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00:00I guess that's apropos. Howard Hewitt out of Akron.
00:04It all works together. It's all family, boy.
00:07Could you imagine growing up in Akron, I've got James Ingram,
00:13Howard Hewitt, right? Switch.
00:16In Cleveland, we got the OJs.
00:20They kept saying Bobby's from here. The Womacks was everywhere.
00:24Yeah.
00:24But the big stage from Cleveland, Detroit had Motown.
00:33We didn't have a label. We had a group.
00:35It was all on the OJs. Everything.
00:40I remember, and we're going to introduce our guest to you,
00:43standing between my living room and dining room.
00:47And the DJ comes on and he goes,
00:51this is the OJs standing for love.
00:55I couldn't move.
00:57I'm like, wow, that's the group they talk about, the OJs.
01:01It's amazing. Eddie LaVert, welcome, and good morning, my good friend.
01:05My man. My man. My man.
01:09When we were just talking with Darius, I once told Eddie,
01:13I said, hey, I think I'm going to stop doing radio and do something else.
01:17Oh, the room turned to ice.
01:22That room, that room, he looked at me.
01:25He only looked at me like that twice.
01:27He looked at me and he said, this is what you do.
01:31This is what you've been doing.
01:33You don't give that away to go do something else.
01:37That was the end of that conversation.
01:41I love you, Eddie LaVert.
01:43Listen, man, that's me.
01:48You know that's me, right?
01:50Right.
01:52And you're still doing it.
01:55Yeah, because you told me.
01:57If you say you can stop now, maybe I would have.
02:01Man, we've had some fun through the years.
02:04And before I get into the new music, which I'm going to do in a second.
02:07You good?
02:08Yeah, yeah, because I just wanted to kind of throw in right quick.
02:12You said that when you also held a conversation with him and said you wanted to be in the music
02:16business.
02:17I just told his son that.
02:18Yeah.
02:18Oh, my gosh.
02:19Yeah, check this out.
02:22He didn't like that.
02:24He was like, you don't play with that.
02:26He said, don't you go around telling nobody that.
02:29Do the work.
02:30He said, do the work.
02:32Show your commitment.
02:33And he said, it's not sometimes.
02:35It's not the weekends.
02:36It's every time, all the time, every day.
02:40And that work ethic that he instilled in me that day is what I do to this day.
02:46Period.
02:46Anything I do, NBA, all of that.
02:50They made a comment.
02:51They said, man, you always, like, your team has been in the tank.
02:54Your team has been in the tank for the last five or six years.
02:58And the guy on the radio said, Mason calls the game like it's the seventh game of the NBA final.
03:03Yes.
03:04Because he told me, you don't play with it.
03:08If you commit to it, do it.
03:10And I just got to say this, since he's here, that work ethic that you put in him and made
03:15him a master, you created this young guy right here.
03:18He's a master in our city, too, Dr. Darius.
03:21So it started with Joe all the way through.
03:25I'm just so proud.
03:26And going to Devon.
03:28I'm going to tell you one quick fun story before we talk about the new music.
03:33Right?
03:33They were doing this shadow performance as they were getting ready for the OJ's Live in London album.
03:42So we were doing a community college.
03:45Right?
03:46So I'm in the lobby and Eddie comes out.
03:52Someone had stolen the money, the box office money.
03:59Oh, now listen, by the way, just so you know, I qualified for the Olympic Games.
04:06I qualified for the Olympic Games.
04:09Dude came in dressed like a woman, stole the box, got rid of the wig, and took off.
04:16You could go up like 10 flights of stairs.
04:19So I'm like, listen, I'm an Olympian.
04:22I'm behind Eddie.
04:24Eddie went up all the stuff.
04:26And caught the guy.
04:28We went up six levels first.
04:31But he caught him.
04:32You're talking about an athlete.
04:35Oh, my God.
04:36You remember that, Eddie?
04:37Well, you know, man.
04:40You know what, Mason?
04:42You know, it was just that I was a young man then.
04:47I could move real fast.
04:49But you want some balls to move faster than me?
04:51I made the Olympic trials.
04:55Man, that was good.
04:56That also showed me to have your mind on your own business.
05:02There's no way you're going to get Eddie LaVert checking the box office.
05:06And from that day on, and she will testify, I keep my mind on all of the business from that
05:13lesson.
05:14Right.
05:15We went up six flights.
05:16He called him.
05:17He called him, too.
05:18Well, see, I'm glad you're saying this.
05:20Because I tell my son that all the time.
