WEBVTT - QLS Classic: Babyface (Part 1) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.159 Of Course Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:08.520 This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Hey, 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:11.600 welcome to Quest Love Supreme. I'm Quest Love and I'm 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:13.840 really really excited about the next two episodes of q 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.600 l S with our guests Kenneth, baby Face, Emonds. That's right, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.040 the man. We learned a lot about this man in 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:23.640 this craft, enough to fill two episodes, So without further delay, 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:31.000 here is part one. Suprema su Prima roll call, Prima 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:40.680 Sama roll call, So Prima su Prima, roll call, Sumama 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.239 roll quest Love in the place. Yeah, what y'all want 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.320 to do? Yeah, gotta ask baby Face? Can I get 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:57.880 the ladies if I say no? Roll call? My name 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.920 is Fante. You here me now. Yeah, that's the end 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:08.640 of my verse. So I'll take a bow. Some Prima 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:15.399 roll call, some prima prima roll call. My name is Sugar. Yeah. 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.080 I ain't no dumbing. Yeah, if I could change the world, 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:30.080 you'd all be dummy. Momma Prima road call skills my 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:34.080 name doing things, hold my way, yeah, but I just can't. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:40.560 Won't stop until I have my own highway roll Prima 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:47.360 road call. Pretty much some Prema roll called yeah, and 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.600 I'm in this place. Yeah, somebody with me. It's okay 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:59.800 because his baby face roll some Prima roll call, so 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.760 premo roll my name, my name is face. Y'all in 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:24.760 my place, up in my space. Yeah, round road roll roll. 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.800 Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another edition of Question Love Supreme, 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:35.120 only on Pandora. This is Quest Love on lead vocals. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:41.840 We got uh Fontikolo Jenkins on vocals and saxophone. Got 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:47.359 Sugar Steve. We got Sugar Steve on percussion, harp and tambourine, 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:53.320 jazz harp, jazz Hart not Jeeves Hart, dass Hart. Okay, 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:59.000 just making sure we got Boss Bill on a slide guitar. Yeah. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.560 Have you got a late lady layah a k Margaret 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:08.480 on French horn? Nah. Yeah. We're a collective team known 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:13.160 as Team Supreme. We're kind of the rabbit hole seeking 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:18.200 uh music, music factory, knowing mused to the stars, unsolicited 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.880 life advice, given music dweebs. You all know and love 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.120 and Uh. Our very special guest today is one of 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.440 the most It's one of the few luminaries UH to 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.640 have co written I'll say the soundtrack of your life. 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.280 Whether you care to admit that or not. That's not 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.880 an exaggeration. Actually said it earlier as I was walking 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.800 through that hallway with all those plaques on the wall, 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:43.440 with pretty much every record that was released in the 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:48.320 last thirty years. Wait, I love the fact that, uh 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:52.000 my baby Daddy's also alright at the end, and there 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:56.360 was base compilation about that right right, that was on 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.480 the face. Yeah, you see, we already fell into rap alright. 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:04.000 H Kenneth Baby Faced SEVMN is a one man tim 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:08.480 pan alley, one man bale building with the song catalog 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.600 to rival all histories Great Slennon McCartney's the Joe Beck Catalog. UM. 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.800 He's either written or core authored or produced hit after 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.560 hit after hit after hit. UM. He was just recently 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:24.520 inducted into the Illustrious Songwriters Hall of Fame UH this 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:29.880 year of Our Lord two thousand seventeen UM and Our Guest. 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:35.040 He's a forty time Grammy Award nominee, three of which 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.520 three of which he was rightfully bestowed the honor of 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.279 Producer of the Year. UH. He last year napped or 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.240 a few years ago Naptier eleventh Grammy for UH for 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:50.120 the collaborative album with Tony Brixton entitled Love, Marriage and Divorce, 0:04:50.400 --> 0:05:00.760 which sounds like the man exactly. Um. It's incidentally the 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.919 temph album that bears his name as a solo artist. 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.560 And it doesn't stop there. Uh. Two. He entered the 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.320 record books having pinned into the Road by my high 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.479 school band meets Uh Boys Too Men, which literally spent 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.200 the entire summer at number one for thirteen weeks, only 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.160 to have that record broken again with his I'll Make 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.480 Love to You, which remained number one for fourteen weeks, 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:29.280 dominating the summer of nine. Uh. He's written twenty six 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.600 number one R and B hits, countless top ten pop hits, 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.440 and his top forties are in the hundreds. Uh. There 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.960 is literally no artists that could make a dent uh 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.080 penetrating modern radio in the nineties without this man behind 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:46.520 the wheel as a songwriter, producer, or label head. UM 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.159 name him Karen White, Whenne Houston, TLC, Eric Clapton, Madonna, 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.000 Mary J. Blise. The list goes on and on. Uh. 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.880 If I were to list his entire resume, the show 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.400 would be over. Lazes and gentlemen, get it up for 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:09.200 Kenneth baby Face everything, Thank You. I It's like our 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.480 dream man. Yeah, I feel like I've wasted my entire life. 