Freddie Jackson: Quiet Storm, Rock Me Tonight & Harlem Legacy

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Introduction & Welcome

Sir Daniel: Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points Podcast. I am DJ Sir Daniel

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III. And Sir Daniel, we are about to celebrate the life and career of a timeless voice who we hear every single solitary day. So excited about that we get to do this

Sir Daniel: Absolutely. You know, in doing the Queue Points podcast, um, I think it, we have the, the honor and the duty of lifting up, um, these voices and people that have meant so much to the culture. And today we are lifting up one Freddie Jackson, who passed away just hours ago. And we here at Queue Points podcast, it is our duty to celebrate this gentleman and all that he has contributed to the world of not just R&B, but of just culture period.

Because you're not gonna tell me that you don't remember that episode of, of Golden Girls where he pops up playing the piano in the lounge and is playing "A Small World" for Sophia. You're not gonna tell me you didn't re- recognize Freddie Jackson in that, in that, um, in that segment. Come on now. But I, you know, working in, in radio and, you know, Freddie Jackson of course was a staple in quiet storm music.

[00:01:38] Early '80s Quiet Storm Sound

Sir Daniel: And what I like to call... I, there was this sound in, uh, so his first album came out in '85. So this was the sound developing in the early '80s of just this very sophisticated but funky R&B that was grown, but it had a, it had a groove to it and people... It wasn't quite as, um, it wasn't quite sleazy R&B. It wasn't sleazy R&B, but it was on that edge where it was just really funky but then you had, then it got kinda really classy and quiet storm, soft and warm.

And I just love that we had that mixture of music for that era. And Freddie Jackson was just an icon in that right. You know, born in Harlem.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm

Sir Daniel: Um, he just, just had his birthday, and just passed, he just af- days after turning 70, um, passed away. Um, like I said, "Rock Me Tonight," Capitol Records, April of 1985. Our lives just were not the same after that

Jay Ray: No. Um, hmm. So Rock Me Tonight comes out, and so I am, how old am I? I'm eight. I may be eight. And, um, I am now developing my musical palette, right? So, um, I'm listening to a lot of boogie, I'm listening to ... Hip-hop is creeping in there, right? So by then we had had, uh, so many joints that I liked that were hip hop joints, you know, Doug E.

Fresh and, and Bambaataa, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So I'm developing my own ear for what I, for what I like. And Rock Me Tonight comes out, and first of all, for a debut song in 1985, this is a quiet storm slow jam. Back then the formula was you would drop a up-tempo, your second single would be like the slow jam.

But for Freddie they made the, the really calculated decision of just dropping the slow jam first because, you know, that's what we're about to do. And I think what was unique about it was that song had universal appeal for cross-generation. So I'm eight also enjoying Freddie Jackson and Rock Me Tonight, right?

It- while I'm in the car with my mom and my dad who are also loving that song. So

[00:04:27] Rock Me Tonight as a Childhood Soundtrack

Sir Daniel: Did you have any business listening to that song? 'Cause I was thinking about it. We ain't have no

Jay Ray: when you think about it now. I had no business to like-

Sir Daniel: to like Rock Me Tonight, Juicy Fruit. Those were all s- those were songs that were wildly popular, and they were playing them in the daytime as well, Jay Ray.

Jay Ray: Oh yeah, way ahead. No, now that I think of it, Sir Daniel at, never crossed my mind until you said it. You are absolutely right, where we are just children runnin' around, singing the lyrics, 'cause they're very catchy songs. Shout out to, to Paul Laurence on, on writing that song.

[00:05:02] Church Roots and Band Training

Jay Ray: So let's just jump back into to Freddie's history a little bit, 'cause I think this is really important. Um, Freddie is, Freddie learns and, and cuts his teeth and gets all his training from the church. Freddie is one of those ones, he got his 10,000 hours in the church. So you know when you get, when you get your training from there, you're already ready for the stage because you have had to perform your entire lives, right?

So, uh, born, like you said, born in Harlem, uh, White Rock Baptist Church. This is where he meets Paul Laurence. So Paul Laurence, uh, becomes a, a collaborator of, of Freddie Jackson pretty much throughout his entire career. Shout out to Paul Laurence, who's one of the most prolific songwriters and producers in music history.

Just go to his website and just keep scrolling. He's written so many joints that you love. But anyway, uh, Freddie Jackson, uh, starts to work with Paul Laurence. He had an ensemble, um, called the Laurence-Jones Ensemble and, and Freddie, uh, begins to kinda do work with him in that way before, um, Freddie decides to, to move to LA.

