Good Morning POU!
Well its no secret whatsoever that there is no love lost between the members of Shalamar – Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniels and Jody Watley. The only one that REALLY will spill the beans is Ms. Watley (cuz she tired and not in the mood to gloss it over). But in fairness, this is HER version of events (sounds real tho!)
From the 2015 article: Jody Watley Exposes The Violence That Happened Inside The Group Shalamar
We were going through some info that was sent to us regarding the existence of two separate Shalamar groups now- one with Jody Watley; and another with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel.
The first thing that came to our minds was ‘Why are Jody, Howard and Jeffrey (the original Shalamar members) doing that?’ We did a lil’ fact finding on this and found out that a while back, Jody Watley had a whole lot to say about the real deal behind their break up and why they were never able to reunite. She wanted to set the record straight because she said that the whole story was never fully covered in the media, but that their fans deserve to know. One thing’s for sure: she isn’t holding anything back!
Jody on the shady business tactics that started happening:
“Dick Griffey [the owner of Shalamar’s record label, Solar Records] mentioned that he had given Howard a million dollar advance and I thought ‘Well finally, I guess that was true because that was a rumor toward the end [of our group’s years together] that Dick Griffey was cutting deals with Howard. One of my best friends at the time, Jermaine Stewart…was a backing vocalist for Shalamar when we toured and there were a couple of instances where Dick Griffey had arranged for Howard to do shows as Shalamar but we [Jody and Jeffrey] weren’t invited. And it’s things like that when Dick Griffey says “some tension,” well that was definitely one to cause some tension. [That] started to change what was already a shaky situation anyway.”
Jody on the physical and verbal abuse from her then boyfriend and Shalamar member, Jefferey Daniel. Stephanie Mills was also part of the reason for it.
Jody said this had nothing to do with the group’s breakup, but it caused even more tension because she said that the verbal and physical abuse she endured from Jeffrey was too much. She said they looked like a “cute couple” on the outside but the reality was that it wasn’t like that and that there was a very “dark side” to it that people didn’t know.
Jody also said this about when Jeffrey started dating, and eventually married Stephanie Mills:
“I felt so upset during the Stephanie Mills era because he [Jeffrey] was working my nerves and rubbing it in my face and so yeah, it was out of control. The tension was so high during that era that we tore up some dressing rooms. Sometimes we’d be doing choreography [during our shows] and we’d be hitting and kicking each other within the frame of the choreography and it would escalate to the point that there were a couple of times that we would leave the stage and run into the dressing room…and it would be on. Thinking about it now I can’t even recognize myself…but that’s how it was during that era. It was a mess…LOL. As we fast forward into now, into the future and I look back at the past, it was a mess. It was a teenage mess, it was a love mess, it was just…it was a mess. It was a lot of drama, a lot of tension and a learning experience.
But anyway the blessings of the journey of time is that I saw Stephanie Mills a few years ago and we were both performing at a party, and I heard someone say “Hey Waddles” which was something a few people called me back then and I looked and it was her and we hugged and we talked about having kids and just life and what we were doing and everything and so it was good…the blessing of time.”
Um, it was kind of a pimp mentality to me, I’m not saying he was a pimp, but it was that kind of pimp mentality
Over time I was really just less and less willing to constantly be told that I was replaceable, that anyone can do what I did and brought to the group and I didn’t buy into that. When I look back at it now…in my mind it was a spiritual test: Which way was I going to go? Women generally are…especially in the music business, the first to be marginalized, but…I obviously wasn’t buying into the brainwashing mentality that I wasn’t of value. I knew that I was of value and as much as Dick Griffey tried to make me think that I wasn’t valuable, even at that age, I definitely knew that I had value…I think that the only way people give up their power is believing they don’t have any and we all have power.
On what Dick Griffey told Jody when she wanted to buy a house:
There was the issue with [me being able to buy] a house, which was something that was important to me and again [I was young, but one thing my Mom would always say was I should] buy a house. The hits were coming in and we were touring all the time, but I didn’t have enough money to put a down payment on a house. When I went to him [Dick Griffey] he kind of marginalized the whole concept of buying a house and he told me “Well you know Watley, you can always come out to my ranch and ride my horses” and I remember thinking ‘I don’t want to ride your horses, I want to have my own horses…if that’s what I wanted to do…LOL.” Um, it was kind of a pimp mentality to me, I’m not saying he was a pimp, but it was that kind of pimp mentality of ‘Just bring me my money and you can come and share in what I have going on and you just go out and work for me’ and again (laughs) [I just had a] bigger picture for me.
