By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
While reflecting upon those giants who joined the ancestors in 2024, I recognized how fortunate I have been in writing this column over the years. Please allow me to share how our paths have crossed.
John Amos – My East Orange, New Jersey homie! A powerful actor, presence, and humanitarian.
Wally Amos – I was shocked to run into the former agent, author, and businessman of Famous Amos cookie fame as an elder in South Carolina. He oozed positivity.
Erica Ash – I crushed a bit on the stately comic actress (“MADTv” “Survivor’s Remorse”) when we met at the NAACP Image Awards. So very talented. Gone much too soon.
Jimmy Carter – The first president I had the pleasure to meet after an invitation from his dear wife Roslyn Carter to cover the first Black Music Month Celebration at the White House.
John C. Curry – My Uncle, “The Old Soldier,” who was one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The D.C. veteran transitioned at the age of 102 and is survived by his loving centenarian wife, Gloria Curry.
Phil Donahue/Judith Jamison – The pioneering daytime talk show host and groundbreaking ballerina and later artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater both consented to my interviews for a local cable access station. They were class personified.
Tom Ficklin – A beloved figure in Connecticut media and politics. The co-owner of the New Haven Independent was the first to publish one of this writer’s columns — for which I am eternally grateful.
Louis Gossett Jr. – He was so uniquely forthcoming about his fascinating life from winning the Oscar to fortunately just missing being in the house where Charles Manson had attendees slaughtered.
Rickey Henderson – During his championship season with the Toronto Blue Jays, I was able to stand behind the batting cage as the hall of famer got his swings in. Rickey was warm to me. Albert “Joey” Belle told me to get the hell out of there!
Sheila Jackson Lee – Became acquainted with the legendary Texas representative as she was stumping for Hillary Clinton’s first presidential run along with America Ferrara, Amber Tamblyn and Keyshawn Johnson. You could tell she was a force to be reckoned with.
Tito Jackson – The bowler wearing guitarist for the legendary Jackson 5 took the time to call from an airport for a conversation. We talked about his love of the blues and how he was fortunate enough to be able to jam with his heroes from BB King to Jimi Hendrix!
Quincy Jones – Interviewed the maestro at the Apollo Theater premiere of the 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones.” Virtually everyone in the music industry was in attendance and he was a true boss.
James Earl Jones – Experienced him in action live on Broadway in his tour-de-force performance as Troy in August Wilson’s “Fences.” How appropriate that they should name a NYC theatre after him.
Dexter Scott King – Got to know the son of civil rights icons Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. a bit during my Atlanta years. I was admittedly taken a bit aback when he opened to me at a party about dating in the city and confiding his belief on who had his father killed – which he later went public with.
Richard Parsons – The go-to businessman who served as a Time Warner chairman, interim president of the Los Angeles Clippers and so much more was a sly towering presence when we met at the Harlem restaurant Cecil’s/Minton’s of which he became an owner.
David Sanborn – The cool saxophonist you knew from his signature sound that peppered many recordings over the years. He was one of the first performers I got to see in concert and would later catch up with him in the early 2000s when he shared a surprising disdain for CDs that were too long.
O.J. Simpson – Was at Heinz Field at what he referred to as his proudest moment with the Buffalo Bills rushing for 227 yards in a 1975 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Steel Curtain. Afterwards, I was allowed to board the bus and snap a rare shot of the then bearded running back.
Tony Todd – What a thrill it was to hear the storied voice of the “Candyman” actor over a phone dropping gems like “With fame comes temptation. If you have a gift, you have to be ready.”
Carl Weathers –The actor best known as Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies told me he was almost Marvel’s first filmed Luke Cage, that he wished to play Bass Reeves and Frederick Douglass, and wanted to produce a film on Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton (with whom he had several one-on-one meetings).
May their works and memories live on eternally!
