Ep. 207 - Lionel Richie's Encore of Empathy

Minnesota Nice at Lionel Richie & Earth, Wind & Fire + A Day with Jimmy Jam at Special Olympics 

The hosts recap attending the Earth, Wind & Fire and Lionel Richie concert in St. Paul, including memories of their first concert together decades ago, Earth, Wind & Fire’s energetic set and deep catalog, and a merch moment that coincided with seeing a recent KCP guest. Lionel Richie opened the tour with “Hello” but appeared unwell, sweating and dizzy, performed “Dancing on the Ceiling” seated, called an unexpected intermission, and was later reported hospitalized; a band member announced the show couldn’t continue. 

The hosts highlight how the crowd responded with concern and applause rather than anger, calling it a proud example of Minnesota kindness. They also discuss why artists start tours in Minnesota, tangent into guitar solo rankings, and share a story about guiding Jimmy Jam at an ESPN Special Olympics Unified Sports Challenge, describing him as gracious and dedicated, including his weight-loss journey and family reconnection.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

We're listening to the number two kindness podcast in the world, according to FeedSpot.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

Welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where here we are, once again, hoping to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota kindness that it desperately needs. We got a little uh we got some business to attend to here. We have uh what we're gonna I'm gonna call this a shorty. I uh just wanted to one uh thank you guys for uh you know the show must go on, even though I'm at a Lionel Ritchie uh Earth, Wind and Fire concert. And did you mention that you know 40 years ago it was the first concert Mrs. Schweitz and I went to? We alluded to it. We weren't sure of the details. Yeah, yeah. It was the first concert that we ever went to. What I remember most vividly about it was we wanted to stay until he sang the song truly, and I had to pee so bad. But you did stay? I I did, I think. I think I might have gotten uromycitisis. Whoa. Yeah, I remember when I went into the urinal. I mean, I could have knocked the porcelain off of the wall. I had to pee some. Is that too much? Is that too much? Okay, it could be. Should we talk about prostate things again? We've talked about that.

SPEAKER_05 1:23

That was a 50-year-old Pearson podcast over here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

So we can get sponsored. Hello, how are you? Hi. Hi, Jeff. Hey, welcome. I hope to be able to do that. Thanks for coming back and sitting back in the seat. Back in my house, yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:36

That was very we we we did it, but uh we'll see. You know, I guess the our view our listeners will tell us.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

I mean, it's hard to do a show without the talent, right? That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 1:46

It really exposed how um how uh there was something, there's a there's an energy that we fall into that's it's it's easy. And I was sitting in your seat and I was what come again.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

The intro's not hard, it's it's really about keeping it going. And somehow the three of us It's about the reps, according to my guy at uh my my mentor at Eagle Brook. He's like, Jeff, you just need the reps, you just need more reps. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

But anyway, I I we really appreciate your energy that you bring in. How you keep things going. It's you have a skill, and it's uh speaking of reps.

SPEAKER_04 2:17

When we're done here, we're gonna hit the weights. We're gonna get we're gonna get chat. Leg day? No, it's never leg day. It's never leg day. Uh tell us about the show. So I wanted to talk a little bit about the show because I experienced a dose of Minnesota nice, Minnesota kindness, Minnesota just vibe that was very it made me proud to be a Minnesotan. So here's what happened. We're at the concert, and uh I uh sit down at my seat, and there's these four women who happen to be from My Not, is that in North Dakota? So my knot, and they're all wearing their same matching t-shirts, and they are the same age that we are. Lionel for life? Uh no, they're wearing Earth, Wind, and Fire t-shirts. So it was the Earth, Wind and Fire and uh and Lionel Richie concert, just so you know. And I sat down and you know, KG and I are the first ones walking, and I'm sure those two women are looking the four women are like, Oh my god, we gotta sit next to these big tubs. You know, they're gonna take up all this space.

SPEAKER_05 3:15

But very before you what was the average age, would you say at this show?

