Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (Part I): Steve Parke Talks 2 Beautiful Nights

  Steve Parke is a true renaissance man.
  He is best known to Prince fans as the creator of the Grafitti Bridge album cover, designer of the "Glam Slam" music video set and  photographer behind many pictures of Prince and associated artists throughout the 1990s. In addition to photography, Parke has also done acting, graphic design, drawing, painting, has past journalism experience and created graphic novels.
  A chance meeting with Levi Seacer in the late 1980s set Parke on a course of events that culminated with him being hired as art director at Prince's Paisley Park studio complex in Chanhassen, Minn. That opportunity led to various work with artists like Chaka Khan, fDeluxe, Wendy and Lisa and David Bowie, among others.
  More recently, Parke did the photo illustrations for "Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified," a companion book to the USA Network TV show "Psych," released earlier this year. "Medusa's Daughter," a graphic novel he created with Jonathon Scott Fuqua, is set for wide release in December, and is currently available at redgiantentertainment.com. He also does freelance photography for corporations and individuals.
  He is currently working with the band fDeluxe (formerly The Family) on artwork for their new covers album which is tentatively set for release at the end of 2013 and a children's book that will come out sometime next year.
  K Nicola Dyes conducted an in-depth interview with Parke last month for "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s," where the Baltimore resident discussed his original career path, his childhood in the Washington D.C. area and the chain of events that led to him working for Prince:


Part I

On growing up...

 My childhood in Virginia was really good. I lived in an area where everybody knew each other. I started out going to a separate school from the other kids in my area, because, I got into a gifted and talented program. It's good that I was in it, but, I hated not being in the same school as (the) other kids. That was a little rough in the beginning. Once I got into junior high school, I was put in with everybody else. (I) got to know people had a great experience and great teachers. It was a really nice place to live at that time.

  I had access to the Washington D.C. area for going out. I worked in a record shop down in Georgetown. 
  The population base (in the town), worked in D.C. My dad was in the military-- he actually worked for the Pentagon at that point. It was interesting being in a political town and I never really thought about that. Your backyard news was politics, versus, for example, when I would travel. If I was in the Midwest--like Ohio where my grandparents were-- their backyard news (might be) the farm report and that was always weird to me. You had all kinds of bizarre rumors. It was the 1980s. That was an interesting, political time, to say the least.

  It's so overly populated and traffic heavy now (that) I don't think I'd want to be there again. At the time, it was a pretty ideal place to live.

  

  
  My mother and father always told me I could do whatever I wanted. They really supported me, but, they were also, conscious of the fact that if you go down certain paths, there are realities.

   I was a theater major in college and decided I wanted to be an actor. I thought I was pretty good at it. My dad sat me down one day and said to me "A lot of actors don't work. That's the reality. Or you work (in the theater) at night, (but), you wait tables, you do things like that. It's a hard road.” 

  I appreciated him telling me that, even though I’m sure, at the time, I said "Yeah, I'm going to be the one who makes it."  My father had a military background. He literally got out of high school and into the military. He had a career of it. He and I thought a little differently.

  Later, I said "Man, I don't really want to be doing this (theater) now." If you're in school, (you can play) an 80 year old in a school production. In the real world, there would be 30 80-year-old (people) fighting you for that part. You wouldn't even be considered for that part.

 Ideally, I thought I would go to art school and my dad said "If that's what you want to do, we'll make it happen." (I talked to) the guy you would go in and show your portfolio to. He looked at my portfolio and said "I don't know why you want to go here."

 I said "What do you mean?" He said "You already have a strong portfolio and a strong direction. I honestly believe that if you came here, all you would be doing is arguing with the professors."

  I'm so grateful for that, because, I'm sure someone's job like that is to pretty much steer you in the direction of coming to the college.  I'm sure that 90 percent of the time, (he said) "Sure, apply and spend your money."  That's what they do. He was nice enough to say Look, you've already got stuff going on, why would you want to spend-- back then, certainly the price of a house-- to go to college? 

  The fact is that my parents were willing to say, "If you want to do (this), we'll find a way to make it happen." I think the way to make that happen would have been to get a student loan. I'd still be paying that off.

   My mom and dad have been incredibly supportive. I owe my parents a lot and I literally owe my parents some money (laughs). As a parent myself, I know that you do everything you can for your kid, within reason. You have to let them do their thing sometimes, too. You can't hold their hand. They have to fail or succeed on their own.

  (My parents) really supported (me), so, I could succeed on my own. President Obama said that you don't succeed on your own. You succeed with your own drive, but, you have to have support from somebody, whether it be from parents, teachers or whomever. It's impossible to fight the odds with no support, especially (from your) parents. I think people forget that sometimes.

