Finally found Part 1 of my 1986 sitdown with Cindy Birdsong

[Jimi LaLumia]

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/103114950_10156928874131046_5488670567999209117_n. jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=SY-axfq_bnEAX8GwBbu&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=d8a0eb1929d570e31d7190f482a4f09e&oe=5F038614

[Jimi LaLumia]

Part 2 will pop out of somewhere one of these years.. xo Cindy Birdsong a true sweet heart

[BobbyC]

I can't read it

[Jimi LaLumia]

my iphone pic I'm not really a tech wiz..

[Jimi LaLumia]

if you look at it on an iphone you can enlarge it section by section as you read it..don't know what else to tell ya

[marv2]

Jimi, I'd love to read it. Just a suggestion. If you matte it to cardboard or a large piece of white paper and scan it or photograph it, it will make it easier to see and read.

[milven]

I was able to read it on Google Chrome after I zoomed. I did not know she wrote songs and was interested in recording her own songs.

Also did not know that she always wanted to be an actress.

There are not many interviews with Cindy. Nice. Hope you find part 2

[Boogiedown]

I'm able to read it, w/ just a bit of effort.:cool:

Good stuff Jimi LaLumia! Cindy takes you literally with your first question, which I don't think you meant?? How interesting , the times , where the club route was a way to make you visible. But no LP not even a single to promote?? Sort of doesn't make sense, unless she was hoping to be rediscovered by someone listening to her through this process ? It was true it was hard to get a crowd to simmer down in a club for any length of time for anything other than keeping the dance floor going. it was hard enough if you had a current song for them which Cindy didn't ? She would've been but a vague long ago voice from an entirely different generation ??

[[I'm remembering a club I DJd at. The owner mistakenly thought you needed to have variety throughout the night. One night he cleared the floor to have a stand-up comedian have a turn. It wasn't going well , no one was paying attention and finally someone in the audience walked right up to him, and in his face asked him, "Excuse me, where's the bathroom?"
Wow:eek: rough crowd !!)

Hope Cindy fared better!
& Hopefully you'll post part two soon Jimi !

[marv2]

I'm able to read it, w/ just a bit of effort.:cool:

Good stuff Jimi LaLumia! Cindy takes you literally with your first question, which I don't think you meant?? How interesting , the times , where the club route was a way to make you visible. But no LP not even a single to promote?? Sort of doesn't make sense, unless she was hoping to be rediscovered by someone listening to her through this process ? It was true it was hard to get a crowd to simmer down in a club for any length of time for anything other than keeping the dance floor going. it was hard enough if you had a current song for them which Cindy didn't ? She would've been but a vague long ago voice from an entirely different generation ??

[[I'm remembering a club I DJd at. The owner mistakenly thought you needed to have variety throughout the night. One night he cleared the floor to have a stand-up comedian have a turn. It wasn't going well , no one was paying attention and finally someone in the audience walked right up to him, and in his face asked him, "Excuse me, where's the bathroom?"
Wow:eek: rough crowd !!)

Hope Cindy fared better!
& Hopefully you'll post part two soon Jimi !

What did not makes sense is that as a worldwide star who had appeared on national television many, many times and in countless concert halls around the world that "Cindy Birdsong" had to be "discovered" years later. I blame Motown for that!

[marv2]

I'm able to read it, w/ just a bit of effort.:cool:

Good stuff Jimi LaLumia! Cindy takes you literally with your first question, which I don't think you meant?? How interesting , the times , where the club route was a way to make you visible. But no LP not even a single to promote?? Sort of doesn't make sense, unless she was hoping to be rediscovered by someone listening to her through this process ? It was true it was hard to get a crowd to simmer down in a club for any length of time for anything other than keeping the dance floor going. it was hard enough if you had a current song for them which Cindy didn't ? She would've been but a vague long ago voice from an entirely different generation ??

[[I'm remembering a club I DJd at. The owner mistakenly thought you needed to have variety throughout the night. One night he cleared the floor to have a stand-up comedian have a turn. It wasn't going well , no one was paying attention and finally someone in the audience walked right up to him, and in his face asked him, "Excuse me, where's the bathroom?"
Wow:eek: rough crowd !!)

Hope Cindy fared better!
& Hopefully you'll post part two soon Jimi !

Clubs used all kinds of gimmicks back in the day. I remember a club outside of Philly called "Scintillations" had this dancing robot that would come out and do a dance periodically throughout the night to keep the crowd pumped up.

[Boogiedown]

Clubs used all kinds of gimmicks back in the day. I remember a club outside of Philly called "Scintillations" had this dancing robot that would come out and do a dance periodically throughout the night to keep the crowd pumped up.

that cracks me up ! LOL!

