Posted by rickyday at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night former Destiny's Child vocalist Kelly Rowland played a 40 min set at the Gramercy Theater here in NYC as part of Walmarts "Soundcheck concert series. She looked great as she sang selections covering both her successful and still growing solo career like Commander, When Love Takes Over, Like This and Rose Colored Glasses as well as a sprinkling of Destiny's Child hits like Hard Habit to Break and Say My Name.

It's great to see Kelly successfully continue her solo journey which kicks into high ear this November when her new CD hits stores. Now's she's off to Atlanta to play a few dates and prep for the release of the solo disc. Stay tuned for more about Kelly and other great artists you love as the fall season of the new and improved Urban Pop Life kicks off in late September.

I apologize for not having photos to share, but it was a taped performance and no flash photography was allowed and the post show meet and greet was off the chain as fans and VIP's lined up to share their love with Kelly. Take my word for it tho, Kelly looked as beautiful as ever. Keep livin' ya dream Kelly...we love ya!

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This girl is FIYAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1) What is Kelly's full birth name, what year was she born and in what city?

2) What is the name of my current solo exhibit and where is it on display?

3) For what song did Kelly win a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration?

4) What is the name of the documentary film I am currently directing and who is the main character?
A Portrait of The Life and Sean Collie my nephew is the main character

The first person to hit me on facebook with the correct answers wins! I've received some answers, just not the correct ones...lol.

Posted by rickyday at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through The Night is a new show written and performed by Obie Award winner Daniel Beaty and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. It's a show so promising that it has the support of several prominent artistic ambassadors including Bill Cosby, Ruby Dee, Thelma Golden and Ben Vereen.

Check it out.

THREE WAYS TO ORDER:

1. ONLINE. Visit Ticketmaster.com by clicking here, select the performance date you wish to attend,
and enter code DBLAST in the
“Promotions and Special Offers” area.

2. Call Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787 and mention code DBLAST.

3. IN PERSON. Bring a print-out of this offer to the Union Square Theatre Box Office (100 East 17th Street, NYC).

PREVIEW PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Friday, September 10 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 11 at 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, September 12 at 7 pm
Thursday, September 16 at 8 pm
Friday, September 17 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 18 at 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, September 19 at 3 pm & 7 pm
Wednesday, September 22 at 8 pm
Thursday, September 23 at 8 pm
Friday, September 24 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 25 at 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, September 26 at 7 pm

REGULAR PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Beginning September 29, 2010
Wednesday - Friday at 8 pm
Saturday at 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday at 3 pm & 7 pm

FOR GROUPS, please call 646-624-6678.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kelly Rowland quiz final question

I'm giving away a pair of tickets to see Kelly Rowland live. To win tickets there is no purchase necessary and it's very easy to win.

The first person to answer the 4 questions posted on my facebook page, twitter account and this blog by sending the answers to the questions to me via my facebook page win admission to see Kelly Rowland LIVE at the Gramercy Theater in New York City this Thursday night.

The event is a guest list only event and names will be checked at the door. You will need to bring a government issued photo ID and by 21 years of age or older to enter the building. You must also be willing to release your image and audio as this concert is to be video taped.

THIS IS THE FINAL QUESTION

4) What is the name of the documentary film I am currently directing and who is the main character?

All the answers to all the questions can be found on my facebook, twitter or this blog.

Be the first person to answer all 4 questions correctly via a private message to my facebook page and win the tix to see Kelly Rowland live.

Posted by rickyday at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm giving away a pair of tickets to see Kelly Rowland live. To win tickets there is no purchase necessary and it's very easy to win.

The first person to correctly answer the 4 questions posted on my facebook page, twitter account and this blog by sending the answers to the questions to me via my facebook page win admission to see Kelly Rowland LIVE at the Gramercy Theater in New York City this Thursday night.

The event is a guest list only event and names will be checked at the door. You will need to bring a government issued photo ID and by 21 years of age or older to enter the building. You must also be willing to release your image and audio as this concert is to be video taped.

That's it. So you ready?

