The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Lenny Kravitz (Part 1)

Episode Date: May 18, 2020

Music legend Lenny Kravitz shares soulful stories from his music-filled childhood and his sonically-retro, "carpet-y" sound. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, all. wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's

East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make, to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to understand. miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok

podcast network on TikTok. Quest Love Supreme may contain language that some of our listeners may find offensive. Listener discretion is advised. Suprema, Suprema Roll Call. Suprema, SEPA, SEPRima role call.

Suprema, SEPA, SEPRima Role Car. Suprema Supraima Roll Call For you Romeo Blue fans Yeah Dig this scene Yeah

Matt a girl in Toronto Yeah named Juliet Green Roca Supra Supraima Roca Cobra Supraima Roca

My name is Fonte Yeah And I'm a winner Yeah Check out my new hairstyle Yeah From my man's center Roca

Supreme Sub-Supra roll call Sub-S-S-S-S-S-S-Rima roll call Sugar Yeah I'm your fantasy Yeah No sugar

Yeah I taste so sweet Oh That's sweet Supraima Roll car Supremma Supraima Roll car I'm unpaid bill

Yeah So much to do Shout out to Lenny Kravitz Yeah My second favorite Jew Rocault, Supraima, Subma, Roll Call. Jewish Supreme. There's only one thing

Yeah. On which to focus. Yeah. Boss Bill wants to know. Yeah. Why did everybody hate circus? Roll car. It's Supremma,

Subima, Subima, Roca. Supraima, Supraima, Roca. It's my ears. Yeah. So fresh, so clean. Yeah. Letty Kravins is here. Ooh, and I'm Black Belvedine.

Rocah. Supriva, sub, sub, sub, subprima, roll call. You are dressed out of you. My name is Lenny. Yeah. I just woke up. Yeah. So it's going to be really hard.

Yeah. To get me the spoke up. Rocahka. Suprima, Subrama, Roca. Suprema, sub,

Suprema, Sub prima, Roca. Suprema, sub, sub, Suprima, Supreme a Roca.

Suprema, Subima Roll call. Wait. I got to say something real quick. Ladies and gentlemen, just let it be known

that Laia was not dressed like this during Mike Berbiglia. I'm going out later. She didn't have that gold velvet on? No, not for Berbigliah. I'm going out later. She has gold velvet on?

She's gold velvet team. I'm going out later. Sure, y'all. Really? Okay, this is for all my ladies that wish they were I was sitting. Okay, there you go. Okay, yeah, girls are sitting out tonight. Yeah, I was going to say.

They deserve to come out every once and again? I see. We need to have Lenny Kravitz. Hot outside. It is. It's at 51 degrees. Fuck you. Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. Actually, you know what? I owe our guest today. And apology, because I never truly give him enough credit for his influence and his artistry. And I believe that he has truly kept the concept of what they once called in the 80s, retro-newvo. I think Nelson George coined that term. retro-enuvo slash instant vintage vibes alive long before the Dapton Empire

or the Cats, the LA Cats from Breakistra, or, you know, anyone that's built empires off of keeping vintage vibes alive. Mark Ronson. Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone. You know, this man was first, so influential. Without no doubt, even at this day, age, he's probably still the coolest dude to welcome the planet some 30 years after his debut

LaVruel came into our lives, and we want to welcome. Thank you, brother. Leonard. Wait, what's your middle name? No. Albert. Albert. That's what he looked like.

I've got an uncle named that, too. Leonard, Albert Kravis. So, to Bill and Steve. Yes. now do you feel that the The bagel boys? Finally. Do you now feel that the playing feels?

Yes. It's like a little more even. This is very balanced. I feel this is very balanced. We're still winning because we got half probably. That's right. Well, you know, because

well, the host is neutral. So I'm just saying that. That's not what your face in your head. I hear you. But I'm neutral. I'm just saying that, you know, these two rarely

is true. This is the most words they've spoken in like 12 combined episodes. Totally. Since Barbiglio. Since Mike Barbiglio. For Jim. Anyway, Lenny, how are you doing, pal?

I'm good, man. I'm gonna try and be as professional as possible and act like I don't know you. So. I want to explain my roll call real quick because that was a mess. That was weird. Well, first of all, your timing was like light ears. No, normally that was me. That was me.

I was off. I feel like you did that on purpose, though. No, no. I was trying to sing sugar. your song and I fucked it all up. Okay. So that's that. Don't come in the cravets in front of linna.

I'm coming later and fix that. No. We can't fix any rule calls. Sorry. Yeah. That was bad. So how's it going, man? It's going really well, man.

I feel great creatively. I just had an amazing time making this record. Raised vibration. And I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. which like you said after 30 years it feels really good to feel like you're still being completely authentic to yourself

and that you're still excited to make music having amazing experiences like like the first ones were you know so you're saying there was a time period in which you didn't know if you were coming or going or well right before making this album um because i'd done so much and i'd gone so many places musically i really wasn't sure who i was at that moment what i had to say where i was going stylistically with the music um a lot of people were giving opinions um which is good about what they

thought I should be doing and try this, try that, work with this, when do this. You never work with a producer. You know, you always do everything yourself, you know. And so, and this whole thing about remaining relevant, which I learned a lot about because it really doesn't mean anything. Well, to me, being relevant is being true to who you are at any given time. And what was I going to go do? I was going to go make a trap record, you know? Like, not that I don't dig it, but you know what I'm saying? Like, try to be that guy.

Like, okay, let me go, let me go be hip and go. I'm crabbit. Bloc, fuck, so. You know, you could have called Drake. Right? So I, um, I. It's weird. So you're saying that that you were met with quasi indifference about strut because you

played me strut? No, no, I didn't do with strut. Like that was gone. The period after strut? It was after that. It was after the tour, after the whole thing. And I knew I was going in to make a record and I had no idea what I was going to do. And so after trying this, trying that, doing this, doing that, listening to everybody,

writing all these tunes that I was trying to write. They were okay. But I wasn't feeling it like that. And so I just got really quiet, closed the studio door. went back to just live an island life being quiet and just being out in nature and I woke up one morning like four in the morning with the song in my head ran to the studio started putting it down and the floodgates just opened you know I had to I had to wait I had to wait to receive what it is that I was being given so when you're in your your island and the Bahamas

is there a pressure like every morning that you wake up when you're like, okay, where's my inspiration coming from? Because usually when people live in beautiful, isolated places like that, usually the purpose is to connect with the land and receive ideas. Absolutely. And just live. So I'm not on the schedule. I'm not, you know, like I have to go in every day or I just wait until I feel it.

And once I feel it and once these dreams, and the music starts coming out, then it just keeps coming, and then I'm just in there, like for months, just working. Okay. You know, yeah. So where were you born?

I was born in Bedstuy, Brooklyn, Troop in Kosci, Oskill. Do a dive bedstead. Yeah, 368 Troop Avenue. Three blocks from where I used to live. It was me, Jay, Mike Tyson, you know, that crew. You were the Marcy Project? No, we were all in the same neighborhood. Okay, I see.

In general, I mean, I've seen interviews before. We just like, you know, you were in two worlds, a black and, well, you know, your album was also called a black and white world. So, but what was, I mean, to be a child in the 60s in Brooklyn, was this a well-received idea? especially you being before born before.

I don't know what you're, I'm not trying to fish for your age. You look like 20 years ago. Yeah, because you still look 20 something. You had the hairstyle from when you first started, so it's really confusing. But I know there was a six in the third digit of your birth year,

so I'm just trying to figure out in terms of... Yeah, I mean, I really caught the 70s. I really caught the early 70s. Okay. By the time I was really... Well, late 60s, too, but... I mean, the first things I was hearing

was Jackson 5. Okay, so 70s. Yeah. So what was your childhood like as far as being, and you're the son of Roxy Rocher? Yeah, my mom at the time was doing theater. She was in a theater company

called the Negro Ensemble Company and where so many of our great African-American actors and actresses come from. So she was doing that. She was a secretary by day, at NBC over Rockefeller Plaza. Oh. Yeah.

I grew up in that building. Really? Yeah, she was a secretary for this guy named Ed Stanley. I forget what his position was. My dad was a producer. He started out as a page. Became a producer.

They met there. They met at 30 Rock? They met at 30 Rock. Damn, so you're a 30 Rock baby? Yes. That's crazy. They met at 30 Rock. Did he ever say?

I want to say caught her, but that feels disrespectful. How did he... Catch her eye? Yes, how did he catch her eye? Yeah, how did he catch her eye? He was very much into the arts, very much into music, very much into jazz. Like, he produced the Paganini show that was on there. He was working with all these jazz musicians and hanging around with Louis Armstrong and all

these folks. Oh, he's funky. Okay. And going to the theater. and he was that cat. And, you know, he was kind of smooth. He was kind of, he had some swagger. He was a Ukrainian, you know, Russian Jew.

Now Ukraine, get specific before it was all Russia. And he went after my mom, and they were dating. And, yeah, then they got married. Russian Jews known for their swagger. Shout out to Russian Jews, right? Right, right, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, all of us are pouring that bill.

Yeah, like Steve right now. Yeah. I'm sorry, is that what y'all? Is that y'all too? And my mom was older. She was like in her 30. She's older than her 30. No, but I mean she was like in her later 30s and or late 30 almost, I don't remember.

When they met? Yeah. Wow. My mom hadn't been married. Wow. My mom was like, she was holding out. Ah. So waiting for a real one, you know, waiting for a real one.