05:23I told my sons, my daughters, I say it all the times.
05:28So they think I'm jiving.
05:31No, I've told this to everybody that I meet.
05:35Everybody that I know.
05:37Everybody that I see.
05:39If you're going to do it, do it.
05:41Come on.
05:41Put in the work.
05:43Put in the work.
05:44Yeah.
05:44That's the real deal.
05:46You've got some new music.
05:48Yes.
05:49Yes.
05:49Oh, real talk.
05:52I'm like, no, he can't do no new music.
05:54Oh, yeah, I got real talk.
05:55Oh, man.
05:56There's something called Let's Go to My Place.
05:59What?
05:59Yep.
06:00Yep.
06:00What?
06:02I got mold.
06:03I got a lot of mold.
06:06I got a couple snippets I want to play.
06:10Eddie LaVert has some new music.
06:13This one is I Want to Love on You.
06:16I want to play a little bit of it.
06:18Let me get this up for you today.
06:21I was like, really, he's got new music, man.
06:25All right.
06:25Here we go.
06:30This is my baby-making music.
06:38This is a little baby-making music.
06:41You recorded all of this when, Eddie?
06:44This was done, like, last year, right?
06:47Yeah.
06:47Right?
06:47Yeah.
06:48Wow.
06:48Last year, I got some of the guys from the O.J.'s orchestra.
06:54All of that is live musicians.
06:57Oh.
06:57None of that is the drum machine, not real drums, real bass, real guitar.
07:06And I did, I did, there's another song on there called Let's Go To My Place.
07:12Yeah, yeah.
07:12I'm going to get to that one.
07:13But hold on.
07:14First, I found a stepper song.
07:15That's Let's Go To My Place.
07:22I'm like, nah.
07:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:23Oh, yeah, yeah.
07:24Eddie, then there's two stepper songs, because that's certainly one of them.
07:27Woo.
07:28Woo.
07:28I'm playing with it, but I...
07:30Yeah, you broke my heart there.
07:31Come on.
07:32And then it's my favorite.
07:35This is a good one.
07:38This is a good one.
07:39This is a good one.
07:40This is a good one.
07:43Wow.
07:47Yeah, it's a stepper's record, too.
07:49Oh, my God.
07:50I got a cook on it.
07:52Weeping to get it, dear.
07:54Yeah, right here.
07:55Right here.
07:56Let's go with it.
07:57Baby, girl, moon.
08:01We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll take our time, baby.
08:06Make up your mind, girl.
08:10Wowee.
08:11Oh, my God.
08:13There you go.
08:15That's Eddie LaVert.
08:16Period.
08:17Good night.
08:17That's a good one, Eddie.
08:18You know, your voice, I don't care.
08:22Like, my mom, I was with a vocal coach, and she was like, you have to have feel.
08:27So my mom said, I'm going to take you to see my favorite artist.
08:30So I went, and I saw you on stage, and you have, like, that, you, you are, you feel you.
08:37Like, you're the, you, what, what I want to hear in my ears when I want to make love, and
08:41when I want, you know what I mean?
08:43You have that, period.
08:46And you sing with your whole body.
08:48Like, I look at you, and I'm like, okay, he's music.
08:52You are just, that's you.
08:54So.
08:54You.
08:54Woo.
08:55So, um.
08:56Oh, my God.
08:56Let's go to my place.
08:57I know, right?
08:58Yeah, we need that in rotation.
09:01What I, what I, when I'm teaching staff, and I really want them to feel the message, I take the
09:11video from the Midnight Special.
09:14Yeah.
09:15When, when, when, when, when you, when you did that performance, and, and I, I, remember the performance I showed
09:22you?
09:22Yes, yes.
09:23Is, is on the video, too?
09:25Man.
09:26You.
09:26You are, are you, you.
09:27Sunshine.
09:28Yes.
09:28Yes, man, yeah.
09:29Every part of it, you, you, woo.
09:31I can't even describe it.
09:32Yeah, I wanted her to see it.
09:34See it.
09:34Forget hearing it.
09:36I needed her to see you work.
09:38Yes.
09:39First time it happened to me, Cleveland, Ohio, snowstorm.
09:42There are no cars on the road.
09:45It's the week of the holiday.
09:47I go to a hotel called the Piccadilly Circus.
09:50I'm like, nobody's coming.
09:52It's a storm.
09:53It took me two hours to wait on the bus.
09:56We get there.
09:57The house is full.
09:59You know me.