  
  My mom was into music. She grew up in Ohio (and) it's interesting to hear about music back in the day. She said "We used to tune the 'race' channel." I said "What are the 'race' channels?" She said "The Black channel... That's what it was called back then. You know, Elvis was actually played on those stations." They assumed Elvis was Black. They had never seen him before. It's kind of cool. These days, there's no questions, there's no ability to have any secrecy in the music industry; no surprises.

   She grew up on a lot of R&B. She exposed me to James Brown, The Spinners, The Crusaders.  My dad was never a music listener and when he did listen to music it was like that weird "parent" music--you know that stuff you hear going up in the elevator, like "What is that?" He liked "Saturday Night Fever." I have to give him credit for that.  

  My grandfather was a guitar player and he was really into jazz. He exposed me to George Benson and a lot of great guitar players back in the day. George Benson is still a great guitar player. He's just done a lot more vocal stuff.

  
  Friday Night Videos...that was a blast. It was another opportunity to go and meet all these people. I would shoot the local concerts to post them at the end of each month, like here's who had been in town.

  This was before MTV took off. A local (TV) station did Friday Night Videos and they wanted to tie in the local things that were going on. That gave me the opportunity to go and photograph, oh...Luther Vandross. I got to photograph so many people. It was so much fun.

  The guys that ran Friday Night Videos also did a show called "Kid's World" when I was a teenager. I hosted a local segment of that TV show. I got to interview Harry Wayne Casey from KC and the Sunshine Band and Muhammad Ali.
 (Ali) was a really fun guy. He was on a tour for the American Dental Association and they had him out fighting tooth decay. You would think it was kind of goofy, but, kids loved it. The kids knew who he was, because, of their parents. They all came and it was a fun event. I've still got his autograph, somewhere, but, I've got to dig it out.
   Meeting those people earlier on set me up for the opportunity to do photo shoots later. You wouldn't necessarily tie those two things together: "If I do this, it's going to open up and opportunity for me to use later." But, it did.

  As a college newspaper reporter...I wasn't so much a reporter ... Let's just say this: I used the idea of being a college reporter to shoot shows I really wanted to see. I would also write about the shows.

   I found a way to do the thing I loved, which was go see shows, for free. I got to see a ton of shows and I would go see shows (even if) I didn't care about the artist one way or the other.

   My college now has its own stadium and I think it opened up my senior year. I remember photographing (British Musician) Howard Jones. I went to photograph Fishbone and ended up doing an in-depth article with them. I did an interview with The Thompson Twins.

 (I shot) U2, Judas Priest--they were hilarious, by the way. I saw them after I saw "Spinal Tap." I shot Cyndi Lauper at a smaller venue in D.C. and I shot The Firm, which (was) Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, the lead singer from Bad Company. That was a weird show. They were totally wasted on stage. I (later) found a bunch of negatives, when I was moving, from shows I had forgotten that I had shot. 

   My college experience was great fun. Somebody said "You want to do this?" and I said "Sure, why not?" I try to do that with everything. I say "Why not try this?" Don't say no to stuff you haven't tried, unless you're going to be put in danger. I think I worked for them for two years.

   
  Another thing about being in the (Washington D.C.) area: BET had just started up. I had met Donnie Simpson a few years earlier and I got to hang out at BET a lot, meet people there and, through (the network) I got to see a lot of shows in the area.

   I was at a show that (featured) New Edition and one of the promoters said "Hey, I'd like you to airbrush T-shirts for the New Edition guys—just their face on a T-shirt." So, I did all of them. 

  (Later), I was in the elevator. Bobby Brown got on the elevator and he had his shirt in his hand. He said  "Hey, how's it going?" I said "Hey. I just wanted to let you know I did that shirt." He said "Man, you did this shirt? I'm gonna do the solo thing and it's going to be big. I'll stay in touch with you. Let's do some stuff..." 

   I gave him my information and I'm sitting there like "Yeah, right, you're going to do some big stuff." It was interesting to see a kid that age and he had a goal. They were kids at that point in time. I wasn't that much older, but, they were definitely younger than me. It's a shame he overshot his goal-- kind of going in the opposite direction-- but, it was interesting to see a kid that young that driven to succeed. 

 

On  Life Changing Events...

Levi Seacer, Jr. (l) former guitar and bass player with Prince

  Meeting Levi Seacer was really cool. I met him when I photographing a Lionel Richie and Sheila E. (concert). I met Levi backstage. 
  We just got along, started talking and I drew a picture of him on a napkin (laughs). He said "Hey, that's pretty good."
   He kept saying "Hey, keep sending me some of your work and I'll show Prince" and he did. He really did. A lot of people say that and they don't do it. They say "Send me your work and I'll give it Prince." What they really mean is "Send me your work and I'll put it on my wall."
   He was definitely instrumental in hooking me up with Prince. (He is) a really great guy and a really good guitar and bass player. We stay in touch here and there. I would love to do some photos with him. But, it's difficult with him being on one coast (and) me being on the other.