SPEAKER_04 3:19

We were young. That's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_05 3:21

Yeah, yeah, it's when the virus been around a long time.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

It was we were on the younger side of I mean, I would say we were probably the average age, but the uh the the the median age was yeah, I mean it was we're not gonna get into math. We've never been.

SPEAKER_05 3:36

It's just interesting to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:38

Um no, it was a very eclectic group of people. Cool. I mean, there were I could tell there were like grandparents there with their grandchildren, which was really kind of fun to see. You know, I have always been a fan of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Yep, but I did not realize just how deep their catalog was. Every song that they played, you know, I'm not a big dancer guy, but I got off my backside and got up, and I was kind of, you know, tonight. Oh, yeah. And so much fun to watch that band. I think the the guys are like all like 75 to 77 years old. Maurice White, still the bass player. The core Verde. Verde White, yeah. Maurice passed away. He wasn't there. That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

What was that? They do choreograph them though, don't they?

SPEAKER_04 4:23

Yeah, that makes it so fun with the horns and the the horns, and they had this one guy who essentially took over Maurice White's parts. Yes. You know, Philip Bailey, you know, who did Easy Lover with uh with Phil Collins. But they had this one guy, and he's jumping around. He's uh he's playing like the drums, like just sort of like he wasn't like up on the kits. He's a percussionist kind of. But like, and he's like jumping up and kicking the the the I mean it was insane. So I looked him up. He's 69 years old.

SPEAKER_05 4:55

There you go. This stuff keeps you young when you're when you're on that level. It's true. Was it was it mixed, was there young guys mixed in that were kind of like do you think it was not original? Yeah, it wasn't all original partners.

SPEAKER_04 5:05

No, so but the the three of the four original guys, which includes you know, Philip Bailey, this guy named Johnson, and then Verdeen, who's the the famous bass player, dances and plays. And he's just mean bass man. You know, lanky guy. Yeah. Um, and then um Philip Bailey's son is also a singer. Keep it in the family, yeah. Keep it but so there were a couple of younger guys that you know that helped with the energy sometimes. Energy, but also you know, you your voice, you start to lose your voice a little bit uh, you know, after singing for 50 some years. Yeah, and if you got your son that's carrying that sound of your voice, you guys can keep that going. That's very it was very, it was very fun. Sounded great. Okay, energy was great. They played for just over an hour. Oh it was absolutely wonderful. So there's a little break between what's their big song September to Rimbo was that their big last song? That was their last song, of course. Okay, and you know, we were just it was fantastic, the whole thing. Um uh just uh uh fantasy, you know the song fantasy? I don't know that you would know it. Yeah, you would know it.

SPEAKER_05 6:14

I'm sure I roller skated to it at all.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

You know, Boogie Wonderland. I mean, they're it was outstanding, yeah, yeah. So in between, in between the two uh shows, yeah, KG and I went and we decided that we needed to buy some merch. So um I got me a shirt that says hello on the front, and KG did too. I said, I'm putting this on. So I took the tarps off uh right in the middle of the uh the corridor, and while I'm taking my shirt off, who walks up but Jeff Meslow? Oh Big Ten rat. Did he throw a flag at you? And I yes, he's like, that is that is 50 merits, nobody needs to see that. Wow, what a crazy coincidence! And the timing couldn't have been you know, and KG's like, what are you doing? And I'm like so. Then I walk back down and I've got my hello shirt. So Lionel Ritchie then comes out. Yeah, the legend. The legend, 77 years old. Okay, he comes out and he the his first song was Hello, you know, which should make sense. Yeah, big show, big, big start. Yeah, and he mentioned the fact that this is the very first show of their tour. Okay, and it's probably the fourth concert that I've been to in the last few years where St. Paul was the first show on the tour.

SPEAKER_05 7:32

The comedy too, I think, right? Wasn't one of the comedy shows?

