Legendary Boxing Promoter, Entrepreneur Butch Lewis Succumbs to Massive Heart Attack

Having celebrated his 65^th birthday at a party at Bethany Beach in Delaware at which the O’Jays performed on June 26th, legendary boxing promoter, film and music producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist Ronald “Butch” Lewis succumbed to a massive heart attack at 5am on Saturday, July 23^rd. The successful promoter and businessman who helped shape the boxing arena, had thrown his hat into the ring of the music business starting a new joint venture called Voicez Music Group with DefJam/Universal Records in 2008. Most recently he partnered with his longtime friend Bob Johnson in a joint venture between his Butch Lewis Productions (BLP) and Johnson’s IMG Worldwide, Inc. (IMG) to develop and operate a talent management company to primarily represent minority entertainers in the areas of endorsements, licensing and programming.

In addition to his boxing promotions, he has been a behind the scenes influence in many minority owned businesses and careers. It was Lewis who threw the welcome back party for the late James Brown upon his release from prison and who was there to help him get back on path. In fact, in 1991 when Lewis added an entertainment arm to his Butch Lewis Productions, he produced the blockbuster Pay-Per-View on Brown called “James Brown: Living in America.”

The flamboyant promoter, known for popularizing the tuxedo with no shirt look, was all about family as well, bringing his children into his businesses and executive producing the family drama “Once Upon A Time…When We Were Colored.” He produced other feature films as well in partnership with Tim Reid and BET, including “Out of Sync.”

Behind the success of many of boxing’s legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Michael Spinks for whom he negotiated the largest guaranteed payday in boxing history in 1988 for the “Superfight: Spinks vs Mike Tyson,” Lewis was instrumental in creating new opportunities for boxers and promoting them to new levels of success.

(See pictures from Lewis’ birthday party in BRE issue from columnist Rosalind R. Ray)

Steve Harvey On Dream Building

Syndicated radio personality, comedienne, game show host and best-selling author Steve Harvey was presented the Humanitarian Award at the BET 11 Annual Awards where Harvey mentioned his commitment to his mentoring program to young men that recently held its third annual mentoring weekend at his ranch in Dallas. Designed to share and teach the principles of manhood and dream building to 125 teenage boys (50 boys from the Dallas-area, 65 boys from around the country, and 10 junior counselors), ages 13-18 who are without fathers in their lives, the weekend welcomed Denzel Washington, Jermaine Dupri, Stephen A. Smith, Terrence J., KRNB air personality Azim Rashid, Will Packer, Dr. Steve Perry and John Hope Bryant, among others, to make the event transformative in the lives of these young men.

“The sole purpose of this weekend is to turn these boys into men and provide them with a vision and a dream,” said Harvey. “One thing I’ve told them is: success is within you. If you do what you say you are going to do, you’ll always be able to do what you want to do!”

Parents, chaperones and single mothers were also exposed to success tools the Steve Harvey Foundation had developed to further empower the young men. Harvey plans to host regional Steve Harvey Mentoring Weekends in Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Charlotte later this year.

Chris Paul Charges New Orleans Youth

Photos courtesy of Derick Hingle/PictureGroup

Appointed as a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition last year, NBA Hornets all-star Chris Paul is committed to enriching the lives of young people and recently focused on Hornets hometown New Orleans with his first CP3K Walk for Kids. Partnering with Coca Cola, Paul led more than 300 kids on the walk. Ingrid Saunders Jones, Sr. VP of Global Community Connections for the Coca-Cola Company and Chairperson of the coca-Cola Foundation, commented, “This walk provides a structured environment for our youth to learn the importance of being active and making healthy choices.

Chuck Berry Bronzed

An eight-foot bronze statue of Chuck Berry, considered to be the ‘father of rock and roll,” was erected in Universal City, Missouri, in a plaza across the street from the Blueberry Hill where Berry still plays monthly. Berry, a Kennedy Center honoree, will attend the official dedication with his family on July 29 in a ceremony saluting his legacy. His son Charles Berry Jr. told University City Patch after the installation, “I’m going to brag. They got a statue of my dad in U City. My dad, he’s the coolest dude on the planet to me.”

