It broke my heart when Bunny says the kids realized they could not trust their mother cause she was scared of their dad too. Interesting that none of the kids look like their parents.

But it took a uncle to kick the dad's butt

But the damage was done already

It took two uncles and my question is, why didn't they step in sooner?

Watched it with my mom, who was shocked at how Bunny looked. I thought Randy looked bad as well. Just shows drugs can take such a toll. The special was excellent. Too bad they never got a Behind the Music. I do worry that Debarge will be known more for their personal issues than their tunes.

I wanted to see more Chico on the special.

Yes, some Chico I enjoy his music too,
the interview that I stated above was not from Chico
but was their mother that stated about El dealing
with his brother's death. She also mentioned that
something happened with Bobby and Bunny when she
was pregnant with the twins and that is when she left
their father. I missed exactly what happened because
I was listening to the interview while driving and on the phone.
I do see a movie coming.....

~~~We all have a interesting story to tell....

See the whole leaving the dad story changes ever time I hear it, cause one of the kids and it may have been Chico, said the dad left the mom. I want to know how she made it work with all those kids when she said when she had left the dad earlier no one would take them in. Also, wondering if she didn't believe in birth control, cause 10 kids is a lot. Anyway, stuff had been happening with Bobby and Bunny for years re him abusing them, so I wonder what the last straw could have been.

scriptgirl said:

We all can tell they are holding a lot in but it's good that
they are at a point in their lives that they can talk about some of
their pain, especially to the public that says a whole lot, maybe
they will help those in the same situation seek help before it is
to late.


http://www.youtube.com/wa...36yqWDmXmI

http://www.youtube.com/wa...85CSi8X9VQ

I think they all need intensive therapy. Ironically, their mother seems just fine and dandy

scriptgirl said:

i don't know..


she seems to be in denial to me as if nothing happen


i could be wrong...

Not to go off-topic,,,

But that Regina Belle story from the Phyllis Hyman's Unsung special is HIL-AAAAAR-IOUS

OMG did anybody see that? Its in the link in shellshock's reply.

Their mother seems like one of those women who relies on God a bit too much instead of doing for herself. Prayer doesn't solve everything. I can't imagine subjecting my kids to abuse the way she did and then be dumb enough to keep having kids which would make it harder to leave.
[Edited 11/29/08 16:22pm]

You took the words right out of my mouth.Everyone knows a true mom would kill to save her babies.I thought they said he the day left when her brothers gave him a beat down and he was crying on the floor.

destinyc1 said:

yup

At the same time, Randy said the mom did try to intervene and would tell the dad to hit her instead of the kids. At the same time, I feel like there is something that everyone is dancing around. If you add up all the stories the family has told, there seems to be a missing factor somewhere.

I wonder why he singled out Bobby for abuse.

deep stuff..isn't it??

It is and with so many people involved, you are never really going to come to a consensus. All I know is that I am shocked and saddened the family has had this fate. There will never be another Debarge-the factors that formed them and the record industry that molded them have fallen by the wayside. This family has talent, the kind of which you don't see so much anymore. I think it is kind of an anomaly that every member of that family can sing so well, play instruments and even the younger generation has that music gene.

If Debarge had come along now, I have a feeling Mama would be pimping them like Dina Lohan pimps her kids and they would have a reality series and the whole nine.

I missed the first 30 minutes but saw the last 30 minutes.

I don't know if any of you have read Mama DeBarge's book, The Other Side of Pain. She told everything that I saw in the last 30 minutes but it seems that a few of you knew the story. I only knew about the drug abuse by Chico and Bobby and then of course, El.

Vibe Magazine did an article about the book which gives you I guess all the details of the situation. I really was unaware of so much and it is so sad to see the family like this. I pray they can get it together but it seems as though they all have an addictive personality to drugs : (

Here is the link to the Vibe Magazine Article:

http://www.vibe.com/news/...arge_ep_1/
http://www.vibe.com/news/...rge_epi_2/
http://www.vibe.com/news/...rge_epi_3/

Substance abuse is normally inherited and I wonder where the kids got the gene from. Doesn't seem like it came from the mom.
What was the mother's book like? WAs it self serving and self pitying? What did she say about her kids?
[Edited 11/29/08 19:49pm]

scriptgirl said:

Why ask when you sound as if you've already made up your mind?

Who here was stuck on stupid when they said motown thought the debarge group would be bigger then the jacksons because they were light skinned?'SAY WHAT'Also james using all his moms aquanet to make his silky hair into an afro.

destinyc1 said:

I was only able to watch clips of this from youtube, but I almost fell out my chair when he talked about using up all of his momma's aquanet to get his afro as cool looking as the other kids. Whoo lawd, peer pressure is a motha.

[Edited 11/30/08 8:36am]

was it on vh1?

damn i missed it.

It was on Tv One. It repeats tonight.
Re the light skinned thing, I am not suprised Motown thought that and I have to say they did have a point. I remember that every girl seemed to have a crush on EL and all they could talk about was his "good hair".

purplewisdom said:

Nope. "TV One". they have a hefty 10 minute chunk of it posted on youtube, though. You won't even remotely be able to reconcile those smiling faces from the 80's with what their lives were like behind the scenes. They had it ROUGH.

I can't say I heard anything really new or shocking. Most things I had already new about.looks wise the drugs have truly done them in. randy really looks pretty bad

Randy and Bunny both look pretty bad, but at least they are still alive. Tommy looks bad too. James and Chico still look good.

I remember as a kid having this huge crush on Bunny...Now I looking at her I'm thinking "what was I think"? But she was a cute girl back in the day.

daingermouz2020 said:

But keepin mind she's about 50 now, and I think a grandmother. She has granny weight now...30lbs thinner she'd probably resemble her younger self more. Back in the day she was really petite.

Bunny gained alot of weight and her freckles and her brothers freckles covered her face.What did everyone think of bobbys picture that they showed?btw my sister said it looked like bunny had on a wig.I couldn't tell.