The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: Leroy Burgess Part 2

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Questlove Supreme has wanted to speak with Leroy Burgess for years, and now it has happened. The legendary singer, songwriter, and producer revisits his New York City upbringing. For Part 2, Leroy details the music that makes him a post-disco/boogie pioneer. He recalls his time with Logg, The Universal Robot Band, and Bumble Bee Unlimited. Leroy also shares his experience meeting Rick James and writing a hit for the late star. He also discusses new music and how his classic formula for song-making remains.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-Heart 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 Iheart 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. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. Yo, what's up, everybody?

This is Fonte. Fonteigolo from Teams. Supreme and we are back with part two of our conversation with Leroy Burgess. This is a guy who I've wanted to speak with for years, long-time fan of his music and all of his work. Honestly, this was one of my favorite interviews this season. We got to talk about his catalog, his production work, his early days, everything. If you haven't heard it yet, please make sure you check out part one where Leroy talks about his beginnings, his group Black Ivory and Woutang sampling his music.

Now here's part two. Enjoy. Yeah. When would you say is the moment that you graduated from just songwriting and singing to like, like at the helm of a production, where Patrick's sort of taking a backseat and now this is a Leroy Burgess production? Okay, that's easy too. That's an easy one. The transition moment, the actual transition moment, when I be, when I transitioned from composer and musician, into Deucer, arranger, was the weekend album, the Freak album. Yeah.

I had stepped away from Black Ivy, took a hiatus from Black Ivy and participating with them. And the first person I went to was Patrick. And Patrick used to work me out, worked on the Benny King album, Art Webb's album, you know, just background vocals or keyboards or something like that,

you know, stuff like that. Then he said, I got this album, Atlantic's giving me a project called Freak. and I need two songs, right? And I had one song called Weekend and one song called Much Too Much. And he said, okay, but you're going to write all the charts. You're going to write, he said, I'll do the strings,

but I want you to do the horns, right? I want you to do all the strengths, and I want you to teach the rhythm musicians, which is something I learned from teaching my band, a band of songs, you know, the Black Ivy Band, the songs, how to play. and how I wanted them arrange. So I had a back, but this was the first time I started writing charts

and having to do that. So that was the actual transition, because when I went in the studio to do it at Bob Blank Studios, I was waiting for power. I went in there, waiting for pay. Here's the charts. Good luck. And he was like, no, no, no, no.

You go in there with the musicians, right? Show them the song, give them the parts that you want them to play. Right? I'm going to play acoustic piano. You play electric piano, right? And this is how we're going to do it. And he said, you're at the helm. I want this to be what you want.

So you're going to come up with the parts. All I'm going to do is the strings. And I was like, okay. So that was me actually stepping, crossing that threshold into production and arranging and so forth. It was that moment. How did you learn to, like, read music and play? Were you just playing by ear or were you formally trained?

And are these chord charts or, like, noted notes? Yeah. Okay. To answer your question, quest, they are core charts, all right? Okay. Patrick was, Patrick taught me how to write the chord charts, right? He would later teach me how to write the horn charts and write for strings and to do full arrangements.

I started playing when I was four years old, you know, playing with the church. But I don't call that banging on the piano. I was banging on the piano, okay? When I was very young, my mom used to get me away from my sisters. So she sent me to a babysitter that had a piano. Right. She taught me little things like twinkle, twinkle little star and this old man, he played once, right? And how to play those on the piano.

And that got me interested. Fast forward to when I was 11. I had a brilliant music teacher in the person of Herbie Jones. Herbie Jones was Duke Ellington's chief rhythm and brass arranger. Oh, wow. And he worked on, his side job was working at the cadet corps, Central Harlem. My mother, father, insisted I joined the cadets. So I would worry, I'd be on top of him.

Oh, how did he play that? He taught me how to play chords, how to recognize notes, so forth and so on, so forth. Now, combined us with what I was learning from Patrick in terms of the specifics of reading and writing and notating and so forth and so on. And I gradually learned how to do it all, but it was a gradual thing. It wasn't a, I went to Juilliard or I went to. I went to, I want before we, I just wanted to go back to you and I just before we forget it. Larry Blackman, we had him on the show. That's right.

