178 - Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - The Anthology: 1961-1977

Summary

Summary of "Episode 178 - Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - The Anthology: 1961-1977" on The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers

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Introduction to Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions

In Episode 178 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers, host Josh Adam Meyers delves into Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions' influential anthology spanning from 1961 to 1977. Joined by comedian and musician Godfrey, the episode explores the profound impact of Curtis Mayfield’s music on both the soul genre and broader cultural movements.

Godfrey’s Background and Connection to Comedy

Godfrey introduces himself as a prominent comedian with a significant presence on platforms like Netflix and Comedy Central. His passion for music and comedy creates a dynamic conversation, bridging the worlds of humor and musical artistry.

• Godfrey on His Comedy Career:

  "[02:37] Godfrey: Curtis Mayfield, probably one of the most influential people in music..."

Musical Influence and Curtis Mayfield's Legacy

The discussion highlights Curtis Mayfield's role as a pivotal figure in soul music, emphasizing his socially conscious lyrics and innovative sound. Godfrey underscores Mayfield's understated yet powerful presence in the music industry.

• Josh on Mayfield’s Influence:

  "[24:25] Josh Adam Myers: Yes. And being from Chicago, it's like, oh, yeah, Curtis Mayfield is Chicago man."

Black Music and Its Impact on Other Genres

Josh and Godfrey explore how African American music, particularly soul and R&B, has shaped various other genres. They discuss the interconnectedness of musical styles and the often-overlooked contributions of black artists to rock, funk, and hip-hop.

• Godfrey on Music's Roots:

  "[35:56] Josh Adam Myers: Sister Rosetta Tharp. You know Sister Rosetta Tharp."

Social and Political Messages in Mayfield's Music

A significant portion of the conversation centers on the socially and politically charged themes in Mayfield's work. Songs like "People Get Ready" and "Move On Up" are examined for their messages of empowerment, civil rights, and community upliftment.

• Godfrey on "People Get Ready":

  "[50:41] Godfrey: [...] Martin Luther King, Jr. Named the song the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement."

Personal Anecdotes and Stories

Godfrey shares personal experiences related to music and comedy, illustrating the profound influence of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions on his life. Stories about performing, overcoming personal struggles, and the power of music to inspire resilience are discussed.

• Godfrey on Overcoming Addiction:

  "[80:06] Godfrey: [...] One of the best sets I've ever had was I was going after seven months of hardcore opiate addiction."

Overcoming Challenges and Legacy

The episode concludes by reflecting on Curtis Mayfield's enduring legacy despite personal tragedies, such as his paralysis following a lightning strike in 1990. Josh and Godfrey emphasize Mayfield's resilience and continued influence in the music industry.

• Josh on Mayfield’s Resilience:

  "[103:45] Josh Adam Myers: In 1990, the unimaginable happened when a lightning trust, a lighting trust, fell on Curtis at a gig in New York. It paralyzed him from the neck down for the rest of his life. And he still managed to put out music and win lifetime achievement awards."

Notable Quotes:

• Godfrey on Mayfield’s Influence ([22:14]):

  "Curtis Mayfield is probably the most influential musician of not just soul..."

• Josh on Music's Emotional Depth ([36:58]):

  "Soul music is soul music. It's internal. This is real rhythm and blues, R B."

• Godfrey on Social Change Through Music ([44:53]):

  "It's like civil rights movement, but, you know, people give..."

Conclusion

Episode 178 offers an in-depth exploration of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions' anthology, highlighting their musical genius and social impact. Through engaging dialogue and personal insights, Josh Adam Meyers and Godfrey celebrate the enduring legacy of one of soul music’s most influential figures, making the episode a must-listen for music enthusiasts and history aficionados alike.

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For more episodes and detailed discussions on the Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, visit the500podcast.com.

Transcript

[Josh Adam Myers]

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[Godfrey]

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[Godfrey]

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[Josh Adam Myers]

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[Godfrey]

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[Josh Adam Myers]

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[Godfrey]

This show is brought to you by Distrokid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500 the 500J been walking us down through that 2012 edition so it ain't nothing too you hundreds more to go and in need of a friend.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The king of peace for angelo Talking.

[Godfrey]

The 500 until the end Talking the 500 until the end with my man.

[Josh Adam Myers]

JL.

[Godfrey]

On the 500 Talking the 500 until the end I'm your pusher man you're pushing me.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm your pusher man.

[Godfrey]

Solid life I'm your pusher man I'm your pusher man what are you pushing? Drugs. It's Curtis Mayfield in the Impressions. It's from the 1992 anthology release from 61 to 77. It's number 178 out of 500 on the 500 with Josh Adam Myers. What is up party people? It is me, your host. Thank you for joining me on the only podcast that is going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums with a comic and we are chipping away. Couple more years left. Three and some change. Pretty cool. I want to apologize to the people that are coming to see me in Naples, Florida. I have to reschedule. I booked some other work. I'm opening up for Jeff Arcuri right now at some theaters. Right now we're at the Wiltern doing four nights in Los Angeles. Then next, then Friday we're at the Majestic in El Cajone, which is like San Diego. And then Saturday we're doing San Francisco. And then I'm back in New York. And then I'll be back in LA the 25th. Or no, I'm sorry, the 26th and the 27th, and then February 6th and the 7th, I'll be at the Comics Roadhouse at Mohegan sun in Montville, Connecticut. The following weekend, the 14th and the 15th, I'll be at the Punchline in Atlanta. And then February 20th and the 23rd, I'll be at the Laugh Factory in Reno, Nevada. Come one, come all. Go to Josh Adam Myers.com for tickets. Go to Punchup Live. Josh Adam Myers for tickets. Josh Adams on all social media. Follow me everywhere I go. Let's, let's be friends. Come on, fleece army, let's do this. And subscribe to the YouTube. YouTube.com backslash the 500 podcast. Also YouTube.com Josh Adam 79 watch the podcast. Subscribe to the Patreon. $5 a month supports the show and we appreciate it. 25amonth gets you some cool merch. Go to patreon.com backslash the 500 Podcast. Alrighty. Let's do this shit, guys. Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, everybody. Curtis Mayfield, probably one of the most influential people in music that we don't talk about on a regular basis that we hold up with some of the other people. And for the guest today, I have somebody that I think is probably up there in the discussion of some of the funniest comics alive. The one and only Godfrey. If you don't know Godfrey, you have been living under a rock. He's got a half hour on Netflix. He's been all over Comedy Central, Zoolander, one of the funniest social media accounts on Instagram, on tick tock on YouTube. And we get to sit down today and talk about this incredible artist. Rate, review and most importantly, subscribe to the 500 listen free on all platforms. Give us a five star rating. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media. Follow the podcast at the 500 podcast. Email the [e-mail] Follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. And for all things 500, go to the website the500podcast.com. Okay, kiddos, here we go. Curtis Mayfield and the oppressions at 178. The smiling on your face oh, babe we're gonna get your space Take your place the backstabbers. Dude that. You're. You're who I call Godfrey anytime I need. We got some old black man music. Get Godfrey on the line. Old black man. Old black man music. Who do we got next? We got old Blind Willie Jenkins and Rose. I always love how they used to do that. Like, you know, they'd say like, whatever your ailment is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Blind Willie.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, it's like, you know. Stuttering Jimmy. Yeah. Spider Bifida Frank.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What about Lightning Hopkins, though? That boy could get lightning from the sky. Put it in a job.

[Godfrey]

He grabbed it from Zeus himself. Put it in a jaw. He ain't do, though. That dude, he wasted his whole life. Yeah, that's what we call him Lightning.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because he always drank that white Lightning. That was the drinking, right?

[Godfrey]

What would be. What would be your. If you were like. If you were like an old blues guy. Godfrey.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, that's a good one.

[Godfrey]

Who would you be?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I was like, oh, man. We call him Fast Feet Johnson. Boy, that boy, that's Fat Pete Johnson. Because wherever he played, boy, he'd be moving his feet like that, you know, because it looked like he was always running. That boy always.

[Godfrey]

He had a.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That boy, he had a lot of police records. So when he played, he played fast and be moving his feet. So we call him Fast Feet Johnson. That boy was. Boy, that boy be moving his feet playing the guitar. Feet moved. Fan the guitar. He always. He was always uneasy, you know, he would always. He played guitar, but he's moving his feet. And we like, why you move your feet? I always got to be on the run even when I'm standing still doing old black man music. Man. Old black man. Old black man Jenkins. Blind Willie Jenkins. They got bold legged, bow legged Al. They got. God damn it.

[Godfrey]

Blind diabetic Frank Talkington.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They got. They got the boy Gary Gout. Gary the gout, man. He got gout. He always had gout. But that boy could play.

[Godfrey]

Boy, that boy could play, boy, that boy can play. Boy, you got eczema. How David.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, man, I love that boy.

[Godfrey]

That.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You got another one, though. They got. You know, my man. Cataract.

[Godfrey]

Cataract, Kenny. Boy, that boy got right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

He can't see for. But that hit them nose though, boy.

[Godfrey]

That hit them no y. He got nervous tick. Pulling at his chest hair with a hair follicle come out. Then he eats the root of it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, my God, I love that boy. You know who was Hairy back Jimmy boy that the hair come off his back when he played. That hair stand right up by that. That boy was bad boy.

[Godfrey]

Tell you right now, God never know what do you. Do you play any music because you.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I don't play a thing. And it's sad because I, I feel like I could play. I should be know an instrument. As much as I love music. I should. I feel like I should know how to play something. I don't give a if it's piccolo. I should be, I should learn. I should know how to play something.

[Godfrey]

You have an ear. Because that's the thing is that you have such a good ear for voices and, and all. Yeah. And that's, that's the basis of where music I think begins, is being able to. You so you can like whether it's like you like all the impressions and that you do so naturally. It's like you hear it, you can regurgitate it. And that is just a matter of like which means. And even when we, when we around and we sing. Yeah. You hit the note, you're not off key, so you're singing. So you understand music too?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

You just had musical instruments like in front of you or anything?

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, my. Well, my sister played piano and flute. So we always, you know, she'd be playing piano in the house with her dumb practices and. But she'd be playing and.

[Godfrey]

What you doing with that, with that ass piano? You Mozart would you think you're better than me, you moto?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Me and my brother, me and my brother started piano lessons. At first my mother, my parents were like, oh yeah, why don't you try piano lessons? And so my, my father didn't really. He was neither here nor there. But my mother was like so adamant like, you're going to learn piano lessons. So we were like, all right, so we tried. It was all three of us, my brother, my sister and this lady named Linda. And I hated this bitch. And I was like, she was so annoying and I was restless and me and my brother, we wanted to play sports and my mother put us in little league. She goes, all right, you guys play baseball? We were like, hooray. Fuck piano. And so we had. I played baseball from like 6 years old till high school, so, you know, and my brother played baseball from six year old high school. So we got into sports. But now I look back, I wish I would have like concentrated on an instrument. You know what I mean? I mean it's not, it's never too late. You can still. Because I mean, we're around musicians all the time.

[Godfrey]

Sure.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Every night. Every day, we're around singers, musicians, and there are a lot of comedians that are fucking musicians.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, a lot of them. I just like to imagine now that we're like, yo, Godfrey, we all going to the diner. Ah, man, gotta wake up early. I got accordion practice. I got. I got. Dude, I got. I got lessons in the morning, but.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I got an accordion lesson.

[Godfrey]

I got. That's what I picked up. I picked up accordion.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I got. I got accordion championships tomorrow, man. It's a real. It's international accordion championships. It's gonna be tough. And I. And I got to. You know, I got to hit. You know, I got to practice. I got to practice my. You know. You know? I know. I know. It's weird, man, but I'm, like, the third. I'm ranked third in around the world in accordion. I didn't know that. Yeah, man. It's weird, man.

[Godfrey]

Yo, I got that recital tomorrow.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, I got no recital going against this Russian cat, man. It's gonna be tough, dog. You're like, what? Like, accordion? It's like. Like, Rich Arvanovich is a. Is a harmonica guy.

[Godfrey]

Sure, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Irvine. And he's, like, from Louisiana. This Jewish cat from Louisiana, and he really gets down. Like, he really. He does that old bayou shit. Like, I'm like, jesus Christ. You got Bill Burr, who's a drummer. You got Todd Barry, drums. Wally Collins is a percussionist. These are all comedians. Who else you got? Who else is. You play?

