I saw the Supremes when they were still singing in little black skirts and white blouses.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was very young at the time, and I mainly appreciated their vocal qualities, even though I was already living as they did - as black performers in a white world.
So in those days, they were scooping up any young person who could sing and look decent, ah, at the same time.
I had seen the photographs of Harlem in its glory days, stylish men in bespoke suits, women so well dressed that they'd put the models in 'Vogue' to shame. I knew that Harlemites loved to dance, to pray, and to eat.
I think Led Zeppelin must have worn some of the most peculiar clothing that men had ever been seen to wear without cracking a smile.
Even before coming into the industry, I was a big fan of Motown, the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, Diana Ross and The Supremes.
There was a certain feeling I developed as a young person for black people. Somehow they were able to get pleasure out of things that I couldn't see them enjoying. I heard them sing a lot, and I didn't hear white folks going down the cotton rows singing that much.
Looking back at those great singers like Gordon MacRae and Howard Keel - they have such a specific kind of style that it seems like we don't really appreciate anymore.
I was influenced a lot by those around me - there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields.
I enjoyed every minute of what I was doing with sessions, because The Blossoms, the group that I was singing with, they were the first black background singers. There weren't any.
I miss all of the singing from the '90s; I miss groups. There are no groups like Jagged Edge and SWV or Brownstone.