Stormy Biopic ‘Thunder Soul’ On Horizon

It’s such an entertaining and inspirational story that touches your soul and awakens the human spirit in the way that only love and the power of music can.—Jamie Foxx

It’s already rumbling in the distance. Not due out until September, the motion picture “Thunder Soul” is already receiving a major buzz. Presented by movie and music star Jamie Foxx, the movie follows alumni of Houston’s storied Kashmere High School Stage Band. Years of victories against racial strife and overcoming obstacles mark the flick, which was inspired by many of the band’s members who return home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for their 92-year-old bandleader. Conrad “Prof” Johnson was their beloved bandleader who broke the color barrier and transformed the school’s struggling jazz band into a world-class funk powerhouse in the early 1970s.

Indeed, the 83-minute film (rated PG for brief “colored” language and smoking) is earning rave reviews. “Thunder Soul” won Best Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival and was also recognized with awards at SXSW and the Los Angeles Film Fest. It won Best Documentary Feature at the 2010 Indie Memphis Film Festival and it’s also been nominated for an Indie Spirit award. It won the Heartland Film Festival’s 2010 Crystal Heart Award and was also nominated for the International Documentary Association’s Music Award.

The theatrical release date of “Thunder Soul,” which was directed by Mark Landsman, is September 23.

“Thunder Soul” tells the true story of Conrad O. Johnson, known by his students as Prof, and the legendary Kashmere Stage Band in Houston in the 1970s. The film follows the aspiring musicians and their charismatic bandleader as he turns them from a mediocre jazz band into a legendary funk powerhouse. And now, 35 years later, these same students are preparing to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives. Some haven’t played their horns in decades, but many will still dust off their instruments, determined to retake the stage to show Prof and the world that they’ve still got it.

During its time, the Kashmere Stage Band gained notoriety at numerous student competitions and music festivals (winning 42 of their 46 competitions), but they also gained success in the commercial music world as well. Count Basie once said of them that they were the best school band he’d ever heard.

Dubbed as a music documentary, “Thunder Soul” is being hailed as a heartfelt celebration of funk and the transformative powers of a great teacher.

Exec producer Jamie Foxx is presenting “Thunder Soul” to help bring attention to the Roadside Attractions release. “I can’t wait to share ‘Thunder Soul’ with the world so that everyone can enjoy this one of a kind experience,” Foxx says proudly. “It’s such an entertaining and inspirational story that touches your soul and awakens the human spirit in the way that only love and the power of music can.”

Even the story behind the story is touching. According to insiders, Landsman raced to Houston to get the film rights after pulling his car to the side of the road one day when he heard an NPR story about how the legendary ‘70s Kashmere High School band was reforming to honor their teacher. Landsman Googled the band leader’s name and went through some hoops to finally reach the man the kids called Prof. Insiders say Landsman scored a coup, as other filmmakers were trying to get the rights too. Initially, Landsman, who is an award-winning independent filmmaker, researched the movie as a fiction piece, but as he shot the unfolding story, it became obvious it would work best in a documentary format.

Jamie Foxx, a Texas-native himself and an outspoken advocate of music education in schools, heard about the film after its SXSW premiere and wanted to be a part of it and bring attention to it like Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry did for “Precious.” Foxx also serves as executive producer, along with his FoxxKing Entertainment partner Jaime King. Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jessica Wu produce.

“Having Jamie Foxx on board with us is incredible,” said Roadside Attractions co-president Eric d’Arbeloff. “And his enthusiasm and excitement for the movie is palpable.  We couldn’t be happier that he’s mentoring the film in the same way that Prof mentored his Kashmere High music students to greatness.” Roadside Attractions’ credits include Chris Rock’s comedic “Good Hair,” Morgan Spurlock’s “Supersize Me” and the Academy Award-winning “The Cove.”

New Black TV Network Launching This Fall

Ambassador Andrew Young, MLK III Behind Major Move

A new television network, based in Atlanta, aimed at Black-oriented audiences is set to launch this fall. Although the project was been in the works for some time, its timing is on point, as a study, just released in April, indicates that African-American households watch more TV than the national average.

According to Nielsen Media, Blacks ages 18 to 49 watch televisions at a pace of seven hours and 12 minutes a day. That’s more than two hours per day above the national rate of five hours and 11 minutes and just shy of four hours per day more than the amount of TV watched by Asian-Americans, who clock in a relatively meager 3 hours and 14 minutes a day.

Bounce TV is being spearheaded by political icon Ambassador Andrew Young, Martin Luther King III (son of the late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.) and Young’s son, Andrew “Bo” Young. Other principles include the trailblazing duo of Rob Hardy and Will Packet, founders of Rainforest Films, and Ryan Glover and Jonathan Katz, formerly of Noontime Records and Turner Broadcasting. And leading distribution efforts is former Sony Pictures Television exec Jeffrey Wolf.