SPEAKER_04 7:34

There was a Nate Barghetsi show that was the first. Yeah, um it's a nice father in our states, Cat. Benson Boone, you know, the very famous now Benson Boone had his first show is in St. Paul. So we asked Chat GPT, why is it that so many artists start in St. Paul? And I figured that it was because geography. They're starting in the middle of the country, they go from here to Milwaukee to Chicago to Indianapolis and kind of you know, Pittsburgh, work their way east. And that's probably part of it, but it's well you get to Chicago quick too, and Colorado, and you know, it's kind of it is some mapping involved, but they said that Minnesota is one of the best uh audiences, they have one of the best audiences. I think part of it is because we're looking for things to do during the winter to get out of the house. Yeah, and it also talked about the fact how forgiving our audiences are, you know. Well, people the first stop on the tour is you know, you're working out some kinks. Yes, of course. And, you know, let me tell you, Lionel Ritchie had some kinks to work out. Okay, what happened? You didn't think he came out and the first song he's sweating profusely. How did he sound? Did he sing? Okay, so he sounded, he had a little bit of a um I had heard him a few years ago and he was terrible.

SPEAKER_05 8:52

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_04 8:52

Yeah, like he I think he had polyps or something on his vocal cords. But he um he had a little bit of uh hesitation in his voice, like he was trying to catch his breath. It almost sounded like a person who's got Parkinson's.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

But anyway, so he he d battles through the hello and he did fine. Okay. And then uh he got on the uh the piano and did a number of Commodore songs which were wonderful. I mean, just you know, him on the piano just singing Easy Like Sunday morning. Oh yeah, yeah, easy like Sunday morning. I played that one too. So then a couple more songs, uh a couple of deep tracks, and then he sings uh dancing on the ceiling. And I I notice he's he's kind of like he looks kind of woozy, and he goes and he sits down and he sings the remainder of the song sitting on the step of the stage. And I could see the other band members all come over and sit down next to him, and the four of them are sitting that's him sitting right there. Oh boy, and that lead guitar guy there on the right guy right side, very talented guitar player.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Sort of character for dancing on the ceiling because he, you know, he's sitting ceiling, he's on the floor.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

After this song was over, he said, Yeah, that's not nice, Joe. That's not very nice. Um not very kind. No, poor guy. Okay, nothing he he sat there and at the very end he said, I gotta tell you, this is the first time in the history of dancing on the ceiling that I did it sitting on my can. Oh and he said, One of the things that I've learned is when you feel dizzy, you gotta set your ass down.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 10:35

And so then he goes up uh back to the piano, which is kind of in the background of this photograph here, and he plays uh three times a lady. And you could tell that he's he's having trouble catching his breath. Oh boy. He stands up, they brought him out a uh it looked like a a glass of Gatorade, so he's sipping Gatorade in between some kind of something was going on, sweating profusely. And all of a sudden he gets done with Three Times a Lady and he says, Time for an intermission. We're having an intermission. And you could see the other band members are like, wait a second, intermission? What's going on here?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

So he goes off, they bring the house lights up. Oh boy, just partially 15 minutes go by, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, we're like, he ain't coming back. And it turns out he was hospitalized. He was taken to the hospital. At least that's what uh TMZ and some of the the the news about.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

There was no announcement that came over the loudspeaker. So Lionel has left the building.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

No, that wasn't part of the announcement, but uh 45 minutes after the intermission started, the saxophone guy, who is clearly kind of like the I don't know if he's the band leader, but he was the guy with the most energy. Sure. He came out and he just very graciously said, Hey, we are really sorry, but Lionel's not feeling well, we're not gonna be able to continue the show. And what I was most proud of is instead of like people booing and throwing they like they applauded. I mean, it was very, very sweet. Yeah. When we left the uh the the the stadium, what do you call that? The the arena, yeah, we were walking across uh 7th Street, and all these people around us were talking about you know, this this and nobody was talking about how they felt ripped off that he only did, you know, probably 30% of his show. They were all concerned about how he was, and I was just like, what a what a beautiful yeah, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Maybe we're having an impact. What's that? Maybe our podcast is having an impact on today. Yes, that's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_05 12:46

Hey, you know what you gotta say? They heard they got Hello, they got Dance on the Ceiling, they got Once, Twice, Three Times A Lady. No, I'm just saying, as far as Lionel's, you got a lot of the hits you really want to see. The the Sunday morning. I mean, if he played that, I'd be happy.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

Yep. Uh Easy Like a Sunday morning. That was the like the third song that he played. I mean, it was we got a lot of his good stuff.

