Unsung - Arrested Development

[stephanie]

Im not a fan of theirs but I know their music and this unsung was interesting because they all spoke about how they were hired hands and how money came into play. Always liked Dionne Farris and her voice. What shocked me about them was how different they were and how that album blew up when it came out. I liked Mr Wendal. Any thoughts on the Unsung?

[juicefree20]

Amongst an assortment of other things, I'm extremely anal about a group whos had all of one hit LP being profiled over legends such as The Dells, The Whispers, Ray, Goodman & Brown, The Stylistics, Blue Magic, et.al.

With that said, I enjoyed this episode because while knowing how the heights that they fell from after releasing their 2nd LP, as well as how they were regarded withing the Hip-Hop field, I didn't know the ins & outs of the group.

I was surprised to learn how Speech distributed the finances of the group, cutting even his partner who was with him from word "Go". I dislike it when groups present this unified "one for all" front, only to be disclosed to be anything but that. Chic comes most immediately to mind.

I digress...

I loved most of their debut LP back then. "Tennessee", "People Everyday" & "Mr. Wenall" were more than alright with me. They were a breath of fresh air compared to the crap coming out of Cali, N.Y., the south & that whole "East Coast vs. West Coast" crap that dragged Rap into the pit in which it still remains today.

I felt the same way a few years earlier when De La Soul hit the scene, though admittedly I believed De LA Soul to be far more inventive in their use of obscure samples & their lyrical content. But, they were still cut from the same cloth & I liked them.

Needless to say it was a disappointment to see that they were undermined by the same greed & ego run amuck, that's torn apart so many groups which proceeded them, as well as those who came afterward.

As with others, their story is a cautionary tale of how to blow it all through ego, greed, taking groupmates for granted, as well as totally misreading the pulse of the people as regards how "deep" one is trying to get as regards ones message.

Though I still wish that they'd create another show for groups & artists such as A.D., I enjoyed the show & there was definitely a message & moral in their story that all those who endeavor to get into this business need to pay heed to.

[Jerry Oz]

I'm amazed by group dynamics and how success can come between the best friends. It's the oldest song in the world and it'll be sung years after we've all departed. Some bands are able to do it, but money, ego, drugs, sex, and pride are always going to be the wedges that keep people from staying on top.

I'm kind of amazed that they did an "Unsung" about Arrested Development. I saw the ones about Whodini and Big Daddy Kane, if they're to do one about hip hop artists from the '80s, I'd prefer to see one about Eric B & Rakim, Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, Sugarhill Gang, or Boogie Down Productions. Since I saw Eric B. and KRS-One on other episodes, I wouldn't be surprised if they are going to be featured soon.

[Kamasu_Jr]

I watched it up to a point at first. I stopped when they started to get into the money issues and how Speech got the bulk of the money, but didn't share the wealth with the other group members. Like someone said, it's the same old story or the world's oldest song--Where did my money go? I did catch the entire episode finally. It ended positively, but the group will never be the same.
The series on the divas of soul doesn't really interest me since I don't consider most of the women to be featured worthy of the word DIVA.

[Kamasu_Jr]

I watched it up to a point at first. I stopped when they started to get into the money issues and how Speech got the bulk of the money, but didn't share the wealth with the other group members. Like someone said, it's the same old story or the world's oldest song--Where did my money go? I did catch the entire episode finally. It ended positively, but the group will never be the same.
The series on the divas of soul doesn't really interest me since I don't consider most of the women to be featured worthy of the word DIVA.

I take back what I said previously about the R&B Divas. I watched it and found it interesting. It was done like a reality series and those are the rage right now.