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

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The Morning Papers: Meet the writer/editor of the Beautiful Nights Blog

This is Part IV in a four-part series on the Beautiful Nights Creative Team:

   Who is K Nicola Dyes?

  The simple answer to that question is that I am the writer/editor of "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s," The Beautiful Nights Blog; the more compelling answer is that I am a person who has discovered a renewed sense of joy in life by combining two of my favorite things: writing and Prince.

  I was literally called out of "retirement" one day in November 2012 when the phone rang and Marcus Scott, of Beautiful Nights, was on the other end. His proposition was simple: to create a blog for his new Prince fan page on Facebook and, to kick it off, he would be able to get me an interview with The Twinz, Maya and Nancy McClean. That was a little over a month and seven posts ago.

  I had not written anything, besides e-mails and greeting cards, in nearly four years. After I was laid off from my job at The Union Democrat, a small-town newspaper, in 2009 I was bitter and frustrated that I could not find another writing job. At some point, I decided it was time to move on. I have languished in different jobs for the past few years to pay the bills: cashier at a pizza restaurant, concierge at The Underground Tour, a tourist attraction in Seattle and now as a front desk agent at a hotel (however, I am currently finding a lot of satisfaction in my current job).

  But, writing was always in heart, and I did not realize how much I missed it until I started doing it again. While interviewing Scott, Alexis Wofford and L'Quita Sanders, the other members of the Beautiful Nights team, I became intrigued by own questions. I thought that maybe people might be interested in the girl who would randomly post on the page and say "read my stories". 

  It is a little unorthodox, but, being a blogger, I think it is okay for me to be more accessible to my readers, which was not possible for me as a newspaper reporter. So, here is a little bit about me:

  
  ?: Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you became involved with Beautiful Nights?

  KD: I have been a diehard Prince fan since I was 15 years old. Although I went to a performing arts high school (School of the Arts in San Francisco, where I played in the band), people at school kind of gave me a hard time for liking Prince. I did not care, because the thing that I loved about Prince, besides his music, was that he was okay with being himself, without giving a damn about what other people thought. In turn, I felt that made it okay for me to do the same. It was a very intense period in my life and Prince music has been my soundtrack ever since. I wanted to know about everything Prince: I sought out all the albums, read all the biographies and articles I could find and went to Prince.org every single day. There was not really anyone at school to share my excitement with, so, I almost became like a "Purple Culture" scholar, amassing all this information to use at a later date.

  I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Russian from San Francisco State University in 2007. I met Scott when I was doing an internship that summer at the (now closed) Kane County Bureau of the Daily Herald in St. Charles, Ill. A mutual friend was having a house party one weekend and he was there. I did not really get to know him until 2008, when I came back for one of the now legendary Prince parties at Berlin, which I did periodically. In turn, he came out to visit me a few months later, when I was living in Sonora, Calif., where I was working as a reporter, and we went to a Prince party in Berkeley. After he left, I mailed him some clippings of some of my stories.

  We have kept in touch, on and off, during the last five years and in that time I moved to Seattle. It was that fateful phone call I mentioned earlier, where I was brought into Beautiful Nights, where they were already in full gear in Chicago. He said he wanted a blog for the page, which he said would make his fan group stand out from all the others, and I was the person who came to mind when he was thinking about a writer. He added that he still had those stories I sent him all those years ago. He came up with the title "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s," which is a play on "I've got the answers to your questions."

Courtesy of K Nicola Dyes

   ?: What area of expertise do you bring to Beautiful Nights?

  KD: I'm a writer, but, more importantly I am an interviewer; you cannot have a great story with a wack interview. My job is to make people who may not want to answer my questions feel comfortable enough to speak freely with me. I'm not afraid to get on the phone with people I never met and talk to them for hours.

  Also, from my days as a reporter, I am able to write effectively on different topics: I covered city and county government; food; travel; religion; business; health and entertainment. However, entertainment writing has always been my passion, particularly interviews with public figures. I cannot lie: I love famous people. During my career, I have been blessed enough to interview Mikhail Baryshnikov, the renowned ballet dancer; Singer and TV Personality Tony Orlando, who, before I interviewed The Twinz, had my undisputed vote for nicest celebrity ever; the late TV Producer David Gerber ("Room 222, "In the Heat of the Night"); Comedians Mark Curry and Victoria Jackson, of Saturday Night Live, among others.

  I am also constantly thinking of new ideas for the blog, all the things I ever wanted to know about Prince, but, was afraid to ask.

  ?: What is the best thing about being apart of Beautiful Nights?