Question one

What is Kelly's full birth name, what year was she born and in what city?

Go to twitter for question number two. You must follow me first.

Posted by rickyday at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This Thursday night Kelly Rowland is playing a special private show in NYC and we've got tix 4 u. This is the first of many special promotions coming this fall from the new and improved Urban Pop Life and Ricky Day.

Sometimes the special announcements will come via this blog and other times via facebook or twitter so do yourself a favor and follow me on Twitter and friend me on Facebook right now!!!!!!!!! Trust me this fall and winter is gonna be FIYAH in the most artistic sense of the word!

So check out this blog (read at least 10 posts back), peep my Twitter later today (after you follow me) and check out facebook (after you friend me). There will be a short quiz posted here on the blog a little later today and the first person to answer all questions correctly is gonna go see Kelly this Thursday night for FREE!!!!!! Hint all the answers will be easily found if you've peeped the blog, twitter and facebook during the course of today.

Good luck and have a great day.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This entire movie was shot and edited on an iphone 4.

Posted by rickyday at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

KEYS OF LIGHT - a solo exhibition by MANUEL ACEVEDO

On View from July 16 – August 28
curated by José Ruiz

Keys of Light encompasses significant projects made by Manuel Acevedo over the past ten years across a wide course of artistic practices such as photography, video/animation, drawing, and site-specific installations/interventions.

While not a survey or a retrospective, the show collates Acevedo’s underlying interest in the metaphysics of light and optics as a concrete material for intervention in public/urban and private/domestic spaces. In each of the works, the artist’s use of projections, whether physical or envisioned, is embodied with imagery native or responsive to the given work’s surrounding architecture, city or community. The effect not only casts juxtaposed utopian/dystopian illusions but also penetrates physical space to mediate the tension between material surface and the act of “looking through”—while simultaneously commenting on the tenuous relationships between the urban landscape and its citizens during pivotal moments of transformation.

Through this exhibition, BRAC also acknowledges Acevedo’s career and conviction to primarily work with alternative, non-profit and community-based art centers as an integral model for artistic activism and pedagogy. To this end, Keys of Light also poises the possibilities of transformation during an important moment in BRAC’s organizational history, as it will mark the last exhibition in its current gallery, which it has occupied for over 25 years. This fall, the Center will break ground on a major Capital Program and undergo a 7 million dollar renovation to its facility and enter a 2-year phase of roving arts programming while the building is being reconstructed.

It is in these types of contexts that Acevedo’s practice gleams. One new, site-specific work creates a large-scale camera obscura that subtly projects the real-time exterior landscape onto the walls. In his Untitled (Night Projection) series from 2002, an archetypal house in Newark becomes a screen for the city’s collective condition. WTC Tropism 2007 studies the site of Ground Zero from the same angle, as seen through his studio window while in residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program, through numerous manipulated Polaroids that propose alternatives to architectural memorials.

In other works, Manuel Acevedo carries the same interest in blurring the division between interior and exterior and further illuminates the process and craft of the optics of light with direct, subversive artwork that serves as evidence and documentation of projected ideas.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Manuel Acevedo was born in 1964 in Newark, NJ and lives in Queens, NY. Acevedo is a recipient of the 2009Visual Artists Network, New Orleans, LA; Artist in Residence for the Camera Communis project, Knoxville, TN; Center for Book Arts, AIR Workspace Program 2007; Visiting Artist at NYU 2007; VAN Award 2007; SPACES’ World Artists Program 2006 and LMCC Residency Program 2006. His awards include the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant 2005; Longwood Arts Project: Digital Matrix Commission 2005; the Mid-Atlantic Foundation’s Artist as Catalysts Award 1999 & 2001 & The Studio Museum in Harlem, AIR 1998-99. Group exhibitions include Museo de la Ciudad, Spain; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Real Art Ways, Exit Art, Queens Museum of Art, PS 1, El Museo del Barrio, the Drawing Center, Westfaelischer Kunstverein, Germany with solo exhibitions at Jersey City Museum and the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies.

