Everybody Despises Doreen/My Life In Cabrini Green

(For Ben Wilson, Derrick Savage and Glenn Hairston)

Sometimes I watch the '70's movie 'Cooley High' in reverse

Because for me the ending is the worst.

I figure if I view it backwards, the main character Cochise can rise up and be with his

friends,

Preach and Pooter and the boys could all have fun cutting classes and joy riding and

throwing caution to the wind.

The guys could all go to quarter parties, prom and graduate,

They'd stand on the corner and sing and drink cheap wine and never

meet such a twisted fate.

Then Martha wouldn't have had to raise that hatchet,

The two women of the night that 'Chise and Preach duped wouldn't have a habit.

Their teacher, Mr. Mason wouldn't have wasted his breath or his time,

Preach's girlfriend, Brenda wouldn't have fallen for a line--

Of poetry and pure testosterone,

And the two villains Robert and Stone

Would slide back into their holes and no one would know where they are,

And the world wouldn't lose another ghetto super star.

Cochise could get his basketball scholarship to college and go on to make Chicago proud,

He'd be ranked up there with Michael Jordan somewhere in the clouds.

But I am dreamer...

Yep, sometimes, I watch the movie Cooley High in reverse,

Because I'd rather see Cochise having fun than lying in a hearse.

                                                    MOVING DAY

                                              (For Alicia Daniels)

 As next door neighbors we made a clubhouse by connecting screen doors

We played checkers, Old Maid and Uno and you always kept the score

Your mom was very strict and wouldn’t let you leave the ramp

We made the best of it until I went off to summer or winter camp

Often I accompanied you and your mom to church and bible study

We were inseparable we were like Laverne and Shirley busom buddies!

When we realized our initials DA and AD were transposed

We made a game of it and each morning when we saw each other

We’d yell them out... okay… at the time it seemed funny I suppose.

We lived in #409 and #410 near the elevator and stairwell

You loved to recite stories and goodness the jokes you’d tell!

On some weekends we’d listen to my mom playing Sam Cooke

We’d dress our dolls as we sat side by side in our little nook.

If I live to be a hundred and ten I will never forget the good ole days,

Just as I will never forget when you came and told me you were moving away.

####################################################################### 

Take my Ghetto Azz Test To See If  You Are Mo' Ghetto Than a Prepubescent Ten Year Old

If you get all of them correct take your broke azz on home and kiss yo' self!

1  Have you ever drank out of a mayonnaise jar?

2. Have you ever drank out of a syrup jar?

3.  Have you ever ate a syrup sandwich?

4.  Have you ever ate a mayonnaise sandwich....without cold cuts...just plain mayonnaise?

5.  Have you ever combed your hair with a fork?

6.  Have you ever dried your clothes on top of a fan the day you had to wear them?

7.  Have you ever froze batteres either  AA, AAA, C, or D or 9 volt battery in a freezer to recharge them?

8.  Have you ever went into a currency 'change (currency exchange) and saw someone eating at the window with a sign in front of them that said 'next window' and you realize they are the only person working and you curse them the hell out and tell them to give you a bus pass!

9.  You ever have the urge to ask for 'flunt flower' instead of sunflower seeds?

10.  You ever told someone 'they are a liar and the truth ain't in them? 

11.  You ever heard someone say you gone get your money took, your body shook and your name written in the undertakers book?

12.  You know someone name Poochie, Man Man, or Boogalou?

13.  You are considerably younger than your neices and nephews?

14.  The apartment gas and light account is in your name and your are 5 years old?

15.  The hand me downs that your were handed down are hand me downs?

16.  You thought 'Good TImes' was the first 'reality show' you ever saw?

17.  You send your light bill to the gas company and your gas bill to the light bill company in order to buy a little time?

18.  Every boyfriend your mother has ever had introduced himself to you as your uncle?

19.  Back in the day when you wore tube socks with the colorful rim around them on gym day and you didn't want anyone to think that you were wearing the same socks you folded the colored rims down so no one could see them.