[Godfrey]

I play. I'm like a C at, like, seven or eight instruments. Because that's the thing is that if. If I just would have had parents that were like, no, you sit down now and you work at these shits and you get good at it, because you have a thing that they didn't. They were very. Like, their parody wasn't bad. It just wasn't like, you know, they let me kind of just. Yeah. Add and. And wander and. And if I. If I see that in my kids, like, I'm gonna be like, dude, no. Like, you're going to lessons. You're doing this. You have. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No doubt, no doubt, no doubt. You got to really. It's like a passion. I've had passion for sports, man. And so I was like, oh, baseball? Yeah. All day, every day. Right. You know what I mean? And it was baseball, then it was football, track and field. I mean, it was. It was. But I love music. I love music. All my. All through my life, my. My parents had records from top to bottom, from Nigerian Music which, you know, being Nigerian, My. My uncle was a very famous singer in Nigeria.

[Godfrey]

Really?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. Sonny Okosin. My uncle Sonny, he was Sonny Okosin and the Oziti Band and they. They played. He would play, like, kind of rebellious music against the government. Then he got into religious music later, which was whack. But he was better when he was like, you know, talking about South Africa and all. So my uncle Sonny was famous, and my aunt. My other aunt, her name. My aunt was. She was another famous singer who just passed away last year. Onyeka. When you. And she's an activist singer. Just in the 70s and 80s. So I had two famous singer relatives. That's crazy, dude.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But if.

[Godfrey]

But. But it makes sense because. Which. When Brian. When we signed on and Brian wasn't recording me do this thing that is. Is we. I. Because it's like you're like a kindred spirit with me. It was like, we know these certain songs, and if I start it or if you start it, we meet and it just becomes this thing that we've been doing. And it's so. So it's like when I kept saying, like, you know, all of this old music, which I didn't grow up. That's not true. Because my dad dug the old 70s soul. He dug, like, the funk. I remember my dad having the Curtis Mayfield Superfly record in his record collection. Yes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Because my dude, my dad was not. He wasn't a dork. He grew up in, like, Philadelphia. So, you know, he grew up around. Around the black culture.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You're talking about Philadelphia. The. The sounds of Philadelphia. Tsop. That's like. Yeah, that's like the Temptation. That's like big time black soul coming out of Philly. Like, are you the Philly sound? Are you crazy? Are you kidding me? But that's all the notes.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. No. Oh, 100. 100. And. And. God damn. Was there ever any other white people more soulful than. Yeah, they were.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The Blue Eyed Soul. It was because there's. There was a magazine which. I think it's a shame that it's not in print anymore. It was called Wax Poetics. Yeah, it was called Wax Poetics. And I would get. I would go to Barnes and Noble and get the new issue, and it was all about music and all about, like, underground shit or how groups started. I had. They had a great article on hall and Oates, and they talked about how Darryl hall and John Oates, they would hang out with the Temptations and all them and be on road trips with them. That's where they got their style from, because they would allow them to come and hang with them.

[Godfrey]

They would go.

[Josh Adam Myers]

We would be with the 10. We'd be with all these soul groups hanging out with these, man, like, as young musicians, like, and Wax Poetics, man. I w. I. Oh, that's such a great. Like, for a music head. You would have bought that book. It was really funky. A book about that thick.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Magazine. It was for, like, hipster. Real hip on vinyls. And it was so dope, man. And they stopped making it.

[Godfrey]

I, I, I. That's the one thing I haven't ventured into is, like, buying records yet. I want. I don't. If I get a bigger place than 100, I'm gonna. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have to have a bigger place. I know it's gonna happen.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I don't have room for that.

[Godfrey]

Like, I went. I went to Marin's house, and he showed me, like, his record player and that whole setup. And you're like, yeah. I mean, this is like, this is the whole goddamn room.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, Marin got. I mean, he's out there with the big. I did it when I did his podcast. He had all the blue, and I. I made fun of him. I made fun of him. Actually, my. One of my. My episode is one of Judd Apatow's favorites because I'm. Me and Mark Marin are just on each other while we're among this podcast. I go. I said, mark, I say, you don't really have a lot of black people on your podcast. They gotta be like, super, super, super famous black. He goes, no, I do. I got. Nah, nah. You had Obama. That's super black. That's super famous black. You don't have regular favors black. You don't. You didn't have. I known you for a long time. And I go, and I noticed, too, as. As. As, as. As. As white as your guests are, you got nothing but black people on your walls. What the Is that?

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All these blues people, black people, but.

[Godfrey]

Barely anybody on your podcast. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, and we just started insulting each other. But it was fun. We were just fucking with each other the whole time. And Judd Apathy said, that was one of my favorite episodes.

[Godfrey]

Oh, of course. Well, because that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That's.

[Godfrey]

That's. That's the whole thing with. With Mark, which is like, he. He busts chops, dude, big time. And he could be a bully unless. Until you throw it back at him and then he respects you for, like, throwing it back, which. Which, you know, we take I mean. I mean, trust me, because I'm so sensitive. And you're like. I'm like, please like me, Marcus. We have so much in common. Then he's just like. He's like, you're trying too hard.

[Josh Adam Myers]

He's like, and you know what's so funny is Mark. You both are Jewish guys, but you have this. This sort of. Kind of tough exterior. But there's that you're super sensitive, and you're. Your insecurity makes me laugh because you'll be like. You be like, yo, man, I don't.

[Godfrey]

I. I don't know if I'm.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know. You know what I did last week? I killed it, right? I killed.

[Godfrey]

Right?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I get. But this. Yo, I don't know, man. This cr. But, you know, should I start. What should I start off with? Should I start with. I start off with maybe more than a feeling first?

[Godfrey]

No, you know what this is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

This is Josh all the time. This is how he moves around. This is you. I'm. I'm hungry. You want to eat something before I go into that? You know what? No, that. Listen, that's you. You're always like, but that's.

[Godfrey]

It's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But we're all characters in our own way.

[Godfrey]

Well, last night, I was talking to friends. I was talking to friends about something, and we're talking about another person, and they're like, yeah, but they're like this, and they're like that, but they don't realize that they're like this. And I'm like. I'm like, am I. Am I ridiculous? We were talking about them being ridiculous. She goes, have you met yourself? I'm like, I'm ridiculous. Am I ridiculous? Like, you're ridiculous. But. But I'm like, but I'm a. But I'm good ridiculous. Because I'm not like. Like, if I do something at all that pisses anybody off, I'm like, I'm so sorry. I'll be the first to like, oh, no. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. But that's. But that's what makes you. That's what makes you. You. Like, that's. We're artists, man. We are. Entertainment is a psych ward, bro. It's a.

[Godfrey]

It's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's. It's going into a psych ward. Everyone has their. Their thing, man. You know, people go, yo, Godfrey, he only talking about race and blah, blah. Talk about that and complain about go. But that's me, though. Arty R. Fuqua is another character. You're a character. Who else are we around a lot of you Got. You got. Derek Gaines is a Everybody.

[Godfrey]

Yes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Is somebody. We have our insecurities, we have our anger. There's an underlying anger. We're annoyed by a lot of shit. We're trying to get to a certain level. Like, you go, hey, man, I just opened up for Jelly Roll. We did a 20. That, that, that. But you're like, okay, I want to get recognized as the goddamn comedy jam. I want to do fucking, you know. You know, you have that thing like, oh, this is great. This is great. But you have your own accomplishments that you want. We are obsessed with trying to get to a certain level because we're seeing guys that we know doing arenas and shit, and we go, well, I have the skill to do that too, because there's a lot of. There's a lot of insecurity, a lot of, damn, am I going to make it? There's a lot of I'm afraid of failing. That's everybody across the board, man.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know?

[Godfrey]

Yeah. No. 100%.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. It's like, even with this podcast now, this is when the music.

[Godfrey]

This should be.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. I don't know what your.

[Godfrey]

The numbers. Our numbers. We have a. We have a legit group between. Yeah. I would say. I would say on a low end, 15,000 depending on. On the guest and the album. I mean, we've had some, like the. The Tony Hinchcliffe, Pink Floyd one. I think that's well over a hundred thousand because.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Damn, that's nice.

[Godfrey]

It's just. Because it's. It's. That's the hard thing about this pod. And look, it's. God, it's a labor of love. I'm gonna finish this to everybody, all the people listening, like. Because there was a real moment where, you know, like, I've talked about this, where it. Where it was like, it. It. It was just. It went from making a no money to a lot of money to no money again. We had to rebuild it. And it's hard to put all this. Because, dude, the research that I have to do, like, I know so much goddamn about the impressions. Not just Curtis Mayfield.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

But I know I have everything. So it's like. And I put this time into it, and it's hard to do that, you know, when you're like, you're not getting paid for it. And. And hopefully you're like, you said, it's like you're. You're hoping, okay, well, if I'm not getting paid, then I'm expanding the fan base and so they'll come to shows and, dude, that's why I say anytime, like I say to all the fans. I was like, if you're a fan of the show you comment on, let me know that you're listening. Because it's like we. I see everybody, you know, like that, that I. I see the numbers, I know what we're getting, but it's like out in the real world, you're just like, you know, I don't. I don't know if anybody's listening to it, but we get. But it keeps happening. We keep getting ad sales. So something's happening.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Something's happening.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, something's happening. But I. But then also. But then also, you know what it's like. And. And everything you said was right. But there is something I love if, like, to be able to sit down and listen to. Because I knew about Curtis Mayfield, but I was just. That's what I was saying. I gave you the shout out from my writer, DJ Morty Coyle, who, you know, knew you. I think he knew you back when you lived in LA during, like, the 7up.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Okay. Yeah.

[Godfrey]

But he. He was the one. Like, we're going over all this stuff and he's like, dude, this guy, Curtis Mayfield is probably the most influential musician of not just soul, been socially conscious stuff, but every thing that we've listened to since his music came out, since all I'm talking the impression stuff and the stuff that he did, the solo stuff, like, he's got his fingerprint in everything. And yeah, you can even, like, you can even. We'll get to. We'll talk about as we later go on. But it's like, I want to think, is. Is this guy somebody that we put on the Mount Rushmore of soul singers? You know, it's like, is he up there? Because I. Because as Morty was saying, he's influenced Bob Marley. Like, this guy has influenced so much. So. So, you know, and when I brought him up to you when we were at the club, you were like, oh, Curtis Mayfield, Superfly. And I was like, dude, at first I thought we were just doing the early, but we're doing the whole retrospective.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. And being from Chicago, it's like, oh, yeah, Curtis Mayfield is Chicago man.

[Godfrey]

Yes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So it's a big deal because you have to understand, growing up, Soul Train, which was a major show, which they actually show during our. At the Comedy Cellar, they will show scenes from Soul Train. The line, the. Where the black people are dancing. Yeah, that's actual. Soul Train was a. Was a music show that went against American Bandstand, American bandstand. I don't know if you know American Bandstand.

[Godfrey]

I remember it, but tell everybody just in case they don't know.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, American Bandstand was a dance show that Dick Clark created. Dick Clark, who? It was a very, very famous music producer and television man. He. He started the bandstand in the 50s because he would. It was rock and roll. All the rock and roll shit. And it was a dance show, and it was. It was number one. And Barry Manilow did the theme song. We're going with hopping. We're going to keep dropping the Philadelphia. You see the Philadelphia. Wait, we're going to die. And all the music they play on the bandstand, we're gonna sing it. We're gonna sing it out loud. We gonna swing it another dance in the crowd. And when we sing it on the bandstand. Barry Manilow is one of the coldest, one of the coldest songwriters. Barry Manilow is one of the coldest songwriter that wrote a lot of music. Yeah, Right. So we. We would watch the show, and the thing about it is, we didn't see enough. When we would watch it, we loved it. We didn't see enough black artists.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Okay. So then this man named Don Cornelius from Chicago said, I want to start a local show that will have black artists on all the time. So Soul Train was a local. Sorry, a local Chicago show. All right, sorry. It was a. It was a local Chicago show. And so when it started, we would watch after American Bandstand. This is Chicago time. American bands that would come on at, like, 11, then at 12, we would turn to WGN to watch Soul Train. And it was a train that would jump. It would be dancing on the track, you know, and so they would play the music of tsop. The sound. TS Is the sound of Philadelphia.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So. Oh, let's get it on. It's coming to town. That was. The Three Degrees was the singing group. You know who the Three Degrees are. I see you again. That's the singing group that. The black women. Three singing groups. The three women singing group that sang the theme song to the first Soul Train. So Soul Train, we're like, oh, who's gonna be on Soul Train? Richard Pryor would show up. Think about this. Richard Pryor would come on Soul Train. You have to remember, Richard Pryor is originally from Peoria, Illinois, which is not that far from Chicago. The Jackson 5 show up on Soul Train. We're watching Michael Jackson on Soul Train. The. The Jacksons are from Gary, Indiana, which is maybe 45 minutes away from Chicago. So we have the Jackson 5. We got the OJs, backstabbles all the time. You want to take your place. The backstab. So we got.

