What’s in a Name?

“We kicked 2 Live Crew off the tour today,” said local musician-turned-promoter Willie Carter (aka Willie Psycho) on May 20. Just days before, he’d sent out a press release touting the Crew’s “comeback.”

According to Carter’s manager Michelle Quintanar, “It got to be really irritating.… Every day, [2 Live Crew’s manager] would call with something, like, ‘On the plane, we don’t want coach, we want first class.’ Then they said, ‘We don’t want four [hotel] rooms, we want five.’ Then they decided they didn’t want [to travel in] a van; they wanted either a limo or a very large SUV, with a driver.… It became an unhealthy working relationship.”

Carter’s next typo-riddled press release claimed 2 Live Crew would be replaced by “The Original Sugarhill Gang,” known for 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight” (recognized as one of the first hip-hop singles).

Along with Carter’s band (Willie Psycho) and a San Diego—based band named Vegasaint, the eight-date tour is supposed to begin June 5 in Las Vegas. The press release claimed that tour dates and venues could be found at wwconcerts.com. As of last Friday, not a single date or venue had been posted. Phone calls to Carter yielded no information.

Meanwhile, Sugarhill Gang’s official website lists them playing Houston on June 5 – not Vegas – with tickets having been on sale for weeks.

Last Friday, the manager of “The Original Sugarhill Gang,” Carl Smith (aka Blaksmif), said, “The other Sugarhill that’s working in Houston is Joey Robinson; that’s the fake Sugarhill Gang.”

However, Wikipedia’s Sugarhill Gang page says Joe Robinson founded the group with his wife Sylvia. The couple’s son, Joey Robinson, today owns Sugarhill Records, and his version of the Sugarhill Gang has nothing to do with Carter’s tour.

Asked about Carter’s press release, Smith said, “I kind of noticed that they lack some writing talents.… I was told that they [were] working on the venues.… They already sent us our deposit, so we be, like, okay. We ain’t gonna give a deposit back.”

Tickets are being sold for one tour date on June 7, at Angels Roadhouse 2 in Apple Valley, California.

– Jay Allen Sanford