Hank Champion is known as “The Chronicler.” Born of Terlinguan mining stock to a tyrannical father and dead mother, Champion began writing at an early age to escape the otherwise inevitable date with the chili trade. A small skin accident kept him out of school during his junior year, and he began the mimeographed, one pageTerlinguan Times. In May of 1969, its first and only issue ran a story about a nameless, corrupt sheriff who had just the week previously beaten his drunken father into the hospital. According to legend, promoted by Champion himself, he escaped in a stolen police car and landed, after a year or so, in Orange County, CA. There he began his writing and recording career. For the next ten years he wrote for the tiny mimeographed, one-page Orange County Times. He also began his gargantuan spoken-word recording career beginning with RCA’s spoken-word branch Speakeasy Records, then the small Cucumber Label, later Pickle. His singles include, “From Dud to Stud, From Zero to Hero,” “Broke Artist at Turn of Century,” “I Walk the Streets, Richest Man Who Ever Lived,” “History is a Lie & Time is a Whore,” and he shared publishing creds with John Fante and Charles Bukowski with the Black Sparrow collections, “I’m Trying to Sleep Here,” and “Wickets.”
Hits, Rock, Spoken Word, Uncategorized
Don Adora’e recorded for DMade between 1963-1967. He kept his identity a secret by wearing a mask onstage and in the recording studio. His given name was Don Adora’e, so the mask didn’t keep anyone from knowing his true identity. He ran a dry cleaners in Passaic. He became locally famous for his delightful singles. He filled the local high school dances, and the kids loved him. Although he never got out of Passaic, Don Adora’e has lived up to his fantastic moniker. He is still loved in Passaic, and is a popular singer/local TV personality, lending his pipes to local commercials for used car places and furniture stores.
Just Weird, Local Legends, Pop, Uncategorized
Prince Nedick was born Washington Rice and for a short period was a child preacher in his hometown of Turkey Creek near Leicester, North Carolina. He picked up his performing career as a young teenager, working as a dancer at the 81 Theater in Atlanta. Rice was gay and flamboyant; he worked the tent shows in drag, a great southern, show biz tradition in itself and an important influence on rock’n’roll – hence the term “tent show queen”. He sang the repertoire of said tradition, many of the same tunes Little Richard would clean up and take to the bank– Tutti Frutti (original lyrics– “Tutti Frutti/Good bootie/if it don’t fit/don’t force it/just grease it/make it easy”), Busy Bootin’ aka Keep A Knockin’, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me, etc.
Atlanta was hopping back in the late ’40s, and Auburn Avenue, the main drag in the black section of town had dozens of clubs – the Poinciana, the Congo, the Zanzibar, and the Peacock, as well as rhythm and blues and jazz shows at the Piedmont Theater and the VFW hall. After a few seasons learning the ropes with the folks in the 81 Club show, Rice ordained himself Prince Nedick (reasons unknown) and got his big break while appearing on a bill at the Auditorium in Atlanta that included Billy Wright, Charles Brown and Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams.
He was known for his flashy style and violent temper. At the height of his fame he went on the lam after assaulting his brother’s wife with an axe and ultimately ended up in Minglewood, a lumber camp/work camp a few miles east of the Mississippi in Dyersburg, TN. It was rumored he died planning an escape.
Uncategorized