WBCA Podcasts

Black Teachers Matter

Sharon Hinton is joined by Steve Hawkesworth AKA Kid Bro Steve of Gospel Connection International on WRBB 104.9 FM. They talk about how they got started in radio as well as how they came to find God. Sharon speaks about her days as WRBB's first female general manager, and Steve talks about finding his voice as a singer and a radio DJ.

Broadcast on:: 27 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) - Good evening. And welcome to another edition of Black Teaches Matter. I'm the producer and host, Sharon Hinton. And you're listening to WBCALP 102.9 FM in Boston. We're Boston's community radio station. And I've got another wonderful guest here with me. I have known him for a long, long time. It's a really good friend of mine. And it's radio people talking to radio people, saying, talking to Saints. And he is Stephen Hochworth, a friend of mine who's currently on WRBD FM station that I was cutting my teeth in. And I don't know what we're saying, how long ago? Station, I thought I'd been at that station and so many other stations. But I've been in this business for over 45 years. Good golly Miss Molly. Welcome, Stephen Hochworth. How are you? - I'm blessed to Lord and be highly favored. - Well, we're gonna have church up in here. Y'all, you know, you really (laughs) when you know we get together. And we haven't really gotten together for quite some time, which is unfortunate because I miss you. - I miss you too. And I wanna mention my radio name. Basically, so people know who I actually am, which is Kid Bro Steve. - Kid Bro Steve. - Yes, Kid Bro Steve. K-I-D-B-R-O-S-T-E-V-E. That's me. - And give the frequency of WRBD because when I was the general manager, it actually changed every time that was there. Give the current frequency of WRBD please. - Certainly, you can hear WRBD at 104.9 WRBD FM. - And we are at 102.9 WBCA-LP. We're on the same, we'll both FM in Boston. - Yes. - But your situation is a little bit different because it's out of a university. Although, one third of the time, this frequency is actually part of a university LaSalle. - Sure. - Another third of the time, it's on a Boston praise radio. We share a frequency, but WRBD doesn't share a frequency. - Okay, right. - I wanna talk to you about you, and I wanna talk to you about, 'cause I've known you, you were in my wedding. - Yes. - You were actually in my wedding. We went to church together at Grace Community Church, which is now Grace Community Church of Congratulations. - We go way back, even like back in the R&B days when you used to manage Duane Omar. - Oh, I forgot about that. I mean, I didn't forget about managing him, but I've known you that long. - That long. When I came out the military, and I connected with Duane, I played his music 'cause I was a R&B promoter back then, and a DJ. - Oh, yeah, that's right. - So I played his music on my radio show, well, not my radio show, but in my parties, and we've had promotional parties, and he always mentioned Sharon Hinton, his manager. - No, no, no. I was eatin' back then. - I mean, that's correct. - I was in married. And matter of fact, he usually called me Shasha. - Yeah, right. - Which is the name that I had on the radio. Nobody really, because I was performing with him too. - Right. - So, oof, you're bringin' back memories now. - Oh boy. - And so we're gonna talk radio, and music, and God, and your life, and your career. I don't know if people, is a kid bro Steve? - Kid bro Steve. - Kid bro Steve. I don't know if people know how many facets of you there are. And you've been on WRBB for a while now. How many years? - I've been on WRBB for 26 years. - No way! - Yes way. - And before that, I was at W-E-Z-E for two years. - Now what were you doing at W-E-Z-E? - Well, I wanna give him credit right now while I have the time. I actually got on physical radio with Herb Jackson. - Oh, Herb Jackson. Planet Patrol Herb Jackson? - Planet Patrol Herb Jackson. He was the one that mentored me and got me on radio in full time. He pushed me on it. At first, I was his technical assistant. Then I became his technical director. And then there were times, 'cause he was been a very busy man. And so there were times when I actually had to do the radio show over there at W-E-Z-E. - But he's a pastor now, right? - He's a minister. - He's a minister, that is correct. And he got me out there. He pulled me out there. My first time actually working with radio was with a freedom battle. - Now, freedom battle is still a song stress. - Yes, yes. - And she is still amazing powerhouse and she was a jubilee, new covenant for a while. - Absolutely. She mentored me really a blessing getting me into the gospel music industry. I met a lot of gospel music artists through freedom of battle. Being able to pull out the voice that I had inside of me that I really didn't exercise. And we were singing powerful. We were probably the most powerful gospel choir in the Boston area, 'cause everybody wanted to hear bass state, bass state, sang everywhere. - Wait a minute, wait a minute. There was bass state, but there was another choir that she was leading. And I actually, let me see, we gotta go back now. - Family? - Nope, family, it was before family, because family she was doing with her brother. Yup, family she was doing with her brother Rodney. And there was a choir, and my sister, Katani, was in the choir. And Errol Stillwell was-- - Oh. - Yeah, I'm bringing you way back. - Okay, the name of that group vaguely escapes me. I'm trying to think. - We'll come up with it, but there's a legacy of, there's a legacy of powerful gospel gospel choirs and gospel groups that have come out of Boston. And there are people that have come out of those groups to be solo artists. Duane's mom, Duane's mom, Duane Omar's mom. - Yeah, she really pushed him. - She was powerhouse. I mean, she was really one of the people that put some seeds in me, and led me to, 'cause I wasn't in a church or anything when I got saved. - Sure. - So she led me to the 700 Club, which actually led me to Good Shepherd Church, God and Christ, but he was then Pastor Hogan. Now he's Bishop Hogan. - Oh my goodness. - And so-- - And so-- - We are going way back. - Way going way back. And then that's how I met Minister Stillwell. - Okay. Oh, Errol Stillwell. - Errol Stillwell, you're talking about a man, anointed of God. - Going back in the bag of goodies. Yes, that's really, really, really, oh, you're bringing back some serious memories there. This show could be a whole hour. I don't know how long you have me here for, but we can go back