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.080 I'm sorry. This is walking through the hall. It's like, 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.400 I feel so small killer. I love how that Jackson's 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.400 photo hits you right when you walk into the door. 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:28.720 Just it just literally hit you. Thank you. Um. Okay, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.839 So we have so many questions to ask you. Um. 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:36.280 And because you have history in in Middle America, in Indiana, uh, 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.720 I will ask you about your beginnings, like where did 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:44.160 you where did you grow up? Indianapolis, Indiana. Okay, that 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:50.360 was that's the real Midwest. When Kokomo will my hometown. Yeah, 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.320 Boss Bills from Kokomo. I never knew there was a Cocomo, 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:58.840 not like yeah, it's a real, real place. Unfortunately, Reading 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:00.960 Franklin wrote a song about it, too, great song. That's 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.279 how I knew it learned about it was the opposite. Wait, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.880 there's a song called Kokomo Byta France called Personal in 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.080 Kokomo on a Young Gifted on Black album. Okay, yeah, 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:12.840 what was that song about. It's basically just like a 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.120 slice of life. I think she was her husband was 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.000 from uh from Cokemo at the time, so I guess 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:19.480 they would go back and visit family a lot, and 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.680 so this song is basically a Bob and her sister 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.080 lived there for a while. I didn't know that you 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:30.920 two might be cousins, might be we all might be cousins. Um, 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:36.560 So can I can I assume because of a lot 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:41.000 of studies that I've done, Um on the rise of 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:46.920 black music in the Midwest, Chicago, Indiana, Ohio? Um that 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:51.680 your parents migrated to Indiana or were they? Was your 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.520 whole family history there? Or well? Yes, to Kentucky? And 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.920 you know, and then I don't actually might be really 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.680 providence Kentucky far? How far is that from Bowling Green? 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.600 Do you know? I have no idea looking up later? 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:15.640 All right? Wow, I feel like so okay, So your 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.800 family started in Kentucky. Yeah, and my mom my dad 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:22.280 came from He was in Kentucky, he was, and he 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.960 ultimately met my mom. He moved. My mom was there 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.800 already in Indianapolis. My grandfather used to have a soul 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.760 food restaurant called Chicken Shack, and and uh, wow, I 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:40.000 might be the son and my dad met met her 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:42.640 at the Chicken Shack. And he was much older, he 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:46.640 was about those seventeen years older. And a soulful story 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:51.120 of all times, many and he was and he was 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.480 from you know, Providence, Kentucky. And as a kid, he 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.600 got out of there because he was a coal miner. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.400 And as a kid for about four years he was 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.040 doing from like eleven too, you know, fifteen or so, 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.160 and then got out of there finally and and made 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.320 the Indiana eperson and and did some things. And I 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.840 don't think he sung a little bit. Actually he had 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.000 a really good voice and stuff. But it wasn't like 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.319 we heard music around the house all the time. It 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.560 we just would here records being played. But it was 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.600 just kind of, uh, just one of those things we 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.000 just kind of gravitated to. So you didn't grow up 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.360 in church or church came a little bit later, like 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.640 probably about six seventh grade. My mom, she wasn't in 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.720 church through through all that time. And then then I 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.600 got introduced to church and and and I would I 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:40.880 used to sit outside the once choir was done, I 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.120 go sit outside so and listen to the radio. So 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:49.720 I was amazed to see objection well because because I 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.240 sat up in the balcony and she she could see. 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.040 So I snuck out there. Yeah, smart, That's that's how 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:00.240 I learned about James Taylor. Oh man, because I was 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.000 listening to the AM station because you know, on all 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.160 the black stations were playing church music at that time 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.280 on Sunday. Okay, then I found the pop station that 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.280 played this guy that played acoustic guitar, which was James Taylor, 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.720 which kind of blew me away. So what was the 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:20.280 do you know the first record that you purchased? That's 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:24.360 a good question. I didn't purchase it or purchase for you. Um, 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:29.600 I think this is Jackson five Records, okay, sixth grade? 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.800 What James Taylor song? If you're talking about a specific 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.360 James Taylor, it was I heard like fire and rain 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:40.880 and um, I think think what was that was firing ring? 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.920 So you came of age once the Jackson's had signed 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.280 the Motown and yeah, okay, did I read an interview 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:50.400 once where you said you were in the audience when 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.200 they did Going Back to Indiana? Yeah, they were at 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.000 the concert that was in Indianapolis. Yeah, what was that like? 