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SINCE 1920
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
4,0
2/18
2000
82
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American Heart
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Fighting Heart Disease
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Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where
Eminem finished second. The expo-
sure led to a meeting with the execu-
tives of Interscope Records, which led
to the passing around of a demo-like
tape (The Slim Shady EP), which in
turn landed fortuitously into the
hands of rap sensation and producer
Dr. Dre.
Dre worked with Eminem on the
Detroit rapper's latest release, the
Grammy-nominated The Slim Shady
LP, a 14-song collection on
Aftermath/Interscope, which was pro-
duced by the Funky Bass Team and
has gone triple platinum.
"Dr. Dre is such a mentsh," Mark
Bass says. "Many people think he is
just tied up in this gangsta rap thing,
but he is really just a family man."
Eminem, who has appeared in a
handful of videos, and in such maga-
zines as Rolling Stone, Vibe and Spin,
was called "phenomenal" in an
iMusic.com biography. "His poten-
tially controversial and undoubtedly
offensive songs will strike a chord
with a multitude of hip-hop loyalists
Who believe they have little to lose
and everything to gain," said the arti-
cle.
But to the four Jews from metro
Detroit, he is just like a little brother,
someone to watch over while levelling
about his achievements.
"I knew when he was a kid that he
was a star," Mark Bass says. "We are
very proud of him. He is like our lit-
tle brother. We have always included
him on family things," he adds, not-
ing that during one Passover,
Eminem recorded in the basement
studio while upstairs the afikomen
was being hidden. "He was hoping to
find it and use the five bucks for gas
money."
The Bass brothers, still known as
the Funky Bass Team, have since
moved to California to be closer to
the Los Angeles music scene. Their
recording label, Web Entertainment,
has sold 3 million LPs.
Mark has since married his child-
hood sweetheart, the former Wendy
Adler. Wendy, a former schoolteacher
at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park,
heads the label as well.
The couple will split their time
between California and the West
Indies island of Nebis, where they
plan to open their second studio, the
Rich Bass Recording Studio and
Record Company. Mark Bass also
hopes to train to be a counselor to
adolescents.
Jeff Bass continues to work on his
music. Once a member of the Quincy
Jones-signed group Dream Boy, he is
a trained pianist, guitarist and drum-
mer who did session work with a
number of groups after his own band
broke up in the mid-1980s. Recently
divorced, the father of a 10-year-old
boy splits his time between a home in
Birmingham and one in Burbank,
Calif., where he hopes to soon score a
movie or write more music while
continuing to produce musical acts.
Joel Bacow continues to produce
recordings at his Ferndale studio, 54
Sound. He remains under contractual
obligation to the Bass brothers and to
Eminem, a deal he first signed in the
mid-1990s. He, too, has married, and
lives with his wife and toddler son in
Huntington Woods. He is busy now
working with the Romantics, a local
"[Eminem] was
hoping to find
the [afikomen]
and use the
five bucks for
gas money."
— Mark Bass
group that shot to fame in the 1980s
and is currently being revived, as well
as a number of other recording acts.
Bacow also works closely with Paul
Rosenberg, who has recently given up
the full-time practice of law in order
to open Goliath, a music manage-
ment company in New York City. In
addition to Eminem, he currently
manages Cypress Hill, a rap group
known for its lyrics about marijuana.
He also is working with Eminem on
the rapper's new label, Shady Records,
which is a part of Interscope.
The four guys behind Eminem's
success plan to continue to work
together indefinitely, developing left
of center rap acts and other musical
groups.
"Being Jewish, we are always going
to have a bond," Mark Bass says. "We
are always going to be brothers."
❑
The 42nd Annual Grammy
Awards airs 8-11 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 23, on CBS.