[Godfrey]

Damn. That's. That is the hardest. That's not. That's not. That's like thought in my opinion, in my lifetime now that backstabbers. That little run that we do, that's. Yo, that's the hardest.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's. It's amazing.

[Godfrey]

That's like. Cash rules everything around me. Yeah. Yeah. That's like. They smile in your face Trying to.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Take your place they're trying to take your. And it's the truth. Yes. Like, sneaky. You look. You look at the lyrics, you go, jesus Christ. This is a up song. Like, you know what I mean?

[Godfrey]

What they do.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. And. And we. So you have OJ's coming in. The Temptations show up. You got. You got like different singers from Patti LaBelle to Phil's. It's all black people showing. It's like. And then even Casey in the Sunshine Band, Frankie Valli sang Grease on Soul Train. Greece is the word, because then they started getting like, white soul people. Like hall and Oaks is on Soul Train. So we had all this. And then Dick Clark got pissed off because Soul Train was taking. Taking the ratings from American Bandstand. And then Dick Clark made us made up. Made his own version of a black like show. And it didn't work. And Soul Train lasted. And then Soul Train left Chicago and went to la. There's a documentary on it. So, you know, and to see Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, you can look up Curtis Mayfield, Soul Train. And Curtis Mayfield is by himself, solo, killing it. And that's how we knew about all our. Our artists. I grew up on Curtis Mayfield. Like you would see him on Soul Train.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, you're talking, you know, looking over some of his stuff, like you said. Born. Born in Chicago, Illinois. Started in a gospel group, moves to the north side of Chicago, meets Jerry Butler in 56. At the age of 14. At the age of 14, this kid joins the Impressions.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The Iceman. Jerry Butler. They called him the Ice.

[Godfrey]

What they called him. Let me tell.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, he was the Iceman, Jerry Butler. Because he was cold as ice. That mother was smooth.

[Godfrey]

He was cold as ice.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, no need to sacrifice our love. You're talking about Foreigner.

[Godfrey]

I'm talking about Foreign. I just got them into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. I voted on them the last two years, and finally this year they got in. Because I. I vote every year. So every year I get Let me see if I got one on me. Yeah, every year I get. I get the ballot and. Yeah. And so it's like, it's crazy, dude. So I'll be like, all right, what's up with Dolly Parton? What's up. What's up with the Eurythmics? And then I read and I try to listen and, and. And put them in.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And Foreigner, first of all, foreigner 4 is the best album in the world. I don't know what the Double Vision, Urgent, Jukebox Hero. I used to play video games to that. To that. Escape Journey, Escape, Abacab, Genesis. I used to. We used to play.

[Godfrey]

We did this. That's what I love about you is that because you, you know, I.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The.

[Godfrey]

The idea of you doing Curtis Mayfield makes perfect sense because you like, you know, current, you know, hip hop, but you do have this, like, old soul. And I think that's kind of why you've always been successful. And you can identify with every. With young people and older people.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yes.

[Godfrey]

When you're on stage, because you just get it. I think that's kind. Me too. It's like I. I paid attention to my dad's. I paid attention to the 50s and 60s art that was thrown at me. And, and, and so. But then at the same time, like, not only are you with, you know, as a black dude, where it's like, oh, yeah, I want to be hip hop. But you know, Foreigner and, you know, Jukebox Hero and, you know, like, it's just. It's. It's. Yeah, I don't want to. I don't want to be like. It's shocking for a black guy. No, no, no. But you know what, you know what I'm saying, right?

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, you're. What you're saying is not weird because I remember having a Zeppelin T shirt. Like, you know, when they, you know, they always have retro T shirts of all the bands. Metallica, well, you know, you know, Grateful Dead the whole time. So I'm wearing a, you know, just a Stairway to Heaven joint. You know, I'm walking around and. Because my sister would play Stairway to Heaven on the piano. So I see, I'm walking across the street and this dude, this white dude goes, oh. He goes, what do you know about Zeppelin? And so I went, well, I'm older than you, so I knew Zeppelin before you came around. So for me, for you to be surprised that I know Zeppelin, I go, well, let me tell you, I said, are you a musician? Yeah, I'm a musician. I said, well, come on, Man, a black guy wearing a Zeppelin shirt. If you're a musician, you should already know that this is black music. You should already know Zeppelin actually got sued for plagiarizing blues music. You know that. And I love Zeppelin, but they got. They fucking stole everything without permission. And by the way. And then I told the guy go, you know that song Got a Whole Lot of love? He goes, of course. I go, well, you need cooling. Maybe I'm not fooling. That's a black riff. White folks don't talk like that. I said at the end of Whole lot of Love. He goes, I want to be your back door man. That's a black riff. That's a southern backdoor man. White folks don't know what the that is. Yeah, backdoor man is. I want to be that side to come in and get some. And get some ass. That is a black riff. So you should know as a musician that if I wear a fucking light zep with butt. Here's the thing, though. I understand why he did that. Because they literally. Okay, remember the famous burning of the records in that big stadium in Comiskey Park?

[Godfrey]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That's Chicago. That was Steve Dahl. Steve Doll was a big radio DJ on 98 Loop. Loop was the rock, was the rock station. 98 Loop. Classic rock. So Steve Doll went into Comiskey park and burned all the disco records and all the soul. He was basically saying black artists. Really? He was really saying that deep down.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And so they always separated R B and rock, but it all comes from the same people. The same people that you trying to defy are the ones that created the. That you're listening to. Because all of rock music is blues chords, period. And it's just funny how they say it's like country music. Look at the way they've done the country music. They made it this, you know, Confederate flag. God damn this country music. But it's black. And created. It was created by black people. I mean, but they were able to market it where they go, this is why it's our shit. You get the hell away. But you learned from old black people gospel music. Johnny Cash is a perfect example of who respected black artists because he learned gospel music. His. There's music, you know, that my daddy played bass. Daddy played bass. Mom saying tenor. Yeah, that's gospel music. Johnny Cash was gospel, bro.

[Godfrey]

Like Charles. Ray Charles is doing just soulful gospel music. And like, yeah, you know, it's like it's. It's. It all comes. I mean, I always say this dude it's like we're all stealing from. From. From old black guys. Like, they. They did everything.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And all black women, don't forget.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. No.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Sister Rosetta Tharp, you know Sister Rosetta Tharp.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

She could play guitar better than all the men, period. They got it from Big Mama Thornton. Sister Rosetta Tharp. There were a lot of, you know, a lot. Even the Beatles, when they. When they got into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, they said, we want to thank Lead Belly. You know Lead Belly?

[Godfrey]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

We want to thank him. We. We studied Lead Belly. What's it. Every time when I listen to the impressions, when I was listening to the music earlier, I go, this is what the. The Bee Gees. The Bee Gees got into that.

[Godfrey]

And that's. And that's. You're just talking about the. The first disc, which is all. I mean, you're talking. The impressions are. It's. It's doo wop. Yes. It's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's.

[Godfrey]

It's, you know, it's. It's soul. It's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's.

[Godfrey]

It's R B. It's love making. It's socially conscious.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Social conscious. Yes. Yeah.

[Godfrey]

People get. People get ready. We were trying. Me and we were having a discussion is like, what was first? Was it a change gonna come or people get ready? And I think it's, oh, change gonna come. Came first.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Sam Cook. Sam Cook. Yeah.

[Godfrey]

I. I got. So There were all those, like, you know, the. When during the summer of George Floyd and all that. And I was like. I was like going to every. Every March because it was. It was a matter of believing it. But also it's like, I just need to get out of my house and I want to be around people.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

And. And I remember doing one. There was one at the. At the Laugh Factory. And I was like. Like, what if I go up there right now and just sing a Change Gonna Come? And I was like, yeah, that probably not a good idea.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So.

[Godfrey]

White boy. I could kill it. I could kill it. I would. I was born by the river.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Okay.

[Godfrey]

I was in a little tent in a little tent. Oh. And just like the river I've been running ever since.

[Josh Adam Myers]

When you sing a song like that, let's say you're singing that song. And I always wondered, when a. When a. A non African American is singing those kind of songs, do they feel the same as a African American singing this song? Are you. Are you. Is it. Is it just. You're copying it? It's not intrinsic, is it? Just. I'm just doing it. It's not.

[Godfrey]

If you're talking. I always wonder the way that I. The way that I sing is like, I'm an amalgamation of. Of Axl Rose, Scott Weiland, and then Otis Redding. Otis Redding is my favorite singer in the history of anything. I think he's the best.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Nice.

[Godfrey]

If you see it up on the wall, I have a painting.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, wow. I love Otis.

[Godfrey]

And, and so. So it's like, I, I hear I, I, like, I, I, I, I, I, I feel I hear rock. And I want to sing like that, like Axl Rose, like, belt. But then it's like I have that. That inclination to kind of make because I got soul, dude. I got. When you got, I. If you have debt, we have depth, we have. We have weight. I have. I have trauma. My voice is not just. It is. It is. It is a lifetime. It's not just like this. This, like, angelic singing voice. You could hear, like, pain. I've been through. I've been through. So when I sing, I think so maybe I don't understand, you know, what, What Sam was. You know, exactly what, you know, what he's feeling when he's saying that. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm saying for yourself. Do you like, you know, because if you've been through stuff, do you think, oh, man, this song resonates with me, man, like, as far as changing yourself.

[Godfrey]

I think so. I think, look, I. I am very. Listen to try to bring it back to this record. Like, I am very empathetic to stuff that is going on in the world and, like, what people are dealing with, even with, like, the new administration. And I know, like, look, I'm not going to be affected by. By Trump being in there, but I feel bad for people that. That might be gay or might be trans, even if, like, I don't agree with everything that they're doing or it's not for me. It's right. I don't want anybody to have. Yeah, right. You. So. So I think, you know, I don't. You know, when we're talking about what happened during the civil rights movement, I know a lot of the research and, And. But I couldn't imagine what that would be like to be some of these. Not just the people, but the way these artists, like, they. They had to play segregated rooms. Yeah. They couldn't stay at the hotels. Is everybody. Even though they're selling out.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

For white people. White people are coming to their show. They can't stay or drink from the same water fountain. And I think that. And I think that's why. To bring it back to courtesy. Like, I think that's why this is so cool about what he did. Everything in this guy's career under a blanket of beautiful soul and doo wop is him saying something about what the. Is wrong or what needs to change. And this is before anybody was doing that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. The fact that, you know, in these doo wop groups, you could hear the pain, you can hear the sadness, you can hear the love, their relationship stuff. And we, you know, get ready, people get ready. Like, you know, and, And. And. And whenever you watch, like, documentaries on black artists, I. I watch a lot of. Like you do. I watch a lot of music docs. I love music docs.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And when I watch, like, I've watched, you know, the. I've watched the. The who, I've watched the Rolling Stones, a few of their documentaries. I've watched. I've watched the Bee Gees. I've watched all of them. And when you watch the. The. The Caucasian artist and their journey in music, you go, wow, they went through this, they went through that. And this is what I noticed, the pattern in all of these groups. The white. The white groups, they always go, yeah. So we started off this way, but then we start listening to Motown and we start listening to black artists, and then we started getting our group. Every. Almost every group was listening to some black artists, some black influence. Now when I watch the black documentaries, from the James Browns to the Claritus Mayfields to the Parliament, it's always a different thing where they go, yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, we was doing good in the 1950s. But the only problem is they didn't allow black people to do this. They didn't allow black people to do that. And then we couldn't even be on our own album covers, man. They didn't allow black people on the album covers. We had to play. We couldn't stay. It's. It's. It's the contrast of these innovators who created this greatest music in the world, but we're not allowed to take a piss in a toilet. But people are enjoying your music. You would think that music would be transformational. I have this joke, and I haven't done it really yet. It's new. And I talk about how the. As a human being, do you listen to James Brown or a Stevie Wonder album, a blind black man, or any of these? How do you not change in a way like, oh, wow, I want to. I want to be a better person. This song is so. It's so meaningful. Look at what. And these were great songwriters. Wow. Look at what they're talking about. Change gonna come. How the. As a person, don't you go, oh, man, maybe I can be. Maybe I can. Maybe there's some things in me that I could at least work on a little bit. I don't understand how a can listen to this kind of music. And you're talking about blood, sweat and tears and soul music. People. People tend to use the word soul music as a throwaway. Soul music is soul music.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's internal. This is real rhythm and blues, R B. They just go, r B, please. Rhythm and blues, my brother. It's sadness with rhythm. The. The deepness of it. And they blow it off. And I go. You know what I'm saying? It's like how the. Don't you at least go, you know what? I could be a better person. This song is really hitting, man. It's really hitting, man.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, and you can just stay the same. And you people will be still. People were still hateful of these people, even though they just been singing and making you happy. And you still go, hey, man, you don't. You can't come to this hotel. That's some. That's some real sick psychotic.

