT.  Patreon: www.patreon.com/youmightknowherfrom Follow us on social media: @youmightknowherfrom || @damianbellino || @rodemanne Discussed this episode: Evergreen topics for Anne and Damian: Tyne Daly in Gypsy, Grease, Spice Girls track listings, we look like cats in Heathcliff, the cast of Mannequin 2 aka is it Jonathan Silverman, no it's William Ragsdale in Herman's Head, Sex and the City/AJLT Cynthia Nixon's kitchen tour Tom and Lorenzo and their SJP adventure Plays Valentina in Boop on Broadway We love Dancer/Choreographer Rachelle Rak Coughing as Adelaide was tougher than talking and singing in character voice Bob Saget used his stand-up to differentiate himself from Danny Tanner  Nathan & Adelaide are famously the SOUBRETTES in Guys & Dolls so Jerry Zaks put them forward instead of Sky and Sarah (this changed how future productions positioned the 2 couples)  Jerry Mitchell says it's important to pass the baton down to the next generation of musical theatre stars Arthur Laurents aka “the meanest man in show-business”, Jerry Gutierrez, Abe Burrows, Comden & Green, Sondheim, Barishnykov, Howard Ashman, Jack Plotnick, Tina Landau,  My Father the Hero w/ Gerard Depardieu “Dirty Books” from The Last Dragon / Suzanne de Passe and Berry Gordy produced the soundtrack. Berry Gordy took her OUT and called her “baby” “One More Time” in First Wives Club “How do you know if someone has lived through trauma — by the way they get someone who doesn't like them, to like them.” Cole Escola of Oh, Mary! on CBS Sunday Morning Was in first 6 episodes of High Society with Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell (based on AbFab and Faith played the Saffy character) Faith Prince's “Men” from Nick & Nora. The show was a notorious flop. Arthur told Faith she was making a big mistake by leaving show to do Guys & Dolls. Mary Rodgers told her she could find a way into Anna through Gertrude Lawrence, who was a comedienne.  Was offered the role of Audrey in the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors Went to CCM with Jim Walton Had taken the revue, Scrambled Feet and was doing an IBM industrial so couldn't' take LSOH Lance Roberts is currently in Just in Time Ellen Greene did Adelaide at The Hollywood Bowl  Studied Donna Murphy who she replaced in The King & I and then did Wonderful Town (at LA Opera) Katie Finneran talked with us about James Lapine's realistic interpretation of Annie and Miss Hannigan in the 2012 revival. Said it was a challenge in the NYT. Re the 2012 revival of Annie: Andrea McArdle said “I didn't know we were doing Secret Garden” Associate Director Wes Grantham LOVES HUMOR, unlike Lapine Martin Charnin & Charles Strouse KISSED HER FEET when they visited her backstage John Doyle who directed A Catered Affair also backs away from the humor We love Bells are Ringing - Faith starred in the 2001 Broadway revival. Difficult because of Mitchell Maxwell who produced Had to ride an actor in Grey's Anatomy because character's IUD got stuck on her ex-husband's Prince Albert penis piercing Does some great character work in the indie film Our Very Own (got gig from doing reading of The Women with Allison Janney) IMDB lists her on an ep of Mad Men. INCORRECT. Martin Short was in Dennis Quaid movie, Innerspace My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies was an incredible, formative concert Managing Ursula costume in The Little Mermaid was worse than managing the wig in her Lifetime movie with Kathleen Turner, Friends at Last Vicki Lewis told us she held Dixie Carter's spit cup in a production of Mame she was in with Faith Christopher Walken kept pickled things in the pockets of his costume during James Joyce's The Dead (Marni Nixon was also in the show) We interviewed Annaleigh Ashford who is maybe made  in the mold of Faith Prince Damian is seeing an Italian production of Cats / Anne is seeing her nephew do Grease Jr.  in Sicily DUCK ASS HAIR for Danny Zuko

Yes, we can read more than a record review. Today we dive into two books covering the lives (up to the time of writing) of Berry Gordy and Bob Geldof. Tune in, laugh, learn and walk your dog. Find us on social @bgbrokn. Pass us on and follow. Berry Gordy - The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Mowtown.Bob Geldof - Is That ItOur music recos: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Thb0zbhJ66M3cCQ6pwky2?si=3PhevP6WRzuHeFJFnI_3wg

Markus and Ray have long espoused their love of the great Marvin Gaye on this podcast! This week, he's featured in an episode of Game Changers, all about his landmark 1971 album, What's Going On? The music takes us places, and to other times, like when 8-track players roamed the Earth! That's part of the story as the guys dig deep in an album by Marvin Gaye that absolutely chanted things in 1971! They revisit the struggle between Gaye and Berry Gordy. It was more than a song title, it was a question to the universe at that place & time. It's a fun ride! Chime in with your points on email: imbalancedhistory@gmail.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Markus and Ray have long espoused their love of the great Marvin Gaye on this podcast! This week, he's featured in an episode of Game Changers, all about his landmark 1971 album, What's Going On? The music takes us places, and to other times, like when 8-track players roamed the Earth! That's part of the story as the guys dig deep in an album by Marvin Gaye that absolutely chanted things in 1971! They revisit the struggle between Gaye and Berry Gordy. It was more than a song title, it was a question to the universe at that place & time. It's a fun ride! Chime in with your points on email: imbalancedhistory@gmail.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fan Favorite: This episode originally aired on: August 27, 2019. What up, homies! It's your girl Lisa Bilyeu, and welcome back to another fire episode of Women of Impact, where we rise, we conquer, and we create waves that last lifetimes. Today, I'm beyond thrilled to introduce an absolute legend in her own right, our fabulous guest, Rhonda Ross! Now, imagine for a moment growing up under the immense spotlight of music royalty. Yep, that's where Rhonda's journey starts – daughter of the iconic Diana Ross and the genius behind Motown Records, Berry Gordy. You'd think expectations would shape her completely, but Rhonda's here to flip that script and show us how she not only knew that her path was hers alone to walk but learned to light the fire within herself, making her authentic voice boom! From standing ovations at the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden to headlining for President Obama, Rhonda Ross isn't just stepping out of her famous parent's shadows; she's creating her own light, speaking on racism, sexism, and self-love with power and grace. So, buckle up because Rhonda's about to share some priceless gems on finding your true self amidst the noise. SHOWNOTES 00:00: Introduction to Rhonda Ross's Journey 00:00:44: Breaking Down Expectations and Limitations 01:42: Embracing Unique Identity Beyond Fame 05:24: Overcoming Society's Expectations 07:55: Discovering and Nurturing Authentic Self 18:05: The Daily Practice of Happiness and Fulfillment 21:41: The Power of Personal Joy and Light 27:49: Navigating Infertility and Staying Positive 30:25: Embracing and Celebrating Each Life Step 33:47: Insights on Emotional Resilience and Presence FOLLOW RHONDA ROSS: Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/therhondaross/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/therhondaross/ Website: https://www.rhondaross.com/ CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS Audible: Sign up for a free 30-day trial at https://audible.com/WOI  Vital Proteins: Get 20% off by going to https://www.vitalproteins.com and entering promo code WOI at check out.  BiOptimizers: Head to https://bioptimizers.com/impact and use code IMPACT for 10% off.  Kettle & Fire: Get 20% off at https://kettleandfire.com/lisa with code LISA Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/lisa Netsuite: Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at https://NetSuite.com/women ********************************************************************** LISTEN TO WOMEN OF IMPACT AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS:  apple.co/womenofimpact ********************************************************************** FOLLOW LISA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisabilyeu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisabilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/womenofimpact Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lisa_bilyeu?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phil & David love it when they're Cruisin' together with the great Smokey Robinson and their buddy Brad Paisley. Hear great stories about The Temptations, The Funk Brothers, Smokey's late great guitarist and co-writer Marv Tarplin, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, the amazing stories of how Smokey and Stevie Wonder created "Tears of a Clown," how Berry Gordy went to incredible lengths to make The Miracles' "Shop Around" sell, plus Brad's amazing story of how Charlie Pride changed his life. And to learn more about Smokey's new album, "What The World Needs Now" which will be released April 25th and upcoming tour dates celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his classic "Quiet Storm" album, go to: https://smokeyrobinson.com. To learn more about building community through food and "Somebody Feed the People," visit the Philanthropy page at philrosenthalworld.com. 

Ooo Baby Baby, Phil and David are thrilled to welcome the legendary Smokey Robinson to a very special "Naked Lunch" with Brad Paisley. In Part 1 of this conversation we learn about Smokey and Brad's mutual admiration, discuss Smokey's upcoming album, "What The World Needs Now" due out April 25th, and hear great stories about Muhammad Ali, Marvin Gaye, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Beethoven, Diana Ross, Bill Withers, Berry Gordy and the culinary skills of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, the 50th Anniversary of Smokey's "Quiet Storm" album and many more. For more info on Smokey's new album and tour dates, visit https://smokeyrobinson.com. To learn more about building community through food and "Somebody Feed the People," visit the Philanthropy page at philrosenthalworld.com. 

