Good show on ID Channel on The Estate of Frankie Lymon!

[gary_james]

Tonight I watched a new series called, The Will: Family Secrets Revealed on the ID Channel. The episode is about The Estate Of Frankie Lymon... and payment for Why Do Fools Fall In Love. What a wild story and case!
The episode is running again Sunday 10/30/11 at 11am est.

[juicefree20]

Indeed I saw this Gary, What struck me the most about this show is how it contrasted with the movie.

The movie turned a very sad & tragic story into one big joke & a mockery of a very serious situation. Even when the movie touched on his heroin addiction, they immediately blunted the impact by going back into what felt like one big skit from In Living Color. Ironically, I like the movie but only because I don't view it as a depiction of his life, but rather as a comedy skit because if I were to view the movie as an accurate depiction of his life, I'd like it a whole lot less. Tome, it played as parody & I took it as such.

But tonight's story played it for what it was...a group of kids whom were exploited, jerked & screwed out what was rightfully theirs. And it also drove home the reality of a kid who grew up way too soon & when he was no longer that cute little kid, was discarded like an old toy. And worst of all, he was a kid who from all accounts had one hell of an heroin addiction.

Imagine being a star at 14, a junkie at 15, an age where most of us were playing Cowboys & Indians or Softball, a career that for all intent & purposes lasted all of a year & a half, washed up at 16, then dead at 25.

As I said, he saw more than any kid his age should've seen & experienced way more than he should've & it makes me wonder how that possibly happened? My mother or one of my uncles wouldve been all over me, star or not. I just wonder how things went so bad so quickly & how did all of this slip past the notice of his family? Then again, the accounts of his activites as young as the age of 12 would indicate that he was more advanced in the ways of street life than was the average 18 year-old of that era.

Even more mind-boggling is the fact that it's been said that he had been clean since being drafted into the Army 3 years before his death, but overdosed while celebrating a new record deal. If true, that's absolutely mind-blowing.

As for the ladies, it seems as though he covered all of the bases. He had Elizabeth, whom was portrayed as a regular girl from around the way. Zola was glamorous & Elmira the demure, scholarly woman, a woman for every mood. Most of all, both the movie & this story makes me wonder just what was going through his mind & more than that, how he was able to be not merely an attempted bigamist, but rather an attempted trigamist & never getting caught?

Then again, it came out that his first marriage wasn't legal because Elizabeth wasn;t legally divorced when they married. he was also quoted as having said that his marriage to Zola was a stunt & considering the fact that she could produce no legal papers to verify her claim, perhaps he was telling the truth about that. When all is said & done, there was just one woman who could prove that she was legally married to him & that was Elmira.

Saddest of all is what happened to Herman & Jimmy. Herman was all of 15 when Why Do Fools Fall In Love hit it big & Jimmy was 16, which meant that they were minors when they wrote this song. While first winning their royalty case, it was later overturned due to the statute of limitations.

What I dont get about this is the fact that they were initially included on the original songwriting credits. Their names appeared on those early singles. Because of this, as well as the common practice of some companies not paying their artists royalties, they may never have bothered to look as subsequent reissues, which would've alerted them that their names had been erased from the credits. Hell, Frankie's name was listed & he never received a penny in royalties.

The ruling that they won was handed down in 1992, but was reversed because they filed suit 30 years after the fact which means that they should've filed in 1962, when they would've been 21 & 22 years of age. Still, the bigger question in my mind is why didn't the court take into consideration their young age when reversing the original decision? How was it acceptible that 3 minors were listed as co-writers of that hit, yet none of the minors received any form of protection against being ripped-off, much less had their royalties monitored?

I would've believed that the situations surrounding Shirley Temple, as well as Jackie Coogan decades earlier [[which led to the Coogan Law) would've led to more scrutiny as to how child singers were treated, especially how children whom were co-writers of such a big hit would've been handled.

On so many levels, this is a case that stinks to high heaven & while I believe that in this case justice was blind, I certainly don't believe that it was fair. And in the process, 2 men have had to struggle far more than they shouldve ever had to.

Given Frankie's death, how the group broke up, as well as what happened to Herman & Jimmy the story was already a sad one. Unfortunately, the situation surrounding Frankie & the alleged lives seemed to reduce a very serious situation into mere mockery & little more than a punch line of a comedian's joke. And as Frankie seems to have no surviving relatives, I really don't consider justice to be served on that end either.

Which only makes this story even sadder, if that's remotely possible.

[luke]

Wasnt Zola in the Platters? Why wasnt this mentioned? I dont get why Jimmy and Herman werent awarded future royalties as the PAST royalties had statue of limitations. They were ripped off both ways. They had a legitimate argument that they were intimidated by Morris Levy per past royalties.

[mellow_q]

Good points, all.

As far as the movie, Tina Andrews' plan was to tell the REAL story of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. However, after the success of "Waiting to Exhale," the studio decided to focus on the three wives. This was told to me by Jimmy Merchant. [[Juice, check the Flamingos issue of AToCS). The whole Zola Taylor "wife" thing was just a ploy for Morris Levy to get paid. Merchant called her "Levy's bullpen wife."

As far as the names of the Teenagers on the record disc, according to Merchant, they were told that only one name could appear on the actual record and , "Don't worry. It's all been taken care of down in Washington."

Sucks, huh?

Not trying to toot my own horn here, but Merchant really laid it out when I interviewed him for a story on the group in an edition of A Touch of Classic Soul from last year.

Marc T.

[luke]

You toot Marc-great magazine!!

[juicefree20]

Marc,

It's funny that you should mention that because as Jimmy was speaking, I was telling my lady about your article & some of the backdrop of their story.

