New topic
Printable
Tune in Mondays at 9PM ET starting June 25 for all
new episodes.
TV One's Unsung is back and bigger than
ever! From Sly & the Family Stone to Lou Rawls, Season 6 will not
disappoint and promises to explore some of the biggest names in the music
business while uncovering their rise to fame.
Find out first hand the
personal triumphs and struggles of today's legends. Catch all new
episodes, starting June 25 at 9PM ET.
This
season's star-studded line up includes;
Sly & the Family
Stone
Among the most influential groups in the history of popular
music, Sly & The Family Stone fused funk, soul, rock, and r&b to create
a sound that resonated well beyond the charts. Led by the brilliant and
charismatic Sly Stone, it was a sound that by turns reflected the idealism of
the sixties, and the fracturing of those ideals in the decade that followed. The
band’s performance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 showed a group at the
height of their powers, while suggesting a future of unlimited musical
possibilities. But even while crafting great music, the group gradually
disintegrated, torn apart by drugs, personality clashes, and the glare of the
public spotlight. Sly Stone himself became deeply reclusive, his recordings
increasingly sporadic, while refusing to grant interviews for decades. On this
ground-breaking episode of ‘Unsung’, Sly Stone emerges to tell that tale, with
the help of bandmates and family members – a unique and remarkable musical
journey that, after four decades, is still unfolding.
Con Funk
Shun
With five gold albums and sixteen top forty singles, Con
Funk Shun strode across the funk and R&B scene like a colossus for more than
a decade. From their roots as high-school friends in Vallejo, California, they
honed their chops at Stax records in Memphis, while developing an irrepressibly
danceable sound. With hits like “Ffun,” “Shake & Dance With Me,” “Chase Me,”
and “Love’s Train,” the group performed in sold-out arenas around the country,
while showing off lavish outfits and tightly choreographed moves. But after 17
years together, a succession of personal conflicts caused the band to fall
apart. And a decade later, one their founding members was killed in
circumstances at once mysterious and chilling. For this episode, the remaining
original members, along with family and friends, gather for the first time to
tell the story of a truly ‘Unsung’ band. Just when you thought your favorite
artist was long forgotten, think again!
The
Marvelettes
In 1961, five teen-age girls from the sleepy Detroit
suburb of Inkster, Michigan, took a meteoric rise to fame that would
revolutionize Motown, while creating a catalog of popular songs that endure to
this day. Plucked from the obscurity of a high school talent show, they were
signed on the strength of an original song titled “Please Mr. Postman.” Within
months, the song became Motown’s first number one pop single. But despite an
impressive array of follow-up hits like “Beechwood 4-5789,” “Too Many Fish in
the Sea,” and the Smokey Robinson-penned classics “Don’t Mess with Bill,” and
“The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” The Marvelettes remained strangely
anonymous, never achieving the stature of rival acts like Martha and the
Vandellas, or the Supremes. And in the space of a few short years, a stunning
series of misfortunes and personal tragedies put an end to the group for good.
Now, ‘Unsung’ brings their full story to life, thanks to testimony from all of
the surviving members, while shining a light on the music and legacy of one of
the great singing groups of all time.
Angela
Bofill
With a gorgeous voice and five octave range, exotic beauty
and an intoxicating stage presence, Angela Bofill took the music world by storm.
A native New Yorker who grew up in Harlem and the Bronx, she was a trained
musician and sophisticated singer who invested ballads like ‘This Time I’ll be
Sweeter,’ and her ode to heartbreak, “I Try” with palpable emotion. She could
belt out hot dance numbers like ‘Too Tough’, and gospel-inflected inspirational
hymns like “I’m on your Side’ with equal aplomb. But after a run of hits in the
1980s, she faded rapidly from view, as record labels trained their sights on a
younger generation of video vixens. Bofill soldiered on for two decades, only to
be literally silenced by two devastating strokes. Yet she refused to give up her
dream, and is gradually returning to the stage, while sharing her inspirational
life’s story with hard earned wit and wisdom, on this episode of ‘Unsung.”