10:00I went two and a half hours early because I didn't want to miss anything.
10:03I had never seen a professional group live yet.
10:08Only music.
10:09And then you could see some people on American bandstand.
10:13Soul Train was jazz kind of coming in.
10:16But I had never seen him live.
10:18You talking about work.
10:21So he worked so hard, he scared me.
10:24He started crying.
10:26Real tears on stage as he was presenting the song.
10:32When I heard Luther Vandross, I told him, that's B-level work.
10:37Wait a minute.
10:38I'm not dissing Luther Vandross.
10:40I understand what I'm about to tell you.
10:42That thing that Luther does walking away from the microphone, he sung for five minutes away from the microphone.
10:55Five.
10:56Five minutes.
10:57Not 50 seconds.
10:59Not a minute and a half.
11:00Not 40.
11:01Five minutes.
11:02He stood beside the microphone.
11:06And in the midst of him doing that, he's crying real tears.
11:12Like, uh-oh.
11:14Well, wait a minute.
11:15He trapped me between showmanship and reality.
11:21He trapped me.
11:21And I had never, never witnessed it.
11:24And then he took the microphone and just slowly started patting that microphone stand until he dropped to his knees,
11:34held that microphone up in his right hand.
11:38Right?
11:39And then crashed it.
11:41I had never witnessed anything like that in my life.
11:47He trapped me between showmanship and reality on a cold, stormy winter night in Cleveland in a hotel.
11:59They had on Flash Gordon's shoes, but that's something that you wouldn't know what that is.
12:05They had the big flash.
12:10But where did you get that from?
12:14Yes.
12:17And Mason, all of that was just caught up in the moment.
12:24The emotions of the song, that's when the God in you comes out.
12:31And you can't be afraid to be you in front of whoever you're in front of.
12:38So it was like, this is me.
12:41And I got to let you see me.
12:43And that's what you do as a real artist.
12:47You have to open up and let your public see you, see who you are.
12:52And this is me.
12:54This is what I feel.
12:56This is what I'm giving you.
12:57I'm giving you all of me.
13:00You know what I'm saying?
13:01And that's how you become, I think that's how you become a superstar or personality.
13:08That's how you become that.
13:11Because that's what you call the it factor.
13:14And that means that some people, you're not afraid to be, to let them see you, to let people see
13:23who you really are.
13:24Wow.
13:26You referenced once, probably a lot of people got lost in this, an opera singer.
13:33Yes.
13:35Yes.
13:35Mario Alonzo.
13:37How did you come across?
13:40I loved movies.
13:42And I went to see a movie called The Student Prince.
13:48And Mario Alonzo was singing, was doing the vocal in there.
13:53And, and then I, when I started reading about him, it was like every note, he, there was passion in
14:06every note that he sang.
14:08And when he, he, he held the note until he said it would, until people could feel it and they
14:18could feel it break their hearts.
14:21Wow.
14:23What makes you, what makes you still want to create new music?
14:30Like, cause you got not only hits, man, but you got classics, stuff that's still getting played today.
14:35Why do you feel like you need to still put out and create new music?
14:39That's who I am.
14:40Okay.
14:41That's what I, that's the only thing I know.
14:45I gotta, I gotta do that.
14:47If I don't do that, then all is lost.
14:50You know, then I lose me.
14:54You know what I'm saying?
14:55And God gave me this.
14:57So I gotta keep using it.
15:00Wow.
15:01I'm gonna take a page out of your book.
15:03Uh, when did you start singing?
15:05Like, when?
15:06Oh, man.
15:08When I was about 12 years old.
15:11What happened?
15:12What?
15:12What happened?
15:13Yeah.
15:16Look, I've always tried to be a ladies man and I always wanted, I always liked girls, man.
15:27So, my, you know, I wanted to get girls.
15:32And so I, I, you know, I was a, you know, young, rugged looking kid, you know, not handsome.
15:40And so, you know, I found out that girls love singers.
15:45And so I wrote this song called Lonely Drifter.
15:49You know, and Lonely Drifter was a song that was about the beach.
15:54And we were in Canton.
15:57No beaches, nowhere.
15:58In Canton, Ohio.
15:59Yes, right, right, right.
16:01So, this song, Lonely Drifter, was, uh, the, you know, do I have to be a lonely drifter?
16:13I'm looking for my love.
16:16I can't find it.
16:18So it looks like I'm gonna be a lonely drifter for the rest of my life.
16:21You wrote that at 12?
16:22Yes.