CNN, HBO MaxLegendary US singer Dionne Warwick 2025 Inductee Class in the Rock & Roll Hall of FameThe news came shortly after the 82-year-old star became one of the latest recipients of a Kennedy Center Honor, alongside comedian Billy Crystal and actor Queen Latifah.The Don't Make Me Over tour will begin its UK leg at Gateshead's The Glasshouse on Sunday 5 May, 2024, with tickets going on sale via Ticketmaster.  In 2023, we saw the debut of her Documentary that aired on CNN New Year's Day featuring Legendary Music Icons like the late Burt Bachrach, Jerry Blavat, Chuck Jackson, as well as Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, & Smokey Robinson. She began singing professionally in 1961 after being discovered by a young songwriting team, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She had her first hit in 1962 with “Don't Make Me Over.” Less than a decade later, she had released more than 18 consecutive Top 100 singles, including her classic Bacharach/David recordings, “Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Message to Michael,” "Promises Promises,” “A House is Not a Home,” “Alfie,” “Say a Little Prayer,” “This Girl's in Love With You,” “I'll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Reach Out For Me,” and the theme from “Valley of the Dolls. ”Together, Warwick and her songwriting team of Burt Bacharach & Hal David, accumulated more than 30 hit singles, and close to 20 best-selling albums, during their first decade together.Warwick received her first GRAMMY® Award in 1968 for her mega-hit, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and a second GRAMMY® in 1970 for the best-selling album, “I'll Never Fall in Love Again.” She became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocalist Performance. This award was only presented to one other legend, Miss Ella Fitzgerald.In 1970, Warwick received her second GRAMMY® Award for the best-selling album, “I'll Never Fall In Love Again,” and began her second decade of hits with Warner Bros. Records. In 1974, she hit the top of the charts with “Then Came You,” a million-selling duet with The Spinners. She then teamed up with Isaac Hayes for a highly successful world tour, “A Man and a Woman.”In 1976, Warwick signed with Arista Records, beginning a third decade of hit-making. Arista Records label-mate Barry Manilow produced her first Platinum-selling album, “Dionne,” which included back-to-back hits “I'll Never Love This Way Again,” and “Déjà vu.” Both recordings earned GRAMMY® Awards, making Warwick the first female artist to win the Best Female Pop and Best Female R&B Performance Awards.Warwick's 1982 album, “Heartbreaker,” co-produced by Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees, became an international chart-topper. In 1985, she reunited with composer Burt Bacharach and longtime friends Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder to record the landmark song “That's What Friends Are For,” which became a number one hit record around the world and the first recording dedicated to raising awareness and major funds (over $3 Million) for the AIDS © 2025 Building Abundant Success!!2025  All Rights ReservedJoin Me on ~ iHeart Media @ https://tinyurl.com/iHeartBASAmazon ~ https://tinyurl.com/AmzBASAudacy:  https://tinyurl.com/BASAud

Feel the Glow on Episode 147 of The Bulletproof Podcast! Join Chris the Brain, "The Toyman" Chris DePetrillo and Ryan Campbell as they go back to the 80s and review Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon! The music, Bruce Leroy unwittingly playing hard to get, the confidence of Richie, the star power of Vanity's Laura Charles, the show stealing Johnny Yu and a rogues gallery that is capped off by "The Shogun of Harlen" Sho'nuff are all among the talking points! Plus, CTB shares his one degree of separation with The Last Dragon AND pitches his idea for a G.I. Joe live action movie! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laughing My Freaking Ass Off, or LMFAO as they were more commonly known - were one of the most enigmatic duos in pop music history. Formed in 2006 by Motown Records’ founder Berry Gordy’s youngest son Stefan Kendal Gordy - AKA Redfoo, and Redfoo’s half-nephew Skyler Austen Gordy - or Sky Blu (with no e, of course)... I would hazard a guess that these hyperactive nepo-babies are the single most successful Uncle-Nephew duo in all of music. As was the style at the time - Foo and Blu’s club bangers included tracks with influences from contemporary pop, hip hop, synthpop, paving the way for a somewhat mindless wave of EDM that focused on the carefree vibes of nightlife, partying, drinking, and just having a good time. After gaining a bit of a following and laying down some demos that truly distilled their party-rocking sound, Redfoo decided to show his demos off to his best friend to get his thoughts on the songs. Now, You may not be surprised to find out that Redfoo’s best friend LOVED the demos; you could even say he had a feelin’ that LMFAO were ready for the big time. Of course, I’m burying the lede here. It PROBABLY didn’t hurt that this ‘best friend’ in question, was none other than Will. I . Am. This is the story of LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem' with newly unearthed audio from the group.

(S4-Ep13) The Four Tops - Reach Out (Motown)Released July 1967 and Recorded between 1966-1967Reach Out is the Four Tops' best-selling studio album and a landmark Motown release. The album features their signature hit, “Reach Out I'll Be There,” It showcases Levi Stubbs' passionate vocals, dramatic orchestration, and the Funk Brothers' impeccable musicianship. Other standout tracks include “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Bernadette,” and “7-Rooms of Gloom,” all highlighting the group's dynamic intensity and James Jamerson's masterful bass playing. This was the last album the Four Tops recorded with the legendary Holland–Dozier–Holland team before they departed from Motown, marking the end of an era. To broaden the group's crossover appeal, Motown's Berry Gordy had them cover several contemporary pop hits, including The Left Banke's “Walk Away Renée,” Tim Hardin's “If I Were a Carpenter,” and two Monkees songs, “I'm a Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville.” Though some of these covers felt somewhat forced, the album remains a defining moment in their career. Reach Out was a commercial success, reaching #11 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and #4 in the UK. Its legacy endures, earning a spot on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and solidifying the Four Tops' place in Motown history.Signature Tracks: "Reach Out I'll Be There,"  "Standing In The Shadows Of Love,""Bernadette"Full Album: YouTube  Spotify Playlists: YouTube  Spotify

Send us a textHey Fam,Join me for an amazing conversation with the one and only Rhonda Ross, Emmy-nominated actor, Grammy-nominated songwriter, and motivational singer who's been touching hearts with her music, speeches, courses, and workshops. You may know her as the daughter of legendary Diana Ross and Motown mogul Berry Gordy, but trust me, her story is so much deeper than that.Let me tell you, Rhonda is one of us. Sure, we see the fame, the glitz, and the family photos, but we don't always get to see the struggles she's faced behind the scenes—the feelings of not being enough, the insecurity, and even the depression that once weighed her down.In this episode, Rhonda opens up about hitting rock bottom and the work it took to kick that negative self-talk to the curb. She shares her powerful journey toward emotional balance and healing, and what it means to feel better for real.We dive into her experiences in the music industry, her life as an artist, and how she eventually found her true calling. Let me tell you, we had some real moments in this conversation, and Rhonda's heart for helping others overcome their own inner struggles and step into their light is nothing short of inspiring.So, grab your favorite drink, get cozy, and tune in to hear why critics are raving about Rhonda's electric performances and why she's a true force of nature. Trust me, you won't want to miss this.Please visit our website check out our merch and get your LOGO tee shirt and cap. Listen | Share | EnjoyLove and Light, Monica Wisdom Monica Wisdom Global is a consulting agency for women entrepreneurs. We help you build a business aligned with your vision, voice, and values. To learn more visit www.monicawisdomhq.comThank you for your support Got Merch? Pick up your Black Women Amplified tee shirts and caps. www.blackwomenamplified.com

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our milestone 100th episode with the legendary Lamont Dozier! ABOUT LAMONT DOZIERLamont Dozier, along with brothers Eddie and Brian Holland, wrote and produced more than 20 consecutive singles recorded by the Supremes, including ten #1 pop hits: “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Back in My Arms Again,” “I Hear a Symphony,” “You Can't Hurry Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin' On,” “Love is Here and Now You're Gone,” and “The Happening.” Other Top 5 singles they wrote for the Supremes include “My World is Empty Without You” and “Reflections.” In addition to their hits with the Supremes, Holland, Dozier, and Holland helped further define the Motown sound by writing major pop and R&B hits such as “Heat Wave,” “Nowhere to Run,” and “Jimmy Mack” for Martha and the Vandellas, “Mickey's Monkey” for the Miracles, “Can I Get a Witness” and “You're a Wonderful One” for Marvin Gaye, and “(I'm A) Road Runner” for Junior Walker and the All Stars. The trio found particular success with The Four Tops, who scored hits with their songs “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “It's the Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I'll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” and “Bernadette.” Additional hits include “Crumbs Off the Table” for Glass House, “Give Me Just a Little More Time” for Chairmen of the Board, “Band of Gold” for Freda Payne, and Dozier's own recording of “Why Can't We Be Lovers.” Hit cover versions of his songs by rock artists include “Don't Do It” by the Band, “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)” by the Doobie Brothers, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” by James Taylor, and “This Old Heart of Mine” by Rod Stewart. With hits spanning multiple decades, Dozier also co-wrote “Two Hearts” with Phil Collins, earning a #1 pop hit, a Grammy award, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar nomination. Dozier is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award for songwriting, as well as the BMI Icon award. Lamont Dozier was additionally named among Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

Berry Gordy and Pres Jimmy Carter are cousins and share a grandfather! Their connection represents the true AMERICA. Majority of Black and White - if they were to dig in their family tree or take a DNA test would see how connected they truly are! Jimmy and Berry Knew they were related since the 1970's..super cool! Listen to this podcast and learn what folks in Hollywood ar Pase' Blanc- who is passing as white i.e. carol channing Loni Anderson Pete Wentz Steven Tyler etc.