20.  You eat 'scrimp' fried rice?

21.  Knew someone in the projects nicknamed 'RoachKiller' and it was a female?

22.  You recall the exact year that Bubblicious made it's entry into the world?

23.  Remember going shopping in the generic isle in Jewel's to buy merchandise witht he black and green stripe down it?

24.  Remember saving A&P stamps?

25.  Got a neighbor who use to always knock on the door every Saturday morning to borrow a cup of sugar, eggs, butter, salt, rice, macaroni, chips, icecream, pickles, underwear?

26.  Your mom still has the large wooden fork and spoon that use to hang in the kitchen stored away in the basement.

27.  Your couch has three legs and the fourth one is a phone book?

28.  When no one is looking you try to see if your double belt from the '70's will still rap around you twice?

30.  When you go to a fine dining establishment i.e. Red Lobster or the Great Grisby you relieve them of their fine dinerware i.e., there forks and spoons so you can have enough for your family when y'all get home.

31.  When your family  goes to the movies you buy the popcorn box and y'all pass it down the row, get refillls and then take it out of the theatre and bring it back the next week and start all over again.

32.  Take over people's belongings and when they come to claim them you say 'this ain't yours when God made this one he didn't stop making them'...until they show you their child's name clearly embedded in the toy.

33. Have had the urge to say 'I swear before God and four other white men' just for no reason.

34.   Your 45 year old brother lives across the hall from you in your mom's house.

35. The babies bed doubles as a hamper.

36. You know three usages for an elevator?

37.  You are 40 and you are still wondering what that red bag on the back of the door in the bathroom under your mother's housecoat with the tube hanging out of it is?

38.  You are wondering why Stoney Jackson didn't make the great comeback?

39.  When your child is playing outside and you see a kid messing with your child you have the urge to say', 'If am one of y'all touch my child' I'mma kick y'all's ass!

40.  Ever told somebody 'cobbs?"

41.  Ever replied 'no cobbs'!

42. Ever been told "I'll beat your ass like you stole something."

43.  Ever asked someone for a 'chance'?

44.  Ever gave someone a 'chance'?

45. Ever played Mr. Postman?

46. Ever played Red Light Green Light ...one two three?

47.  Ever played Chinese jumprope?

48.  Ever knew someone named Fagman?

49.. Ever played Red Rover?

50.  Ever played Dirty Face Devil?

61. Ever played jump rope without the rope?

 62. You live in an apartment with your three children and your mailbox looks like a law firm i.e., Jackson, Wilson, Williams & Rollins.

63. When your mother wasn't home and you had to sweep the floor and you couldn't find the dustpan you snuck and used the Sonny and Cher album that you won dancing to Disco Duck down in the  recreation room?

64.   You 'knew' someone who was a cousin of the Jacksons, Sylvers or DeBarges?

65.  When you wanted to fight someone outside after school you walked past them and gave them the complimentary fist ball to the eye, nose and mouth?

66. Your yearly family reunion was held on the first floor which is where the recreation room was because your entire family plus your extended relatives lived in your building?

67.  You ran to school for breakfast on 'doughnut day' because them doughnuts! were the bomb!

68.  Your grammar school gym teacher was 100 years old with gray hair and glasses?

69..  Your math teacher always said, 'you better get your game together!'

70..  Back in the day in the winter when leg warmers came out you wore them to hide the fact that you were wearing floods?

71. Went out and found you a stray cat  and brought it home and named it 'boo boo kitty' because you were a big fan of "Laverne & Shirley'?

72..  Used your older sisters maxi pad box to be Barbie's first pad/dollhouse/condo. Don't go ugh that's nasty.  I am talking about the box not a used pad...ok!

73. When Spectrum and On TV were the cable companies in the projects and your parents went out and left you at home but they 'tried' to block the Xrated films you invited your friends over and y'all watched them the best you could..

