Monthly Archives September 2010

Mmmm…does every white guy need a Black man to help his ass? LOL???
 
Lothar is Mandrake’s best friend and crime-fighting companion. Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was then “Prince of the Seven Nations”, a mighty federation of jungle tribes. He foolishly passed on the chance to become king but decided to followed Mandrake on his world travels, fighting crime and villains from all over the world. Lothar is often referred to as the strongest man in the world with the exception of perhaps Hojo — Mandrake’s chef and secret chief of Inter Intel.

The character Fat Albert first appeared in Bill Cosby’s stand-up comedy routine “Buck Buck,” as recorded on his 1967 album Revenge. The stories were based upon Cosby’s tales about growing up in inner city North Philadelphia. In 1969, Cosby and veteran animator Ken Mundie brought Fat Albert to animation in a one-shot prime-time special entitled Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert. The special, which aired on NBC, was a hybrid of live-action and animation.

Say what you want about mink. I don’t own a fur but that’s not to say I never wanted one. I remember the BLACKGLAMA ads like it was yesterday and with Janet Jackson catchin some heat for her participation I had to get the pics of the sexy sistas from the late 1960′s and 1970′s who graced the ads.

In April 1972, Gold Key Comics launched a comic adaptation of the Harlem Globetrotters animated series; their first comic book appearance was in issue #8 of Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera Fun-In, published in July 1971.

 
Aretha, “The Queen of Soul,” Franklin has chosen Halle Berry and Denzel Washington to star in her forthcoming biopic. Berry would portray Franklin in the film, that some folks find kind of strange that she didn’t pick a singer to portray her. Back in 2007, Franklin spoke about Jennifer Hudson being perfect for the job backstage at that year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.

An internationally acclaimed opera and concert singer, Mattiwilda Dobbs has a voice often compared to the clear and resonant sound of a bell and she is known for warm, intimate performances. Only two Blacks sang at the Metropolitan Opera before her, and, appearing in Rigoletto in 1956, she was the first Black to perform a romantic lead on that stage.

Who could forget the days of Cheech and Chong. Up In Smoke and all the rest of their comedy reflected their hippie and drug based roots. Among their more famous routines was Basketball Jones, a song which was sung in falsetto by Cheech Marin, playing the title character Tyrone (as in “tie-your-own”) Shoelaces.

Sissieretta Jones aka Black Patti (1869-1933) was a pioneer of Black operatic singing, and she paved the way for a long list of black opera singers to follow, including Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, Leontyne Price, and Grace Bumbry, among others.

Eartha Kitt established herself in film, theater, cabaret, music and on television. By the time she was 20, Eartha was a featured dancer and vocalist in the Katherine Dunham Dance Company Troupe and was touring Europe where she was seen by Orson Wells who was quoted as calling her ”the most exciting woman in the world”.

 
Lauryn Hill made a special appearance at this year’s “Rock The Bells” concert in New York recently (8/29). Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Swizz Beatz, Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Bokeem Woodbine, Mary J. Blige, Michael Ealy, John Legend, Tracy Morgan and Estelle were all in the audience for a long awaited homecoming.