#L.A. reid & babyface

[tha-wrecka-stow]

[chroniclesofnadia111]

🌹🌹🌹🌹

[august-sysex]

bobby brown - don’t be cruel (instrumental by L.A. reid & babyface) (1988)

[kickmag]

Throwback: Toni Braxton: Seven Whole Days

Toni Braxton's "Seven Whole Days" is the third single from her 1993 eponymous debut album. L.A. Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons understood how to write for Braxton's wanton contralto that conveyed sensuousness and heartbreak at the same time. "Seven Whole Days" was about the end of a romantic relationship and Braxton's album was getting more popular with each single. Critics and fans immediately praised "Seven Whole Days" but the irony is that Braxton didn't like the song or want to record it. The video featured Braxton singing on a stage with her sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar singing backup for her. The success of Braxton's album garnered three Grammys, two American Music Awards, multiplatinum sales, and top ten status in five countries. Thirty-one years later, Braxton's album still holds its weight as a classic and the Braxton family are pop culture stars. Braxton released her ninth studio album, Spell My Name, in 2020. 

[mymelodic-chapel]

TLC- Ooooooohhh…On the TLC Tip (New Jack Swing, Pop Rap, Contemporary R&B) Released: February 25, 1992 [LaFace Records] Producer(s): Dallas Austin, Babyface, Jermaine Dupri, Da Funky Bunch, Kayo, Marley Marl, L.A. Reid, Daryl Simmons

[ausetkmt]

Image: courtesy of Ricky Codio/Ricky Codio Photography

“The creation of Black Music Month was the brainchild of Grammy Award winning songwriter/producer and one of the architects of The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) Kenny Gamble,” schools Dyana Williams, the music industry veteran and celebrity strategist. The songwriter/producer—along with his partner Leon Huff—has created countless classics, including “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” originally recorded by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; “For the Love of Money” by The O’Jays; and Teddy Pendergrass’ “Turn Off the Lights.”

“When he established the Black Music Association in the late 1970s, we were a couple at that point; we had two children,” continues Williams, whose illustrious road to premier Black music advocate and tag as “the Mother of Black Music Month” began as a radio pioneer, holding her own on the airwaves during a time when women were woefully underrepresented.

It was a collective effort to that day on June 7, 1979 when President Jimmy Carter hosted the reception at the White House that made Black Music Month official. Williams, who played a critical role, describes it as “a coming together of various aspects of the music industry to celebrate and recognize this multibillion-dollar industry, not just the songwriters and the singers, people behind the scenes as well.” 

Williams' love of Black music, she shares, was sparked in her native New York City at a very early age. As a child, Williams learned how to dissect music. She grew up knowing where songs were recorded, who wrote them, who sang them, who played on them, who engineered them, who produced them and more. Later the daughter of Puerto Rican parents would mix and mingle with those same folks, even dating musicians as well as forming meaningful relationships with many other titans. City College of New York’s radio station WCCR gave her the first taste of what being a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker could be. 

“I was the music director. I had a jazz show, but I also availed myself of student funds to produce concerts to bring artists to the school,” she says. At a time when very few women were on the air, she took her cues from one legendary figure who is today best known for Mama, I Want To Sing!. “Vy Higginsen was on the radio at WBLS and she's the first Black woman that I listened to that inspired me to want to be on the radio,” shares Williams. 

Although radio no longer physically occupies as much of her time as it did throughout her life, even as she raised her three kids, Black music still keeps her busy. She is the president and founder of the International Association of African-American Music Foundation, which organizes conferences and educational symposiums as well as produces panels that communicate the vastness of Black music. In addition, IAAAM has honored many Black music greats, including Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Babyface and L.A. Reid. She’s also a board member of the Nashville-based National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), which recently honored Missy Elliott. TV One fans also recognize her as a frequent and trusted contributor to the network’s acclaimed series Unsung.

Even as Williams enters her 70s later this year, advocating for Black music is a personal mission and calling from which she can’t retire. And for good reason. “Black music deserves champions and advocates, and that's what I see myself as,” she insists. “Black Music is American music created in this country and exported culturally, but also economically. We don't tend to think of it that way, but the reality is that Black music is big business. I'm talking about not millions of dollars, but billions of dollars. We are the trendsetters. We are the weathervane so to speak. We’re the taste. We’re the flavor all over the planet. It is us and I see myself as a person who uses her platform, whether it's social media, whether it is talking with [journalists] to spread the word about the magnificence, the viability, and the power of Black music.”