Original drawing for Glam Slam Music Video Set. Courtesy of Steve Parke

  The set for the Glam Slam video...I got a call from Alan Leeds. "You want to come out and paint this set?" I thought jokingly "Nah, nah, not me, I'm not the guy for that." I said "Of course." 

  I got out there (to Paisley Park) and I saw that they had already started it. Levi explained to me someone had started (painting) the set and they were doing it in layers. Prince came in, saw it in layers and I guess he was like "This isn't working for me." I learned from that quick interaction that Prince wants to see stuff finished. I guess that, visually, he doesn't want to see "process." If he's walking in and it's partially finished, he's not going to dig that.

   I just tooled around Paisley Park, looked around and saw what was going on. I (looked in) the wardrobe department and all around the building. I did a drawing (for the set).  Prince approved it and then he went away for three days. In that three days, I said "What third of the stage can I get done?" I had two people from Minneapolis Children's Theater help me out. I stayed up three days straight. I'm not joking. These guys helped me out (and) they thought I was crazy. It was insane. I was 25, so, I was okay with doing that.

   I wanted to make sure I had the job when he came back. And I did. He came back and I don't think I heard anything. I said "I didn't hear anything." Somebody told me, I don't know if it was Levi, "Oh, you didn't hear anything? It's good. If it wasn't good, you would hear something." I said "Ah, it works like that, does it?"

   I was on the set if something needed to be fixed, painted or repaired. I did that over the first three days and then I just painted over the course of the rehearsals. What we would do is paint all night and then seal it with a finish. It was a heavy-duty urethane like they use on bowling lanes. I'd have to seal that by four or five in the morning and let it dry in time for Prince to come rehearse. Prince rehearsed everyday at 1 p.m. and they rehearsed for eight hours, pretty much every day for that Lovesexy Tour.

   I would finish up (painting the set) in the morning, go back to my hotel (to sleep), then get up and go back for rehearsal. Every single day. I was crazy. 
  Watching the process during the rehearsal was amazing. He was doing it on this giant circular stage, which was basically the template for the final Lovesexy stage. They had a big scaffold built on the side, so, you could see it from above. He was able to see that set like somebody in an arena. 

  He would choreograph it all and they would rehearse with all the dance moves. I remember when the was car (which was a prop in the show)  was finally delivered and built. He would try different things, like surfing on top of it. It was on a track that wasn't the smoothest thing in the world and it would catch. He would hit the top of the car really fast. He'd like get down, like "Uh, oh, I don't want to fall off."

   I remember once when they were working with the heart in the middle and the riser would come up during "Anna Stesia." It kept going higher and higher. Prince was ducking down, even though it never would've hit the ceiling there-- it was huge-- but, it was really funny. He was kind of shrinking himself further and further down to the ground. It finally stopped.

Final Stage for Glam Slam Music Video Set. Courtesy of Steve Parke

 I stayed all the way through to the video shoot and then I came back to do the final Lovesexy stage. I just did the eye next to the little basketball court thing. When they (toured) Europe, they had a very different stage, because, it wasn't in the round. I got flown out to England to paint Prince's "eyes" on some clouds (on the stage). How cool is that? My friend said "You're actually the guys who paints Prince's eyes. They fly you around the world to paint Prince's eyes. I had not thought about it that way. 

  (Later), I met J.D. Considine, a reviewer for Rolling Stone, (who) also wrote for the Baltimore Sun at one point in time. I told him that I worked for Prince and about the work I did for Lovesexy Tour. He said "Yeah, I Iiked that show. But, I really didn't like how many samples they used. I said "What are you talking about?" 

 He said "Well, obviously, they were just samples running in the background." I said "No, man, they triggered all those samples....They were samples, but, they were triggered by the drummer or the keyboard player in appropriate places. It wasn't just a track running behind the whole song." He said "Are you sure?" I said "Yeah, man, I was there." He said "There's no way they could do that." I said "You want to know how they did that? They rehearsed it. Eight hours a day."

 The original painting that was later used for the Graffiti Bridge Soundtrack. Courtesy of Steve Parke

  The Graffiti Bridge album cover actually arose out of my figuring, "I've got to get a job." I'd connected with Prince on the Lovesexy Tour and I was getting bit and pieces of work here and there. But, I hadn't solidified anything. I said well, that was cool, that was a nice ride, time to move on to the next thing. 

  One of the things I was trying to do with that painting-- before it got associated with Graffiti Bridge-- (was that) I had a connection with Prince, so, I might as well put Prince in it. I thought if Prince is going to see this, I thought what hasn't he done? What hasn't been a theme in what he's done?

 I just thought of a lot of cool elements that I thought would go well into it. The weird part was (later) seeing all these elements in the movie. I had no idea. Nobody gave me a script. I was kind of on the same page with him at that time. It was weird.

  I sent it off to my friend Levi, who had been showing Prince my work for a while. I sent a transparency, I didn't send the actual painting. The actual painting is double the size, like an big-fold album cover. I just randomly chose that size.