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Yeah, I think they probably, you know. He probably made those audible calls. They probably could shift it around a little bit. Not feeling great. It's like, okay, let's let's make sure we get this. Slow it down.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Yeah, and do this. Or the stuff where I don't have to be dancing around.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Or just get the songs that people really want to hear. Do you guys remember Eddie Murphy's and Buckwheat singing a maiden?

SPEAKER_04 13:31

And I said three times late, Buckwheat ruined three times a lady for me. Two times a maid, three times a maidie.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

I can't I can't get it out of the time. Or do you remember the Betty Davis eyes and there was a bunch of question marks on it?

SPEAKER_04 13:55

That was good stuff. That was damn funny.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

And he was like 12 years old back then, too.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

It's crazy. Yeah, yeah. Um so that is cool. When we're in this the the arena, though, I'm looking at X just to see if like if he posted anything, if his people posted anything, if anybody posted anything.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:12

And there were a few people that posted things like R.I.P., Lionel Ritchie, and one person said, apparently tonight's concert's not gonna go all night long. Sounds like somebody I I may have gotten a text from was that from you, Steve, today that that's I didn't know he was that sick.

SPEAKER_05 14:32

I was I just was like, oh well and here's not gonna play all night long, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Here's the worst part. He like tomorrow night he's supposed to be playing in Chicago. Yeah. And the next night he's playing in Milwaukee. And it's like I don't know, man. But you know, at 77, yeah, he's got more money than he'll ever know what to do with. He is revered, he is adored. Unless they're just they just love being on the stage and they love the energy. Well, just go and play with your grandkids.

SPEAKER_05 15:02

Okay, so yes, I I understand that that frame of mine. I think that all the time. I go, why is ACDC still touring? Why did Tom Petty continue to tour? You know, why do bands do that? You know why? You know what the answer is? I'm asking a band guy. The answer, well, I'm not near that level, but what happens is when you play stadium tours your entire career and you have this phase of life where you play, play, play for 200 days of the year, and then you're at home and you get to reconnect with your family and you go back out. That becomes what you understand. Right. That's what when you don't do that, you you can't you can't make them go off the road and just not it's it's not like they're trying to make more money. They're just this is their lifestyle. They don't know what else to do.

SPEAKER_04 15:45

It's it's hard. And it's very possible that Mrs. Ritchie said to him, you know what? We've had enough close time, enough uh together time.

SPEAKER_05 15:53

And of course they do enjoy it. And and people want, especially someone like Lionel at at this point, you want to hear his songs, you want to hear him do those songs because any, you know, any cover band can be doing them, but it's different when it comes from him. And it's so it means something. Um, and it is probably his lifestyle somewhat. I think he's taking big breaks here and there, but it's it's kind of the the thrill of being in front of people is important as well. There's an energy there you can't get sitting at home.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

For sure. No, yeah, and I mean clearly they're they're into it and they uh it's I hope he's alright.

SPEAKER_05 16:27

I hope he's gonna be all right.

SPEAKER_04 16:28

I wish there would be an update, you know, uh other than TMZ.

SPEAKER_05 16:32

You must have you have like a TMZ connection right there. You're always like watching it and you've got a live feed. No, it's just it was what was on the people magazine.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

I did revisit the music video of Hello and and and it's interesting you remember. That's a nice word for it. There's a there's a blind gal with stars in it. And he's like stalking her. It was, it was a little creepy, but at the very kind of toward the end during the reveal, she she sculpts his head. Mr. Reynolds, excuse me, but there's something going on in the sculpture class. I think you ought to check it out. And I remember when I first saw it and I was in eighth grade, and I thought that doesn't really look but I thought I'm gonna revisit that video and see if I think it looks like him.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

But I finally think it's done. Tell me what you think of it.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Oh, it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

This is how I see you.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

And it does not really look like that. It's not a very good sculpture. So we might put a picture up on the screen just and maybe take a vote on social media. Maybe other people could say. Yeah, and maybe it couldn't be perfect because she was blind and they needed to wait out for real.