74.. Fell in love with "Too Sweet" aka Leon Isaac Kennedy from Penetentiary not because he was a great actor or anything along those lines but because Penetentiary was one of the movies On TV and Spectrum played over and over again.

75.  Remember when Leon Isaac Kennedy and Jayne Kennedy were a power couple, these days the kids got Beyonce and Jay Z and WIll and Jada but naw back in the day we had Leon and Jayne and Sonny and Cher up out this mug.

76. Your allowance was the equivalent of  pocket change found in your mom's old raggedy living room sofa.

77  Have the sudden urge to say 'I'mma tell you what God loves."'

78. You and your 8th grade classmates marched into your graduation to WeeGee's 'Children Hold On To Your Dreams."

79. You believe 'BC' headache powder can cure everything.

80..  Searched for coke bottles in the trash so you could wash them out and turn them in for the dime deposit.

81.  Had a grandmother whose remedy for fixing any ailment was putting some rubbing alcohol on it...ouch!

82.  Ever been 'vamped on'?

83. Ever heard someone say 'acka back soda cracker'?

84. Thought Betty Wright had made Tonight Is The Night about you.

85. Know someone who has good hair and has Indian in there family.

86. Everytime someone asks you something you tell them I'm finna.

#######################################################################

If you scored less than 50 points I suggest you go put on some Al Green and go put you on a pot of greens and neckbones and get back in touch with yo' ghetto self before you get your money took, your pockets shook and your name written in the undertaker's books...You better work!

****************************************************************************************************

                                   BACK DOWN CABRINI GREEN LANE

As I drove past my childhood dwelling all I could see was scaffolding and crushed bricks,

When I turned on the tv I saw reporters interviewing the last hold out tenant Annie Ricks!

But I recall when residents weren't forced to pack their bags!

Times when as a unit our building went on trips to Six Flags!

I remember when the women of the building committee prepared dinners,

I recall attending Christmas and Halloween dances and being the winner!

I remember going to White Sox games and Ringling Brothers circus

with Lower North Center,

I remember going to Seward Park and watching the Jesse White Tumbling

Team enter.

Times  we  played outside and couldn't go any further than the ramp,

In the summer and winter our parents signed us up for camp.

At night kids would get together in singing groups and improvise

They'd pretend to be the Supremes, Temptations, or the Jackson Five!

I remember once when the Globetrotters visited Cabrini and my sister got

a photo op,

I remember when teachers told us we could be anything we wanted  because we were the cream of the crop!

Times when our graduation promenade were to songs like "Children Hold On To Your Dreams" and "Ain't No Stopping Us Now,"

Songs that told us that actions speak louder than words and that good always triumphs over evil somehow.

So with those words in mind I will end this edition of my journey down memory lane on a positive point,

Because Cabrini Green wasn't just an eyesore in the middle of a metropolis it was a vibrant joint.

                                            AN INNER CITY TALE

                                         (Ode To Cabrini-Green)

Born into a tenement in the heart of the windy city in the summer of sixty-nine,

Fourth small mouth to be fed and second girl in line.

A time just after the assassinations of Malcolm, Medgar, JFK, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther

King,

A time when proclamations like “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” were the in thing!

When Bell-bottomed jeans and afros swayed effortlessly against the wind,

An era when Motown was king and Stax was In!

Our guardians were diligent and always instilled in us the need to get ahead,

Stressing that there is strength in numbers and to stick together no matter what was said.

70’, school bells, limited teaching apparatuses and burned out teachers and no recess,

Escaping boredom, through reading autobiographies always held my interest.

Benefiting from RIF (Reading is Fundamental) reading Angelou, Hansberry, Morrison,

Moody, X and Cruz.

Discovering and rediscovering, Richard Wright, Dudley Randall and Langston Hughes.

Brown scarred knees from repeatedly falling upon thick blacktop.

Corner stores, liquors stores, ice cream, pickles, Now-n-laters, barber and beauty shops.