   Levi said "You know, Prince has got that transparency sitting at his desk... He kind of looks at it every day." I said "Huh? Okay, well that's good." He said "I think he might want to use it or something." That's what ended up happening. 

  Prince called me up at one point and told me how much he liked it, which was really cool. The biggest thing was I had to add some things in (the painting): I had to add Morris Day and I had to add Ingrid Chavez. It was just at the edge of digital, so, I literally had to take sandpaper to the painting surface and sandpaper out some of the stuff I had already put in. It wasn't a big deal, it was just background.

 I had to get Day and Chavez back into it. I had to make the black and white girl look a little bit more like Jill Jones, but, it wasn't originally set up to be Jill Jones. It was interesting. Prince changed his jacket from red to black on the cover. 
  The process for that was as weird as it could be. It was not somebody calling me up and saying "Hey, I want you to do this." I did it and it ended up being used.  I was beside myself, to say the least. What a strange way for that to work out, but, I'm certainly not ungrateful.

  I always think you can work real hard towards a goal and there are certain of things going on to make it work for you.  I feel like all the stars aligned properly for that to happen. Whatever stars those were, I'm happy they aligned. I know I heard back from Levi pretty quickly that Prince kept looking at it (the painting). Maybe I was not aware, but, (the film "Graffiti Bridge") may have been in production at that time. Eventually, I did become aware of it, because, obviously (they said) we'd like this for the movie soundtrack. I don't know where it quite fell into line, but, it must have been in pre-production, because, they knew who was in the cast.

 It (the album cover) wasn't real until I saw it. It seemed sort of surreal. Growing up, I was the kid who looked at all the liner notes (on albums). (I) looked who played on everything and I could name session percussionists, producers and who did the artwork.  

  The exciting part was that (the album was released) right at the end of vinyl. It actually came out on vinyl, which was even cooler. Ironically now, I'm working on vinyl again. I worked a long time on that piece, even though it wasn't specifically for anything. It was for me, I wanted it to be right, so, I spent a lot of hours on it. 

  I look back at it now and the cover has a 1970s vibe to me. That's the kind of album art I grew up with. I wasn't thinking that at the time. When I was done people said "Wow, how did you collage all those photos?" To me, it's photo realistic, but, it doesn't look like photos. 

  I absolutely went to the record store. That was the coolest thing."Look, it's my record. Yay!" It wasn't my record, of course, but, the cover was mine. (When) you're proud of your work, you want to see it. It's natural.  I understand actors not wanting to see themselves in a movie, that's a little weird. But, I think something you worked on is different type of thing.
  I honestly had no thoughts of that becoming anything other than a good portfolio piece (that) showed I could handle a lot of different material.

  

  I painted instruments for (Prince). I painted that one-eyed bass for him. That's a funny story, because, he wouldn't stop playing it. I painted it and he'd play it without getting it clear coated. He would rehearse and wreck the paint job. Then I'd have to paint it again. His guitar tech finally just took it to get lacquered. 

don't know if that made Prince happy, but, in the long run, that painting stood up for a while. His technique on the bass would definitely wear the paint job off. Slapping your bass will wear off paint.
  
  I just tried to see how well I could fit in to what (Prince's) needs were. I eventually got a computer and learned to use it. I sent some of the things I'd done and they said "Oh, this is really cool."
 He presumed that I totally knew how to use a computer, which wasn't true. The truth is I sort of knew how to use the computer and then I winged it as I went.  I think that was the turning point. I felt like, in my mind, I could meet whatever challenges he needed in art.  
  When Prince's in-house art director quit (working at Paisley Park), they said "Do you want to do this?" I said "I'll give it a shot." It kind of went from there. It was a lot of flying by the seat of my pants.
 I was lucky enough to get a partner out there, Michael Van Huffel. He's one of those guys who could sit down,read a manual to a program and get it. My eyeballs would falling out of my head. He was great. He worked with Prince for many years. I think that's the only reason I survived.

On Working at Paisley Park...

   When I was the art director at Paisley Park, I worked a lot. I handled a lot of things, learned a lot and wore a lot of hats. Being (the) art director, I made sure things got out on time, I hired the talent, I kind of managed things. But, I hired myself most of the time to do things. (Laughs). 
  I thought of myself more as a one-man art department, because, I was my only resource a lot of time. I didn't necessarily want to be that. I would loved to have brought people in to do projects, but, (I) never had time. Nothing was planned.
   I think (Prince) just does music. I don't think he plans it. I think he just comes in like "I'm going to make some music" and he makes it. Then, he decides if it's something he wants to make a record project with. We all know that stuff doesn't all come out. He's constantly making music. Somewhere along the line it must click, for him, "This would be good on a record." Which then meant "Hey Steve, we need a cover for this." I would say "Okay. I also have five things due out to magazines."  He would say "Well, I need to get this, too."