He's playing drums on that. Do you remember that session? Yes, I do. On the Don't Turn Around, first of all, the only songs that we did in Philly was Don't Turn Around, and I keep asking you questions, those two songs, which was A and B size of our first single, right? Everything else on the Don't Turn Around album,

we recorded in New York at Blue Rock Studios, right? Larry Blackman happened to live in my housing complex, Drew Hamilton Housandt. I lived in building like 200 West 143. He lived down the block on the 8th Avenue building, right? Patrick knew him. I didn't know that Patrick knew him, but Patrick knew him, right? So when Patrick was putting together the arrangement for you and I, so forth and so on, he said, I said, well, who's going to play the drums? And he was like, well, this guy Larry Blackman, I'm like, who?

He's like, he said, well, he said, well, he's going to play the drums. said, well, he's really good. And he's the perfect guy. So Larry played on you and I. And he played on Find the One Who Loves You. And he played on, she said that she's leaving. Those three songs. Wow.

Got it. Thank you for that. All right. So I have a production question to ask you. Sure. Like, how are you able to develop your sound? Because, you know, I mean, next to the Randy Muller's of the world. world and and later the Kashifs, like, you're doing some really revolutionary in disco and post-disco

music, but I would assume that you would have to have a lot of hours to figure out what the sound is. And, like, so how are you able to develop your sound like that? Well, meaning no disrespect, absolutely. You're overthinking a little bit. I can't get to that online. Wow. I never would have guessed it. I'm here what? This always happens on the show. I'm shocked in a gas. I surrounded myself with great

people, great musicians, who are very simple, but do a really good job. Now, in the case of let's do it, let's do it was composed as an afterthought for the most part. We were hired to record another song.

I forget, I even forgot the name of that song. It was just, we were just hired as musicians, right? But Greg Carmichael, who was the producer, he had booked 12 hours. We got through the first song, you know, the song we needed that we were a book to do in two hours, two and a half hours, something like that. So he said, well, I'm not doing anything else with the time.

Why don't you guys come up with something and I'll let you all record what you want. do. So we ordered some food and while we waited for the food, I went into the instrument room and started twinking on the piano, right? Usually it doesn't take but a minute for my brother James Calloway to come in on bass. So came up with something just very simple. So then James came in and he played on top of me playing that. Right. Sunny came in and he played on top of me playing that you know so the three of us were playing and arrived at that groove right after that we basically laid the whole thing down one thing that i liked about it is because uh i like to come

up with jazz changes for a disco song which because they don't belong there right so once i had everything together we went in we did the rhythm and um as we once we had the rhythm track all in there then sunny my cousin cousin Sonny Davenport, he started laying percussion pieces, the conge of second, the famous agogo, the name of go-go, and stuff like that, right? While we called my sister Renee, my girl Dorothy Terrell, and a couple of other females to come in and do the background. We wrote the words that night, right? Oh wow. Came up with the rap that night, right? So within the remaining eight hours,

we came we we uh where we started with nothing and we ended up with let's do it i always wanted to know how you came up with all the names for your like your aliases like law conversion like where that i didn't come up with him uh okay most of the time it would be a matter of me saying well i don't want it to be me i don't want it to be a leroy burgess for beckett all right this is a group effort so forth and so on and And initially the name of the group was caliber, which is an anagram of Leroy Burgess and James Callaway. Right. Okay, okay. Calibur, and that's on your limbs hooked on your love record, right? That's the only time we use that.

After that, it was like, as long as we retained the sound, I didn't care what name we used. Right? I leave it to the record companies that come up with. Sam Records came up with conversion. We were like, oh, that's conversion. That's great. When he copyrighted the name conversion and Sousel Records wanted that group, they were like, well, you can't use the name conversion.

So what would I tell? I don't care. Call it whatever. They called it log. Wow. And from there, Universal Robot Band came out of that. Yes, yes. Barely freaking even, man.

Then from that, you know, the name's just evolved from different places. I never really, what was important to me was that the sound and the team was doing the same thing and arriving at the style of music that we hope would be embraced. Yeah. One of my favorite records of yours, I always wanted to ask you about 100% by Caprice. Do you remember cutting it? Like, who's singing lead on that record? Because it sounds like a little girl, sounds like a kid. But I love that song, man.

It's one of my favorites in your catalog. Jackie Bradley used to play guitar for the Black Eye. like I have we been in one of the early bands that we worked with. He was part of the source of his our band, right? Fairst, about the 80s, this is, that's in the early 70s, right? So fast forward to the 80s and Jackie is putting together his own band. Caprici, he comes to me, says, I would like for you to give us a song,

or if you got a song, we'd like to do a song of yours, right? So I'm like, okay, we got a song. Me and Sonny had composed called 100%, right? And so we actually went into the process of teaching them. The singer, Yvette Davis, this was like her first record. So she was very, oh, she was tentative. She was scared. He was green, yeah.