Larry is joined by journalist and MSNBC political analyst Juanita Tolliver to discuss her new book, ‘A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics'. They begin their conversation by talking about what inspired Tolliver to write about the legendary political fundraiser and shining a light on the many influential luminaries that were in attendance, including Huey Newton, Flip Wilson, and Berry Gordy. After the break, Larry and Juanita talk about the converging ideologies that aligned themselves with Chisholm's groundbreaking campaign and draw comparisons between her and Kamala Harris's recent bid for the presidency (30:19). Juanita ends the pod by contemplating on who could fill Shirley Chisholm's revolutionary shoes in today's politics, and sharing some of the favorite things she learned while researching the book (46:03). Host: Larry Wilmore Guest: Juanita Tolliver Producer: Chris Sutton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know you love us - but "Do You Love Me"? Berry Gordy got Motown started in 62 with The Contours and it might be a little revenge-romance fantasy. You will love Billy Gordon's vocal performance, the amazing backing vocal performance by FOUR other singers, to say nothing of The Funk Brothers. In '65, Paul Revere & The Raiders cranked out a version that's a lil bit ska, a lil bit surf. With palm muting - wild! The dawn of the 70s brought a strange, easy listening rendition by Essex's finest - Deep Feeling. Not far away, podcast faves Silicon Teens waxed the track in 79 and you know we love Daniel Miller's synth and soul (?) sounds ... The 80s got weird with Andy Fraser's attempt in 84 - the song is meh but the video is adorable. Finally, there's a version from 94 by Duke Baysee, and, true to the song, the dude is really working. Watch us now!

Berry Gordy IV is the son of the legendary Motown Founder Berry Gordy. Berry the 4th is a bit of a sage.  In his podcast debut he shares his unique perspective with Roseanne and Jake.  Berry believes language is a human creation and not a creation of god- and that single degree of separation is why man is constantly confused and conflicted.  Berry is a profoundly sweet and authentic man that we just fucking love and his book “Living Life Before Words” may just be the the written word your soul needs.  Berry Gordy IV: www.beforewords.com ------------------------------------------------ Sponsored By: Get prepped with IVERMECTIN and life-saving meds at The Wellness Company: http://www.twc.health/RB – code RB saves $30 + FREE shipping at checkout on Emergency Contagion Kits. HomeChef is offering my listeners 18 Free Meals + Free Shipping on your first box at http://HomeChef.com/ROSEANNE. Stop leaving your safety to chance. Get a Byrna—because sometimes, less-lethal is all you need to get the job done. Visit http://www.Byrna.com/roseanne to receive 10% off your purchase. Earth Breeze: Get a powerful clean without the unnecessary chemicals. Keep it simple by going to http://www.earthbreeze.com/roseanne for 40% off with your subscription. NOBLE GOLD Investments.Protect your wealth while you still can at https://roseannebarrgold.com  Try AMRA Colostrum! Go to https://www.tryarmra.com/RB or enter RB to get 15% off your first order. ------------------------------------------------ Follow Roseanne:     Website: https://www.roseannebarr.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialroseannebarr    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialroseannebarr   Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealroseanne   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/roseanneworld Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/roseannebarrpodcast Merch: https://www.roseannebarr.com/shop    ------------------------------------------------ Co-host /Producer: Jake Pentland https://twitter.com/jakezuccproof https://www.instagram.com/jakepentlandzuccproof ------------------------------------------------ Music: "Synthetic World" by Swamp Dogg: https://youtu.be/2_uOB0455VI ------------------------------------------------    

Can transforming your thoughts and habits truly reshape your life? In this episode, I sit down with RedFoo, a world-renowned music producer, DJ, and co-founder of LMFAO. Together, we explore the power of positive thinking, the Law of Attraction, and how diet, lifestyle, and mindset can radically transform not only our bodies but our entire lives. From his journey of manifesting chart-topping hits to embracing raw food and discovering his purpose as a teacher and parent, RedFoo shares the lessons that helped him align his life with his dreams. We uncover how small, consistent changes in mindset and habits create massive shifts—and why celebrating what you want is the key to unlocking your best self. This conversation is about more than music or health—it's about reclaiming your power, reprogramming your mind, and building a super life.   We Also Discuss: (00:02:15 - 00:03:58) Introduction & Overcoming Setbacks - RedFoo shares a hilarious mix-up before the podcast and reflects on resilience after property loss. (00:03:58 - 00:06:13) Manifestation & The "Plus One Mentality" - How dreaming big and eliminating negativity turned RedFoo's vision into reality. (00:06:13 - 00:08:32) The Brain's Negativity Bias - Why our brains default to fear and how to retrain them for positivity and growth. (00:08:32 - 00:12:20) Saying Yes to Opportunities - From DJing his first party to performing at LA's biggest club, RedFoo reveals how embracing opportunities shaped his career. (00:12:20 - 00:20:34) Breaking Free from Excuses & Environment - The impact of surroundings on mindset and how to reclaim control over your life. (00:20:34 - 00:23:01) The Power of Health & Lifestyle Choices - RedFoo discusses how food and daily habits drastically changed his energy and perspective. (00:26:27 - 00:30:10) Shifting Perspectives for Growth - How stating your goals in positive terms transforms your mindset and outcomes. (00:30:10 - 00:35:22) The Role of Diet in Mental Clarity & Energy - Raw food, sprouts, and the joy of simple, healthy living. (00:35:22 - 00:39:03) Aligning Actions with Intentions - Why your daily actions must align with your goals to manifest a fulfilling life. (00:39:03 - 00:44:45) Lessons from RedFoo's Parents - Insights from Berry Gordy and RedFoo's mother on creativity, resilience, and forging your own path. (00:44:45 - 00:50:06) Overcoming Limiting Beliefs - How RedFoo resisted opinions that could have stifled his dreams and redefined his path. (00:50:06 - 00:57:20) The Power of Uplifting Music - The role of tempo and frequencies in creating music that elevates the soul and energizes the listener. (01:00:08 - 01:06:05) Becoming a Teacher & Leading by Example - RedFoo's passion for teaching his daughter and creating a healthier, purpose-driven future. (01:06:05 - 01:07:24) The Secret to a Super Life - Simple yet powerful practices to build momentum and unlock limitless potential. (01:07:24 - 01:08:10) Final Reflections on Health & Growth - How prioritizing health transforms every aspect of life, from physical energy to mental clarity.   Don't forget… You can order now by heading to darinolien.com/fatal-conveniences-book or order now on Amazon.   Special Thanks to Our Sponsors: Therasage: Go to www.therasage.com and use code DARIN at checkout for 15% off Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/DARIN and using code DARIN at checkout. Bite: Go to trybite.com/DARIN20 or use code DARIN20 for 20% off your first order. Find more from Darin: Website: https://darinolien.com/ Instagram: @Darinolien Book: darinolien.com/fatal-conveniences-book/ Down to Earth: darinolien.com/down-to-earth/ Find more from RedFoo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redfoo Website: https://redfoo.com Twitter: https://x.com/redfoo

DJ Rhythm Dee's Motown Groove  Inspired by a recent trip to the motor city to visit the iconic Motown recording studio, I decided to put this little mix together.This is just a fraction of the early offerings of Berry Gordy and his talented artists which gave us the sound of young America and the world.PLAYLIST1. Mickey's Monkey/The Miracles2. Going to a Go-Go/The Miracles3. I Can't Help Myself/The Four Tops4. Uptight/Stevie Wonder5. Stop In The Name Of Love/The Supremes6. Ain't Too Proud To Beg/The Temptations7. Tears Of A Clown/Smokey Robinson &The Miracles8. Come See About Me/The Supremes9. Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing (f/Tammi Terrell)/ Marvin Gaye10. Baby Love/The Supremes11. The Way You Do The Things You Do/The Temptations12. Back In My Arms Again/The Supremes13. Please Mr. Postman/The Marvelettes14. Finger Tips (Part 2)/Stevie Wonder15. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave/Martha & The Vandellas16. Dancing In The Street/Martha & The Vandellas17. Shotgun/Jr. Walker & The All Stars18. My Girl/The Temptations19. You Can't Hurry Love/ The Supremes20. Reach Out I'll Be There/The Four Tops21. Jimmy Mack/Martha & The Vandellas22. The Happening/The Supremes23. Heard It Through The Grapevine/Marvin Gaye24. My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)/Jimmy Ruffin25. I Was Made To Love Her/Stevie Wonder26. Get Ready/The Temptations27. You're All I Need (f/Tammi Terrell)/Marvin Gaye28. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby/The Temptations29. For Once In My Life/Stevie Wonder30. You Keep Me Hanging On/The Supremes31. Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours/Stevie Wonder32. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me/Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations33. Reflections/The Supremes34. I Can't Get Next To You/The Temptations35. I Want You Back/The Jackson 536. Superstition/Stevie Wonder37. Ball Of Confusion/The Temptations38. What's Going On/Marvin Gaye39. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology Song)/Marvin Gaye40. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)/Marvin Gaye41. Papa Was A Rolling Stone/The Temptations42. Heard It Through The Grapevine/Gladys Knight & The Pips43. Someday We'll Be Together/Diana Ross & The Supremes

