I have issues with this-who the hell did Klymaxx influence? They are in no way legendary nor do I think they were anything other than a regular pop act. Bootsy Collins reached his peak-he is a legend, as is Teena Marie. Neither of those are Unsung.

Those are strange selections.....Bootsy and Teena aren't "unsung". There are plenty of other artists who'd be better subjects, IMHO.

Like the Sylvers, Heatwave, Gil Scott Heron, Angela Bofill

Weird that they put Bootsy & Teena. I'm watching the Zapp and Klymaxx ones tho. Hell I just may watch Bootsy and Lady Tee for the hell of it!

Unsung has gone to hell since the first season

scriptgirl said:

Well I still like 'em tho. But I can understand why tho.
[Edited 6/28/09 18:11pm]

brooksie said:

WTF? No, they aren't that's just damn dumb.

Maybe they're trying to go more in the direction of people still living so they can be part of the show. They're only able to dig up so much material of the artists who've passed, & I bet they saved some $ just shooting Melba Moore walking down the street, etc. Could be a cost issue... in any event, I'll watch all them shits

TD3 said:

Huh? I'm just saying that neither of these artists are unknown, lost to time, or have some tragic story (which Unsung seems into). Bootsy is doing just fine....he lives in my area, is owner of a restuarant, and works when he chooses to while Teena Marie has a new album out.

If I were choosing someone living I'd got for Ritchie Havens or Sly Stone. Dead, my choice would be Arthur Lee.

Sly is not Unsung
Slyvester and the Marvlettes and Tammi Terrell should have Unsungs and Five Star.

brooksie said:

I'm in agreement: I just don't think either of those artist meet the criteria. On the other hand, Sly should be apart of 'Unsung' ..... though he reached super stardom and was or is a brilliant artist, he derailed his career derailed. What might have been is still apart of his story. (IMHO)

TD3 said:

we are >>>>>HERE<<<

scriptgirl said:

Five Star was never really big in the US. Back then, we got a small glimpse of them, but they never really came apart of the US rnb scene, sadly. This show seems focused on US stars, but both the Pearsons (ie Five Star) and Loose Ends would make an interesting story. Both had tons of success in the UK, but not here.

I'm just hoping they do a show about a Black artist who didn't do stereotypical "Black music" and were "unsung" because of it w/ Black audiences. Ritchie Hanvens or Arthur Lee would be perfect for this.
[Edited 6/28/09 19:05pm]

I think Millie Jackson and Syreeta Wright need Unsungs.

scriptgirl said:

Excellent choices. The mention of Ms. Jackson name makes me laugh.... She's such a riot!

But really, I am dying for a Tammi Unsung. I would also like one on Switch-they were kinda glossed over on the Debarge ep

brooksie said:

Or Betty Davis.

Terence Trent D'arby

I personally think that Zapp is quite aknowledged in the music scene, especially in the hiphop community which has used tons of samples from Roger Troutman & Co.
The tragic part is of course the early loss of Roger & Larry. A good example for why the Zapp company had a solid business is when father Troutman once bought instruments for Roger and his brothers,
and then told them something like : ..."Now you can go practice and later perform in venues. Once you've earned enough, you can pay me back for the stuff which i bought for you in advance..."
Roger told once during an interview that his father taught him a wise business-lesson with that, and eventually he started to do real-estate besides his musical activities and did it quite well.
[Edited 6/29/09 9:33am]

Yeah, but Zapp is not known in the wider musical world

For all you Betty Davis fans.

http://www.indyweek.com/g...d%3A209538

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...PS9F61.DTL

scriptgirl said:

I don't have an issue with these artists being featured. In the case of
Klymaxx although they've had a few pop hits they would never be featured
on biography or behind the music on VH1. I don't feel these artists have
to have any tragedy to be featured on Unsung. If that was the case Shalamar
would not have been featured. Instead of stating who should be and not be
on Unsung let's be thankful that we have a TV1 to showcase some of these
artists who have contributed to R&B music because you sure as hell wouldn't
have seen a feature of them on VH1 behind the music.

I disagree. There acts way more deserving of Unsungs than this current crop

scriptgirl said:

like Willie Hutch.


However, I will watch them all. This is the only decent show on TV One. I just wish it didn't take months for them to produce 4 episodes!

bellanoche said:

THANK YOU!

Who is Willie Hutch?

scriptgirl said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...llie_Hutch

scriptgirl said:

For once, I'm in agreeance with you

I'll probably watch the Bootsy Collins one, but I suspect they will leave out a lot of stuff with Teena Marie. The other's I really don't care that much about.
[Edited 6/30/09 10:26am]

scriptgirl said:

Willie Hutch is the soul singer who sung "Brother's gonna work it out" and "The Last Dragon (you possess the power of the glow)" from the movie "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon" starring Taimak and Vanity.

scriptgirl said:

You're deaf, and quite possibly blind. I say that while remembering any biography type show is always going to expand their initial idealism on the show's format and goals in production. They're all just Behind The Music or Rockumentaries. As far as Klymaxx, everyone influenced someone along the way. A multi-racial all girl funk group who self-produced and self-wrote? That was ground breaking, especially when they were still putting together girl groups in the 80's under the tutelage of some producer (ie: Mary Jane Girls, Vanity 6, etc). They obviously has Rick James and Prince influences, but Bernadette truly set that group out on their own. They fought w/ their record company over their very song titles. Men at Solar thought "The Men All Pause" would sound like "The Menopause", which is ridiculous, but it was just that sort of simple ignorance those girls fought against. Even The Time, which Klymaxx has similarities to, as awesome as they were as a great live band, they're still just singing Prince songs. Klymaxx will always be singing Klymaxx written and produced songs.
[Edited 6/30/09 10:34am]