Kool Moe Dee
Kool Moe Dee is best remembered for his
ever-present hats and shades, but it's his resistance to hip-hop cliches which
fortify his legacy. Anti-drugs and alcohol and pro-education, Moe was always
willing to represent bold views in his music and in interviews. He demonstrated
his lyrical complexity as a teen, when as a member of the groundbreaking
Treacherous Three he created a new, fast-paced style of rhyming that was
ultimately emulated by rap superstars like Twista and Busta Rhymes. As a solo
artist, he ruled the charts and the clubs with hits like 'Wild, Wild West' and
'I Go to Work' –while taking on longtime rival LL Cool J with 'How Ya Like Me
Now.' On this remarkably revealing episode of “Unsung”, and with help from
friends and admirers including Doug E. Fresh, Melle Mel, and Teddy Riley, Kool
Moe Dee tells his story, as only he can.
Gerald
Levert
Crowned by fans as ‘the last soul singer,’ Gerald Levert was
one of the preeminent forces of ‘80’s and 90’s r&b. He took his pedigree
from his father, Eddie Levert, of the mighty O’Jays, and while still a
teenager, formed his own singing group, LeVert , with Marc Gordon and
his younger brother Sean, that dominated the charts. Thanks to infectious hits
like “Casanova” and “(Pop Pop Pop Pop ) Goes My Mind,” LeVert scored four
straight gold records and five chart-topping singles; from there Gerald launched
a formidable solo career, including a duet with his father, “Baby Hold on to
Me,” which also hit number one. But Gerald could never find contentment in his
many achievements, and remained driven to top himself throughout his career - a
journey which ended tragically with his untimely death at the age of forty. Now,
family, friends and musical admirers come together for this special portrait of
a modern ‘Unsung’ legend.
Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls was a
singer’s singer, with a vocal style Frank Sinatra called ‘the silkiest chops in
the singing game.’ He commanded the stage, and scored hits with songs that
ranged from blues to jazz to uptown R&b, in the course of a
magisterial ecording career that spanned five decades. A definitive ‘crossover’
artist long before the term was coined, he was at home before crowds in Las
Vegas and on the couches of network tv talk shows, while his pioneering work for
the United Negro College Fund created a legacy far beyond music. But the man
behind that smooth-singing persona was a more complicated figure – an abandoned
child whose scars never healed, and whose unpredictable explosions of anger and
violence were often directed toward those he loved best. In this ground-breaking
episode of ‘Unsung’, friends, family, and musical collaborators – including
fellow legends Della Reese, and Gamble & Huff - come together to craft a
portrait of a singer whose music transcended category, and a man whose true
personality was wrapped in layers of mystery.
Arrested
Development
Rarely has a group risen so high and fallen so fast as
Arrested Development. This captivating musical collective stormed to the top of
the charts with an exhilarating brand of countrified rap that mixed the spirit
of Sly and the Family Stone with the political charge of Public Enemy, providing
a positive alternative to more confrontational gangsta stylings. Their debut
album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of, which chronicled the time it
took the group to get a record deal, sold four million copies and sparked three
top ten hits-- “Tennessee,” ‘Mr. Wendal” and “People Everyday”. It also won two
Grammys, including the coveted Best New Artist award in 1993, the first time
hip-hop had ever taken that prize. And then it all abruptly fell apart, as
internal feuding over control, direction and money belied the group’s idealistic
vibe. By the time Arrested Development began work on their second album, they
had split into two camps and were communicating with each other through agents
and managers. After just 2 albums of original material, Arrested Development
called it quits. Now mostly reunited, the members of this pioneering band reveal
the full story of a group who flew high, fell far, and survived to tell the
tale.
Report post to moderator
But wait wasn't he on George Clinton's Unsung? 
But yeah he ain't gonna reveal a lot. But it'll be fun to see him talking about his upbringing. 