Loud sounds blaring to break through red glistening project walls,

Aretha, Chaka, Diana, O’Jays, Jacksons, Curtis Mayfield and Lou Rawls.

Broken elevators, and broken dreams, straightening combs and fade creams.

Mayoral candidates making mockeries out of project residents by handing out V-necks, turkeys, and miniature Christmas trees in exchange for votes,

Some project residents coming undone and always at each others throats.

Skateboards, hopscotch, jump rope, Red Light Green Light and Mother May I?

Young men masquerading as gangsters on street corners, over already-conquered city turf, why?

Soon childhood laughter is silenced by gunshots and young bodies dropping.

Caskets, tears, sensing my own mortality at 13, anticipating my own heart stopping.

Guardians’ tenacity paid off in the spring of ‘83 they rescued me,

Before our transition out of the ghetto, I noticed young women making spaces in their

bellies for little ones, completely throwing caution to the wind,

Yeah, babies having babies starting the cycle all over again...

Girl X....(Shatoya Currie)

Didn't get a chance to build her castle in the sand

When she was 9 her innocence was taken by a sick man

Who preyed upon her as she ascended a stairway

Her life hasn't been anywhere near the same since that day

He lured her into his apartment and violated her to no end and then

He carried her back into the stairwell and he went back into that torturous den

of an apartment with his girlfriend and played pretend

While this child lie in a hallway covered in grafitti and roach spray

Unconscious and unable to say --- what happened to her.

This happened in January of '97' in a place soon to be defunct called Cabrini Green

Where residents are mostly heard about and seen

In a negative light on the evening news

When truth be told it is only a handful that abuse

I say that because I was once on the other side

And I know that many residents have morals and pride

But the ones that get the attention are the ones that are violent

Not the law abiding, hardworking, ambitious silent.

But back to the subject at hand

Which is Girl X, who is now a grown woman

Whose life was torn apart one winter day when she

Was on the way home from her grannie's house

By an ex offender who sexually assaulted and doused

Insecticide into vital organs leaving

her disabled

For this heinous act her assailant got 'life'

Thrown across the table.

Life on the table

Life on the table

Life on the table

Which means he is still able to breathe,

 eat, sleep, watch tv and exercise,

While she sits in a wheel chair unable to perform basic functions

 like opening her eyes.

Needless to say, in this instance and many like it,

I don't believe the punishment fits the crime,

And it is too much to try to convey in a rhyme

But when they are sentenced 'life' shouldn't be an

option they should be all out of time.

Back in the day mothers of Cabrini wouldn't allow you to leave the porch until you came of

age,

You made fast friends with your neighbors and the slender catwalk became your stage,

Periodically she''d poke her head out of the screen to see if you were still there,

Then she'd go back to cooking, cleaning, chatting or relaxing in her easy chair.

You rode your big wheel, tricycle, skates,  skateboards, or jumped rope for fun,

Your laughter was extra insurance that let her know you were safe underneath the sun...

When you fell off a ten speed bike for the first time your mother was right there

to dust you off and tell you to get back on...

Pretty soon you were turning corners and popping wheelies boy were you gone!

Mothers of Cabrini would walk you to school or would entrust you to an older sibling,

They'd  reward good behavior or chastise you about your handwiting if it resembled

scribbling.

They were your first teacher and taught you how to tie your shoe and say thank you.

They taught you to respect your elders, be kind to others and to stand up for yourself,

They wanted you to have more than they did and not have to put your dreams on a shelf.

On Sundays Mothers of Cabrini got you ready for Sunday School and church,

On weekends they allowed you to have company so for you they didn't have to search.

Mothers of Cabrini would slave over a hot stove pressing your hair for you to take pictures

the next day in school.

They'd take their sons to the barbershop and pay for them to be next up on the barbers

stool.

In some neighborhoods children had to be in before the street lights went out,

So did the children of Cabrini they'd call you in before the sun went down without a doubt.