  It was as much like fine art as opposed to commercial art that you can be in a business. It was all so "take it as it comes." There was planning sometimes; on some releases, we definitely had plans. The record labels needed certain things by certain dates. But, a lot of the time, it was "What's going to happen this week? I have no idea."
  There were a few different Prince groups or forums back when I worked there that friends of mine turned me on to. (They) would tell me "I read this or that." I would say "How do you know that?" They would say, "I read it in this Prince forum." I started going to them (and), I swear to God, I don't know how people knew these things, but, I would then have a better idea of what I was doing that week. 
 (The forums would say) "Oh, this is happening at Paisley Park this week." Sure enough, what they were talking about impacted what I was going to do (that) week: "Prince is going to be having a party on Friday. I'll probably help him do something for that." It was really kind of bizarre that I could do that.

Courtesy of Steve Parke

  Working with Prince was always interesting. (Laughs). He was trying to something different, outside the mainstream and always having you think on your feet. 

  There were no simple solutions to anything, because, he wanted to push the boundaries all the time. You had to learn how to not say no. You had to learn how to say "Yes, we can do that and here's what it takes." Once you told him what it will take, he would make the decision whether you went forward or not. There was never a time I said "Well, this is boring." No. (Laughs). Frustrating, yes. It was frustrating sometimes.

  But, quite frankly he gave me opportunities. Prince would see that you could do something and he would give you opportunities. He asked me at one point "Do you do photography?" I said "Yeah, I used to shoot back in college." He said "Let's try and do something." 

  Now, all of a sudden I was shooting under very different conditions, because, I had to learn studio lighting. I'd never used it. I didn't know how to use that stuff at all. So, my first shoot with him was not great: it was in focus and it had a light on it. (Laughs).  It had those two things going for it. But, he gave me that opportunity and I learned as I went.

  The technology changed and let me tell you, early digital cameras sucked so bad. They were good for like table food photography, (but), they really were not great for what I was using them for. I had to fix stuff a lot back then (during the photo editing process). It was just an unfortunate reality of the time. 

  Prince liked (that) digital photography meant you could look, see you had and shoot some more if you wanted. None of that getting negatives developed and all that. The digital camera was its own Polaroid camera in a way, because, you could look at it right away, as opposed to having to check your light and then go shoot. 

  He gave me pretty much every opportunity. I went into the studio a couple times to record some things-- in the background, just some talking stuff on some of the songs-- which was fun.

Courtesy of Steve Parke

  What was interesting with Prince is that we would sometimes shoot these photos and he was all into them. Then, all of a sudden, he would decide that wasn't the image he wanted and we went and shot something else. I didn't think the (newer) photos were as good, from my perspective, but, it was up to him. It was his product. But, you would think "Oh man, those other shots were so cool." 

 

  I liked the packaging that we did for The Truth as a full CD. Unfortunately, it never came out, so, that's too bad. There's a cassette floating around that kind of has the cover on it. It's kind of smashed up with Prince sitting on a stool playing guitar. But, in the interior, I took a cue from Purple Rain and actually did typography that was all different for the different songs. We had all these random black and white (images). I liked it because it didn't show Prince's face. I like the interior little poster thing. I thought that was a lot of fun.     

  New Power Soul was going to be printed on black flocked paper material to make it look like a black light poster. If you think of that cover as a black light poster, it's kind of cool. But, when you take it away from black light poster, it's not quite the same. I was kind of disappointed, because, that was a cool plan, then it didn't happen. 
   Ultimately, I was in a job where I was there to make my client happy. You push for your professional opinion or your professional best, but, if they disagree with you, ultimately they're the boss. What are you going to do? That's the way it goes.

  We did a party-- I think it was The Gold Experience party-- and I pretty much art directed how the whole studio was transformed. That was great fun. I was able to bring people in and work with them. I loved doing that, because, I could say "Okay, here's what I need. This room's supposed to be like this," then, those people would give me input, "Well, how about we do this?" and I would say "Oh, that's really cool, but, how about we add this?"

  It was a sharing of ideas. I loved that process, instead of just sort of having to pull it all out of your own head and have no feedback. The time you get feedback is when the (project) comes out, then, you don't have a chance to change anything. 
  Somebody would later write "Oh, it would've been better if he had done this." Then you're like "Oh, he's right, it would have been better." I just didn't have any feedback. That's the other thing: I couldn't really show stuff I was doing for Prince to people. I couldn't show it around to my friends and say "Hey, what do you think? Give me your feedback." That was not the way that worked. I did it and Prince said yes or no. That's it. It was a very different process.

  I decided to leave Paisley Park when my son was born. I was out (at the complex) about two times after my son was born and I just couldn't imagine being away that much. I wanted to be there for him. 
  I will say that creatively I had done all I could do at Paisley Park. It's not that I wouldn't have stayed, but, I started to feel like it was the same routine over and over again. I think that my son's birth and wanting to be present for his life definitely gave me a kick in the pants.

