- Th oap 1
inging community
10 t on of it t mu-
SICIan, nd m ny ith th t
communi y r app 11 d b
cau on of th ir own, pee
cially a t na r, has
homic:id vi im
Anthony Dudl y, th 17 -year­
old ho pla drum with The
Victory Five, The outhern
Four, Willie Daniels nd the
cred Fiv ,and many other go pel
quartett, ho and ub-
equently died from the ound
Sunday, une 5 1994.
According to Sgt hristopher
Buck, D troi Poli Inform tion
Officer, or y Mont gue, 32,
was rrested and charged with
the crime. Montague i being
held wi hout bond in the Wayne
Coun y j il for first degree pre­
meditated murder
Dud} y's funeral was held at
Obedient Baptist hurch
Wedn day, June 15 and a me­
morial service was held for
Dudley at New Starlight Baptist
Church the day before. The me­
mori 1 service r i $705 to as­
sist with burial expens .
MANY HAVE GO !ZED
over the number of violent
deaths that are claiming far too
many young li . Evelyn 'fur­
rentine-Agee, a g pel singer
f Is hat the church community
Befo
W rrio ng at th m morial
ervice, Age , who frequently
giv a te timony b for he
in, . d, "It (Dudley's d th)
both rs me b us this w n't
omeone we had to go (out into
th st ) and get, he came to
us." Sh added, "We ought to
evaluat (oursel ) to what
we can do to keep from losing
noth r."
Dudley's musical talent be­
gan to manifest i If when h
was 13 said deacon Daniel ,
founder of The Sacred Five Go -
pel Quartet , p id n of th
National Quartette Convention .
Daniels and many within the
quartette community watched
Dudley grow mentally, physi­
cally and musically. As he im­
proved upon his musical talent,
his mother, Robin Pa ,said
that by age nine he began to gain
a. reputation for early events.
FOR REA 0 no one will
ever be able to explain, Dudley's
focu changed. He came in­
trigued, if not entwined in a life­
s yle that was contrary to what
on t t m ny id
rli r for church
n ,Dudley' rol
and prioriti I'· n nd on
th Sun y of hi . ill-fat. • t
y, i d of i t church
preparing to perform, h in
C Corridor.
Th police and Dudley'
mo h r id h go intoan gu­
ment with om n, po ibly
Montague, and w just in th
wrong pl. at th wrong time.
"If we ain't strong enough to
hold th m - th young people
who for one r on or anoth r,
drift a way from biblical training
and th call to play and sing
go p 1), omething is wrong,"
Turrentine-A id. Church­
goers and gosp I performers
n to be exampl by living the
life th y talk and sing about.
"We mu t b living exam-
. ples," id Rev. C.L. Petty, p -
tor of tarligh Bapti t, as he
admonished the quartette sing­
ers who are not members of a
church.
"Everyon in a quarette group
should b a member of some­
body' church,". the Reverend
said. " ..
During her testimonial at th
memorial service, Turrentine­
Agee said, "If Anthony was here
now, he would tell you it was not
worth it."
By JANICE MALONE
The Scoop
The good n ws gospel is in th
air, especially for fans of th
world-renowned Mighty Clouds
of Joy. The veteran gospel music -,
group recently signed an exclu­
sive contract with the Atlanta­
based INTERSOUND record
company and a new album will
soon be on the horizon, Group
lead r Joe Ligon y th Inter­
sound/Mighty Clouds connec­
tion is a winning combination.
"We (The Clouds) think it's a
great union, states Li­
gon."We're peciallv happy to
be working again with J m
Bullard (Vice Pr id n In r-
ound and J rry Pet rs (Direc­
tor of A&R for Intersound). Both
of the e gentlemen are more
than familiar with our style of
music and how we do things,"
Ligon further states, "Mr, Bul­
lard worked with us for many
years at yvord/F.pic.
In fact, when he came to In­
tersound, that played a pivotal
role as to why we're now with the
company. And Jerry Peters pro­
duced our last album, which won
us a Grammy Award. So with all
of us back together again work-
riends · And Fami y
Members of Anthony Dudley' Immediate and go pel f mlly met t N w Starlight
Baptist Church during the memorial ervlce for him which rai ed money to h p with
fun�ral expen es. Back row (left to right): Go pel Inger Evelyn Turrentln Ag ;
familymember Ella Ma Murphy; B rnard Austin, grandfather; nd unt Cry tal
Dudley. Front row Oeft to right): Mary Dudley, grandmother; Robin P ge, moth ;
and WM� go p I radio ho t, Chri Moore. (Photo by Nathanl I Scott)
ing on our n xt album will be
like a big family r union."
