Audio Thelma Houston
A Woman's Touch

MP3: What's up Thelma? This is Brolin. I'm calling from MP3.com. Oh, hi Brolin. How are you doing? Not too bad. How about yourself? Oh, I'm doing fine. Right on. Good to hear. Well, where are you calling from? Where are you? I'm calling from San Francisco. Are you in LA, or where are you at? I'm in LA. So you've got a little time to do this interview? Yes, I do. Cool. I just pulled over. I was coming from downtown. So I've pulled over to a shady spot. That sounds good. So, yeah, I just want to talk about first of all the new album, A Woman's Touch. What gave you the idea to go in and do these songs in particular? Well, first of all, some of these songs I've kind of wanted to do. I've always wanted to do like a cover -- I started to say album -- a cover CD. But record companies are not, you know, I don't know for whatever reason, they're not that—you can do like maybe one or something like that. But they don't, that's not a good idea with them. And I've always been signed to a record label, and I've gone along with what the record label wants me to do, having some success and, you know, so--. And when you don't have something to back it up, "Well, I did this CD and look how much that did." You know what I mean? Sure, sure. If you don't have that kind of control, you feel like you have to go along with the program. So, I attempted to do this several times and then finally I said, "You know what? I'm just going to put my own money in it, and I'm going to do what I want to do and if it doesn't sell except at when I do my shows and my concerts and stuff, I'll sell it in the lobby there." But I will have done what I really, really believe and what I really like. And that's how I started off. And then I started picking songs that I really, really love and would like to record. And that's how I came up with it. And now, you still tour all the time, you do a lot of shows, both here and overseas. Are you going to be doing a big tour once the album comes out? I probably will. I still tour, you know. I do a lot of shows with other dance artists, like there might be a show that I will do like a lot of corporate dates and concerts too, with like The Village People, myself, Anita Ward, Evelyn Champagne King, and maybe another one will be, you know, The Tramps and KC, you know. From the '70s. You know, that kind of music is still very much alive. Absolutely. So we, yeah, we work all the time. But with the success of this one, which I hope it's going to be, then I will be glad to do the Thelma Houston Woman's Touch Tour. Yes, I will. Nice. That's what's up. I wanted to ask you—it's been 17 years since your last album. Exactly. I didn't even think it was that long. Does it seem like that time just flew by, or what? Yes, I mean, you know what, when they said to me, they were doing like a new bio, and it said "first album in 17 years." I said, "Oh, 17 years." I said, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I've done, I've had something out since then." And to me, it seemed like, yeah, just five years ago I had something out. Time flies. And then when I did those numbers, I though, "Oh, my god, it has been 17." But it doesn't seem like 17 years to me. Sure, I hear you. Now I wanted to talk a little bit about, going back to your earlier stuff and the stuff in the '70s. You know, when you won the Grammy for "Don't Leave Me This Way." Did getting that Grammy, that's like every singer's dream—did that make things easier for you or harder for you because then the labels expect you to repeat that or whatever? Well, in terms of sales, you know, if you won a Grammy for that then they have that expectation. And they have that expectation whether you won a Grammy or not. Sure. If you do have a huge record, they want you to keep repeating that and, you know, the record company, they're in the business for that. But because I have not had those numbers with anything else, I can say that having won a Grammy has been a significant help to me in terms of working, in terms of how people see you. With every introduction, it's "the Grammy Award winner…" So it gives you a certain status above and beyond record sales. So it's been a very good thing for me. I also wanted to ask, I mean, you've been doing this for a long time, going back to the '60s. R&B is still very popular today, although what gets marketed and sold as R&B is a lot different than it was back in the day. Yeah, it's considered pop now. Yeah, exactly. What is your take on the younger generation of artists? Are there people that you're into, or do you not really follow that so much, or what? Well, you know, I do listen to it 'cause I enjoy music, and I think music is a powerful thing. And I, in some respects, I think it's good, because the R&B thing, it seemed to be the divid—a very divisive line when I was recording more often, and it was divided between mostly--I think—I think when Stevie Wonder and maybe Sly Stone [came out], you know, then they started closing that division, pop and R&B started to get closer. But I think, and so the fact that that line