  There were a couple of times where I had done some photos (for Prince). The problem was, I was right in the middle of another job and felt, if I left, I would hurt my opportunities outside of Prince.
 If you ever hear "He only wants you to come for a day" from that camp, it's almost never true. There's almost never a point where you go for a day. A day means a week. (Laughs). I knew that. Anybody else, I would have said "A day? Okay, fine."
 I knew it wasn't going to be a day and I couldn't afford it. If it was a day, I would've gone and done it. The first big opportunity I had (after leaving Paisley Park) was working with DC Comics and I did not want to lose my forward motion and have them say  "Oh, you're behind." 
  I was trying to reestablish myself. I was already rebuilding my career, (so) people knew who I was and I was available to work. 


To be continued...
--

Lead photo courtesy of jerseyfestfair.com.
Check it out the Steve Parke Photography Facebook here. 
Check out Steve Parke's official Web site here.


--

Like us Facebook: Beautiful Nights USA and Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s.

  

Joyful Sound: Footage from 'One Night with Gayle' Concert

  Check out the short video from "One Night with Gayle," a concert hosted by "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s," featuring Gayle Chapman, Clayton Ballard and Old Blue. Here are some of the highlights from the show which took place August 9 at The Mix in Seattle in a video produced and edited by Elke Hautala.

Willing and Able: Margaret Cox Talks 2 Beautiful Nights

  

   

  Margaret Cox has been one of the hardest working women on the Minneapolis music scene for nearly 40 years.

  She was born in Kenitra, Morocco and her family moved to Minneapolis when she was 7 years old. Cox began her career in 1975, while still in her early teens, singing in nightclubs. She worked in several local bands and was later tapped to join the band Lipps, Inc, along with Melanie Rosales, best known for the massive hit "Funkytown" in 1980, after the departure of lead singer Cynthia Jonson, for the group's final album 4.

   Cox found her greatest success when Jesse Johnson recruited her as the lead singer for the group Ta Mara and the Seen in the 1980s (along with band members Oliver Leiber, Gina Fellicetta, Keith Woodson Cox and Jamie Chez). The group found immediate success in 1985 with their first single "Everybody Dance," a Billboard Top 40 pop hit and Top 5 R&B hit.
The group released a second album, Blueberry Gossip, in 1988.

  She recorded several songs in the late 1980s for the MC Flash project, written and  produced by Prince, considered by many hardcore fans as one of the greatest associated artists albums never released. A later Prince-produced song "Standing at the Altar" was released as a single on the Paisley Park compilation album 1-800-NEW-FUNK in 1994. In addition,  she has also worked with musical legends such as Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples. 

Cox independently released a solo album entitled Margie's Little Demo and her band The Legendary Combo (formerly known as Dr. Mambo’s Combo) currently has a longstanding gig Sundays and Mondays at Bunker’s Music Bar and Grill in Minneapolis.

    K Nicola Dyes recently conducted a telephone interview with Cox where the singer discussed why plans for a third Ta Mara and the Seen album fell through, her experiences in the music business and some things from her past she would do differently:

  What I remember of Morocco...I remember I was very young. My father was in the navy. (I remember) being so happy to be with my mother and father.

  When my family moved to Minneapolis... it was really wonderful. My neighborhood in southeast Minneapolis (had people) of every color of the rainbow. It was very liberal. I had a really nice time, had lots of friends and great schools. I had a nice childhood.

  I started singing in bands in 1975-- mostly nightclubs and weddings—and my first band was called Perception. We did a lot of late shows and that always made it tough to go to morning classes.

  We started playing at a club called Bootlegger Sam's in Dinkytown, a wonderful nightclub and it was really fun. (The band) played a mixture of Top 40 rock and some old soul, mostly Top 40. I think we were doing Fleetwood Mac, we did some Sly and the Family Stone and some hard rock like (songs by) Boston and Kansas.

  My family taught me...to tell the truth and be true...They taught me to love all races. That was one really beautiful thing about my family and where I grew up: I loved that I had friends of every color. I must say that was a good time in my life.

  The music scene in Minneapolis in the 1980s...that was something. That was really, really incredible. I joined the Doug Maynard Band and Bonnie Raitt hired us to be her opening band. We toured with her. That was in 1980, 1981 and 1982.

  I also sang with Lipps, Inc. The band had a hit with “Funkytown,” (with lead singer Cynthia Johnson). I  joined after “Funkytown.” We had some minor hits (in 1983 on the album 4).

  All this time of course, Prince was hitting the airwaves. Then Prince and The Time did their movie (“Purple Rain,” released in 1984). I met Jesse Johnson in 1985 and I signed with A&M Records. (The first single) “Everybody Dance” made it to #24 on (Billboard Hot 100) Pop charts and made it to #3 on the (Billboard) R&B charts.

