The main thing I was curious about was what the actual Sugarhill line-up would be. Big Bank Hank, of course, is no longer with us. RIP. But there had been those years of drama where the group split, and Joey Robinson Jr. was touring using the group name, and Wonder Mike and Master Gee had to tour under a new name. There had been a whole documentary about the legal battle called I Want My Name Back. So, who was actually going to show up at my town event? How many original members? Was Kory O - the guy who joined the group when Master Gee quit in 1985, but stuck with them through the 90s - still down? Was some new guy going to be calling himself Big Bank Hank, like how The Three Stooges got a replacement Curly?
On top of that, C+C Music Factory was going to be opening for them, which raises an almost identical set of questions. I was never a C+C fan, but aren't they like another KLF situation, where C and C were two British guys who'd disbanded the group in the 90s or something? And it was just the one temporarily affiliated rapper (in that case Wanda Dee, or in this case Freedom Williams) touring as them in recent years? I'm not gonna look it up. But who would we see now - maybe him and some dancers? Speaking of the Arsonists, I would've been excited if one-time C+C MC Q-Unique showed up, but obviously I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for that.
Well, the plaza was packed, with a big crowd of all ages; and to give you a sense of where I'm from, they were playing Bon Jovi over the speakers as I walked in. The show started late, but eventually our mayor came out and introduced a DJ... didn't catch his name, but he was from Long Island. And he was pretty good. I was happy to see him actually scratching and not just starting his Apple Playlist and then nodding his head behind a laptop. But he made some weird choices, like playing the theme song to The Golden Girls, a Backstreet Boys song and even an Elmo (from Sesame Street) acapella.
Anyway, they played an introductory video before The Sugarhill Gang stepped on stage, with tributes from guys like Big Daddy Kane and Flavor Flav. Then the answer to my big question was finally revealed: one original member. It was Master Gee (that's him in the white t-shirt in the top photo), who told us Wonder Mike could no longer travel. But he had two guys with him, including Hen Dogg, who basically did Hank's parts (in "Rapper's Delight," he spelled his own name, not Grandmaster Caz's). He's the guy who stood in for Hank during the that split with the Robinsons and everything. And the other guy is the one who's credited as a member on their Wikipedia and everything, The Ethiopian King, plus they had their own DJ, T-Dynasty. They did their biggest hits, of course, including "8th Wonder," "The La La Song" and here's a little video I took of them doing "Apache:"
They closed out with a major rendition of "Rapper's Delight," of course, with the crowd rapping the "macaroni's soggy" verse ourselves. But that was it for actual Sugarhill Gang songs. Instead they a surprising amount of medley stuff, including the Furious Five's "The Message" (yes, they left in the "fag" lyric) & "White Lines," and a tribute to Prince. Since Master Gee was the only original member, I thought it might've been a good opportunity to perform "Do It," but that didn't happen. I have to say, though, Master Gee really went all out, getting off stage to rock with the audience, doing a James Brown impression and really giving 110%.
So yeah, that's what a Sugarhill Gang show is like in 2024. Good times.
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I had the pleasure of playing with those guys back in 1998. Master Gee wasn't with them, it was Joey Robinson. I didn't know this at the time and he actually signed "Master Gee" on my record. What's funny is that I was thinking, "He doesn't look like the Master Gee I see on the album covers".
ReplyDeleteI actually love live shows so i've seen them 4-5 times over the years.