On one of my favourite websites (other than this of course ) – Jump The Shark under the show “What’s Happenin’” most of the comments say something along the lines like "No black teen ager would be into the Doobie Brothers. It was about the episode where Rerun was "coerced(Sp?) into bootlegging a Doobie Brothers concert.
I asked some black people I know and to my suprise they really don’t know who the Doobies are (or were) (they barely know who Diana Ross or Donna Summer is – A sign that I need to get to know some older black people)
So to those Black folk that were around in the late 70s is this a fair assesment. Black teens would not have been into the Doobies. So this is just another case of writers writing something about which they do not know?
Well, it depends which Doobie Brothers we’re talking about. Really, they were two different bands. The band led by Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston, the band that played songs like “China Grove” and “Black Water” had almost no black fans. The Doobie Brothers led by Michael McDonald, who did soulful songs like “What a Fool Believes” and “Minute by Minute” had quite a lot of black fans.
The Doobies were sort of in between those phases at the time they appeared on “What’s Happening.” Michael McDonald was in the group, but wasn’t the dominant member yet. So, at THAT point, they probably had very, very few black fans.
How many blacks do you think I saw at a Doors, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkle, or Beach Boys concert? I am white, and have had many black girlfriends. Looking through their record & later, CD collections, I can’t recall ever seeing a white singer,band or group. That’s just the way it is. I am well aware this is anecdotal & does not statistically prove anything. Preferences are color,not age, related IMO.
Then I was down south and I heard some funk with some main ingredients
Like Doobie Brothers, Blue Magic, David Bowie.
It was cool,
But can you imagine Doobiein’ your funk? Ho!
From P.Funk ( I Want to Get Funked Up ), by Parliament - released on the album The Mothership Connection in 1975.
McDonald had good luck right out of the gate with “Takin’ It To The Streets” (#13) and “It Keeps You Runnin’” . 1977’s “Livin’ on the Fault Line” fared much less well…
Perhaps explaining the PR move of appearing on two very-special-eisodes of “What’s Happening” on January 28 & February 4 1978 (thanks IMDB!).
By 1979, Tom Johnston had left so Michael McDonald was definitely the creative force on “Minute By Minute”… Triple Platinum, Quadruple Grammy winner.
Aretha Franklin did a cover version of the Doobies’ What a Fool Believes, and Manchild (with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds) covered Takin’ It to the Streets.
) – Jump The Shark under the show “What’s Happenin’” most of the comments say something along the lines like "No black teen ager would be into the Doobie Brothers. It was about the episode where Rerun was "coerced(Sp?) into bootlegging a Doobie Brothers concert.