16:23Yeah.
16:24It's, it's, it's, it's in him.
16:26Listen, listen, man.
16:28When I, when, when I was a kid, what he's saying about himself was, I was, it was a reflection
16:34of me in the mirror.
16:35He did this one song called A Stand In For Love.
16:39He said, I'm like a shadow in the dark.
16:42I can't be seen.
16:45I'm like, that, that affects me because he looks like me.
16:49I look like him.
16:52Rick James.
16:53Yes.
16:55He stole me.
16:56Yes.
17:00That's why I bring it up.
17:02What was it, Eddie?
17:03How did he discover you?
17:05He, he, he, he, that's, he wanted to sing and the way he got his style was he, he started
17:16listening to my early records.
17:18And then when I got in Philly, he just started using that as his, well, I'm going to copy Eddie
17:26LaVert and I'm going to make these records.
17:29And he used to tell me, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm taking your style, man, and I'm going
17:34to make it happen.
17:35And he turned into rock and he would come to me all the time and say, what do you think
17:41about this, man?
17:42I'm going to say, you're, you're a bum.
17:44You didn't hear this.
17:48And that Tina Marie record that he did was all, you could hear you.
17:54And again, the opera singer's name was Mario Alonzo and, and something people didn't realize you were able to study
18:06a, a piece of art in what he did in terms of where everybody else would do riffs.
18:13Yes.
18:13You could hold it.
18:14I was holding the note.
18:16And this is going to be my style.
18:18This is what I was going to take into R and B music.
18:22This is, I'm not going to do the runs.
18:24I'm going to just hold the note and make sure that the note is pure and I can touch your
18:31heart with holding that note.
18:33And when I discovered what he just said, I took a record, put the needle on it and heard every
18:42word.
18:45Yes.
18:48Yes.
18:53Just, just, just, just, let me make love to your baby.
19:07You hear him do that with the, with the notes holding on?
19:10Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:10Oh my gosh.
19:11He just like, this is insane.
19:12People freaked out, man.
19:13You go to the live show.
19:15My mom, I was like, mama.
19:16Oh my God.
19:17Because I was a little girl.
19:18This is what love is about?
19:20You, you didn't know what it was, but why?
19:22Wow, Eddie, you, you, you used it, man.
19:24Good night.
19:26In our earlier interview, watch, watch, watch how the world, um, watch how the world connects and how your world,
19:35when you share it with others, connects.
19:38Uh, Dr. Darius, who is still in studio with us.
19:42Yes.
19:42Right?
19:43You grab a mic, Darius.
19:44Come on.
19:44Come on over here, man.
19:48Um, I just want you to, I want you to share the story you said when, when you and I
19:55had a conversation about family.
19:59Uh, yeah, Mason just taught me, like I said, to be a good family guy, not just a good radio
20:04personality of guys on the radio, but, you know, someone to spend time with your family outside of work, um,
20:10you know, things of that nature.
20:11First of all, I didn't even know this was Eddie Levert, man.
20:14This is crazy.
20:15I'm sitting next to the great.
20:17What?
20:18So, Darius, I asked you to reiterate that story because I got it from him through his work.
20:36He did a song with the OJs, and this song taught me.
20:47To share, to share that with you.
20:51And all of those who are strong, let them know their purpose.
20:57Let them be agents for you.
20:59Let them be agents for you.
21:00The spiritual side of the OJs, Eddie and, and, and what you do.
21:05That song, so, that's, I was able to pass that to him because the music is my teacher.
21:15And you did that.
21:17How, how, how did that come about in the whole deal with Philadelphia International?
21:22Well, you know, we, we, I was, um, me and Walt, we were in the church.
21:30His father was the, um, the choir director.
21:33And so, always, always, there was, um, always in, in everything that we did, there was that spiritual thing that,
21:44uh, we brought to Philadelphia and, and R&B music.
21:49Uh, so, anything that we did, we always referenced our gospel background because we started off singing gospel.
22:01And we were singing, we were singing in the, in the church from the time we were about eight or
22:08nine years old.
22:09And we, we, we, we even had a quartet with me and my brothers and, and, and Walt.
22:15And, um, and, um, we, we wasn't that good, though.
22:20But, but we did.
22:22We, we, we, we, we, we were singing gospel from, from that time on.
22:28So, anything that we did in Philadelphia, we could always relate it to our gospel background.
22:35And so we, that's what we brought to the Philadelphia International Records to Gamble and Huff.
22:42It's, it, it, it's, it's amazing.
