The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: George Brown Of Kool & The Gang Part 2

Episode Date: October 4, 2023

In Part 2, Funky George Brown of Kool & The Gang explains the group's transition and super success at the turn of the 1980s. He discusses the songwriting process, personnel changes, and the challenges of touring with Van Halen.See 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. 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 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 Slica Life 12 and 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, you know, trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends.

Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel funny,

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. Yeah. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon. And this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-hosted the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel on our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important.

Listen to The Away End with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back with part two of our conversation with Funky George Brown of Cool and the Gang. I love this conversation for several reasons. Get Down on It is my absolute favorite song of all time, and Celebration was played by Bar Mitzvah. If you haven't yet, please listen to Part 1 with George, where he speaks about growing up in Jersey City

and how that toughened him, the band's early success and his skills as a drummer. George just penned a memoir, Cool, and The Gang and Me, which is available right now. George Cool and the rest of the band also just released a new album. People just want to have fun. Make sure you check that out. But first, part two of Q.

ULS with Funky George Brown. I'm assuming during this period that you guys don't have day jobs as well. Like we did an episode with Millie Jackson only to find out that she was basically Millie Jackson on the weekends. And then Monday through Thursday, she'd go back to her day job where she was working in Manhattan. Yeah, she was in the office or something. Yeah, she was in the garment district of Manhattan. while she was, you know, doing live and bitchy and like at the peak of it, is one able to make a comfortable living, especially in an eight-man group, which I assume is different than the setup with Earth, When and Fire, and which, you know, which is basically the Maurice White group, and he's paying them as, you know, work for hire, you know, or contracted work for hire. Understood, yeah. Like in, okay, so say it's 76, like right before you guys do,

after Jungle Boogie and right before Open Sesame comes into play. We were very lucky. There were no J-J jobs. In the initial period, say, 1969, then I think at that point, Kalatus Smith had a job delivering. But after we signed a contract with Delight, we worked. We've always worked. We've always had a gig.

You never had a regular job, huh, George? The regular jobs were when we were doing, and still, we're doing the nightclubs. But still, no one was hitting the punch in the time clock like that. It wasn't like that. It just changed because the first record, cooling the game by cooling. the gang, number 38 with a bullet on top 100. That record changed the whole atmosphere. Most black artists got to go over to black charge or this chart.

That record went pop with a bullet. So you guys had a fair deal then? Yeah, we got a fair deal then. And we got a blessing because not many black guys just popped up number 38 with a bullet or the top 100. So we were working. So there was work. It might have been slow here and there, but we did work.

So I want to ask you about publishing because I'm curious where you got your publishing education because we talk about hip hop, but if your publishing wasn't right from the start, it wouldn't even matter because you wouldn't have been receiving, you know, the profits of your work. The BMI, Ascab, CSAG, and all of our from Warner Chapel and BMG and all that. well early on like with gene red again he was guy uh he told us all about that you know and uh so therefore we were receiving i mean i signed with bima when i was 19 right and that's because of gene red all of all of us had you know and uh and earning from first delight but then when Polygram bought the light.

Then the royalties for writing and publishing came from Polygram and Warner Chapel and BMI. Sorry. And then the artist royalties also came out of Polygram. So we knew. One of the most pivotal, crucial moves that you guys did was adding J.T. Taylor. But there's actually a second factor that not many people talk. about. You guys went with a very unorthodox direction associated with legendary Brazilian producer Amir Diadado. Right before we started, he called me twice. Right before we started it, really? I look

out, it's a deal or so. Because, you know, when you talk to Di, you've got to bring a lunch. Okay. Yeah. I want to know. what was the meeting or the decision process? One, to bring in a lead singer and two, to work with not only an outside producer, but a Brazilian producer, which, I mean, I would imagine in 1979, one would figure that, you know, I got to go to the top of the pile, like either get with Gamble and Huff or, you know, Norman of Norman Harris. I knew it was enormous.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what made you guys go with Amir Diadado of all things? Not really known for a pop sense or, I mean, you know, he dabbled in disco, but not enough for me to be like, okay, this is our do or die moment. Let's get with him. Well, Dio at 17 years old, was like the number one arranger and producer in all of Brazil. And he had written strings for colostro beam, you know.