to all the gifts that God has showered over Boston. And many ministries in the music ministry in particular have came out of this area. And so I'm really, really blessed that I've connected up with a number of people coming into a church back in the day. It was Grace Community Church. - Grace Community Church. - Yes, and it has really blessed me in the music era as well as music was my background anyway, but it was doing R&B and then coming over and actually the same gift, but a different God. And that was singing gospel music. - Now you said the same gift, different God, same God, different focus, I think. - Okay. - Now, when I was working with Dwayne, and one of the albums we did was called Gospel Rock. - Okay. - And we got into trouble because Dwayne is a bass. I mean, he played, he played so many-- - Or he plays all the instruments. - Just like Prince, right? So he played then, he had the Jerry Curl thing like Prince, but he was like a six-foot two Prince. - Yes. - And so, but Dwayne's mom was a pre-and-mother. And I remember her, she called them Wayne. We called them Dwayne. She called them Wayne all the time. - Right. - But I remember singing with him, but I had been singing, I had been singing all my life. And so it was a different, and my father was a musician. - Okay. - So there was, so you and I were destined to cross paths. - Come on. - And we've crossed paths so many different times and so many different places. - Yes, yes. - And I remember, you know, I don't remember, I remember you singing, but I don't remember what you sound like. I just remember you were powerful. You were one of the most powerful vocalists in the church, because the first time I heard you sing was not R&B, it was gospel. - Yes, yes, because, you know, that's why I belted it out in the church and gospel. You know, I'm looking back at something that's coincident some is, I was in your wedding, okay? - Mm-hmm. - And a couple of years ago, I was also the best man for Duane Omar's wedding. - The second one. - Mm-hmm. - Right. - The second one in California. Ralph, no, he was married to Ralph Tresbont's sister the first time. - Exactly. - And then he ended up marrying this evangelist daughter - Yes. - Second time. - Yes. - Yeah, and he still, his Porsche was his first daughter. He's got a couple of kids. - Yes, yes. - From the first one, yeah. - He was at my house a couple of weeks ago for my mother's birthday and my birthday celebration. - Oh. - Yes, and I was really happy to see him and his wife. It's been years coming into the house where we used to have the promotional parties and all that fun that was back then. You know, we did good stuff back then. - And you know, the other thing too is I want to give a prayer out to Maurice Starr. - Oh, how's he doing? - I'm not sure I heard he was not doing so well, but and he's been in another hospital for a while. - Yes, yes. - Maurice does not get hit the props, the props, he does not get the credit due. I was watching a movie a couple of days ago with Donnie Wahlberg in it. - Okay. - Was it Donnie Wahlberg or Mark Wahlberg? I don't know, it was one of the Wahlbergs. - Right. - But you know, he has not been credited. When I saw the movie, the three-part movie about the new edition, they really dogged him. They dogged Maurice, they made him look really bad. And you know, it's the people that write the story. That's what I was going to say, the producers and all that. They want to make some juice to it and all that. - Yeah, it was really, you know, I felt bad because I remember how brilliant Maurice and his brother Michael, Michael Johnson. - Right, right. - And he's always been really strong with God, even though he did so many other different kinds of music and Larry Woodsworth. - Yes. - Another one. - Oh my goodness. - Roots in the church. - God bless the late Larry Wahl. - Yes, and so when you think about the music that has come through Boston, and I remember the fact that most of the musicians and the artists and everything had to leave Boston and come back to really get any credit. - Yes. - I mean, it's unfortunate. - It is unfortunate. - Did you go to the gospel concert this past Sunday, the gospel fest? - Actually, it was at the Boston Revival. Revive Boston, we had that on the Boston Commons and I'm one of the, I'm on the leadership team and so we had that revival there. It was awesome. Oh, thousands of people came out to the Boston Commons. - So it wasn't at City Hall? - It started at City Hall. - Oh, okay, okay. - And we marched over to the Boston Commons. - Oh, wow, that's different. Usually it starts and it ends at Boston City Hall, but I guess they've got that big playground and whatever the thing is, it might've cut into the-- - Yes, I didn't realize that that was there because we used to have concerts right there. - Right, right on the side of the building. - Exactly. - I mean, right inside of the building, we had the whole stage and everything and that whole amphitheater with the cement scene. So that's all, is that all gone or? - That playground is there and while we were there, there was actually a concert being performed on the front where I guess the flags have been at City Hall. So they were all gated off, so you have to go through the gate and they had the concert right there. But I miss, when I walked around to look to see where we were meeting at, I walked around to the side where we used to have our concerts right there on that platform. And all I saw was a playground. I'm like, okay, this is a little bit different for what I'm used to. - Oh, wow. - It's been a long time since I've been in City of Boston. - Wait a minute, it's been a long time. Oh, you mean downtown Boston? - Downtown, correct. - Oh, okay, okay. - Downtown Boston, right? - So, wow, so we're talking music, we're talking radio. - Now, you said W-E-Z-E, you were there? - Yes, I was there for a couple of years. Got it off, got teased with freedom battle there, answering the phones and all that. But then she left and Herb Jackson came in and took over her spot. And we were doing the Deliverance Showcase on Sunday nights at 10 o'clock. - Oh. - Mm-hmm. - The Deliverance Showcase. Wait a minute, let's go back to you. How long have you been saved? - I've been saved since March 23rd, 1985. - That's a little wow, you aged well. You don't look like what you've been through. And you were in the service, what did you, what part of the-- - I was in the Air Force, civil engineering. - That's wow. - Yes. - And so, how did you, tell me your story. Tell me your salvation story, your delivering story. - Oh my