Okay ILOSM family, who remembers when Jermaine Stewart had everybody singing “We don’t have to take our clothes off, to have a good time, oh no”? He had radio on fire for a while, but after his initial success of “The Word Is Out” and “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off,” his light just kind of dimmed.

While many of us probably assumed that maybe Jermaine Stewart has been living his life doing something else away from the spotlight, it turns out that sadly he passed away years ago. Unfortunately the man who had us jammin’ back in ’87, was dead just 12 years later.

His Unfortunate Controversy

Jermaine’s life was cut short, but in his almost four decades of life, he still was connected to a few rumors that were never proven. At the time of his death, word on the Old School curb was that he was in the process of completing a tell-all book about his life that would have exposed several down-low male entertainers that he’d been romantically involved with. Many of these alleged men were known to be heterosexual men with families, children, and thriving careers…

Cause Of Jermaine Stewart’s Passing

In 1997 by the age of 39 years old, Jermaine had the AIDS virus and he ultimately passed away from AIDS related liver cancer.

What Happened To His Manuscript After His Death

It’s been said that after he passed away in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Illinois, his manuscript disappeared off of the face of the earth and there were probably several famous men wiping their brows in a sigh of relief…if the rumor is true.

His Good Friend In Music, Jody Watley

Although many of us R&B fans in the U.S. only know Jermaine for his top ten jam, “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off,” he had another hit that was inspired by his good friend, Jody Watley, called “Jody,” which reached the top twenty on Billboard. After the hype surrounding his 1986 album, Frantic Romantic, fizzled out, Jermaine continued to have some success in the U.K. Throughout his career, he actually released a total of 4 albums between 1984 to 1989, with a fifth album that was never released in 1992, and two additional albums that were released posthumously.

Old School Fun Facts About Jermaine Stewart

Jermaine was a regular dancer on Soul Train, who was very good friends with Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley of Shalamar (Jody and Jeffrey were both Soul Train dancers as well). When Don Cornelius announced he and Dick Griffey were putting together a group, Jermaine auditioned but didn’t make the cut. He instead traveled around the country as one of Shalamar’s backup dancers before being offered the opportunity by Arista Records (after getting discovered by the Culture Club’s Mikey Craig) to release his solo projects.

And there ya’ have it family. A memory about an entertainer who made an impact on R&B music and pop culture of the 80’s, but was somehow overlooked by mainstream media when he sadly passed away. Jermaine Stewart is gone, but definitely not forgotten and his song “We Don’t Have To take Our Clothes Off,” is a message that a many of these youngins today probably need to here. May Jermaine continue to rest peacefully.

The post 80s Singer Jermaine Stewart Died Too Young, During Very Controversial Time In His Life appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Some say she looks like her R&B Aunt, some say she doesn’t. So that might not be a good hint, but here are a few others: her Aunt was in a group in the 70’s and 80’s and she also had a monstrous solo career. That’s about all we’ll give you on this one ILOSM fam.’ Think you guessed this one right? See who she is below…

It’s none other than Jody Watley, former member of Shalamar- the group that late “Soul Train” founder, Don Cornelius created. She’s also the “New Love” legend, who influenced fashion of the 80’s in a major way.

Jody Watley’s’s niece, Arin Watley is getting ready to do it like Auntie. The 24-year old has released an album and several more singles of her own. Her body of work is full of mellow rhythmic jams, but the chick’s got a lil’ rap flow in her too. She goes toe to toe with the guest rapper, Geonnie J. on the song below.

It kind of sounds like Arin was influenced by Janet Jackson’s laid back songs, like “Come Back To Me” and “Funny How Times Flies When You’re Having Fun.”

Arin plays a little guitar too and something she’s known to say is “No matter what you say, dudes always have an answer.” Maybe she should write a song about that.

For those who don’t know, Her Aunt Jody (Jody Watley) released an album titled “Paradise,” in recent years, on her own label, Avitone.

Watley’s evolution has been epic. Remember when the Chi-town girl was new to the game in the 70’s and was just doing her thing on Soul Train? That’s when she, Jeffrey Daniel and Howard Hewett became Shalamar and gave us hits like “Night To Remember”, “Second Time Around” and “I Don’t Wanna Be The Last!” They made their mark in soul music history and Jody Watley became an 80’s R&B Sweetheart with her solo hits that have now become cult classics. Now her hard work and dedication to her craft, is influencing the next generations in the Watley family and t’s a beautiful thing to witness.

Maybe one day, Jody will grace one of Arin’s songs with her signature voice. Only time will tell…let’s keep an eye out for Arin Watley.

The post She Gets It From Her Auntie! Her Legendary Aunt Had 80s R&B On Fire & Don Cornelius Loved Her appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

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Back then, Jody Watley was “Looking For A New Love,” Peabo Bryson wanted to “Feel The Fire” and Marilyn McCoo was hosting Solid Gold, and along with her husband/5th Dimension group member, Billy Davis Jr., they had us vibin’ to “Stone Cold Picnic” on a laid-back summer day.