She was like, she didn't believe in her voice and so forth. And I was like, no, honey, just trust me. I'll get you to just trust me. And I can get you to, I can introduce you to the singer. to the singer that's within you. How old was she at this time? She was in her 20s. She was in her 20s or 30s or something like that.

Okay. And so I walked her through how to sing it. Because she really has a voice that has a quality like Denise Williams, like that really lilting, tiny, you know, it's like, you know, but at certain points she can be very powerful. But you know, it's just this lilting quality. And I said, we can use that.

Let's use that quality. That's when she goes, and now is the time, don't you know? Let all the other bands and time. Yes, sir. She was perfect for it. I made everybody get out of the studio while she cut the leads, all right? The only ones that was there was myself and Sunny and the vet and the engineers

because I didn't want her intimidated by the other band members and so forth and so on. But she did an amazing. job in realizing that song. Okay, so since you just dropped your process and especially with your alias is, can I assume that

the Bumblebee Unlimited song is just the Aleems on very speed? Well, it's actually not the Aleems. Bumblebee Unlimited would usually be Patrick, myself, and yeah, very speed, just very speed

of down and wasn't that a little risky in terms of like, hey, this song might actually get some traction on radio and whatnot. Like, do we want to sing in very speed or in our natural voices? Like, what made you want to do that? Well, Bumblebee Unlimited was Patrick's brainchild. Okay. And the whole thing is at that point, I was desperate for work

because I had just left Black Aubrey, so I needed work. So whatever Patrick wanted to do, I was like, yeah, I'm fine with that. I was more worried about it being, us having a problem with Ross Bagdasarian productions. Chipmunk. Because of Alvin and the chipmunks. And it was the same process. This is exactly the same process.

But Patrick said, don't worry about it. I'll call the bumblebee and nobody will be the wiser. So you really thought somebody would come at you for, because Steve, you wonder, did or maybe your baby in Sly, like, I'm just realizing now that side one or fresh, that entire side one, Sly singing in Bury Speed. I did not know that.

I mean, it's not extreme VarySpeed where it sounds like Alvin and Chipmunks. He, when they did the French version of dance to the music, he didn't call it Sly and the family stone. He called it the French fries. And they kept the, the same musical backdrop as Dance to the Music, but they sang it as Alvin and the Chipmunks. And it was really lolly gagging or whatever.

It's like a rare B-side and, yeah, for Europe. But I love that song. Before I get to my next question, just in general, with New York and various bands around that, we mentioned, you know, brother Larry Blackman before, but, you know, around this time, Are you at all having interactions at all with like, you know, like with Larry Mueller and, uh, or Kishif also came from BT Express a little later. But, you know, as you guys are kind of molding and shaping really the sound of disco and more importantly, the sound of post disco.

Uh, what I guess we call it bookie. I don't know if you called the bookie or not, but people have tagged it boogie. Are you having any interactions with those guys whatsoever? I met Randy at a little gig we did at a club called APT back in the early weekends. And we're friends. Same thing with Hugh and Eve's the third. And I'm friends with all of them. We have not interacted professionally to collaborate on any music, but we appreciate where each other is coming from.

I mean, some, some credit now, Rogers, some, who do you feel is the person that really is the proprietor of Booky? Like a slowed down version, same disco pulse, but less, less cluttered and more groove base. In other words, more for the backyard barbecue than Studio 54. like well if you ask anybody in london they would tell you it's me i i say to you as well straight up i don't know i just come from Harlem right in Harlem while disco is like kind of up and 120 and 120. Right. You know, get your heart rate going and so forth.

I'm from that chill, boom, chill. Chill, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I'm there, right? In terms of where I want to create and where the groove is for me, right? Right. So when I did songs like Fat Rat, and when I created Let's Do It and so forth,

that's where we're at. We're swinging right there. We're not interested in boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom. Now, we do these records for record companies who, in their brilliance, in their moments of genius, they decide, all right, let's take it to somebody, tell them to speed it up, disco speed.

And just go to it. But as far as, boogie is just a chilled out, laid-back, kind of groovy joint, all right, where you can still party hard to it, without, you know, having a cardiac arrest. Right. A two-step. So was sweet to me ever considered, like, a single from the log record?

On the log, I'm sweet to me, so sweet. That's, like, I go heavy on that song when I do my boogie sets. And I always wanted to know why wasn't that ever, like, given the single treatment? Well, because the hierarchy can care, stand care at South Soul Records, they decided that the only, well, there would be two single. There would be, I know you will, which was the Larry LeVan record. Right. You've got that something, right? And then dancing into the stars, right?