These children of showbiz legends are ensuring that their fathers' memories and legacies live on. We speak with James Tormé and Melissa Tormé-March about their Velvet Fog of a dad, Mel Tormé, as we approach the 80th anniversary of his incomparable contribution to the holiday music canon, 'The Christmas Song'. Then Joel Brokaw joins us. His new book 'Driving Marilyn: The Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Agent Norman Brokaw' chronicles the history of William Morris star-maker, Norman Brokaw, known to Joel as Dad.Melissa and James share their enthusiasm for Oy! To the World Christmas with a Twist, a new musical playing this month at North Hollywood's El Portal Theatre, which features their father's music alongside a hit list of Christmas classics composed by Jewish-American songwriters. James and Melissa take us back to the sweltering July day in 1945 when their Dad and Bob Wells attempted to beat the heat with wintery lyrics and remained sweaty but created magic by conjuring “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”They rushed the song over to Nat King Cole who was in at a few bars and proudly led a parade of 80,064 recorded covers, including James' own version! The Torme kids share their Torme Christmas memories which include their dad and contraband Christmas movies!Then Joel shares his family's history as a Ukrainian vaudeville acrobatic act that segued into the agency business when his Uncle, Johnny Hyde became VP of William Morris, discovered Marilyn Monroe and took on his young nephew, Norman to drive and accompany Marilyn to events.Starting in the mailroom, Norman worked his way up to CEO.  We hear about his working relationships with Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Colonel Tom Parker, Dick Van Dyke, Gerald Ford, Mark Spitz, Barry Gordy and so many other greats.Joel talks about his complicated history with a father whose clients received his primary caregiving. Joel grew up with TV stars spending weekends by his pool, monopolizing his Dad's attention.But what were the qualities that made Norman so affective as a talent mentor? We learn the magic ingredients and hear how Norman took the new fangled TV department and made history with Loretta Young, Barbara Stanwyck, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith.  Joel also talks about Norman's relationship with Bill Cosby and how his father's dementia buffered him from the horrors of Cosby's crimes. And, finally, what was the fate of Norman's sacred, secret keeping Rolodex?Plus, this week Weezy recommends Nutcrackers on Hulu and Fritz is all about Thelma, now in theaters and on streaming platforms.Path Points of Interest:Oy! To The WorldJames Tormé James Tormé on YouTubeJames Tormé  on XThe Christmas Song by James Tormé James Tormé at Kookaburra on 12/21Joel BrokawDriving Marilyn by Joel BrokawNorman Brokaw on WikiNutcrackers on HuluThelma - Streaming in Most Places  

On the November 28 edition of the Music History Today podcast, the Grand Ole Opry radio show premieres, John Lennon plays with Elton John, & Prince & Britney Spears premieres. Also, happy birthday to Berry Gordy, Jr. For more music history, subscribe to my Spotify Channel or subscribe to the audio version of my music history podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts from ALL MUSIC HISTORY TODAY PODCAST NETWORK LINKS - https://allmylinks.com/musichistorytoday --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musichistorytodaypodcast/support

Supersonic singer and bandleader talks about working with the Motown cats in Detroit who were left behind when Berry Gordy took his company to Los Angeles. Keep swinging!

In this episode, I spoke with Joel Brokaw about his book "Driving Marilyn: The Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Agent Norman Brokaw".Norman Brokaw was CEO and Chairman of the William Morris Agency from 1989 to 1997, but his legacy may lie in his ascent from mail room clerk to Marilyn Monroe's personal driver to agent for some of Hollywood's most iconic figures of the late 20th Century: Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Elvis (and Colonel Parker), Natalie Wood, Loretta Young, Clint Eastwood, Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke, Berry Gordy, Bill Cosby, Donna Summer, Brooke Shields plus many more. 

Season 6, episode 43 on the California Sports Lawyer® Podcast with Jeremy Evans, interviewing author Joel Brokaw, youngest son of renowned Hollywood talent agent Norman Brokaw, discussing Norman's life and times from the mailroom at famed William Morris Agency, to driving Marilyn Monroe and confiding in Joe DiMaggio, working with Elvis Presley and Col. Tom Parker, and representing the likes of President Gerald Ford, athlete Mark Spitz, musical genius Berry Gordy, in his book "Driving Marilyn: The Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Agent Norman Brokaw", describes his life of purpose, selflessness, and revolutionizing the talent agency business and television. Copyright © 2024.  California Sports Lawyer®.  All Rights Reserved (www.CSLlegal.com).

Berry Gordy's movie The Last Dragon conveys an important message about responsibility and self-definition: "Who's the master?!... I AM..." Our reality reflects what we strive for. If a person focuses on their limitations and the difficulty of change, they will create a life defined by those thoughts. Start with a positive emotion and consistently affirm your identity. I am, I can, I have... The answer is in the question. Cheers!

On this day, Oct. 24, 1996, Berry Gordy, the visionary founder of Motown Records, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Gordy established Motown in 1959 in Detroit, creating a musical powerhouse that would change the industry forever. Under his leadership, Motown launched the careers of iconic African-American artists like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and the Supremes, along with many other household names. Known for its distinctive sound, Motown broke racial barriers and became a symbol of unity and cultural pride. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liss 'N Kristi celebrate a black tie Saturday morning in the company of two Texan style, media and society influencers: Society Texas and The Society Diaries alum, and host of the Fun In Fundraising podcast Rob Giardinelli; and Brilliant, The Society Diaries and Society Texas founding Editor-in-Chief Lance Avery Morgan.The wide-ranging conversation starts with some of Kristi's encounters as a reporter, including her "funeral-crashing" exploits undercover. They talk about the changing social dynamics of Texas philanthropy, and a big fund-raising milestone for Kristi's national non-profit, k9s4Cops.org. 00:00 - Start00:11 - In black tie on a Saturday morning01:07 - My old friend Welcome Wilson01:58 - Faking it 'til you make it 02:55 - The Koch Brothers 03:45 - "They gave her $50,000 a month"05:32 - "You know who lives next door"? Dianne (Marshall)07:18 - "Mr. Marshall, I don't know if you remember me"07:38 - Eating at Anthonys: "This hand comes over" - Mr Marshall prefers to eat alone08:53 - "I found peel-on tattoos and got the story" 09:14 - She sang "The Wind Beneath my Wings"10:45 - "They hadn't been in a grocery store for 30 years"11:10 - "No one will want to watch anybody who isn't famous"11:52 - The ascension of the reality star13:24 - Buzz Aldrin and coping with returning from space15:30 - He kicked a guy's ass at a book signing16:20 - Everything old is new again17:40 - Elon Musk's attention span19:15 - People who choose to give back20:00 - K9s4cops - just hit $8-billion in contraband seized21:50 - The woman running fentanyl23:55 - k9s4cops funding is all through private donations

Diana Ross is rightly one of the biggest stars in the world, but her fortuitous proximity to Motown Records and its founder, Berry Gordy, and his obsession with her, supercharged the musical career of a girl who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Their romance may not have been long lasting, but it left carnage in its wake even as Diana's star rose higher and higher. Want early, ad-free episodes, regular Dumpster Dives, bonus divorces, limited series, Zoom hangouts, and more? Join us at patreon.com/trashydivorces! Want a personalized message for someone in your life? Check us out on Cameo! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than forty years, composer Misha Segal has been consistently working on all kinds of films and television projects, from Ninja III: The Domination to The Facts of Life Goes to Paris to Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon to 1989's Phantom of the Opera with Robert Englund. To this day, Misha not only continues to inspire as he had throughout the 1980s, but he also makes a point to check out other musicians on TikTok and duet with other musicians on the app. To see for yourself how active Misha continues to be, cilck HERE!For those who would like to get involved with the Once Upon a Podcast Network, please message onceuponapodcastnetwork@gmail.com with your contact information and the name & description of your show. And if you have an idea for any of the concepts listed below, definitely let us know! We'd like to add shows that focus on the following:Indie Comics / Cosplaying / Book Club (roundtable show with indie books & authors) / Indie Films / Conventions / Fan Fiction / Self-Help (a creative host focusing on ailments all creatives deal with such as anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome, etc)Subscribe to all shows in the Once Upon a Podcast Network by clicking HERE.The Excelsior Journeys podcast exists primarily as a platform for creatives of all kinds (authors, filmmakers, stand-up comics, musicians, voice artists, painters, podcasters, etc) to share their journeys to personal success. It is very important to celebrate those voices as much as possible to not only provide encouragement to up-and-coming talent, but to say thank you to the established men & women for inspiring the current generation of artists.If you agree that the Excelsior Journeys podcast serves a positive purpose and would like to show your appreciation, you can give back to the show by clicking HERE.

On this week's show, we... Bid adieu to the late Duke Fakir of The Four Tops Pour one out for the late Martin Phillipps of The Chills Spend qualtiy time with superlative new records from Jack White, Parlor Greens & Johnny Blue Skies All this & much, much less! Debts No Honest Man Can Pay started in 2003 at WHFR-FM (Dearborn, MI), moved to WGWG-FM (Boiling Springs, NC) in 2006 & Plaza Midwood Community Radio (Charlotte, NC) in 2012, with a brief pit-stop at WLFM-FM (Appleton, WI) in 2004.

This is part 3 of our conversation about Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dragon   Website: https://BSReactor.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsreactor/ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bsreactor

Welcome to the latest episode of edition of WorkTape, where we take a retrospective journey back to 1964, to celebrate 60 years of some of the year's most interesting albums. We dive into the early years of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the rise of motown with Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, and examine the impact of artists like Bob Dylan and Sam Cooke. Join us as we reflect on how the early 60s pre-Vietnam era influenced music, the significance of surf rock and jazz during this period, and how these iconic sounds laid the foundation for generations to come. Don't miss this deep dive into one of the most transformative times in music history!Episode Highlights:What was the influence of Motown on the music of the early 60s?How did Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" pave the way for conscious music?What was the impact of Chuck Berry's music on bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys?How has surf rock played a role in the evolution of indie music?How did the 60s set the stage for the psychedelic sounds of the 70s?Were The Who and The Kinks the harder side to bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles?