Most of our heads were in that, you know, that thing. He wrote for colistro beam? Woo. So all heads were still in that jazz. Irene Conrad over at House of Music, she introduced, I think I got the story right. There might be some loose ends. Kalees to James J.T. Taylor. I think Ron Sweeney had said it.

It's time to bring in a lead singer. You guys couldn't do it. We looked at Stevie because we did a lot of work with Steve. Well, Stevie helped us out so many times when the bus would break down. Really? Call Stevie. And he'd help us out. Really?

Yeah. So Steve would help us out numerous times. And we wanted him to come in to produce. He said, sorry, fellows. I got to get my own album happening at that time. So we had a manager of Val Hackett, Val shopped, and I call it shopping. But he got Yomia Diadado, which was a great blessing. It messed just like dovetail, like, man, the beauty is just connected.

He was the right guy for cooling the gang. because all the music the guys knew, you know, we were all musician, musicians, guys knew all the chord changes and, you know, what have you, all the scales and sit down and actually write it out. With him, it was easy. If we would show, but he would write that down. And weeks later, when the horns, would come in.

He said, somebody might shop, but it would be a bump, which is a simple line. Right. And, but guys would write those parts down as well,

you know, Clifford Adams, who played trombone, we have a trombone case full of music. Dio was the right choice. And not only the right choice for the music, but the right choice and really organizing the band and how we did things.

He brought it to a whole other level, making sure that everything was notated. Everything was written down. As a drummer, I always wanted to know how hard was it to sort of adjust your sound for the times? Because even I noticed me as a drummer, I've pretty much stayed kind of consistent for my 30 years of drumming in the roots and on record. I've not, I mean, if I change my sounds for experimental purposes, but not like, hey, let me, let me adjust to the sound and the climate of where it is today. But like the groove that you're playing on, let the music take your mind, is not the same tone or the same sound as Jones versus Jones or celebration or whatnot. So at the time, how aware are you as the heartbeat of the band that, like, the most radical sound change of the band has to be with the drums? It might sound strange because you hear all this from me.

It didn't bother me. It was like, let's go with the flow. This is what it is. This is going to help us move forward. This is what's going to bring a wide range of audience. So I was totally amenable to it and actually didn't think about it too much. But of course, you're right, because later on, because I play piano as well. And I got to a point where, okay, enough of this.

And I just switched over the keyboards. That's what I was going to ask you about, too. That's like a major move that I don't hear about too often. From jumps to keyboards? Yes. Well, I always played piano. Okay. Yeah, it goes back to, we talk about church, it goes back.

I've always played. But in your group, you always play drums until you decide that I'm going back to the way. And in writing, we had a writing session. Right. You know. How is the songwriting process start? Do you guys just say, hey, I got an idea, guys. What do you all think about this?

Or do you bring it, like, do you bring it to D.T.? Do you bring it to Ronald first? Like, how is the songwriting process start? It was us. We just bring it to us, you know. Guys say whether they like it or not. And if they like it, then we got down on it. It's the truth.

You know, with Diadado, a little more different because every morning he would pick me up. I lived in Manhattan, then Gramercy Park. And he said, oh, senio, let me see your homework. So you're popping a cassette. You got your illegal pad. You start seeing. and he'll either bust your ego then by saying

that's not happening and or it actually if he felt like he said that's very cute but it's not working or he'll say signo you've done it again love the lines

and so we would apply you know people would have different lines to put it in a song and they would work perfectly you know so we shared the story how celebration got written, at least Ronald's version of how celebration got written. But are there any other universe, like unusual stories of that, for listeners who didn't hear that particular episode, Ronald Bell said that he was backstage at a Rick James and Prince

show, and Prince had just did, I want to be a lover. And in between the set changeover, for Prince to Rick James, Ronald runs backstage and finds a piano and figures out the courts that I want to be a lover. And he writes it and notates it down. And then he plays it backwards. And that rhythm of that da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dun winds up being da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. And but, but I mean, for the songwriting process, especially in the period in which you guys are having unstoppable, you know, pop classics one after the other. Are there any other unusual stories of how songs got written? No, not really.