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:00.600 Because it was I think the audience Mike was louder 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:06.120 than the Ronnie Rossefor's keyboard and everything, like, you know, 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.960 you heard the audience more like even in the Public 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.680 Enemy sample, the girls screaming like that's what. So what 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.040 was that? Like, I think they recorded it a couple 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.400 of places, but that was the main place that they 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.840 did it. And so I had a terrible seat. I 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.880 was sitting in back, so all I could see was 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.120 the back of their froze every now and if they 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:28.719 do act, so I could catch a glimpse if they 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.320 did a spin. Other than that, all you could see 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.920 was the back of the heads. And but it was 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.360 I mean, I was like blown away and I think 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.520 I had tears running them, you know, face, because I 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.760 just couldn't believe I was there and they went there. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.360 They were real because at that particular point, you know, 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.359 you you'd seen them on TV and in those days 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.880 that's the only time you saw anybody. So when they 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.920 came to your town, it was it was amazing. And 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.080 the crowd was like crowd lost. They had to stop 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.240 the show about four times because crowd kept rushing the stage. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.640 So it was amazing. So just to be their age 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.720 and to see them, like, was that was that a 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.520 turning point for you? Like? Oh it was? It was it? 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.440 That was the point when I knew that that I 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.679 wanted to do that, I want to do something like that. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.240 I didn't know exactly what, but I knew that was 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.559 I wanted to be in that lane somehow, And I 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.760 also promised myself at that point that I would meet 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:30.440 them one day. You know, wow, you did more than that? 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.640 How many? How many brothers and sistant? So y'all a 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:37.640 kound it and a lot of y'all can sing? Right? 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:42.280 Or is it just a couple Kevan and Melvine they 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:49.120 could sing and mud because the other ones they couldn't 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.320 say they thought they could, but they couldn't really sing. 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.120 So were you the youngest of your fifth so that 0:12:55.280 --> 0:13:01.480 had one one younger than me? Okay, so so in 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.760 high school? Were you like starting bands by that point? 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:08.680 And I started first started singing in um sixth grade, 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.120 first picked up the guitar. My brother Melvin brought a 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:22.400 guitar in the house and told nobody not to touch it, 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.359 and uh, of course, of course you gotta leave the room, 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.240 and uh, and I had to touch it because you know, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.359 there was this girl I kind of had a crushhall 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:33.960 Round the new Boot was her name, and I wanted 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.319 to write a song about her. So I grabbed the 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.280 guitar and started learning these chords that Melvin had already played, 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.680 and I wrote a song to those chords that he 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.200 told me I could never play. Do you remember the 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:49.480 song Here I Go falling in Love? Did you ever recorded? 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.319 I haven't recorded. I know it though, I never have 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.640 you ever thought about recording? It's a simple sprucing up 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:01.079 and no, it's it's it's a said make it any 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.000 but it was. Yeah, and I do have the original lyrics. 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:06.880 My mom kept the lyrics that I've written down, so 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.560 I really does Did she ever hear the song? Did 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:16.400 the girl ever hear it? Nay, it doesn't go like that. 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.000 Did your brother ever find out that? Yeah? He did 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.720 get beat up. Well, he didn't beat me up, but 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.640 that's when he told me. He he came to me 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:27.960 and said, you know, I don't care how long you try, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:30.400 how hard you tried, you will never be as good 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:38.360 as I am. Whole talente famous last words. Y'all still 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:47.360 bring that up? No, no point. His name is baby faces, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.800 bring it up like he's baby. Let's take a picture 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:59.200 of the hallway and that's it, just right, hashtag hallway Right. 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.080 So you were self taught, like you? Uh? Do you 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.800 have formal lessons in anything? I was self taught because 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.560 it was a I'm left handed and it was a 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.120 right handed guitar, So I had to I had to 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:12.800 kind of teach myself. I had to just kind of 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.920 and I played, so I played upside down, So I 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.040 can't I couldn't really learn from him other than just 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.360 to watch how he what cores he played and listened 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:22.640 to it and try to figure it out the other 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.000 way around and so and that's kind of like how 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:30.600 you end up learning. So when did you officially uh 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.160 start singing? What? I what? I can I assume that 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.960 man child enter the picture earlier? Was this That was 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:41.800 right out of high school. But there were groups all throughout, 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.760 you know, um, like sixth grade, I had a group 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.040 in my class. We had we sang smooky Robinson song 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:53.920 Here I Go falling in Love, um, and hence my 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:59.520 song world I wrote here I hope on similar I 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.400 think spoke he stole it anyway, But so yeah, I 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.920 started kind of started singing there. And and the very 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:10.240 first time I sang, Melvin had come home and came 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:12.200 to me and Kevin and said that he had this 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.360 group called the Soul Innovations and they were playing at 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.520 the mixer at our high school and so in Jackson 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.640 five were hot, so he needed one of us to 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.160 sing one of the Jackson five songs. So we had 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.200 a contest with each other, and that year I beat Kevan. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.480 I could not beat him this year, but so UM 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.640 I ended up singing Who's Loving You at this mixer, 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.200 and uh, that was kind of like the start of it, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.640 you know. Um. And after after that, then we we 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.040 tried our There was a group called Indie five, not 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:47.280 Jackson five. I was in the ind five for a 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:51.080 little bit and then uh in the five broke up. 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.360 And then I probably about eighth grade, I had a 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:59.480 couple of groups jim Ni eight, UM, LC, Soul Unlimited, UM, 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.800 the Elements. These are all groups in junior high that 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:09.960 I was in. So I'm assuming that because of I 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.359 guess that I guess the I guess you could say 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:17.240 that from what I know, uh, in the Midwest, because 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:21.800 the employment and industry was up in the factories pretty 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:27.919 much all families bestowed uh their kids with musical instruments 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:31.320 and that sort of thing of like was there did 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.600 you ever personally witnessed like a decliner fallout like the 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.800 particular industry leave Indiana at that time? And then you 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.359 just saw the decline of interest of music go down, 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:48.600 or that didn't happen until I think late seventies. UM, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:53.160 because prior to that, the thing that that I remember 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.440 the most and I love the most about growing up 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.000 was that used to hear music all around the neighborhood. 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:01.760 So you could walk around on a summer day and 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.880 just go listening for a band rehearsing somewhere, and that's 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.280 how you found your you know, your group members. Somebody 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.080 was practicing inside of the garage, so you might hear 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.520 a guitar player, bass player, drummer. You walk around the 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.240 neighborhood all day long and hear different bands playing. And 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.000 we used to have rival bands where bands were going 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.240 against each other and stuff, and my my brother's band 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.320 with the Sole Innovations and the Dianasans and they would compare. 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.760 Somebody was singing like James Brown, somebody was more like 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:30.720 the Temptations. So it was music all around the neighborhood 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.200 and everybody was like trying to make it and um 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:38.399 and the city was pretty supportive because even when I 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.880 was in ninth grade and with my group the Elements, 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.680 they had a contest for local bands too. The best 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:47.760 local bands would be able to open up for curs 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:53.040 Mayfield on his UM super Fly UH tour, and so 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.959 and my group we we actually won and so we 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.359 were one of the openness for the for that show. 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:03.080 And so it was that musical where there we was. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:07.440 There was music and musicians and everybody wanted to play 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:12.159 play an instrument. And that I think when that started 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.640 to change is when, actually, to be honest, is when 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.359 disco happened all the clubs every but there used to 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.240 be clubs where bands were playing all the time. Then 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.879 when disco started happening, then DJ DJ's kind of like 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:28.359 came into the uh took the band members away, and 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.880 that's when it started to change. Did it change for you, 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.919 Like did you still feel as though, like, well, I 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:38.159 still want to be a musician even though yeah, I 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.840 think I was. I don't know that I had ever 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.240 had any choice UH in this It was like something 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:49.119 that was just part of my DNA to music. Was 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.800 your family your parents supportive or was this like, um, 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.160 get a real job? Where it was it? Well? When 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.320 I was right out of high school, I joined man Shout. 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.920 In seventy six, I joined man Shout, which was I 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.720 was very lucky because I don't know that I even 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:07.160 thought about college, and and all my friends were they 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.280 had thought about it and they were going away, and 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:10.960 the next thing I know, maybe I should have to 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.520 talk about college. But then um, I got asked to 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.200 join this group called man Child, and they had immediately 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:19.880 got a record deal in seventy seven. So I got 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.719 lucky and we had a record deal and put out 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:25.960 a couple of records and did it was regional hits. 