This time at the reactor we're diving into the classic 1985 martial arts film, Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon.  SHO NUF   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dragon   Website: https://BSReactor.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsreactor/ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bsreactor

Nos sentimos obligados a hacer una segunda parte dedicada a las canciones que alcanzaron su puesto más alto en listas en julio de 1964. Una selección vinculada plenamente a artistas estadounidenses con mucho peso del soul, estilo que cada vez cobra más importancia, con especial atención a esa factoría de hits que era la disquera Motown de Detroit.(Foto del podcast; The Temptations con Smokey Robinson y el fundador de Motown, Berry Gordy)Playlist;(sintonía) HENRY MANCINI and HIS ORCHESTRA “A shot in the dark” (Top 97)THE IMPRESSIONS “Keep on pushing” (Top 10)SAM COOKE “Good times” (Top 11)SAM COOKE “Tennessee waltz” (Top 35)JAMES BROWN “The things that I used to do” (Top 99)ELVIS PRESLEY “Viva Las Vegas” (Top 92)TRINI LOPEZ “What have I got on my own” (Top 43)THE TEMPTATIONS “I’ll be in trouble” (Top 33)STEVIE WONDER “Hey Harmonica man” (Top 29)MARVIN GAYE “Try it baby” (Top 15)MARVIN GAYE and MARY WELLS “What’s the matter with you baby” (Top 17)EDDIE HOLLAND “Just ain’t enough love” (Top 54)MAJOR LANCE “It ain’t no use” (Top 68)MAJOR LANCE “Girls” (Top 68)CHUBBY CHECKER “Lazy Elsie Molly” (Top 40)ROUND ROBIN “Kick That Little Foot Sally" (Top 61)THE EVERLY BROTHERS “The Ferris Wheel” (Top 72)GLORIA LYNNE “Don't Take Your Love from Me” (Top 74)Escuchar audio

Join @TheBuzzKnight for this classic replay with a man who has shaped the music of Motown, Mickey Stevenson. Working for Berry Gordy, Mickey helped launched the careers of The Four Tops, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and countless others. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions share them at buzz@buzzknightmedia.com Connect with Buzz on Twitter @TheBuzzKnight and Instagram @takinawalkpodcast. Like the show? Leave us a review here. Review  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join @TheBuzzKnight for this classic replay with a man who has shaped the music of Motown, Mickey Stevenson. Working for Berry Gordy, Mickey helped launched the careers of The Four Tops, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and countless others. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions share them at buzz@buzzknightmedia.com Connect with Buzz on Twitter @TheBuzzKnight and Instagram @takinawalkpodcast. Like the show? Leave us a review here. Review  Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're introducing a new series in Trapital called One of Ones! We'll break down some of the most important moguls and executives in music, media, and entertainment.Our first one is on Quincy Jones. We discuss how his upbringing shapes his strategy in business, his leadership style compared to Motown founder Berry Gordy, Michael Jackson, two truths and a lie, and more.This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.Make sure you check out Chartmetric Stat of the Week.

Send us a Text Message.Hello, Family, Join me for a heartfelt conversation with Rhonda Ross, the Emmy-nominated actor, Grammy-nominated songwriter, and motivational singer who's been inspiring thousands with her music, speeches, courses, workshops, and retreats. You might know her as the child of legends Diana Ross and Motown mogul Berry Gordy, but there's so much more to her story.Let me tell you, family, Rhonda is one of us. We see the fame and the family photos, but what we don't see are the painful struggles she faces. The feelings of never being enough, insecurity, low self-esteem, and even overwhelming depression.In this episode, Rhonda gets real about hitting rock bottom and how she kicked her addiction to negative self-talk. She shares her journey to emotional balance and healing and what it took to finally feel better.You'll hear about her powerful performance, “This Makes Me Feel Like ‘BEEEP': An Evening of Music and the Magic of Mindset,” where she sings through her story with heart and humor, offering her unique perspective on life's ups and downs.Rhonda sat down with me to talk about the music industry, life as an artist, and how she found her true calling. We had some touching moments, discussing the challenges of finding our space to shine. Rhonda's passion for helping others overcome their inner struggles and discover their own light is truly inspiring.So, tune in and see why critics rave about her electric performances, and get ready to be moved by Rhonda Ross's incredible journey. Listen now on your favorite podcast platform. Love and kindness, Monica Wisdom, Host EPwww.monicawisdomhq.comTo learn more about Rhonda Ross and her works visit: http://therhondaross.comDon't get to join us on YouTube for empowering conversations with Monica Wisdom where we discuss life as a Black woman, behind the scenes of building a podcast, and my final thoughts about the podcast episodes. Subscribe to our Black Women Amplified YouTube Page.  Thinking of starting a podcast? Download our 9-Step Podcast Gameplan and discover a new way to showcase your expertise and elevate your brand. Please support our Sponsors:Vital Body is a nutrient company that has an incredible product called Vital Fruits and Vegetables with amazing ingredients, probiotics, and greens with no added sugar. www.blackwomenamplified.com/vitalbodyThey are offering our tribe 20% off when you use the code: monica20Unlock the potential of your voice, expertise, and perspective with Monica Wisdom's Podcasting Development Agency. Discover how podcasting can elevate your impact. Visit [link] for more info.Visit www.monicawisdomhq.comThank you for supporting our power partners.

Not everything has to be a competition...but maybe it should be. When creative people compete, everyone can win, and we're going to explore how.