[whitneyfanclublog]

October 13, 1993: “Queen of The Night” was released as the fifth and final single from the soundtrack album for ‘The Bodyguard’ and was played during the closing credits of the film. Whitney co-wrote the song, which was produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface. Because the song was never a “commercial release” in the U.S., it was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but had big chart success in other countries. When performing live, Whitney mostly stuck to the CJ Mackintosh remix.

[paulodebargelove]

Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel (Official Music Video) July 23, 1988 - 36 Years Ago Today: Bobby Brown debuted at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart with his single, "Don't Be Cruel." This was the R&B singer/songwriter's 2nd solo entry for the former member of New Edition and it became his first of 10 Top 40 hits through 1993 which included 8 Top Tens including one No. 1. "Don't Be Cruel" was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Antonio "L.A." Reid and Daryl Simmons. Brown was married to Whitney Houston from 1992-2007.

[tippysattic]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Tony Braxton 1982 CD.

[lboogie1906]

Antonio Marquis “L.A.” Reid (born June 7, 1956) is a record executive, record producer, composer, former drummer, songwriter, A&R representative, film producer, businessman, and author. He founded and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He has served as the chairman and CEO of Epic Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group, and the president and CEO of Arista Records. He was the founder and CEO of Hitco Music Publishing and the co-founder of LaFace Records with producing partner Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. He has won three Grammy Awards, picking up awards as a songwriter for songs such as Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road.”

He has written and produced for many artists including Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Outkast, Toni Braxton, TLC, Mariah Carey, Avril Lavigne, Paula Abdul, Pink, Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Rihanna, Kanye West, Usher, Ne-Yo, 21 Savage, Young Jeezy, Ciara, Zara Larsson, Jidenna, Jennifer Lopez, Future, Travis Scott, Fifth Harmony, DJ Khaled, Death Grips, Rick Ross, Halsey, Whitney Houston, and The Jacksons.

He was a judge on the first two seasons of the US version of the television show The X Factor but left the show to focus on his leadership at Epic Records. One of the major projects that he embarked on was the remaking of Michael Jackson’s songs after his death, with the release of the album XScape. He published the New York Times bestselling memoir Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[erik-powery-for-america]

Bobby Brown - On Our Own (Official Video)  Bobby Brown - "On Our Own" (Official Video) from the Ghostbusters Soundtrack.  https://youtu.be/rZpr4qQzeI0?si=uilvRbMT2x-m-OXL… via @YouTube  :  Produced by L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds" for LaFace Productions.

[tha-wrecka-stow]

[blogmistermusic]

The Best of R&B: "CrazySexyCool" de TLC

En el año 1990, tres jovencitas de Atlanta, Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes y Crystal Jones, asistieron a una audición ante Babyface y Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid (los fundadores de la discográfica LaFace) con el objetivo de cumplir su sueño de formar un grupo de música. T-Boz y Lisa impresionaron a los magnates musicales por su talento cantando y bailando, sin embargo sintieron que Crystal…

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[kizdemond176]

Karyn White

Released: September 6, 1988 Genre: R&B ∙ new jack swing Label: Warner Bros. Producer: Babyface ∙ L.A. Reid ∙ Jeff Lorber ∙ Karyn White ∙ Ian Prince ∙ Steve Harvey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Karyn White is one of my favorite R&B divas of all time, and rightfully so. Karyn’s voice is a true masterpiece! Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, White grew up in the church and eventually grew up to being a…

[trascapades]

🕊#ArtIsAWeapon Peaceful journeys to the ORIGINAL #influencer, Mr. #ClarenceAvant, who transitioned yesterday, Aug. 13 at age 92. The ultimate dot-connector and deal-maker, Mr. Avant's impact and influence on Black entertainment, culture, sports, politics and activism is astounding and unmatched. His legacy will live forever. Sending my deepest condolences to his family. #TheBlackGodfather

Images 1&2 - portraits by artist @chazguest

Story via APNews.com

Clarence Avant, ‘Black Godfather’ of entertainment, and benefactor of athletes and politicians, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Clarence Avant, the judicious manager, entrepreneur, facilitator and adviser who helped launch or guide the careers of Quincy Jones, Bill Withers and many others and came to be known as the “Black Godfather” of music and beyond, has died. He was 92.