Bronx River Art Center
1087 East Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10460
T (718) 589-5819 • F (718) 860-8303
info@bronxriverart.org

GALLERY HOURS:
Monday - Friday: 3pm - 6pm
Saturday: 12pm - 5pm
Gallery hours are only in effect during the exhibition dates.

OFFICE & CENTER HOURS:
Monday - Thursday: 10am - 6pm

DIRECTIONS: By Train: Take #2 or #5 to West Farms Square/East Tremont. Walk one block east to Bronx Street. By Bus: Take #'s B9, 21, 36, 40, 42, or Q44 to East Tremont and Boston Road. By Car: Take Bruckner Expressway to Sheridan Expressway, and exit at East Tremont Ave. Turn left at the traffic light one block down onto EastTremont. Turn left after one block onto Bronx St. (Cross Bronx Expressway) towards Rosedale Ave, then exit. Turn left onto Rosedale Ave, then take a left onto Tremont Ave. Drive four blocks to West Farms Square.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The parents and I

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. As I celebrate another year of life I can't help but think about the two people whose love was responsible for creating me. Thanks Mom, thanks Dad.

If you're feeling generous and wanna give mea birthday gift donate to my forthcoming documentary film project by going to http://rickyday.net/thelife

To donate click here:

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 05:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PREVIEW / FALL / 2010

Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to announce the following fall exhibitions and highlights:

On view at Jack Shainman Gallery:

Arlene Shechet

The Sound of It
September 10 - October 9, 2010

Opening reception for the artist, Friday, September 10, 6 - 8 pm

Arlene Shechets hybrid sculptures formed from clay and colored with an amazing palette of innovative glazes confront the viewer with the tension between East and West, old and new, sexuality and androgyny, art and craft. As the forms inhale and exhale, entwine and unravel, they refer to emotional states and the fragile nature of the human condition.

Yoan Capote

Mental States
October 14 - November 13, 2010

For his premiere solo exhibition with the gallery, Yoan Capote will present new two-dimensional and sculptural work inspired by his personal interaction with American reality and everyday objects. Inspired by politics and human psychology, the physical, intellectual, and emotional experiences of the artist can be translated through each piece, where sensorial play becomes a medium to create strong metaphors about our own behavior. The works include timely references to immigration, illusion, seduction, and obsessions.

Odili Donald Odita

Body & Space
November 18 - December 23, 2010

In this exhibition of new wall paintings, canvases, and paintings on Plexiglas, Odita explores the works metaphoric ability to address the human condition through pattern, structure and design, as well as its possibility to trigger memory. The patterns resemble scrambled TV sets, an image so ingrained in modern culture, reflecting the way information is disseminated to us. Each color Odita uses is hand-mixed separately, and therefore unique, which further underscores his fascination with human nature.

Art Basel Miami Beach, Booth B21, December 4 - 8, 2010

Other exhibitions:

El Anatsui, When I Last Wrote to You About Africa, at the Institute for Contemporary Culture, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada, opens October 2, 2010

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at the Studio Museum in Harlem opens November 15, 2010

Regular gallery hours beginning September 10th: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm.

For additional information and photographic material please contact the gallery at info@jackshainman.com.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 04:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by rickyday at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The blog is coming back bigger and better than ever this fall and to accomplish this task we need YOU!

I'm now accepting resumes for intern positions.

Please be able to read and write the Kings English.

Have an interest in one or more of the following:

Fine Art
Film
Pop Culture
Fashion
Sub-culture
Creative writing
Nightlife

Send your resumes and inquires to Uptownsun@aol.com

Posted by rickyday at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As I prepare for an exciting 3rd season of blogging, prep my first feature film and continue producing works of art it's time for the annual summer blogging break. I will occasionally offer flashbacks posts as well as the occasional video, but essentially the blog will be on hiatus until late September.

Until then follow me on twitter, friend me on facebook and visit the film website.

Enjoy the rest of your summer as I will with mine and we'll get back together this fall. And oh yes, please check out the show at Chi Chiz (135 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village) which is on display until September 8.