You know? waiting for a Russian Jew, right? Come on, man. And we all. Get on your mark. And they were very friendly. You know who Bobby Short is? Yeah.

Bobby Short used to sing at the Cafe Carl. I happen to like New York. There you go. That's my shit. He's a brother who sang like Rogers in Hart and Ellington and Cole Porter and Cafe Society. He was in that, well, see, You're probably too young. I'm like, he sang that Charlie commercial in the 70s.

I might get, but my father's a child like that time. So, yeah. Oh, that's him? He sang that commercial? Charlie, yeah. I think it was Lauren Hutton running around. He was like, Charlie. And she was the baby, so yeah.

Anyway, they were all like a crew. You grew up around Bobby Short? Yeah. That's crazy. I used to drive Bobby home after the gigs. When I got old, I used to go. Wait, what? Because I used to always go back.

Like when I was a kid, I was going there since I was five years old. And then when I got older, you know, I still went. Anytime I was in New York, I went to see Bobby. And I would go to the second show and I'd drive him home. But anyway, the point was, wait, you have, I'm sure you have, you have, for the long as I've known you, all of your life footnotes. Right. Oh, by the way, it's a mind-blowing and shit.

I'm going to skip a little bit ahead, but you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, Sherman Hemsley story of the first time he smoked weed or whatever. Yeah. Was with Sherman Hemsley? The first time you did.

People, people... I've heard stories about Sherman. You know, he was so different from his character. Yeah. Oh, wow. He used to... Had like an acid... I tried to explain him like that.

He used to drive in. He had this silver... I remember for it. Cadillac Seville. The box one. The box one. Yeah. And he had this,

this Mexican brother named Ralph had big old curly afro used to drive him and that car would pull on the lot all you can see it was like Cheech and Chong all you can see was smoke and he was either jamming yes or the Grateful Dead or Santana

I was an episode of Gentle Giant I tried okay so the members of Gentle Giant manage all right which member of Hart is not married to what's his name from Rolling Stone? Hart Nancy Anna Nancy

Oh, you mean Cameron Crowe? Yeah, so which one, Anne is married to Cameron Crowe, right? I believe? Yes, the blonde. Right, the blonde. The guitar player. Yes. So Nancy, her managers are members of Gentle Giant.

Okay. And at the time when she came on the Tonight Show, and she really didn't know who Gentle Giant was. And so she just happened to mention like, yeah, my management, they used to be a band together. Now they're, you know, their management and something like that. that there's something, some giant, something, gentle or gentle giant?

She's like, yeah, what, you heard of those guys? And we lost our collective minds because we're, a lot of us are from the school of Jay Diller, and he samples a lot of like Prague rock and art rock stuff and got us into all

that stuff. So early, yes. That was Sherman's stuff, man. Right. And so Sherman used to always play like, you know, like when you listen to the radio on a black sitcom, you're supposed to, like, rerun used to always dance to teddy pin the grassy right here.

On what's happening? On what's happening? Get up, get down, get fucking. I never noticed it. You know, anytime rerun dance, it's like the fake version of that. It's the fake out version. The fake out version.

Blurred line's version. Yeah, and then the blurred line version. And then on good times, it was Jimmy Bowhorn's, uh, let's do it. Let's dance a gospel floor. Anyway, but Sherman Hemsley, whenever he's jamming it's like to gentle

giant it's like something in 719 meter that was his thing man and you know you always saw him in that three-piece suit with the gray hair they put that gray hair in he he didn't have gray hair then and he'd be wearing some

tattered blue jean flares with with the with the yes tie-dye t-shirt and he'd be smoking some good bud in that dress room straight up hippie And I'm like, you know, 11. And my mom was watching me, like, what you're doing going up in Sherman's room? So, yeah.

So are you saying that he was your hippie shaman or your, he was that cat on the set, you know? Sherban the shaman. You all I'm going to be just like that guy. Shaman and the shaman. Man, it's crazy. Yeah. It's amazing. All right.

So back to you, Chavez. Yeah, I'm sorry. Like, move. Oh, so we're talking about my Bobby short. Yes. So my mom said to Bobby, sigh, that's my dad's name, Cy. Right? Or Irving.

You guys happen. Well, I'm looking at him. Lechay. Yeah. Middle name Saul. I mean, it's as Jewish as it gets. Seymour, Saul, Cravitz. Wait, what?

Wow. Seymour Saul Cravitz. That was my rabbi's name. And my mom said, sigh asked me to marry him. So Bobby looked at her and said, she said, what do you think I should do? He said, I don't see nobody else asking. Nice.

Good shots. Nice, nice. Well, he got a point and I guess it's the same thing she said. Which is kind of crazy because my mom was all that. Gorgeous. You know? But anyway, they got together and I'm sitting here. Was she the fashion queen that she was on TV?

Oh, she was amazing. Yeah. Yeah, she was, she was that lady. From the get. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Side note. This is weird to tell you like,

in front of three billion people. No, no, no. I tried to tell you last time as a surprise, but you got a, have you ever met Apollonia, Cotario, yet? No, we spoke. She told you? She told you?

Yeah, she has the pictures for me. She told, uh, cool. She did tell me, because after a while, I was like, it took forever. No, she's got the pictures. Do you remember the episode when the Jefferson shot in Hawaii? Yeah. Yeah, the whole week.

Yeah, exactly. So apparently she took like a bunch of Polaroids and had photo books but left it behind. And Apollonia just happened to be scrounging through like, you know, vintage stores or whatever and saw. Found my mom's pictures. Whoa. Found her pictures. In Hawaii. But in a story?

At a, yeah, at some sort of like Five and Dime Thrift Store thing, so she... Yo, what? Is any of her clothes still around? Not for nothing. I just wonder. Zoe. Zoe's not called enough.

Zoe's this boy. I would get them joint tailors. I would get the... I didn't know she was that short. I didn't know. You get that joint tail or you cut it off a half. I assume that your mom was like 5.11 at least. Yeah.

Yeah. That means it's not the clothes are, okay. There's a couple pieces of it. Zoe's got like... And they should be. be in a museum somewhere not for nothing, too, if they can't fit Zoe.

They should be in a museum. They should be in the Smithsonian and D.C. I think we're all. Everyone's looking at me, man. Everyone's looking at me. What? I had to. I'm sorry.

I am black. Anyway. Like, did you really think? I didn't know Zoe that small. My grandmother's small, too, but I let some things out. No, but I mean, Dude, like, trust me.

Zoe used to sleep on his couch. No, I remember Zoe had a long time in Philly. I remember she was in a band and whatnot. Nubourriish. Yo, for real, Lenny and Zoe are single-hand to be responsible for all of the French toast jokes y'all got with the oils that I used. Oh.

Like coconut oil, what do you? For like two years, Zoe wouldn't tell me the vanilla oil that she uses. Oh, I'm sorry, there's a vanilla. There's a vanilla oil. Right, but then at your house. Did she smell like you? You know, okay, another TMI moment. You know, like, when you're, wait, what did you say?

I said, does she smell like you? No, like she was first. Okay, got it. She wouldn't tell me. I hop was first. They ain't got no vanilla oil in I hop. Are y'all serious? Is there a serious of vanilla oil that you can cook?

Okay. And then, no. And then she would never tell me. And then I went to that cookout at your spot in Miami. And in the bathroom, I saw the bottle there. That's right. And you started using it. Well, yeah.

Poopery? But then I went. This dude smelled like a vanilla cake. I remember. You still don't. You're not spraying yourself with poopery, right? Because it was in the bag. No, no, no.

But like these little, were they silver bottles? What were they those bottles? Say it again? They were these little bottles, right? Yeah. They came from France. Right. Exactly.

Yeah. But she left it there, so I took a photo of it, and then I ordered it like 42 gallons of it. And I bathed in it at Costco side. She got legit mad at me for, like, jacking her swag. Like, that was her thing. Right. Yeah.

She got mad at me, so she stopped using it. But, you know, at the time is, she gets on a vanilla stage. She'd get me girls and all this stuff. Like, what fuck? Like, you know. I had a girlfriend in Paris that used to wear it, and she was a little girl. She loved that oil. That oil works game busters on your love.

I'm sorry. This is just a... Rock that oil, like you will have no more trouble. First of all. First of all, I smell good today. Second of all, do you have like a favorite smell thing? Or do you just rock it straight lennie? I'm just, because we were talking about smells.

I just wanted to know. Me personally? Yeah, straight lennie. Yeah, straight lennie. It's straight lennie kind of a lot of the time. I'm just saying we're talking about zoal smell. No, we were talking about oils. So anyway, can we go back?

From French toes to... So back to when you were six years old. Anyway, man. Let me get some music at least. So, wait, do you have any siblings? Are you the only child? I have two half-sisters from my dad's first marriage. Okay.

Aha. Where are they? Is they single? It's like speed dating tonight. Two for two. You have gone chatting with shit. Are they old? You said older sisters, right?

Yes. Older's, hmm, you need that in your life. Older than me? No, I don't need that in my life. Two older, beautiful Jewish women. Okay, I need them in my life. So how did you get interested in music? It was all around me.

Okay, first concerts, the first concert was Jackson Five, Master Square Garden with the Commodore's opening. Before they were called the Commodores. They had, I remember talking a line, He's like, we didn't even have a name then. They had some other name they were going under. Saw James at the Apollo when I was like six.