The others laid on the line, sweet to me. They never really made it into the forefront of being a single in terms of Sal So's feeling or what they decided to do. So they just felt it was filler. Yeah, they felt it was filler. But here's the big story about it. That is crazy. We mentioned Universal Robot Band, right?

Yes, sir. Barely breaking even. Right. Barely Breaking Even is actually the seventh song from the log album. Ah, okay. Gotcha. All right. Barely breaking even, we recorded to close the log album out.

All right? That's when we got all of the musicians, all of the singers who were put together for the Log Project. We called them all in the studio for, I think it was an 18-hour session or something like that. Right? everybody was in. We fed everybody, made sure everybody was comfortable

with plenty stuff to smoke and you know, we were, it was a happy session. And I said, we're going to do this great record where everybody's going to sing and it's going to be like this giant quiet and we're all going to talk about how hard it is to keep money in our pocket, barely

breaking even, right? What happened was our co-producer, Greg Carmichael, heard the record and was very pleased with it. Right. And decided to go to South Seoul and get a little extra paper. Little extra paper.

I want a little extra. Can't care said no. Right? So Greg said in the middle of the night, around 2.30 in the morning, right? He went to the studio, air was recording. And he told him, I want to make a safety of the master of the 24, 2 inch 24 track. I want to make it. And I'll bring it right back.

that later that day we went to mix the song to do a final mix of the song to complete the album and found it not to be there so of course we're like oh my god what's how did y'all let it go so we get on the phone we can't care so we're coming down there right now greg to the take blah blah blah blah blah blah we expected can care to be completely up in arms about the loss of barely breaking even. That's when Ken told us about, well, Greg came and was looking for extra paper, so forth and so on. I did not want to give it to him.

And that's why he, you know, commandeered the tape, right? Essentially, the outrage that we expected from Ken Keir was not to be found. All right? His basic position was, we've already got these six great tunes. I don't need the extra of, you know. So that's when some months later, it was released on Muglow Records as Universal Robot Band. But that barely breaking even is the seventh song from the log album.

That's amazing, man. Wow. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. 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. 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, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of 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 podcasts.

And I'm Igor Wood. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 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 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, its hope, its 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 Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We didn't talk about Mainline. That's another one of my favorites in your catalog. But you tell us about recording that session. I stepped away from Black Ivy because we were being typecast into a slow jam group. All right. That's where, you know, don't turn around you and I. I'll find a way all the soul jams that they love with the porcetto. They wanted us, the audience wanted us to stay there. And thereby, I would not accept us doing any fast. I could not stay in that environment because I was not going creatively while the marketplace is growing around me. So that's when I made a decision to actually step away and do a hiatus from Black Aubrey. All right. About somewhere around 78, 79, Lenny Adams, who was still managing Black Ivory, came to me and said, I need songs for this new Buddha album, you know, or they're going to drop us from Buddha. And I said, well, I got three songs that I'm not doing anything with, hustling, coming down, and Maynine.

And I will, you know, those songs are not assigned to anybody. and so Lenny was like, write your own ticket or whatever you want, whatever you needed to be. I want you to come back, bring the musicians in, all right. I said, well, if I'm going to do it, we have to do it with Patrick Adams. We need Patrick Adams on it. We need James Callaway, you know, and we just locked it up, lined it up. I gave them a demo so Russell could learn the same to lead, right? And, you know, the backgrounds we just sang as we normally do, but I haven't recorded.

Right. And Patrick came in, did strings and horns. The drums weren't right. Initially, we used Leroy and Mike Connor on the drums, but they were not falling, right? So we had Earl Young come in and overdub his. Wow, wow. Earl Young. Yeah.

Hypothetically speaking. So say if I'm like one of your peers or your contemporaries in 1979. And I'm producing the same music that you're producing. What would, what is a producer's rate in, in 78, 79, 80? Like in the, in the era of 12-inch discos for the South Souls of the world, these small labels of the world, like, what would my living be per per side? Like, is it whatever you can work with or is it a contract? thing like I think how does one make it living barely basically back in that period you do good if you could get a budget that was anywhere between say about 3,500 to about 5,000 the high end of that

would be 10,000 right? Correct. And give you that right and say bring me my record, bring me a great record, bring me something that I best won't kill, so forth and so on. And it was your job to take the amount that you were given and create that record, right? And whatever was left over, you could walk home with, you know. So if you were given $10,000, then it only costs you six to do, right? You know, to get the final record, then you're walking home with four, right?