XO

Ricky

Posted by rickyday at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

A Portrait of The Life
a documentary film by Ricky Day

It's official I am in pre-production on my first feature film as well as a short film. The feature film is a documentary film called A Portrait of The Life. The film interweaves personal accounts, performance art and verite footage into an uplifting behind-the-scenes story about being
African-American and LGBTQ in America and how this community of diverse individuals uses the power of friendship, family and "fabulosity" to overcome self-hate, homophobia and religious based discrimination and achieve personal happiness living "the life."

The fund raising push for the film project has officially begun. In addition to the traditional fund raising sources like grants I am counting on the support of readers like yourself to help make this project a reality through personal donations,word of mouth and fund raising events.

Check out the official project website A Portrait of The Life

To donate click here:

Posted by rickyday at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA) is doing it big this summer in it's 3 locations. What follows is an overview of what's going on.

DENNIS HOPPER DOUBLE STANDARD
07.11.10 - 09.26.10

Dennis Hopper Double Standard is the first comprehensive survey exhibition of Dennis Hopper's (b. 1936, Dodge City, Kans.) artistic career to be mounted by a North American museum. Best known for his work in film, Hopper has produced an oeuvre of remarkable breadth that blurs the boundaries between art, film, and popular culture. Curated by Julian Schnabel, whose own work has been inspired by Hopper's fusion of art and film, the exhibition will assemble key selections and bodies of work examining the artist's creative development with a focus on artworks made between 1961 and present day, as many of Hopper's earlier paintings were destroyed in his studio by the 1961 Bel Air fire. The exhibition will be organized in several sections reflecting the cyclical and serial nature of the artist's work. The layout will bring together various groupings of work emphasizing Hopper's interest in Duchampian appropriation of common objects and the dialogue between pop and progressive culture. It will also highlight the ways in which Hopper has utilized a range of styles-from abstraction, the ready-made, and pop art to conceptual and performance art-to further his investigation into the "return to the real." Tracing the evolution of Hopper's artistic output, Dennis Hopper Double Standard will feature more than 200 works spanning his prolific 60-year career in a range of media, including an early painting from 1955; photographs, sculpture, and assemblages from the 1960s; paintings from the 1980s and '90s; graffiti-inspired wall constructions and large-scale billboard paintings from the 2000s; his most recent sculptures; and film installations.

Dennis Hopper Double Standard is presented by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

THE GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY AT MOCA 152 NORTH CENTRAL AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90013

THE GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY AT MOCA

A former police car warehouse in Little Tokyo renovated by the noted California architect Frank O. Gehry, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (formerly The Temporary Contemporary) opened in 1983. This location offers 40,000 square feet of exhibition space and a branch of the MOCA Store.

MUSEUM HOURS
MON 11am–5pm
TUES, WED CLOSED
THURS 11am–8pm
FRI 11am–5pm
SAT, SUN 11am–6pm

Closed New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

Map
ADMISSION
General Admission: $10
Students with I.D.: $5
Seniors (65+): $5
Children under 12: Free
Jurors with I.D.: Free

Free Thursday Evenings

ANY EVER
07.18.10 - 10.17.10

Any Ever is the American premiere of the artist Ryan Trecartin's (b. 1981, Webster, Tex.) 2007-10 body of work, produced in Miami with collaborator Lizzie Fitch and contributors ranging from friends and artists to working child actors. The entire exhibition space will be devoted to the non-sequential series of seven movies, which are structurally conceived as a diptych consisting of a trilogy, Trill-ogy Comp (2009), and a quartet, Re'Search Wait'S (2009-10). The movies are interconnected spatially via networked viewing rooms and an ambient soundscape, and materially by characters, semblances of plot, and formal, recurring motifs. Having emerged from the 2000s as an innovator of ecstatic new frontiers in art and cinema, the influence of Trecartin's practice has grown within the art world and among a broader, intergenerational set of thinkers and cultural consumers. Consistent with his work to date, this latest series mines emergent evolutions of identity, narrative, language, and visual culture for content and propels these matters forward as expressive mediums, through darkly jubilant and categorically frenetic formal experimentations. Any Ever at MOCA is the exhibition's first American presentation on an international tour that began at The Power Plant in Toronto, Canada (March 2010). It will continue to the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL, (2011) before traveling to further international venues. In 2011, Trecartin will also be the subject of solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY, and the Musee d'Art modern de la Ville de Paris, France. Forthcoming print and digital catalogues will be the first publications uniquely dedicated to Trecartin's work and will reflect the entirety of his practice to date.