Saw, then started going up, you know, saw Duke Gillington at the Rainbow Room. Used to hang with him because my parents were close with him. I remember being at a sound check sitting on his lap while he played. Actually, that was my fifth birthday because they played happy birthday to me. Whoa. Duke Ellington played happy. Yeah. At the age of five, you went to go see Duke.

Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. So Miles, all that stuff, Lionel Hampton, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, Sarah Vaughn, you know, going to the opera, going to the ballet, going to Shakespeare in the park, going to off-Broadway and, you know, black theater and Broadway. So all this stuff was around me. My parents used to take me out with them, which was really cool. Whenever I could go, whenever they saw fit, they took me to parties. They took me to clubs.

They took me to go see stuff. So I saw all these people. Before I was 10 years old, I'd seen, like, everybody. Were you one of the few kids allowed in the studio 54? That I didn't make. Thank you, Jesus. That I didn't make. That would have turned you out.

I might not be talking to you right now. I don't have any pictures like with Liza Minnelli and Michael Jackson. But were you usually the lone child in those situations or where there's like maybe a couple other kids as you might see? No, it was just. It was me. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind. the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, On TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends...

Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed.

I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone, I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Stepbrothers, Anchorman,

Saturday Night Live. and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day. And I was like,

and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet.

Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. and he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there.

Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So when did you discover that you had a voice? Not until, well, okay, so when I was 11, when my mom got the Jeffersons, we moved to L.A. And she... So that was shot in L.A.

Yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah. The building, actually, a little drummer trivia. The building, that's on, I forget, 80-something and third, Grady Tatey lived in that building. What? And he was a friend of ours. So before the Jeffers, we used to go over.

In fact, Grady Tate gave me my first drumsticks and drum pad. Word? Yeah, gave me my first little Remo drum pad. Remember with the little gray rim? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he gave me my first sticks and pad. But he used to live in that building. That was the Jefferson's building.

Come on, y'all. Everyone's like, who's Grady Tate. I'm about to say, just help help the babies. Tell him who Grady Tate is. Help the babies. Oh, I mean, he's unnoted. You know, God. Yeah, studio drummer.

Everything. If you remember, see, I'm bringing up stuff. No, just do it. But we rabid a home. Remember schoolhouse rock? Yes. There was a song called Noddy Number Nine. Best in peace, Bob Monroe.

Yeah. Nottie number nine was Grady Tate. Yeah, he sang also. Yeah, I forgot. He also sang. I asked questions for me, but I also asked questions for the people. Because I ask the question. I wonder why, too. Because Mike Berbiglia didn't. You wore like 12 hoodies.

I don't know where you're talking. Anyway, so to my voice. So we moved to L.A., which was a culture shock because I was getting ready to going to the sixth grade. And now I'm in Santa Monica and there's like no one on the street. And I'm like, where the hell am I? Little white kids with blonde hair on skateboards going by. And it was very new to me. Anyway, she wanted to keep me off the street because she was going to be very busy doing this, doing this show.

So there was a boys choir that are very, of her son was in called the California Boys Choir. And that Boys Choir at the time was the second rated boys choir in the world next to the Vienna Boys Choir. So my mom had me audition. She thought it'd be great. It would keep me off the street.

I'd learn about music. Anyway, I ended up auditioning, not really understanding what was going on, got in, got trained, and then graduated into the concert choir and then ended up, like my first concert was Hollywood Bowl, opening night of the season Mahler 3rd Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic

I ended up singing on albums with Zubin Mehta And That was your first record? My first studio session was doing The Moller 3rd, the same one But with Zubin Mehta

So I sang, I had this classical career So I had this classical voice And then my voice changed When I was like 15 Left the choir and then went to high school and was just really playing guitar, bass, and drums. Were you self-taught always?

Yeah. No formal. But I didn't want to be the singer. Oh, okay. And why not? I just didn't, I wanted to be the guitar player or the bass player or the drummer. I wanted to be just chilling on the side.

Oh, the cool guy in the glasses. And then I ended up in a band, and then something happened with the singer, and they all looking at me, and then I ended up being the singer. and I was very insecure about it for a while. What was the name of the band? Wave.

Wave. Yeah. What period was this? Oh, this is like, this is like 80. Really? So it's like Rick James, Jackson's, Prince, you know, cameo, you know. Black band? Yes.

Wave. All right. Yeah. Do you guys ever get this? Horns, two keyboard players, drums, two guitars, bass. You know, the whole thing. Anyone notable in the group? No.

Mm-mm. Okay. Did you ever get in the studio with them? We did some demos, but this was all, like, really early stuff. Do you know where those demos are? No. Do you know where those guys are? Leonard, Albert Kravitz.

Do you know where those demos are? Don't look at me like that. Are you fibbing on me right now, bro? Because you know I'm going to find them demos. I know if anybody finds them going to be you. So that was your first band in 1980? Yeah, I was like, because I was just, I was really, I moved out when I was 15, and I was just like, wait, how does one do that? Another drumming story.

Okay. I was 15 years old, living in L.A., living in my parents' house. My dad and I were like having a hard time, button heads. There was a buddy rich concert at Disneyland. Disneyland was having a jazz series. So that night was going to be buddy rich. And then separately, Freddie Hubbard and a few other folks. And so I wanted to go see.

Pretty Hubbard at Disneyland. Say what? Freddie Hubbard at Disney. I know. It's kind of strange, right? Yeah. That's cool. That's what it's like inside Sugar Steve's head all the time.

No, no, no. Freddie Hubbard at Disneyland. You just summed it up. Oh, God. So I told my dad. Wait, time about, are you thinking of cursing out for the Hubbard? Yeah. Like, I mean, that could go so many different ways in front of chair.

Okay. So go ahead, Lenny. Sorry. No, no. So I told my dad I wanted to go see Buddy Rich because, you know, I wanted to see him. My dad was like, you went out last night. I was like, yeah, but tonight I go see Buddy Rich. We got in this big argument, and that was the first time I did that, like, Richard

Pryor thing where Richard Pryor talks about getting into a fight with his dad and standing up and I'll kick your ass. I'm not afraid of you anymore and all that. And I was shaking and shit. You know. Care doesn't mother. And my dad was like ex-green beret, like crazy jumping out of air. airplanes with knives and machine guns and hands and aides.

I'm like, stand up, he's looking at me like I'm crazy. And that was it. So it was like, you know, you live under my roof, under my rules, or you go. And I went. Was buddy Richworth? I'm going to Disneyland. I'm going to Disney. This is the greatest I'm going to Disneyland story ever.

There was some mean press rolls, baby. Oh, my. I mean. Wait, so at the end of the night, after seeing where I got to go. Buddy and Friday, I'm like, oh, shit, I ain't got nowhere to go. And your mom wouldn't be like? My mom was freaking out.

Because remember, there's no cell phones. Right. But I stayed out. That was it. I was in the street. I was in people's couches. I slept on studio floors. I slept in a car in a four-pinto for a while.

Did it ever cross your mind to go stay with the gym? Jeffersons in that nice apartment in that building in New York? In the sky. Yeah, in the sky. A deluxe apartment in the sky. Yeah, exactly. Nice place.

Well, wait, I mean, so were your pre, or your foreman of years, were they independent? Yeah. You mean after I left? Yeah. Oh, dude, I was...

No, no, even before, like, what... Because even the idea of going out, like, I'd probably didn't, like... Hey, I'm going out. Usually like, you know, fathers are all that. You ain't telling me you going out. You're going to ask. Oh, of course.

I was respectful, but at that point we just... But what was out there for you? I haven't talked to any black celebrity that was like coming of age in the late 70s and early 80s. So what is out there for you in Los Angeles during this time? Man, it was wild. There's no house of blues.

There's no, like, what's sunset bullies? What's the bar? Well, there was the Roxy. What was your hangout? What was your, like... I mean, I hung out at people's houses. I hung out at, uh, I was friends with, uh, with, uh, Kennedy Gordy, also known as Rockwell. Rockwell, yeah.

We went to high school together. I was gonna say, do you have any Apollo connections between... Not Apollo. Benny Medina, Apollo. When I met, when I met, all right, so... Wow. Look at Lenny's face here. I went to a J-Lo show, right?

I went to a J-Lo show, and Benny came in. Nobody knows about Apollo. Right. We do. When I mentioned it, you're all in deep connoisseurs. So when I mention it, Benny's eyes got wide. Like, how do you know? And shut the fuck up, please.

And then dance moves. Yo, I got their soul-train appearance. I got the dance fever. I knew. I knew Benny. When he was 16, because I was going to Beverly, I was in the same class as Kennedy, as Rockwell. Right.

And then he had an older brother, Carrie. Carrie, yeah. And Benny was Barry's gopher, assistant. Yeah. So when he had the afro and the whole thing. Benny, Benny was his, the ditty to Andre Orel. Yeah, yeah, that was Benny. That was Ben.

Yeah. Oh, wow. And, uh. Because you said wave. The second you said wave, I said, damn, that's almost like one step removed. away from Apollo. Yeah. And some of them were, I wanted to ask if you had any connection.

It was. Oh, you got to tell mass stories down. So I used to, I used to be up at Barry's house a lot. Uh-huh. You know, and you'd wake up in the morning and Jermaine be sitting there and Diana and, you know, Marvin and everybody. I mean, it was. How old are you getting at this point? Like 15, 15-year-old.