SPEAKER_05 17:48

You know what's perfect about that song, Jeff? That guitar solo was perfect. It's perfect, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

It is a good one.

SPEAKER_04 17:54

So the guy did the guy did the guitar guitar solo. It was it was very well done. Did you see? Speaking of guitar solos, um, Rolling Stone magazine did a uh survey of what are the greatest guitar stole solos John.

SPEAKER_05 18:10

They do this every quarter.

SPEAKER_04 18:12

But I'm what what is this quarter's answer?

SPEAKER_03 18:15

What you tell me. I gotta believe it's Prince.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

No, Prince uh Purple Rain was like number nine. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 18:21

I don't like that solo. I like what Prince did at the Hall of Fame.

SPEAKER_04 18:25

Oh, that's the Beatles.

SPEAKER_05 18:26

Uh why am I while my guitar gently Tom Petty and when he falls into the Oh my god that blew people away.

SPEAKER_04 18:33

But what what what was the So I was assuming it would be, you know, maybe from Free Bird or Stairway to Heaven, and it was comfortably numb, the the solo from Pink Floyd, which is really good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:46

How did we get into this? Because I We started talking about the guitar solo in uh I think I maybe mentioned Hello. Yeah. The guitar solo from Pink Floyd's The Wall, I think might be the greatest guitar solo of all time because you can sing every note of it. Really? It's I I can you said I can sing every note of it. No, no, while you're hearing it, you could sing along with what I'm saying. It's not like a shredding, it's just tasteful, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Uh yeah. So anyway, I don't know how to do it. That's a masterful album. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

Yeah. Are you familiar with Eric Johnson? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

Man, I got a music comm. Yeah. It was so good. I got sucked down the Eric Johnson.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

That's a big nerd thing. That's that's how did you get into that? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

I think maybe I saw that his one of his solos was on the list, and I'm like, Yeah, he's like a shredder.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

He's like a favorite song of his, I can tell you what mine is.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

I I don't know. I I just was really impressed with his sound is so different.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

It's we were just interviewing Eric uh from Limited Warranty, and I I I think that his tone was great. I I and and Eric Johnson's tone, there's a there's sort of a happy melodic um style in their their style. But 40 Mile Town is a great song by Eric Johnson. Of course, Cliffs of Dover is the the real one. Right, that's the famous one. But um there's a lot of good songs.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

It's funny, you know, Eric Johnson never really became famous like all the other guitarists.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

No, but with guitar players he is.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

Totally. He's very famous. Yeah, technically he is considered you know on the Mount Rushmore of guitarists.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

It was a good concert. Cool.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

It's sort of like Jeff Beck. You know, Jeff Beck is one of those guys. I mean, he was in a whole bunch of different wasn't he in the Yardbirds and a bunch of bands like that. We are all over the place. We're talking guitar stuff. I know, wow.

SPEAKER_05 20:38

I didn't know we go so deep with guitar. This is cool. This is the screen. You really enjoyed that show, didn't you? I did enjoy the show.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

And um my favorite part, and I don't know why this is, but my favorite part of the Earth, Wind and Fire deal is in the middle of one of their songs, I think it was Boogie Wonderland, all of a sudden it transitioned into Van Halen's jump. Like the the piano and then the drummer, and then they transitioned back to Boogie Wonderland. But um Philip Bailey's son, who was one of the singers, you know, he got the whole crowd jumping. I didn't jump because I can't really get off the ground, but um nonsense. But I did kind of bend my knees and put them back, you know, and and straighten them out. So it looked like a jump.