So Freddie moves to LA, gets in with another group out there. Um, that group, what was the name of that group? Maj- uh, Mystic Merlin? Mystic Merlin, yeah, yeah, yeah. And does, like, three records for them. So Freddie is, like, singing with Mystic Merlin, does a few records for them, et cetera, et cetera. But listen.

So

Sir Daniel: record

Jay Ray: do I know that song? I might know that song. I have to listen

Sir Daniel: And you have to listen to it. I, I went into a whole, um, Freddie, Freddie Jackson rabbit hole this morning on the air on the radio show that I produce, and found Mystic, that Magic Man, Mystic Merlin. That's funky. It's funky.

Jay Ray: so yo-

Sir Daniel: set. It's going into the boogie

Jay Ray: yeah, so I, I- one of the things, once again, this is really key. So we talked about the, the church, uh, component of things, but we're also, once again, talking about the importance of bands, right? Um, bands were really key for people to not only continue to, uh, hone their skills in front of an audience, but also learning how to be in the studio.

So that's another skill that Freddie is learning before, of course, making his way back to New York, and that is what starts us down the path to really creating Rock Me Tonight. But Sir Daniel, I have a question for you. Like, going back to that idea of that church training and that band training, how important, like when you hear that, how important is that, you think, for an, a musical artist?

Sir Daniel: Oh my God. It, we've said it time and time again, and I think we need to ma- put it on a shirt. The music back then had that oil on it Singers like Freddie Jackson that cut their teeth in the church and in front of bands and singing background, I mean, putting in the long, hard hours, being faceless, being, but being nameless, I should say, and just putting in the work behind bands and singing, singing all kinds of different music and singing songs really just gave them a lot of training and, and, and, and just sharpen their skills.

Because it's one thing to have a gift, but when you take- when you have that gift and you take care of it, it will propel you even further than you could probably even imagine. And so what I think Freddie Jackson did, and a lot of singers of his time and his ilk, they honored their gifts by putting in a lot of work.

If there was a, a can opening, they were there singing. You know what I'm saying? It, even if it probably wasn't a lot of money involved, but back then it was just about getting seen, getting, getting noticed possibly. And that's what happened for Freddie Jackson, is that he met somebody that was probably, that ended up being one of his, um, greatest friends, greatest collaborators.

Um, he's co-written songs for her. But he had a chance meeting with Melba Moore and who on her own...

Jay Ray: My God

Sir Daniel: And have we done a Melba Moore?

Jay Ray: We haven't, but we will.

Sir Daniel: Okay,

Jay Ray: We haven't, but we will. Yeah

Sir Daniel: because she, she is, she's a gift as well, and she's, man, she's an icon in her own right. But yes, so I said all of that to say it's not only just them sharpening their skills, but it puts them in contact with, with like-minded individuals.

And again, I can't stress how important community is in this era. All of these people that kind of had that, that same sophisticated funk and R&B sound were all impacting each other in their own way and creating a network, a, a web, if you will, of hits and just musical history that, um, is being discovered now by the, by younger generations, and I'm here for it, and I'm glad that we could be a part of it

Jay Ray: Ooh. I, yeah,

[00:10:35] Community Web of Hits

Jay Ray: I love that you described it as kind of a web, because I really do think that's, like, really key. And, and you do see that in the Freddie Jackson kind of story, just kind of like the movement, right? The fact that, okay, he interacts with Paul Laurence as, like, a young person in the church, right?

Ends up doing some work there. M- you know, uh, uh, uh, interacts with Melba Moore and, and, and, and then, but the Melba Moore and Paul Laurence, like, they're working together and, like, there's all this, this web, this, this constant ... Kashif. Oh my God. We gotta do a Kashif sh- we haven't done a Kashif show either.

Oh my God, we gonna get there. We gonna do it. But, so Freddie Jackson ends up singing background for Melba Moore. This is great training for, uh, Freddie because he is, one, next to one of the most, uh, successful, uh, Black women in music, in particular at that time. Melba Moore went from the theater to the recording studio to television.

She was doing it all.

Sir Daniel: Oh

Jay Ray: All of it. And Freddie got a chance to really be in the mix of that. I want to underscore the fact that that community piece, that idea that, uh, that production company that, uh, Melba and her ex-husband, uh, Hush Project- Hush Productions, which has a, right, which has a controversial history, but also has a very important history in, in late '70s and early '80s Black music that absolutely has to be covered.

But them creating this, this microcosm, this place for artists to be able to create, like Freddie Jackson. One of the things I found, uh, as I was doing the research and getting ready for the show that's interesting, 'cause Freddie Isn't on a bunch of disco stuff, which is interesting to me 'cause he is coming of, he is coming, uh, of age in that era, and he has one of those voices that is a voice that would work well on disco records as, like, a lead or a background.