And at that, did you know, like, the magnitude of how big there was? Man, I grew up in New York, you know, in apartments. I'd never seen anything like these people were living in like I didn't even know it existed he had his own arcade pinball machines and video games and you know VHS players all over the place rooms and cars and instruments and you know I'd never see anything like that in my life it was a bug out but yeah that was one of the places I used to hang and then I stayed with people you know living on couches and all that kind of thing LA life.

So how? But the scene, it was a lot of clubs. Okay. Clubs, studios, people's houses. Studios, clubs were good then. Yeah. Well, I know that, you know, the, the heart rock, heavy metal scene that was formed on Sunset Boulevard, at least like for the Motley Cruz and all that.

But where would the progressive black people hang? Like, where were they allowed? What spaces were they allowed to be in? There weren't clubs like where those. bands. Well, actually, there were some clubs on Crenshaw. There was one called the Total Experience. Oh, yeah. That's a 97. Oh, wow.

Damn. Dude. All right. You know who I am, right? They know more than I do. I brought them here to be my brain trust. I'm just, I'm Ronald McDonald. These guys are Ray Grimmis. You know? Yeah, right.

He's been a grimace. I'm grimace. Y'all Ray Kroc. So, I just ask a middle question. So when he said that, what did that trigger with y'all too? Oh, well, no. So, so, Lonnie Simmons was the owner of Toll Experience records. Lonnie Simmons.

That ran the Gat band, Yarborough People's and all that. The club was also where they shot the club scenes at Dolomite. I actually did a gig in Toll Experience once. Wow. Yeah. Really? Yeah. What was that club like?

Because everybody... Man, it was just... That's for all the brothers on the house of blues? Yes. Yes. And then there was a jazz place on the Bray and Washington called the Parisian room where Arthur Prysock used to, you know who Arthur Prysock is?

Don't do that because you know what? When you look at me, you don't look at Bill. Used to good friends. Tonight is kind of special. A beer with more. I know. Like that's going to help her out. That's it?

Wait. The low and brow commercials don't help her out. I didn't know that he did. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, can we do a road check and see it? I'm not the only one that doesn't know that. Because Bill Sherman, you did not know.

I don't know. Tonight let it be wrongbrow? Huh? You don't know tonight let it. be low inbrow? Let it be low and brown. She wasn't born with those commercials. The beer low and brow? She still. Yeah. No, but in the 70s there was a commercial.

Side. I'm going in 70. Lennie's bringing out all the assist on the side of mirror stories. So another reason why television was taken away from me is whenever we would have ginger ale

for dinner in a canada dry. You would say that. I would get a beer commercial. Yeah, I would get a month. and then pour my can of the dry just so the thick can float over. There must be a reason why we know each other.

You did the same thing? Yeah, I did the same thing. We all did that. Y'all didn't just drink the long brown. My daddy all was let me drink the long brown. But then you didn't step up to like Martinelli's? Oh, man.

That was like champagne of fakedness. Oh, yeah. My parents stopped back real quick. No, I'm fortunate. Mom, I'm sorry about this, mom. I got to tell this story. The main reason why TV was taking out my life was over Hawaiian Punch commercials.

Because if you're a three-year-old and impressionable, why hit the other guy, right? Right. So basically, maybe it's a racist commercial because, like, the Hawaiian native guy would go to the tourist and say, how about nice Hawaiian punch? He's like, sure. And he beat the shit out of him. No way. Right. And so one day I told my mom, said, mine, come here.

Uh-uh. I'm not asking you for it for it. I want you to say sure to ask you for Oh no She's like Huh? Just say sure

Okay Okay How about I don't say And mom said Sure And I bough No you didn't

And then No more TV Now the fact that You're still alive Right Yeah After doing that To a black mom

Yeah I almost want to beat you myself Oh Oh dog Mom She doesn't Wait stop

She still Oh you A slap from that It ain't Too late Yeah You didn't get The phone

Court Or the Hotwheel Track The Hotwheel The orange one? The orange one, baby. And the straight part of the hot wheel drag, too. Are we about to turn out, black, what?

Wait, sorry, I turn it off. That's awesome. Wait a minute. Are you saying that Roeper use a strap? Because that would really make me happy. The strap man, man. Wait, what? But her favorite thing.

Wait, what? We're not even going to get the mama said to, like, she went forward to it. We didn't even get to us. When I was that. Can you? Can let me finish telling us

what her weapon of choice was? I wonder if she got... Well, no, her kind of... I'm sorry, Rosario. Her kind of mind-fucked one was like she had this big brush, like a bore. But that wood...

The back of. And with that handle... Oh, yeah. And she had me come... She said, come here. And she said, put out your hand. Oh, I got that once. And I had to put knuckles up.

Woo! Put out your... Put it out. Put your hand out. Paya! Oh, yeah. Sorry, man. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Wow. Lenny, so black and blue. Wait. But wait, you actually said something before you got to wave, which was you said on Crenshaw. Yeah.

Now, the thing is, Crenshaw. At that time. Now, as soon as you said Crenshaw, we knew. Okay, that's where black folk is. This was real, this was real, Crancha. I mean, it's still real. But that was really real. Yeah, but was it cool?

I mean, did you feel, I mean, I'm caught. When gang activity was heavy. Yeah. In L.A. Mm. Were you cool? Man, I used to go to the drag races. I used to do all that stuff, man.

You went? Yes. I was out there, man. I was in the street. My mom would have had a heart attack. Damn. I was everywhere. But why?

Is it like, just because I was, I was free and I was hanging out with all kind of people. Man, I'd meet people and you end up in their house that night. You don't even know who they are. You know what I mean? Like, I was like that.

You were that trusting? I was, yeah. I mean, I had a, I thought I had a good sense of who folks were. And I, you know, I would meet people and you'd like sleep in their house, like, knowing them for like a night.

You know, like, but like, I never had a problem. You never had a problem. Yeah, my parents were just like not into me hanging with strangers or they got to know. Oh, my mom wouldn't have been in that. Dude, she. She didn't know. You know?

He moved out. So you got your, you emancipated yourself at 15? I would go see her. Like, I would go to the set. I'd go to the Jeffersons. I did the tapings. I'd go see her. You know, go watch the show.

I've done it. I mean, I still. Was she worried about you? Completely. Yeah. But like, I don't know if he's going to make it. But now I, when Zoe turned 15, I looked at. And I was like, oh, yeah, I see now.

Payback. I see. I mean, no, I mean, so I didn't leave or anything. But like, I was going to say, Zoe's rather conservative. She didn't leave until she was 18. Well, she went to school, you know. Yeah, but she just never struck me as like, I mean, she could have easily went down the low hand route. No, she was.

Yeah, no. And believe me, they were coming for her. Really? Oh, no, I can imagine. They were coming for her. But no, she, she held it together. But she just, I was impressed the fact that she just, I was impressed the fact that she just, saw that as corny.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. She's just like, yeah, that's corny. Yeah. I was like, oh, shit, you taught me something. Like, because she's like, like, I'll be DJing somewhere and she's like, oh, I'm tired. And like, grandma, that's how I see her as, as my grandmother.

So how did you, how did Zorro into your life and how into you know. Wow. Okay. Well, before Questlove, the drummer of the moment was Zorro. When? Okay, let me tell you about Zorro. So, first of all, I met Zorro on the lawn. Beverly Hills High.

He was going to... No, he did not go there. He was trying to meet people. He'd come down from Oregon. And he wanted to meet people. So he was... We had this big lawn. Look like a country club at Beverly

High. And he had this boombox and he had a sister who was dating a very wealthy Middle Eastern man. So this guy would would buy him suits, silk suits and watches and things. So he was like all...

Zorro was a star early. He was all GQ down. On the lawn of Beverly Hills High with a drum pad, a pair of sticks, a boombox playing Earthwind and fire and jamming to the Earthwind and fire. So of course, I come out of class and I see this dude on the lawn like sitting there playing Jupiter, you know? Wow. And I was like, who's this cat? It's funky.

So I went up to talk to him And that's how everything started Now, buddy rich That was me and Zorro Really? Formerly known as Dan Donnelly Okay, that's his real name Okay

Dan Donnelly so it was Dan So Dan was the one That drove me to Disneyland That we went to the concert together And Was he the bad in the woods in your life That your parents was like Buick Regal

Cream colored Buick Regal Was he what? Did your parents see him as the bad influence in your life? No, no, he was a good kid. Was he calling himself Zorro then? No, no, no, he was Dan. Daniel.

Okay. Now, Zoro happened because I got him the audition for New Edition. Wait, how'd that happen? Okay. This all leads. See, all this connects now. Zorro is a connection here because I was trying to get record deals and doing my thing. And at the time, Gerald Busby was trying to sign me.

And he was over at MCA after he had left A&M records. and so him and Lul Silas and all them cats and they're like we're trying to put a band together for new edition do you know a drummer? I said I know a great drummer. I called Dan. Yo, they're having a new edition. Drum audition.

Here's the address. He went. He got the gig. Wow. So now he's playing with new edition. I'm going to see them play shows. I think the first one I saw was that is there a round amphitheater,

Westbury Music Film. I went to see New Edition and UTFO opened. Wow. What is UTFO? No, UTFO killed it. They all killed it. So I'm going to see shows when I can. Now they're playing Universal Ample Theater in Los Angeles.

I go to see, I go with. I remember this show. I go with Rockwell. Okay. We went together to the concert, and that's where I met Lisa Bonnet. Oh, wow. in a new edition concert.