Avant, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a family statement released Monday.

Avant’s achievements were both public and behind the scenes, as a name in the credits, or a name behind the names. Born in a segregated hospital in North Carolina, he became a man of lasting and wide-ranging influence, in part by minding two pieces of advice from an early mentor, the music manager Joe Glaser: Never let on how much you know, and ask for as much money as possible, “without stuttering.”

He exemplified a certain level of cool and street smarts that allowed him to move confidently into worlds that nobody had prepared him for, never doubting he could figure it out,” former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, among the many prominent people he befriended, said in a statement. “Clarence was part of a generation that served as a bridge from a time when there was very little opportunity for Black people to a time when doors began to open. He demanded the world make room, and he paved the way for the rest of us.”

Sometimes called “The Godfather of Black Music,” he broke in as a manager in the 1950s, with such clients as singers Sarah Vaughan and Little Willie John and composer Lalo Schifrin, who wrote the theme to “Mission: Impossible.” In the 1970s he was an early patron of Black-owned radio stations and, in the 1990s, headed Motown after founder Berry Gordy Jr. sold the company.

He also started such labels as Sussex (a hybrid of two Avant passions — success and sex) and Tabu, with artists including Withers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the S.O.S Band and an obscure singer-songwriter, Sixto Rodriquez, who decades later became famous through the Oscar-winning documentary “Searching for Sugarman.” (Rodriquez died last week).

Other work took place more quietly. Avant brokered the sale of Stax Records to Gulf and Western in 1968, after being recruited by Stax executive Al Bell as a bridge between the entertainment and business industries. He raised money for Obama and Bill Clinton, helped Michael Jackson organize his first solo tour and advised Narada Michael Walden, L.A. Reid and Babyface and other younger admirers.

“Everyone in this business has been by Clarence’s desk, if they’re smart,” Quincy Jones liked to say of him.

Avant’s influence extended to sports. He helped running back Jim Brown transition from football to acting and produced a primetime television special for Muhammad Ali. When baseball great Henry Aaron was on the verge of surpassing Babe Ruth as the game’s home run champion, in 1974, Avant made sure that Aaron received the kind of lucrative commercial deals often elusive for Black athletes, starting with a personal demand to the president of Coca-Cola.

Aaron would later tell The Undefeated that everything he had become was “because of Clarence Avant.”

Avant met Jacqueline Gray, a model at the time, at an Ebony Fashion Fair in mid-1960s and married her in 1967. They had two children: Music producer-manager Alexander Devore and Nicole Avant, the former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and, along with her husband, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, a major fundraiser for Obama. Besides his Rock Hall induction, his honors included two honorary Grammys, an NAACP Image Award and a BET entrepreneur award.

In 2021, Jacqueline Avant was murdered in their Beverly Hills home, her death mourned by Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson among others. Nicole Avant would credit her mother, who became a prominent philanthropist, with bringing to Clarence Avant and other family members “the love and passion and importance of the arts and culture and entertainment.”

Born in 1931, Clarence Avant spent his early years in Greensboro, North Carolina, one of eight children raised by a single mother, and he dropped out of high school to move north. A friend from North Carolina helped him find work managing a lounge in Newark, New Jersey, and he soon got to know Glaser, whose clients ranged from Louis Armstrong to Barbra Streisand, not to mention Al Capone. Through Glaser, Avant found himself in places where Black people rarely had been permitted.

“Mr. Glaser would have me go with him to these dog shows,” Avant told Variety in 2016. “And you’ve got to imagine I was the only Black person at the goddamn dog show. He also had these 16 seats behind the visiting dugout at Yankee Stadium, and whenever he’d take me I would try to walk to the back row, and he’d grab me and say, ‘Goddamn it, sit your ass up here with me.’”

Avant became especially close to Jones, their bond formed through a missed record deal. It was the early 1960s, and Jones was a vice president at Mercury Records, one of the industry’s few Black executives. Avant was representing jazz musician Jimmy Smith and had heard that Mercury recently signed Dizzy Gillespie for $100,000. For Smith, Avant aimed much higher, closer to half a million.