seems to be erasing is just about, seems to be about the music. I think that's a good thing. However, I also think that the bar has been lowered quite a bit and that's in terms of doing quality work. I think, in my opinion, with the advent -- and I think video is a great thing. But I think on the one hand, video made a person more accessible to a greater amount of people in a short amount of time, and that's good. But on the other hand, it also, it stops the artist from going out and doing what I call, you know, where you really learn your craft, and that's going out and doing it. So a lot of times the preparation does not equal the success of the record. You know what I mean? Yeah, definitely. And so, unfortunately, they're having to learn on the job, so to speak. And I don't think that that's such a pleasant thing for some of them. And I've seen a lot of growth, you know, from some people having gone through it, and then others I've seen….I don't see, what I'm looking for is longevity. So we have yet to see, you know, where that's going to go. Right. But, you know, I've always looked at it as a career and then that's what I've always wanted. That's how I want to, you know, end up--I mean, I don't necessarily want to retire. I just want to keep doing it, and so I've tried to look at how can I keep working and keep doing it. So you learn to do a lot of different things, and I don't see a lot of that in the younger population. I think there are some that are doing that, but I don't see it a lot, and that's one of the regrets that I have. And also, like I said, we have yet to see what's going to happen. I also wanted to ask you, I know that you've done a lot of acting over the years as well both like onstage and in movies and television. Is that something that you're still working on and still interested in? Yeah. I'm interested in doing that. I do a similar kind of thing, but it's not, it's a—let me turn my air conditioning on here. It is hot here—I do a show that I can have that, you know, that ability to perform and sing and all that. It's a little show that I do in Seattle, and I do it in San Francisco, called the Teatro ZinZanni, which is a crazy place to work. Oh yeah, I've heard of that. Okay. Well, so I do that and so that gives me an opportunity to do the acting and the singing and all of that. But I think that my, and so my favorite form of entertainment is to be able to do those elements, live audience and the acting and the music all in one. And so that was like musicals. Those are my favorites. I think the medium, the television and the movies are—that's a whole other different thing. And I haven't done a whole lot of that to make a lot of opinions about it, but seems like that's a lot of sitting around and waiting, you know. And you don't get your immediate response. You do a movie, and it's going to be a few years before you get that response. Sure, I hear you. Well, I just got one more question for you and then I'll let you go. Okay. Your career has spanned over 30 years, almost 40 years, and longevity in anything, but especially in the music business, it's hard to do that. Styles change and genres change and, you know, audiences and whatnot. What would be your advice to like a young singer or musician, a young artist that's trying to just sort of get their foot in the door and get started in the music? Well, I would say that, first of all, have a passion for it. And the other thing would be to look at it…you know, something that I hear a lot is, you know, "I'm just trying to get paid." And if you're just trying to get paid, then that's a whole other concept that I don't understand. But if you're looking at it as a career, something that you have a passion for and that you want to do, you can just see yourself doing it without even making money and that you just love it so much…Of course, everybody, you want to make a living at it. But I'm just saying you love it that much then that's the way you have to look at it. And, you know, cuz if you have to get paid, then you going to get paid and then that's going to be it and bye bye, we won't be seeing you any more. Totally, yeah. And I think you need to prepare yourself. I think you need to be concerned with your health. I think you need to look at it as a business, and you need to be a professional about it. I think you need to show up. When it's time for you to show up, you be there, and when you are there you could give 100 percent. And that's what I've done. That's the only thing that I can talk about is how I've run my life and my career and how I've, lasted—did you say 40 years almost? Something like that, right. It's been a while. [laughs] [laughs] Oh, Lord have mercy, Jesus. Ooooh, Lord have mercy. Let me just [laughs] run around the track and run the bleachers. [laughs] Right on. Well, hey, listen, it's great talking to you, Thelma. Thanks a lot for taking the time. Thank you, Brolin. It's nice talking to you, and I hope we talk again. That sounds good. I look forward to hearing the record. Okay. Hope you like it. All right. Take care and have a good one. Okay. Bye.