For those who haven't heard the announcement I posted , songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a two-episode look at the song “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”. This week we take a short look at the song’s writers, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, and the first released version by Gladys Knight and the Pips. In two weeks time we’ll take a longer look at the sixties career of the song’s most famous performer, Marvin Gaye. This episode is quite a light one. That one… won’t be. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a half-hour bonus episode, on “Bend Me Shape Me” by Amen Corner. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources Mixcloud will be up with the next episode. For Motown-related information in this and other Motown episodes, I've used the following resources: Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George is an excellent popular history of the various companies that became Motown. To Be Loved by Berry Gordy is Gordy's own, understandably one-sided, but relatively well-written, autobiography. Women of Motown: An Oral History by Susan Whitall is a collection of interviews with women involved in Motown. I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B by J. Andrew Flory is an academic look at Motown. The Motown Encyclopaedia by Graham Betts is an exhaustive look at the people and records involved in Motown's thirty-year history. Motown: The Golden Years is another Motown encyclopaedia. And Motown Junkies is an infrequently-updated blog looking at (so far) the first 693 tracks released on Motown singles. For information on Marvin Gaye, and his relationship with Norman Whitfield, I relied on Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz. I’ve also used information on Whitfield in  Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations by Mark Ribowsky, I’ve also referred to interviews with Whitfield and Strong archived at rocksbackpages.com , notably “The Norman Whitfield interview”, John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 1 February 1977 For information about Gladys Knight, I’ve used her autobiography. The best collection of Gladys Knight and the Pips’ music is this 3-CD set, but the best way to hear Motown hits is in the context of other Motown hits. This five-CD box set contains the first five in the Motown Chartbusters series of British compilations. The Pips’ version of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” is on disc 2, while Marvin Gaye’s is on disc 3, which is famously generally considered one of the best single-disc various artists compilations ever. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before I start, a brief note — this episode contains some brief mentions of miscarriage and drug abuse. The history of modern music would be immeasurably different had it not been for one car breakdown. Norman Whitfield spent the first fifteen years of his life in New York, never leaving the city, until his grandmother died. She’d lived in LA, and that was where the funeral was held, and so the Whitfield family got into a car and drove right across the whole continent — two thousand five hundred miles — to attend the old lady’s funeral. And then after the funeral, they turned round and started to drive home again. But they only got as far as Detroit when the car, understandably, gave up the ghost.  Luckily, like many Black families, they had family in Detroit, and Norman’s aunt was not only willing to put the family up for a while, but her husband was able to give Norman’s father a job in his drug store while he saved up enough money to pay for the car to be fixed. But as it happened, the family liked Detroit, and they never did get around to driving back home to New York. Young Norman in particular took to the city’s nightlife, and soon as well as going to school he was working an evening job at a petrol station — but that was only to supplement the money he made as a pool hustler. Young Norman Whitfield was never going to be the kind of person who took a day job, and so along with his pool he started hanging out with musicians — in particular with Popcorn and the Mohawks, a band led by Popcorn Wylie. [Excerpt: Popcorn and the Mohawks, “Shimmy Gully”] Popcorn and the Mohawks were a band of serious jazz musicians, many of whom, including Wylie himself, went on to be members of the Funk Brothers, the team of session players that played on Motown’s hits — though Wylie would depart Motown fairly early after a falling out with Berry Gordy. They were some of the best musicians in Detroit at the time, and Whitfield would tag along with the group and play tambourine, and sometimes other hand percussion instruments. He wasn’t a serious musician at that point, just hanging out with a bunch of people who were, who were a year or two older than him. But he was learning — one thing that everyone says about Norman Whitfield in his youth is that he was someone who would stand on the periphery of every situation, not getting involved, but soaking in everything that the people around him were doing, and learning from them. And soon, he was playing percussion on sessions. At first, this wasn’t for Motown, but everything in the Detroit music scene connected back to the Gordy family in one way or another. In this case, the label was Thelma Records, which was formed by Berry Gordy’s ex-mother-in-law and named after Gordy’s first wife, who he had recently divorced. Of all the great Motown songwriters and producers, Whitfield’s life is the least-documented, to the extent that the chronology of his early career is very vague and contradictory, and Thelma was such a small label there even seems to be some dispute about when it existed — different sources give different dates, and while Whitfield always said he worked for Thelma records, he might have actually been employed by another label owned by the same people, Ge Ge, which might have operated earlier — but by most accounts Whitfield quickly progressed from session tambourine player to songwriter. According to an article on Whitfield from 1977, the first record of one of his songs was “Alone” by Tommy Storm on Thelma Records, but that record seems not to exist — however, some people on a soul message board, discussing this a few years ago, found an interview with a member of a group called The Fabulous Peps which also featured Storm, saying that their record on Ge Ge Records, “This Love I Have For You”, is a rewrite of that song by Don Davis, Thelma’s head of A&R, though the credit on the label for that is just to Davis and Ron Abner, another member of the group: [Excerpt: The Fabulous Peps, “This Love I Have For You”] So that might, or might not, be the first Norman Whitfield song ever to be released. The other song often credited as Whitfield’s first released song is “Answer Me” by Richard Street and the Distants — Street was another member of the Fabulous Peps, but we’ve encountered him and the Distants before when talking about the Temptations — the Distants were the group that Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Al Bryant had been in before forming the Temptations — and indeed Street would much later rejoin his old bandmates in the Temptations, when Whitfield was producing for them. Unlike the Fabulous Peps track, this one was clearly credited to N. Whitfield, so whatever happened with the Storm track, this is almost certainly Whitfield’s first official credit as a songwriter: [Excerpt: Richard Street and the Distants, “Answer Me”] He was soon writing songs for a lot of small labels — most of which appear to have been recorded by the Thelma team and then licensed out — like “I’ve Gotten Over You” by the Sonnettes: [Excerpt: The Sonnettes, “I’ve Gotten Over You”] That was on KO Records, distributed by Scepter, and was a minor local hit — enough to finally bring Whitfield to the attention of Berry Gordy. According to many sources, Whitfield had been hanging around Hitsville for months trying to get a job with the label, but as he told the story in 1977 “Berry Gordy had sent Mickey Stevenson over to see me about signing with the company as an exclusive in-house writer and producer. The first act I was assigned to was Marvin Gaye and he had just started to become popular.” That’s not quite how the story went. According to everyone else, he was constantly hanging around Hitsville, getting himself into sessions and just watching them, and pestering people to let him get involved. Rather than being employed as a writer and producer, he was actually given a job in Motown’s quality control department for fifteen dollars a week, listening to potential records and seeing which ones he thought were hits, and rating them before they went to the regular department meetings for feedback from the truly important people. But he was also allowed to write songs. His first songwriting credit on a Motown record wasn’t Marvin Gaye, as Whitfield would later tell the story, but was in fact for the far less prestigious Mickey Woods — possibly the single least-known artist of Motown’s early years. Woods was a white teenager, the first white male solo artist signed to Motown, who released two novelty teen-pop singles. Whitfield’s first Motown song was the B-side to Woods’ second single, a knock-off of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” called “They Call Me Cupid”, co-written with Berry Gordy and Brian Holland: [Excerpt: Mickey Woods, “They Call Me Cupid”] Unsurprisingly that didn’t set the world on fire, and Whitfield didn’t get another Motown label credit for thirteen months (though some of his songs for Thelma may have come out in this period). When he did, it was as co-writer with Mickey Stevenson — and, for the first time, sole producer — of the first single for a new singer, Kim Weston: [Excerpt: Kim Weston, “It Should Have Been Me”] As it turned out, that wasn’t a hit, but the flip-side, “Love Me All The Way”, co-written by Stevenson (who was also Weston’s husband) and Barney Ales, did become a minor hit, making the R&B top thirty. After that, Whitfield was on his way. It was only a month later that he wrote his first song for the Temptations, a B-side, “The Further You Look, The Less You See”: [Excerpt: The Temptations, “The Further You Look, The Less You See”] That was co-written with Smokey Robinson, and as we heard in the episode on “My Girl”, both Robinson and Whitfield vied with each other for the job of Temptations writer and producer. As we also heard in that episode, Robinson got the majority of the group’s singles for the next couple of years, but Whitfield would eventually take over from him. Whitfield’s work with the Temptations is probably his most important work as a writer and producer, and the Temptations story is intertwined deeply with this one, but for the most part I’m going to save discussion of Whitfield’s work with the group until we get to 1972, so bear with me if I seem to skim over that — and if I repeat myself in a couple of years when we get there. Whitfield’s first major success, though, was also the first top ten hit for Marvin Gaye, “Pride and Joy”: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, “Pride and Joy”] “Pride and Joy” had actually been written and recorded before the Kim Weston and Temptations tracks, and was intended as album filler — it was written during a session by Whitfield, Gaye, and Mickey Stevenson who was also the producer of the track, and recorded in the same session as it was written, with Martha and the Vandellas on backing vocals. The intended hit from the session, “Hitch-Hike”, we covered in the previous episode on Gaye, but that was successful enough that an album, That Stubborn Kinda Fellow, was released, with “Pride and Joy” on it. A few months later Gaye recut his lead vocal, over the same backing track, and the record was released as a single, reaching number ten on the pop charts and number two R&B: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, “Pride and Joy”] Whitfield had other successes as well, often as B-sides. “The Girl’s Alright With Me”, the B-side to Smokey Robinson’s hit for the Temptations “I’ll Be In Trouble”, went to number forty on the R&B chart in its own right: [Excerpt: The Temptations, “The Girl’s Alright With Me”] That was co-written with Eddie Holland, and Holland and Whitfield had a minor songwriting partnership at this time, with Holland writing lyrics and Whitfield the music. Eddie Holland even released a Holland and Whitfield collaboration himself during his brief attempt at a singing career — “I Couldn’t Cry if I Wanted To” was a song they wrote for the Temptations, who recorded it but then left it on the shelf for four years, so Holland put out his own version, again as a B-side: [Excerpt: Eddie Holland, “I Couldn’t Cry if I Wanted To”] Whitfield was very much a B-side kind of songwriter and producer at this point — but this could be to his advantage. In January 1963, around the same time as all these other tracks, he cut a filler track with the “no-hit Supremes”, “He Means the World to Me”, which was left on the shelf until they needed a B-side eighteen months later and pulled it out and released it: [Excerpt: The Supremes, “He Means the World to Me”] But the track that that was a B-side to was “Where Did Our Love Go?”, and at the time you could make a lot of money from writing the B-side to a hit that big. Indeed, at first, Whitfield made more money from “Where Did Our Love Go?” than Holland, Dozier, or Holland, because he got a hundred percent of the songwriters’ share for his side of the record, while they had to split their share three ways. Slowly Whitfield moved from being a B-side writer to being an A-side writer. With Eddie Holland he was given a chance at a Temptations A-side for the first time, with “Girl, (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)”: [Excerpt: The Temptations, “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)”] He also wrote for Jimmy Ruffin, but in 1964 it was with girl groups that Whitfield was doing his best work. With Mickey Stevenson he wrote “Needle in a Haystack” for the Velvettes: [Excerpt: The Velvettes, “Needle in a Haystack”] He wrote their classic followup “He Was Really Sayin' Somethin’” with Stevenson and Eddie Holland, and with Holland he also wrote “Too Many Fish in the Sea” for the Marvelettes: [Excerpt: The Marvelettes, “Too Many Fish In The Sea”] By late 1964, Whitfield wasn’t quite in the first rank of Motown songwriter-producers with Holland-Dozier-Holland and Smokey Robinson, but he was in the upper part of the second tier with Mickey Stevenson and Clarence Paul. And by early 1966, as we saw in the episode on “My Girl”, he had achieved what he’d wanted for four years, and become the Temptations’ primary writer and producer. As I said, we’re going to look at Whitfield’s time working with the Temptations later, but in 1966 and 67 they were the act he was most associated with, and in particular, he collaborated with Eddie Holland on three top ten hits for the group in 1966. But as we discussed in the episode on “I Can’t Help Myself”, Holland’s collaborations with Whitfield eventually caused problems for Holland with his other collaborators, when he won the BMI award for writing the most hit songs, depriving his brother and Lamont Dozier of their share of the award because his outside collaborations put him ahead of them. While Whitfield *could* write songs by himself, and had in the past, he was at his best as a collaborator — as well as his writing partnership with Eddie Holland he’d written with Mickey Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, and Janie Bradford. And so when Holland told him he was no longer able to work together, Whitfield started looking for someone else who could write lyrics for him, and he soon found someone: [Excerpt: Barrett Strong, “Money”] Barrett Strong had, of course, been the very first Motown act to have a major national hit, with “Money”, but as we discussed in the episode on that song he had been unable to have a follow-up hit, and had actually gone back to working on an assembly line for a while. But when you’ve had a hit as big as “Money”, working on an assembly line loses what little lustre it has, and Strong soon took himself off to New York and started hanging around the Brill Building, where he hooked up with Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, the writers of such hits as “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “Viva Las Vegas”, “Sweets for My Sweet”, and “A Teenager in Love”.  