“I am proud that our network will deliver free programming exclusively for our under-served community and be accessible to all homes around the country and not just those who pay for television. We look forward to Bounce TV entertaining African American viewers for many years to come,” commented Ambassador Young.

The new network already has commitments to debut in more than 30 markets, thanks to deals struck with Raycom and LIN TV. The Raycom deal, which put Bounce in major markets such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Memphis and Charlotte, among others, represents 10 percent of all U.S. households and 19 percent of African-American television homes.

In addition, the LIN TV deal was just inked days ago to carry Bounce TV in markets Indianapolis, Norfolk, Mobile, Hartford and Dayton. Bounce TV expects to be in at least 50 percent of U.S. television households at launch time, with more distribution agreements forthcoming.

The new network’s rivals are BET and TV One, which can be found on Comcast and DirecTV.

A Bounce TV press release indicated that programming will target African-Americans primarily between the ages of 25-54 with a mix of theatrical motion pictures, live sporting events, documentaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series and original programming. Bounce TV will be on air 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Bounce has already gained the television rights to nearly 400 motion pictures through multi-year licensing agreements with NBC/Universal Domestic Television Distribution, Sony Pictures Television, Codeblack Entertainment and Image Entertainment. The network also inked a multi-year rights agreement with Urban Sports Entertainment Group (USEG) to televise both football and basketball games from the nation’s largest African-American athletic conference – the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Rob Hardy and Will Packer are co-founders of Rainforest Films – one of the top African-American production companies in the world. The duo created Rainforest Films in 1994. In three short years, they had three highly successful films open: “Stomp The Yard,” “Obsessed” and “Takers.” Their successes have landed them amongst the Top 25 Entertainers and Moneymakers, according to Black Enterprise Magazine.

At Bounce TV, Hardy will serve as chief content officer, while Packer will be chief strategy and marketing officer. Ryan Glover and Jonathan Katz will serve as executive vice presidents.

“There are nearly 13 million Hispanic television households that are served by dozens of Spanish and Spanish-language versions of networks,” Glover, who is also a former record label executive, said in a statement. “Yet, the more than 14 million African-American TV households have just a few dedicated cable channels and no over-the-air networks – until now. Bounce TV will fill the void for people who are hungry for more African-American related programming, stories, characters, sports and events.”

The network is leveraging the marketing, digital, post production and operational resources of Atlanta-based CSE, one of the country’s leading independently-owned sports, entertainment and television production agencies. CSE, among other things, offers content development, remote production, studio production, post-production and motion graphics. Its client list includes major international corporations, such as AT&T, Southern Co., Sharp, Kellogg’s and numerous major sports teams.

iHeartRadio: Biggest Live Concert Festival in Radio History

Las Vegas welcomes what is being touted as the “biggest live concert festival in radio history” to the MGM Grand for two consecutive nights on September 23 and 24 to celebrate the official launch of the new version of Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio digital service. Live audio and video streams of the iHeartRadio Music Festival will be available online, via mobile devices at www.iHeartRadio.com and across all of Clear Channel’s radio station websites.

And the line-up is stellar. According to “American Idol” host and Clear Channel radio personality Ryan Seacrest, the host for this two-day festival, “This is a once in a generation gathering of artists and fans from all over the country for a true, must-see music event. The iHeartRadio Music Festival, like the iHeartRadio digital radio service, will showcase top artists across all genres of music. Listeners from all over America will travel to Las Vegas to celebrate the next generation of iHeartRadio, while seeing the greatest musicians in the world on one stage.”

So far that lineup includes lineup Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Steven Tyler, The Black Eyed Peas, Kenny Chesney, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Jane’s Addiction, Nicki Minaj, John Mayer, David Guetta, Rascal Flatts, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, Sublime with Rome and special performances from Usher and Sting, with more announcements still forthcoming.

“Building up to the festival, we will be presenting the biggest national promotion in radio history,” said John Hogan, President/CEO of Clear Channel Radio. “All 850 Clear Channel radio stations, spanning diverse music formats, introduced millions of listeners across the country to this historic music event. The majority of our stations will also feature exclusive radio and digital content including exclusive artist interviews and ticket giveaways. The announcement of the event alone has set new records. It’s the first announcement ever to roadblock all Clear Channel Radio platforms and the teasers and the announcement have reached an estimated 100 million people.”