You know, sometimes guys would pass on a song. I would take it and write a first verse of lyric and give it to JT. He said, this is happening. And the next thing, you know, we have a complete song because you got too much. members working on it. We've got the chord structure figured out and writing the melody and lyric. And bingo, you got something. And it's the funny thing about it, it went to number five pop, you know, but the band itself did like it. That was take my heart, you know. It was very, very poppy, all that. But it's big- You didn't like that song?

No, I helped write it. That was my aunt's song, man. That was the one I took. I took it because the band didn't like it. Clayton Smith wrote it, the guitar player. Right, okay. But the band didn't like that, that 12-8. Right, yeah.

So I said, no, give it to me. Took it home, right. No time for wishing, baby. We've gone all through those moves. I'm all through and satisfied. So the next day, of course, get to the studio, Jay. What are you like JT? What do you think?

You said, man, I like this. I've been going through a Luther phase in the last, like, month and a half reading his book and listening to his music. And I realized that the world is going through a drought of a good shuffle song. Oh, my God. Like, and take my heart is like kind of, I remember when that came out. That shuffle, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.

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, 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 Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're

wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 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 Slical Life 12 and 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. What's up, everyone?

I'm Ago Wodom. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now, I guess also is the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love.

On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's heart.

break and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Can you talk about the phenomenon that is celebration? Like, what were the band's general reaction to, like, celebration winds up being way past an anthem? it's pretty much music DNA. Like it's, with celebration,

we're on the tour bus and leaving L.A. the night before, we won two American Music Awards. So the song was Germany then, but that's what you got from Earl Smith. Yep. You know?

So let's put that in there. Really? That's very celebratory. You know. So, Just to put that in a song, it gives it that boost, you know. But in regards to it becoming... I'm into the point where it's like stadiums and weddings and bar mitzvahs and...

...wetons and bar mitzvahs, backyard barbecue. It's an amazing... It's a blessing, and it is one of those songs that... I'm going to say you can't deny and you must play it every evening. it ever become burdensome because i know a lot of acts when they get a mammoth hit of that caliber then it's like selling becomes a it becomes a burden no you know uh what happens and you know when you're playing sometimes you're playing the piece and you played it a thousand times but it becomes organic like right and guys are playing the right chords but it's just got this just tonight

While you're playing Quest or the piano he's playing, it has another little little thing to it. And you're playing it. But it has another feel that night. It's not the record feel. The people feel it. So that's what happens. It turns into this piece of music that each that you play it, it has a different feeling. And when you're singing it as well, it's coming out different.

But it's to say that there's a party going on. right here, but it's coming out different for some reason, and you feel different about it. And when you get off, everybody, great. Nice show, man, great show. Nobody feels that, man, it's burning a hole in our shoes. Right. Well, no one's complaining. Can I ask about another anthem real quick? I just, I'm curious to how so many fellas come up with another anthem, but this one about the ladies. I don't know we asked around that question, But I was like, how did you know to embody what a ladies night was? How does...

Well, I'll tell you, I could tell you, who likes to go out and have fun? Okay. So he said, you know, the new thing in clubs now on a Friday, Saturday, whatever, it's ladies night, you know? And me walking from 57th Street back down to Gramercy, I'm watching how people the gait of people's walk, just how people walk. And I said, yeah, I said, man, people are walking like a jazz, working bass line.

Do do, do, do, do, do. I had that gate. So I went home and started the piano and started harmonizing it. And the different key changes, as, you know, showed it the diodado. Hey, this is what we need. So we got together. wrote on it. We had the track already. You know, you know, the horns were playing with the girls were singing and J.T. and myself and Kalees got on the lyrics and done. We're done.