goodness, hallelujah. - You know, it's funny that you mentioned that. And I'm actually thinking about writing a book of all the stuff that I've been through. Yes, you're right, I don't look like what I've been through. Thank God. But I've been through some stuff. And so I plan on, well, at least I'm inspired to write a book of a lot of stuff that I've been through. But being up there, well, I was stationed in Germany first and then I got moved to Ellsworth, South Dakota. And civil engineering, our squadron was like on a hill by ourselves. And back in the day, I was, you know, I was that party dude, you know, I was that outgoing dude that loved the party, party, party, dance, dance and all that. But when the party's over, I'm by myself. Okay, so I'm up there in the dorm there. And at the same time, there were some brothers on the base that Christian brothers on the base that were going around, sending out and passing out tracks. And I like comic books. So I was looking at these little tracks there and they were kind of animated. And so I was reading them and I'm like, oh, wow, this is great. But I'm too busy partying and still being an R&B promoter and just was so caught up into meeting all these celebrities and all that Stevie Wonder's ex-wife and... - Which one, Sarita? - Sarita Wright, yes. And of course, the late Billy Preston. Yes. And the floaters and the shy lights and all those groups from way back in the day. - Oh, the old school. - All the old school, 'cause we're old school too. So they were like, okay with us because they were really long our time. And so with all the different groups that I met over there, I was really caught up in that. But when the party's over, I was alone in my room, in my dorm and I was inspired to watch television up there. And I had bought a television and I was watching Jimmy Swaggart and Marilyn Hickey. - Wow. - Yes, I was watching. - Marilyn Hickey's still around. - Yes, I was watching him. Jimmy Swaggart is still around as well. I was watching them both and I was inspired by that. I don't know why I was watching television, gospel television like that, but I was watching it. And the word with the Holy Spirit came through. And one of those days I got on my knees and I prayed before the television, like they instructed to do. And so when I did that, I was balling out with tears and all that and I'm like, wow. Because I've been through so much when I was a kid and a lot of that stuff had affected me, but I know I needed to be right with God because I was brought up a Catholic and that was a religious thing for us. And so that really didn't work out as well as getting filled with the Holy Ghost. So I'm in front of the television praying and looking for God to come into my life. I asked Jesus to come into my life and save me. But after that, I went back to the club and was still partying and doing all those things that some people do once they think that they got saved and I didn't know if salvation was really the thing because I didn't go to church. Okay, so I didn't have a mentor on the base. I just did that in front of television because there was something going on on the inside that needed to come out. So eventually I, you know, ETS, which is end of total service in the Air Force and came back home here to Boston. And we turned back to the job I used to work at, which was Polaroid. There was a lot of people who worked at Polaroid. Everybody worked at Polaroid. - There's not a black people who worked at Polaroid. - Polaroid, they were really hiring a lot of Polaroid. - Oh, yes, they were hiring 50 people a week when we worked at Polaroid. So I went back to Polar because in the military, you're guaranteed to go back to your job. Not necessarily the same position, but you're guaranteed to go back to your job. So I went back to my job because, you know, just getting out and didn't know what else to do. I'm still a young man. And so I went back to Polaroid, started partying up again, started doing promotional parties and stuff like that. And there were some people that were at Polaroid. There's a lot of people actually at Polaroid that were Christians, okay? So some of them, you know, they were helping me out with my promotional parties. I built some things on my house there to turn my house into a promotional party club, a canopy in front, just like Skycap Plaza used to have. And yeah, that's going back always too. - Oh, yeah. - And so the canopy in front of my house there and a red carpet underneath there, we had all these promotional parties there. We had Margot Thunder and Intrigue. We had Duane Omar, of course. We had the Laser Band and a lot of a number of bands that were local that we had promotional parties for after coming from Lane's Lounge. See, I'm dropping a lot of stuff that we all used to remember. - Building's got a lot of them there. A lot of them and not even there. - Cortees Lounge, yes, all of them there. They're no longer there. - Well, Cortees I think is a church. - Yeah, Cortees is a church. There was always a church right next door, but the church has broke open and it just now they're the church there. So anyway, I was doing those promotional parties and one of my party assistants, I guess you might wanna call that. He got saved and he got saved down the street at the church right around the corner from me. And he invited me and this young lady who I was talking to, he invited us to the church. And I was feeling coming to church 'cause it was a brother I was stationed within Germany who actually invited me to Holy Tab and I'm like, wow, wasn't used to that coming out of the Catholic background, wasn't used to ushers wearing nurses uniforms and stuff like that. I wasn't really used to the Pentecostal experience. - We're in the gloves in the hole. - Yes, all that at Holy Tab and starting church at nine o'clock in the morning and I'm a party dude, I wasn't really into that. No, no, no, but because he invited me, I went. So that was my Pentecostal experience and I didn't wanna go back there again because the church services was so long, okay? And I was still that party dude, okay? So in any case, one of my brothers, I'll give his name, his name is Vannel Graham, he got saved, invited us to Grace Community Church and that church was jumping. - That was Grace when it was on Southern Avenue. - Yes, that's the 114. We talked about making a play for the 114. - Yes, a play of what it was way back in Grace because there's a lot of talented individuals that came out of Grace. So we visited that church and then we went to go visit her mother's church, which was 12 Baptist Church. And 12 Baptist, they had a program and all that. They remind me of a Catholic church with the programs, they ain't gonna follow the program and all that. Grace was more free flowing and all that and I kinda liked that free flowing worship. And so we visited that and then we were talking about, well, it's time for us to get in church. So we were visiting a number of the churches and one of the churches, unfortunately, well, we weren't too happy with their church because they took four offerings. On the third offering I said to her, if they take one more offering, we're leaving out of here. Guess what? They took one more offering and we got out of there. We like, we done with this. And today that church is no longer existing because the pastor was stealing money. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Not too far from 12 Baptist Church. I know what you're talking about. We're not gonna say that though. Yeah, we're not gonna say that. It's no longer there. But we... As a matter of fact, didn't the wall fall off of that place? I'm not too familiar. All I know is I wasn't there anymore and we were visiting different churches and then we ended up coming right back to Grace Community Church at 114 Southern Avenue. And it's funny because that was like the closest church to me and down the street from me. And we ended up going back there and I really connected with them because... How's the Foxworth? Yes, all the quires in the church. Yes, he's actually Archbishop Foxworth. He's Archbishop now. So I know that... He's an Archbishop under the Catholic archdiocese or something that he's connected with. On Elmo Avenue, now he's an archbishop. They don't call him archbishop. He just, they call him Bishop Foxworth. Bishop Foxworth. Yes. But he was, he was Pastor Foxworth back then. Oh, yes. And his father was the bishop. Yes. And he's a musician. Yes. Played the organ. And I love that part too because one of the things I really enjoyed about hanging out with Pastor Foxworth was we did a lot of improvisation around New York. And he, the whole church, you know, they left, they, they gone home to the individual places that they were gonna go to. And he stayed in a number of a singer stayed behind. And he get on that organ or the piano and he starts singing and stop playing and we gather around. And we just would start singing right along with them and I really enjoyed doing that. I really enjoyed doing stuff like that. So if you just tuned in, you're listening to WBCA LP 102.9 FM. In Boston, it is another live edition of Black Teachers Matter. I'm your host and the producer, Sharon Eaton Hinton. We're in Boston's community radio station. I'm talking to a really, really good friend of mine, Stephen Hocksworth. But a lot of you may know him as kid bro Steve who's on WRBB 104.9 FM in Boston. And I was the first female general manager, the first female news director, the first person, the first woman who had three e-board positions at WRBB. And I was the general manager when WRBB changed frequency. And we changed frequency. We celebrated that night at Narcissus and the with a bunch of bands and groups and the lead band that night was New Edition. We played New Edition at WRBB and we were a reporting station. And we broke a lot of music and we played that song Candy Girl for a year before Kiss won away. Not only, I can't even stand here in that song anymore, but we played them for a year before Kiss won away. And God bless his soul. Sonny Joe White was the program director. He had come from WILD over to Kiss won away. And that's we, you know, he's gone off with the Lord. There's a lot of people that we know who have really done a lot of good things in radio, but WRBB was the leading radio station bar none. Where there was a college radio station, commercial radio station, we drew the crowds, we made the money and we were students. - Come on, talk about it. - We were students. We were students and we were in the record pool, the New England DJ Association. We were in all of the clubs and we were the leading radio station in Boston. And there were some really strong radio stations out there was W-E-R-S and W-H-U-R. W-U-N-B UMass Boston hadn't really come along yet and WILD was only a day station, but it was the blackest station. - Sun goes down, the station goes down. - But you know what? We were killing them because we had these brothers and sisters from all around the country and from New York and Philly and DC and Chicago and Detroit. They were bringing the B-Boys sound and we were in the record pool so that we had music that was coming from out of the country. And we had, you know, the 12 disc and all of us were in the clubs and everything. So we were scratching and mixing. They taught me scratching and mixing. I was the only female at that time who was in the clubs with them. And I was like one of the boys. I mean, I wasn't one of the boys 'cause I look better than them. And, but I was hanging with them in terms of DJing and scratching and mixing and being in the clubs and I DJed at Narcissus and Lansdowne and Kix Kix Live. - Oh my goodness. - And yeah, I was in there. - We were bringing it back. - Yeah. - Wow. - And so I was DJing with the brothers. It was a group of us that were like a little syndicate and we made the pact between us. I mean, we were students and we were, we were catching it from the university because we were the blackest thing on campus. - Come on. - And they were really, when I say they, the administration and the police and the newspaper were, you know, really passively aggressively but not so passively aggressively saying that, you know, saying things like the station doesn't reflect, you know, the student radio station doesn't reflect the student body 'cause the student body was predominantly white and we weren't. And so they would say things and then, you know, we were bringing our own equipment and our own music and our own, you know, disc and records and everything and tapes and we were, and we were, you know, we're bringing our stuff up there and so the NUPD would come and try to arrest us and it used us with stealing. It's like, no, this is my equipment. You guys couldn't afford what we were bringing up there. - Come on. - And then when we were, we decided that we were gonna go to the different clubs and we would pick the nights with the lowest attendance and because we had the power and we had the clout, once we started promoting it on the air because everybody that was anybody in music had to come to WRBB 'cause they knew that we would play. We weren't in a