So budgets around that time were about, you know, if they were reasonable, they were $10,000 and up for some. Right. And that would give you a decent amount of room. And how you lived and how you lived off of it is how you could make that budget work with under $10,000 so that you had to. You weren't ball and out of control. Okay. So did you have great relationships with Larry Levan or even Frankie Crocker at that, like, A, being a song or like bringing him a test pressing and see if it works, it doesn't work? Are you able to go back and readjust if it does not work?

First of all, I'm going to take one person at a time, Larry Levin, right? I did not know who he was and I did not know who. what the Paradise Garage was. I thought it was a garage. Wait, what? Wow. How did you create a soundtrack for a generation and did not know what the Paradise Garage was?

I did. I'm just being honest. So what was the epicenter of a place where you wanted to see how your music worked? Studio 54. Oh, you just went straight to them. Yeah, and that's where my first gig at any of those clubs down there,

long before I learned about Paradise Garage, My first gig was at Studio 54, performing. As far as Larry LeVan goes, I got to appreciate his art after, I know you will was given to him to mix, right? And I was like, now, you know, we're from uptown, we're from Harlem, and we're like, we're belligerent about everything. So we're like, liar Levin's mixing it. Who?

We never heard of him. I don't know if I wanted him to have myself. Who is that? All right. So we stormed Right Tracks Studios on 48th Street where he's doing the final mix. Right. And when I say we stormed, we jump in the cab, me, James and Sonny. You're from Harlem.

Yeah, yeah, we jump in the cab. We rolled all the way down there. And we were like, oh, no, you're letting us in this session. This is our song. Right, blah, blah, blah. So we basically bogarded our way up to the studio where he was working. And, you know, they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't let us then.

Finally, Larry came out and was gracious and said, oh, these are the producers, these are the songwriters, let them end, so forth and so on. And then he apprised us of what he had in mind and how he was working it. And it sounded so great, right? We was like, oh, by all means, go right ahead. So remixing was just a foreign idea, like letting someone borrow your... Stems or whatever, yeah.

Your mate, your lifeline. Right, well, here's the thing. When you were budgeted by a record company, right, it was their property, period. Right. It was theirs. So you could do whatever makes you. you wanted to do and say, this is the mix I want to come out. And they'd be like, OK, yeah, let's leave it here.

Then they would call Shep Pettiebong, John Mowalitz. The man, they call whoever, their guy, right, a jelly bean Benitez. They call them and they say, hey, take this multi-track and give me a great record, right? And then it would not be what the producer's vision was. It would be this other vision that was in the mind of the remixer. However, that mind might be on that given day, all right?

But that was the job. I mean, you, you wasn't, if you didn't own that master, so you couldn't say, I'm going to make sure this person makes it. They owned the master. So they could say, and so after a minute, you have to say, you have to resign yourself to that dynamic. All right. One of the cases that it's really definitive is let's do it. Let's do it was an 11-minute song, all right, that had two bridges, right?

Oh, wow. And the vamp chorus, I was going nuts on, as a lead vocalist. Right? All of that ended up on the cutting room floor at Sand record. They was like, no, contain the record to this five-minute thing, and this is what it's going to be. We heard it. We were disgusted. We were like, oh, my God, where's the rest of the record?

Right? Let's do it. Came out? Amazing hit, huge-haired hit, right? So in 2016, I had a copy of the 11-minute version, right? Right, with the vocals and so forth and so on. And Frankie Knuckles played it at Studio 54, right? And I forgot to get the tape back from him.

So he took it back to Chicago with him. Right. Frankie passed away. He gave it to another DJ, DJ, um, uh, Emmanuel something, right? Um, and he gets in touch with me 2015 says, I have the 11-minute version of let's do it. I'm like, what? So he sends it to me. I sent it to my partner PL to master it, right?

And then to initiate the startup of gorgeous entertainment, I said, let's just put it out for free. Let's give it to everybody for free. Right. And we introduced everybody to what the full version of Let's Do It is. Right. And they got to hear the second bridge. They got to hear the second court.

They got to hear the ramp out or all of the things that were removed from it. They got to hear it. they was like, oh my God, this is incredible. Everybody started asking the questions that we were asking. You know, why did you chop it up like that? I put it all down to how music evolves and the business that pertains to it, right? You know, and just not to let anything drive you so crazy that you doing crazy stuff. I wanted to ask you about Fonda Ray.

She was like one of my favorite singles of that time. She's you know over like a fat rat. What was she like in the studio? She was pleasant. She was professional. And where did she come from? I don't know. So she was just brought to you as a client.