Yep. Wow. Because she was, let me start it. Yes. Wait a minute. Do you know who Zorro is, Laya? Can you ask Bill this quiz questions? Why is it me?

You're my common denominator. Okay. It's more fun with you. Do you know what Zorro is? No, tell me. I know he's a drummer. He would be the quest lover of the 80s. All right.

So basically, he was a cat. He must have had his. own publicist because he No, no, he did it. He was his own publicist. That was him. He was Dan Donnelly, okay? He gets the gig with New Edition.

He's like, I need a hook. I got to figure this out. So he's, he's Spanish. Okay. With a big ass, Zorro. He gets a hat and the pencil must have. I remember him. He then ends up.

up on the covers and inside of blackbeat and sold. Right on and Cynthia Horner and all them folks. He turned himself into it. He made himself a person for a brand way before that was really happening. Dude, I'm, his Instagram follows will be popping. Yeah, low key, maybe. Maybe. Should be zero supreme.

Yeah. Good one. He got to write some more books. No, I'm here all week, try to view. I'm just saying that had, that might have had an effect on me. Because I was, you know, besides Sheila E, there really wasn't, celebrity drummers. Celebrity drummers.

And he was just in right on, I know who Zara is because, you know, he was a famous drummer in the early 80s. And then when I came out on my first album, 89, he was in the Lutland, he came back and he was my touring drummer. Okay, see, most of us would start with Cindy. Didn't know that. See? See? Cindy came on arguing my way

The third album Zorro was on the first two tours that Love Rule and Mama said, yeah. And he is where? He's back in L.A. He's still drumming and you know, he was playing with Frankie Valley

a couple years ago. Wow. Wait, a hatless Zorro came up to me and gave me. Wait, when? What time are we talking? I was still at Phelan, so let's say 2010, 2011. A hatless

Zorro came up to me outside of 30 Rock. Didn't know. And gave me, he said, these are for you. And he put it in my hand and walked away. And it was 20 of his books, his autobiography. Yes. I didn't know. And I just looked like, who would do?

He was a motivational speaker as well. Yeah. But at the time, I was a little paranoid because now in the post-9-11. And here we're living. This stranger walks up. And I'm not saying, you ever talk to Nard or Michael Walden? Yes. Zaro sort of did that to me.

He was like, brother, blessings. Yeah. This is for you. You don't know who I am. And then he put it in my hand and he ran off. And instantly I was like, oh shit. And you want to have some white powder and then pages, right? I was like, yo, dog.

And I look. And I was like, oh, books. And then when I got in the. car and pulled the book out. I was like, holy shit, that was Zorro. Like, who does that? Like, that was his thing. Like, he just,

and disappeared in the night. He just disappeared in the night. He's still a cutie pie. That's what's all right now. Isn't this what this show is about? Yeah, she should do that. I'm not supposed to, everybody should be doing right now. He's listening to Quest Love Springs.

He and I had a DJ company in high school. Y'all DJed? He owned the equipment because he had the bread. Right. And I DJed. You played the records. And it was called GQ Productions. I mean, it was, you know.

And we did the local house parties in Baldwin Hills and Laderah Heights. Word? Wow. Yes. Lederah Heights? Yes, baby. Wow. What kind of stuff would you play?

Baldwin Hills in the jungle, down below. You know, what was happening at the time. Okay. You know. Like you say, Yarborough and peoples, cameo. Yeah, yeah. This also solidifies. that a lot of our great artists were...

Thought as DJs. They were DJs first. But where were you, because in my mind, then you must have went through some type of style evolution. Like, where were you style-wise at that time in the 80s, rocking parties in the jungle? In Baldwin Hills. I was just kind of clean cut, you know.

You were G. Baldwin Hills looking, you know. That's, what does that even look like? You know. But wait, because that leads to my next question. Was that Herb Albert Gig real, or was that just, Just for Soul Train.

Oh, the thing on SoulTray? Yeah. That was just for Soul Train because I was making my demos in Studio C at A&M. Okay. The room in the front, right, on the left. Right. Johnny Mitchell. Is that the blue room?

Oh, you sounded so creepy. Oh, wow. It's creepier than his role call. All right. It was like, Johnny Mitchell. And the Soul Train dead. And now here's your host. Fuck y'all.

You sound like you've been holding your breath. You sound like Sim McCoy right now. So I was making my demos there, and I got to know everybody on the lot. And then, you know, they come around and listen to me. Actually, time out. He did ask, okay, now, I'm not sure Studio C is the blue room. I was like, what's he? Is it?

Yeah. Oh, then you know. On the left there. On the left. It's a small room. It had a little, I think it was an API or something at the time. I can't remember. That's important to know.

that you actually recorded at the A&M. So I was doing my demos there. That's the Romeo Blue phase. And I knew everybody on the lot, and then Herb, because that's why I met Gerald, everybody. And then Herb was like, oh yeah, we're doing Soul Train. And don't think you're not gonna get past, explain to Romeo Blue.

Can you play Kitar for me? And so I did that show. Yeah. That was it. No tour. That was it. That was the greatest moment of my life. Oh my God. You could play Kitar?

Yeah. It's like a keyboard. You had to in the 80s. In my mind, that was something else. But the way, but, okay, so right before. Not a Cittar. Thank you. Thank you.

I knew what you were there. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't want to be. So on my birthday, when I hopped on a plane just to have lunch at Giro's restaurant in Japan. I remember talking about that. All right. So the thing was they were like, okay, we can take you, but you're going to have to be here at 11 in the morning, which, like, required some.

Meep, me, action going on for this 19-hour trip. So I land there And of course, like, I'm stir crazy out of my mind After having been up for like 20 hours straight But this is a once-in-a-lifetime meal So I'm like trying to keep myself up and whatnot So I was like, all right, I know what to do I'm going to watch soul tree

I've watched three episodes And then I'll go get my food In the first episode, I decided to watch some episodes I never watched before And I was like, I heard about it 1988 Yeah, the later stuff, yeah Right And the

This is a ridiculous story Imagine, I think only Fonte and Bill's going to get this reference. But you remember in the five heartbeats when they went through their electric phase? Oh, yeah, Robert came out. Yeah. Nick, you think I ain't never seen five hard beats? I'm sorry, forgive me, yes. But Lenny was rocking his guitar on that level.

Yeah. Wow. With some 80s long coats. I'm looking for it. He was killing it. And then I don't think, I think, I think, I'm looking for it. And then I think I'm the only one that's posted online. So then...

And then, yeah, then dog comes out of the divinches. What's your name, brother? Romeo Blue. Romeo Blue. Wow. I was like, yeah! I found Lenny. I found it.

So, okay, you just did it as a favor. Just to... Yeah. I got the picture. I see. So wait a minute. Why didn't you sign... Okay, so I assume that...

So I was making demos. But if you signed with Gerald Busby... Man, they didn't get... What do you... They didn't get anything of what I was doing. So even back then you were trying to sell us on the vibe you are. Yeah. And I passed up about five record deals.

J.R.O. tried to give me a deal. Then IRS Records was on the same lot. So that's Miles Copeland, Stuart Copeland's brother, who was running that. They wanted to hook me up with this producer, Martin Ruchant, who had produced the go-go's. I didn't want to do that. and I wanted to keep my publishing and then and da-da-da-da-da. So that didn't happen.

Then John McLean came to A&M and completely revamped A&M with Janet and heard with Jimmy and Terry and all that history. Did you know John McLean personally or at all? We're still friends. We'll come back to that. I'm making a note.

Okay. Good. Okay. No, we got man John McLean questions. Oh, okay. He's hard to nail down. Yeah, he's, he's, he's, he's that cat. He's mysterious.

But very, very interesting cat and a good friend for a long time. But he offered me a deal. Not only solo, but he offered me a deal with a bunch of other guys. One of them being Tony Lamont's. He was in Romeo Blue, wasn't he? No. Tony, you know about Tony, right? Yeah, yeah. So Tony before Prince.

Okay, Tony and I went to junior high school together. His name was Tony Fortier. And he played French Horn. in orchestra and I played percussion. And later he had come to a wave concert and I hadn't seen him in a few years and then he started hanging out and we started making music together

and he was kind of on this like, slide meets the Beatles kind of thing. It was funky and I was playing most of his instruments or a lot of his instruments on certain tracks making demos. And then, and it was like where I went with, let love rule but it was it was more on the funk side right but it was that raw and then i was then then we did a gig we did a gig uh uh that sheila i guess prince sent sheila to come to

the gig she saw this gig what would you to call those gigs in like a rehearsal showcases showcase like s irr yeah we did the showcase sheila was there probably part no this is various Somewhere in the valley. I was, yeah, I guess you was scouting for that. Okay. I was playing bass, and then they ended up signing Tony. I went my own way to go do my stuff. But what Prince did was, which I thought was a mistake,

is he had nothing against his producer because I love Scrutty Pilatey Recreck. Yeah, he had David Gamson. But he put him with David Gamson. But Tony was raw. If I played you these demos, they were as nasty. I mean, they were nasty, nasty funk with all these harmonies and beetle kind of influence. And I thought that the record was way too slick. And I remember Tony telling me that Prince said that they didn't sound like records to him.

He wanted them to be more polished. But I thought it was a mistake because Tony's whole thing was the rawness was a big part of his thing. That's like if you took me let love rule time and said, okay, that's great, but we're going to have. Trevor Horn. Yeah. Who I love. Who I love, you know. But you know what I'm saying?

