Apple ROUTES: Ira Hawkins Goes to Jail
Ira Hawkins made life a little easier for 100 or so incarcerated women on Riker’s Island. On July 23, the Broadway star held a concert in the infamous jailhouse that would discourage most idealists. The auditorium felt like a sauna, the sound system was totally inadequate and roaches ran amuck. Yet, the Ira Hawkins show was a success. The women got a healthy dose of Broadway talent and showmanship. The obvious question is Why would a performer subject himself to such conditions? Ira answers with a raucous laugh: I don’t know. I feel if we are to survive as a society, as a community, we have to give back something, sometime. You cannot keep taking and taking and expect to have anything left for tomorrow without replenishing the basket. Judging by the reception of the Riker’s Island inmates, Ira sure gave more than he took.
Apple ROUTES: Network Fall Program
The television networks are planning the strategies necessary to get the highest Nielsen ratings in the new fall season. ABC, CBS, NBC and Madison Avenue have not forgotten the black consumer. Thus, programs devised to entertain us, and please the sponsors have been developed. ABC will serve Benson starring Robert Guillaume in the butler role he created in Soap.Redd Foxx will return with his old pal Slappy White in a comedy series titled My Buddy. ABC will feature Lou Gossett (Fiddler in Roots I) in a hospital drama entitled The Lazarus Syndrome. Meadowlark Lemon, the ex-Harlem Globetrotter, is now on the NBC roster. He will be a regular on the faltering Hello Larry Somehow CBS has convinced James Earl Jones that he should act in a television series. Mr. Jones, the greatest American Shakespearean actor, according to Joseph Papp, will portray a detective in the action adventure Paris. Take heart— this is only the first season. The second season which starts in January may bring better tidings.
Apple ROUTES: Mr. Bojangles on Broadway
Bill Bojangles Robinson, the man who made Shirley Temple famous, will be the subject of a Broadway musical next year. Eight songs have already been written by veteran Broadway lyricist Sammy Cahn. Production will start in January and, if all goes well, the Broadway premiere is slated for April.
Apple ROUTES: Diana Gets Lumps
Public figures pay a dear price for the fame and fortune they attain. Worse yet, there is usually no recourse for those in the public domain when their characters are vilified or degraded. Diana Ross has been taking her lumps from her colleagues in tinsel town lately. Production of her latest picture The Bodyguard has stopped. Ryan O’Neal, Diana’s would be co-star in the movie, expounds, We were planning a film together called Bodyguard. We had director John Boorman, Ross, me and a pretty good script. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to play a woman guarded by a white bodyguard because Diana Ross doesn’t want to show her body, doesn’t want to do sex scenes on the screen, doesn’t want to sing, doesn’t want to be black. As you can see, we are obviously no longer an item. So much for professional courtesy.
Apple ROUTES: Gold and Platinum Records
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has taken steps to stem the flow of gold certified records presently flooding the market. In the past, a record could be declared gold or platinum on release, that is, the recording firm could ship an album to different stores around the country and apply for certification before actual sales were tabulated. From now on, the RIAA will wait at least 120 days before conducting its audits that lead to gold or platinum certification. This will allow record stores ample time to return unsold copies. Minimum criteria for the awards will remain unchanged: a single must sell one million copies for gold, two million for platinum. Albums (combined with tape sales) must sell 500,000 copies for gold and one million for platinum.
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