DJ Drew Carter, a.k.a. Grandmaster Dee. (b. June 12th, 1962). Turntable artist in hip hop group, Whodini.

Whodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, a.k.a. Ecstasy (who wore a Zorro-style hat as his trademark); and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, a.k.a. Grandmaster Dee.

Career

Early years

Whodini was among the first hip hop groups to cultivate a high-profile national following for hip hop music and made significant inroads on urban radio. They were contemporaries of other hip hop groups such as the Fat Boys, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and Warp 9. The group was managed by Russell Simmons, brother of Joseph “Run” Simmons of Run-D.M.C. The group signed with London-based independent record label Jive Records in 1982; they enjoyed a string of hits for several years, mostly charting on urban and R&B radio stations. The bulk of production on their releases was done by Larry Smith, a bass player who also handled much of Run-D.M.C.'s early work.

In 1983, the group recorded the self-titled album Whodini, and its first single "Haunted House of Rock" was a Halloween-themed number that even today is still played in some clubs. Synthpop and Electro pioneer Thomas Dolby helped produce another of its singles, "Mr Magic’s Wand", which was originally conceived as an advertisement for prominent radio jock Mr. Magic, who worked for New York’s WBLS radio. "Magic's Wand" also has the distinction of being one of Whodini's most-sampled songs.

Escape

In 1984, the group released Escape, which included "Five Minutes of Funk", "The Freaks Come Out at Night", the instrumental "Featuring Grand Master Dee", "Big Mouth", and the relationship-driven "Friends". Many of these songs were also groundbreaking in hip hop culture, as each one of the songs told a unique story from the urban perspective. The album ended up being certified for platinum-level sales by the R.I.A.A., selling over one million albums upon its release.

The instrumental version of "Five Minutes of Funk" was used as the theme music for WNYC TV show, Video Music Box, an influential early hip hop music video show.

The vinyl album is long out of print and the CD (only released twice, once in 1992 and again in 2002) is also out of print and any copies of either of them are valuable to collectors.

On May 17, 2011, a deluxe version of Escape was released on CD with nine bonus tracks.

Back in Black

In 1986, the group released Back in Black and a number of songs from the album received heavy local New York airplay, such as "Funky Beat" and the controversial “I’m a Ho”. “Fugitive” was guitar-driven funk and "Last Night (I Had a Long Talk With...)" was introspective. Paul Kodish, drummer of Pendulum, was featured on the album.

Touring

From 1982 to 1986, the group was at its most productive; they toured with the more successful bands such as Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, and other prominent hip hop, R&B and funk bands. The group was involved in the first Fresh Fest tour, which was the first hip hop tour to play large coliseums nationwide. In July 1986 they appeared at Philadelphia's Spectrum Stadium in front of an audience of 18,000. They were the first Rap Act and Break Dance troop to Tour in the UK and Europe, with U.T.F.O also appearing with them as their break dance act. They played all over Europe to full venues as no one had seen this kind of music before.

Open Sesame and the New School

By 1987, the group had earned its share of gold singles and albums. With Open Sesame, its final release of the 1980s, the group had turned away from their once-playful simple beats and catchy rhymes of the old school and instead became vocally more harder and more instrument-driven, with guitars and horns and bells. They even began to sample, as a snippet of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" is heard on the song "Now That Whodini's Inside the Joint".

This new school style had been similarly done almost a year previously on the multi-million selling debut albums by L.L. Cool J and the Beastie Boys, as many groups had already turned to the kind of rap and rock music that crossed over easily, and Open Sesame failed to produce any real hits.

Although the group was still obligated to Jive Records, for the next few years the band eked out its tenure by occasionally only releasing singles, including “Anyway I Gotta Swing It” for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child movie soundtrack.

The 1990s to present

In the 1990s, the band made an attempt at a comeback, and in that same year the group signed with MCA Records and released Bag-A-Trix in 1991, which failed to have commercial impact, as it tried again to reinvent using the then-current sound of new jack swing.

In mid-1994, the group scored a hit single with "It All Comes Down to the Money", which was co-produced by Public Enemy DJ Terminator X on his album Super Bad.

Talks with Def Jam Recordings for a new deal stalled, and in 1996, the group was signed by Jermaine Dupri (mentor-producer of Kris Kross and Li'l Bow Wow) to his then Columbia Records-distributed So So Def Recordings imprint. (As a child in the 1980s, Dupri did a brief stint as a dancer for the group.)

Their album Six produced one single, "Keep Running Back", and appeared briefly on the R&B chart.

Since the Six album, the group has not released any new music, but its older songs have been featured in many various old school compilations and three greatest-hits collections have been released: The Jive Collection, Vol. 1 in 1995, Rap Attack in 2003, and Funky Beat: The Best of Whodini in 2006, which featured the seven-minute "Whodini Mega Mix", which was a medley of some of the biggest hits.