What was it about J.T. that appealed to the band as far as his voice? I once heard somebody described that if Nat King Cole had been born 30 years later, like basically it would have been the voice of J.T. Taylor. Like, that's how I was. smooth JT's voice was. Basically, he was like Nat King Cole, but for you, like, what was the appeal to that sort of voice? And were there other acts that are other

singers that you guys auditioned before you decided on James J.T. Kelly? I don't want to mention people's names. I like that, but there was some that were all known. But J.T. did have, it still does, that golden tone in his voice. Great lyricist, by the way, too.

And what we did in the studio is go in and roll a little bit of that on to his voice, to enhance his voice. Even most of, you know, in the studio and say, well, that sounds a little weak there, or a little mid-ranging, let's work on that. So we did some work on his voice as well, you know, like everybody does. But he started off with it. He had it. Okay.

We felt that his voice was pop. pure pop, and it worked at that time, you know, it had a certain innocence in it, non-intimidating, all of that. And just the pop artist. I mean, you know, we could have went for the Teddy Pendergast, the Luther Vandros, we could have went for it to be part of it, but we felt that it wouldn't work. And the other singers that you were considering for that spot, was it, was there, Are there anyone notable that we would have known that almost had a chance to be in the group? Yeah. And you can't name who they are?

No, no. It's still a big thing. I don't want any letters coming to my mailbox. I mean, we pontificate, though. If we pontificate, can you just not like, you know, how are you? No, I'm just joking. I'm just the one out. No.

Oh, damn. Just like when you mentioned the vigoritos and, you know, you leave that alone. alone. Okay. You're right. I got you. How easy was it for him to adjust to being in the group? Easy.

Was he the same age as you guys or was he younger? A few years younger, just a few. So we're all in the same genre, basically age-wise. Not too far. I think I'm four years older than James. Okay. You know, but no, we were the guys who would go to Reese Beach in Brooklyn. and throw the Fisbee around, have the girlfriends, that type of stuff.

We were the guy, we hang out, you know, like where the song comes from. So we were always together in some capacity, even going to the movies. How are you guys able to maintain any level of, not like a domestic lifestyle, but like how are you able to balance that, especially, during that time period in which you guys are working class musicians that was very hard

during that time period because when we'd go out we'd go out for two months at a time you know we went out with Van Halen that's four months but the thing is that there's a big tour break you know

same thing with kids draw you have a tour break but with us we go out for two months and you're out there you're not coming back Wow. Okay. Especially in the first half of the 80s in which, you know, those unstoppable hits are coming in. How are you balancing out the shows in terms of which audience to please? Like, in your 80s show, does, does Open Sesame still have a home? Is jungle boogie and funky stuff still getting the same response? Is JT singing funky stuff in that, and Jungle Boogie also like with the band like with jungle boogie uh it was almost like we would all take a spot going okay as long as we kept that going you know somebody you know get down with the boogie that type of stuff uh the same thing with funky stuff you know so that was

sing-along so the whole band so everybody sang you know with funky stuff uh jungle boogie just Just drop in, you know. I see. It's very easy that way as well. You know, I did make it like hard for anyone. You know, you just sang it. I know that there was JT's exit in 88. He was just gone without really like without any warning whatsoever.

I still don't understand that all these years. So what happened in 1988? because you guys had this unbelievable streak and then that's it so what was the story of his exit and how i believe me quest i was speaking about that uh last week okay uh with uh i think was my engineer wolfgang no rhyme the reason it was just that uh he got a bunch of money from uh i think it was a and mca and he went on he went on he went over Went on to do his thing. And because when he first came out, I mean, he and I, we were roommates.

You know, those hotels in the beginning. And not only roommates, we'd go out and hang out in the clubs together, come back and all the good stuff. So to this very day, I don't know. I really, really don't know. And there was a time where I was saying to, let's see. call Ron Sweeney. Ron will call JT's manager and talk over things and let's get JT back out on the road. You know, it would never move forward for some odd reason. Do you remember the last time you had the conversation?