Kids laughed when they heard a mother doing a roll call of her children before dusk,

They'd mock the names, Mark, Steve, Vickie, Jackie, or Doreen, Marsay, Karen, Butch...

If someone yelled out 'Yo Mama'....

It would certainly cause all types of drama,

You'd run home and tell her what the other kid said

 and tell her you were defending her honor but she'd say

Tell  the other kid to finish the sentence,

You'd stop for a moment and think 'man what was I so mad for'

and wouldn't seek further repentance...

  cooleyhighinreverse@gmail.com

You left an indelible mark upon

my young life,

I have been so many places

And I can never forget your

Teachings and your passion,

Sometimes it seems like yesterday

When I think about sitting at a desk

And hearing a rhythm stick crashing

Against it,

You didn't mean any harm,

And none was taken,

I remember you raising

Your voice to quiet us down,

I remember the smell

Of your fragrance

And the clank of your

Bracelets and your

Chalky fingers as

you snapped them

To the rhythm of a

Black History poem

For an assembly

And the black national anthem...

I remember your stern voice

When you read Brer Rabbit stories

And gave us an exercise which showed

us how to place items in sequential order...

I remember you being so intense and teaching us

how to 'think' and

Thinking that you

Misplaced your glasses and looking

All over the place for them...

And all of us frantically trying to help you

Find them and all the while they were on top of

your head... Another teacher came

In laughing and pointed that out...

I remember you pushing us

To be the best that we could be,

I remember you embedding a poem in

My heart when you gave me a text

Book which contained a poem about

The four little girls who were bombed

In their church while attending Sunday

School in Birmingham, Alabama,

I remember you pulling me to the side

And asking me what was wrong.

I remember you telling me to

Meet you after school so you

Could give me your slightly

Worn clothes,

I remember you telling me

To stand up straight and enunciate.

I remember you recommending me for

An extemporaneous speech contest.

I remember you telling me to let a 'smile

be my umbrella.'

I remember you having us sing "Lean On Me"

for an assembly,

I remember you having us sing Stevie Wonder's

'Happy Birthday' for a Black History Ceremony,

I remember you having us acknowledge St. Patrick's Day.

I remember you taking us to Wild Wood Elementary

School in the fourth grade for several weeks in order

for us to learn more

and meet other students from

different backgrounds.

I remember you teaching us the parts and personnel

of a plane and

and taking us to O'Hare Airport to board a

plane and meet the crew.

I remember getting in the

breakfast line sometimes twice on'doughnut day'

and you'd smile at me and give me another doughnut and milk.

I remember you holding a contest for a few weeks

and whoever finished all of their assignments and

received a 'gold star' behind their

name was able to enter a contest to see the stage play 'The Wiz.'

I remember you teaching us 'Hava Naugila' and the dance to go along

with it and we performed it at an assembly and everyone loved it.

I remember you saying "Come on Franklin, Schiller, Jenner,

Manniere and Byrd let us know the news so we can

spread the word...Here comes the news...here comes the news...".

I remember when one of our classmates who was an honor roll student

was killed the next day you played still footage of him and his

graduating class on their 8th grade trip to the capital

Springfield, Illinois.

I remember you requesting my name from

A list to work with you when you saw it on the

Mayor's Summer Youth Program Schedule,

I remember working alongside you and seeing

You teaching the kids and just loving it...

I remember you...

We lived in 365 W. Oak St.on the 4th floor in apt 410. Which had three bedrooms. Before I

invite you into our apartment I would like to introduce you to my neighbors. Let's go down

stairs first.

On the first floor there were the Washington's and the Mitchell's.

The Washington's were about 15 children strong. There was Mrs. Washington and Mr.