In recent years, Whodini still tours occasionally, and its old records still surface on pop and R&B radio, especially during old-school mix shows. The group's records have now become sample sources for contemporary emcees such as Nas, Master P, Prodigy, and MF Doom.

In October 2007, Whodini was an honoree at the 4th Vh1 Hip Hop Honors.

In March 2012, Whodini was featured in Season 5 Episode 3 of the TV One hour-long music documentary series Unsung

In August 2012, Whodini was presented with the Icon Award by the Underground Music Awards.

In October 2012, Whodini was inducted into the 4th annual Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

Can we learn from an Energy Body Wizard? My guest is Don Lynch who is a pioneer in the field of vital energy transformation. He is able to clairvoyantly “see” and feel the body’s energies and blocks to proper flow. He is known for his simple methods for shifting the body’s energies for health and vitality. Don has been involved with Chiropractic and Energy research for forty years. He has been featured on Telesummits, monthly online and in person events, and conference calls where he is able to transform and shift multiple people at a time with his energy transmissions. He is affiliated with the Muay Thai Sangha and Kshartia Sangham schools of Thailand, Mexico, Spain, Greece, and Canada. Don has devoted twelve years researching advanced energy techniques using a science and biologically based approach. For those interested in the cellphone-body phenomena, he shared his Energy clearing method with cellphones at the ISSSEM conference to a packed crowd of people.

What does leading a core, bliss and wealthy life mean to you? My guest is Moneeka Sawyer is the blissful millionaire. She reached her financial freedom by turning $10,000 to over $5,000,000 working only 5-10 hours per MONTH with very little stress. She is now on a mission to help as many other women as she can to do the same. Moneeka hosts the top-rated podcast and radio show Real Estate Investing for Women and has interviewed prestigious guests such as Leeza Gibbons, Dr. Joe Vitale, and Hal Elrod.  Moneeka has also been featured on stages with Suzanne Sommers, Martha Stewart, and Ice T & Coco at places like the Nasdaq Marketplace, Harvard, and Carnegie Hall, and on TV on NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox reaching over 150 million people. 

Matt Arciuolo, the inventor of the VKTRY Performance Insoles, is a board certified pedorthist specializing in pain management and performance enhancement using custom orthotics and footwear. Matt Arciuolo worked as the Certified Pedorthist for the USA Olympic Team for over 10 years. He invented VKs to help the team increase their explosiveness at the start of the race. His goal was to help the team win more gold medals – and they did! Another goal was to manufacture VKTRY Insoles in the USA.

Mr. Arciuolo is the owner of Footstar Pedorthic Center in Milford, Conn

We are a group of GOP State Central Committee Bonus Members with a passion to save our state by reversing what has been done by the Left to pervert Colorado's laws and to infringe on our collective Natural Rights. By using the authority vested in us by our constituents and compelled by a strong sense of duty to the people of Colorado, our goal is to educate and empower like-minded individuals to work with us. We hope that by demystifying Colorado’s political system of Caucuses, Assemblies and Conventions, more concerned Republicans will become active and involved participants in Colorado’s GOP and government.



Your Friends in the GOP,

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Peg@MyColoradoGOP.org 720-765-6336

Niche Productions and PalMar Studios

partners with Gravitas Ventures

Releases

“Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man” Documentary

Special Guest on Interviewing the Legends

Allen Farst, founder of Niche Productions, is thrilled to announce the signing of a distribution deal with Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios Company, to release his latest film, “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man,” a sterling documentary on the rock ‘n’ roll pianist/keyboardist often described as the “Fifth Rolling Stone. The film was released to several Video-On-Demand (VOD) outlets on December, 2020.

Directed by Farst, “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man” provides an epic, in-depth look into Leavell’s life both on and off the stage. Leavell has played and toured with the Rolling Stones since 1982, and his status as rock royalty may be equaled only by his stature within the world of environmental forestry, where he previously has been named the National Tree Farmer of the Year in the United States. It’s this fascinating combination of passions, coupled with more than 80 gripping interviews from legendary musicians with a combined 58 Grammy Awards, that already has produced quite the buzz for the film.

The documentary captivated crowds last year at both the Macon Film Festival and Sedona International Film Festival, the latter of which recognized the film as the 2020 People’s Choice Award. “This is a MUST-SEE film for anyone who loves great music and great documentaries,” said Patrick Schweiss, Artistic Director of the Sedona International Film Festival. “Director Allen Farst has managed to capture the life of one of the great keyboard legends, Chuck Leavell, who has worked with all the greatest musicians…The Tree Man’ was a rousing hit at our festival, with audience members cheering and raving about the film!”

The documentary is full of star power, including interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, Mick Jagger, President Jimmy Carter, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Dickey Betts, Paul Shaffer, Chris Robinson, Charlie Daniels, Miranda Lambert, Charlie Watts, Bruce Hornsby, Juliann Lennon, Mike Mills, John Bell, Pat Monahan, Ronnie Wood, Warren Haynes, John Mayer, David Gilmour and more.