MUSEUM & STORE HOURS
MON CLOSED
TUES–FRI 11am–5pm
SAT, SUN 11am–6pm

Closed New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

Please note that MOCA Pacific Design Center will closed at 3pm on Sunday, August 8th and be closed to the public Friday, August 27th–Sunday, August 29th.

ADMISSION
Admission to MOCA Pacific Design Center is FREE

GROUP ADMISSION
Prescheduled, accredited school groups receive free admission. Reservations must be made at least 10 business days in advance of visit by calling the Group Reservations line,
213/621-1745.

ARSHILE GORKY: A RETROSPECTIVE
06.06.10 - 09.20.10

Arshile Gorky (b. c.1902, Khorkom, Armenia; d. 1948 Sherman, Conn.) was a seminal figure in the movement toward abstraction that transformed American art in the middle of the 20th century. Born in an Armenian village on the eastern border of Ottoman Turkey, Gorky was a first-hand witness to the Turkish government's Armenian Genocide of 1915, which led the artist's family and thousands of others to flee. In 1920, Gorky emigrated to the United States and eventually settled in New York, where he became a largely self-taught artist. At a time when the American avant-garde privileged originality over traditional working methods, Gorky was a nonconformist who developed his personal vocabulary through a series of intensive apprenticeships to the styles of other artists, including Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and Joan Miro, before developing his own unique and deeply influential visual language in the early 1940s. Gorky's prominence in the New York art scene led him to befriend Andre Breton and Roberto Matta-fellow emigres and key figures in the surrealist group-who came to have an enormous impact on Gorky's mature style. Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective positions Gorky as a crucial founder of abstract expressionism, but also as a passionate and dedicated artist whose tragic life often informed his groundbreaking and deeply personal paintings. The first full-scale survey of Gorky's work since 1981, this timely exhibition features Gorky's most significant paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, including two masterworks from MOCA's permanent collection - Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb (1943) and Betrothal I (1947). Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective is organized by Michael Taylor, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the exhibition was on view October 21, 2009, through January 10, 2010, before traveling to Tate Modern, London, February 10 through May 3, 2010. MOCA's presentation, the third on the exhibition's tour, is organized by MOCA Chief Curator Paul Schimmel. Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that includes new essays by Harry Cooper, Jody Patterson, Robert Storr, and Kim Theriault

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Tate Modern, London, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

MOCA GRAND AVENUE 250 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

MOCA GRAND AVENUE

Designed by Arata Isozaki, MOCA Grand Avenue is host to elegant underground galleries, a café, the flagship location of the MOCA Store, and staff offices.

MUSEUM HOURS
MON 11am–5pm
TUES, WED CLOSED
THURS 11am–8pm
FRI 11am–5pm
SAT, SUN 11am–6pm

Please note that the MOCA Store at MOCA Grand Avenue will be closed for maintenance on Wednesday, August 4.

Closed New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

ADMISSION
General Admission: $10
Students with I.D.: $5
Seniors (65+): $5
Children under 12: Free
Jurors with I.D.: Free

Free Thursday Evenings:
Admission to MOCA Grand Avenue is free every Thursday, 5–8pm, courtesy of Wells Fargo.

http://www.moca.org

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are performers, then there are artists, then there are talents that are both. When you can write, perform, record, inspire and excel for decades that for me is the measure of an icon. Nona Hendrxy is an icon. I was fortunate enough to see Ms. Hendryx live last Friday night at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. She was as compelling, beautiful and entertaining as ever. So checkout the bio, videos and images of a loving spirit and wonderful Urban Pop Icon: Nona Hendryx.