When it became clear that Shalamar was all about making Howard Hewett a star and no one else…
Before we went in to record The Look [album], I recall having a meeting with Dick Griffey and it was made real clear that Shalamar was going to be a vehicle for Howard Hewett, much like I guess a Diana Ross and The Supremes, where it was a definitive shift from just being a group. So that would mean that the few duets that I was [previously] able to sing would be even less than that. I definitely wasn’t happy about that and it definitely wasn’t so much about ‘Oh I wanna sing, I wanna sing’ it was really about the way it was done. When you have a group situation and it starts out one way, and everybody has their roles, but then as time goes on it starts shifting even more. [That’s why] I was definitely surprised when [years later in a public interview] Howard expressed that after we were gone and Micki Free was in the group, that it was difficult for him because [before that] I remember that he was very inclined to get us out of the there…LOL.
Jeffrey Daniel started letting the fame go to his head:
Jeffrey [eventually stated in a public interview] that he cried to a journalist [when the group was over] but I was like ‘But you were the first one to quit…LOL.”
Another thing is that after Jeffrey did the performance in London on “Top of the Pops” performing “A Night To Remember,” the aftermath of that with his popularity…contributed a bit more to the declining chemistry of the group. My recollection is Jeffrey’s increased popularity didn’t really sit well with Howard, as the lead vocalist of the group. Because when the [UK] music media would do interviews or we’d be on the covers of magazines, there were a few instances where it was Jeffrey that was the person they wanted to feature on the cover as Shalamar. Jeffrey started getting a lot of other opportunities and my recollection and my perspective of it was that it went to his head. Subsequently he didn’t want to come back to America. We were about to record The Look, which was our final album and Jeffrey wanted to quit Shalamar. He wanted to pursue his solo career and so he [only] came back to sing on [the song] “Dead Giveaway” and then went on to work on a [project] with Paul McCartney.
“When we got to our last trip in the UK, what was left to unravel was when everything completely fell apart.
On The Look [album] I sang on everything except for two songs, which was “You Can Count On Me,” which originally was a song given to me to sing and I was really happy that I was finally going to get to do a nice ballad as a lead on my own and the day before I was to go into the studio and record it, I was told by Leanne Silvers and Dick Griffey that they decided that they wanted Howard to sing it instead and so naturally I didn’t like it. My panties were all in a bunch about it and of course Howard did a superb job and everything, but the point was that it was another situation where the way that it was done to me and the way that everything was mandated before, by Dick Griffey going into The Look, which was that the group was going to be a vehicle for Howard, you know that all played into it. So I didn’t show up, I was supposed to do the harmonies. We were in London to film the video for “Dead Giveaway” and what ended up happening for me to quit that day was the morning of the video shoot. Jeffrey was already living in England, so he was going to get himself to the video shoot, so it was just Howard and myself [at the hotel]. Howard had turned “star.” It was over a limo situation, I had a car that was supposed to take me, Howard had his car. So when I had come down [from the hotel room], Howard had sent the car that was designated for me to go and pick someone else that he had coming in from the airport. Naturally I didn’t like it ’cause it was kind of like “catch a cab” ’cause he didn’t want me to ride with him to the video shoot. So I remember saying ‘Well go do the video by your blank self” and that’s when things just started to escalate. We were going nose to nose and he called me the “B” word and that’s when I said ‘This is the last time you’re going to call me that.’ He threatened to kick my blankity blank. So I quit and it was the 4th of July ironically and I was like ‘I’m declaring my independence.’ Then all hell broke loose. I went back up to my room, wouldn’t come back down. Dick Griffey was [on the phone] threatening to sue me for breach of contact if I didn’t shoot the video and so I went.”
The compromise for Jody was that they had to get a body double for the video shoot. Any scene that was supposed to appear as if Jody was in it with Howard, she refused to shoot with him. After that video, they headed back to the U.S. and it was a wrap. Dick Griffey was pissed and Jody wanted out of her Solar Records contract. She got what she wanted and moved on with here solo career. Dick never liked that though and she said he used to mean mug her any time he saw her in public. Jody has seen Howard and Jeffery several times throughout the years and they even did one performance together for one of Babyface’s songs in the 90’s.