format, we had a block format but we weren't, we weren't constricted because we weren't getting paid to play certain things in a rotation every hour. So we played what we liked and then we mixed it and then we mixed it and we jammed it and we scratched it and everything, so we played it in a way that nobody else was playing it and we played the music that they wouldn't hear any play selves and then we had the different personalities. You had, you know, you had Harold Austin, the almighty Capacorn, Pop Porter and Harold Seals and then you had SEDO and Eddy Q. I mean, we had a group of people and then we were, when we brought Rusty up there, Rusty did so jammer and Skeeter and Skeeter and so everybody, there was anybody that was coming in town and do a concert came to us. So we did a, we did promos with Prince, I got to meet Prince and everybody. I mean, everybody came up there, Prince didn't come up there but we were backstage with him and Providence because we were promoting the concert and it was the last tour that Jimmy Giam and Terry Lewis were on and we did Valentine's with Vanity Six. So we had a competition with our listeners to make a Valentine and it was a living Valentine. They're the ones that won and it was a chauffeur, chauffeur limousine down to meet Prince in the time and Vanity Six and so we were used to being backstage with the artists, we were used to having them come up and have them do promos, you know, I'm Curtis Blue and I want you to know Shasha on Soul's Place. I mean, they would just come through and so we were all in the business and the clubs didn't like it. I mean, we would come in and say on a Monday night which is usually the dead night and we would pack it out and so the deal was that we'd put our money together and we'd buy out the club and we let the club have the bar but we would take the door and because it was a dead night they didn't think we could do anything, we were packing it out but the crowd that we had was more like, it wasn't really a drinking crowd, it was more like a smoking crowd. So, you know, but the clubs couldn't deny the fact that we were giving them notoriety, we were pumping them on the air and we were making them money but then what would happen is that other people started hating and they would come in and say, when I was at Narcissus or I was at Lansdown or whatever, you know, oh, oh, she's DJing how much is she charging you? Oh, I can do better than that for less than that. And so they would, you know, it was this infighting and they weren't with our crew and they weren't necessarily with another radio station, they was just trying to get on it. So rather than coming in our crew and coming and saying, how could I be down? They were trying to undercut us, right? So a couple of times people tried to do that and came in and so, and the clubs would go with them. You know, we call them the Guidos. They would go with them, right? Because they figured, oh, well, we won't have to pay as much and so this is a black teacher's matter but the brothers would teach me because I was there and so it was like, okay, let's teach you how to do this and Chara's, God bless them. I got on the radio station because he and I were in business class together and we lived in the same street. And so I went over his house and he had the radio station on, I was listening to the radio station, I heard the news and I started laughing and he says, what do you laugh and I said, these guys are horrible, man. He says, well, how do you know you can do radio? Everybody thinks they can do it. They don't know where you have to do to do it. I said, bro, I know I can do that. And he says, how do you know? I said, because I read the newspaper and I speak English, I know how to do this. I mean, it's crazy. And I said, what do you have to do? He says, you have to be a member. Why do you get to be a member? You have to be a student. I said, okay, I'm a student. And then you have to come up and you have to do a sound check. You have to do an air check and you have to audition. Okay, I'll do it. I went up there on the Tuesday, I was on the air on Wednesday doing news. Boom, right. So that was my first exposure to that radio station although I had been exposed in radio working with WILD. And so, you know, I've worked in a lot of radio stations, a lot of TV stations. We're now, and being in media here at WBCA LP 102.9 FM, which is a low power station. And I watched the politics that-- Come on. was coming against us when we were at WRIBB. It was crazy because the universe-- They tried to control us. Well, you know, we said at the very beginning, if we don't pass this legacy on and teach each generation how to do this, it's gonna, 'cause we had the whole top floor of the Curry Student Center. We're gonna get bumped somewhere else. It's gonna end up being a teaching tool for the university, but it was a teaching tool for us because we're all creatives. We're all teaching each other business. We're teaching each other marketing, promotion, music. We were, some of us were performing together. Some of us were-- Communication majors. You know, communication majors. I was a business major 'cause I'd been music all my life. So I was like, I knew too many people that were broke, that were brilliant. And I was like, that's not gonna happen to me. So God gave me this gift to be able to sing and a voice, but I'm not gonna be broke. That's not gonna happen, right? - All right. - And so we're not doing that. So I went through that tuition. - Yeah, so I went to business management as a major, and that's where I met Charles. God bless him. And Charles and I have worked at several different places. We actually, when he became program director to WCAS in Cambridge, he brought me over as the music director. So when I look at where we've been and how our lives have crossed. - Jesus. - You know, and how God was, 'cause I wasn't in the church either when I got saved. I really, really wasn't. I was trying to out devil the devil. I was DJing in the club, seriously. I was DJing in the club. And so I had that influence from Dwayne's mom. And, but I was balling. I mean, here I am, I'm dating football players and baseball players, I mean millionaires. And I'm in the business, I'm in the music business. I'm living the life that most people just watch a TV and dream enough. And didn't have any kids. And, you know, I had so many men around me, they all thought the other man was the man. So I never had to do anything. I never had to sleep with anybody. 