Bio from Wikipedia.com

Early career

Born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1944, Hendryx's family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the mid-1950s where Hendryx first got in contact with fellow New Jersey native Sarah Dash and Philadelphia-based singers Patricia "Patsy" Holte and Sandra Tucker. After the short-lived tenure as member of rival group the Del-Capris, Hendryx and Dash formed a singing group with Holte and Tucker that year calling themselves The Ordettes. In 1961, Tucker was replaced by 18-year-old Cindy Birdsong, who was born in Philadelphia and had lived in New Jersey before moving back to Philadelphia where she was trying to be a nurse. In 1962, the Ordettes changed their name to the Bluebelles after signing their first deal with Newtown Records while Holte changed her stage name to Patti LaBelle.

After the release of their debut hit, 1962's "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", their name altered again to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Hendryx's husky alto differed from Dash's sharp soprano, LaBelle's mezzo-soprano and Birdsong's second soprano. During this tenure, the group became known for their emotional live performances and their doo-wop renditions of classic standards such as "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy". The group often found themselves competing against girl groups such as The Chantels and The Supremes, with whom had a deep rivalry thanks to group member Diana Ross often snooping in on where the Bluebelles bought their dresses, according to LaBelle years later. In 1967, in the middle of a tour, Hendryx, LaBelle and Dash were shocked to discover that Birdsong, who had secretly been acting as a stand-in for Supremes member Florence Ballard, had officially joined the group after Ballard was ousted from the group by Motown CEO Berry Gordy.

Labelle

For the next three years, the group struggled to compete against the changing musical landscape for which their girl group sound had fallen out of favor with popular audiences. In 1971, they moved to England, where they had a cult fan base, and on the advice of Vicki Wickham, changed their name to Labelle and ditched the dresses and bouffant wigs for jeans and Afros. Releasing transitional albums including 1971's Labelle and 1972's Moon Shadow, the group recorded material unheard of for an black, all-female group included matters of sexual and political affair. The transition was hard for lead singer LaBelle, who was a fan of the group's early-era ballads, but she eventually gave in. Member Dash remained neutral throughout the tenure of the group.

After the release of Moon Shadow, Hendryx began the chief songwriter for most of the group's records while LaBelle and Dash occasionally wrote their own material. After successfully opening for The Who during the group's American tour in 1973, the group released Pressure Cookin', where they once again adopted a new look as "glam rock, space-age divas". As a songwriter Hendrix subsequently wrote powerful ballads ("You Turn Me On" and "Nightbird" from Nightbirds, "Going Down Makes Me Shiver" from Labelle's final album, Chameleon), and a wealth of more uptempo numbers ("Space Children," "Messin' With My Mind," "Gypsy Moths," and "Who's Watching the Watcher"). Her themes were unconventional, diverse, and often experimental. Her composition "A Man In A Trenchcoat (Voodoo)" from Chameleon also marked Hendryx's first time singing lead vocal on an album. In 1974, the group hit gold with the release of Nightbirds following the release of the smash hit, "Lady Marmalade". Following the band's 1976 breakup, Labelle, Dash, and Hendryx all embarked on solo careers; Wickham stayed on with Hendryx to manage her solo career.

Solo career

In 1977, Hendryx released her first solo album – a self-titled collection. A blend of soul and hard rock, it contained notable standout tracks such as "Winning" – later recorded by Santana – and the haunting ballad "Leaving Here Today". It quickly disappeared from the shelves, and Hendryx was dropped from Epic. Subsequently, she recorded four singles for Arista (London), which also escaped chart success. She did find success doing session work during this period, most notably providing background vocals for Talking Heads and touring with them, appearing first at the major Heatwave festival in August 1980. She contributed to the song "Checkmate" on Dusty Springfield's, It Begins Again album (the first of Springfield's comeback attempts) in 1978.