[Godfrey]

I. I think. I think. I think. I think now, you know.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

I mean, I don't know how many people they will. I look, I think there's people like Kendrick. There's people that are saying, yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Thank God. Yeah, exactly. But. But I think back in the day, I mean, this. These songs. I'm looking over how these songs did. They weren't just, like, released and went nowhere. These are like top 10 singles, you know, it's all right. It was one of the two top 10 singles from the group in the Hot 100, reach number one on the Hot R B chart. Then you have. I'm so proud that's in the top 10. Then the first one that's really like a black pride anthem is keep on pushing. You know, that's. That's another top 10. And then. You must believe me. I mean, these are so. They're getting. They're getting the recognition, I guess, at the time. I mean, dude, this. Like I said, this is. This is 1964, you know, right in.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The dead center of because. And you think about the music in the 60s was so wonderful, man. I love 60s music. You have Vietnam War, late 60s. You have civil rights movement. You got. It's Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King. It's like, all this going on. Harry Belafonte. You have even Tony Bennett marching with Harry Belafonte. Harry. Tony Bennett was in the middle of all that. Yeah, you had Bennett. You had. So you had, like, the creativity. Because, you know, creativity comes from pain. It comes from strife. And. And so the songs you had Bob Dylan, Dylan singing about, you had Joni Mitchell, you had. You know what I'm saying? You had. Everybody was singing about what was going on. You had Buffalo Springfield. What is happening?

[Godfrey]

What's that sound?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, what's that sound? Everybody. You're like, God damn. You think about the. How are you not transformed? I just don't understand as a human being. I'm not saying that everybody's not transformed, but I just don't understand. Like, Jerry Lee Lewis, for example, copied Little Richard, you know, piano playing. And he called. He called Chuck Berry the N word on a bus ride. And this is a man who's playing black music, and you're disrespecting the real king of rock and roll.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, well, Jerry Lee Lewis is a fucking.

[Josh Adam Myers]

He was a piece of shit, but he was a lunatic.

[Godfrey]

But it's amazing.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But it's amazing how you're, like, literally in black music and you're just on the p. It's just a weird compartmentalization, like, completely. It's very, very strange because I love people so much. That's why I talk the way I talk. That's why I talk, because people will. You know, I mean, I go. I just go, dog. Why? Why. Why are you like this? I don't. I don't. I don't understand.

[Godfrey]

You know what I mean?

[Josh Adam Myers]

And people go, oh, God, for you.

[Godfrey]

I don't think you like white people.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I go, stop deflecting. I don't like white people. What the you talking about? I don't like people who are up. I don't like people who are up. Yeah, I'm sorry. And the history is what it is, you know, you had segregated bathrooms. Don't get mad at me. I'm not saying you did it personally, but you had segregated bathroom. And as a Jewish man, you know, you couldn't do neither.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, you couldn't do.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There were civil rights leaders, Jews and blacks getting murdered. Yeah, there's that famous one where the Jewish kid and Mississippi.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, the Mississippi burnout where, like, the three were down there.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What?

[Godfrey]

First of all, why. Why is a Jew and a black and like, I think. And a Mexican in a car in Mississippi? It's like, are they trying to get pulled over. Yeah, they were.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They knew that was coming. They knew that was coming. If you really look at. If you look at white people from the past, here's some ugly man.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like, right. They all looked racist. They actually looked racist.

[Godfrey]

They were all, like, really did. Right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They all had that. That. They all looked.

[Godfrey]

It.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It was really weird. Like, white people now you can't really tell who's really racy. You can't really tell.

[Godfrey]

I'm gonna say. I think you can't. And you can. I think there's a lot of good undercovers.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, of course.

[Godfrey]

But I feel. But I feel like there still has. There's still that look in a certain white person.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No doubt. But. But I think that the whites learned to under. To be softer because back then, you were free. You were free to be like this. If you see those old civil rights pictures, it's always like this. You see them like this. They're all like, yeah. Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Yes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. They had the freedom and the laws to really. That's why most of their photos are horrible looking.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. You know?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Thinking about something. So. Talking about something like, people, get ready. Yes. Oh, there's three songs I really want to talk about on this. Yeah. I want to make sure that we hit. Yeah. And it's perfect that we're talking about this when you have this song. So this comes out in 1965. It's the group's best known hit from the Impressions. It's. It's gospel influence. It's. It's a Mayfield composition that displays a growing sense of social and political awareness in his writing. This was taken from my church or from the upbringing of messages from the church. Like, there's no hiding place and get on board and images of. Of that sort. Just like we said. It's like this is all the stuff that we were just talking about. I must have been in a very deep mood on that type of religious inspiration when I wrote this song. This is ranked at. And. And I. I feel like this is an important song. It's ranked 122nd on the 500 Greatest Songs of all time. It's inducted into the Grammy hall of fame in 1998. Selected in 2015 for the preservation of national recording industry due to its cultural, historical, and artistic significance. Martin Luther King, Jr. Named the song the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Amazing.

[Godfrey]

That's amazing. And it reached number three. And, I mean, it's been covered by a million people. Of course, It's. It's a long tradition of black American freedom Songs that use train imagery. Why is that? Why do. Why do. Is it always like the gospel train? Wade in the water, Swing low, Sweet cherry. There's always a train. Why do black people love trains?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, it's old train.

[Godfrey]

You guys love a good train with.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Something about a train. Love train of the ojs. Love train. Love train. All of my brothers over in Africa. It's a love train because I think it's. Because there's something about a train that represents connection. Connection and movement. You know what I mean? And it also carries a load. You're carrying a load. There's like. You're. You.

[Godfrey]

You can.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You can put a bunch of. On it. We all come together, but we're all connected and we all move together on a track. That's what I mean. It's like, wow. You know that. That's what I'm thinking.

[Godfrey]

It's like. That's a really perfect way to put it, actually.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know what I mean? You're carrying a load, and everybody, come on. And it stops at certain stops. Everybody, come on, let's go. Like the love train. We stopping in London, we stopping in Africa, we stopping in Asia. Everybody get on. We got enough room. This. This can carry tons and tons and tons of people, man. That's where I think the train thing comes from, is getting on. On a train. A train. And I love trains just in general. I love riding trains. I love toy trains, Lionel trains. I love. I just love. You ever see a toy shop and you see a train and you just watch it for a while?

[Godfrey]

Sure.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. So I think the train. A train just sort of represents togetherness, connection, carrying a load, inviting everybody on. Everybody can't get on a plane like that, but more people can get on a train. You feel me? And you can keep connecting. A train, it can go. You ever see a train? You gotta wait for it to go by, and it's like 30 minutes of just cargo. Cargo.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah. Cargo the thing down. You're like this.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's logs, there's oil, there's people. There's sex trafficking.

[Godfrey]

There's drugs. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

God damn it.

[Godfrey]

Children.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's Epstein.

[Godfrey]

Okay. God damn.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's. There's St.

[Godfrey]

Knowledge speaking. I want to talk about. Because I feel like what you do with your social media by. You know, you've always been someone to like, not just. I want to call it calling out, but, you know, I. I know it's content, and we're trying to make content, but when you go into making one of your videos or you're Talking to the camera, you know, are you. Are you trying to change people's minds? Are you trying to. Or is this just what you see and you just want to get the laugh and see? And. And because I do feel like you are always even in a video of. Of just talking about, you know, something that doesn't even feel like it's that important. You really are good at putting a very good perspective on it. That makes it, you know, a clear case for. For either in the right or in the wrong. Like, what do you. I.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, let's. Let's keep it 100. I definitely want the shit to go viral.

[Godfrey]

Sure.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But I also want people to you, hopefully. But a lot of people are really, you know, they're really dumb. And a lot of people are dumb, especially when they don't get context and subtext and go, oh, I understand what he's saying. Because people just want to hear trigger words. Oh, he said white people. I was like, but did you hear what I said, though? I said, he said, black people shut the fuck up and listen to context. But. But social media has not. Has untrained us to listen to context to actually go, okay, what is. What did he really mean? Oh, I get it. It doesn't. It's all just, okay, you better say the right thing right now. It better be not the wrong words, or I'm gonna fucking blank out. You know, I do it for. Hopefully I reach some people. And it does actually reach people because it's. People go, man, I love what you said, man. That was awesome. That, man. Thanks for saying that. Like, it reaches people. You know, I wanted to do both, you know, and I don't mind opposition. I think it's amazing when people oppose what I said. First of all, we talk for a living. Nothing's going to be perfect. And then you go, okay, how can I express myself about the world in two or three minutes? Because people don't have attention spans that much at all. So you go, how can I try my best to edit this down to that? And so I just go for it. And sometimes it's, like, awesome. Even if it's perfectly done in my mind, someone will always go, man, you don't know what the. You're talking.

[Godfrey]

What is. That's. That was my next question. What was. What's one that you've gotten the most pushback? Like, you know, I don't say. Call it. Yeah, all right. Controversial. What's been the most controversial?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I get a lot of pushback on when I do my father's accent.

[Godfrey]

With 500 records to cover, it can be kind of hard for me to really dive deep into some of the artists or albums that deserve extra attention. I mean, we're seven years into this show now and we've done a new album every single week without ever missing a beat. There just isn't enough time though, so I want to share a podcast I can't get enough of the Wonder Wonder of Stevie youe might think you know Stevie Wonder. You might think you know the music of Stevie Wonder, but you've never heard it. Like this. Host Wesley Morris takes you on a deep dive through Stevie's classic period. Five legendary albums back to back in just four years. You'll hear about the record deal that started it all, the technology Stevie adopted to create never before heard sounds, and his influence on our culture with appearances from legends like Michelle Obama, Questlove, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Babyface, and Janelle Monae. Plus, in this month's special bonus episode, President Barack Obama interviews Stevie himself. Binge all episodes of the Wonder of Stevie wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everybody. So you guys have probably heard me talk about how I've been in bands my whole life. I love writing songs, songs and performing in front of crowds. Just like with comedy. As a musician, it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise and really stand out as an artist. I feel like half the music projects I've been in have ended just because we couldn't figure out the answer to that eternal question of how do we get people to hear us. But then again, that was before there was Distrokid. Distrokid is a digital music distribution service that brings your sound to the masses. It's a one stop shop for getting your songs on itunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and many more. What's these? I never even heard of Deezer. How many of them are there? I know that's like the holy grail of streaming services though. And getting paid. They want to we want to get you paid for your music. That's huge because a lot of bands go broke before they get big. But Distrokid collects earnings and payments and sends 100% of these earnings earnings to artists minus banking fees and applicable taxes. And that's just one of the tons of benefits of using Distrokid. You can send big files to anyone with their Instant Share feature. You can use the Hyper Follow feature to promote your release and get pre saves on your song. You can even create personal landing pages for yourself. Your Band your brand and whatever you like. It has a free Spotify canvas you generator too, to generate your own Spotify canvas for your songs. And the Mixia feature instantly masters your tracks for higher quality audio. So if you're ready to bring your band to the next level, it's time to check out Distrokid. The Distrokid app is now available on iOS and Android. Go to the app or play store to download it. Listeners of this show can get 30% off their first year by going to distrokid.com VIP the 500. That's distrokid.com VIP the500 for 30% off your first year. Dig it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

When I talk about Nigerians, other Nigerians get mad at me, like literally cursing me out because they go, you don't say that doesn't sound Nigerian. I go, well, you, first of all. And another thing is, I know what my dad sounds like. And another thing is I'm Nigerian American. I wasn't born in Nigeria. So you're getting the Nigerian American version of an African accent. That's how we sound. That's how Nigerian Americans that grew up here sound. That's what we hear. That's the accent we hear. So you got a mixture of an American accent doing an African accent. It's just like when a Nigerian born in Nigeria is trying to talk like an American, like when they try to curse and they'd be like, yo, I go, you sound stupid. As I know how to curse because I'm American. I'm around Americans that know that. Americans know how to curse. We know how to curse. Yo, what the. Yo, get the out of here. That's what we do.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So a Nigerian, you can't do that unless she was born in America. So, yeah, I get that. And I get. Some people call me race Vader. I love that one. And if I'm talking about something legit, like, oh, there's these guys in Columbus a few months ago, maybe two months ago, they and I, they might be ops or whatever, but they came with their mask on with swastika flags at Columbus, Ohio. They were marching, they just did some march, right? And I talked about it and I said, so why is it always about race? You guys always bother me about why it's always about race. But what are these fucking morons doing? They decided to go in the daytime, put on masks, which is some pussy shit. Yeah, I walk around with swastikas. And then there's these black dudes in the camp in the camera going, why don't you take off your mask and do that shit at night and we beat your ass. And they're going, white power. And everyone's like, yo, man. Yo, get the out of here. You right? They're yelling at these people. And so I still have people go, oh, you're race baiting. I'm race baiting. There are guys walking around.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

With swastikas. And you're telling me I'm race baiting? Like, it's that up. Like you're race baiting. Again. All I do, I'm just commenting on why are these morons walking around in the daytime with swastikas, you know? And you're saying I'm raped. The people are that up. They literally don't see. They just see a black dude complaining.