Or the last time we'll work at Jay. Well, he came back in the mid-90s, I believe. He came back in the mid-90s and then he left again. Okay. Whatever that was about. But when we got the songwriters Hall of Fame, he came out. We straightened up the course because the band had the wrong changes. Right.

But he said, he knows this. But he came out and sang and it sounded like we never separated. How did you guys come across or how did you guys wind up enlisting the services of Skip Martin? of the Daz band. Yeah, the Daz band to be JT's replacement in 88. Well, Adele Band, peace and blessings be upon him. He passed away. Well, Adele, our manager, was in a tragic car accident.

And he passed away. But he brings Skip over to my home, you know. Skip is a good singer. So it worked. What also worked was that he's a monstrous trumpet player. He is? Skip? Yeah, I didn't know that.

Skip is a monster. Okay. You can put up with Terrence Blanchard and, you know, he's beside, he's that guy. Mowles, you know, and when he puts that, mute on his great show, he added greatly to the horn front. Vocally, I know that different members in the band didn't. I know Cleese didn't like his vocals, that's for sure. Yeah, you know, because it's too vagusy.

Right, right. But we made it work. By the time we got Sean, who was close to JT vocally, Skip was just singing background and playing trumpet, but the horn section was extremely tight. You know, and Calais come up. Calice loves Skip's horn as trumpet playing as well. Loved it.

And I do as well. You know, every time we have a session, even now if we work for something, we call Skip, you know, Ravi Best, Skip, those guys. So Skip's tenure was rather short. Then we brought in Odine Mays, who was a bass baritone, great pianist. So we had both skipping O'D Mays doing leads. The audiences loved it because she had the guy with that, like Blue Love It with that voice.

Right, yeah. And then you got that tenor, that Irish tenor, that Irish tenor, that's skilip. your pass, you know. And then I don't know who it was, but Sean McQuillard. And when he came in, Sean has been with the band, God, now, I don't know, 30, 40 years, maybe a little more. And his voice is very close to JT, but he has more of a rasp on it. So, yeah, good, good singer.

And also a great guitar player, fabulous guitarists. You know, these days he can't pick up the guitar like he wants to, but as playing, he's great. You know, we have Rick Marcel out there as well. Also, guitarist basses. Rick has played with Prince and Stephanie Mills, everybody's fabulous, you know, and Amir. Amir plays every instrument as well.

It's crazy. Crazy good. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm 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. the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 SportsSliced 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 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 Slica Life 12 and 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. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers 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 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. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fultonar Stars and now, I guess also as the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most

loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's hope, it's It's heartbreak and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You mentioned something earlier, and it did hit me that I think in 2014 to 2015, my guitar player, Kurt came up to me. He's like, man, you'll never guess where I was last night. And I was like, what? He's like, I was at a Van Halen show and Cool and the Gang open.

You guys were touring with, what was that show like? Cool and the gang and Van Halen. Loud. We play loud. And they were loud. I mean, it was so loud that, especially doing sound check, I'd go outside. You couldn't take it. Wow.

But Van Halen, great band. And tight, great band, good guys, bunch of guys. You know, and here's... David is a major soul fan. That much I do know. And you know the forum here? Yeah. Well, it was kept on the QT, but those are, that's where all the rehearsals were for the tour at the forum.

You know, so we said, we were saying ourselves like, wow, what, what, what, what, what, we, power you rent out the forum for rehearsal, you know. That's a flex. Yeah, it's crazy. That's a flex. Don't forget to get George's book too hot and cool. Yes. Can you talk about your memoir?

Like, how long did it take you to write that? Because I'm slow. It took about 10 years. And there's a lot of stuff that was taken out for political reasons, for whatever. Some of the stuff would be quite shocking. So he took it. I talked to Dave Smith. when I was in D.C.