Added Bob Pittman, Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms for Clear Channel Radio, “Music is the heart of our business and we think there is no better way to celebrate the launch of the New iHeartRadio than with a groundbreaking, multi-day festival featuring the world’s biggest, most exciting artists – and reaching the largest combined U.S. radio and online audience ever. This underscores Clear Channel’s transformation to a dynamic integrated media and entertainment company with an unmatched reach in the U.S. The New iHeartRadio will offer users a much broader, more integrated and customized digital listening experience than any other service available – and it’s all in one product.”

Seacrest’s video promo on the new iHeartRadio compares it to Pandora, “but with more songs, more control and no commercials through the end of the year.” The New iHeartRadio will deliver Clear Channel stations from across the country as well as the ability to create custom stations with even more songs, more control than the leading custom radio station services and with no commercials through the end of the year.

IDJMG Welcomes G.O.O.D. Music

Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) has signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with Kanye West’s record label, G.O.O.D. Music. West will continue as a core recording artist on the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam label, but the artists he has signed to his label will now be released through IDJMG. The first artist under the new agreement is Detroit rapper Big Sean whose debut product, Finally Famous, arrived in stores on June 28. West executive produced the album, which features the single “My Last” featuring Chris Brown.

According to the new Chairman/CEO of Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG) and IDJMG, Barry Weiss, “G.O.O.D. Music is an exciting new chapter in the long and successful association of Kanye West and Island Def Jam. As a recording artist and a producer over the past eight years, there is no one who has made a greater impression on the game than Kanye. We look forward to working closely with the new and established artists that he will be bringing to G.O.O.D. Music, which is already off to an impressive start with Big Sean.”

Added IDJMG President/COO Steve Bartels, “Kanye’s genius has been proven time and time again on records and onstage. He not only pours it out for himself, but he has made the difference with his presence on innumerable projects with other artists who are indebted to him. Kanye is an integral core member of the IDJ family, and G.O.O.D. Music continues his unselfish tradition of bringing along great new artists to the forefront.”

REMEMBERING GIL SCOTT-HERON: His ‘Revolution’ was Broadcast on WHUR

A BRE Appreciation

By Hedi Butler

By now, the bittersweet memorials following the recent death of Gil Scott-Heron have made their way through traditional media and the blogosphere. Tributes have poured in from those who lived through the spoken word and social protest movements of the late ‘60s, ‘70s and early ‘80s – the era of his greatest impact as a socially conscious poet, political prophet and affecting musician whose work combined minimalist percussion with jazz, soul and blues.

Brother Gil also received heartfelt props from the more contemporary heirs to his legacy of fusing life-driven truths with polyrhythmic sounds, although he famously rejected the “Godfather of Hip Hop” title bestowed on him, preferring “bluesologist.”

So it was perfectly fitting that both Stevie Wonder and Kanye West musically acknowledged Scott-Heron at his services in Harlem – and very reminiscent to this writer of the “360-degree black experience” that was programmed daily on WHUR-FM, Howard University Radio, which began broadcasting in the Greater Washington, D.C. Area in 1971 and is now celebrating its 40^th anniversary.

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Scott-Heron’s breakthrough satire on mass media consumption during a time of struggle, was played regularly on WHUR, along with “Winter in America” and other hard-hitting tell-it-like-it-is classics that could not easily find a home on local airwaves.

Combined with listening fare such as Kojo Nnamdi’s “The Drum” (news and talk), Melvin Lindsey’s “Quiet Storm” (the original format) – and so many milestones over the past four decades – campus and community audiences in the nation’s capitol were inspired to think and groove like never before.

RIP Brother Gil, congratulations WHUR!

Magic’s Inner City Moves

Earvin “Magic” Johnson is still making moves… off the court! The former NBA MVP turned businessman has scored in the media field, again. Recently, Johnson made a move to buy the senior debt of Inner City Broadcasting from Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year, he paired with billionaire Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. to acquire three radio stations in Phoenix to the tune of about $16 million also has bought a major ownership stake in Vibe Holdings LLC, the parent company of Vibe magazine, Uptown magazine and the “Soul Train” TV show and its lucrative library.

This does not mean, however, that Johnson and his partner become majority owners of ICBC. Inner City, founded by Percy Sutton in 1971, owns 17 radio stations in markets such as New York City (including the Black heritage WBLS-FM (107.5) and Gospel AM (1190), San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbia, S.C., Fort Lauderdale, FL and Jackson, MS.

Pepe Sutton, CEO of Inner City, in an editorial last year in The New York Times, suggested that President Barack Obama bail out Black broadcasters as he did with automakers GM and Ford. And Sutton had also called on the Congressional Black Caucus to pressure its debt holders to back off.

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