22:45Um, I, I'd like you to share the story.
22:49Darius, you and I talked about when we met, you, you were in culinary school and he had to serve
22:56me.
22:57And the lady who invited me didn't really want me there for that.
23:00She wanted me to meet him because he wanted to be in this business.
23:06So I get there and, and she goes, oh, here he comes.
23:09He's going to serve.
23:11And he's so deep into the radio.
23:16He didn't even, he just started asking questions and talking as he was serving me.
23:22Came back, said, you want some more?
23:23I told him, no, he brought it anyway, so that he can continue the conversation.
23:28And I think about you when he was doing that to me.
23:35So I knew to listen because when you signed with Philly, Gamble and Huff told you,
23:43it'll be a few weeks before we do vocals.
23:46Mm-hmm.
23:46What did you do?
23:49I, look, when they told me that, I immediately called the guys and I let them know, listen,
23:56they got some great songs up here, man.
23:59You, we, you, you all need to come on up here and let's record this stuff.
24:04And, you know, because the deal with Leonard Chess had fell through and everybody took their marbles.
24:12Chess Records.
24:13Yeah.
24:13Took their marbles and went home.
24:15I'm going home and I'm never coming back.
24:18But I went down to Philly and they played me the new stuff that they had.
24:23And, um, and so I called the guys and I said, you need to come on back, man.
24:29We need to come on up here and do this.
24:32You wouldn't leave.
24:33They say.
24:35You then asked them, when are the musicians coming in?
24:39Yeah.
24:40Yeah.
24:41You were there before they approached the doors.
24:44And when they saw you, they said, you're not due for like a month.
24:47Yeah.
24:48Yeah.
24:48You said, I want to just sit here.
24:50Yeah, and listen and watch you produce this music.
24:55And, um, I, I, I was, I was there when they did the rhythm, when they played the, the, the
25:03songs on just the piano.
25:05And when they put that stuff together in the studio, I was there from the time when early in the
25:11morning until all day long when they were cutting that music.
25:15You had cut records, Eddie.
25:17Yeah.
25:18You had been on stage.
25:19Yeah.
25:19That's what a kid would do the first time they could ever hear about it.
25:24But you were like a kid all over again.
25:26Absolutely.
25:27Absolutely.
25:28Because they were, they were writing great songs.
25:31And, and watching Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble in the studio was like the greatest lesson that I ever had
25:39in, in music.
25:41Because they were able to take something from nothing, because they were able to take something from nothing and make
25:45it, listen to it.
25:51Incredible.
25:53Who would go knowing that you're not on?
25:58Sit.
25:59That's Darius.
26:00That's Darius.
26:01Listen.
26:02Listen.
26:02Just tell me when and where.
26:04And I'm there.
26:06And you, you, you, it, it, it, that, I couldn't, I couldn't let that go.
26:11You know, that, that is us singing from maybe 12 o'clock in the afternoon to 12 midnight.
26:24Wow.
26:25Doing 12 songs in one album in one day.
26:30You know what I'm saying?
26:32Because we had rehearsed them and we knew the songs backward and, and forward, but we did the backgrounds, we
26:40did the leads, all in one day.
26:46Wow.
26:47McFadden and Whitehead brings you a song.
26:49Yeah.
26:50They bring you this song.
26:52And you, you talked about the great opera singer and what he taught you.
26:58And they approach you with a street fad.
27:04Yeah.
27:05That did not make Eddie LaVert happy.
27:08No.
27:09What did, what did you.
27:11It was not my favorite song, but, you know, it became my favorite song.
27:18Oh, yeah.
27:19It became my favorite song.
27:22Yeah.
27:22But, so this is what that taught me.
27:25I, I, I guess I, I, I, the reason I follow you and learn behind you is because you always
27:33did it.
27:34Yeah.
27:35And the world recognized you for it.
27:37Yeah.
27:37So, I'm like, I'm going to follow him.
27:40I, I want to know why he did this.
27:42If he was not necessarily enthusiastic about doing this song because it was a street fad, but he did it
27:50anyway.
27:51You don't know everything.
27:53You don't know everything.
27:55So, you have to stay open to, well, maybe, maybe I'm wrong.
28:00And I was wrong.
28:02I was, it, it, it, it, it turned out to be the greatest record as that.
28:09But I, you know, I feel like that's one of my favorite records and because the sound and because of
28:15the background, because of the arrangement, because of the rhythm section, because of the lyric, all of it had a
28:25lot to do with what that song is about and what the OJs are about.