So we just plucked stuff out that, you know, some of the stuff that we were leading to about those guys, you know. And once again, I never mentioned people's names. Right. The story would start and things. But if I mentioned their names and what I was involved with, and it was just I was involved with one of their daughters. Oh, this is a movie.

This is a movie. Yeah. Yeah. It was like he was, you know, he was up here at a totem pole, not down here at the tunnel pole. Oh. Yeah, so that was. Bronx tail, cooling a gang, women. That was quite dangerous because she even said, this is a little dangerous.

They were. It's a lot of dangerous. They would be on the other side if my dad knew. Yeah. Could you tell me. what your three favorite cool and gang songs are. But can you also just tell me what was your favorite song to create? Wow.

Wait, are you one of those? They're all my kids and I can't separate them. No, no, no. I'm not what it was guys. Wild and Peace grow from the Wild and Peaceful album. Okay. The title song, I remember John Coltrane. Okay.

I love that, too. wrote, yeah, po-bo-be-that or that. And it's just really none of the hits. That's fine. Like for us, those are the hits, you know what I mean? Little children is one of our favorites of all times. Yeah, all the ladies' children. Yeah, man.

You know. Never, don't change. The third would be. Fruit Man. No, we got some rhythm songs in there. Caribbean Festival. Okay. Yeah. I'll take that.

It had all that looseness in it that you'd find in some of that. And so when you hear it, you go, oh, man. Da, da, da, da, ba-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ha. You know, the horns, you know. So, making those three like your favorite-a-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-a-ba-da. It's just, you know, it's that group. And you got that, you know, so it was great. So making those three like your favorite. Yeah, you know, as I said, the top of the show, man, it's really kind of our mission here on the show just, you know, to give flowers to legendary people that otherwise might not get their, they're just due as far as, you know, the legacy that they set forth. And definitely, you know, for all of us here, you know, cool and gang represents, I mean, it's an institution of just brilliant. and, you know, it sustained all music, all times, you know, all spaces, and still strong to this day.

I mean, even my band, you know, goes through a cool and a gang moment in our current show. And, you know, the songs are... Plus you have Jermaine. Jermaine Bryson? Oh, Tuba, yeah, Javier. Yes, I know that he plays with you guys. Tuba's brother. Yeah.

Yeah, he plays with them now. Yeah. Yeah, man, but we just thank you for coming on the show, and we appreciate your, you know, your legacy and everything that you've done. Straight up, thank you. All your break beats and everything. We love that. We love it to death.

Thank you. You know, I'm not going to say it's been a long hard road, it's been a long, beautiful road being as a creator, you know, because Ronald and I sit and come up materials. He and I, especially back in the late 70s and early 80s, that's what we did. We just sat in the studio and reverse things, put together live albums, you know, from all the tapes.

You know the deal. And just had a ball. It'd be in the whole night, 6 o'clock in the morning. You said, I'll see you in a few hours, come back again, and that whole, that's worth everything, you know, as far as creative people is concerned. That's worth it all. And it becoming successful, too.

And if it doesn't become successful, you go back in your tweet. What did we do? What's going on? And I appreciate you having me on as well. Thank you. Thank you. But it makes, just like all of us,

it makes it a little harder. You know, when you go up here, I love your music, and then you got, you know, that whole thing. The fans, they're adoring, loving fans. But it's truly, truly heartfelt. Thank you. Well, thank you. Yeah, and on behalf of Sugar Steve Von Tiggily,

I'm Peyville, Laia, myself. This is Questlove Supreme. Shout out to Jake and Brittany. Thank you for holding it down. Our family at Eyeheart. And we'll see all next week. On the next year round, Quest Love Supreme. Hey, boss, don't forget.

Brand new Cooner Gang album in stores, Stoers. Why, he's the Minister of Information in this band. I'll take that. All right. Next week, y'all. Thank you.

Bye, see you. What's Love Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. For more podcasts from IHart Radio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford. and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Galko, 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 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 Slical Life 12 and 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 IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wood. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend.

This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-hosted the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel on our podcast, The Away End. we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.