Needless to say, the days of classic R&B memories, like those, are long gone. However, when we fast forward to today, Jody Watley has just reminded us of what those days were like.

In a series of online posts, the talented and still sexy “Real Love” singer shared some background photos and video of ‘The Colors Of Christmas Tour 2017′ she’s currently on with the above mentioned stars, as well as the youngin’ of the crew, Ruben Studdard (39).

The thing that fans couldn’t help but notice, is how age-less the old school legends are looking these days. Jody is 58, Peabo is 66, Marilyn is 74 and her husband of 48 years, Billy Davis Jr., is 79. They ALL look great and fly as they ever were! Check out the pics below and reminisce with us on this one…

(L-R) Peabo Bryson, Jody Watley, Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis Jr. and Ruben Studdard…

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Jody & Peabo…

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Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr…

We look forward to seeing our special fans tonite in New Jersey on #TheColorsofChristmas Tour @StateTheatreNJ, and then tomorrow @browardcenter, Florida! It's Christmas cheer & greatest hits…just for you! pic.twitter.com/zCKaO4tGtK

— MarilynBilly (@mccoodavis) December 5, 2017

Peabo’s voice is just as smooth as ever…

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Watley & Studdard singing their hearts out…

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By the way, if ‘The Colors Of Christmas Tour 2017′ is headed your way, be sure to check them out for a night of Christmas songs and greatest hits classics. Go get your jam on the soulful way this Christmas season ILOSM fam.’ Click HERE for the tour dates.

The post Jody Watley Makes Major Move w/Peabo Bryson, “Solid Gold’s” Marilyn McCoo & They’re All Ageless! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

If you’re like us, here at ILoveOldSchoolMusic, you’ve probably been diggin’ Jody Watley (58) ever since her Shalamar days, when she was singing “Second Time Around” with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniels. Then we got to love her even more during her solo days, when she was “Lookin’ for a new love…baby.” Throughout most of that time, very little was known about Jody’s private life. Sure, we’ve seen a few glimpses into her world, like the times she showed up to events hand in hand with one of her two famous exes. But other than that, ‘Looking for a new love’ were hit lyrics we loved dancing to, but looking into her life was untapped territory, understandably so.

Since we missed much of Jody’s private life in the pre-internet era of the 80’s and 90’s, many of us also missed the two kids she gave birth to- her 37 year old daughter, Lauren Watley (born 1980), and her 25 year old son, Arie Watley-Anderson (born 1992).

Although both of her kids were born to parents who loved the spotlight, they instead prefer to live life away from the cameras. Thats why it came as a surprise when Jody shared a recent photo of Arie for his birthday on October 17, 2017.

Jody Watley’s Son Now

On her blog, Jody showed love to her second born with this cool shout out:

“Today is a blessed day in my life – the birth of my son Arie, the best son in the world to me! Arie is one of the lights in my life and I know I am in his Raising Arie and his sister Lauren has and continues to enrich my life. I’m so proud of the young man he has become and the man I know he will continue to be.”

Who’s His Daddy?

Although not much is known about Arie, a lot is known about his singer/musician pops, Andre Cymone (59). Many Old Schoolers remember Andre for being one of the very first members of Prince’s band, Grand Central.

He also co-wrote and produced many hit records, including Jody’s hits, “Real Love” and “Looking For A New Love” back in the day.

In addition to that, Andre has had solo success of his own as a singer and guitarist. What’s also known about Cymone is that he was Prince’s childhood best friend and his family actually took Prince in when they were kids, after Prince’s father kicked him outta the house.

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Neither Andre,’ nor Jody, speak much publicly about their son -at Arie’s request- but in an interview with Star Tribune, Andre’ did reveal his son’s musical gifts and his occupation at that time:

“He’s [Arie] awesome. He kind of does music, but he’s not into music right now. He’s doing some graphic artist design,” revealed Andre Cymone.

Jody also revealed a few more recent details about Arie, when she replied to a fan on Facebook, regarding his marital status:

“My son is not married, he’s a college student.”

Jody Speaks About The Joys & Sacrifices Of Her Kids

It’s…not easy to be the child of someone recognizable and famous. “Watley — are you related to THE Jody Watley by any chance?”, is a question they get a lot. With that comes expectations, judgements questions and assumptions from total strangers. To them, I’m just their Mom – a ‘Goddess’, as they say. On any melancholy or difficult day I’ve had in this business or in life, mending a broken heart or whatever; nothing lifts me more than when they have told me with hugs “You’re the best Mom in the whole wide world.” […] My children inspire me in so many ways and I let them know it all the time.

Fun Fact:

Jody Watley’s daughter, Lauren, is the product of Watley’s relationship with her ex-fiancee, Leon Sylvers III (64), of the 70’s soul group, The Sylvers.