It's great on the seal records. It's great on yes. Yeah, but it's Trevor Horn. Not for you. I get no distinction. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, it's a different thing. So, uh, well, we're talking about Tony.

But anyway, where were we? No, Tony. The record was too polished. Yeah, but before that, why do we, you two connected? You two connected. about John McLean. Ah.

So one of the groups that they were trying to do like a black, like, like Duran Duran, right? And that was John's thing at the time. It was me, Tony, and like three other guys. And they were throwing the thing and it, man, you guys going to be big. And we're going to send you to South of France and record and do this and do that and the money and the deal. And I turned it down. Wise.

I have a quick question about this period. There's a rumor that I've been hearing for years that there was supposed to be a movie starring you, Tony, you, Tony, Mickey Free, and somebody else as a band against the Maserati people that Prince was writing.

Oh, I didn't know about that. Maybe they were talking about it. I think it was supposed to be the Dawn movie. Really? Yeah. I didn't know. Yeah, and I think you guys were supposed to play the Coco Boys character.

Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Poca Boys band and it was going to be that you guys against Maserati. Wow. So I don't know. That might have been something that they were talking about. And then of course,

tragically Tony died. Yeah. How did he pass away? Okay. He died in a car accident. Is Tony, is that how you met Ingrid Chavez? Because they were dating at,

they were dating at one point, weren't there? Because I heard that Tony and Prince had a falling out because of her. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to speak for her, but yeah. We met.

And she came to some of my early gigs. But I don't remember the day I met her with, was that a gig or was that I don't, I'm not sure if it was through Tony or just her coming to a gig. Yeah. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new

podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, This is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.

You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of The Girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?

The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Everyone, I'm Ego Wode. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up. through and I know it's a place that come look for

up and coming talent. He said if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's

okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Why did you choose Romeo Blue? That's the title. Because I didn't know. I thought Lenny Kravitz. It sounded like a... Rockstar like a motherfucker.

It sounds like a doctor on Fifth Avenue or a lawyer. What's wrong with that? Nothing. But at that time, you know, you got print. and this one and Madonna and the name. I feel you. And I was like, Lenny Kravitz?

Yo, you redefined this. I can't do that. I don't know. But when I first, because there was a few times where I first heard the name Romeo Blue. But I didn't give it, I didn't give Romeo to myself.

There was these dudes that I was hanging out with. They lived in the hood somewhere. I forget. And they used to call me Romeo. And I guess at that time I was talking to some girls. Yeah, I was like to say, the name. The name Romeo Blue just sounds like I might could steal your girl.

And then... Like, I was like, you're not trying to have any male fans, like, with the name Romeo. Yeah. And then I... Who talked you out of it just to be in Lenny Kravitz? I knew it was corny. I was just like, this is not me. Okay.

I want to be me. Like, it brought me back around to myself, like playing this character. Yeah. How long were you Romeo Blue? Because I had like the spiked hair and the clothes and blue contact lenses. Like I was doing this whole bowie. Whoa. And this was before there were those, now we have those soft contact.

I was about to say you. These, I wanted these blue eyes, right? So my lawyer turned me on to this special effects guy who made the contact lens for the Incredible Hulk. God damn. For Lou For Rigna. Contacted by Lucas. These contact lenses Like Rick Baker's

These contact lenses Were like bottle caps They were hard And I'd go out I'd just be like blinking And crying And wrenge You know

It was ridiculous man But I was committed Using windex for contact Please Damn That's amazing It was bad man It was bad

It was bad And then I was just like, you know what, I'm just going to be Nanny Kravitz, man. That's what's up. And then, so I was doing this stuff with Tony. Right. And there was another band that I was singing, I sang their demos.

It was a band called Maggie's Dream that was here in New York City. And I was singing their demos. I was doing Tony's stuff. But all in the while I was trying to figure out who I was. And then I met, Lisa at the New Edition concert, we then became friends for like a year or so and then ended up being like brother and sister,

actually. The relationship started out like that. You didn't date? No. We were, she had boyfriends, I had girlfriends. There wasn't like a slot. There was nothing happening. It wasn't. Yeah, my bench is full right now.

I'll let you in a contract year. We'll see what's up, you know what I mean? So, um. on the offseason. I got my starting five already. You know what I? So she's doing Cosby out in L.A. now at Universal Studios.

Same actual studio as the Jeffersons, which was interesting. So you grew up on the... Yeah, on the set. Yeah. I mean, of the Jeffersons? Well, I mean, you... Wait.

No, no, when I... After Lisa and I met and became friends. And then I was going back and forth between New York and L.A. Then I came back out to L.A. at some period. She said, asked me to come to the studio. Went to Universal.

It was the same studio, same building where my mom filmed. Okay, okay. And we're hanging out. She had this Mustang, like one of the serious Mustang convertible 60s. It was a beautiful car. Anyway, she would let me use her car in the day

while she was rehearsing and filming so I could go around and do my music and do whatever hustle and I was doing. and then I would pick her up at work. She lived in Venice at the time. Then you got to drive all the way from Studio City all the way to Venice and that I would find my way wherever I was going.

Eventually she's like, why don't you just start staying over? Like just stay over. Like here's a room. But y'all are still brother's sister. There's a Rolling Stone interview. No, interview. That cover story? No, interview where she's talking about her brother,

of Romeo. Seriously, it exists somewhere I've seen it. Well, at some point you snuck in the room. Well, what had happened once? Anyway, so you understand.

Anyway, we ended up, so then I would get up at the morning, drive her to Burbank, I would go do my thing, pick her up. This went on for months. And then we grew close. What did we do, her, man? Then, you know, we found and that's so awesome and the whole world fell in love with you and everybody wanted

to kind of good love let's so is uh left it in love land is the let love rule album about her that whole thing was was both of us that was really like where we were you know and so in doing all that stuff with toting the mons and the other group and the and then and i'm turning down all these deals and i didn't go with tony i didn't go with john mclean i didn't go with joel busby i didn't go with with Benny Medina. He actually, Benny offered Tony and, Tony and I had a development deal

on Warner Brothers. They moved us into the Oakwood apartments in Burbank. And at the time, Sly was living there too. George Clinton was there. Oh, God. Oh, man.

Get out. It was nasty. Literally. It was nasty. It was nasty. And so there's, And Lisa and I are, you know, getting close and we're living our life.

And we have this whole, like, hippie lifestyle and all this love and these ideals and everything. And apart moving into her house, she's like, yeah, bring your gear. I brought my stuff. Fender Rhodes, I brought my guitars, myself. I started writing the album. That's how it started.

Right there in Venice in her house. And this is before you even had a deal, before you signed with Verde. I had no deal. I had made the record I had. no deal. The record was done, I had no deal. Wow. Where? Yeah. When was it finished? It came out in 89, so it was done in 88.

Yeah. And then I was taking it around everywhere and people were just like, we don't know what to do with this. Okay, you got to tell, okay, this is one story that I'm envious about as far as your daughter's concerned. Hank and Chuck told me the story that she, your Zoe, was the fifth person to hear a nation of millions, because I guess at some time point, I don't know if they were mastering the record there and you guys were next door,

or you were mastering your record there, and they were next door, whatever the case. But they explained to me that, after being guarded about letting the outside world hearing anything from, it takes a nation of millions, that you and a pregnant, Lisa, were the first audience to hear.

That's right. I remember that. The record right when it was completed. Yeah. And I was like, wow, man. Like, fucking Zoe gets to hear this record before I did it in the room. What was your initial reaction in that room, though? What?

I think, I think Chuck said that when Blackstealing the hour of chaos came on, that's like Zoe started kicking, at least in the stomach. So the song about jailbreak. Yeah, that is true. So, okay, there was no, I mean, there wasn't an idea of retro soul. I wasn't thinking any,

retro had nothing to do with it. I wanted to make records that sounded like the records that I loved. Right. And I get that you weren't intentionally trying to do that. And I remember the first thing I said when I called my engineer in New York, who I was working with, I was like, I wanted to sound, I said, carpety. I wanted to sound like how it sounds like us sitting right here with these carpets in this room. I wanted to feel organic. I wanted to hear the room.

I wanted to feel the plushness of the sound. And very much wanted that sort of inner vision sonics, different music that I played obviously. but that was like where I was coming from. I wanted it to be intimate in your face and I wanted you to hear my hands playing the instruments, you know? But not that, okay, at least in 88, 89, like there wasn't pro tools technology or anything like that. But the thing is, is that even today,

if I wanted to make something that sonically close to, quote, the stuff that we grew up on, it would cost me more. Like it wasn't something that could be easily done. It takes time. It takes technique. It takes having the right gear, having all that tube equipment and all that. You know what I mean?

So where did you find the, because you more than, oh, God, okay, I don't want to anger those guys. No, no, no, I'm just saying you more than, okay, so when Dapton does it, they kind of overdo it. I mean, with the processing and the compression and the, in the, uh, compression and the stuff like I get what they're going for but it almost sounds like too overdone whereas your stuff sounds supernatural all right like the first song sitting on top of the world right so but how are you able to mixing wise achieve that because when people go all natural especially

starting in 88 89 the shit sounds like Kenny G or no no There was nothing to sound like that. You know, use these Tama, you know, these Tama drum. I mean, was, you did all the instruments on your first record, right? Yeah. Well, also, my engineer Henry Hirsch played the Hammond on some of the songs, brilliant performances, and played like a bass on a tracker or two. So what are instruments were you using?

