Palochi reports that R&B artist and Chicago native Jody Watley, who sang "It All Begins With You" at the opening ceremony of Gay Games VII at Soldier Field in Chicago last week, was forbidden to speak of her upcoming Gay Games appearance by Chicago's V103 radio station ("Today's R&B and Old School") during an interview she graciously consented to give them. Apparently, the radio's DJ, who is a friend of Watley's family, told her before the interview that the station manager had demanded that he instruct her not to mention the Gay Games but rather only speak of her (much less significant) appearance at the Virgin Records store. Watley complied with the injunction but later spoke of her disappointment to a reporter at Soldier Field: "It just sort of reaffirms a narrow mindedness and a close mindedness that I think is very unfortunate."
I will readily admit that I was unfamiliar with Jody Watley before hearing her sing at Soldier Field, since I am not very knowledgeable about R&B music. However, after reading about her here, I must say I am very impressed with her. She seems to be a very compassionate and principled lady who has taken risks in her career to speak out for equality both in her life and her lyrics, long before it was as accepted as it is today. She has been heavily involved in fundraising for AIDS research and relief in Africa, and from what I saw on the video clip that I will include later in this post, she seems to be a very sincere and thoughtful person.
I can't improve on what Palochi wrote in his post, so I reproduce the last part here:
If you’re a listener of V-103, feel free to let them know what you think of their tactics.
- WVAZ-FM V103
233 North Michigan Ave, Suite 2700
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 540-2000
http://www.v103.com/main.html
V103 is a Clear Channel Communications Property
Earl Jones, Regional VP/Market Manager
Angela T. Ingram, VP, Communications
Elroy R. C. Smith, Operations Manager
Armando Rivera, Asst. Program Director
Please be aware that parent company Clear Channel’s WKSC (KISS-FM) in Chicago is the home for “Pride Radio.”
As usual, they want our advertising and marketing revenues. But when it comes to community…
And thank you, Ms. Watley, for being such a phenomenal artist and for all you’ve done over the years to show your support for my community. You’re a class act.
Click below to see "behind the scenes" of Jody Watley at Soldier Field...
And, for further reading check out this article on Keithboykin.com.
3 comments:
That's horrible! Poor Jody! i am shocked you aren't familiar with Jody though. her 80's material was not just RnB. It was pretty much in line with all of the other female pop singers of the era (Paula Abdul, Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc) Her newer stuff has been a very cool ecclectic mix of sounds.
Sexbox....
Well, I have a background that is probably a bit different from many gay guys you will meet. If you read my birthday post and note the list of "31 things about me", note numbers 5 and 9, which will give you at least a little peek into my earlier life before I came out in June 2003...part of that included not listening to much popular music back then (i.e. - "anything with drums is evil"). The full story is fun to tell, but I'll just say for now that I have a bit of "catch up" work to do still on entertainment that is pre-2000.
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
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