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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1981)
Portland Observar July 9. 19d i Kayo 9 ENTERTAINMENT HAPPENINGS \ ENTERTAINMENT Grassroot News N.W. - The instructions for disseminating and instilling the 3 R’ s were radically altered in the late 60s when the world was introduced to Sesame Street. From this platform came the “ Muppets” and a spin-off o f “ The Electric C om pany” which is geared fo r grade schoolers and fo r the viewers o f Sesame Street to graduate into. As a trendsetter on the screen in the early 70s,Sesame Street has envolved into a trendsetter fo r Theater in the early 80s w ith a travelling cast that in cludes Super G ro o v e r, C o o kie M on ster and Big B ird . F or 11 m onths “ Sesame Street L ive ” toured N orth Am erica and their last public p e rfo r mance was a five day run in Portland. It should be o f no surprise that Sesame Street ventured in to live p e rfo r mances. But a pleasant surprise was the discovery that the main characters o f the show are Black. Tom Sanford is the Green Seedy Bird and a Keystone Cop. Lionel Douglass portrayed Big Bird and another Keystone Cop, along w ith D e rric k “ K o o ly ” Jackson as G ro ve r and B ria n T u c k e r was the varacious Cookie Monster. Bruca Broussard, Observer publisher and guest host on K EX’s “ Northwest at N ight,” Interviews Freddye Petett. executive director of the Portland Urban League, and school board m em ber Herb Cawthorne. (Photo: James E. Alterby) COMING UP ON "NORTHWEST AT NIGHT" WITH HOSTED ANDERSON: Thursday, July 9, 7:00 p .m . - Diver Don Reed talks w ith Ed Sesame Street, whether perform ed on the screen or the stage has one w orking concern, and th a t’ s to teach children basic skills in an enjoyable way. “ They don’ t just make learning all cold and strict, they add songs to the process. The count comes along and counts everything he sees. It ’ s a pleasure instead o f a straight learning process,” answered Big Bird to a question about the uniqueness o f Sesame Street. The Seedy Bird said the reason why Sesame Street has been successful in teaching the basic skills to T hird W orld children is that “ The Sesame Street characters are able to id e n tify w ith the children, like the children are able to identify with them. They don 't have to be a cer tain color. Big Bird is yellow and Cookie Monster is blue. Since there is no certain color o f the character, any kid can relate.” One general criticism o f the Sesame Street form at is one surrounding the quick pace o f their teaching process. It starts with a 20 second plot on count ing to 20 and makes a sw itch to “ W ho are the people in y o u r n eigh borhood? Seedy Bird responded: “ When a child sees M r. Rogers they see a guy s ittin g dow n ta k in g his shoes o f f as opposed to Big B ird w ho is b right.C hildren can relate to him as a fantsy character better than an adult can. Big Bird can co un t, the C ookie M onster eats cookies and G rover is dumb like some little kids. Since an adult leveled that charge, well. I ’ ll let our record speak fo r itse lf.” about experiences at M a rin e w o rld -A fric a , U S A , in the San Francisco Bay area, and all the whales, dolphins, sharks, etc. 8:P .M . - Daytime fans w ill want to talk directly w ith “ Wheel o f F o rtu n e ” game-show host C huck W o o le ry and his p re tty sidekick Susan Stanford. They’ re in P ortland this week to line up contestants fo r their show. Friday, July 10, 7PM: - M ajorie Michaels joins host Ed A n derson, to talk about some o f the m yriad ways to use wine - and you thought drinking was the main use. She says you can “ Stay H ea lthy w ith W in e .” D id you ever hear o f a w ine-cucum ber mask fo r your complexion? Monday, July 13, 7PM: - The story o f Jim m y F ra ttia n o is also the story o f “ The Last M afioso,” at least according to Ovid Demaris. H e’ s Ed A nderson’ s guest to n ig h t on “ N orthw est at N ig h t.” Tuesday, July 14, 7PM: - How many themes are there about the end o f the w orld? Charles B e rlitz, renowned a u th o r, ex plores most o f them, as detailed in his book “ Doomsday I999.” Pictured left to right: Theresa Allen, Derrick Johnson, Eileen Clark, Verrane Tucker. Loliha Foster, and Lionel Douglas. (Photo by: Richard J. Brown) make money and enjoy it. W ith the character o f Grover, he has to be loose and the years o f dancing have helped us to dance loose,” said Lionel “ Big B ird” Douglass as he reflected. The main clement that they a ll share is a concern fo r the children in the audience. The glow and smile that they create is enough reward for them. GOLD EAGLE FISH MARKET CULTURED PROTEIN FED CATFISH........... 92.59/lb GAR...................................................................$2.25/lb GOO.................................................................. •1.69/lb NEW ORLEANS OYSTER.............................. $1.99/jar Flown in daily from Louisiana at a low low price. We have DMSO VIVIAN KITTY CYNTHIA M A R YA N N KITTY AND THE HAYWOODS Marquia Taylor. 