'Cause they thought it was the other two. So I let them believe it. So when they hand me car keys and I'm getting free tickets to fly here and go there and, you know, to look like I'm dating or maybe he thinks I'm dating, but I'm like, whatever, you know. - Yeah. - And I'm backstage with, you know, new edition or backstage with the Jackson's and backstage with all these people. We were so powerful, they expected to see us there and then we were there. - Yes. - And when the freakiest thing, the weirdest thing is when people wanted to show up as us. Let me give you an example. So we had rented out this whole club and we were doing this event. And so we're there, we're covering the door. You know, we did the promotion. We're MCing, we're DJing, we're balling. Like we, after we paid everybody, we're splitting up like four or five grand. We're splitting up four or five grand and we're walking away with this money, right? And so we're like, okay, this is where students put, hey, this is the life where, you know, we've got all the celebrities coming in and the whole thing and it's like. - Rubbing elbows with all these celebs. - Well, we do them more than rubbing elbows. We're like they're feeding us. Like we're eating and we're hanging out and we're going in the studio. I'm flying around the country and I'm in the studio with Dwayne and Dwayne is doing this thing with the music, but I felt like something was empty. I said, you know, I'm supposed to be happy. Like I'm young, you know, praise God, I'm beautiful. I'm hanging out with beautiful people. I'm making money. I got cars. I got all this stuff materially there. - Okay. - Everybody says that you're supposed to have, why don't I feel satisfied? - Jesus. - Why don't I feel happy? What is going on? Something's missing. And my sister, God bless her, had gone to a revival at the Heinz Auditorium. And she came out, show enough, show enough for saved. She was like, oh, I've got to find a church. And blah, blah, blah. - Hey, Katani. - And Katani, yup, that's my sister. And amazing singer herself. And I had brought her in the studio with me, got her in albums with me. So she's starting to taste the life too, but she went and she got saved. And then she wanted me to go around to the churches with her because I was a Muslim at first. I was in the nation Islam with my father. And then he was murdered. And I was just totally disgusted. I was like, you know. And so when I started being in the clubs and making all this money, it's like, okay, so this is the life everybody's supposed to be living, right? So what's missing? Something's missing. But my mother didn't know, and that was a time when all these cults and everything were in college campuses and stuff. So I saw, you know, and-- - There still are at college campuses. - Yeah, they are. And so, my mother said, you know, I don't know what's going on with your sister with all this stuff. And so I got into the Bible backwards. I got into the Bible and I said, you know, this is a big, boring book. And men have written this book. It's gotta be mistakes in it. My sister's intelligent. So I can get into it and find the mistakes and convince her that she's in a cult. She's sipping the Kool-Aid, right? The more I got into the word, the more the word got into me. - Jesus. - And I got saved in a vision in my dream and I woke up and I knew I was saved and I didn't want to tell nobody. I didn't want to tell nobody. I said, well, it's supposed to be a personal relationship between me and you. So I can be in the clubs. I can like save people in the clubs. Like to undercover agent, like a double agent. So I woke up that morning knew I was saved and I went back to the club that night 'cause I was supposed to work that night. And a friend of mine was security, Jerome. And he's outside in the club and he's like, yo, Shasha, what you doing here? And I was like, what do you mean? What am I doing here? I mean, I'm working just like you. He says, no, you don't look like you should be in church. I was like, what? You don't know what you're talking about, shut up. And I went in the bathroom and I looked at my face and I didn't think I looked any different. And I got in the DJ booth and I was setting up the lights and everything 'cause we had all the pyrotechnics and the music and picking out my music for the night. And I started playing the music and for the first time I felt like I was entertaining demons and hell, like I had no fear of being there. I knew I wasn't supposed to, but I'm still trying to, you know, I'm still trying to, the only image I had was of, you know, Christians was of African children with flies and their face broke and I was like, oh no. I didn't come too far for that. We ain't going out like that. But I'm gonna tell you, I challenge God. I said, you know, I know what the devil, I know the devil exists 'cause I see what he has people doing in the clubs and the drugs and the whole thing. Things that people in their right mind would never think about doing. In their doing this and then, you know, I reached out to Dwayne's mom and she was like, well, you know, the 700 Club I watched, you know, and I was watching Charles Stanley and Joyce Meyer. I mean, I was watching, well, it was on there 'cause that was part of my research, right? - Okay. - To get my sister out of it, right? - Mm-hmm. - Yeah, right. So, and then-- - Mess around, got bit. - I mean, I got eight and swallowed up. - Yep. - And didn't know, you know, I challenged God and I said, okay, this is really a God and you're more powerful than the devil, then you're gonna have to show me 'cause I see what the devil has people doing. And don't have it come through many of your children 'cause your children are crazy. Your children are wack. I see this, I see your children and your speakers in the clubs and I see what they do in the shadows and they can't come to me 'cause I don't trust them. None of them. And sure enough, from that day, I got saved when I was 23. From that day to now, God has, to this moment, God has shown up supernaturally for me. And so, even black teachers matter on the fact that we're here now because about 14 years ago, I was on the radio, I was on television, I was running a mentoring program at Northeast University, getting my third degree, master's degree and had a stroke and I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk, I couldn't move, I couldn't do everything. And so, I have to tell you that, you know, with less than 20 minutes to go on this show, I'm glad that you're here. I don't really talk about this. And I have a TV show on channel six, Comcast, on another level. I just had a show last night and we were