But Freddie didn't see his voice in that way, right? He talked about the fact of, "Listen, I be doing way too much singing to do the disco stuff." And I thought that was really interesting with him, like, in the way he, the way he, he, he did his art.

Sir Daniel: Right

Jay Ray: that was not something that he was able to, to do. But what he did do with his art was, like, very unique to him.

[00:13:27] Retro Nouveau and Refusing Pop

Jay Ray: Like, he knew by the time he signed to Capitol as a solo artist that when they want him to kind of go more pop, Freddie is like, "Nah, that's not where I'm going. What I'm doing is this." This, uh, to your point, more sophisticated R&B. Nelson George has a word for this. He, he called it retro nouveau. It was commonly applied to Sade.

Um, sidebar, which, uh, Freddie Jackson was nominated for Best New Artist. He lost to Sade. Sade won that year in '86, in '86. But that retro nouveau sound coming out of Sade applied to Anita Baker, whose album came out the next year. But Freddie Jackson was also in that mix. So when we're talking about Sade, when we're talking about Anita Baker, when we're talking about, uh, uh, Spandau Ballet and all of these people, Freddie Jackson is right there in that mix, and we have to make sure that we insert his name, too.

[00:14:35] Debut Album and Grammy Nod

Sir Daniel: 'Cause that was his debut. His debut album got a Grammy nod,

Jay Ray: Yep, yep,

Sir Daniel: like right out the bat. And, you know, it says a lot for somebody despite being new, relatively new to the game, and this being his debut record or his first, uh, record deal or dealings with the industry. Being able to advocate for yourself as an artist is not...

It doesn't happen a lot. You know, a lot of people go along to get along because you wanna be in so bad, you wanna be in the game so badly that you're willing to, you know, just take it on, you know, just take it on the wrist and say, "Okay, I'll do this for now, and then later on I'll be able to do it my way."

[00:15:24] Hip-Hop Blends and Harlem Legacy

Sir Daniel: But to Freddie's credit, he made sure that he did it his way from the very beginning. I just had this sidebar moment. It made me think of early blend mixtapes where a lot of the DJs were taking... I remember one of my very first Ron G mixtapes had a lot of R&B songs that had hip- that he would put hip-hop beats under. And Freddie Jackson's "You Are My Lady" and "Rock Me Tonight" over a hip-hop beat goes so hard.

It goes so hard, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it probably, it, they were recorded and they used a lot of drum machines and had an, a, a hard underbeat to it. But it just, made me think of that moment of my, the very first time I got a Ron G mixtape and hearing "You Are My Lady" with, I'm trying to remember which beat was it?

Ah, I have to, I have to think about that. But it was a, it was a cracking beat. It was a cracking beat that Freddie Jackson and a lot of DJs, I p- I think a lot of DJs also like Ron G, who was from Uptown, who was from Harlem, they showed Freddie Jackson a lot of love. Teddy, Ted Smooth was on Instagram the other night when the news broke, and he was heartbroken because Freddie Jackson is so important to that Harlem movement, that the moment and the history of Harlem and the people that came out of Harlem and just New York in general.

I just had a sidebar moment there where I was just thinking about the legacy that he, the, the legacy that he left in New York specifically.

Jay Ray: Mm. I love that so much. Please, uh, once you figure out what that, uh, beat was. Also, we probably need to check YouTube too and see if we can find that actual- 'Cause, you know, every- somebody out there has that blend, and I definitely wanna hear it. Absolutely. Shout out to Ron G. Um, You Are My Lady as the, the second single.

So this is a monster when you think about it. So Rock Me Tonight comes out. Rock Me Tonight is a huge hit. You Are My Lady is another banger, like right out the gate. So you have two monster singles back to back. Uh, You Are My Lady was written by Barry Eastmond. They, uh, who Paul Laurence and Barry Eastmond were working really closely together on this record.

Um, and he wrote that song about his wife. So I thought that was really beautiful. So You Are My Lady actually has this really beautiful backstory where Freddie Jackson is essentially singing, uh, a, a love letter to, to Barry Eastmond's wife. He wrote that song, uh, as a tribute to his wife. And yeah, that joint went to number one, and it became, uh, Freddie's biggest pop hit.

So it went to number 12 on the pop charts, and we've talked about this on the show before, but getting a crossover for Black folks, in particular Black artists in the 1980s, was, was the, the gold standard. It was the thing that folks wanted to do the most frequently, was they wanted to get a, a crossover record.