  We did lots of shows here in Minneapolis and we recorded the second album (Blueberry Gossip) in L.A. in 1988. Blueberry Gossip did not do that well. It did okay on the R&B charts, but, did not cross over to the Pop charts.

   Dr. Mambo's Combo got together in early 1988.

  Margie's Little Demo (is) something that I'm proud of. I've always known I was a good songwriter. I wrote a song (“I Need You,” co-written with Jesse Johnson), when he and I were working together for Paula Abdul's “Forever Your Girl” album.

  I was lucky to get background singers…on some of my songs (and) I got good guitar players—because, I don't play guitar worth anything. I play keyboards and I love to program drum machines.

  I'm real proud of (the album), because, it not only shows my songwriting ability, but, it also shows my musicianship as well. 

  I never thought that I wouldn't be a rock star. I never thought that I would get this far without a smash hit.

  The Legendary Combo...just a smokin', funky, incredible band... We started way back. We are lucky to hold down a house gig for a long time. 

  The first time I met Prince...I'll never forget it. I was singing with Sue Ann Carwell and we were opening up for a Prince show here in Minneapolis. This was way back-- before I even worked with him-- in 1982.

   Carwell, Melanie Rosales, another singer that I love dearly, and I were backstage and we were eating. They had some food for us backstage and we were hanging out with the guys in Sue Ann's band.

  Prince came in and sat down with a bodyguard. Sue Ann already knew him. She was chummy like “Hey, how are you doing?” went up hugged him and talked with him. I met him and shook his hand. He was sitting down and his bodyguard was standing next to him and he said “Nice to meet you.” He shook my hand. He was very nice and quiet… He's always been a quiet dude.

  Then I went and ate a bunch of food that was on this buffet. I was eating and then I realized that I was making a pig of myself (laughs).

  I was a little embarrassed that, after I met him, I went and ate all this food in front of him. I remember thinking “Oh God, what did I do that for?” But, I'm sure he understood. I was hungry! (Laughs).

  It was just a one-off show. He would do a lot of those here in Minneapolis. We were lucky to get to see him more often, maybe than the rest of the world, because, of course, he was from Minneapolis. He would do a lot of shows, just out of the blue. I think he has always used shows as a way to rehearse and write new songs.

 "American Bandstand..." oh man, yeah. I wore these clothes that were made by Sylvia, a really great dressmaker in Minneapolis, that Jesse (Johnson) knew. She put a hole in the dress that went over my right thigh--there was a hole with some lace there-- a see-through area.

  I did my show on "American Bandstand" and got to talk to Dick Clark. When I was talking to him, he said “Oh, I like your dress. I like your outfit and your coat.” I said “Thanks.” I looked down and the hole had moved a little bit to the middle of my body and it was showing some things. I said “Oh no!” I quickly pulled it over to the side again, but, I was so embarrassed. I don't know how much people saw. That (part of the) experience was embarrassing…

  We were ecstatic, we couldn't believe how much fun we were going to have and we did, we had so much fun. It was better that I could even imagine. It was really uplifting. I thought “Hey, I finally made it big!” (Laughs).

  "Everybody Dance,” that was a great dance groove for the time. The groove was really something and it was well produced and recorded. My singing was light and airy, because, that was the style then.

  If I would've sang with my funky Chaka (Khan) voice or Aretha (Franklin) voice, it wouldn’t have fit the tune. You know? So, I sang it a little lighter and “airier.” That worked. It went with the song really well. It was a stylized song. (Jesse Johnson) wrote that by himself.

  Margaret Cox on the single “Affection,” by Ta Mara and The Seen: "I can honestly say that is my favorite Ta Mara and The Seen song.  That's the best. That was written by Jesse (Johnson) and the bass player for his band, Gerry Hubbard. He definitely wrote at least 50 percent of that song. He and Jesse both put that song together. That was wonderful.

  I am an animal lover and that tiger in the video could sense that about me. He liked me. So, I wasn't afraid of him… Everybody else was just out of their mind scared.  The whole band would leave every time they would start to shoot scenes (with the tiger). They would just take off. The place would be empty and I was like “What? He's a pussycat.”

  I used to think you had to be rich to be happy.

  The music business is tough. You've got to have a good manager and I never did have a really good manager.

   I always thought that I wouldn't go to college, because, I would be busy becoming a rock star. I was always an A student. I always loved school. I have taken some college courses. I took the first one online.

  

  Being in the limelight...oh, I love it! I feel like that's where I was born to be. I love it. It's fun.

  “Saturday Night Live”...oh man, was that a blast! I got to meet all those funny comedians. I wore the shortest dress/skirt known to womankind. I didn't think I could wear a skirt that short, but, I got away with it somehow. I guess.

  Prince was just on fire, he put on a great show. I got to meet Patrice Rushen. She was in Prince's band at that time. For me to be in his band at the same time Rushen was in his band was just heavenly.