Washington. They were an older couple. They were a very nice family and a very nice looking

family. I was young but I remember when Mr. Washington died. To be a

large family they were clean and respectable from the oldest to the youngest. A large family

these days living in a housing project would be a catastrophe and people would not want to

be anywhere near them because nine times out of ten it would be a single parent and no

order whatsoever. Anyway, I remember going into their apartment around dinner time and

the place was immaculate and the table was set and as many could sit at the long kitchen

table would sit and the atmosphere was always homie.. Mrs. Washington babysat for

my baby sister sometimes. There were always neices and nephews around whom I played

with. I remember one of the eldest brothers Melvin would greet me at the door and say

something to make me laugh.

The Mitchell's were a rather large family too. I remember the mother and father. Their

mother Pearl had a sewing machine and I remember coming in and seeing her sitting at the

machine sewing. I played with the youngest daughter Jackie sometimes. They were

mannerable and clean also. I remember people would sit out on their porch at night and talk

in the summer. Sometimes we'd play kickball, volleyball and dodgeball, and baseball on the

first floor. Also, on the first floor was 103 the Rec. Center where the free lunch program and

after school pragrams, Christmas parties, etc...were held...

Let's take the elevator to the second floor...

cooleyhighinreverse@gmail.com

As a child I was told to choose my words wisely and to bridal my tongue

As a parent I lead by example I truly believe it pertains to the old and young

Over the years, I’ve heard people say they are just words and they don’t matter

I beg to differ and that is why we should be mindful of all the idle chit chatter

Because if they are just words I think they should uplift

If they are just words they should not create a rift

If they are just words I think that they should expose your gift

If they are just words they should speak to all humanity

If they are just words they shouldn’t contain hate or profanity

If they are just words they should not lead to chaos and insanity

If they are just words why not make them meaningful from the start

If they are just words let them be words that come from the heart

If they are just words let them speak positively through your Art.

In the 80's pop singer Prince composed a song called Pop LIfe:

What's the matter with your life

Is poverty bringing you down

Is the mailman running you around

Did he put your million dollar check in someone

else's box?

In 2012, I wholeheatredly concur with those lyrics and wish some

people would break the chains and unfasten the locks!

I am so tired of people standing on the corner hanging loose

Selling loose cigarettes

Begging for loose change

With loose morals

Using loose language

Wanting everything to be free and easy but most of all LOOSE.

Not having a job

Not attending a training program

But always possessing an EXCUSE.

Constantly complaining about trivial matters in our society

But always taking advantage of government subsidized programs

And selling illegal contraband and participating in other improprieties.

Wanting something for nothing:

FREE FOOD

FREE CELLPHONES

FREE MEDICAL CARE

That kind of mentality makes everyday working people

Lose their minds because it is simply unfair.

Because they are the ones that are paying for all of us

this EXCLUSIVITY OR EXCUSE ME EXC-LOOSE-VITY!

In Sanford, Florida a young life was snuffed out by the captain of a neighborhood watch,

Local authorities wouldn't make an arrest so the investigation had to be taken up a notch--

To the Fed's and now the world has been made aware of a child's last words and screams,

As he walked down the street clad in a hoodie with a bag of skittles, cell phone and tea,

The overwhelming sentiment is that he was killed simply because of the color of his skin

His assailant called the police and said his kind always gets away time and time again

The chief of police resigned and step down,

He definitely did not want to stand his ground!

On Zimmerman's 45th day of freedom the 44th President of the United States Obama took

a moment and reflected on the situation and said if he had a son he'd look like Trayvon,

Television Personality Geraldo Rivera urged black and hispanic teens not to go outside

with their hoodies on.

Illinois State Representative Bobby Rush got thrown off the house floor for concealing a

hoodie under his suit in protest of the teens murder and he said 'just because you wear a

hoodie it doesn't make you a hoodlum!'

Day after day, we are hearing that sentiment across the United States and it started from:

Hearing the FBI play the 911 calls from the assailant as it was amped up a

Thousand watts,

Thousands upon thousands have marched across the country and await

the grand jury investigation on April 11th a day that won’t soon be forgot---ten.