And so for Freddie Jackson, uh, You Are My Lady became that thing. And, um, that's one of those ones you can still hear today, weddings. Uh, this, this is a wedding staple. But we're also to that point continuing to talk about, um, Quiet Storm as like a, a format. Uh, and Freddie Jackson's probably playing. It's, it's about that time when we're recording this.

The Quiet Storm is just starting. There's probably a Freddie Jackson playing somewhere in the world

[00:19:08] Positive Songs About Women

Sir Daniel: I wanna stay right here real quick about what you said about, um, the song being about, um, his wife, right? Songwriters today I really think y'all are missing out on writing songs about, songs about women in a good light.

Jay Ray: Ooh,

Sir Daniel: Positive songs about women in a good light that will take you, that will live forever.

Like Jay Ray just said, "You Are My Lady" is a wedding song. It is a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a anniversary song. It is a, a proposal song. It lives in so many different facets. It's played at the cookouts, for God's sakes. It lives in so many facets of our community and s- continues to live on, and there, I do not think that there are any more songs like that.

There are, we, our canon is running low.

Jay Ray: Hmm.

[00:20:20] Losing the Titans of Song

Sir Daniel: These, these titans are leaving us. We just lost, um, Peabo Bryson.

James Ingram, we lost him years ago. These men were so important to the community, and I don't think we realize the hole that they've left when it c- because there is a, I think there's a correlation between them singing these songs to and for the community, and the way we are kind of disconnecting with each other on a communal level, and all these silly, um, men versus women, um, arguments that are coming up.

I think there's a correlation, and I could be having a woo-woo moment here,

Jay Ray: you're not wrong

Sir Daniel: I might be reaching, but I really do think that there is a, there's a correlation, and because songs like aren't being written like that anymore, it, there's a division in the ranks. There's a breakdown. And I do think that if songwriter, songwriters, like truly, truly, um, talented songwriters, I understand you, you have to write what's true to you, but there's room for a "You Are My Lady" in your voice.

I think that, I think it's there. I think it can be written. Um, I don't know if it's popular to do that anymore, if there's certain things that are being pushed than others. But I, I don't know. I think that's just my little side note to the, to the composers out there that might watch this, that, that are listening to this and watching this, and could take a page out of what Hush Productions and those, those songwriting groups, the Paul Laurences and the Kashifs and all those people getting together to sing about their human experiences, I think those are things that we can, we desperately need today And I always get like this when somebody leaves us,

Jay Ray: Yeah, we do.

Sir Daniel: low.

We're running low on the

Jay Ray: Yeah, and not, and, and, and in addition to that, I think also these voices were really important. Like, these voices. Like, Freddie Jackson is a masterful singer. You know what I'm saying? Like, that man was a, a, he, he understood his instrument really well. And so I'm also hearing, Sir Daniel, where not only do we need those songwriters to write a You Are My Lady, we need, we need y'all to sing this thing.

Like, I need

Sir Daniel: need you to sing it and mean it, yes

Jay Ray: it and mean it, and I need you to stay in flat foot and stand there in front of that microphone sing this song now. So I do think there is, uh, going back to that training piece, going back to the songwriting piece, but going back to, uh, Freddie Jackson as just, like, a, an amazing, not just a, a singer, not just songwriter, but performer in his own right.

Let me tell you something. We remember Freddie and them, that sequins and them sh- them shoulder pads. We remember because he had to be seen. If he was gonna stand up on that stage and you way back there, you have to see him, and he knew that, right? So master of his instrument and tremendous legacy when we're- And we're just talking about Rock Me Tonight today.

But Freddie Jackson's voice is, is, is, is timeless. But, um,

[00:23:59] Chart Success and Sales

Jay Ray: number one R&B album, right? I think 14 weeks. 14 weeks at number one. In the, in 1985 and '86. That's a whole... There's no streaming.

Sir Daniel: No streaming, and you had to go out and buy physical copies

Jay Ray: You had to go to the store and give them your money to get this, right? So there's that. Number 10 on Billboard.

Um, You Are My Lady becomes this huge hit. And listen, Freddie understood the power of all of this, right? Like, he was just like, "Hey, listen, this is a good ride." But from '85 to '92, we had Tasty Love, Jam Tonight, which I have a theory about that song. I think we'll have to do a sidebar. Y'all need to join our newsletter.

D- I'm not gonna mention that here, but I... Join the newsletter because me and Sir Daniel, we're gonna have a side conversation. We about to have it. We gotta have it. I, uh, yeah. Jam Tonight, Nice 'n Slow, A Little Bit More, which had Melba Moore on it. But yo, this legacy is undeniable.