The n xt album Mr. Ligon
speaks of will be album number
31-plus for the high-energy gos­
pel ensemble. Ov r the last 34
years the Mighty Clouds of Joy
have shared the stage with the
likes of Jam Brown, Aretha
Franklin, Marvin Gaye, The
Rolling Stones and Paul Simon
to name a few. .
THEY RECENTLY per­
formed on orne special charity
benefit concerts with pop star
Paul Simon and plan on working
so Joy
with him on futur album pro­
jects.
After three Grammys, two
Stellar Awards and countless of
other accolades, The Mighty
Clouds of Joy have been the
leading' trend setters of tradi­
tional and R&B gospel music.
They were one of the first gospel
groups to do contemporary gos­
pel music even before the phrase
"contemporary go pel" was
coined. "We were one of the fi t
to do the music but didn't always
get credited for it," recaHs Ligon.
"Our fan got very upset
when we did "Ride Th€ Mi.ghty
High" and "Time." My dad was
alive then and he was even ups t
about it. People were saying we
had " old out" and become "too
worldly." But tho songs be­
came two of our biggest hits."
The Mighty Clouds of Joy
first came together in 1960 in
Los Angeles wh re four of the
original m mbers attended the
same high hool, Under the di­
rection of Joe Ligon, who would
later become their lead singer,
the grou p became known for
their trend- tting hybrid oftra­
ditional gospel and con mpo­
rary R&B ound. With their
colorful uits, two guitar players
and drummer ( he first to tour
with a gospel a ), Th Clouds
quickly m th most m
talked-about group on th gos-
pel music n.
Joe Ligon r 11s, "As young
boy we drov 11 th way from
L.A, to Hou ton in an old van to
make our firs album. We igned
our liv aw y. We just wanted
to sing and make records," re­
membe Joe with a laugh.
Clouds a budget for music vid
over the years. "Now that w 'r
with Intersound every album
that we do will have vid ,"
ys Joe with enthusiasm. "It
goes back to what I said earlier
about being on a team with
James Bullard.
He knows The Clouds can
make hit records and h und r­
stands how vital music vid
are to artists these days. So our
fans can definitely expect to 11<,t
only hear new Mighty Clou of
Joy music on the radio but
they'll also be seeing more of u
in vid on gospel music. vid (.1
television shows."
For membership information
contact: The National Allian e
of Postal & Federal Employ
(NAPFE); 1628 11th sc, NW­
Wa hington, D.C. 20001-
(202)939-6325.
AFTER COMPLETING
their upcoming first album on
Intersound later this year, Joe
will be working a solo album,
along with a choir. According to
Ligon, BeBe Winan is scheduled
to write some of the lbum's
songs. -BeBe has studied my
singing sty} £Or years, so he
knows xactly the kind of son
that's tailored for my' voice," r -
v Is Joe. "Their father used to
. have a quartet group back then
and h 'd often bring their Winan
boys to our. shows when they
w re kids," he adds.
The Mighty Clouds of Joy's
next album project will also fea­
tur accompanying videos.
"We're especially looking for­
ward to doing 10 of music vid­
eos, " adds Ligon. " As J r lls,
their form r label wasn't exactly
too hrilled about giving The
NAPFE is not respol'Lllbleforcon.U?n.ltl
of tlus column.
J��.#��
on WCHB - 1200AM
6 a.m. - iO a.m.
David Nathan,
Busin s Manager
(313) 894-4942
ARTIN' VANS
ISSJONARY BAPTIST CHUI,(.H
\.
Welcome ou to their
26 th
r ary
anque
nn
held in honor of Rev & Mrs. Au tin Byrd, Jr
faithful rvt ',� 10 our Lord Jesus hn. I'
turday, July 9, 1994 - 6:00 p.m. til 10:00 p.n .
Poli h entury CI t Inc. 181 t OU.t r D, ;\
-- Donation 20.00-
"t-/" I I ,1.;lt w crri],« h,j'r, t'f .·.·.1. . f,nXI H'dl,c4m.. cl "I'
. h a« (I'" I)' (I. '!. 0 ch cn r]» 1 on - R \' Ali 1111 IJ.'r, I "
Gi:« it ",r mcmb 'r' . Friend