Tuesday, June 17, 2008
It was March of 1975. My two college roommates and I were on our way to New Orleans in my Volkswagen Beetle for a Spring Break adventure. Our plan was to drive all night but by 3 a.m., everyone was dangerously close to nodding off - including me, the driver. Suddenly, "Lady Marmalade" came on the radio, again, and we were good to go the distance.
We knew every word in that song about a prostitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans and we sang the "naughty" chorus at the top of our lungs: "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?" ('Seems pretty tame by today's standards.) I remember thinking, "Patti LaBelle is better than caffeine."
Last month, Sony/BMG's Legacy Recordings released two albums: "Live In Washington, D.C.," a previously unreleased recording of a 1982 concert, and "The Essential Patti LaBelle." Both, in case you're wondering, feature "Lady Marmalade." If you've recently given up coffee - and even if you haven't - I highly recommend the live album.
At 64, Patti is showing no signs of slowing down. In addition to touring and concert performing, she's indulging her inner entrepreneur. She's got a line of wigs called Patti LaBelle Hair, a new cooking DVD (to be released next month), and a line of Patti LaBelle-Good Life relishes and hot sauce, including a product called "Hot Flash" which she describes as "menopausal."
For more on Patti LaBelle's tour dates, recordings and other ventures, visit her Web site.
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