Sir Daniel: Undeniable, um, incomparable, all of the, the accolades that we can give him, this man is deserving of.

[00:25:24] Tanya Blount and Freddie's Generosity

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Sir Daniel: You mentioned, um, we were talking about how he had formed these relationships with people that he admired and, um, people that took him out on the road and opened up doors for him. I saw Tanya Blount. She made, she, she, she gave a really wonderful testimony in regards to what Freddie Jackson meant to her as a young artist when she first got signed to Polydor, I wanna say. Um, 18 years old, she didn't have any money. Of course, they probably weren't giving her a budget for clothing and whatnot, but he heard her singing, and he was just like, "You know, you were singing your face off."

And when the time came, they had the, they were under the same management. She was being managed by the same company. And he offered, he was like, "Come out on the road with me."

Jay Ray: Uh

Sir Daniel: She didn't have, and again, she didn't have any money, and she, she says, "I was going out there performing in, you know, whatever I had.

My mom didn't have any money, but I was out there singing my face off," and, you know, "I, I'm probably... I, I'm a skin..." She's like, "I'm a little skinny 18-year-old, 18, 19-year-old girl singing out on tour and looking regular."

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm

Sir Daniel: She said after a few nights, Freddie was like, "You know what? You singing your face off.

Come with me. I'm taking you shopping."

Jay Ray: Get it, Freddie

Sir Daniel: And he took, he took her and she s- she describes it as a tuxedo suit, but it was backless.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: So imagine, imagine your, for lack of a better term, your fairy godfather is bestows upon you the outfit that you need to really feel your confidence and get out there and, and perform in front of these people.

And because he c- he hears your gift, he's like, "Oh, no, this girl is s- is singing. She can sing, and I want her to enjoy this experience." Got her out there looking her best, and she just remarked on how kind he was. I keep hearing that in all the tributes I hear how remarkably kind he was as a person, and I think that is so important.

And it, I think it takes you even further, not just in, in the music business, but just in life in general. And I think that's so, I, I... That's even more important when it comes to a person's legacy is how pe- how you made people feel.

[00:28:10] Legacy of Kindness

Sir Daniel: And remarkably, Freddie Jackson touched a lot of people's lives in the most positive way. The tributes that have been pouring in, you know, the Melba Moores, the Regina

Jay Ray: gotta, oh, just envelop these, these people. Like, I remember Meli'sa Morgan, like all of these people who, these ... Ooh, this is a generation of artists that never became Luther Vandross, you know what I'm saying? Um,

Sir Daniel: Mm.

Jay Ray: but they were so important to that era. We're talking, like, that, that early 80- that early '80s to early '90s moment in time where these voices we heard constantly.

And so just wrapping our arms around all of those people, in particular Miss, Miss Melba, um, because one, first of all, she's still out here doing her thing, but knowing, especially when Freddie debuted, how often we saw them together. Like, it was like a thing where Melba would come out as part of the press run to be there to support because she knew what her support could do for him.

And so yeah, man.

[00:29:31] Final Tributes

Jay Ray: Um, so send one up. We're sending one up for Mr. Freddie Jackson. You are so deserving, sir. Um, and w- I, we encourage you, we'll put the link to this, uh, Ron G blend that Sir Daniel got in the, the, the chat, but if there are some other ones, let us know. If you just drop 'em, let us know here's another dope blend that some DJ did with Freddie and hip hop.

We definitely wanna hear it. Let us know what it is, y'all.

Sir Daniel: We absolutely do. Once again, thank you, Freddie Jackson

Jay Ray: Indeed. Thank you, Freddie Jackson.

[00:30:08] Outro and Calls to Action

Jay Ray: thank y'all for hanging out with us. Uh, if you can see our faces and hear our voices, hit the subscribe button wherever you are. Um, check out our website at queuepoints.com. You can get all the goods over there, uh, including conversations about, uh, uh, adjacent artists.

So we have a couple Luther Vandross shows. We have talked about a bunch of people, so definitely go check out our website and listen to some of our archive episodes. Check us out on Substack, where we have some additional content, and, um, make sure that you subscribe to our email newsletter. We appreciate y'all, and we love y'all

Sir Daniel: We absolutely do. And like we say, in this life you have a choice. You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play. I am DJ Sir Daniel

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, y'all

Sir Daniel: And this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on Black music history. We will see you on the next go round for old time's sake.

Jay Ray: Peace, y'all.

Sir Daniel: Peace

[00:31:04] Outro Theme