THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

So, you think you can sang.

The assistant to the assistant of the stage manager cut our conversation short and directed me to my spot on the stage underneath the neon SOUL TRAIN banner. Black duct tape marked my spot in front of the mic stand. The director shouted, “Roll track!”

Someone else responded, “Rolling!” and the drum machine intro gave us a beat, bright spotlights burst into the room sending the Soul Train Dancers into a frenzy of ecstatic gyrations. Their souls spoke to mine and I spoke back. Although I was lip-synching, I sang out in full voice. If you stood close enough to the edge you could catch my mouth transform into the note. When the track faded out, my lips kept moving.                               

Such gorgeous athletic dancers burst into applause that made us all one. They jumped up and down in the silence as if they were pogosticks. One song down and one interview to go. The lights shut down. Body odor and sweat made the air heavy. Can you turn up the A/C? The impromptu interview with Don Cornelius followed after cranes and gaffers were reset. The director shouted, “Rolling” for the second time.

Mr. Don Cornelius activated his camera-ready smile and said, “We’d like to welcome you to the show for the first time. We all know your songs. They seem to be dominating the charts for OTHER artists. But tonight, everybody finally got the chance to see you perform your own songs.”

“Well. I appreciate all the artists that have I had the honor to write and produce. Thank you so much Mr. Cornelius. Being on your show is all I wanted since I was eleven-years-old. It's truly a dream come true.”



Behind the song, "My Love is on the Money" by Full Force

"In 1986, Clive Davis brought Full Force in to work on the debut album of the talented vocalist and gifted songwriter, Lala, the writer of Whitney Houston's "You Give Good Love.""

-Paul Anthony George, one of the members of the Grammy Award winning production team and music group: Full Force, who also co-wrote, "(If You) Love Me Just a Little," and founder/CEO of the Paul Anthony Foundation, a charitable program proudly aligned with The Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

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