28:30And that's what started us on that road to success.
28:35The year was 1972.
28:37It was the same year that the whispers went gold.
28:431972, the OJs backstab.
28:49What they do.
28:51They smile it in your face.
28:53Oh, wow.
28:53Just imagine that, imagine that being played on a piano without the background vocals.
29:00I can't.
29:01And just Mac Patton and Whitehead singing.
29:04You know what I'm saying?
29:06And then to hear it come from that piano, from them singing it in that hot rehearsal room.
29:18Yeah.
29:18To this.
29:20And that's amazing, man.
29:22It is.
29:24It's uncanny.
29:25You.
29:26That's how I learned about backstabbers.
29:28Yeah.
29:29Like you learned through music.
29:30I was like, oh, it's people like, okay.
29:32They be smiling in your face.
29:33You know, all the time.
29:35But it was a street fad at the time.
29:37Yeah, absolutely.
29:38And it was not in the OJs realm.
29:40No.
29:41To do a song like that.
29:42But when you gave Eddie Lavert to it.
29:47I know they did the music, but when you give Eddie Lavert to it, it hit him.
29:51Oh, yeah.
29:52Another meaning.
29:54Yeah.
29:54Speaking of that.
29:55Speaking, Darius, of really honing in on your craft.
29:59Never letting it go.
30:00Always doing it.
30:01Always.
30:03The story goes, you were told about a group of guys who had did the song, Wildflower.
30:13Yeah.
30:13And you went to see it for yourself.
30:17Yeah.
30:18How'd that story go?
30:22Look, I just felt like when I heard them do this song that I just felt, you know, I had
30:34to do this song, I could make this song my song, and if I could just slow it down and
30:42do it
30:42my way, I can make this record a record.
30:46Wow.
30:47You know, and we started doing, we got an arrangement on it and started doing it at live performances,
30:55and it just, just, you know, it just.
31:00But you went to see it.
31:02They could have just told you, Eddie, that New Birth did the song that was done by Skylark.
31:10No, but you got to, you got to remember, we did the song right after Skylark did it.
31:17We did it before New Birth.
31:19They stole it again because we started doing it in live performances, and we were killing
31:27it.
31:27We were killing them.
31:29New Birth, we were killing them with that song, and then they, they went in the studio
31:36and recorded it, and got a gold record on it, but we only had an album cut.
31:42We, it was just on the album.
31:45You know what I'm saying?
31:46But we did it first.
31:49I felt like I was sitting right there.
31:53Yeah, yeah.
31:55We'd like to do a real pretty song that was done by a group of people, about the latter part
32:01of 1972, the early part of 73.
32:06Tune simply entitled Wildflower.
32:09Now, the first time we heard this song, it sounded like a, well, to tell the truth, it
32:14sounded like a white guy trying to do a black thing.
32:18But we come to find out later that it was a white, a black guy trying to do a white
32:23thing.
32:23You know what I'm saying?
32:24And so we, we got it together, and we did our own version of it.
32:28Here we go.
32:30The master himself.
32:32Unbelievable.
32:33The iconic singer in America, from America, Eddie LaVert.
32:39Did that in London, England.
32:40I sat there in my bedroom.
32:42I didn't know anybody outside my block.
32:44I said, dang, those people are enthralled by what the hell he's doing.
32:48Wow.
32:50But you know, today is just, it's a crazy day, because what I heard you say to Darius, or
32:56what we said to you earlier about when you crack the mic on the radio, you never miss
33:00a break.
33:01Mr. Eddie, he never miss a note.
33:03Like, he take every note to the max.
33:06It's like, it's that, again, that work ethic, that, it's just, this is an unbelievable moment.
33:13Binky.
33:14Yeah, you got to get on Binky.
33:15Binky, who I grew up with, member of the OJs, knew every step until he became one, and
33:23found out he didn't know any of it.
33:28I mean, he could emulate it until he got there.
33:32I mean, to work with the master.
33:35Go ahead, Darius, you had a question.
33:37You know, it's crazy, like, coming up, you hear your mom, your parents play these songs,
33:40you know, growing up, and, you know, you hear them, but they didn't really make sense
33:46to me until I really fell in love.
33:48You know what I mean?
33:49Like, you hear love songs, but then when you fall in love, you like, wow.
33:54Yeah.
33:54And I recall, you know, meeting my lady, and we first started hanging out, hanging out.
33:59Like, we were just sitting in the kitchen, and she has this Alexa that kind of, you know,
34:04put the words on the screen.