[Godfrey]

I think that's the reason. They just. If it was. If it was a white guy doing it, they would be fine with it. But there's a black dude complaining, damn it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, there's a black guy complaining about swastikas.

[Godfrey]

But just imagine you're. Because you're.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What?

[Godfrey]

You. I don't want to say you're. You're pushing buttons. You're bringing attention. Something that's going on in the world, whether it's. Whether it's the Diddy trial. Yeah, yeah. You know, or just. Or just any. It's. It's pop culture stuff, but.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That's.

[Godfrey]

Right. Everybody's talking about. But because it's. Because it's a brother doing it, then they're gonna be like, you know, white people. White people just want to get. I mean, not all white people, but, you know, in certain areas, yes. Certain white people want to get mad just because it's like, you know, they're still probably looking at you like, man, this. Like they shouldn't even have the goddamn Internet. You know, It's. It's. It's crazy. And I. I love your videos. Like, when you post your videos, Like, I look forward to it. I look forward to getting.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because whatever I say, you know me. Like, it's so funny because people go, man, you just seem like you just don't like white people, But I'm downtown. I'm with you. I'm hanging with my whole.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, everybody.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Everybody's from every walk of life. And they go, you hate. Really, dummy. Really dummy. No, you. It's people who can't hold themselves accountable.

[Godfrey]

And they.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's just deflection. It's like when women complain about sexism, and we tell women, yo, once. You shut the fuck up, bitching. All day. No, she's right. We shit on women. Women have been treated like shit for a long time. Change. Try to. Why can't you just say, you know what? You're right, man. Let me just at least try to work on that. But we complaining and bitching. You act like these women are lying. They're not lying. They're telling the truth. You know, so it's that same. I think it's just a human thing when you hear truth. And it's hard to, like, an alcoholic, when they first go into a. They're like, hey, man, you know you're an alcoholic, man.

[Godfrey]

I know.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm not. You. Me. I know. Alcoholic, man. You, man. I'm like, you're. You're. You're an alcoholic. No, man. It's like, when someone's fat, anytime I tell my friends they need to lose weight, I say, hey, man, why are you eating that? Stop, man. What's wrong with me eating that? They get. They get upset.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, with anything, it's just like. I think it's just a natural thing for people to get mad at being held accountable.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You got to learn for yourself. It happens to me. You got to go, all right, let me. This. Let me get out of my own way and see where they're coming from, you know? Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. So another song I want to talk about is. Is Move On Up. Move On Up. Yeah. This is. This is another. This is another one of the 500 greatest songs of all time. This is when. Now we're in Mayfield solo career. So this is off of Curtis. He encourages listeners to get the most out of life and try to be the best, regardless of any obstacles in their way. This is. I mean, this is positive, dude. Which is so funny because we're. We're. And I'm. I don't. I mean, because the last two we're going to talk about are like the. From Superfly. But it's like. This is like, him coming out. Yeah, He's. He's. It's. It's that, like, we were talking about how. How it's like, you know, like. Like the. I don't think Martin Luther King, when he was saying, people, get ready or we need to do this, he's not like saying white people. He's like saying, we are brothers. We need to be together. We need to do this together.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

You need to move up. This is also what's great about. This is not just the message of the song, but musically. This is the song that Kanye west took Touch the sky. Yes. So the sample is from this. From the distinctive horn section. Yes. There's a nine minute long version of this song that is phenomenal. But when I want to talk about.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I wish we could play these songs. Right. Don't you?

[Godfrey]

I mean, we can play 13 seconds. I7. We can play. Yeah. But Brian, do you have any music?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Can we get 13? 6.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. Brian, you got it. Is Brian. Brian. He's probably watching football at this point. Who's winning, Brian?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'll see if I can get it.

[Godfrey]

I'll see if I can get it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Who's winning?

[Godfrey]

I wanted to ask you this. I wanted to ask you this. You know, when did you first feel like you had elevated me?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, in what?

[Godfrey]

In your career. And like, when did you f. First start seeing the first, like, real movement meant?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I think when I, I think that when I. When I came to New York, I felt. I felt like I moved up when I made it to the Comedy Cellar.

[Godfrey]

Really?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. I was like. Because I wanted to be a day. I wanted to be an awesome comedian. I said, I want to be a fucking comedian. Like a real working comedian in New York City. I want to be one of the top guys. And I. When I got into the Cellar and then I. And I was hosting at the Cellar, I hosted for five years.

[Godfrey]

Is that what she. She had you host right away?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, because of my energy and because this was.

[Godfrey]

This was when it was only just.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Just the seller and sd.

[Godfrey]

Oh, God.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It was one. And it was really hard to get in. And I remember Jim Norton was one of my references and I think Keith somewhere, someone else. But I. I went up to SD and I hosted. And I remember I said, oh, I'm in the mix. When I brought up Robin Williams and Ray Romano and Gabe Kaplan and I was Damon Wayne, I was like, oh, I'm here. Are you kidding me? You know, that was just a little thing for me, a big deal for me, because I remember when Joe Rogan got accepted into the Comedy Store, he said, that was a big deal to me. I made it to the Comedy Store. It's the same way. I was like, dude, I'm a. I'm at the Comedy Cell. I'm a. I'm a New York comedian, man. And I was making my name as a New York comic, and people knew me like, yo, that's God. But you know that I. That's when I felt I was on the come up. I was on the come up, you know, and, and you know, this is a long business, you know, People, you know, say, man, you should be here. Here we go. But there's, There's. We always forget about the little accomplishments. To be a working comedian is such a big accomplishment because not everybody gets into the major clubs. They don't understand that little microcosm of. Of comics that are. Are wishing to get into certain clubs just to get in and be a constantly working comedian. That is an accomplishment in itself. Everybody looks at. And this is not me taking anything, you know, the Nate Bragazzi's, the Kevin Hart's, the Joe, they look at it like, no. I go, no, no, no. Though a lot of them have worked their way. They worked hard to get there.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, but they started. They started goddamn right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Jump into arenas, like. And not everybody's gonna be an arena comedian. You know, some comedians aren't even going to be theater comedians. Some comedians aren't even going to really be headliners.

[Godfrey]

I know, I know.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's so many levels to this, bro. That's why I go. I'm so proud that I've been a headliner for over 15 years, almost 20, I have been headlining. I've never stopped headlining. I've never had a decline in headlining. I've always. My whole calendar is always filled up.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because another thing is we're always in the lab in the middle of the week. We're always working on our. When we go on the road, people go, man, you always got new. I go, because I'm in the middle of the week, busting my ass. We're on stage putting in that work.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. You don't have nights off. I don't think I've ever seen you. You're on the road or you're. You're at the Cellar working. Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I just don't believe that comedy is an art form. Unless I'm, like, on vacation, I go somewhere where I'm just out chilling. But comedy is an art form that. Where, Where. Why are you taking a break? Unless you just don't feel good and you're feeling out of it.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And, you know, as much as I love comedy, if I have a cold, I will try my best to, like, go, wait, let me try working out. I think I could do it.

[Godfrey]

And. Where you from? Where you from?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Let me gargle this song real quick. Maybe I can get my two jokes here.

[Godfrey]

Two things that. Two things that, that comedians will never turn down. If we're sick, we'll always do a set, and we'll. We'll always try to too.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know what's funny? What's really funny is the body is amazing. Because I've been on stage, I've been on in situation where I'm like. I'm feeling like sinuses and blah, blah, blah. And then when you get on stage, that holds back and lets you perform. Like, have you ever done that where all of a sudden you're adrenaline, you clear up your voice, you're like, boom. And then you get on stage, you're like, oh, God damn.

[Godfrey]

I. I've said this on the. On the podcast maybe before, but I know I've never told you. This is like, when I. The. One of the hands down best sets I've ever had was I was going after seven months of hardcore opiate addiction. I decided to get clean after this is. After the accident. So this is back in this 13 years ago, and I had. I had a show opening for Lunel at Cal State Northridge. I needed that money. I was 600 bucks. I needed that money. I had nothing. I. I'm on day two, and, I mean, I feel like I'm dying. And. And I show up and they. They say to me. They say to me, like, all right, so you're gonna go up and do 20 in between here. And I go, cool. I go, listen, I don't feel good. Do you have a place I could go lay down? Like a green room? And they're like, oh, you're in it. And we were standing in, like, a hallway. And I go, cool. I'm gonna lay here on the floor. Right when it's my time to go up, nudge me. And I'll get up and I'll go up. And the lady looks at me like I'm crazy, and I literally lay there in the fetal position. Dude, I'm. I'm dying. They. They nudge me. It's time to go up. I. Top. Top three sets of my life. Wow. Because you just. You. You don't care. You don't feel good. You just want it over with. Yeah. You're also, like, when you. When you. When you're in that. Like, you're in that flow state where it's like. Because that's all dude. And that's why I love watching you, is you're so comfortable on stage being you, and you do not give a. You respect the audience, but you don't give a. You'll stay on a joke and a riff until you get that laugh, and then you. And then it'll be funny and it's not funny, and then you're still doing it, and then it's funny again because you stayed in that and that flow.

[Josh Adam Myers]

State that, that, that taught Mom. Colin Quinn. I always give credit to Colin Quinn. Colin Quinn told me, you know, he used to always, like, watch me a lot. Like back when there's the Boston Comedy Club that was down the street from when Barry Katz ran it. Colin Quinn always used to tell me, he'd be like, he'll go, you know that joke you do? That was a good joke. Hey, you gotta stay in it. Milk that. He goes, you can, you can keep going. Don't be afraid. Stay in the pocket. Stay in that. Use that subject until you ain't got nothing left in that. He go, even if there's some parts that are not fun, he goes, it doesn't matter. It's how you begin and how you end. So Colin was very, very significant and instrumental in me staying in jokes and just milking it, milking it, milking it till there's nothing left. And it's the greatest thing I've ever done. Like, like, I'm. I'm in. I'm in Dania beach right now at the Improv. I have one more show tonight where they got you.

[Godfrey]

Are you in a Cambria? What hotel is that? What is that? What are you in?

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's like a nice Marriott.

[Godfrey]

Get your points.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know what I'm saying?

[Godfrey]

Got my little bad boy. Got Never Continental breakfast.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They gave me a couple free things. You say, since you're a special member, we gonna give you free WI fi.

[Godfrey]

I get, I get the. It's Wi Fi, but for 13, I could do this podcast. I'll then know you.

[Josh Adam Myers]

We'll give you the secret bad word for the real wifi. So I. This guy on Friday show, I'm talking about religion, and I do like maybe a half hour, 20 something minutes on religion. And this guy's like, he just kind of yelled out, yeah, you've been talking about Jesus for like a half hour because he was mad about what my opinion about religion. He's like, you can talk about Jesus for like a half hour. I go, yeah, I got some more minutes about Jesus. So what you gonna do about it is the problem? I've been making everybody laugh, and just because you don't like my opinion about Jesus doesn't give you the right to open your mouth. Like, so what? I go, yeah, but I did 20 minutes. He's like, you just keep talking about Jesus. I go, yeah, because I want to open up a church because I want to make some money. So I'm talking about Jesus, what is wrong with that? I want to make money because I want to fly a private jet. And I don't think comedy is going to get me there. I think religion is the people that.

[Godfrey]

The people that, that talk about how. How, you know. Yeah, you guys don't know how to take jokes and you can't. Why can't we say this anymore? And it's like, blah, blah, blah. And then you make a. You make a comment about anything that they're against or not against they're for and they get madder than. That happened last night in Stanford. It was like, dude, really? Nori Davis was doing funny. He made it. He was. He made fun of Biden. He made fun of Trump. The second he made fun of Trump, this dude gets up and like leaves and you're like, dude, it's like, why are you. The whole thing is like, we make. Make fun of everything. It's all ridiculous, man. And it's just. And then he's like, that's all he's doing is talking about white people. It's like he's. It's. It's funny though. Like, it's a joke. White people are ridiculous. Black people are ridiculous. Mexicans are ridiculous. There's something to make fun of all of us. Nobody's off limits.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And it's like, first of all, he's talking about white people. You must not just like the guy in the first place. Shut the fuck up. Like Connecticut and Connecticut. The. I. Is there an IQ in Connecticut? Oh, is. Stanford is like a lot of Goombas, right? Is it a lot? Yeah, it's a huge Italian.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like, I remember doing Stanford shows. And man, I. I'm not gonna lie. You ever heard of Soul Joel?