TASTY QUIP: “I shouldn’t have, honestly. Some of these things are the reason the enemy lets you become famous is your ability to tear down your own kind. No matter how high they are. As a Black man, (I saw it as) if you don’t love yourself, you don’t love me. So, those were the jokes of a man that was hurt by an icon. The fact that years later Janet Jackson said she still loves me, despite the jokes I told about her brother, was probably one of the most magnificent things. Because I say a lot of hilarious s–t, but it costs me every time.” – KATT WILLIAMS on his earlier Michael Jackson jokes at Vulture Festival
CLIPPETTES: Prince, Frankie Beverly, Roxanne Shanté, Dr. Bobby Jones, Taj Mahal, Erroll Garner, Tania León, Frankie Valli, and others will receive 2025 Lifetime Achievement Grammys in the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Ceremony to take place in L.A. on Feb. 1 …
Afro Bowie – A Progressive Birthday Celebration at the Teragram Ballroom on Jan. 9 will present a funk/punk exploration of the music, art and legacy of David Bowie performed by an all-star band featuring Omar Hakim, Living Colour’s Corey Glover and Vernon Reid, Norwood Fisher (of Fishbone fame), Moby and more.
TASTY QUIP: “It is mind-boggling to me that you would take your precious Christmas day and watch a performance of someone you hate and you don’t think has talent so that you can go talk about it later. Obviously, you are so obsessed with them, addicted to them, and secretly admire them, wish you could be them, that you cannot help but to watch and critique and comment and say dumb ridiculous stuff that makes you look like a joke!!” – TINA KNOWLES on haters of her daughter Beyonce’s Netflix halftime performance
TC ON TV: Jan 3 – “The Front Room” (MAX): Brandy Norwood portrays a newly pregnant bride who discovers she has the mother-in-law from hell.
Jan. 4 – Apple TV+ will be totally free through Jan. 5 on any iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, smart TV, or gaming console with the Apple TV app. No subscription needed. Take in “Ted Lasso,” Maya Rudolph’s “Loot,” Samuel L. Jackson in “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” and much more.
Jan. 5 – The 82nd Annual Golden Globes” (CBS): Nikki Glaser hosts from the Beverly Hilton where Viola Davis and Ted Danson will receive honorary awards.
Jan. 6 – “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” (Vice): The network reenters late night TV with this pairing premiering with a holiday recap and the following evening’s premiere of “Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Ochocinco.”
Jan. 7 – “Coach Prime” (Prime): More of Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes program. “Gabriel Iglesias: Legend of Fluffy” (Netflix): The comic reminisces on the perils of life: from dating to home break-ins. “Finding Your Roots” (PBS): Henry Louis Gates Jr. introduces actors Lea Salonga and Amanda Seyfried to their past relatives. “Kitchen Nightmares” (Fox): Gordon Ramsay arrives in New Orleans to help a lost owner in time for Super Bowl LIX. “Abbott Elementary” (ABC): A crossover event with “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” “Will Trent” (ABC): Gina Rodriquez (“Jane the Virgin”) joins the show. “Doc” (Fox): Amirah Vann (“How to Get Away with Murder”) is featured in this new series.
Jan. 8 – “The Jennifer Hudson Show” (Syn): O’Shea Jackson Jr. (“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera”) & Lee Jung-Jae (“Netflix’s Squid Games”) “Dark Side of the Cage” (Vice): “Kimbo Slice: Rise of a Backyard Brawler” tells the story of the viral Florida street fighter who rose to MMA superstardom.
Jan. 9 – “On Call” (Prime): Eriq La Salle (“ER”) is an executive producer, director and co-star of this half-hour police drama based in Long Beach. “The Upshaws” (Netflix): A sixth season for the raunchy sitcom featuring Mike Epps, Wanda Sykes and Kim Fields. “Hollywood Squares” (CBS): The reboot premieres with a new host in Nate Burleson of “CBS Mornings,” and celebrity guests including Tyra Banks, Tiffany Haddish, Tichina Arnold, Nicole Byer, Ms. Pat, Jeff Ross and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
END QUOTE: “There is always an opportunity to start again and again, if the old ways were not working last year, look for better ways of doing it in the new year and start again afresh.” – BAMIGBOYE OLUROTIMI
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached attastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.