Pomus and Shuman, according to Strong, signed him to a management contract, and they got him signed to Atlantic’s subsidiary Atco, where he recorded one single, “Seven Sins”, written and produced by the team: [Excerpt: Barrett Strong, “Seven Sins”] That was a flop, and Strong was dropped by the label. He bounced around a few cities before ending up in Chicago, where he signed to VeeJay Records and put out one more single as a performer, “Make Up Your Mind”, which also went nowhere: [Excerpt: Barrett Strong, “Make Up Your Mind”] Strong had co-written that, and as his performing career was now definitively over, he decided to move into songwriting as his main job. He co-wrote “Stay in My Corner” for the Dells, which was a top thirty R&B hit for them on VeeJay in 1965 and in a remade version in 1968 became a number one R&B hit and top ten pop hit for them: [Excerpt: The Dells, “Stay in My Corner”] And on his own he wrote another top thirty R&B hit, “This Heart of Mine”, for the Artistics: [Excerpt: The Artistics, “This Heart of Mine”] He wrote several other songs that had some minor success in 1965 and 66, before moving back to Detroit and hooking up again with his old label, this time coming to them as a songwriter with a track record rather than a one-hit wonder singer. As Strong put it “They were doing my style of music then, they were doing something a little different when I left, but they were doing the more soulful, R&B-style stuff, so I thought I had a place there. So I had an idea I thought I could take back and see if they could do something with it.” That idea was the first song he wrote under his new contract, and it was co-written with Norman Whitfield. It’s difficult to know how Whitfield and Strong started writing together, or much about their writing partnership, even though it was one of the most successful songwriting teams of the era, because neither man was interviewed in any great depth, and there’s almost no long-form writing on either of them. What does seem to have been the case is that both men had been aware of each other in the late fifties, when Strong was a budding R&B star and Whitfield merely a teenager hanging round watching the cool kids. The two may even have written together before — in an example of how the chronology for both Whitfield and Strong seems to make no sense, Whitfield had cowritten a song with Marvin Gaye, “Wherever I Lay My Hat, That’s My Home”, in 1962 — when Strong was supposedly away from Motown — and it had been included as an album track on the That Stubborn Kinda Fellow album: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, “Wherever I Lay My Hat, That’s My Home”] The writing on that was originally credited just to Whitfield and Gaye on the labels, but it is now credited to Whitfield, Gaye, and Strong, including with BMI. Similarly Gaye’s 1965 album track “Me and My Lonely Room” — recorded in 1963 but held back – was initially credited to Whitfield alone but is now credited to Whitfield and Strong, in a strange inverse of the way “Money” initially had Strong’s credit but it was later removed. But whether this was an administrative decision made later, or whether Strong had been moonlighting for Motown uncredited in 1962 and collaborated with Whitfield, they hadn’t been a formal writing team in the way Whitfield and Holland had been, and both later seemed to date their collaboration proper as starting in 1966 when Strong returned to Motown — and understandably. The two songs they’d written earlier – if indeed they had – had been album filler, but between 1967 when the first of their new collaborations came out and 1972 when they split up, they wrote twenty-three top forty hits together. Theirs seems to have been a purely business relationship — in the few interviews with Strong he talks about Whitfield as someone he was friendly with, but Whitfield’s comments on Strong seem always to be the kind of very careful comments one would make about someone for whom one has a great deal of professional respect, a great deal of personal dislike, but absolutely no wish to air the dirty laundry behind that dislike, or to burn bridges that don’t need burning. Either way, Whitfield was in need of a songwriting partner when Barrett Strong walked into a Motown rehearsal room, and recognised that Strong’s talents were complementary to his. So he told Strong, straight out, “I’ve had quite a few hit records already. If you write with me, I can guarantee you you’ll make at least a hundred thousand dollars a year” — though he went on to emphasise that that wasn’t a guarantee-guarantee, and would depend on Strong putting the work in. Strong agreed, and the first idea he brought in for his new team earned both of them more than that hundred thousand dollars by itself. Strong had been struck by the common phrase “I heard it through the grapevine”, and started singing that line over some Ray Charles style gospel chords. Norman Whitfield knew a hook when he heard one, and quickly started to build a full song around Strong’s line. Initially, by at least some accounts, they wanted to place the song with the Isley Brothers, who had just signed to Motown and had a hit with the Holland-Dozier-Holland song “This Old Heart of Mine”: [Excerpt: The Isley Brothers, “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)”] For whatever reason, the Isley Brothers didn’t record the song, or if they did no copy of the recording has ever surfaced, though it does seem perfectly suited to their gospel-inflected style. The Isleys did, though, record another early Whitfield and Strong song, “That’s the Way Love Is”, which came out in 1967 as a flop single, but would later be covered more successfully by Marvin Gaye: [Excerpt: The Isley Brothers, “That’s the Way Love Is”] Instead, the song was first recorded by the Miracles. And here the story becomes somewhat murky. We have a recording by the Miracles, released on an album two years later, but some have suggested that that version isn’t the same recording they made in 1966 when Whitfield and Strong wrote the song originally: [Excerpt: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”] It certainly sounds to my ears like that is probably the version of the song the group recorded in 66 — it sounds, frankly, like a demo for the later, more famous version. All the main elements are there — notably the main Ray Charles style hook played simultaneously on Hammond organ and electric piano, and the almost skanking rhythm guitar stabs — but Smokey Robinson’s vocal isn’t *quite* passionate enough, the tempo is slightly off, and the drums don’t have the same cavernous rack tom sound that they have in the more famous version. If you weren’t familiar with the eventual hit, it would sound like a classic Motown track, but as it is it’s missing something… [Excerpt: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”] According to at least some sources, that was presented to the quality control team — the team in which Whitfield had started his career, as a potential single, but they dismissed it. It wasn’t a hit, and Berry Gordy said it was one of the worst songs he’d ever heard. But Whitfield knew the song was a hit, and so he went back into the studio and cut a new backing track: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine (backing track only)”] (Incidentally, no official release of the instrumental backing track for “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” exists, and I had to put that one together myself by taking the isolated parts someone had uploaded to youtube and synching them back together in editing software, so if there are some microsecond-level discrepancies between the instruments there, that’s on me, not on the Funk Brothers.) That track was originally intended for the Temptations, with whom Whitfield was making a series of hits at the time, but they never recorded it at the time. Whitfield did produce a version for them as an album track a couple of years later though, so we have an idea how they might have taken the song vocally — though by then David Ruffin had been replaced in the group by Dennis Edwards: [Excerpt: The Temptations, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”] But instead of giving the song to the Temptations, Whitfield kept it back for Marvin Gaye, the singer with whom he’d had his first big breakthrough hit and for whom his two previous collaborations with Strong – if collaborations they were – had been written. Gaye and Whitfield didn’t get on very well — indeed, it seems that Whitfield didn’t get on very well with *anyone* — and Gaye would later complain about the occasions when Whitfield produced his records, saying “Norman and I came within a fraction of an inch of fighting. He thought I was a prick because I wasn't about to be intimidated by him. We clashed. He made me sing in keys much higher than I was used to. He had me reaching for notes that caused my throat veins to bulge.” But Gaye sang the song fantastically, and Whitfield was absolutely certain they had a sure-fire hit: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”] But once again the quality control department refused to release the track. Indeed, it was Berry Gordy personally who decided, against the wishes of most of the department by all accounts, that instead of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” Gaye’s next single should be a Holland-Dozier-Holland track, “Your Unchanging Love”, a soundalike rewrite of their earlier hit for him, “How Sweet It Is”. “Your Unchanging Love” made the top thirty, but was hardly a massive success. Gordy has later claimed that he always liked “Grapevine” but just thought it was a bit too experimental for Gaye’s image at the time, but reports from others who were there say that what Gordy actually said was “it sucks”. So “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” was left on the shelf, and the first fruit of the new Whitfield/Strong team to actually get released was “Gonna Give Her All the Love I’ve Got”, written for Jimmy Ruffin, the brother of Temptations lead singer David, who had had one big hit, “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and one medium one, “I’ve Passed This Way Before”, in 1966. Released in 1967, “Gonna Give Her All the Love I’ve Got” became Ruffin’s third and final hit, making number 29: [Excerpt: Jimmy Ruffin, “Gonna Give Her All the Love I’ve Got”] But Whitfield was still certain that “Grapevine” could be a hit. And then in 1967, a few months after he’d shelved Gaye’s version, came the record that changed everything in soul: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, “Respect”] Whitfield was astounded by that record, but also became determined he was going to “out-funk Aretha”, and “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” was going to be the way to do it. And he knew someone who thought she could do just that. Gladys Knight never got on well with Aretha Franklin. According to Knight’s autobiography this was one-sided on Franklin’s part, and Knight was always friendly to Franklin, but it’s also notable that she says the same about several other of the great sixties female soul singers (though not all of them by any means), and there seems to be a general pattern among those singers that they felt threatened by each other and that their own position in the industry was precarious, in a way the male singers usually didn’t. But Knight claimed she always *wished* she got on well with Franklin, because the two had such similar lives. They’d both started out singing gospel as child performers before moving on to the chitlin circuit at an early age, though Knight started her singing career even younger than Franklin did. Knight was only four when she started performing solos in church, and by the age of eight she had won the two thousand dollar top prize on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour by singing Brahms’ “Lullaby” and the Nat “King” Cole hit “Too Young”: [Excerpt: Nat “King” Cole, “Too Young”] That success inspired her, and she soon formed a vocal group with her brother Bubba, sister Brenda and their cousins William and Eleanor Guest. They named themselves the Pips in honour of a cousin whose nickname that was, and started performing at talent contests in Atlanta Chitlin’ Circuit venues. They soon got a regular gig at one of them, the Peacock, despite them all being pre-teens at the time. The Pips also started touring, and came to the attention of Maurice King, the musical director of the Flame nightclub in Detroit, who became a vocal coach for the group. King got the group signed to Brunswick records, where they released their first single, a song King had written called “Whistle My Love”: [Excerpt: The Pips, “Whistle My Love”] According to Knight that came out in 1955, when she was eleven, but most other sources have it coming out in 1958. The group’s first two singles flopped, and Brenda and Eleanor quit the group, being replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and an unrelated singer Langston George, leaving Knight as the only girl in the quintet. While the group weren’t successful on records, they were getting a reputation live and toured on package tours with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and others. Knight also did some solo performances with a jazz band led by her music teacher, and started dating that band’s sax player, Jimmy Newman. The group’s next recording was much more successful. They went into a makeshift studio owned by a local club owner, Fats Hunter, and recorded what they thought was a demo, a version of the Johnny Otis song “Every Beat of My Heart”: [Excerpt: The Pips, “Every Beat of My Heart (HunTom version)”] The first they knew that Hunter had released that on his own small label was when they heard it on the radio. The record was picked up by VeeJay records, and it ended up going to number one on the R&B charts and number six on the pop charts, but they never saw any royalties from it. It brought them to the attention of another small label, Fury Records, which got them to rerecord the song, and that version *also* made the R&B top twenty and got as high as number forty-five on the pop charts: [Excerpt: Gladys Knight and the Pips, “Every Beat of My Heart (Fury version)”] However, just because they had a contract with Fury didn’t mean they actually got any more money, and Knight has talked about the label’s ownership being involved with gangsters. That was the first recording to be released as by “Gladys Knight and the Pips”, rather than just The Pips, and they would release a few more singles on Fury, including a second top twenty pop hit, the Don Covay song “Letter Full of Tears”: [Excerpt: Gladys Knight and the Pips, “Letter Full of Tears”] But Knight had got married to Newman, who was by now the group’s musical director, after she fell pregnant when she was sixteen and he was twenty. However, that first pregnancy tragically ended in miscarriage, and when she became pregnant again she decided to get off the road to reduce the risk. She spent a couple of years at home, having two children, while the other Pips – minus George who left soon after – continued without her to little success. But her marriage was starting to deteriorate under pressure of Newman’s drug use — they wouldn’t officially divorce until 1972, but they were already feeling the pressure, and would split up sooner rather than later — and Knight  returned to the stage, initially as a solo artist or duetting with Jerry Butler, but soon rejoining the Pips, who by this time were based in New York and working with the choreographer Cholly Atkins to improve their stagecraft. For the next few years the Pips drifted from label to label, scoring one more top forty hit in 1964 with Van McCoy’s “Giving Up”, but generally just getting by like so many other acts on the circuit. Eventually the group ended up moving to Detroit, and hooking up with Motown, where mentors like Cholly Atkins and Maurice King were already working. At first they thought they were taking a step up, but they soon found that they were a lower tier Motown act, considered on a par with the Spinners or the Contours rather than the big acts, and according to Knight they got pulled off an early Motown package tour because Diana Ross, with whom like Franklin Knight had something of a rivalry, thought they were too good on stage and were in danger of overshadowing her. Knight says in her autobiography that they “formed a little club of our own with some of the other malcontents” with Martha Reeves, Marvin Gaye, and someone she refers to as “Ivory Joe Hunter” but I presume she means Ivy Jo Hunter (one of the big problems when dealing with R&B musicians of this era is the number of people with similar names. Ivy Jo Hunter, Joe Hunter, and Ivory Joe Hunter were all R&B musicians for whom keyboard was their primary instrument, and both Ivy Jo and just plain Joe worked for Motown at different points, but Ivory Joe never did) Norman Whitfield was also part of that group of “malcontents”, and he was also the producer of the Pips’ first few singles for Motown, and so when he was looking for someone to outdo Aretha, someone with something to prove, he turned to them. He gave the group the demo tape, and they worked out a vocal arrangement for a radically different version of the song, one inspired by “Respect”: [Excerpt: Gladys Knight and the Pips, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”] The third time was the charm, and quality control finally agreed to release “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” as a single. Gladys Knight always claimed it had no promotion, but Norman Whitfield’s persistence had paid off — the single went to number two on the pop charts (kept off the top by “Daydream Believer”), number one on the R&B charts, and became Motown’s biggest-selling single *ever* up until that point. It also got Knight a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female — though the Grammy committee, at least, didn’t think she’d out-Aretha’d Aretha, as “Respect” won the award. And that, sadly, sort of summed up Gladys Knight and the Pips at Motown — they remained not quite the winners in everything. There’s no shame in being at number two behind a classic single like “Daydream Believer”, and certainly no shame in losing the Grammy to Aretha Franklin at her best, but until they left Motown in 1972 and started their run of hits on Buddah records, Gladys Knight and the Pips would always be in other people’s shadow. That even extended to “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” when, as we’ll hear in part two of this story, Norman Whitfield’s persistence paid off, Marvin Gaye’s version got released as a single, and *that* became the biggest-selling single on Motown ever, outselling the Pips version and making it forever his song, not theirs. And as a final coda to the story of Gladys Knight and the Pips at Motown, while they were touring off the back of “Grapevine’s” success, the Pips ran into someone they vaguely knew from his time as a musician in the fifties, who was promoting a group he was managing made up of his sons. Knight thought they had something, and got in touch with Motown several times trying to get them to sign the group, but she was ignored. After a few attempts, though, Bobby Taylor of another second-tier Motown group, the Vancouvers, also saw them and got in touch with Motown, and this time they got signed. But that story wasn’t good enough for Motown, and so neither Taylor nor Knight got the credit for discovering the group. Instead when Joe Jackson’s sons’ band made their first album, it was titled Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. But that, of course, is a story for another time…