I had, I had a Fender Deluxe Tweed amp. I had a Epiphone Sorrento I had a telecaster I had a set of Grette's drums I had a Fender bass an amp

that was it and his and this studio How'd you know how to mic the stuff without like? I had a brilliant engineer first of all a guy by the name of Henry Hirsch who had a studio in Jersey in Hoboken called Waterfront

and he was brilliant And he and I, when I was making demos with another band, that band I was talking about Maggie's Dream. We had gone there. It was like $30 an hour. It was something we could afford. And that whole thing didn't work out. But he and I connected.

We saw eye to eye talking about music. And then I knew that when I was going to make my record, I'm going to call this guy because he gets it. And he had a trident board. We had a notary MTR 90. It wasn't even like some like stouter. It was MTR90, which is a great workhorse machine. But we had the, he had, we had the proper, like we had 47 tubes.

And then we ended up getting a fair child compressor. And we had a couple of poltex. But it really, it wasn't that much. It wasn't that much gear. But this guy was a genius. And he taught me so, so much. He knew exactly how to. He did.

And we used to just, I mean, we used to go at it, you know. Was it trial and error? I mean, we'd spend days on a drum sound, bro. I was going to say because I, too, would try to... We'd start fighting, you know? It was crazy. I would try to achieve that and couldn't... I mean, even now, I'll say like 20 years into my career,

I think I'm just finding satisfaction. Because I... But in the age of no pro tools or anything, where you're rewinding tape over and over again. I would have just imagined that it would take you forever to... And I was overdubbing one instrument on top of the other. It was no ban.

It was a trip. So all that all fears you, all of... Freedom train. Oh, yeah. All that. Yeah. Shit got me, honey. What was that shit got to do?

What was that shit got to do? Yeah, I'm just saying. So you wrote everything and I guess demoed stuff at Lisa's house and then went to... And then I went to Waterfront and cut the album. So just completed the album. I had no deal. Wow.

Taking it around. You know, it's still the... Go to the Black Department, you know. So what was the feedback? The feedback was, we think you're talented, but you can't do this. You need to do what, I guess, whatever was going on on Black Radio at that time in 88. Eat to be Keith Sweat. With Teddy Riley.

Yeah. Like, you know, let love rule. So. Wait, did anyone at Virgin, like, say, like, let Teddy Riley rewix or something? No, no. Virgin was cool. But going around all the other labels, they were just like, we, you can't do this. We don't get, you can't do this.

You got to do this. And. So even with like, uh, so who's, what? Terrence. Terrence was hitting in 87. That was 87. That was 87. He was 87.

So even with, but even that didn't sound. His arrival. Well, I know. But as different as he was, I still had all those guitars and all that. Yeah. Yeah. Terrence and stuff was way more R&B and soul.

Yeah, but Prince was still in the... But Prince was always his own thing. And Prince had Purple Rain. I built this garden for us and feed him. It's like it's no question. They couldn't see it. They couldn't see it. We could have a Maverick here on the own.

They couldn't see it. So then I went to, I was granted a five-minute meeting. meeting a virgin in LA with this lady, God bless her, Nancy Jeffries. Oh, okay. You know what she is? I know the name. Yeah. She was, knew this guy who was managing me.

And she said, you got five minutes because she used to get on the plane every Friday to fly back to New York. Because her husband lived in New York and she spent the weekends in New York and the week in L.A. Her husband worked with Philip Glass. He did some producing. engineers. Anyway, they work together. So she goes, you got five minutes. I put on Let Love Rule. And she said, wait a minute. And then she went and got

Jeff Aeroff. Played Let Love Rule. She played another one. I played B. And he said, hold on. He got ten minutes. He went got his partner, Jordan Harris. The three of them are sitting there. And I'm playing three, four different songs. They're writing on pads, passing it around. What's going through your head? Foretext. I've been trying to get signed my, you know, since I was 15.

That was the original group text And later I come to find out They had written John Lennon meets Prince Wow And After 15 minutes Jeff said come to my office And that was it

Like after all those years Then Okay we're gonna sign you He's like I have no idea If we can sell a record I don't know how to market you I don't know what to do with you But we believe in it

And so we'll deal with you you. Wow. And that was it. For all of the linen fleck that you've gotten, can I ask, where does Elvis Costello stand in your pantheon? When, I love Elvis Carstle. When I read that first

Rolling Stone review and they said that I sounded like Elvis Costello, I had no idea. Oh, I didn't even know. They said that. The first, because everybody was saying... The very first review in Rolling Stone for that little rule. You got the lead reviews.

Alvis Costello was the was mentioned. But I didn't know. The only Elvis Costello song I knew was every day I write the book, whatever, I don't know what the same. Because it came on MTV.

Yeah. Yeah, which I love. Right. Right. But I didn't understand, I didn't hear the similarity of the tone of voice or anything. Really?

So that was just coincidental. I have no idea. Okay. But you hear it. No, I didn't know about that Rolling Stone review. But, yeah, I always felt that your voice

was closer to Elvis's tone and I thought that oh well maybe you know he was your hero because I thought it was just too easy low hanging fruit just to say oh John Lennon

I didn't know where the Lennon thing was coming from truthfully when there was a manager who was trying to manage me at the time and he had heard the record that Lerl was done and he said man have you

you must be a fan of the Plastic Ono record And I said, I don't know what you're talking about. He turned me on to the Plastic On a record. I was like, oh, wow. Like, there's some similarities here. But you had never heard it. I had never heard the Plastic. I just knew the Beatles.

And then, funny enough, when I met Yoko, she came to one of my first gigs in Switzerland in Geneva. And she's, I'm in my dress room. Someone's banging on the door. I'm like, who is it? It's Yoko Ono. I was like, get the fellow. survive.

He was like trying to mess with me. Three, four more knocks. Finally, I opened the door. It was Yoko Ono. And she's like, I'm a big fan. And da-da-da-da. And she said this. So I'm not saying anything about it.

Like, it was just super flattering. But she was like, the way you sing is the way John wanted to sing. And I was like, wow. Wow. That's a high compliment there. Yeah. Well, wait, since you mentioned it. What five albums?

Can you before I just want to Give Beckle- No no it hasn't It's just I think a lot of those comparisons That maybe From back then The Lenin-Costello things

I think a lot of that has to do with the Miking The close micing And that sound Because Costello did that Compression into it Yeah Just that in your face shit

With the vocal And I was screaming And I was raw And I totally When I finally heard mother And all those songs, I was like, whoa. Like I was, those records are amazing.

I found out God, all those songs. I mean, huge. Yeah, so Love Rule was like that in a sense. To me, when it came out, was, and I read that review and everything, and I'm a huge Costello fan and a huge Lennon fan, but really, I think a lot of the comparisons come from the rawness and the dryness rather than your singer. Yeah, at that time, there were no dry records.

That's what I'm saying. Everybody was like, whoa. I mean, that record was dry. How did you resist 1989 production? Well, because I really believed in the way this stuff sounded, it sounded so intimate to me. And when I turned the record in, they were like, okay. Because they heard the record and they signed me,

but then I guess they thought they were listening to like some really raw stuff. And I was like, no, that's it. And they were like, no, that's it. like, no, no, you got to get somebody to mix this record. So they called this guy. Oh, what's his name? He mixed you two. Daniel Leno?

No. Lily White? No. And we went to Green Street Studios. James? Oh, God. No, James. Oh, God.

Anyway, I'll get his name. Really nice guy. And then he started taking it and, you know, trying to make it slicker and more. And horror? And then I ended up, and then it didn't. I was like, no. Do they have those mixes anymore? I would like to hear what a...

I would love the idea. Because at the time, at the time, it was like Bon Jovi, and it was like triggers and big drums and gated reverts. A lot of lexicon. You know, yeah, all that. So here was this stale... I love lexiconza.

No, they're dope, but I wouldn't put it on that record. You know? But all those, all that non-linear, you know, bah and all that stuff. I would have liked the 89 mix of I built this garden for us. That would have been funny. I'm sorry, so top five. No, no, no.

Now I'm like, imagine. Where are those mixes? Like, once you say... I don't know. I don't know. Someone at Virgin. I got a call. Yeah.

Go get a point. You don't have to find... They're in some building somewhere in L.A. I'm going to find that shit. I can't wait. So what's on the Let Love Rule deluxe thing that came out? Everything. I mean, I know, but what came out on that edition?

Which edition? The anniversary edition? Yeah, the anniversary edition. All of his, like, rough... I guess your... What's on there? Demos and stuff? The same exact record, but all the demos.

Oh, okay. Like little cassette thing, singing in with a guitar or something. Yeah. It's like you're, I would assume the stuff that you did. Well, cold turkeys on there. But also, like, there's a live concert. It's, it's like three discs of stuff. But a lot of your, oh, two discs, I'm sorry, forgive me.

Yeah, a mixture of the living room demos. and I guess you're, well, you do your lyrics inside of a cassette player or that sort of thing. I mean, a lot of times, yeah. Yeah, so just raw demo stuff like that. So, okay, I'm sure at this point at the stage of your life, like, there are albums that influence you and you've gotten hip to them after the fact. You know, like I got in the Beatles late when I was in my 20s. But on your first album, what were your, like, what was your, like, what was your, Top five can't live without records.

I remember when I was making that record, Talking Book was constant. Constant. I remember jamming that day and night on my... Steve. I think I had that made here. That beep? Was that made here?