  KD: I get to write about Prince! How cool is that? If there was ever a dream job, this would be it. I get to sit at home or at work or wherever and think about story ideas to related to Prince and there is already an audience in place who will read it. Friends have been imploring to write a blog for years, but, my question was always the same: "About what?" There are a lot of bloggers out there, what was going to make me different?
  Also, I like the fact that this is not a newspaper. There is structure, but, I am no longer governed by a set of rules that, in my opinion, are becoming outdated in as the speed of news increases every moment.

  ?: What would you like to improve about Beautiful Nights?

  KD: Nothing about Beautiful Nights, the group is great, but, I could use a bit more time management and organization on my end. I work full time (including two nights of graveyard shift) and between interviewing, editing and posting, it sometimes feels like there are not enough hours in the day. I want this endeavor to stay fun for me, I never want it to feel like a job. So, I know that the key to that is to get on top things now.

  ?: Who is your favorite protegee and why?

  KD: Jesse Johnson, as a solo artist. But, I would not call him a protegee, I would call him an associated act. I think he is baddest musician to ever come out of Prince's camp. All you need to do is listen to his guitar solos on "Fool's Paradise" and "Lovestruck" if you are not convinced. I'm also a fan of the work he has done for other artists, including Janet Jackson, Vanity, the song "Nights Like This" that he wrote for The Five Heartbeats" soundtrack and his guitar solo on "You Wear it Well" by DeBarge. I do not think he ever got the credit he was due, because people were always comparing him to Prince.

  I also want to give a shout out to Margie Cox, one of Jesse Johnson's protegees, the lead singer of TaMara and the Seen, who also worked with Prince on the unreleased MC Flash project. She is a very talented and underrated singer. I love them both.

  ?: Who would you like to see host the next Beautiful Nights party?

  KD: I would love to meet Jill Jones. I am a big fan of her 1987 album and I have also had the pleasure of listening to some of the cuts of her unreleased second album. In my opinion, she is another artist from the Prince camp who never got her due. In addition to that, she had worked with two of my favorite artists, Teena Marie and Prince and I would love to ask her some questions about that.

Drawing by Clayton Ballard

?: What is the most unique piece of Prince memorabilia you own or have owned in the past?

  KD: I don't just have one! This is a three-part answer:
  A) The first one is a framed charcoal drawing of Prince that a friend of mine drew for me and gave me on for my 29^th birthday. What really made it so cool was that he gave it to me right before we went to go see a Prince concert at the Tacoma Dome in December 2011.
   B) The summer I did my internship at the Daily Herald in 2007 was the same year that the Chicago Bears went to the Super Bowl and Prince did the halftime show and, of, course, the paper sent writers and photographers down to Miami. For my going away present at the end of my stint there, the staff presented me with two framed photographs that the photo editor at the bureau, Rick, had taken himself during the halftime show. One was Prince by himself and the other was him with The Twinz.
  C) My grandmother's late second husband worked as a banquet waiter in some of San Francisco's best hotels for many years. In the early 1990s, he was working at the Clift Hotel when Prince was in town on tour. When I was in high school (around 1998), at the height of my Prince madness, he gave me this very small jar of honey that had a black label with gold letters that said: Prince, Scandalous Sex Suite, featuring Kim Basinger. He said that someone working with Prince had given it to him. He had kept it on his dresser until he gave it to me. I had it on my dresser from that moment all the way through college, until I moved out to accept that internship. I left that jar of honey behind and have not seen it since. In her haste to clean out my old room, so my younger brother could move in, a LOT of things came up missing and that was one of them. When I came home three months later to get my things, I could not find it. I asked her about it and she acted like she had no clue what I was talking about. I eventually forgave her and moved on, but, I am getting a small twinge of sadness just writing about it now
  ?: What would you like see happen with Beautiful Nights in the next year?

  KD: I hope I get to go to the next party! It is kind of difficult being in Seattle, when the rest of the team is in Chicago, but, I am going to find a way to make it work. I also want to expand the readership for "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s" and I am working on ways to expand my fan base. I love promoting Beautiful Nights, because I really believe in it; it is essential to have a place where Prince fans can come together in a positive way.
  I have an interview wish list, too: Margie Cox, Jill Jones, Mazarati and, of course, Prince, although that might be a long time coming. I also have a more large-scale story in mind: an in-depth feature that would be a critical history of Prince.org, from the beginning until now, because that Web site truly fascinates me.
   I also hope that readers at some point become comfortable enough to reach out to me and suggest story ideas. Part of the reason Scott came up with the name "Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s" is because we, at some point, want more member involvement and interaction. I am just the vessel to assemble information for the fans.

  ?: What message do you have for fans of the Beautiful Nights page?

  KD: The fact that people are reading my blog really warms my heart. All the time I spend writing means absolutely nothing if no one is reading. Do not be shy about telling me what you think about my posts-- good, bad or indifferent-- leave comments on the blog, post on my page, inbox me. I would love to hear from you.

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead drawing by Clayton Ballard.

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