Have you have ever heard of any music from the 20s to the 40s? Any jazz?
I’ve never been a big jazz fan. My failing, I guess. But I grew up on Newark’s black radio station, which played no jazz. It was a different genre altogether. They played the stuff that was contemporary at that time, pre-do-wop, and every once in a while would throw in one of the older guys or gals, from the thirties and forties. Those were my favorite times.
At 12 noon the Gospel music show came on, and while the opening number, or theme song if you will, was great—something called “Marching on to Zion”—I could only listen to a few Gospel numbers before I had to switch. The songs were very repetitive at that time, and would have my mother shouting Turn That Off if I played the radio in the kitchen. Someone told me recently that was just bad Gospel music. It’s better now, I know.