Oh, yeah. Partially. Yeah. Talking book was made here. I'm sorry, forgive me. And there's the Roots. See that rose right behind you? That's the Stevie one talking book roots. We haven't said where we are. I will lead up to it. Dag Nabbit, this is a good time.

We've been leading up to you. I'm saying. They only been in a half. Bostill is getting angry, yo, I'm going to play it. You ain't going to play it. I'm going to play it.

Busbill is getting angry. It is getting angry, angry, angry. So much anger. I love this. I'm getting angry, too. Anyway, ladies gentlemen, yes, 90 minutes into this interview. We're, we're not. Electric Lady Studios in New York City, home of

Talking Book and Music of My Mind, Intervisions, a lot of Roy Ayr's stuff and Jimmy Hendrick stuff and Voodoo. And Voodoo, yes. And nothing Lennie-wise. My life in the Sunshine here? Yes. Wow.

Yeah, he recorded that here. Wow. You never recorded here before Liddy? We chose, the reason why we chose Voodoo, because, well, besides the house of Jimmy, they kept the same instrument forever in the same microphone. So that Fender Roots, they've taken care of all the equipment.

That's beautiful. Yeah, like, here is where he grew. Who got their coffee cup on the top of the Fender Rhodes, though? Who that ignorant person that got their... Okay. There's a lot of damage that we... No one's here from the studio. I did.

Didn't you come by during the voodoo session? Yes, I did. Yes, he did. And he said, quote, there's a discrepancy in the drumming. Oh, did. Did. Love is kidding. Angry.

You sent me a thing. I remember. I remember also taking it to my studio. Um. Everyone. Was I not a... Oh. She's always in my head.

No, no. You sent me a thing once. No, you came here. No, but you got... I remember also taking it to my studio on 35th Street. Right. This is during the five album. When I was making the five album.

Right. Oh, man. And I was... It was not hip to that stuttering drum stuff. Yeah. Nobody was. I was. Like, all of us were like, something wrong?

There's a discrepancy of the drugs. What hell's going on? Wait, what's the stut up? Did you sound like it? Jay telling it up. That's you, bro. Yeah. That's you.

Well, no, it took me along. Like, did you invent that? No, it's, what happened was, what happened was I was meticulous and straighter than six o'clock. And then. Never heard that before. Me either. That's a grand poo bar line right there. Come on, I'm straight than six o'clock.

Yeah. Anyway, so basically, I wanted people to think I was a computer. But then when I heard Dream and Eyes of Mine, and then when I heard Jay Diller, I was like, yo, they sound drunk. Like, that's cool. But I was still trying to be straight with my drumming and meticulous because I wanted to be like, oh, man, Matt Queslove, he's such a metronome.

But playing with D, Dee, just naturally sounds like a cool signal And that's hanging from his mouth and that he had some moonshine. He just always plays super laid back. Right. And it forces you. So it took me and Pino about a good three months to feel safe to do that. Because, I mean, you're also thinking what I wanted to avoid, I was always with D's program. But I always feared the day that another musician would be like, damn, drums is fucked up.

No, no, but I was all old school and my laid back two and four. and I was, I just, I just wasn't in that head. So, we took it, yeah, we took it to a whole other level. And when you said that, I was like, and I were like, there's something wrong with this. And I looked at Dee like, you know, I told you. So can I ask a question? No, you were just like, Lenny ain't hip.

So can I ask a question? No, he told me, Dee was like, no, man, like, this is our, with a new, like, this is our thing. Excuse me, Professor Love, Professor Cravins. So here's my question. Within the voodoo, like the album, Can you give us an example of where we might have heard that stutter just for some people? Every record.

No, every song? The whole thing. All that shit is way behind. And they're doing it now. I mean, other people are doing it now. And untitled, right? Like, really, is that what, because I hear. Yeah, listen how late that damn stare.

To do me. Like, it's just. No, it's just. A beat that should be where you think it should be. And it doesn't. It's behind or a head. Yeah. How does it feel?

Okay. It's just, you know, and it's, but it's, but it's. But at the time, we wanted him to play. on she's always in my hair, which I really took it to the next hill. I mean, I was Odean on Slum Village. So by that point, you know, Dilla had.

I was to say everybody who's listening. They did it right. I wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time. They did it right. Oh, man, you know. Did you ever introduce the stutter at some later point? Well, hell yet, no, because you got, I mean, I consider of the next generation of drummers.

I mean, for a while, what's his name was drumming with you? Who drums with On tour? Tall Oh, Darul? Wasn't Darrow drumming for a second? Darryo Jones Was he not drumming?

Darryl Jones. You say Darryl? That's a no. That's actually a no. Wait. Who? Damn. I don't want to find this out on my own radio show

because I'm about to be loud and wrong. You're talking about in the studio or live? Live. Okay. Who is your drummers with you? Tall black guy. Franklin. Vanderbilt, Jr.

Damn, all this time. It ain't the first time. It's okay. That's a legit name. No, I've been loud and wrong and like people where they're born and not. But all this time, because Frank and Daru kind of position their drums in a very particular way

that I just thought they were the same person. Based on how they're the only people I knew who snare drum leans and tilts towards 12 a clock. You just said that. Yeah, he goes with the clock again. Jack Wynne. Jack, okay, Jack White. Right.

The smooth criminal lean. Okay. Yes. So I always thought that Daru was also your drummer and Jack White's drummer. Now I'm realizing that there's two. So, Franklin. Yeah, he's on the new tour now, yeah. Ah, yeah, he's bad.

One day I would get names and places on the maps right. There's also a singer, and I don't know if she's still with you. She was a friend of mine. We went to college together, Yazirah. Oh, yes. How did y'all? Yazzarra sing one? Yeah.

They did a few years with me on strut. She did the prince thing, the wind upscraire thing too. That's right. She sang in the, because I called her. She was in town. Had her come and join the choir when we did Doves Cry and the cross. How did you guys link up? How did you come across her?

Through Erica Jerry, who was one of the background singers, she was singing with Raphael Sadiq. Okay. And they were opening for me in Europe. And so we got to know her. And then I just called her. I was like, I need three girls for the tour. She brought them all.

That's what I. And she knew Yazera. Yeah. Yeah, me and her we go way back. Yeah. She told me she got that gig. She's amazing. She's amazing.

Yeah. Okay. So now in your wise age and in hindsight, I now get the stutter. Lenny, you was getting up there. Well, he went and did five. that shit so like gangbusters, so I think he won't. Yeah, he won't.

No, but I'm saying that after let love rules come. Let love rule comes out. You can be colored and add an ass. That was the greatest thing you ever said. So when it comes out, you become a household name. And even though I know you've had. The next album It was like the introduction

But yeah When they didn't know it till it's over Pop, then it was... I feel like doors open for you Yes And also I would like to think that the effects

of what happened during that first album is what caused the second album to happen because there's some confessional Yeah I was my dear shirt Exactly

going on with the second album Absolutely So what I want to know is not that a person should ever regret moves or any course of their life takes but what was it to have success and what occurred

that and do you have any regrets of your initial breakout? I hope I asked the question. Regrets of the initial? Let me try it. Do you regret making a whole lot of money in your first half? Hell no.

Okay. Talk to me about the effects of the effects of the album coming out. I mean, it was a fantasy. I didn't know what was going on, man. This was all, I had just grown up being a fan all my life. And now I'm doing that thing that I love and I'm going around the world and I'm playing and people know the music. And it's like, you're the new guy, you know? I mean, Prince call me on the phone.

I mean, it was like. Yeah, when you're the it guy, it's, it's. Your life change. Call me on the phone. I mean, you know, and it was like, all of a sudden,

you're meeting these people and everybody's, Yokoan was coming around. And this, you know, and, actually, wait, real quick, because you played

when you were mine at the Apollo, with Prince. Yes. What was that like? I don't even remember. It was just like, he used to call me

all the time. Really? But the mic wasn't, he had me, and he had me off on the side because he, you know,

he didn't want me right there next to. I wouldn't either No but he kicked my ass It's just you know But he always wanted to make sure You know But yeah that was a trip

That was one of the first times we I think it's the first time we played live I know And then we started We talked about it in TV Yeah then he would call me Like we'd be in Amsterdam He'd call me in the middle of night

I'd have a show in another city He'd say meet me at this club And we'd go play For a few hours And then he'd give me like a bag of money Like he was so generous about it. He'd be like, all right, I made this. And here's your. Here's your cut.

Here's your cut. And he'll walk out with a bag of money. But, damn, he did the opposite with me. He once made me take a taxi cab from like Philly to butter on the Manhattan. My bill was like $400.

That sound like more the revolution stories, too. I was like, that's, your Lenny's version is different because when the Lucey was talking. Damn, he liked you. Yeah. My fucking wouldn't even cover my cab. Remember my son, lady cab driver Amir?

Fun work. That was pretty good. That was pretty good. But anyway, it was a fantasy. It was a fantasy. I didn't know. I wasn't thinking. I was just doing.

I had no idea what was going on. No idea. And financially at that time, like, were you good? Like, were you making, where was your money coming from? I mean, I was renting an apartment. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't making, like, that. Yeah, yeah. I guess starting on the third record, when are you going to go my way hit,

then it turned it to more of a, like, oh, wow. Like, we're going around the world playing arenas and, you know. Speaking of that song, thank you for putting that in Guitar Hero. Because that turned, my son's on to your music. And, like, we played that, and they loved that song. And that put them on to your music. I started showing them more your stuff. Thank you, yeah.

Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target.

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