She came from either Mount Vernon or Newichelle or somewhere Yonkers or something like that. I think that's where she lives. When we did over like a fat rat we recorded it as a demo with bob blank he bob in and gave us some free studio time and uh we me james and sunny we went in we just did our thing creating songs and so forth and so on

so over like fat that was one of the songs and then we left the tapes with bob and then bob went to vanguard and vanguard had signed fonder and bob called us up and said would we mind if he he tried fond of Fonda Ray and I'm like Fonda Who and he's like Fonda Ray. And I'm like, okay, well, we'll allow it if you let us be at the session, meaning myself and my cousin Sonny Davenport. We went to the session. She learned this song and sang it very competently, giving us the performance that y'all are familiar with. Was that our first session?

No, she had done. I wasn't a first one. She's also on, she worked with August Darnel. Oh, during the, she did, she did Deputy Love. It was, it wasn't Dr. Buzzers. It was what Don Armando's second Rumba band or something. Wow. He always had, like, crazy, like, aliens and stuff.

But Deputy Love is a record, though. That's a jam. Did not know that. She also had worked with Patrick Adams with a version of Touch Me All Night Long. Yes. That's different than the one that we know? Different. The version was spelled T-U-C-H.

Oh. Like, it's spelled T-U-C-H me. And she did that before it got to the standing person that did it. Okay. Wow. All right. Here's the question I always wanted to know. I'm giving right to Rick James right now.

I know it's coming. So I have one question to ask you. All right, the way that you're holding your head right now, I already know what the answer is. But can I just take a wild guess that your involvement with big time is just that intro? No. Oh, so you did the entire, because the thing is,

is that the kick drum piano intro is such a Leroy-Berge's sound, and then right when the song kicks in, I felt like, wow. Now it sounds like Rick James. How did that come together? Okay. At the session I was telling you about where we recorded over like a fat rat for Fonda or we right.

A demo for that. One of the, another one of the songs that we've done was a song called Big Time. Right. Now, you know, I did the demo with the piano and James on bass and Sonny on drums. And I sang in the, you know, I did a demo of the vocals of shit. Right. And on our way uptown, Bob Blank Studio was on 20th and 6th Avenue, right?

And on our way back uptown, we decided to stop at 57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue to stop at Kenny Morris's house. Kenny Wood Morris was Patrick's partner, right, to stop there to get a little package for us to feel good with when we got uptown. Wink. Absolutely. So, you know, and Kenny was holding. So we went there. Right. When we got there, Kenny's friend, Rick James, was in attendance. He was, he was resident Kenny. And so, you know, we really wanted to do our business and get on. But then, you know, Kenny was like, come on inside. And Patrick was right there. And so we did our little wine and dine thing. I mean, we're not. John is wine. We already know. And Big James was like, oh, Patrick, I'm getting ready to do my new album. I don't want more down to drop me and so far. I just need to be a good one and so forth. And I mentioned that we just came out of the studio doing a little demo and so forth. Oh, let me hear.

No, no, let me hear. I'm looking for songs. Right. And so big time was the first song on the cassette. And we only made it halfway through. Oh, my God, that's my song. That's my song. I got to have it. Because big time is the persona of big time is Rick James persona. It's all about a guy who arrived at the big time.

A life of fortune and fame and stuff. Yes. Glammer and fame and all of that. So it was, oh, that's my song. I needed it to Patrick, you work it out and so forth and so on. So Patrick worked it out. This is 1979 by 19. It was released as we made a deal for it to be the first single from the Garden of Love album.

Right. And we arranged for Rick James and Patrick to, for Patrick to co-produce it with Rick James and take it out. They took the multi-track out to California where Rick James added his flavor to it. The entire song, the change and everything like that, that was written composed by me. and Rick James added his elements to it. But essentially, he replayed the bass, took James Calloway off and replayed the bass, replayed some of the piano parts,

put his horns on it and so forth, and then added, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Right. And I'd like to think, I don't want to be presumptuous, but this is before super-freaking all of that. And I'd like to think that,

that big time was central in reviving Rick's career to such a degree that he was able to then take that model and create new songs from it, right? And that gave you the super freak in a song. That's exactly what it did. But that piano intro is such an un-rich James sounding thing that I was like, in my mind, I felt like, oh, the last minute, let's add that piano intro at the top and then... No, but that was the whole record when we did it. That was, you know, that was the whole demo.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever 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. 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 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 iHeartRadio 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 2, 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. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego 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, 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. 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. Yeah. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fultonar 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 there most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's heartbreak, and above all, its 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. So I guess I really became familiar with you. kind of in the summer 84 when like B-Boy culture's starting to set off. And the Aleems release yourself.