“Are you smoking Kool-Aid?” Jones would remember saying to Avant, who then negotiated with Verve Records.

“He went and got the deal,” Jones, whose collaborations with Avant would include the TV series “Heart and Soul” and the feature film “Stalingrad,” told Billboard in 2006. “I respected him for that.”

As he rose in the entertainment industry, Avant became more active politically. He was an early supporter of Tom Bradley, the first Black mayor of Los Angeles, and served as executive producer of “Save the Children,” a 1973 documentary about a concert fundraiser for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s “Operation PUSH.” Three years earlier, when he learned that the civil rights leader Andrew Young was running for Congress, in Georgia, he gave him a call.“He said, ‘In Georgia, you’re running for Congress?’” Young later told CNN. “He said, ‘Well, if you’re crazy enough to run, I’m crazy enough to help you.’”

Avant, whom Young had never met, offered to bring in Isaac Hayes and other entertainers for a benefit and arrange for it to be held at the baseball stadium in Atlanta.

Young had forgotten about their conversation when, a month later, signs promoting the show appeared around town.

“We had about 30,000 people in the pouring down rain,” Young said. “And he never sent us a bill.”

Trailer - Netflix documentary "The Black Godfather"

Story via @npr: One of the great connectors in the music and entertainment industries has died. The executive and businessman Clarence Avant boosted the careers of generations of musicians, entertainers, sports stars and politicians.

A family statement sent to NPR said that he had died "gently at home in Los Angeles" on Sunday at age 92. A cause of death was not shared.

Avant was a giant power broker in several fields, helping to nurture the careers of major Black artists and shaping the field for Black-owned companies. Among his many accomplishments: He signed singer-songwriter Bill Withers. He was the promoter for Michael Jackson's first solo tour. He was the chairman of Motown Records. He nurtured producers, including Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Diddy — and also worked with sports heroes including Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali. He also became a major behind-the-scenes force in politics...

Avant was born Feb. 25, 1931, in Greensboro, N.C. As a young man, he started out by managing a range of musicians, including blues singer Little Willie John, film music composer Lalo Schifrin, jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughan and jazz organist Jimmy Smith.

Netflix — where Avant's son-in-law, Ted Sarandos, is co-CEO — created a documentary about Avant in 2019. The film's title carried Avant's longtime nickname: The Black Godfather. In the documentary, former President Obama observed: "Clarence was the bridge from the time where there was no opportunity [for Black talent] to a time where where doors began to open."

Avant was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Read more: www.npr.org/2023/08/14/1193720263/clarence-avant

#BlackPower

[nkonson]

Usher recalls first interaction with Beyoncé when she was kid

Usher recalls first interaction with Beyoncé when she was kid

Usher recalls first interaction with Beyoncé when she was kid

Usher recalls first interaction with Beyoncé when she was kid

Usher revealed the music superstar he once “chaperoned” when they were both younger ahead of his series of gigs in Paris next month. The singer of Don’t Waste My Time appeared as a guest on the UK radio show Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp, where he revealed his first contact with Beyoncé when she was a youngster.

“Fun fact, I knew Beyoncé when she was 12 years old, 11 years old,” he said. “She used to be in a group by the name of The Dolls. I don’t know if I could consider myself their babysitter, but I had a time where I had to watch The Dolls.”

The 44-year-old R&B crooner, who is just roughly three years older than Beyoncé, received his first recording contract at the age of 14 after a surprise audition with record producer L.A. Reid, who quickly offered the young Usher a contract with his then-label LaFace Records.

“I was at Daryl Simmons’ house,” he said, alluding to the record producer and songwriter who frequently collaborates with LaFace Records co-founders L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.

“[Simmons] was working with [The Dolls] at the time, and I just happened to be over there and they were working on a session. I kind of found my way into being their like, I don’t know, chaperone, nanny, or something like that — the oldest person in the room,” Usher added.

While there is no proof that the now father-of-four and Beyoncé, 41, ever collaborated on any recordings during those early encounters, they did eventually team up in 2008 to record Love In This Club, Pt. II, with rapper Lil Wayne. The song was on the charts for 14 weeks, peaking at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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