In the early 80's, Hendryx fronted her own progressive art-rock group, Zero Cool, which included guitarist Naux (China Shop, Richard Hell), Bassist Michael Allison (Darshan Ambient), guitarist Kevin Fullen and drummer Jimmy Allington. Simultaneously, she sang with experimental funk group Material, achieving a giant club hit with "Busting Out." She had two other major club hits soon after: a dance remake of The Supremes' "Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart," and – in a lead vocal guest spot for the Cage – "Do What You Wanna Do." Material also produced her second eponymous album, Nona, in 1983. The hip, contemporary dance sound of this album proved to be more charts-compatible, with the disco music times, and the single "Keep It Confidential" becoming a modest R&B hit, and a remix of "B-boys" finding major success on the dance charts. "Transformation" became a Hendryx staple, and was later covered by Fierce Ruling Diva. Another particularly noteworthy track on the album is the ballad "Design For Living," which featured guests Laurie Anderson, Gina Shock of The Go-Go's, Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson, Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads, Nancy Wilson of Heart, and former bandmate Patti LaBelle.

In the mid-1980s, Hendryx was recruited by RCA to record songs for various soundtracks, including: the theme for Moving Violations; "I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)," a commercial hit for Hendryx from the Jamie Lee Curtis film Perfect; and "Transparent" from the Eddie Murphy vehicle, Coming To America. Her album The Art Of Defense was released in 1984.

In 1985, Hendryx wrote and recorded "Rock This House" with Keith Richards, from her album The Heat. The song was nominated for a Grammy award. The same year, the MTV broadcast of the video "I Need Love" stirred some controversy for featuring drag queens, and it was quickly removed from MTV's playlist as a result.

Her biggest commercial success came with 1987's single "Why Should I Cry?", a top 5 R'n'B hit (also reaching #58 on the Billboard 100). The accompanying album, Female Trouble, boasted an impressive list of contributors, including Peter Gabriel and Prince ("Baby A Go Go"). Around this time, she became a member of the Black Rock Coalition, founded by Vernon Reid of Living Colour.

Hendryx took a detour from commercial music with Skin Diver, a new age record produced with long-time Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann. The album was generally greeted with positive feedback from critics, but was commercially unsuccessful. The title track did attract some attention, as did "Women Who Fly", which was later covered by Jefferson Starship.

In addition to the duet-album with Billy Vera (You Have to Cry Sometime) and a couple of compilation-only tracks, Hendryx has recorded more than five albums worth of music, but has been unable to release any of it due to lack of interest from major and independent record labels. Her Epic, RCA and EMI albums have long been out of print and have yet to attract the attention of specialist reissue labels, but a Best Of album titled Transformation was released in 1999 by Razor & Tie.

Hendryx has also dabbled in acting. She wrote and performed the theme for Landlord Blues (1987), while also having a small part in the film as attorney Sally Viscuso. She played herself in the late-90's Pam Grier series Linc's, and at the end of the show accompanied herself on the piano for "Lift Every Voice." Most recently, she appeared in the third season of The L Word, which closed with Grier, Hendryx, and the trio BETTY singing a cover of the Hendryx track "Transformation."

She remains in high demand for musical collaborations, both for her vocals and her songwriting. One of her early collaborations was with Jerry Harrison's (Talking Heads) The Red and The Black album 1981. In 1992, she recorded a duet with Billy Crawford, "Urgently In Love," which was considered by many to be a strong single that was not promoted properly. In 1998, she recorded the huge rap hit "It's a Party" with Bounty Killer. She has also written songs for Dusty Springfield and Ultra Nate, and produced albums for Lisa Lisa and The Bush Tetras. Other artists with whom she has recorded with over the years include: David Johansen, Yoko Ono, Cameo, Talking Heads (3 albums), 80's band Our Daughter's Wedding, Garland Jeffreys, Dan Hartman, Afrika Bambaata (performing a duet of "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" with Boy George), Canadian band Rough Trade, Curtis Hairston, and Graham Parker on the hit single, "Soul Christmas."

