AN IMPERIAL CHANGE

Michael Starr who writes TV/Radio column “The Starr Report” for the New York Post has written a number of great items on The Imperials and me over the last year or two. Michael, we cannot thank you enough and I have to tell you, I get the NY Post home delivered daily here in Las Vegas. A little morning breakfast and my old hometown paper, the Post, sure helps make my day. Well, Monday I pick up the paper and there is an item on how Robert DeBlanc is joining The Imperials. The NY Post item is absolutely true. Michael Starr had it first and it’s good news and bad news. 

Here is the situation: Harold Jenkins has been an Imperial for over 5 years and he is a close friend. Harold has been having minor throat problems and lately they are starting to affect his performance onstage. He is being treated by his doctors but their treatment is being thwarted by our constant touring, travel and rehearsals. Under doctors’ orders, they advised Harold to stop singing for 3-4 months and Harold notified us right around the time of our induction into the Rock HOF back in April. He felt he had to take leave.

The Imperials and I were speechless and our only concern was for Harold to get better. Harold was concerned as to how The Imperials would perform without him. Enter Robert DeBlanc, who sang with Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Andre Crouch and Aretha Franklin for years. He joins us on Saturday, the 13th of June at the Izod Center/NJ Meadowlands. It was tough to deal with but Harold insisted we “Imperial on without him” - for awhile anyway. Harold is going to be doing our choreography though so although he wouldn’t be on the road, he is still with us.

Harold and now, Robert join the “Imperial” likes of: (the late) Tracy Lord, (retired) Sammy Strain and (original) Nathaniel Rodgers when he hits the stage with Clarence Collins, Ernest Wright and me at our last “Doo Wop Reunion” concert on Saturday, June 13th. Robert is a welcome addition but our real concern is that Harold’s minor problems do not become major ones. Your health is everything and when it hits a friend or loved one, it hits home right through the front door. We may be losing an “Imperial” but we gain one too. Get well Harold and hello Robert DeBlanc.

ON THE AVENUE HOTEL

I love hotels that are cool little boutique hotels. Just because they rate a hotel as 5 stars doesn’t mean it really is “a five star hotel”. On The Avenue is highly rated in my book. The Imperials and I have stayed at the OTA Hotel previously when we were in New York for a number of days months and months ago. The OTA hotel and its staff treated us gloriously and we’re heading back there next week. I cannot recommend a better hotel than On The Avenue – Upper Westside New York. 

On The Avenue is located off Broadway on 77th Street – tell them Little Anthony sent you – and if you see us in the lobby, say hello.

GOING BACK EAST – ENDING AN ERA

Well, I’m off again and like I mentioned, I’m heading back to New York, my other hometown. This trip is for over a week-and-half, and that makes it bittersweet. The show on Saturday, June 13th at the Izod Center – “a 20th Anniversary Pure Doo Wop” – is an end of an era for us. I’ve been talking a lot in this column about how after this engagement at the Izod Center we’ll say good-bye to all those so-called “Doo Wop shows”. I see this as a good thing for us all. 

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I have some push-my-buttons strong opinions concerning things like “tagging and categorizing the singing groups of that era”. The term “Doo Wop” didn’t develop until after almost 10 years later. These early rock vocal groups started on Baltimore street corners and it was a city thing. It spread to New York and grew under street lights and in subway corridors. As far as I am concerned, all those early ‘50s groups are not “Doo Wop” at all. It is a coined-stigma they don’t deserve and negates the groups’ contributions to the musical evolution we call rock ‘n roll. I was there.

These early vocal groups were far from mediocre and they were creating an American music genre unknowingly. Artists need to expand their art. If for some reason you limit that artistic expression to one form only - it will turn to boredom. I feel that God did not make artistic people to be left to only one form of his or her creativity. Artistry requires its own room to move and once labeled, it becomes bolted to the ground and immobile. 

LA&TIs did those “Doo Wop shows” for money simply put. Our half-hour set after 6-7 other artists cheats us and our audience and it is time to say good-bye to “Doo Wop”. We are never going to reach our musical destiny if we continue to “headline - special guests” at a “Doo Wop Reunion show”. LA&TIs are one of the best performing groups out there.

So, we say good-bye to “Doo Wop” but that doesn’t mean we will stop performing our own full concerts with guest artists like Mary Wilson and Deniece Williams. I heard a rumor and I don’t like to spread things too soon but I hear there may be a possible tour with Petula Clark. Please don’t let it get out – OK? 

The Imperials and I are making a huge step in our now 50+ career and it’s exciting. I have to tell you, the guys are pretty much following my lead on this one. I don’t blame them for their concern. Changes are tough but I keep saying that we are stepping through the portal, and they stick by me. 

Clarence, Ernest and I have been close friends since we were 6 years old. Growing up in Ft. Greene – Brooklyn, we maintain a friendship and a bond we’ll always have. As career partners we’re enjoying a success in 2009 that we only dreamt of as kids. 

I keep saying “our Imperial best is yet to come”. That isn’t just a catch phrase – I mean it.

THE UPCOMING ROCK HOF ANNIVERSARY

I’m sorry but I can’t keep a secret. The Rock HOF invited us to an anniversary celebration in North Carolina and we readily agreed. I am so proud of being in the Rock HOF that at times I find myself beaming. It means LA&TIs arrived and that recognition is just so sweet at this stage of our career. It is a blessing.

The initial guest list includes my friend Paul Simon, my inductee buddies Metallica, the great Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin (we sang at her birthday party) and I believe Paul McCartney. 

I have to tell you when I was singing on those street corners back in teen Brooklyn, I didn’t know where it would take me. In the last two years, the awards and level of appreciation LA&TIs have received is incredible. I love every minute of this part of the movie. I get to sing for my livelihood and that ain’t working for me. I joke that I have never worked a day in my life since that street corner. I love what I do and this phase of the career of LA&TIs is just amazing.

I have to thank George Dassinger, our publicist, for the vision he had two years ago. George’s pr/marketing, planning and the campaign he implemented pushed us to another level. Clarence said, “Twan he is the one” and Clarence was right, man. George was an element (marketing and public relations) Little Anthony & The Imperials needed. (By-the-way, Clarence always calls me ‘Twan”.) Thanks George for everything.

APOLLO THEATER’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

Like I mentioned, I read the NY Post every day and I came across Cindy Adams column on the 75th Anniversary of the Apollo. It sounded like it was real festive and a who’s who including: Bill Cosby, Patti LaBelle, Prince, Quincy Jones, Jamie Foxx, Phylicia Rashad, Ruby Dee. Cindy Adams column made me think back to the time I auditioned at The Apollo. You know what? They told me that I did not sing good enough. Look for another job kid. When Little Anthony & The Imperials were inducted into the Apollo’s HOF years later, they forgot that they had shown me the door once before. Yes!

I understand The Apollo has gone through major construction and extensive remodeling. There is supposed be a “jazz museum” incorporated into the theater complex and a new state-of-the-art sound system. It is truly one of the last great performance theaters. Standing onstage it gives you a thrill as a “performer” few stages can. 

Getting a standing ovation at The Apollo was a mission. LA&TIs’ career escalated thereafter. The Apollo Theater is one of the last legendary New York halls left. It has a new coat of paint and a new ongoing vitality. I would love for Little Anthony & The Imperials to do a Christmas concert there. “A Little Anthony & The Imperials Christmas At The World Famous Apollo Theater” has a good ring to it.