My father never failed to show me the world as it truly was even though I was very young. I figured that he realized that I was smart enough to recognize whatever dangers became present and move when I needed to and he was correct. I was able to experience 80’s NYC in a way that was wholly appropriate for only adults yet I was immersed in it and I loved it even though it was only for the summer before I went back to NC.
My father and uncle were instrumentalists and sometime background singers who worked the “circuit” in 1980’s NYC. Working with West End Records, Prelude Records and other city based companies, they did studio recordings with a lot artists..my favorite being Phyllis Hyman who I got to meet at a studio in Manhattan in ‘86 when my pops couldn’t find anyone to watch me at the last minute. I can not overstate how incredibly beautiful that woman was in person and how powerful a singer she was..she rivals Whitney Houston imo.
I wanted to follow my father’s footsteps and get into the industry after high school with my encounter with Hyman as added inspiration. My father had been dead for years and my uncle had climbed the ladder working with dikk Griffey and Leon Sylvers at Solar to get an A/R job at Capitol. Yet, he insisted that I didn’t pursue getting into the music industry because “nothing good will come out of it for you in the end.” and would not help me. With no employment prospects, I returned to NC got into trouble with a couple of friends, got arrested and charged with first degree attempted murder, got acquitted with the help of a lawyer hired by my uncle and promptly moved to Atlanta with my cousin...where after a year, I joined the military.