34:06Yeah.
34:06And, like, we'll just sit there and sing, and it's just so amazing, just the time.
34:13It's just timeless.
34:14The music is just so timeless, man.
34:16It's just to be sitting here with you right now, and to be hearing those songs, man,
34:20it's just so surreal for me right now.
34:21I mean, you know, and to kind of piggyback on what you're saying, it was a song you
34:26did that taught me that no matter how bad the argument is, and you guys are getting
34:32ready to, you know, call it quits, and it's over, but then even a man, because you said,
34:39me and my woman, we cried.
34:41We cried together.
34:42You love that cry together.
34:44Because it was like, it gives you, it gives everybody an out, like, you know what I mean?
34:49Yeah.
34:49Eddie, talk about cry together.
34:52What did you think of that song?
34:55Oh, man.
34:56Yeah, one of my favorite.
34:57What did it mean?
34:58One of my favorite songs, you know what I'm saying?
35:01Because, you know, like Darius is talking, I was a young man, and I was in love, you know
35:10what I'm saying, so when we, and we were going through issues, and, you know, and when we
35:16got, when we made that song, I was able to express my feelings in that moment, when I
35:24was going through changes, we cried together, you know, and we had those moments that we
35:31cried together, and me and my woman, sometimes we don't get along.
35:40I like you said when they cried, and then we cried, and then we, and then we made love.
35:47That's that makeup.
35:48Ooh, that's that makeup sex for real.
35:50So I was telling, I was telling our videographer, you know, you grow up in a city, you come from
35:55Detroit, you got Motown.
35:57We just had Eddie LaVert and the OJs.
35:59That's all we had.
36:01It's unbelievable.
36:01And if they were going to appear on television, everybody in the city went to a house to see
36:12them on national TV.
36:15I mean, it was all we had.
36:18And then they were so magnificent.
36:20Listen, you think I'm enthralled when Don Cornelius loved the OJs in Eddie LaVert.
36:29That was my band.
36:31Yeah.
36:32You helped him with Soul Train.
36:34Yeah.
36:34Yeah.
36:35Well, because when he was in Detroit, or in Chicago, and they had, they were filming in
36:43this small studio where they could only get maybe, maybe, what, 100 kids?
36:48Yeah.
36:49And we would, we would come and do his show and we would do it whenever he asked.
36:57And then when he went to California, he, he, he, when he couldn't get a guest and we were
37:04in town, he would come and sit at our hotel lobby until we committed to come and do his
37:11show.
37:12He, he did everything but say that.
37:15Yeah.
37:15Every time he interviewed you guys, he, you know, and, and, and that's.
37:19It's a blessing.
37:19I grew up with Sean and Gerald.
37:22Yeah.
37:22Um, I'll never forget Gerald told me, I said, Gerald, how come you don't do a group now?
37:30He's like, dog, my dad say we ain't ready.
37:36Yeah.
37:37Yeah.
37:38I was hard on him, man.
37:40As, as, as you would be.
37:41But he, but he, I listened to him now and I understand, you know,
37:49I made him be who he was.
37:52Now he created songs that nobody is covering his music.
37:57Yeah.
37:57You know why?
37:58Cause they can't.
38:00There's no way.
38:01That voice isn't there.
38:03Yeah.
38:03They can't do it.
38:04They, they just can't do it.
38:06Cause he did.
38:07He, he was into his music so much that he made it.
38:13So it's almost impossible to cover his records.
38:17Wow.
38:17Oh yeah.
38:18Yeah.
38:19And even now with me trying to sing his records, I do a, uh, old, uh, Lavert medley,
38:27Gerald Lavert medley in my show.
38:29So, and, uh, that's the most, the, the most, uh, I have to work at it, man.
38:37And I curse him every night.
38:40So, uh, people want to know, I'm sure.
38:46Does he sound like you to you?
38:49Not to me, but, but remember this.
38:54Menham used to record in my basement and, uh, we would be recording stuff and playing and
39:02because he would play piano and I would play piano and then we would put it on tape and
39:09then we would sing.
39:10And so a lot of times we would sing and I'd be listening and I'd say, oh man, that's
39:16a great riff I just did.
39:18And he would say, that wasn't you, man.
39:21That was me.
39:23And I'd say, let's play that back, man.
39:26I don't believe you.
39:27And he'd play it back and I'd say, oh, well, I guess so.
39:31Wow.
39:32Eddie has been a fascinating question that people have wondered.