  We were touring Europe right after that, but, that was kind of the kick-off show before we toured. I got to tour Europe with Prince and he had hired The Combo to be Mavis Staples'  band. We played all her songs. I sang background and danced around. She sang the tunes and it was a beautiful thing.

   I took risks when I got out of my contract with Jesse Johnson and got out of my contract with Prince. I took risks and they were not good risks. Risks can be bad if you don't know what you're doing.

  I always wanted to work with Prince. I recorded the (MC Flash) album in 1990. Why wasn't it released? That's a mystery to me. I know that Prince was having a hard time with Warner Bros. (Records) and they were shutting down everything he tried to do. It was shelved and there it sits --in “The Vault”-- gathering dust. I loved everything on there. I can't even pick a (favorite) song. He wrote some great tunes, some rockin’ stuff.

  After the MC Flash album, we (later) recorded “Standing at the Altar,” which was released on the album 1-800-NEW-FUNK. That's when I was Margie Cox. (I recorded) a few songs, the main one being “Standing at the Altar.” I thought (the songs) were going to be for a Margie Cox album. 

  He was having troubles with Warner Bros. at that time. He was having his own trouble with his label and, so, I think that "Standing at the Altar" was the single that he was hoping to get me a new (record) deal with. It was only successful as a single and we weren't able to get a new record deal for me, because, of his problems with Warner Bros.  (The song) did pretty well. I didn't make a whole lot of money, but, I made a few thousand bucks.

  I was always under contract to Prince (during the time she recorded with him). My lawyer said let's just try to get to out of this and move on. Prince didn't want to let me go. I was happy about that. To this day, I wish I hadn’t, because, my lawyer wasn't able to get me another (contract).

  I had a studio in my basement and I started writing tunes. I put them down on a disc. It took me a few years to get it all done. I printed 500 copies to see if I could sell them myself and I did. It's called Margie's Little Demo. This year I printed up another 500 and I've sold almost all of them.

  I've learned not too act so quickly or to act in anger or in spite, because, really, when I go back to it, I shouldn't have broken away from Jesse so quickly... We had a misunderstanding and I wish we would have resolved it, because, it just ended up kind of fizzling out. I think we might have been able to put out a third (Ta Mara and The Seen) CD called Tuff Girl. It was something we were working on. The first song we did was “Tuff Girl” and that made it on to (the album) Blueberry Gossip. It was an extra song that we were thinking of using for a third album.

  I think if we had of released it, the third time might have been the charm. 

  When my contract ended with Prince was when I began to be fearful. My lawyer/manager was not moving us forward as I had hoped. That was a mistake. I have made a couple of big bad ones.

  My musical influences...I could narrow it to three or four. When I was a child, The Beatles were a big influence on me. Stevie Wonder. Sly and the Family Stone. I would say Prince and Chaka Khan. Good old rock and soul.       

  Anything that's funky catches my ear; it's gotta be funky. Jesse Johnson and Prince were definitely funky, so, I was happy to be working with them. Aretha and Chaka had the kind of voices that just made me so excited. I started singing along and thinking “Wow, I think I can do this.”

   I was so very lucky that I was raised by a voice teacher. She (Cox's mother) taught voice. She taught at the University of Minnesota  and all my life she taught at home. So, I got to hear that everyday (when) I went home.

  Songwriting is important to me. It's in my blood. Songwriting is an art that I had as child, but, from working with Jesse Johnson and Prince I was able to really learn a lot more about songwriting, so, that I was able to make my own CD.

  I define freedom...I'm lucky to be living in America. I have my own house. I was able to buy my own home. That, right there, is a big freedom for me. Freedom is something that I feel lucky to have.

  Musicians never get up early in the morning. At least not most of the ones I know. I think that's a pretty true statement for the most part.

  I've been through poor management. I've been through some poor business agreements and consequently some poor financial times. But, through music--maybe music helps-- I've been able to keep happy, basically.

  There's no limit... I guess there is no limit to what I can do musically. There's no limit to what The Legendary Combo can do musically. There's no limit to my strength. I still have a good strong voice and a good strong body. So, there's really no limit to me…yet. I can still do it! (Laughs).

  I want people to remember...hmmm. That's a hard one. What do I want people to remember? I guess I want them to remember...boy, oh, boy. That's tough. I want them to remember Margaret Cox and when they come to Minneapolis, look her up sometime, look for her at Bunkers (Music Bar and Grill).

  The Legendary Combo performs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays and Mondays at Bunkers Music Bar and Grill, 761 Washington Ave. N., Minneapolis. For more information call (612) 338-8188 or visit bunkersmusic.com.

  To purchase the album Margie's Little Demo, visit cdbaby.com.

Stay Beautiful, Kristi

--

 Like us on Facebook: Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s and Beautiful Nights.