December 21, 2023Scott Goldfine

TIR 250: Juicy-Voiced Tawatha Agee Offers Much to Chew On

Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott “DR GX” Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on THE ONE: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove. Become a TRUTH IN RHYTHM Member at https://www.patreon.com/truthinrhythm.

Featured in TIR Episode 250 (2 parts): R&B, funk and pop vocalist and composer Tawatha Agee. First establishing herself in the late 1970s with the band Mtume, she would go on to work with James Mtume-Reggie Lucas produced acts like Stephanie Mills and Phyllis Hyman before blazing her own trail as one of the music industry’s most in-demand session singers.

During the past several decades, she has collaborated with Narada Michael Walden, J. Geils Band, Luther Vandross, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, Kashif, Roxy Music, Scritti Politti, LeVert, Phillip Bailey, Roy Ayers, Al Jarreau, Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Jeffrey Osborne, David Bowie, Joe Cocker, Patti LaBelle, the Talking Heads, the B-52’s, Al Green, Roberta Flack, Celine Dion, Steely Dan, the O’Jays, Bob James, Foreigner, David Lee Roth, the Black Crowes, Sting, the Dave Mathews Band and many more. Those sessions include some of the biggest hits and best-known music those acts have ever recorded. She toured the world with some of them as well.

R&B lovers know her best for the No. 1 smash with Mtume, “Juicy Fruit,” and she released her lone solo album, “Welcome to My Dream,” in 1987. Now, 35 years later she shares her life’s story with TRUTH IN RHYTHM.

RECORDED JUNE 2022

Scott Goldfine

As a fervid lifelong music & film enthusiast / student, I grew up in and around the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I have worked and held many positions in various media realms, since 1998 serving as Editor-in-Chief and now Associate Publisher for Security Sales & Integration, a trade publication serving the electronic security industry. I love several genres of music & film. The former includes funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, Ohio Players, etc.); blues (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Gales, etc.); rock (Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, etc.); hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc.); jazz (Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Crusaders, etc.); R&B (Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, etc.); and more. I was a club disc jockey and ran a mobile DJ company (Musical Moods) for more than 15 years, which is where the name Dr. GX originates (Doctor Good Times). Fave film genres include horror (Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.); science fiction (Aliens, Terminator, 2001, etc.); action (Warriors, Road Warrior, Die Hard); westerns (Outlaw Josey Wales, Showdown at OK Corral; Wild Bunch, etc.); suspense (Jaws, Inception, Silence of the Lambs, etc.); drama (Apocalypse Now, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, etc.); and comedies (Life of Brian, Superbad, Ruthless People, etc.). I have attended many hundreds of concerts and movies (in theaters or screenings). I may as well also throw in a few favorite TV shows to give an even broader taste of my sensibilities. A handful would be Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Lost, Justified, Fargo, Seinfeld, Sopranos, South Park, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Key & Peele, Monty Python, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Last Man on Earth, Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family and The Office. Fave authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker and Michael Crichton. I am also a big sports fan and lifelong supporter of the Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB). Also enjoy my family of course, electronics/computers/AV gear, and animals, nature and outdoor activities. Graduate of Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College and California State University Northridge (Radio-TV-Film, Psychology minor). Also studied at UCLA for kinesiology/psychology and earned post-grad Certificate in Accounting from Santa Monica College. Present main occupation is as Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Security Sales & Integration (SSI), which I joined in 1998. I am responsible for overseeing all editorial content in print. online, electronic, in-person and any other media or products for the electronic security industry's leading business-to-business trade publication. SSI is part of Framingham, Mass.-based Emerald Expositions.