Rerun: Freda Payne's banger ‘Band Of Gold' sounds like a Motown record, but actually isn't. Although written by Berry Gordy's hit-making trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, it was released on their breakaway label, Invictus, on 25th April, 1970. Ever since, fans have speculated as to the meaning of its lyrics and the nature of the crumbled relationship within. “That night on our honeymoon / We stayed in separate rooms,” Payne sings. Was her betrothed a closeted homosexual? Impotent? Frigid? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore how this ‘proto-disco' classic has been embraced as a gay anthem; explain why Payne originally felt ill-equipped to sing the song that made her name; and credit the extraordinary track record of Detroit's Hutchins Middle School…  Further Reading: • ‘Band of Gold by Freda Payne' (Songfacts): https://www.songfacts.com/facts/freda-payne/band-of-gold • ‘Holland-Dozier-Holland (1962-1970)' (Black Past, 2021): https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/groups-organizations-african-american-history/holland-dozier-holland-1962-1970/ • ‘Freda Payne - Band Of Gold' (Soul Train, 1970): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF9Q3hnAr88 ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?' Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 

Mickey was Berry Gordy's A&R Man, responsible for signing the legends of the Motown Sound.Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who am I?! Sho'nuff!It's time to look back at the baddest showdown between Bruce Leeroy and Sho'nuff, and harness the power of "The Glow!"That's right, we're revisiting the 1985 cult classic 'The Last Dragon' starring Taimak and Vanity to see if Rotten Tomatoes is wrong about its barely Fresh 61% Tomatometer score.Screenwriter and podcaster Brandon Collins joins Mark and Jacqueline to break down the delightful insanity that is 'The Last Dragon.'Have you seen this film? Was it a big influence on you growing up like it was for our panel? Let us know in the comments below!And tune in two weeks from now to hear our series finale as we say goodbye from 'Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong.'If you'd like to give your thoughts on this movie or have another movie you feel like Rotten Tomatoes got wrong, email us at RTisWrong@RottenTomatoes.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this day in 1983, Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk for the first time at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time, we're coming to you from Miami Gardens, Florida! Before recapping Indian Wells, we share our first impressions of the Miami Open site and some of the tennis we got to see early on: Halep's first match back from her suspension, Azarenka-Stearns (with an appearance by early Berry Gordy's son RedFoo), Ostapenko lighting up Court 1, and more. Alcaraz defends his Indian Wells title -- snapping a title-less stretch going back to Wimbledon -- and Iga regains her title while losing a mere handful of games. Later on, we talk about the competing proposals that aim to overhaul mostly everything about tennis (Premier vs. PIF). 0:35 Miami Open: Penko-Siegemund, Vika-Peyton (and why RedFoo is here) 9:35 Simona's return and Woz's take heard round the world: “It wasn't a clearance” 18:48 Minding Our Own Business  22:20 Belatedly wrapping Indian Wells 27:07  Non-problematic beef 29:41 Unnecessary beef 32:28 Miss Beswick strikes again 35:28:Tennis headed for fundamental change: Premier Tour vs. Saudi PIF bid  

Mickey Stevenson worked for Berry Gordy from Motown Records and was responsible for signing the biggest names from that era, Steve Wonder, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Marvin Gaye and others. Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mickey Stevenson is the legendary A and R man for Berry Gordy at Motown Records, responsible for signing every major legend from that era. This is a trailer for an upcoming episode airing February 6.Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.