talking about the Democratic National Convention the upcoming election and the responsibility, what black people in this country have gone through just to register to vote and to vote and the importance of being an active part of the Democratic society. So, I interview a lot of different people and I meet amazing people. And some people stay in your life and some people leave, some people you're very close to and then not and some people you're not and then you become close to. But, and you and I have not talked for a while, but the last time you talked was the reunion, wasn't it? It was the celebration that Elroy R.C. Smith, who was the WILD, had for WILD. - Oh, yes. - W-R-B. - Yes. - And you called me and a few other people called me and says, "Where were you?" - Yes, exactly. - Because we know you're part of the history and radio. - Right. - So, where were you? - Right. - And from that point, you and I said, we gotta get together and let's do it on radio. So, you and I have, we have these connections in radio. We have these connections in music and we have these connections in God, in God. - I'll let it in. - Tell me where you find it. - The foundation of it. - Yeah. - Yes. And I wanted to mention that Ralph Tresvont, he actually talked about WRBB and a number of radio announcers that have gone on in the industry. They talked about their foundation came from WRBB. And this was at the Radio DJ, Boston Radio DJ Reunion that we had last month. And it was really, really, really good to see all the old people, the former people that were on the airwaves. And of course, we know Skippy White is still on the airwaves right here at this station. And while Cooper was there, there was just a whole host of folks, pebbles. And of course-- - Kenny Eastman, Kenny was there. - Yes, Kenny Eastman was there. - Kenny was there. Kenny was with us first, underneath at different name at WRBB and then she went to WRBB after that. - Yes. And then of course, there was Bernardine Nash. There was a number of awards that were giving out to those who are part of the history of Boston Radio. And the place was packed. You figured just because there's no longer a WILD because that call letter, those call letters are now in Florida. And those are some serious strong call letters to have. And somebody bought them in Florida. But although WILD is no longer here in Boston, the spirit is still here and the people, a lot of the people and their families are still here. And so at that family, the Radio Reunion, it was great to see folks that are still alive and still doing what it is that they've been blessed with in the gifting area. - A lot of it's actually branched out. I remember being in a couple of movies with Harold Austin. - Okay. - Harold Seals, "That's Voice Over" is for film. Eddie Q is-- - Harold Austin is there. - Yeah, Eddie Q is clubbing. He's probably one of the only ones I know that's still doing the club promotions and nightclubs and stuff. I don't know. - What's that woman's name, Williams, who's doing television? Well, it wasn't-- - Wendy Williams. - Wendy Williams, yes. - If there was no me, there would be no Wendy. Oh, the sign just came down. That's okay. Thanks God, thank you, Jesus. - Hallelujah. (laughing) - Okay. - So no, there was, Wendy came up way after us. Wendy, she, and, you know, Prius go out to her. - Yes. - 'Cause she's gone through a lot. - She's gone through some stuff. - Yeah, that was her launching pad at WRBV. - Yes. - She actually invited a bunch of us when she had, I think her 100th show or something like that. Darryl, so some people have gone to CBS. - Okay. - CBS and NBC. I worked at Channel 4. - Yes. - And in WBC radio with a few people. - Yes. - A lot of us, all over the country. - All over the country. - Yes. - I was gonna say, all over the country, people came through those two radio stations and then some of us stayed here and did, you know, stints, our little stints, a radio in television. - Yes. - And then, you know, that spread out to a lot of different places. - Right. - Elroy went to Chicago. I don't know if Elroy is still in Chicago, but. - Elroy Smith? - Elroy, yeah. - Oh, that's right too. 'Cause he came and he did it. I didn't realize he was no longer in Boston because he did a lot of coordinating this reunion. - Yeah, he did. He came up and he tries his 50 bucks. - Okay. - He, you know, he reached out and didn't necessarily, well, it is what it is. There are some people that have gone on. I know Joe Boston, who I miss dearly, dearly, went from WRBB right to WBC as an engineer. - Okay. - And then he passed away and then there were so many different people that went on to do network, television or network, radio or film work. And that, but that was the launching point and the really the creativity of us as young people where we were fearless. We were daring and we were fearless and we stuck together. - That's a key thing. - I know when Charles Clements, CC, CC was at W-E-R-S. - Yes. - And he was, so we had competitors, right? We had P.J. Porter and then we had our Paul Porter. - Right. - And Paul was all over the place and he's written a book about being in the industry and he was with Donnie Simpson in D.C. So he was, and Donnie Simpson was doing B.T. for a while. So a lot of us had really the jump off point and we were in college, we were college students and we learned business, we taught each other business. - A lot. - We were definitely, we wanted to help each other out and we had a healthy competition. It was fierce, but it was a healthy competition because we want to see each other do better. - Yes, absolutely. - But we weren't going to make it easy, right? - Boston, the foundation, that's, you know, Boston has the most schools concentrated in this city and other place, any other place in the world. - In the world. - So a lot has, a lot of us have gotten our foundation right here in Boston and all these stories that you're mentioning was actually spoken about at the reunion and that was great. And I want to mention that Candy Eastman is still doing radio, I believe, in Houston, Texas. - Right, she's in Texas. - Yes. I'm like, oh wow, still doing radio, Houston, Texas. So most of the people now that music in radio is not really local, you can probably Google and get it. - Mike's in New York at WBLS. - Okay, ooh, WBLS, yes. - Yeah, Mike's in New York. - Wow, so much has gone on and through Boston. The gifting is here. - Darius, Darius Walker was at CBS. He went to sports. - Okay. - And he and I worked together at WBC radio. - Yes, yes. - And so Darius and wow, there's so many people