The Sylvers had several hits back in the day, including “Boogie Fever”…

And there ya’ have it ILOSM family, a few Old School fun facts about another legend we love.

The post Jody Watley Celebrates Her Rarely Seen Son’s Birthday & He Looks Just Like His R&B Daddy appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We were going through some info that was sent to us regarding the existence of two separate Shalamar groups now- one with Jody Watley; and another with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel.

The first thing that came to our minds was ‘Why are Jody, Howard and Jeffrey (the original Shalamar members) doing that?’ We did a lil’ fact finding on this and found out that a while back, Jody Watley had a whole lot to say about the real deal behind their break up and why they were never able to reunite. She wanted to set the record straight because she said that the whole story was never fully covered in the media, but that their fans deserve to know. One thing’s for sure: she isn’t holding anything back!

Update: Before we get into what Jody said about all the drama, we want to give you this quick update. After this story was published, Jody Watley sent us this message to share with her fans (facebook.com/jodywatleyofficial):

“This was all a long time ago – right now I’m focused on my current project PARADISE and having legally acquired the Shalamar trademark and reloading the group for a new era (while celebrating and respecting the past) we’ve already played to sold out audiences showcasing the songs people love from Shalamar AND Jody Watley!! Life and business goes on! Get updated, my love to all I Love Old School Music.”

Thanks for giving us that update Jody. Okay people, now you can read the unfortunate ugly truths behind this Shalamar break-up:

Jody on the shady business tactics that started happening:
“Dick Griffey [the owner of Shalamar’s record label, Solar Records] mentioned that he had given Howard a million dollar advance and I thought ‘Well finally, I guess that was true because that was a rumor toward the end [of our group’s years together] that Dick Griffey was cutting deals with Howard. One of my best friends at the time, Jermaine Stewart…was a backing vocalist for Shalamar when we toured and there were a couple of instances where Dick Griffey had arranged for Howard to do shows as Shalamar but we [Jody and Jeffrey] weren’t invited. And it’s things like that when Dick Griffey says “some tension,” well that was definitely one to cause some tension. [That] started to change what was already a shaky situation anyway.”

Jody on the physical and verbal abuse from her then boyfriend and Shalamar member, Jefferey Daniel. Stephanie Mills was also part of the reason for it.
Jody said this had nothing to do with the group’s breakup, but it caused even more tension because she said that the verbal and physical abuse she endured from Jeffrey was too much. She said they looked like a “cute couple” on the outside but the reality was that it wasn’t like that and that there was a very “dark side” to it that people didn’t know.

Jody also said this about when Jeffrey started dating, and eventually married Stephanie Mills:
“I felt so upset during the Stephanie Mills era because he [Jeffrey] was working my nerves and rubbing it in my face and so yeah, it was out of control. The tension was so high during that era that we tore up some dressing rooms. Sometimes we’d be doing choreography [during our shows] and we’d be hitting and kicking each other within the frame of the choreography and it would escalate to the point that there were a couple of times that we would leave the stage and run into the dressing room…and it would be on. Thinking about it now I can’t even recognize myself…but that’s how it was during that era. It was a mess…LOL. As we fast forward into now, into the future and I look back at the past, it was a mess. It was a teenage mess, it was a love mess, it was just…it was a mess. It was a lot of drama, a lot of tension and a learning experience.

But anyway the blessings of the journey of time is that I saw Stephanie Mills a few years ago and we were both performing at a party, and I heard someone say “Hey Waddles” which was something a few people called me back then and I looked and it was her and we hugged and we talked about having kids and just life and what we were doing and everything and so it was good…the blessing of time.”

Keep reading to the next page to see how Jody fought back and refused to be inferior to the rest of the group:

The post Jody Watley Exposes The Violence That Happened Inside The Group Shalamar appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

]]> https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/jody-watley-tells-the-real-truth-on-why-shalamar-broke-up/feed/ 5 8479 https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/gets-auntie-guess-popular-70s80s-rb-aunt/ https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/gets-auntie-guess-popular-70s80s-rb-aunt/#respond Fri, 06 Feb 2015 18:59:23 +0000 http://angularjsdevelopment.com/LoveOldMusic/?p=6330 Some say she looks like her R&B Aunt, some say she doesn’t. So that might not be a good hint, but here are a few others: her Aunt was in a group in the 70’s and 80’s and she also...

The post She Gets It From Her Auntie! Guess Who Her Popular 70s/80s R&B Aunt Is appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

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Some say she looks like her R&B Aunt, some say she doesn’t. So that might not be a good hint, but here are a few others: her Aunt was in a group in the 70’s and 80’s and she also had a monstrous solo career. That’s about all we’ll give you on this one ILOSM fam’…LOL. Think you guessed this one right? Turn the page to see who she is…

The post She Gets It From Her Auntie! Guess Who Her Popular 70s/80s R&B Aunt Is appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

]]> https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/gets-auntie-guess-popular-70s80s-rb-aunt/feed/ 0 6330