39:36Wow.
39:37Well, not to me because I, I, you know, I was hard on him.
39:41I made him, I made him be who he was, you know, and, uh, and, uh, when we sang together
39:49was one of the greatest moments in my career.
39:53I've had great moments with the OJs, but no question.
39:57But my greatest and most enjoyable time was when I sang with him and Sean.
40:06And, uh, those are memories that I will keep forever.
40:12And, you know, I got a song now that I, that I did with my daughter, Ryan.
40:17Oh, yeah.
40:18It's called Never.
40:19And, uh, it's on this album.
40:21Uh, I think she, did you send it to me?
40:24I think she sent it to me.
40:25I don't have that one today.
40:27Yeah.
40:27But I'll get it.
40:28But, um, if you listen to that, she made, that song that me and her did has made me change
40:36the title of my album from, uh, Time Traveler to I'll Never Forget You.
40:42And it's, uh, it's going to be about, you know, all the people that I love that I passed
40:47on, Gerald and Sean, Ryan, my mother, my dad, or even you can relate to your mom, your dad,
40:56or your sister, or your brother.
40:58It's called I'll Never Forget You.
41:01Wow.
41:02Okay.
41:02I'm, I'll, I'll, I'll get that.
41:04I'll get that.
41:06I'll, so many songs.
41:08And, and, and I'm, I'm going to let you go because we've had you here forever.
41:13But it's such a joy and a thrill for me to have such an iconic American singer.
41:20What's up?
41:20In our studio, man.
41:22You know you embarrass me.
41:23I love you the dozen, man.
41:26Um, the last time you guys, uh, performed as the OJs in Detroit, I want to tell you the
41:33way the stage, that presentation, your background singers, your orchestra, the whole everything.
41:40Like, I came back, remember, I couldn't even wait till Monday to tell you.
41:43I was like, from A to Z, talk about detail and the way the harmonies, just everything, the
41:49way it flowed was perfection.
41:51And then I said, that's showbiz.
41:53You guys did it.
41:54So Detroit appreciated that.
41:55That was beautiful.
41:56You're still up on that stage.
41:57Yeah.
41:57And tell people how old you are, Eddie.
41:5982, man.
42:0082.
42:01You know, and listen, you know, hey, listen, I, God is blessing me and, um, I will probably
42:11be doing this until I can't do it.
42:14Yeah.
42:14You know what I'm saying?
42:15And, um, you know, the people, the, the way it flowed was perfection.
42:19The audience, you know, that's, this is the motivation.
42:24Uh, now I use what has happened to me in my life with my children, with my mom, my dad,
42:32and all of the people that I love going on.
42:36You know, I use them now as motivation to keep doing what I do.
42:42There was a song, and, uh, I want to thank you for coming, uh, and, and, and being with
42:48us this morning.
42:49It's such a great deal.
42:50I had Darius.
42:51Yeah.
42:51And then I had the great Eddie LaVert.
42:54Um, there was a song.
42:57I was a teenager.
42:58I listened to it.
42:59I listened different than most people do because of my admiration for you and the success
43:07that you would always bring.
43:09And that joy would shower Cleveland because we didn't have nobody.
43:13So I would listen to those other songs and, and, and as we wrap this up today, a song that
43:23kept me going as I lost people, as I went into transitions, as I tried to become somebody
43:31and tried to understand life.
43:35It was one song that I found that you did that just told me that all the time.
43:50How Time Flies, man.
43:52Yeah.
43:53Yeah, man.
43:54Great song.
43:55That is.
43:56Great song.
43:57Now that was, uh, the great William Powell.
44:02Yeah.
44:03That was an original OJ.
44:06He sung the lead on this and I, I just love this voice, man.
44:11Eddie, thank you.
44:12Oh, yes.
44:12You didn't have to do this.
44:14So thank you, man.
44:15I thank you.
44:16I thank you, man.
44:17You've been a treasure, man.
44:19Nah, listen, uh, listen, hey.
44:25God has blessed me, man.
44:26Yeah.
44:27And, uh, he continues to bless me.
44:30You look better today.
44:32Oh, man, shut up.
44:33Than you look six months ago.
44:35It's like two different people now.
44:38It's like that Eddie was really struggling with it.
44:41That's it, man.
44:43I love you, Eddie.
44:45Ladies and gentlemen, Eddie.
44:47Bye, man.
44:47Bye, man.
44:48Bye, man.
44:49Bye, man.
44:49Bye, man.
44:50Bye, man.
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