What was your thoughts on the Marley Mar remix of that song? I didn't know who Marley was before that, but I certainly got to know who he was since he did it. Okay. Because, see, for me, it became a practical situation. that part that goes, release yourself, wee,

we, we, right. An octave from where I'm singing it now, right? Right. Perform that,

all right, you might be able to do that once or twice, right, before your whole voice would break and half. Give out,

right. That's break in half. So I always was like, while I understand the virtue of it being sampled, a lot of people expected it to be sunk. That was my second question.

How much of a nightmare was it for them? Because that's the only version we played. We know there's other versions of the song, but we will always go to the B-side and play the Marley-Mau version. Right, right, right. And it was inescapable in the summer of 1984. Right.

So I arrived at a balance between when I'm doing my live show, I let one of the girls or something like that do those parts. right and then i stick to you got to you know you need to i'd stick to that right which makes it easy because believe me if i just did one full chorus of that someone's losing their voice that's the end of the show and thank you very much good night and i hope you enjoyed that that that chorus that i just did

Yeah. I wanted to ask you, Leroy, there was a record you did a couple years back with Glenn Underground that let me know you're feeling me. Oh, yes. Patrick was with myself and Glenn. Oh, Patrick working on that as well. Yes, yes.

The song was composed by Patrick Glenn and myself. Wow. That was when a guy named Radick who runs Dust Tracks records out of Chicago, ago. He had a hookup with Glenn, and Glenn had asked for myself and Patrick. Raddick convinced us to take a plane and fly out there for a couple of days and work with Glenn. And again, that song was started from scratch. We had nothing, no beat, no anything. And Patrick came up with the bass line that kind of took us somewhere. And then I said, I added some chords to it.

And then we had Glenn come in, put the drums against it, and so forth and so on, and we began to build a record up from there. And within two days, we had that song. I love that song, man. I was so happy, a good buddy of mine, Scorp out of Chicago. He sent me that when it came out. And I was just so happy to hear you, like, singing again. And I just really love that record, man.

I have one inner life question. Yes. Well, actually, okay, this is something you really got to settle for me because it's killing me. Did you ever work with Alan George or Fred McFarlane? Because even if your name is not on the credits, I still insist that you had something to do with somebody else's guy. even though you know your only connection to it is working with

Jocelyn Brown in her life but and I'm not want to be starting something but I can't be the only human being that thought that you produced that well Alan George and Fred McFarland

first of all Fred McFarland was a member of conversion in law right? Okay. keyboard player for my group, one of the higher keyboard players for the group. So we knew Fred, and we'd known Alan,

because Alan had been close friends with our second, the second Black Audrey band, Stone Love. So we knew Alan through that. The reason why you hear a connection between somebody else's guy and music that you associate with me is two reasons.

One is James Calloway. He's the bass player on that record, right? All right. And of course, Fred McFarland. And the second element is George Ellington and Vincent Henry on brass. Because George and Vincent, George was a horn player for my band. Vincent was a band. And the two of them gave you that kind of sound.

All right. So between James Fred. and Vincent and George, that's where you get that, that lay of sound that compared to what we do. Yeah, you can throw, you probably throw, what, 7th Heaven on that, too, like Gwen Guthrie. It kind of, all those. Literally. Believe it or not, that's the first place I looked. To me, it's your sound.

I guess in general, in wrapping this up, unless you have another one, Fonte. Do you have any? Yeah, I just wanted to talk to him about his newest record. Yes. You work with a lot of my heroes on this one with the remixes, big ups to Josh Milan and Mark Mack from For a Hero. What's your connection with those guys and talk about your work with them? Everybody on that I'm blessed to have shared their brilliance on these days, the remixes. have been friends for a little while now.

A Stacy Kidd, I met a few years ago when I invited him to Paris to come see myself and my live band perform. I've known Louis Vega, ever take us all the way back to the conversion remake in 2016. Kenny Carpenter, good friend of mine that I worked with a song on him called More Love, And he came back and did some of the early mixes on a remake that I did of Jesus Children of America about Stevie. Mark Mack is a friend, very long-time friend.