George Zimmerman the killer called and left an apology on an answering machine,

The bland message sounded as if he was apologizing for not keeping his walkway clean.

In the interim Trayvon’s parents have to cope with living without their child,

Friends and supporters search to find ways to honor him but things got wild.

After the grand jury convenes in April the world may begin to heal Zimmerman might be

brought to justice and learn that a(ny) life he has no right to steal.

Then perhaps the 'stand your ground' law will be repealed.

But in late April Zimmerman's bond was set at $100,000 and he posted bail and walked

from out of police custody and he apologized once again,

Trayvon Martin's parents said they felt Zimmerman's apology was disingenious and said

he needs to pay for his sin.

Published in the Austin Voice April 2012

cooleyhighinreverse@gmail.com

For Heavy D (Dwight Arrington Myers) May 24, 1967 --- Nov. 8, 2011

Today I shed tears

For the man who was

Light on his feet and

Easy on the ears

The party rapper

Who gave us hits like

Money Earnin' Mt. Vernon,

Mr. Big Stuff and Now That

We Found Love,

Who exited our earthly stage

on Nov. 8 and is now rapping

with the angels above.

I remember when I use to blast

his albums in my bedroom in

the late 80's and early nineties,

My mother would yell up the stairs,

'turn that down!!'

I did for a few minutes

then I'd turn it back up and she'd

come upstairs and find me-

Then she picked up the album and looked at the cover

and asked me 'who is that rapping?'

My reply was it's 'the OverWeight Lover!'

Then she said 'he sampled James Brown,

I like that... it's okay, Doreen, you don't have

to turn it down.'

Then she started tapping her foot and bobbing her head

Then she asked me 'is there a video for this record'

and with a smile 'yes' is what I said.

On that day, I was so happy my mother took interest in

one of my favorite MC's,

So from the bottom of my heart ,

I want to say I love you Hev, thanks

 for the memories..

I won't even go there...:o Hell Jane Byrne's  visit to Cabrini Green had the absolute same effect that Barbara Bush's visit had on New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina...NONE!

60,'s, 70's and 80's Soundtrack

Sam Cooke (Another Saturday Night, Chain Gang, Frankie and Johnny)

Nat King Cole (Mona Lisa)

Billie Holiday (God Bless The Child)

Roberta Flack (The FIrst TIme Ever I Saw Your Face)

Helen Reddy (Big Ole Ruby Red Dress, Leave Me Alone, Delta Dawn)

Four Tops (Ain't No Woman Like The One I've Got)

Rufus (Sweet Thing, Stop On By)

Jackson Five, Jacksons (DESTINY ALBUM)

O'Jay's (Backstabbers, Loving You, For The Love Of Money)

Gladys Knight and The Pips (Claudine Soundtrack) (Landlord)

Barkays (Holy Ghost, Anticipation)

Intruders ( I Will Always Love My Mama)

The Spinners (Sadie, Mighty Love, Games People Play)

Stevie Wonder (Isn't She Lovely) (Happy Birthday)  (As)

Smokey Robinson (I'll Try Something New, Being With You, Old Fashioned Love)

Isley Brothers (For The Love Of You, Belly Dancer, Harvest For The World)

Rick James and Teena Marie (Fire and Desire)

Chic (Good Times)

Parliament Funkadelic (Knee Deep) One Nation Under A Groove

Frankie Beverly &  Maze (Happy Feelings, Look At California)

Gloria Gaynor,  I Will Survive

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (The Love I Lost, Wake Up Everybody)

McFadden & Whitehead (Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now)

Donna Summers (Bad Girls)

Natalie Cole (Annie Mae, This Will Be,  Our Love)

Evelyn Champagne King (Shame)  (I  Don't Know If It's Right)

David Oliver (Miss)

Shalamar (The Second Time Around)

Whispers (The Beat Goes On, Olivia)

Kurtis Blow (The Breaks, Christmas Rap)

Sugar Hill Gang (Rappers Delight)

Sequence

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (Apache)