CHUCK LEAVELL: THE TREE MAN

on [Blu-ray]

Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man is the cinematic documentary that explores the world's fascination with the greatest piano and keyboardist over the last 40 years. Follow Chuck's story as he divides his talent between music, forests and family.

Starring: Mick Jagger , Keith Richards , Charlie Watts and Ronnie Woods

Directed by: Allen Farst

The documentary is full of star power, including interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, Mick Jagger, President Jimmy Carter, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Dickey Betts, Paul Shaffer, Chris Robinson, Charlie Daniels, Miranda Lambert, Charlie Watts, Bruce Hornsby, Juliann Lennon, Mike Mills, John Bell, Pat Monahan, Ronnie Wood, Warren Haynes, John Mayer, David Gilmour and more.

Available to purchase at amazon.com

With capabilities of reaching more than 100 million homes in North America and nearly 1 billion homes worldwide, Gravitas Ventures is making this must-see movie available on several VOD platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, VUDU and Playstation.

For more information

about

CHUCK LEAVELL

Visit

https://www.chuckleavell.com/

Official Website

https://www.facebook.com/ChuckLeavell/

Facebook

https://twitter.com/ChuckLeavell

Twitter

https://www.https//twitter.com/ChuckLeavellinstagram.com/chuck_leavell/

Instagram

Original

Crack The Sky

Bassist 

Joe Macre

To Release New Album “Bullet Train”

Special Guest on Interviewing the Legends

Joe Macre is best known as the original bassist for the progressive rock band “Crack The Sky”, whose debut was voted album of the year in Rolling Stone Magazine and is still included in the top 50 progressive rock albums of all time.

The new release from Joe Macre is a collection of ten songs written and recorded at Joe Mac’s American Garage. Scheduled to drop March 1, 2021, “Bullet Train” is one of two albums written and recorded by Joe with friends who visited his American Garage studios. Made famous for housing cars, the garage has become a recording studio for musicians all over the world.

This album was written and recorded from 2019 to 2021. Many friends brought their talents to the garage and those shut in during the pandemic were recorded via the internet. The recording was recorded, mixed and mastered by Joe utilizing Pro Tools, of which Joe is an instructor. Visit Joe’s blog at joemacre.com for details on instruments and software incorporated on this album.

Joe Macre was a member of Crack The Sky from 1975–1980 and 2004-2009. Joe has also worked with The B. E. Taylor Group, Wild Cherry, King Friday, Jim Croce, David Sanborn, The Brecker Brothers, Marie Osmond, Grammy Award Artist, Oliver Wakeman (and Eddie Offord Yes), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Robert Schindler (Johnny Nash), Madukwu Chinwah (Erikah Badu), Keith Green, Clint Brown, and others.

Joe’s award-winning Mixing/Composing credits in films and commercials include “Monster in Law,” “House of D” and “Fire Down Below.” Super Bowl Tabasco’s “Mosquito”, Corona’s “Ship in a Bottle”, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Ford, McDonald’s, Corona, Hyundai, and Oprah Winfrey to name a few.

2018 Joe began work on his latest project Joe Mac’s American Garage with the debut album, “Bullet Train” featuring a cast of musicians including Chris Elliott and Jerry Oxendine of 86 Bullets, Pete Hewlett (Billy Joel), Jeff Adams (Facedancer), John Palumbo, Rick Witkowski, Jimmy Griffiths, Bobby Hird and Joey D’Amico (Crack The Sky) and many talented friends who visited Joe’s American Garage Studios.

Joe was inducted into the board of directors for SPARS (Society of Professional Audio Recording Services) with Leslie Ann Jones, Audio Director at Skywalker Sound, Kevin Mills at Larrabee West Studios, Tim Butler at Chicago Recording (CRC), Jeff Greenberg at The Village Recorder and Steve Davis at Crawford Communications Atlanta. Joe is an active member of AES and the American Federation of Musicians.

Joe’s second album entitled “The Dream Is Free” is scheduled for a spring release. Also, tours are currently in the works.

Purchase

BULLET TRAIN

By

JOE MACRE

At amazon.com

And

www.joemacre.com

Song previews: Soundcloud.com/joe Macre

For more information

about

 JOE MACRE

visit

www.joemacre.com

Facebook.com/joe macre and Facebook/joemacre.com

https://soundcloud.com/cuppajoemusic

Instagram.com/Atomicbass1

James A. Miller, Jr., PhD is a public education advocate, activist, independent scholar, African American Historian and writer. For most of his life, he has been involved in and with public education, either as a student, university professor, researcher, substitute teacher and full-time classroom teacher K-12.       

Dr. Miller has held Professorships in Sociology/African-American Studies at Wayne State University, the University of Detroit, California State University at Northridge and Los Angeles, and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), and has been a Senior Researcher/Associate at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Washington, DC – the social and cultural foundation of education.