Me, My Brother, Ribbon in the Sky and Internet Fame

My brother Shawn stopped by to visit me yesterday, which is always a pleasure because he's a complete househead. By that, I mean he enjoys the real deal, that true, deep underground shit. If you know me, you know what I'm talking about. Anyways, as he's perusing my iTunes library for tunes to burn, he mentions that he was trying to hook up with a friend who was going to help him upload a video of him singing a cover of Stevie Wonder's Ribbon in the Sky onto You Tube in the hopes of catching a little piece of internet fame. Now, there are plenty of talented singers, dancers and actors in my family. Some of us have tasted some level of success, starting with my great-grandmother Etta Mooney, an early blues singer who recorded a little ditty called Cootie For Your Tootie back in 1922. She predated many of the greats of her time including Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, and according to family lore, was credited in making the sound of modern gospel popular in Brooklyn back in her day. I love this factoid, because it confirms that I'm a true Brooklyn boy through and through! But I digress.

My father, Theodore "Teddy" Marsh, was also a singer. In 1959, at the age of seventeen, he wrote and recorded a song called My Love with The Arcades which you can sample here:



Like my great-grandmother, my father might not have been very famous, but at the very least, he is also acknowledged my many popular music purists, and has had the great honor of being listed amongst the greats of his day as well (check him out here: The Dead Rock Stars Club).

My mother, Doris Marsh nee Wiggins, also a great singer in her own right, sang in a local (Brooklyn) gospel group comprised of her sisters Evelyn & Helen, cousins Lydia & Maxine (Bummy), along with friends Delores and Betty Jean, called The Angel Lites. She shared lead vocals with Delores and the group enjoyed success by appearing on the now legendary gospel promoter Joe Bostic's weekly radio show on WLIB. Joe is noted for producing the 1950 Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival concert at Carnegie Hall. Noted as the first time gospel had ever been performed in that venue, it featured Mahalia Jackson and the girls were uncredited as part of the local lineup (my mom's still trying to locate the original concert program which does include the group on the list of performers).

My grandfather, Theodore "Snooky" Marsh (yeah, that's right, now you know where Jersey Shore's Snooki got that - ha!) was a vaudevillian comedian who performed along with the legendary R&B guitarist T-Bone Walker (read more about a show he did here). An excerpt from that link goes as such:

....The Defender gushed, "The greatest floor show in Rhumboogie, the largest crowds to attend a nightery in local history, are but a few of the 'firsts' being offered at Charlie Glenn's emporium of fun, 343 Garfield Boulevard this week." The paper continued: "Topmost of the entertainment you'd expect, rests on the vocal chords and the guitar fingers of T-Bone Walker who is even better now than when last appearing here. T-Bone has added a number of new 'blue' tunes to his large collection and with the old ones being encored all over the place things are jumping."

The revue featured a comedian (Snooky Marsh), another singer (Bobbie Caston), a dancer (Mildred Whilow), plus some leggy chorines and a full band, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.....

My father's brother Bernard J. Marsh is a former Broadway singer/dancer/actor/choreograher/director, who in addition to playing the leads in The Wiz and I'm Not Rappaport as well as supporting roles in Fences, Eubie, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Bob Fosse's Big Deal and Ain't Misbehavin', also wrote a book, Great White Way, Great White Lies chronicling his efforts as an activist who fought for equal equity for black stage actors. His activism led to an evitable blackball from the stage, but that did not deter his efforts.

My sister Kim Marsh is doing her thing gigging upstate along with my nephew Gregory Marsh (choreographer/dancer/actor) and cousin Tiffany Washington. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to uplaod a clip of Kim and Tiffany singing, but look for it soon. As far as I'm concerned, they can blow us all away!

As far as myself, I have been lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to write for the now-defunct Radar Magazine, some local stage work, and most recently, I was background performer (can you say extra?) on this season's The Good Wife. I saw the episode yesterday, and the scene I was in which featured Chris Noth and Alan Cumming briefly flashed the side of my head!

But to my little brother, I say this; It's a start. If this is what you want to do and how you want to do it, then by all means do it. It's in our blood. You can count on many rejections, and as far as the internet goes, perhaps even some rude comments. But you will have at least tried. Develop a thick skin. You might get some love, as well. So here's to you.


And the side of my head.