[Godfrey]

Oh, yeah, yeah. They had a big run during the pandemic because that's where Big J got pulled off stage. Remember?

[Josh Adam Myers]

See? Yeah. See, Soul Joe used to have some rowdy ass rooms. And I remember doing one in this club. It was so bad. And it was just Goombas, just like dudes with pants and girlfriends. And they would just. Yeah, like, yeah. And so I'm on stage. It's so bad. The guy that opened up for me, he was doing like regular comedy bits. And they were going, dude, yo, shut the up with that. It is some white dude going, so, yeah, my mother's a Catholic, man. Oh, we don't go to church. It was so bad. And then I just got on stage and just start with everybody. And we were having a ball. It was crazy. It was so dumb. And I Go. Where you guys from? They go. I go. You guys go to college? They're like, we dropped the out. They were all just like, dropouts. They were all dropouts. They had girlfriends. They were muscular. It was just goomba. Stanford. It's like, how was. Were you doing New York Comedy Club?

[Godfrey]

I was doing New York Comedy Club. Yeah, I heard.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's a nice club.

[Godfrey]

It's great. I love. I love those guys, man. And they're so. They're so good to me. And, you know, it's. It's. It's an easy. An easy night. It pays well. It was. It's. It's. I'm done by. By midnight, I was back home hanging with my dog. Yeah, I needed that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And. And. But the thing is, like, look, I. Because I'm not going up there, you know, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not saying. I'm not trying to say anything because when I'm doing my hour, it's not just all the music. There's music, and I'm doing jokes and I'm doing that. And my whole thing is just having. Having fun. And someone like Nori, who is really, like, opening up, and I think he's, like, really about to. He's. I know he was talking about some stuff he's about to do with this. With this show that he's doing. And it's like, he's always. He's been through. He's trying to figure out a way to talk about that. And, you know, it's just in a showcase show of 15 minutes in. In Connecticut, it's. It sucks that the audience can't just, yeah. Click over and go with him on that, because what they want is just, you know, blah, blah, blah, you know, it's. It's the.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You gotta read the room sometimes. You gotta read the room. You gotta read the room. And it is what it is sometimes. You Sometimes reading the room. I'm gonna try this out. And you sometimes take it in the face bomb. Okay. That's comedy, man. That's comedy. That's experimentation. That's. We don't know what the. I've. I've done stuff in front of, like, a ton of Old white, and they loved every.

[Godfrey]

I see it. I've seen it. I've seen you play. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They go, hell, yeah. Because there's a point where you go, I don't really give a. I'm a grown man. I'm. I'm a real comedian. I'm gonna make this funny. Like, you Gotta know that, like, I'm a grown. I. I've been on stage for a long time. I've seen every scenario, brother. I've seen every. All black. Oh, I don't give a. And they know it when they see you. See, people start knowing when you take command of the stage. They go, oh, no, no. This motherfucker's the real deal. Yeah, they know it because I go, my man, I don't give a. About you. And if you talk, I'm gonna. I'm son you. You're gonna get dusted. I'm gonna dust you off. You're gonna get dusted. And I. And a lot of people have tried me. And people be like, yo, don't. With the guard. Don't get him, God. Yo, yo, you don't understand. I got so many people to go, yo, get him, God. Tell what time it is. God. I always got people backing me up because they. I'm like, oh, y'all understand. You don't understand my. What do you call it? Ilk. The ilk. You're not understanding my ilk on what I come from as far as earning my comedy chops. I go, my man, you got me up out here, man.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You say something to me, I'm gonna give you an onslaught of improv. You're gonna be like, I should have never opened my mouth. I cut. I'm full of so much ammo.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. And you can. You can on them in any accent. You could hear their accent. I can do.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I said, I've told. Dude, I can do your voice and insult you in your own voice. Yeah, don't. I'm like, what is those birds? The minor bird.

[Godfrey]

What's the bird that can. The. The parakeet like.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's the parakeet, but there's another bird that can imitate sounds, that can imitate, like, jackhammers. And have you heard about this bird?

[Godfrey]

No, I haven't.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, this bird is. It's like the bird will sit there, and if it hears a jackhammer, it'll go. It'll do the jackhammer. Have you seen this bird?

[Godfrey]

Yeah, I haven't. No.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, I gotta tell you, this bird is. It's the sickest in the world.

[Godfrey]

Yo. This the illest bir.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yo, this bird is live, yo. No, this.

[Godfrey]

No.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Okay. No, watch this. Watch this. What is the bird? Ask. Ask your producer what Ryan is.

[Godfrey]

It's called the superb Liar bird.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, listen. An Australian bird can mimic a wide.

[Godfrey]

Range of sounds, including other birds.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's unreal. This bird is Freaking box.

[Godfrey]

I'm trying to look this up right now to see if I can find.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It can do a dog bark. It could do it. It could do whatever. Oh, here's the music.

[Godfrey]

We got the pain on the past.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Get on the caboose.

[Godfrey]

Get on the caboose. The conductor is Martin. Oh, Kendrick Lama. Obama's in the vip. Who's that over there? It's Willie. Who's the baseball player? Willie. Hey, Willie Mays. Willie Mays. I got mixed up. God damn it. Early, dude. Here I. Here. Ryan. Cut the song because I want to talk. I think with everything we were talking about was a perfect segue.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yes.

[Godfrey]

Into the later that he did, which I would call the black exploitation era. And I would never call. I would never call this music Blaxploitation, but Superfly, it is black exploitation, though. Yes, but. But the music. Freddy's Dead, Superfly and Pusher, Pusher man, and even some of the later songs.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Runaway Child and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Godfrey]

Like what? So, so like what do you think about, you know, an artist that can do something? Like he just did. Like he's doing all the socially. Because that's. This is still socially conscious. This is just now from the perspective. This is more of like. Like it's storytelling. Like this is him. Him acting as the character singing about it. Whereas before it's, you know, the. The Impressions.

[Josh Adam Myers]

When he was on the Impressions, they did three the Hard Way soundtracks. Three the Hard Way was Jim Brown, Jim Kelly and. And Fred Williamson. Their three to Hard Way was a black exploitation of tough black guys that were kicking ass in the streets, baby. And they had the Impressions. Did that in 74, did that whole soundtrack. James Brown was. Did soundtrack for Slaughter. It was a. Jim Brown played a cop, like a tough cop. So a lot of those guys, a lot of those artists from the 50s were doing a lot of the blaxploitation music, you know what I'm saying? So Curtis Mayfield, especially on his solo shit, doing Superfly, he's basically telling the story of Superfly, who was a drug dealing. Yeah, but he was kind of a hero too, in a way, you know what I mean? Because you were rooting for. Rooting for Superfly, who's dressed like this pimp selling drugs. But then he was fucking the cops up. He was against the police because police brutality in the black community was a big deal. Was a big deal then. The cops were our enemies. Always have been. So you see this brother, you know, selling drugs in the community, but then he's Telling the cops to go fuck themselves, you know, so it's almost like, yeah, police, you, man. You know what I'm saying?

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's like when it entered the Dragon. If you ever. I'm a big Bruce Lee guy. So Enter the Dragon. There's a scene where you they. It. Bruce Lee's story is being told. Jim Kelly, the black dude's story being told, and Saxon. John Saxon, the. The white guy, his story is being told on where they all came from. And they show Jim Kelly, you know, about to take this trip to do this martial arts competition, and on his way, the cops stop him and say, hey, where are you going, Jig. They, you know, they used racial stuff. You ain't going nowhere. And then Jim Kelly is like. And then he steals the cop car and drives away. And then they show Jim Kelly on the boat in China reliving that moment. And. And, you know, as black people, we like, yeah, Jim. Whoop the fuzz his ass, baby.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Shot that crackle, baby. Yeah, man. Hell yeah, baby. That was like a very. And for Bruce Lee to put that in the movie was like. He knew about black struggle, you know, And Bruce Lee always was a guy who always put in the Chinese oppression, always threw in little things about Chinese being oppressed. And so Curtis Mayfield with the Superfly, he was literally telling the story in that. In the album. In the album, you hear.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And how cold he was, how dope he was. He's pushing his dope, but he was. He was a bad. So he's literally storytelling in all these songs. Freddy's dead. One of his best friends gets murdered. So you're listening. All the songs are going with the store, with. With the movie.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, I. I mean, dude, Freddy's Dead is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

This is. I mean, this is a trifecta of. Of probably three of. Yeah, I know. It's a bold statement, but three of my. I mean, I love, like. I love Shaft, and I love the Isaac Hayes song.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yes, no doubt.

[Godfrey]

But, dude, when you're talking about that era, because, dude, me and my buddies, we were obsessed with Shaft. I still think Shaft is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Is just one of my favorite, like, guilty pleasures. Richard Roundtree. Amazing. Yeah. And the song, like, just the. Like, he's a complicated man, but no one understands.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm just talking about. And by the way, real quick, the Cafe Reggio, the red. You know, when you go around the corner from the Cellar.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, it's right next to the Cellar.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's a track on the Shaft album called Cafe Reggio. Because there's a scene in 1973 where he shot at Cafe Reggio against the wall. When you walk into the left, there's a scene. Just look it up on YouTube. You see Cafe Reggio.

[Godfrey]

That's. That's beautiful.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And Richard Roundtree is in the village. Cafe Reggio, where he meets the Italian dude. And it's called. It's on the soundtrack, Cafe Reggio.

[Godfrey]

I love that. That makes me love that street even more now. But of course, you know that. That's. I mean, that's one of the most iconic streets in the.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's amazing. And we're. We're on. I'm honored to be a village idiot, man.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah. I'm honored to be.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because the people who have walked those streets. Hendrix, Bob, Bob, Bob. How come I'm slipping my name?

[Godfrey]

Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Hendrix.

[Godfrey]

I was like, odenkirk.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All the greats have been on that street, have performed on that street.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, that's what.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm part of that fucking history boat. Like, are you fucking kidding me? And Richard Roundtree, by the way, I gotta tell you, I was in a movie called Original Gangsters. My. One of my first movies was in when I was still in Chicago. 96. It was called Original Gangsters. And I did a film. I played a kid named Marcus in this movie. I'm like 20 something years old. And it was Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier.

[Godfrey]

I remember this. I remember this.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Ron Superfly O'Neill, who played Superfly.

[Godfrey]

I remember this movie.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And my ex girlfriend, who's my best friend, is related to Superfly.

[Godfrey]

Oh, no shit.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, she's from Jersey. And so I did a movie with all of them. I met all of them. I was. I would wake up and see Richard Roundtree in the morning. He'd go, how you doing, young man? Everything cool. They don't make dudes like that anymore. He had a 70s head. I used to say, 70s head. That's the big black dude head with the sideburns. I go, these dudes got 70s heads.

[Godfrey]

I know what you mean.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yo, yo, yo. Jim Brown had a 70.

[Godfrey]

Richard Roundtree looks like he was 50 when he was 22. You know what I mean? Like, how is that. That possible? Why? How did that. Like, they all look. You look at NBA players from the 70s and they look like they're 48 and they're like, how would you. That just ran out of college. He 23. 23 years old.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What they say, hey, man, who's the dude with the gold key? Oh, man. He 15, baby. He 15, baby.

[Godfrey]

It's crazy. I don't. That's that. Because that's the thing I keep saying because I'm 45 now and I'm like. And I'm like, dude, I don't, I don't feel 45. I don't think I look 45. I'm not. My dad's 45. And, and that's the cool. Because my dad, when my dad was 45, my dad looked 55.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You, but you go like this. How old are you in black exploitation years?

[Godfrey]

Oh, dude, I mean, I would, I would, I would look like I would be like an 18 year old probably in black exploitation. I'm 18. Yeah, they lived hard.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know what's funny? If you know Fred Williamson, he played, he was the original Hammer. There was Hammer, there's McMurdo. He was the Hammer because he played football for the Chiefs. So he was a linebacker. So when I got the part, Fred Williamson called me, bro. Called me. I don't know how he got my number. He called me and I'm going to tell you, he's from the 70s. He calls me. I, I pick up the phone, I go, hello? He goes, is this Godfrey? I said, I go, yes. I go, this is Mr. Fred Williamson. I go, the Hammer. He goes, in the flesh. Listen. He goes, I can't make this up. He goes, you got the part of Marcus, so you got to meet us. You're going to come on Friday. Bum, bum, bum. Don't be late, brother. That's how I got the part.