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:30.000 And but then that only lasted for a little bit, 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.240 and we had a downside. And in that downside, I 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.720 was staying home with my mom. And then one day 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.119 my mom said get in the car and I said, okay, 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:41.680 She said just get in the car. Get in the car, 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.679 and she drove me in front of this uh um 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:48.840 story that had a little photo matt the little cubic 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:54.200 those things where they used to get your films made, 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.760 and so they had to help one it signed there, 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:59.800 and she said, get one, pick it up, and then 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:02.200 say get a job, get a job. You're gonna sign, 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:03.840 You're gonna you're gonna get a job, and you're gonna 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:05.919 do that. Then I left the house that morning. The 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.600 next morning that's when I'm going to move in with 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:14.000 a girlfriend. And so did you never have a day 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.120 job like a regular I had. I was a camp counselor. 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:21.119 That was my only job, like a summer job, playing 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:29.920 guitar fans kind of stortady. Okay, so you're you're you're 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:37.160 you're not the plume, your your nickname. Uh I, I've 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:40.040 heard the legend of Bootsy Collins giving you this title. 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:46.560 But how exactly did you come into contact with? Um? 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:50.800 My partner l A Read and and uh and Ko 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:52.879 one of the bass player in the deal. They were 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.160 actually doing demos with Bootsy when we were in living 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:59.680 in Cincinnati, and um, we were working on a record 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:01.639 there and sonaty So who was kind of looked downtime 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.040 and they were boots here called l A. I think 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.240 he already knew him already and asked them to come 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:09.440 do some tracks. So I just walked in the studio 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:13.720 one day, not knowing him really, and um, I think 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:17.280 I met him before and uh and then he uh, 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:19.760 as soon as I walk in, he just goes baby 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:30.000 face exactly exactly. And Uh. I didn't like it. I 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:32.240 didn't like the sound of it. Just just didn't hit 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:34.640 me right, and then he just started. Then he said 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:39.440 it again after you knew I didn't like it, and uh, 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:41.360 and then the guys in the band they kind of 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:43.919 they kind of stuck with it because everybody in the 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:47.719 deal had a good nickname. It was you know, Ko Stick, 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:58.439 D l A D. Carlos and Kenny he so, so 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:00.359 it didn't flow. And they were trying were trying to 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:02.399 find a nickname for me for a while and nothing 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:06.159 was ever working. And then you know, Boosey said that, 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:09.720 and I still wasn't I wasn't good with it. But 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.560 then we were out on tour and like five this 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:16.280 is when it happened, and we were doing this song. 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:19.760 I used to sing this song called Sweet November, and 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.280 I would sing it, you know, every night, and sing 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:24.960 it the same way, and after you know, D would 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:27.240 go that was Kenny Etmans and it was get a 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:28.840 little Bit of Love. And then one night he changed 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:31.600 and he said that was baby Face, and that night 0:23:31.720 --> 0:23:34.600 a whole bunch of girls came back backstage looking for 0:23:34.680 --> 0:23:43.200 where's baby Face at? So I was good with my name. Okay, alright, alright, 0:23:43.400 --> 0:23:46.800 that's good. Um in Cincinnati, you're you're one of our 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:52.920 you're one of our first guests. Um, that's actually from 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:59.240 the Ohio area. Um. Again, a lot of myth has 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:01.720 been made of that area and starting like a lot 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:05.399 of those groups. But I mean what was in Cincinnati 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:08.520 was it was something in the water at the time. 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:13.240 It was just like it was like breathing in, chewing 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:16.520 gum and walking like it's it's the whole Midwest area, 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:19.520 because it was just as Ohio, it was Chicago, it 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:23.600 was Indianapolis. Um there was because you know even from Indianapolis, 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:28.600 you know you had West Montgomery and um, um there 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:40.280 was Freddie Hubbard's Uh. There was just something something about UM. 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:43.120 Maybe maybe it was the hard times initially and and 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:46.840 and um people finding themselves, but there was something that 0:24:46.880 --> 0:24:49.760 we were given as just as musicians. And I say 0:24:49.840 --> 0:24:53.560 the same thing about you know Detroit, and like what 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:57.359 happened in Detroit where you had so many artists that 0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:00.000 were from this general area around in Motown. You know, 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:01.960 they were all in a ten mile radius. You had 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:04.240 so many from Dina Rolse to Stevie One, they were 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:06.119 all in the same area. What happened? What was in 0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:09.240 the water there? And it seems like that that same 0:25:09.520 --> 0:25:13.000 idea went around that whole Midwest area about the musicians 0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:16.200 that ultimately came from there. But unlike Detroit, I mean, 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:19.719 there really wasn't. I mean, they were started King Records, 0:25:19.760 --> 0:25:25.280 which I assumed that King Records had falling apart after 0:25:25.400 --> 0:25:28.520 James Brown went to Polydor in seventy, So I mean, 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:33.120 but I don't think there really was an epicenter per se, 0:25:33.600 --> 0:25:37.879