SPEAKER_05 21:27

Um okay, so it was it was a pretty eventful show. It's smart of them to kind of keep showing that they're not they weren't stuck in the 70s, they're they're moving stuff around and in the 80s, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:38

They moved into the mini. They moved that far. Um, but no, it was I I was very proud to be a Minnesotan. You know, I think it's cool that people these bands like to start their shows in in the the twin cities, whether it's Minneapolis or St. Paul.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

I will also say it that that might be a big reason, but also uh original music um does well here too because people are over. Open to new music here at First Avenue and these places where these c smaller clubs too where original music is playing and people that aren't really famous yet. Um people like to go see and are open and willing to listen to new music, which is really cool about many Minnesota. People said that about um about us too when we started playing traveling around the country. People are like, You guys are playing your own songs and you're you're traveling and making money. We really make any money, but yes, we're out there traveling and playing songs, and and they were like, you know, where's this famous, you know, where's this place you come from where you can write songs and be a band that starts with original thing and the city?

SPEAKER_04 22:37

Yeah, and I just yeah, you know, the the the the Minneapolis. So I wasn't here when you talked about your Special Olympics experience. Speaking of Minneapolis, speaking of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis sound and Jimmy Jam, you got to spend some time with Jimmy Jam, and you probably talked about this on a previous podcast, but not with me. Yeah, how was it with Jimmy Jam?

SPEAKER_05 22:55

Um, so it was the ESPN ESPN uh Special Olympics. You've heard of ESPN before. Yeah, I don't I don't yeah. Um it was the Unified Sports Challenge. Oh, cool. Kind of like a promo. It was all the kickoff happened on Saturday. This was Monday. Yep. We we rehearsed and walked through everything on Sunday, and then Monday was the day it was this really cool thing where these celebrity coaches uh for all these athletes and and um celebrities that were coaching these unified pair teams and they were doing these obstacle course kind of things, and it was it was super cool, and the vibe was so great. 8,000 people there. Wow. Um and uh people all there, tons of volunteers, just some people that were Kelly and Eric were running it, they were in charge of the things that's cool. Super cool. So um Kelly asked me to be a part of this and said, I want you to be Jimmy Jam's kind of guide all day. So I basically was I didn't really help him with anything technical. There was some uh Wi-Fi stuff that I was kind of helping him with, but I really was just there to help him get to and from the stage, help him get through crowds, uh, make sure he wasn't standing alone, like you know, I he just always had to I just had to make sure I was just making sure he was careful. Comfortable, yeah. And I I I told Jeff this, but that guy was the nicest, uh, most gracious, talented, uh, kind guy. And I didn't expect, I didn't really know what to expect. I was ready just to be there for whatever. We talked a lot. Um, he had cool stuff to say and interesting. He someone introduced me as a band guy. So we talked that. We didn't talk about my band that much, but uh Bobby Z is a is a common person we both know. He had great things to say about Bobby, he's known him for a while.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

So I'm sure you you asked him to be on the podcast. I didn't. Okay, so we're gonna put him on the scrap heap of people we didn't ask to be.

SPEAKER_05 24:48

Okay. I got a selfie with her, but I didn't take it. I didn't I actually got to know him enough where I was like, I felt like a fool to be like, hey, can I after this whole day, like, Jimmy, can I get a photo with you? But uh uh my friend Holly took this. But uh we were, yeah, I was just standing on the stage with Milan. He he was we had some technical issues. It took a long time to get his uh Wi-Fi working, but basically he took his music, just his playlist of music, and then he's he scratched and mixed and used the board to do stuff over the top of it. So, you know, he was just kind of goofing around, but it was super cool, and he was the they would kick to him and their music would kick into the stadium, and he was just playing music all day, standing up there, 67-year-old guy, standing on stage. We were in the sun for a big part of it. Yeah, and he's gonna be a good one. He was a trooper, man. Yeah, he was he was loving it.

SPEAKER_04 25:31

He looks like he's lost a lot of weight. Yeah, did you ever think that you would be heavier than Jimmy Chan?