[Godfrey]

It's cold blooded, dude. That's cold blooded.

[Josh Adam Myers]

These dudes, when I was hanging around Pam, they're, they don't make those guys anymore like that. These guys were cool. And Fred Williamson is the only one left. Jim Brown died. Jim Kelly's gone. Richard Brown passed away, but Fred Williamson is still around. And, you know, Tarantino loved these guys. Tarantino loved it. And to be around them was such a learning experience. And just them being so dapper and, and the, they went through just so I can be here. And these were heroes of ours, tough black dudes that were punching the man in the face and kicking ass.

[Godfrey]

And they were asked and they were. And that's the thing is like, dude, these are like, like, you know, you know how hard it must have been for Sidney Potier to stay just like, no, I'm. I'm an actor and I'm not gonna play. Oh, I'm not gonna play a black role. I'm gonna play a role Role.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Right.

[Godfrey]

And. And. Right. But for some of these guys, they were like, no, you. We. It's. It's Hollywood Shuffle. It's like, what we're looking for is an Eddie Murphy type. We want that. You know, that's. That's one of my favorite movies. Because I could imagine what that must have been like and probably has been for you, because I wanted to ask you, because we're talking about black exploitation. Sure. When has the industry wanted you? One is like, when can you. Can you be more black?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah. Oh, I got. Oh. Oh, I got one of the best stories. Oh, it's sometimes there's. Sometimes there's some racial. That you gotta hug yourself, go.

[Godfrey]

Oh, it was. It was beautiful. It's comforting. It was just so beautiful.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like, God, this is so racist.

[Godfrey]

I'm like, they didn't make racism like that no more.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, sometimes it's like, you ever have a compass? There's racism that's like a blanket, like.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It was like I was doing a Heineken voiceover, right? I'm doing a Heineken voiceover, and I'm going, you know, I'm doing my best. I'm like, heineken, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Godfrey]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And the lady's like, yeah, that's good. How can I say this? And I'm in the booth, like, yeah. And I'm at my head going, let me see what this guy say. She's like, can you. We just needed a little more. I said, yeah. I mean, we just need you. I love the way he did it the first time. But, you know, I said, okay, and I'll try. I tried it again. Heineken.

[Godfrey]

Ah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Can we just do it more, you know, more urban? Oh, you wanted more black. Well, I didn't want it. I said, so if I go like this. Yeah, Heineken.

[Godfrey]

Drink it. It's beer, baby.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, drink that. I was like, really? I mean, people will drink Heineken regardless of who says it. Heineken is not going to lose sales. But you want me to go, this is Heineken, man. Oh, man, what you drinking, man?

[Godfrey]

I'm drinking Heineken, man. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, really? That's a good beer, baby.

[Godfrey]

Yo, this beer is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And she got so mad at me, and I walked out. I go, this is the. Are you talking about? I go, I speak English. I think a voiceover shouldn't have to be ethnic. It doesn't have to have a race to it. I'm just selling a fucking product, man. I Don't think if I go Heineken, black people, like, now I'm buying this beer. Did you hear the dude talking there?

[Godfrey]

Hear that, brother?

[Josh Adam Myers]

It was a brother. Because every time it's a white man talking, I don't want to drink the beer. But when he said, baby, I said, I got to have. I can't make.

[Godfrey]

I can't.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And I remember, oh, yeah, going to another audition, and it was some. I don't know, it was another. Some product, and they wanted everybody to be ethnic there. I remember it was Asian actors in the room, black. And everybody wanted. They wanted every part to be black and Asian. And they had Asian people going, oh, you think I'm. I was there. It was on 40th and 5th Avenue. It used to be called Just Voices. And these Asian all walked out going, are you kidding me? They all left because they were talking about, oh, I'm not even. And I go, this, this? Yeah, it's some sick, man. It's like, it shouldn't. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with doing a product. And. And it's African American based. I. I get that. There's. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. Like, there's. Sometimes you have a Spanish commercial because it's specific. You. You just put in a Latin flat. There's nothing wrong with that. But then there's a point where it's like, okay, there's some products that. It shouldn't even matter as long as I speak English. And I'm. And I'm. And I'm projecting properly. It shouldn't matter what the race is. People are up like that, bro. They're up like that. It's almost like an insult. It's not like, oh, let's make it Latin. You're coming from a pride point of view. You're coming from a ridiculous. You know, hey.

[Godfrey]

Oh, there's a.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like, let's just do the beginnings of these songs. Just.

[Godfrey]

Just.

[Josh Adam Myers]

If you look at.

[Godfrey]

If you look at.

[Josh Adam Myers]

If you look at these songs, first of all, Curtis Mayfield, the openings were sick as the way they started off.

[Godfrey]

This creates the whole world of Superfly. This. That. That movie is. Is. We don't. I don't think we give a. About Superfly. If this out the albums. The movie is the thing that we're talking about.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. That's what makes the movie. It's the music. It's the music. I mean, good Lord. I think the album was better than the movie.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, that's what I was.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The music is better than the movie, the actual. The actual movie doesn't really hold up to how good the album is, trying to be honest. It's like, it's good, but it's not. It can't. With the actual album.

[Godfrey]

Super Fly comes out. Night movie comes out. 1972 to this song. Superfly plays at the end of the movie after the drug dealing lead character Priest takes a stand against the white deputy commissioner, telling him, you don't owe me, pig. It was a glorious moment for our people as blacks. Can you imagine that? Like, just to see an actor just tell off a cop? And that right there, even though it's all make believe because the world is such a up place back in the 70s for African Americans that to see an actor be able to do that, it's. It's. I can imagine. That's why. That's why, you know, they. They looked up to someone like Superfly. It's because, like, well, that's all we had.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And black exploitation, you remember this too, that a lot of the writers were Jewish writers. They were like white guys writing the scripts. Because when I did Original Gangsters, Larry Cohen was like one of the guys that would write those old black exploitation. He was our director, and he was nuts. But these guys were the ones controlling the black exploitation because they go, how can we make money? And Fred Williamson took advantage of that and said, this is a chance to make some money and make our own films. And the industry was like, ooh, black people are coming to these movies. It was basically, they ran it all because, you know, Robert Downey Jr. S father was a blaxploitation director.

[Godfrey]

Really.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Robert Downey Senior did a movie called Putney Swope. Putney Swope is about politics and a black man running his own business among some white guys gets promoted. Putney Swope is a famous black exploitation film that Robert Downey Jr's daddy directed. Robert Downey Jr. I think was in Putney Swap as a little kid. So, yeah, so, yeah, you know, and black exploitation was like a real. It was a stint from like 1972 to about 76, 77, you know what I'm saying? It was a nice little thing. And that was when black folks. There was all kinds of movies. There was some shitty ones, There was some good ones. But it always addressed, you know, racism, sexualization, pimping, drug, drugs, the hood.

[Godfrey]

It was.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That was. That's the time. So many different films, you know, and, you know.

[Godfrey]

But these songs, though. These songs, though, I feel like, look, we. We talk about, like, we brought the Movie Shaft. And we brought up the movie Superfly. And. Yes, but the. This. This is a chance. This is a moment where the soundtrack, it's almost like the bodyguard in the Whitney Houston song is bigger than the goddamn movie. You know? I will always love you. The song Pusher man, the three. I think all three of these songs. Well, not. Not all. Well, hold on. So it says Freddy's dead, Superfly. They're all. They're all top 10 hits.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

Butcher man is. Is in the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yes. Yes.

[Godfrey]

This is bigger than. Than anything the movie could have ever done. Yes, these songs are.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Let's hear. Let's hear the beginning. The opening of Pusherman.

[Godfrey]

Put. Brian, put that on for us, buddy. Pusher man, one of the first popular songs to use the N word in the lyrics.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah, I'm Nephronic went down that.

[Godfrey]

This is cold.

[Josh Adam Myers]

God.

[Godfrey]

Oh, this is sexy. This is like. You see the guy. You see the clock pull up the El Camino. You see the. Get out with that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, with the p. It just. It's just. Oh, I'm your friend. Main boy, thick and thin. Amazing. Stop. You better stop.

[Godfrey]

We're gonna get. We're gonna get in trouble.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, I'm scared. That's just. Now, now start. Do the Superfly opening. Oh, that's probably my favorite. And that thing, they slide.

[Godfrey]

Watch that. Here we go.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What is that thing called with the beads? They go.

[Godfrey]

I don't know. Morocco.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, not the Morocca. You'll hear it when he plays.

[Godfrey]

I'm your super.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm your pushing superfly. Oh, yeah, get that thing. Yeah, you hear that?

[Godfrey]

When this kicks in, though.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Darkness of night and the moon shining bright.

[Godfrey]

But here's the thing. Here, turn it down and let me play. Here's the thing. He's saying some Cold blooded. But his voice is so gentle.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yes.

[Godfrey]

This isn't like he's scre. He's. He's. He's scream saying it. The words are. Are cutting.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, but he's.

[Godfrey]

He's. He's saying it in that falsetto. It's like.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, yeah, the falsetto is beautiful.

[Godfrey]

It's. You don't even realize that you're getting some hardcore shit.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's. If that's. It's the juxtaposition of his voice over that cold ass. All that he's going. Drugs being pushed.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, baby. This is happening.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's amazing. It's. It's genius, man. It's genius.

[Godfrey]

So not to. Not to put a stamp on this. But I. But I do have to cut. But I want to wrap this up by. By talking about how. How this story, this music is. Is so important. Everything we've gone over, it's like, I'm so excited now after talking to you to go back and even re. Listen to this. And I think. I think as the fans listening to it, like, send us what your favorite song is. You know, we're gonna, of course, go through our rundown that we always do.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, but Morty, I was talking. I don't know if you know this about. Do you know what happened to Curtis? Do you know how this. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

When he got paralyzed.

[Godfrey]

It's just a tragic, terrible, tragic story. So in 1990, the unimaginable happened when a lightning trust, a lighting trust, fell on Curtis at a gig in New York. It paralyzed him from the neck down for the rest of his life. And he still. Still, though, managed to put out music and win lifetime achievement awards.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Godfrey]

I mean, and I wanted, in a positive way, I wanted to ask you. It's like, did you ever have seemingly an insurmountable moment or situation that you had to figure a way to move past? Like, because I, I, you know, I.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You.

[Godfrey]

We've all been through and it's like me, I have the accident where, you know, it just hit 13 years from that. But it's like you, you know, you keep. You have such a strong just energy about you, and it's like, so. And I know you've been through, but has there ever been something you had to really just move past?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, I mean, career wise, I think. I mean, just. It was just about like, maybe like failed pilots and. Yeah, career wise. Just stuff that you thought was gonna happen didn't work. Bad management moves like that kind of like just, you know, people like doing to you and you go, man, this guy robbed me of this, you know, get, you know, money wise.

[Godfrey]

Oh, without a doubt.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Having to recover from that. Yeah, that's, you know, that I had to.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Moving past that. Moving past you know, even your, you know, people, you know, being at a level and you're not there and you gotta just like, kind of. Man, you gotta kind of not look at what they're doing and just keep focusing on your.

[Godfrey]

It sucks.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, it's tough. It's not a. It's not easy. But, you know, but if you, you know, when you stay in it, if you love what you do. Not to sound corny and cliche, but when you love what you do and you know, you have Talent. You can, there's, there's, you can always, there's always comebacks, man. This is a long business, man. There's always like, you can always turn it around the next day. You can always do that. You just gotta be like, I said, it ain't for the week, man. This ain't for the week, man.

[Godfrey]

And especially, you know, it's not just in comedy. That's in life is like, yeah, if you, if you want to let the hold you down and just be like, all right, well that's, this is my situation now. And I'm just gonna just off and party or just do drugs or. Or just give up. And it's like, you just can't. And I mean, if. Dude, I had no idea. I knew that he got hurt. I had no idea he kept making music. I mean, that's, that's like. Because he is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. It's crazy.

[Godfrey]

It's. It's the love it. And also like, look at this guy. I'm looking at like what he's. We talked about all these different songs. Inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. The vocal Group hall of Fame. The impressions are 1998 Grammy hall of Fame inductees. Winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundations Pioneer Award 60 year career. He won a Grammy Legend Award in 8 in 94. A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 95. He's a double inductee to the Rock and Roll hall of Fame with the Impressions and as a solo artist and is a two time Grammy hall of Fame winner. Yeah, I mean, I mean, you're talking about. You're talking about somebody now and it's like, if you're gonna put the soul Mount Rushmore.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oof, that's tough.