that went off and formed their own businesses and not even business related. Wallace T's father was a, he owns his own oil company. So Wallace was one of the people, even as young as he was, he was being groomed by his dad. - Wow. - In Dorchester. - Yes. - The business. And then Charles was from New York. - Okay. - Douglas Bowser. - Okay. - Was from New York. He and I, we looked like brother and sister and he really brought me up. The way that I started scratching and mixing on the radio, Eddie Q was in studio A and he was mixing, it was his time. And he, you know, I was always in between, excuse me in between the news. I was sitting there with the DJs and watching them. And then I'd play around. And one day, and he got up and he says, I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom. I knew where the bathroom was. I was like, wait, wait, wait, how you gonna go? Just walk away from the turn to him, we're live. He said, you got this. You could, don't worry about it. You got this. That was how I first got on there and started scratching and mixing and playing. - Scratching, oh my goodness. - Yep. - Back in the day, I didn't want nobody scratching up my albums. - No, no, no. I mean, it was, you didn't ruin them 'cause you had to keep playing them. - Right. - It was just a sound that they, you know, that, yeah. The sound that you had and you had to do that to be competitive in the clubs. And I went recently last week. I was on a cruise ship and the DJ, oh my God. I wanted to take his job. He was horrible. He was horrible. He was just slamming songs in and not mixing the beats and everything. It was painful. I mean, he literally-- - He got paid? - He got paid. It was getting paid. He was there all night. And I was telling my friend, I said, "You know what, back in the day?" If you could not clear the floor. Like if you played music and anybody left the floor, you were about to lose your job 'cause other, you know, people would boo you. Or someone else was better than you would come up and take your job. - There you go. - We were always challenging. You know, I remember going to a music conference and Howard and we went to this club 'cause DC had the series clubs. - Yes. - And I was standing in this guy. It was horrible. I was gonna hurt somebody. I said, "You don't hurt somebody." The way you're scratching a mix and... Oh my God, my girl Karen was with me. And we were there in the club and I looked at him. I said, "Man, you need to let me do that." And he says, "What do you think?" You think you know what you're doing? And my girl was like, "No, what you're doing?" You better not let her on those tables. She'll take your job. Oh yeah. So we would come up and we would challenge people. It was so, it was that atmosphere when we were challenging each other to be better. And but it was money. It was no joke. It was money. It was about money and it was about teaching each other and a lot of us still have those business practices. - Bless God, bless God. - So now tell me where you are. Tell me about your show and the format of your program and when it comes on. - Oh, certainly. Well, it's the Gospel Connection International Radio Broadcast. And that's great to have an International Radio Broadcast coming out of WRBB because you remember WRBB's been a 10 watt station for the longest bit of time. And the only people that can hear it is the people that are actually local. - We would push it. People would call us up and say, "Look, I'm in my car. Well, I'm in my car. We can get it. So play this song with me and dedicate it to Bubu." - Yep. And Bubu got the shout out. - And Bubu got the shout out. - Mm hmm. - All right. So the broadcast has actually heard all around the world. I've got listeners and believe this or not, but I got emails and I got listeners in Ukraine. I'm like Ukraine? - Mm. - Wow. And a lot of listeners in Nigeria, Legos, Abuja, I don't have any listeners in South America. I don't know why, but Japan, Australia, New Zealand, just had an interview from Haiti. Okay, giving us an update as to what's going on in Haiti. Not a lot of great things going on in Haiti. And of course, the UK, there's a lot of listeners in the UK. Oh, there goes my UK. - I think there's a UK. - The UK, yes. But it's listeners all over the world and I'm grateful to God for that. And the blessing part about it is, I've been on the year 26 years and I don't get paid a dime. And you know how it is where you got to bring in your own equipment. Well, you know what? I brought in a lot of my own equipment to enhance the broadcast. I have to pay for my logos, my signs, all this stuff like that comes out of my own pocket. And bless God for four years, I've been unemployed. Unemployed. But, and I say bless God because, and I'm not bragging on me being unemployed, but I'm bragging on God for providing my every need. Four years, who do you know that's been unemployed for four years and still driving a BMW, okay? - But you always win a style like that anyway. - Still flying. I'm still flying, still paying for the conventions that I have to attend the music conventions and all that, going to the Stell Awards and the GMWA, you know. - We got about a minute. - Connecting up with all these artists. - We've got about a minute. So people want to listen to you, what do they tune into? - They can tune into WRBBRadio.org, WRBBRadio.org or 104.9 WRBB. - I love the fact that we had this moment to be able to talk together. And I have to bring you back, 'cause I love listening to your voice. If you've just tuned in, you are listening to WBCA LP 102.9 FM in Boston. This is in addition of Black Teaches Matter on Boston's community radio station. I have to tell you, we didn't take a break or anything, and I usually take a break. I usually take a break, but I can take a break from this. - No, no, this is good. I'm like I can go on and on and on and on. - And we will, 'cause I'm gonna have to bring you back. - All right. - So if you've just tuned in again, my name is Sharon Eaton Hinton. I'm the producer and the host here on Black Teaches Matter. We are at WBCA LP 102.9 FM in Boston. Take care of yourself and each other. Go out and register to vote if you like. It's a suggestion, it's a call to action. I'm not really supposed to do that, but it's like a public service. And you're in a public service station. And indeed, we're the Boston's community radio station, which is part of BNN Media. Here at 3025 Washington Street, you too, can learn how to do radio. Take care of yourself. God love you. - Thanks for having me. - Thank you, bye bye. (upbeat music)