SPEAKER_05 25:37

Easy now. I'm short. That's right. No, uh, no, he's he did it. We talked about that a bit. And we it started because it was really hot out. And I was like, you know, can I get you some water? How are you feeling? Are you you know, and he goes, you know, I I feel great. Uh the heat doesn't really bother me. So I I used to weigh a lot more and I was up to 300 pounds at one point. He said, I love to eat and I love, you know, oh he talked about that. Yeah, he he talked the whole thing. Maybe I shouldn't get into too much of it, but he basically explained how he went to a therapist to kind of start changing his thinking about eating. His doctor scared him. His doctor told this is what he told me. His doctor said, You have grandkids? He said, Yeah, I do. He goes, You want to spend time with them? He said, You gotta lose some weight. And this is, you know, this is common for many people, and uh so he it kind of scared him and he started making some plans and he lost a lot of weight, and he's been r you know much thinner for quite a while now.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

I don't know how long it's been years, but did he play his song, the the Force MCs uh Tender Love? I don't know. You know that song? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

How about Human League?

SPEAKER_04 26:39

Oh, I love the Human League.

SPEAKER_05 26:41

No, he he didn't play, but I was looking at his stuff ahead of time and I forgot that he hadn't he had done that song, and it was a huge hit. Yeah, he definitely has a sound, and that's what I think his contribution was him and Terry Lewis created not you know, it was part of the Minneapolis thing. He was in the time, he went to Washburn High School, he was like a 16-year-old prodigy guy. He was such a talented guy, he is such a talented guy. And he kind of found his way.

SPEAKER_04 27:02

Is flight time still a thing? Are they still making shut that down?

SPEAKER_05 27:06

He yeah, but he and Terry Lewis are doing uh what do they call it residency in Las Vegas? Really? I want to look into more about it, but he was very excited that's gonna happen, I think, this fall. Anyway, um, I don't know the details.

SPEAKER_04 27:20

Didn't they do a show at the state fair this past year? I don't know. Or maybe it's next year. Yeah, like bringing back sort of some of those uh, you know, maybe like Sheila E and some of the groups that they worked with.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

Yeah, he talked about that a bit. That's very cool. Uh but anyway, yeah. So they're doing certain there he's still doing music and he's still involved. Um, I think he just loves it. And and the people of Minnesota were everyone that we walked through the crowd were just wanted just to shake his hand and say thank you for your contribution. And they're all very proud to that, you know, this guy's a Grammy Award-winning guy. He's a rock and roll hall of fame guy. Oh, yeah. I mean, he's he's Minnesota Royalty, and I got to spend a whole day with him, and he put his time to the Special Olympics, and he was very into it, and it was so cool.

SPEAKER_03 28:03

I was pleased to see that he and his dad, after a 50-year uh estrangement, um connect and have a good relationship now when his dad was in the front row seat when he got his honorary degree at Washburn. Oh, yeah. In fact, Oh, did he drop out of Washburn? He did, because I think music took over and he just started doing it.

SPEAKER_05 28:22

He um he told me on Father's Day, we because I saw him on Father's Day that evening he went and uh went to his dad has a show every every Sunday night.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

Yeah, um at Schooner Schooner's uh Schooner's another place that shut down after many many years of the city. He's gonna be they migrated it over to a new place.

SPEAKER_05 28:41

He's gonna be a hundred, he's 99 years old.

SPEAKER_04 28:43

And he he's still doing music. Cornbread Harris. He's still doing music. That's his dad is Cornbred Harris? Yes. Wow. It's crazy, right? Had no idea. We should go check him out. But I thought his last name was Jam. It's uh it's his middle name. James Harris. That's his middle name? Harris, yeah. Oh, it's Jimmy Jam Harris. Oh.

SPEAKER_05 29:00

People did call him Mr. Jam. It was kind of funny.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

So it isn't that funny though that his parents would name him Jimmy Jam Harris. I don't think that was his Christian name, though. Oh, that's just a nickname. Yeah. And Jerry Lewis, she he's with Jerry Lewis.

SPEAKER_05 29:13

No, that's a different comedy duo from the 50s. Right. Old guy.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 29:19

Our young people don't know we don't.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

That's a storm. Who's in first? Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

On that note, time to wrap it up. Shut this down. Yeah, you know. Remember the Chucker? We talked about the Chucker before many times. Michael Jackson! Tell the truth.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Thank you for your weekly dose of positive propaganda. Subscribe on YouTube. And wherever common podcasts on the panel.