And don't forget the dance contests!! My buddy Odis made a good amount of pocket money circulating around the various clubs and entering those. I recall one time them telling him, "You can't enter, you won last week !".

[marv2]

that cracks me up ! LOL!

And don't forget the dance contests!! My buddy Odis made a good amount of pocket money circulating around the various clubs and entering those. I recall one time them telling him, "You can't enter, you won last week !".

In NYC in the 80s, some clubs went 60s retro with caged dancers, dancers on podiums [[my girl and I actually did that one night at the Palladium LOL) and members of the crowd banging on tambourines! LOL!

[milven]

What did not makes sense is that as a worldwide star who had appeared on national television many, many times and in countless concert halls around the world that "Cindy Birdsong" had to be "discovered" years later. I blame Motown for that!

Well technically, she was part of a group that was a world wide star. And as Cindy says in the interview, the spotlight was mostly on the lead singer of girl groups of the sixties. And I think we can all agree that applied even more so to the Supremes

[Boogiedown]

In NYC in the 80s, some clubs went 60s retro with caged dancers, dancers on podiums [[my girl and I actually did that one night at the Palladium LOL) and members of the crowd banging on tambourines! LOL!
Ha!

The Palladium. That sounds familiar.
The Troc in SF was famous for the stage being occupied by fan dancers.

I knew the scene had totally lost its innocence when I went to Hollywood's Studio One and they now had twinks in jock straps swinging out on ropes over the heads of the dancers.:rolleyes::[[ [[not a glamorous touch, made it feel seedy)

[Jimi LaLumia]

Cindy was being managed at the time by the late Bernard Jay, who also managed the late great DIVINE!! I had interviewed Divine in that time frame so Bernard, not knowing I was a lifetime Supremes-er, called to ask if I was interested in Cindy, and I was like "ARE YOU KIDDING?" we sat on the balcony of Mr.Jay's NYC apartment and had a lovely chat shortly thereafter her single "Dancing Room" was issued in the UK by Ian Levine ..

[Jimi LaLumia]

my friend Norman, who worked at a caddilac dealership found out I had a cassette of the interview, borrowed it and I never got it back.. he made himself available to drive Cindy where ever she needed to go, and word got out and suddenly Norman was driving former Supremes all over the tri state area in brand new caddies free of charge.. I seem to recall that Mary Wilson called Norman "Caddilac Man!" lol

[Jimi LaLumia]

ok will try that

[luke]

Seen her London appearance video. Any info on her NYC appearance?

[marv2]

my friend Norman, who worked at a caddilac dealership found out I had a cassette of the interview, borrowed it and I never got it back.. he made himself available to drive Cindy where ever she needed to go, and word got out and suddenly Norman was driving former Supremes all over the tri state area in brand new caddies free of charge.. I seem to recall that Mary Wilson called Norman "Caddilac Man!" lol

I actually remember that from the 80s! It was carried in a magazine at the time. Jimi, did you know that King O'Rourke Cadillac named a signature car for Mary Wilson in 2000? She came to the event in Smithtown.

[marv2]

Seen her London appearance video. Any info on her NYC appearance?

She performed at the Palladium in NYC which was on 14th Street. It was huge! I remember spending the night there until the next morning. It was later used for the show "Club MTV" with Downtown Julie Brown.

[Jimi LaLumia]

I actually remember that from the 80s! It was carried in a magazine at the time. Jimi, did you know that King O'Rourke Cadillac named a signature car for Mary Wilson in 2000? She came to the event in Smithtown.
The Smithtown dealership was Norman's dealership...

[Jimi LaLumia]

so my hooking Norman up with Cindy via Bernard Jay led to all of the subsequent events mentioned above...haven't seen Norman in decades..

[marv2]

The Smithtown dealership was Norman's dealership...


Did Norman own King O'Rourke's? Then I met him!

[BobbyC]

I adore Divine! How much drearier would this world be with John Waters and Divine?

[Circa 1824]

She performed at the Palladium in NYC which was on 14th Street. It was huge! I remember spending the night there until the next morning. It was later used for the show "Club MTV" with Downtown Julie Brown.

I was at the NY Palladium show. I think it was a Sunday night. The gay crowd was there to dance, not specifically to see Cindy. Cindy did lots of Supremes songs. The crowd was enjoying, although not terribly enthusiastic. The heyday of the Supremes [[1960’s) was long before most of that 20-something crowd came of age. Cindy sounded good, but displayed no discernible star quality.

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

Nice interview - look forward to reading Pt2.

[thanxal]

Excellent Jimi.
Money quote in my opinion...
Jimi: "wouldn't you rather have moved on"
Cindy: "people would not let it go".

34 years ago and it's still true today!!!