When I say “Imperial Stargate” I mean to say is that The Imperials and I are leaving one chapter in our lives and entering a portal to the future. You cannot do anything about the past. Like they say, “the past is the past”. The Imperials and I are moving into the future and the future opens lots of possibilities. A lot of people don’t like to take that chance or be pro-active about their possibilities. Not us, man. 

I can remember things about the past – some good, some bad. If you saw the movie, “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russell Crowe, the closing scene is a telling one. Like the character in the film, “I choose not to speak to the past”. This is not just a decision on my part or the group’s, but a feeling we all have now of future.  

We were “Brooklyn street kids”. We all belonged to gangs. Not like the gangs of today but none-the-less, they were gangs. We are performers for 50 years now being thrown through a portal we are stepping up our performances. Thanks to our induction into the Rock HOF this weekend (Fuse TV – 9 PM (ET) - 4/4 broadcast live) we will nationwide.  

The Imperials and I did not like that we were being pigeon-holed and in order to have everyone see us for what we can do onstage, you have to experience today’s Little Anthony & The Imperials. By being honored by our industry peers, performing live at the HOF Saturday night and The Agora Friday night, The Imperials and I now enter the “other side” to take our place with all the greats of rock ‘n roll.  

We will be stamped US certified and inspected, verified and acclaimed “contemporary music legends”. We get to stand on the shoulders of the greats and people like the ones behind End Records, Richard Barrett, Don Costa, Teddy Randazzo, etc. who had a vision. The vision is Little Anthony & The Imperials and they introduced us to the beauty of the written word and the music. They were steering us towards that portal and introduced us to our roots – R&B. Today Little Anthony & The Imperials are carrying on and those R&B roots are shining through. 

Most of all, I would like to thank Kenny Seymour. Kenny opened a portal for us as well. A musical portal composed of musical voice arrangements and was the inspiration to Clarence (Collins). We carry on that torch to this day. Kenny suffered a massive stroke about 9 years ago and he is unable to travel with us to the HOF. Kenny is in our hearts and in every show we do though. Thank you so much Kenny for your musical direction and your “Imperial vision”. We love you man. 

I also don’t want to forget the music teacher Clarence and I had in elementary school, Mrs. Ethel Mannix. She also had a “vision” and she helped us through that portal as well. She introduced us to “musical possibilities” and love of the music we call our own. We did not know it at the time but she set us on a path that has given us a 50+ career.

TEARS ON MY PILLOW AND AVE MARIA 
 

I had forgotten about thid hit song by Jersey guy Dean Friedman - 1977 “Ariel”. It was a fun, quirky song about his teen love for a girl named “Ariel” from Paramus, NJ. A promoter down in Florida sent it on to our pr guy. It’s on YouTube and in the course of the song he sings “Tears On My Pillow and Ave Maria” in a chorus 3 times.  

I can’t even begin to tell you how many other artists have covered our “first hit song”. To this day, I love singing “Tears On My Pillow” with The Imperials because what it represents and how it has endured. You always remember “your first” fondly, well most of the time you do. The flip-side was “Just Two Kinds Of People” was written by Imperial Ernest Wright. That doesn’t happen anymore – two sided hit records. Downloads baby are a good thing and a bad thing. That is jump into the future! 

When you achieve a stature in this business, things like a song like “Ariel” mean more than when you first encountered them. Thanks Dean for including us in your hit. We appreciated it back in ’77 but we really appreciate it today more than ever. 

The same holds true for singer/songwriter Tom Waits. It’s not like we didn’t know these songs and the artists giving us the acclaim. It’s now that we are being inducted into the HOF, all this means oh so much more. Thank you one and all. 

HOF INDUCTIONS 
 

I don’t pretend to be one of the great computer whiz kids. Man, in fact, I am kind of too “old school” but I’m learning little by little. I was doing a search of “Little Anthony & The Imperials” and it is incredible the stuff, references, articles, postings, etc. that come up. I came across one posting that made me curious – jimmypage.com – and I had to go on his site to see what he was saying about The Imperials and me.  

Jimmy Page is a guitar god, we all know that. So, I click on jimmypage.com and he has all the people who are inducting the HOF honorees listed as follows:

How cool is that? Then, I come across the Metallica site and they have us posted on their site as well. Man, I have to thank you guys too. To think that Little Anthony & The Imperials would be in the same sentence with modern hard rock gods like Page and Metallica, that’s sweet. 

USA TODAY ALL THE WAY 

The other day, Tuesday, USA Today did a feature on Little Anthony & The Imperials where they interviewed Clarence and me. The reporter, Steve Jones did one of the best articles ever printed on us. Last year’s Jet Magazine interview was another one come to think of it. It was so precise and it was titled: “Little Anthony finds a way back to your hearts”. Yes. 

Whew, I have to tell you that hit an emotional note with me. I feel that me and the guys are finally being recognized for our R&B body of work and our concert performances. This feature confirmed that. There was a sub-title that said, “Singer and melodic Imperials to be inducted into Rock Hall”. That was icing on chocolate cake, man.  

I understand that our PR guy George Dassinger and one of our new-found fans, record industry vet Bob Merlis were instrumental in making this story happen. Then, Steve Jones, I cannot thank you enough for your appreciation of The Imperials and myself. I loved how you sculpted that feature. Steve even included how I write the weekly column for vegascommunityonline.com as well. Once again, on behalf of The Imperials and me, we thank you all for what you’ve done.  

Oh, before I forget, when you look at the article online (usatoday.com), the live photo accompanying the Steve Jones feature was taken by Barbara Taylor, model/TV personality Niki Taylor’s mom. Barbara used to hang out with us at the old Bachelor’s 3 in the day. It turns out she knows our PR guy and he had her shoot one of our shows a couple of weeks ago. Great work Barbara. 

So, as I am lining up “thank yous” Barbara Taylor has to be on that list too. All of these people – past and present – (and more) have been there for us and now, it is our turn to thank them the best way we know how – our Imperial best.