8 years of age, pose with Sesame Street charac ters. (Photo by: Richard J. Brown) Brian Tucker, the Cookie Monster, gave an account o f how he started in Sesame Street Live. “ M y friend, Grover and I were in a group called the ‘ Dynamic Boppers’ and I was one o f the skaters. The first Cookie Monster dropped out and they took my word that 1 could skate and gave me the part. The rest o f the group were members o f funk-dance group ‘ The Lockers.’ The dance th at's hot now is called the Pop Bop. We influenced the Black style o f the dance and brought it up to date. What we're doing now is fun and we WEST COAST IS THE PLACE FOR C U S T O M F R A M IN G •IN C E I M S We have all the currant tranda in Interior Framing Rick Oaka. Contemporary Metals. Oriental Patterns, Natural Woods. Gold Leaf Traditional Our Expert Sales Consultants are available to assist you with all your framing requirements. WEST COAST PICTURE CORP. 6406 N E. Skidmore 242 7295 VISA Hours: $-5 Monday Saturday MASTERCHARGE They have personally invited you to fly the friendly skies and have told you to start your day with a pow-pow powerful feeling. Perhaps you enjoyed the real thing at their suggestion or went to M cD onald’ s because they told you it was your kind o f place. Over the past several years they have probably told you to eat more foods, do more things and go more places than any singing fam ily in the business. So who deserves a break today more than K itty and the H a y woods, whose new Excuse Me, I'v e G o t A L ife To C atch LP represents their capitol debut (A p ril 1981). K itty H ayw ood and her sisters — V iv ia n , and M a ry A n n — have been singing “ Since we were to ts ,” says K itty . “ Everyday a lte r hom ework we would gather around the piano w ith our m other and sing. T h a t’ s how we learned to harm onize.” The siblings’ mother, M ary L. Haywood, an active church member and the congregational piano player, supplied them with in spirational m otivation, and their first public singing appearance was in the church choir. In 1971 K itty entered and won a cross-country talent contest conducted by CBS television to fin d perform ers fo r a summer replacement show called “ New Comers. ” K itty was chosen as w inner out o f 200 applicants in the Chicago area. A lthough the TV show never got o ff the ground, K itty and the Haywood sisters were flooded w ith o ffe rs to record background vocals on various album s. They were soon heard on p rojects by A re th a F ra n k lin , C u rtis M ayfield, Tyrone Davis and M innie Riperton. They also appeared on stage backing several artists, including Roberta Flack and Quincy Jones. One night the Haywood trio was in a studio putting finishing touches on a track when an engineer asked them if they would like to audition for a radio commercial. Tne sisters agreed, got the job, and have been doing commercial jingles on a steady basis ever since; among their credits are Un'ted Airlines, Cherrio-s, Coca-cola and M cDonald’ s spots. In 1976 V iv ia n ’ s dau gh te r, C y n th ia , jo in e d the H ayw oods. “ She was always around us when we were singing and she just happened to fall into it , ” says K itty. W orking as a quartet, the group recorded an album. Love Shop. that was produced by the Ohio Players in 1977. The l,P enjoyed but moderate sales, so the Haywoods returned, undaun ted, to t the jing le s studios. They did not consider another fo ra y in to the record business u ntil 1979 when one o f their jungle producers asked them to sing on a demo o f nursery rhymes set to disco music. The demo turned out well and C apitol Records picked it up, releasing it as “ Disco F a iry la n d " by K itty Hayw ood. The q u a lity o f the vocal perform ance was fine enough to w arrant C a p ito l’ s signing K itty and the haywoods to an exclusive contract last year. These four young ladies enjoy their vocation tremendously and they make Excuse Me. I ’ve G ot A L ife To Catch a fun-filled experience. The record is a testament to their love fo r harmonizing and represents a fine mix o f material. “ W e’ re com fortable w ith all kinds o f music, from soul ballads to spiritual num bers," acknowledges K itty. “ We could sing every day.” As a matter o f fact, they do. There are still the daily calls from producers fo r the Haywoods t do jingles, and now there is the business o f supporting their revitalized record career. “ W e’ re ready,” says K itty . “ W e've worked out all the vocal parts and we have the entire album choreographed. We’ re even going to make o u tfits .” You w ill have to excuse K itty and the Haywoods now - they have a life to catch. If you wa to stay on top, you have to stay in touch. Ram has th e sign al that k eep s you in co n sta n t to u ch . 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