I've known him for about a good 20, 25 years. It was Des Parks. I was about to say Des Parks, man. Oh, my God. Rest and peace. Here departed and ascended Angel Des Parkes who insisted on me meeting Mark. right and said mark is the guy and mark and mark has

since i've met him and since i've worked with him everything that mark has done has been just the absolute truth just so pure so to wrap up the whole album uh and reflex nicholas is he was a surprise because uh he heard these days the album the initial album from which the remix album is inspired um and he had to

song altogether and he was just really taken with that and I was taken with all of the reflex remixes he's the one who does the best remix in that I've heard when I heard him do rock with you by Michael Jackson and all night long by Lionel Richie he does his thing in the stone with earth when and fire he's really a brilliant Nicholas is really a brilliant remixer so I was blessed that all of them when they heard these days the initial album come out, they called me up and they said, hey, I want to remix this and I want to remix that. I want to do this and I want to do that. And I spoke with my partner, PL Suites. And he said, well, let's do a remix album, you know, that just features remixes. And that's where this latest

project came. The These Days initial album was released back in September, 2022. And the remix album just It was initially released in March 23rd, 2023, and then as of last Thursday, it hit track source. So, and now people are starting to really get into it. But those guys blessed me with their talent and with their insight and with their genius. And they made it into a project that I can really, really be proud of. Yeah, now, we're all disciples, man. We're all disciples. I got one more record to ask before we rat.

Because not many people talk enough about Eddie Kendricks' is Arista, period. And you worked on the something more record that I never used to dance. Can you talk about working with Eddie Kendrix, like what it was like? It was a lot of fun because Eddie is a cannabis indulges as I am. And so Patrick got the club. Amen. So Patrick got the deal when Eddie, when he was working with Arista. And he said, I got the Eddie Kendrick deal.

I said, oh, great. That's cool. Do you have anything for him? Not really. We don't have nothing. But I'd like to meet him. So Patrick said, oh, come on down. I'll have a meeting with him, so forth and so on.

So I bought my team, me, James and Sonny. We went down there. We met, you know, chopped it up, had a few drinks and so forth and so on. And I was like, well, Eddie, what do you want to sing about? Right? And he said, I don't really know. I don't really care. Just write me a great song.

For whatever reason, we started talking about the Temptations moves and the choreography and so forth. And I think I started talking about how black eye was biting his choreography. So I started talking about that. And he said, well, I never liked the dancing. I'm not a dance. I'm a singer. And so although I had to do it because it was part of my

duties as a temptation, you know, to do the choreography and all of that, but I never really liked it. And I was like, wow, there's our song story. So myself and my cousin Sonny and my brother James, we created a song called I Never Used to Dance, which is about a dude who doesn't really like that. doesn't really like dancing. You know how many, you go to a party

and you see the dudes standing up against the wall while the chick get out. You know, they're out there doing their thing and the dudes are just like standing there looking at. Yeah, yeah. How about the Mets? You know? Right.

The wallflower song. Yeah, yeah. They're doing that. But never used to dances about that one chick that you see hit the floor. And oh, my God, I just got to dance with her. And all of a sudden, you're not dancing behind. you're not dancing there, find yourself out on the floor.

With this, he's the one that gets you to do it. So that's what never used to dance is all about. Wow. And he heard it. When he heard it, it was like, oh, that's perfect. That's me all. That's me. That's it.

So, and for me, listen, when I was 13, 14, I was singing just my imagination. Wow. And the way you do the things you do. Those songs were just ingrained in me to be working with an icon like him. Right. And for him to be doing one of my compositions, one of my co-productions, was just a dream come true of many, many dreams that have come true in my time in this industry. You know, man, this is some of the best two hours ever.

Yeah, we're waiting on this one, man. Just nerding out. Thank you, man. I can't even thank you enough for this. Like, you know, you've changed culture and, you know, you can't, there aren't enough flowers in the world to give you, man. Like what you've done for dance culture, man, is like real heads no. And we just thank you for doing our show with us. Thank you for the music, man.

Just your music is so much joy to like to my life. You know what I mean? And always a good time. So just just thank you for all your contributions, man, straight up. Oh, bless y'all. And thank you all for having me. I'm very aware of how successful your work is, Quest. And this team is.

I'm just happy to be a part of it. And happy to participate in this. You guys have some really great questions. man, you know. We're fans. We are fans. You know, I'm a DJ, so I'm only as good as the knowledge I have of, you know, the records I gravitate towards.

And, you know, your records have saved many a party of mine. So thank you very much for that. That's what's up. That's what's up. Thank you. Yo, on behalf of Super Steve and Unpaid Bill and Fantigolo and Laia, this is another, another classic but-love extravaganza of it. We will see y'all next time.

All right, thank you. Questlove Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 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, 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 Podcasts, 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 that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone, I'm Eagle. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, 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. Yeah. 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-host of 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 26 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.