Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 1-18-19

Feature
Klymaxx To Perform At Heritage Festival Gala
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Joyce Irby wasn’t sup- posed to be a singer.
The talented musician had spent years developing her rapping skills under the tutelage of funk master George Clinton. She took on the moniker “Fende- rella” and had dropped “A Wild and Crazy Song” in 1980 before meeting SOLAR Records founder Dick Grif- fey.
The label had an all- woman band named Kly- maxx that needed a bassist. Griffey remembered Irby hanging with her bass around the loading docks of venues where SOLAR acts played and gave her a call.
When she got to Los An- geles, the band was working with producer duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on its landmark album Meeting in the Ladies Room. Irby’s role in the group would change forever when Jam
put her on the mic.
“I was wanting to sing but
I was staying in my place,” she said. “But when (Jam) did that, it opened up a whole world for me.”
Thirty-five years later, Irby is still singing with her reiteration Klymaxx at gigs throughout the country. Irby and her band will bring their trove of 1980s grooves to Tampa on Thursday when they perform at the Tampa Bay Black Her- itage Gala at the T. Pepin Hospitality Centre.
From 1984 to 1987, the band kept fans on the dance floor with hits like “Divas Need Love, Too,” “Meet- ing in the Ladies Room,” and “Men All Pause.”
The latter – composed by Irby and band founder Bernadette Cooper --- al- most wasn’t released. Grif- fey wasn’t impressed with a tune with a title that sounded like the word “menopause”.
But Irby and Cooper
KLYMAXX
group called Diva One and signed a young producer named, Dallas Austin. He would go on to produce for Boyz II Men and TLC while under her company. Irby later signed teen artist, Sam- mie (“I Like It”) and “Get It Shawty” singer, Lloyd.
The success of her acts provided a much-needed ren- aissance to Irby’s career. Just a few years earlier, a music executive tried to con- vince her that her time in the industry was over.
“When I was 30, they told me I was too old to sing,” she said. “I’m not playing foot- ball, I’m not an athlete.”
Irby said she now makes it a point to encourage women to ignore limitations others may impose on them and do what they desire.
“I’m encouraging women to be their full selves,” she said. “Live, learn, and love yourself.”
If You Go
Joyce Irby and Kly- maxx will perform at the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival Gala, Thursday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m. – 10:30 p.m., at T Pepin Hospitality Centre, 4121 N. 50th St., in Tampa. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more information or to pur- chase tickets, visit www.tam- pablackheritage.org.
stood their ground – and won.
“We had that fight,” she said. “But when he under- stood it, he put it out and it was a hit.”
Irby said she enjoyed her time with Klymaxx in those days, although things weren’t always sweet between mem- bers.
She bumped heads mostly with Cooper, whom Irby called “one of the most bril-
liant, creative people I’ve ever met.”
But the infighting soon became too much and Cooper parted in 1987. Irby left shortly thereafter. She cut a few songs under Motown before relocating in 1990 to Atlanta.
“I thought the people were so nice and I met musical people who were so talented,” she said. “I started telling people this was the place.”
The move proved to be fruitful. Atlanta’s music scene was on the cusp of breaking out thanks to the establish- ment of LaFace Records in 1989 and the emergence of producer Jermaine Dupri.
Using her extensive music business experience, Irby founded a talent development
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