lots of music/musicians I've never heard of. That may make me ignorant but it doesn't make me stupid
or racist. We already have plenty of racists around, don't we... BTW, thanks for easing my ignorance a little bit.

Last edited Sun Dec 15, 2019, 09:53 PM - Edit history (1)

in black culture but not in mainstream culture. It's not even debatable. I'd be willing to bet most whites (obviously not musicans) have no idea who Frankie Beverly is.

And it's not a bad thing.

We can revel in our culture and enjoy it while others can do the same. Where's the problem?

I was surprised at some of the suggestions--Slick Rick, Too Short, Phyllis Hyman, Teena Marie (!), and even Luther. But some of it was, sadly, right: stuff like Lift Every Voice and Sing, Tom Joyner, etc.

SWAC football game (Southern University's Human Jukebox does it best, imo....fight me! ), retirement party, Essence Festival, family reunion, and southern high school football game where at least one of the schools is mostly black. I live for this stuff! Black Twitter always does the most!

to Frankie and Maze how fortunate I was to have a mentor in my youth a lady who babysat and reared a bunch of kids in a DC neighborhood that included Beverly and, of course, Marvin Gaye.

I can't even type this as I remember without shaking my mentor Cleo, a Virginia Slims cigarette smoking older lady who was at that time my age now. She was a a lab tech back in the day after being a stay at home mom who was just naturally selected to mind all neighborhood kids after school simply because she was there for her own children.

Gawd, I can't believe this OP! because she was there years later in the lab for me/us for what's now known as STEM.

Cleo was a pioneer. Smart as a whip who decided to pursue her love for science, after her last wards - Gaye and the younger Beverly included, had grown up and made a name for themselves. I remember my first day in the lab. Cleo walked right up to me and said, "I'm so Happy to see you!" I didn't fully understand what she meant but that phrase became mine as I later welcomed other PoC in laboratories and gave a silent Thank you to Cleo in my heart.

Twice, once when Marvin came home she was bursting that he called to tell her of his arrival date. And another time when Frankie called to say the same. Of course, me and my other PoC girls were like, "Please, we got to come." Cleo was like, "I can't. He'd be mobbed. He just wants some peace." And we understood. But lots of photos were to come.

Marvin was global but Frankie was like our secret. There was just no difference for me, because of Cleo, between the two. She was so proud that "My Marvin" helped Frankie along the way. That sense of community was one of my imprints.

Please enjoy my favorite, Happy Feelings, a mainstay in my life that when I remember in the pits of despondency Joy & Pain is a choice.

Thanks for posting, brush, I can't tell you how much joy I'm sending you right now for this opportunity to share. Gratitude to spread it all over the world from deep in my soul-.

Cleo, reminds me of the movie "Hidden Figures", and of course Marvin (miss him dearly) and Frankie. You nailed the gist of the OP with your line: "Marvin was global but Frankie was like our secret."

Could not have said it better myself and isn't it wonderful that we have and enjoy our secret cultural icons like Frankie Beverly and Maze and others that mainstream culture is missing out on—and it's their loss.

I feel you completely and thanks for the videos and again for sharing.

Love your screen name, btw.

She reminded me that Frankie met Marvin and then spent a whole lot of time in Gaye's D.C. house where he had a chance to just be and perfect his sound.

It is a blessing to enjoy our cultural icons and not give a fig about who else knows about them. We're always coming up culturally with something spanking brand-new and that makes them special. Black Girl Magic is a thing, musical innovation is a thing, the minds that the majority cultural tried to keep hidden but some how fight to express themselves are special, so I can't help but feel that they're precisely here to get us through this life. All of it is the language of a community under pressure.

Thanks, brush. A month does not go by without listening to Kind of Blue. It gets my mind just right!

Hopefully, one day we'll reach a critical mass to know right from the very start that's the way it is.