[Godfrey]

Who would you put? Is Curtis.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I mean, that's a lot of. Because you gotta remember everybody was good.

[Godfrey]

Sure, but who is the. But you know, Steven, I got.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I got James Brown. Yeah, I got James Brown. I got soul. God damn.

[Godfrey]

I got.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Damn.

[Godfrey]

Sam Cooke, Sam Cook, he got two.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I got.

[Godfrey]

Damn.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I got James Brown, Sam Cooke. I got Stevie. So. But like there's so many. Oh God. You got Stevie. You got. I mean, you got. Yes.

[Godfrey]

Tv.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You got you soul. Wilson Pickett.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, you were. But you would. But you would put Wilson over Stevie.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But no, I just think it's your. Just different styles. I just go, you know, because Stevie wasn't the same soul as a Wilson Pickett or an Otis Redding. Those guys were really hardcore. Stevie was a little smoother with his soul. Yeah, a little different. So it's really tough because you can rearrange and go, yep, he's good. Otis Redding's dope. They're all Mount Rushmore. I'm just gonna have to put it. I'm gonna call it the Valley of Talent. Like, you can have the mountain. I'm gonna have a valley of talent. This is everybody.

[Godfrey]

No, because it's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They're all cold. Jackie Wilson. I mean, we keep going. It's like it's on and on and on. Aretha Franklin, you talk about like, we go Aretha Franklin. We go supreme. We go Temptation.

[Godfrey]

Marvin Gaye. Marvin.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Marvin Gaye, David Ruff. It's like.

[Godfrey]

But there's. All right, but hold up, hold up, hold up. But this is the thing. And everybody we just mentioned, some of them. Yes. Have been around before. He was doing his Curtis, I think. I think Curtis is that like, he's. He's the guy that. When you're talking about the greats, it's like he. He might not get spoken. Even though he's influenced Jimi Hendrix, he's influenced Bob Marley. He influenced Tracy Chapman. Sly Stone. Marvin gaye. Yeah. Sinead O'Connor. Prince.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. And the problem is, is that like in this business, sometimes it's a marketing thing. He was a real simple dude. He was an on. He what? He was low key. He wasn't a loud guy. He just kind of stayed under the radar. He wasn't like Isaac Hayes. Isaac Hayes was like, you know, always had the big. The shirt off and like Moses.

[Godfrey]

Oh, dude, Moses. I had. I had that. I had that album as a, like 12 year old on my wall next to like a Robocop poster and a Guns N'ROSES poster. Because I just thought it was funny. Like Black Moses. Moses wasn't black. Yeah, he was. He was Isaac Hayes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Right. So that's.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's almost just like a marketing thing. Everyone. There's always going to be the underrated. There's going to be guys that are just underrated. There's a guy named Gene Chandler who was an awesome soul dude who felt like James Brown had taken something from him. But Gene Chandler was dope. But you don't really know Gene Chandler. You hear a song, oh, that's that guy.

[Godfrey]

I don't know that guy at all. But. But James Brown, you know, some people just take it and they run with it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They run with it.

[Godfrey]

Exactly.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That's what I'm saying.

[Godfrey]

And that's. And it's unfortunate because there's somebody. There's somebody else that really was, you know, in. In and not just in, like, comedy, but in, in, in. In sports. I mean, it's like that same where you're like, there's so many athletes in the. Of the 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s that, that, you know, deserved, you know, to get paid. And it's. But, but some out of college now that just because it's their era, they're, they're, they're getting, they're getting all the recognition. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And that's what it is. And I think it's, it's really, like I said, the business is going to let whoever they want shine. And the beautiful thing about now, there's actually some beauty in this now, is that you can be the one who shines because of your numbers.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because if you think about it, this whole time, the industry hasn't really changed. It's different. But it's all about numbers. It's all always been about numbers and money. It's always been about who's putting asses in seats. It was no different for Charlie Chaplin. He was the man because he was putting asses in seats. All of the motherfuckers, all Judy Garland, they were like, it's all about, are they going to see this movie? Are they going to pack this theater? Same shit. Now you got jackasses getting shined because they got numbers. Yeah, that's what it is. Now. The industry doesn't have to really go, we're gonna make this person a star. She can do that on your own, you can do that on your own. And the cop and the Hollywood comes to you go, hey, we want to do something with you, you know?

[Godfrey]

Yeah, now. Now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Because we have. We're taking the product to the people. Now we can go. We don't have to work. We don't need a middleman or we don't need a director, whatever, to get us to. For people to watch us. Them. We can do it.

[Godfrey]

You get more views. You get more views off of you just sitting there with your phone. Isn't that crazy that, that you do. And, and having somebody add a couple pictures that just go over top of that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And guess who. And guess who followed me yesterday?

[Godfrey]

Who?

[Josh Adam Myers]

The Rock really followed me yesterday. Followed me yesterday. Said Rock is following you. He liked your reel.

[Godfrey]

Oh, my God, I love that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The Rock followed me yesterday.

[Godfrey]

Yeah. Dude, you're one of the. You're one of my favorite comments. You're one of the funniest dudes that I know. So you deserve all the fucking shine that you get.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I appreciate it, man. And you're crazy.

[Godfrey]

Thank you, brother. I do this. It's being. It's being around motherfuckers like you did. Seriously?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, man. It's what we do, you know, it's what we do. And we're privileged to be creating every night and doing what we do. Like, it's a. It's really like it's bigger than what we think it is. I don't take that shit for granted. I go, we are doing top notch in a top notch city. Amongst the best.

[Godfrey]

Yep.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Every night, period.

[Godfrey]

Period. Dude, here I'm gonna ask you these questions. I ask everybody. What's your favorite song on this record? What's your favorite Superfly Super. Is there anything on this record that you skipped over? I mean, did. Did you. I mean, I. Listen, I skipped.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I think I skipped over one of the slow songs because. Because I'm. I. I just want to be like.

[Godfrey]

I know it's. I didn't dislike the. The side one of this album or the first record.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Right.

[Godfrey]

I did love the stuff with the impressions, but realistically, if. If what I really found to be the. I was attracted to was the. Was the funkier stuff towards the funkier.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Stuff is way better for me. If there's hell below we all gonna go down yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah On. I had a whole question about that and I was like, oh, dude, we're just. We're having too much fun.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All right.

[Godfrey]

Can you. To this record.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I could to.

[Godfrey]

Can you the people get ready.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Push a man.

[Godfrey]

Can you the people get ready.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I can keep on pushing.

[Godfrey]

You can to that. It's. It's one of those things that think if you. It sounds like it's. If you. If you. If you really think about it, it's like civil rights movement, but, you know, people give. There's a train coming and just. Just three.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You'd have to have a sense of humor. You'd have to have a sense of humor like, hey girl, the train is coming here, coming down.

[Godfrey]

I think you can do it. I do. I hate to say you can't really pay attention to a lot of the lyrics, but it is. Soul has a thing and it's sexy. Even when they're saying, have you heard.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That song Real quick of the, you know, the box top. Give me a ticket.

[Godfrey]

Yeah, of course.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Ain't got time to take a fast.

[Godfrey]

Train.

[Josh Adam Myers]

My baby, just roll me a letter. You know that song they got Choo choo Train. Choo choo Train. That song is the choo choo train.

[Godfrey]

Shoot Shoot Train.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Have you heard that one?

[Godfrey]

I don't remember.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Listen to Choo Choo Train.

[Godfrey]

I know, I know.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Dope as. It's so dope.

[Godfrey]

I love it. What would you. What would be your. Your elevator pitch? To get someone to listen to Curtis Mayfield in the Impressions. How would you. How would you sum up this whole record?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yo, I got this group. I'm gonna tell you something. They are badass. They like doo wop. They do love music. They talk about activism, all kinds of stuff, but it's sort of like a pop funk. It's. I mean, it's all wrapped in one. You gotta see these brothers. They are clean, dapper, and ready to go.

[Godfrey]

I love it. I love it, though. Black dudes that's talking like, let me tell you something. Hold up.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Hey, man, I know you ain't got time. I know we in an elevator. Speaking of uplift, I got some group for you, baby, called the Impressions. You know why they call me Impressions? Because the first impression is always important. They are impression. They're gonna leave an impression on you. I'm talking Curtis Mayfield and Frank Cash. I'm telling you, all these brothers are dope as hell. You get. They talk about love, they talk about moving up, think about uplifting our people. It's for everybody. I think you should see them and give them just five minutes, and I guarantee you they will leave you at a good impression. What do you think about that, baby?

[Godfrey]

Oh, my brother, you got to get your own.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I know, it's like, good. And let me tell you something. These are some bad boy mama doing.

[Godfrey]

Tell your mama. Let me tell you something. Your mama good.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Is that Colombia? That's Bogota, man. The jean right there with. And that hot top shoe right there.

[Godfrey]

Anyway, promote away, dude. Anything you want to promote, we'll do it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, my Instagram is Godfrey Comic, which is doing really well, and my tick tock is Godfrey comedian. You guys follow that. Go to Godfreylive.com to know where I'm gonna be at. I don't know when this is.

[Godfrey]

This comes out. When this comes out. Wednesday.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah. You guys can see me in La Jolla, California, at the Comedy Store in January.

[Godfrey]

What a. What a. I was just saying I saw you up on the billboard. Yeah, it's such a great room, dude.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. You me that.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

January. The. In a couple weeks, I'll be there. La Jolla.

[Godfrey]

Com.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's San Diego. La Jolla. Comedy. Comedy. I'm sorry, what is it called? Comedy Store.

[Godfrey]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

In fact, let me make sure I have the date right. Okay, here's the date. Here's my date. Here's my date. Yes, January 17th to the 19th is the Comedy Store in La Jolla, California. And then I got the Baltimore Comedy Factory, January 24th to the 26th. And I got Huntsville, Alabama, Levity Live, January 30th to February 1st. And. Yeah, man. So, yeah, and it's. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[Godfrey]

And go see Godfrey, ladies and gentlemen. I am telling you, police army, you are. This is a man that will not disappoint. I don't. I don't say that to about every comment. We all. We're all funny.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You will.

[Godfrey]

You will leave a Godfrey show with your face hurting you. I. I've only watched you ever destroy. It's. It's crazy. I'm following. Following you has made me a better comic and a better performer because what's the fear of God in me for a moment where I'm like, God, this. He's doing like the. All right. How are you? I. I have the voice. God damn it. Stop, Stop. Give me something. Please, please, please, please, please. I love you, dude. I. I mean it. I'm same. Thank you. What did I tell you? What did I tell you? The one and only Godfrey. Follow him on Instagram at Godfrey Comic. Follow him on [e-mail] backslash Godfrey comedy and go to Godfrey Live for all tickets and check out his podcast in Godfrey We Trust. All right, guys, for new music this week we have brought to you by Distrokid following the sun by Milk. And you can find the links on the music on the website the500podcast.com and if you want your song played on the podcast, send us your song to 500 podcast gmail.com and we will play it. I don't know if anybody ever said anything anymore, but you should. Next week. 177 Funkadelic. One nation under groove. Let's do it. We'll see you next week, guys. Thanks. I know you feel away the shadows and pain I have a smile I cross your face I like the best. Let's leave for summer let's find a better beach somewhere in space Baby, I'm longing for the sea Float away with me baby, you know we could be. We could float across the ocean and stop at every coast along the way.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Bab.

[Godfrey]

Set the world in motion and go past fall it all will be tonight. Keeping it fleecy for the fleece nation on the 500. The 500, the number you have reached is 100.7. WMMS wasn't just a radio station, it was a light Cleveland is a rock and roll city for sure. The Wrath of the Buzzer WMMS Cleveland the Rise and Fall of one of the Most Iconic Radio Stations in America Profiles the Wrath of the Buzzard PROH Files subscribe now wherever you get Podcasts the Helping Friendly podcast explores the music and fan experience of Phish through interviews and deep dives and tours. For more than 10 years, we've created insightful and fun discussions about our favorite band, and with the help of our guests and thematic series, we're still discovering new angles of appreciation for Fish. And when the band is on tour, we provide a review of every show the following day. As one of our listeners said, any Fish fans that enjoy meandering conversations and incredible insight on new and old fish shows? This is for you. Highly recommend. It's not just about the band and the shows, it's about the journey getting there. Throughout 2024, we're going to be running down the top 25 fish tours of all time, and that'll be interspersed with show reviews and regular episodes. Join us and check out the Helping Friendly podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Next Chapter Podcast.