In the beginning of the current decade, Hendryx was asked to appear on two of Paul Haslinger's albums; two tracks for which she sang lead vocals – "Higher Purpose" and "Beginning to End" -were featured on the soundtrack for the Showtime series Sleeper Cell.

Later career and Labelle reunions

Currently, Hendryx is still touring and has written plays, including Blue. Recently, Sandra St. Victor (The Family Stand) recruited daughters of famous African American soul/blues icons – including Lalah Hathaway, Simone, Indira Khan, and Leah McCrae – together with "spiritual daughters" Joyce Kennedy, Caron Wheeler, and Nona, to form the group Daughters Of Soul, which has enjoyed much success, especially on the European tour circuit.

She also formed her own record label with Bobby Banks, Rhythm Bank, in 2005, and has released a gospel CD by protege Najiyah.

Since the breakup of Labelle, Patti, Sarah, and Nona have reunited on occasion. These reunions include Patti LaBelle's "Live In New York" video, the dance hit "Turn It Out" from the soundtrack To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), and two television specials. In January 2006, Labelle again reunited to record "Dear Rosa," a tribute to civil rights leader Rosa Parks. Labelle also performed the theme song for the soundtrack for the film Preaching to the Choir, with Nona being the composer of the film's soundtrack. In late 2008, Labelle released their comeback album, Back to Now, and went on a successful concert tour that carried through the spring of 2009.

Speaking in April 2009 to noted UK soul/R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Hendryx discussed the background to Labelle reuniting for Back To Now: "Well, there were lots of ongoing times when we'd discussed doing it. And a lot of it was really down to the fact that the fans were DEMANDING that we did it! But, rather than just going back and doing what we'd done in the past, we did want to be able to make an album of new music before coming back out together. And it was really once we'd recorded the song 'Dear Rosa', together that Patti finally became convinced that yes, we should make a new record and then go out and tour behind it. So I'd say basically our reunion was down to two things - pressure from the fans; plus Patti hearing a sound again that she loved and hadn't heard for many years."

Hendryx has also authored a children's book, called The Brownies.

On May 27, 2010, Hendryx performed selections from a sci-fi musical she is co-writing with Charles Randolph-Wright, Skindiver. The surprise show was at Busboys and Poets in Washington DC and sponsored by Arena Stage. Marcus Kyd was invited on stage for one song, while Ms. Hendryx sang the rest of the program solo.

Activism

In 2001 she discussed her bisexuality in an interview with The Advocate magazine and has become a gay-rights activist over the years. In summer 2008, she joined Cyndi Lauper on her True Colors tour, raising awareness of discrimination and the LGBT community.

This is my fave Nona joint the Prince penned, superfunky Baby Go Go...

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Join me as I celebrate THIS IS URBAN POP my solo exhibition of photography, painting and digital work at the popular west village watering hole known as Chi Chiz. The show features selections from my on-going portrait series "A Portrait of The Life" as well as paintings from the Red, Black and Green series and new Pin-Up girls works.

Happy hour drink specials, lots of great music (guest dj announced soon) and more!

This is an evening of art in a very alternative space.

Admission is 100 percent FREE and I'd love to see you ALL THERE!

Ricky Day : This is Urban Pop!
July 29 - September 8, 2010
Chi Chiz Bar 135 Christopher Street, New York - (212) 462-0027
http://www.chichiz.com/

http://urbanpoplife.net
http://rickyday.net/thelife

Posted by rickyday at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

abkgth.

Posted by rickyday at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today I had the pleasure of watching a compelling film about one of my artistic heros, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat. I will my thoughts about his life and what he endured to myself, but the film does a wonderful job of placing the audience in the downtown music and art scene of the early 80's, detailing Basquiat's friendship with Andy Warhol (another of my fallen artistic heros) and most importantly providing some insight into the forces that fed Jean-Michel's brilliance and potentially led to his downfall as well.

It's a very good film and features 20 minute interview with Jean-Michel as it's centerpiece. I highly recommend this film to art students, wanna be art stars and fans of Jean-Michel Basquiat as an artist and documentary filmmaking as an art form.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)