You know that I still have every magazine & I remember when you interviewed him & you mentioned that he had quite a story to tell. What was great about the way that you handled the interview is that while a lot of others would've went after the drug or the wives, you kept things focused on what happened within the group in that relatively short span that encompassed their career.

As you pointed out, these kids were lied to & one must not forget that they were kids when then signed with Goldner [[was even one of them of legal age?). For than reason, I believe that the judge who overturned their victory could've taken that into consideration. It's not as though the judge couldn't have discovered that what had been done to them was regarded as "standard industry policy" in those days.

I believe that that fact shouldve carried at least a little weight when making that ruling.

[Roberta75]

I've never heard if the ID channel. Anyone know which cable company carries this show?

Thank you.

Roberta

[gary_james]

I get Investigation Discovery [[ID) with Directv, here is their site:
http://investigation.discovery.com/

[Roberta75]

I get Investigation Discovery [[ID) with Directv, here is their site:
http://investigation.discovery.com/

Thank you gary-james I see that I get this channel on my cable. Thank you for the link.

Roberta

[smark21]

I like ID [[Investigation Discovery)...a true crime channel.

[randy_russi]

The movie was a spoof! I saw Jimmy Merchant perform a few years ago with his group of Teenagers and he did a good
job of singing those songs.
I once heard the managers got Frankie hooked on drugs so they could control him. How awful if that were actually
true! Aren't his brothers, Timmy or Louie or Howard, still living?

[marv2]

Wasnt Zola in the Platters? Why wasnt this mentioned? I dont get why Jimmy and Herman werent awarded future royalties as the PAST royalties had statue of limitations. They were ripped off both ways. They had a legitimate argument that they were intimidated by Morris Levy per past royalties.

Luke, yeah I believe that Zola was in the Platters at one time.

[mark speck]

At one time? She was with the Platters for pretty much the entire run of hits!!

Best,

Mark

[mellow_q]

"entire run of hits!!" Thank you, Mark!!

[luke]

Odd it wasnt even mentioned.

[gary_james]

The episode this week [[Wednesday night) is about the fight for the millions from the Conway Twitty estate.

[randy_russi]

Again, does anyone know anything about Frankie's brothers? I remember Louie Lymon had his own group, the Teen Chords.
But there were two other brothers I remember hearing about, Howard and Timmy.

[gary_james]

Frankie's brothers were mentioned briefly in the show in that, they were not parties in the case since Frankie had gotten married.

[juicefree20]

Randy,

The wife became the estate, which is where Zola & Elizabeth came in. It was said a certain executive brought them into the picture, the caveat being that they were to receive a payoff of $20,000 if either could prove that she was Frankie's legitimate wife.

Considering the MILLIONS which were involved, I can't understand how if either woman could actually PROVE that she was Frankie's wife, they would settle for a mere $20,000. But that's what's been said & when one considers how this situation played out, one can believe just about anything as regards those involved.

[luke]

Maybe because maybe they wernt really his wives!

[juicefree20]

Luke,

Indeed! Which is why i'll never understand how one woman whom was already married & another woman whom couldn't produce a marriage license ever dreamed that they were going to be able to prove a thing. I saw a clip from Jet Magazine in which the wedding of Zola & Frankie was announced.

Several people have maintained that Frankie always claimed that their marriage was a publicity stunt. The testimony given during the trial would indicate that he might've been telling the truth about this.

[randy_russi]

Ok, someone posted above that Frankie had no living relatives. Anyone know where the brothers are today? A few years
back I saw Louie performing Frankie's hits on a PBS special, I think that's what it was, anyway, wondering what's up
with them.

[mellow_q]

Lewis is still alive.

[juicefree20]

It's not my intent to stray off-topic, but this show seems to really get to the point. I also saw on their website that they have a show coming up about Johnnie Taylor, where 3 adults showed up to challenge the 6 children whom were known to be his children. I don't know the air date at present. Perhaps some time shortly after Wednesday's show about Conway Twitty.

[gary_james]

here is some discussion about Frankie's brothers:
http://frankjosephlymon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=picsandinfo&action=display&thread=11

this Barnes & Noble story has Louis Lymon still around as of 2003:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/artistbio.asp?CTR=402368

[randy_russi]

Thanks to gary_james for posting the above links.

[milven]

I read this thread just as the Frankie Lymon Special was being broadcast on ID. I missed the first half. Good show. The fighting over his estate was the cause of his grave being unmarked for so many years. For years, whenever I was in the area, I would drive by a record shop that had Frankie's tombstone in the shop window. Yesterday, I was in the area and drove by. Surprisingly, the store is still there. I did not see the gravestone in the window, so possibly it was resolved.
http://www.lostinjersey.com/graphics/inside.JPG


Frankie Lymon formed the Teenagers in 1954, and recorded the hit “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”. He had a brief solo career and died only 10 years later, a result of his cocaine addiction. Lymon was buried in a unmarked grave in Brooklyn, NY. The owner of Ronnies Records is the head of the Frankie Lymon fan club decided to raise money to have one made. Over $1000 was raised and the headstone was carved. He contacted the estate, but ran into trouble because Lymon had married 3 different women,. The resulting legal issues that came from that were one reason why his grave remained unmarked. Not knowing what else to do with the monument, he put it in his store window, where he sells vintage records from the 50′s.

[randy_russi]

I believe Frankie died from a heroin addiction. In fact, wasn't he found on his grandmother's bathroom floor with the
syringe beside him?

[reese]

It's not my intent to stray off-topic, but this show seems to really get to the point. I also saw on their website that they have a show coming up about Johnnie Taylor, where 3 adults showed up to challenge the 6 children whom were known to be his children. I don't know the air date at present. Perhaps some time shortly after Wednesday's show about Conway Twitty.

I believe that the show on Johnnie Taylor will premiere on 11/16.

[juicefree20]

Reese,

Thank you very much for that info!