The Kids from Fame (and related Fame stuff)

We spent the whole afternoon singing EVERYTHING with him.

It was at a Pride/Summer Rites festival in Brockwell Park sometime in the late 90's/early 00's.

I remember being on the phone but could hear @mump boy screaming at me. I waved him away as I was talking to someone when he grabbed me and marched me across the backstage area to Gene Anthony Ray. I immediately hung up the phone and had a total meltdown.

He was out childhood idol. We spent ages making him sing obscure Fame song like 'Come What May' with us.....



I think we remembered them better than he did. We made him call our mum and sing to her. We were munted! Rest of the day is a bit of a blur but it ended with us on the main stage singing backing vocals for Sybil with Michelle Collins.

One of the greatest days of my life obvs.

I'll just leave you all with this.

RIP LEROY.

 
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We spent the whole afternoon singing EVERYTHING with him.

It was at a Pride/Summer Rites festival in Brockwell Park sometime in the late 90's/early 00's.

I remember being on the phone but could hear @mump boy screaming at me. I waved him away as I was talking to someone when he grabbed me and marched me across the backstage area to Gene Anthony Ray. I immediately hung up the phone and had a total meltdown.

He was out childhood idol. We spent ages making him sing obscure Fame song like 'Come What May' with us.....



I think we remembered them better than he did. We made him call our mum and song to her. We were munted! Rest of the day is a bit of a blur but it ended with us on the main stage singing backing vocals for Sybil with Michelle Collins.

One of the greatest days of my life obvs.

I'll just leave you all with this.

RIP LEROY.


That sounds like the best day ever!

Love how you met your childhood hero then casually ended the day singing backing vocals for Sybil.
 
And why have I only just discovered this thread? Why didn't I start it 10 years ago?

I still have all the albums on vinyl, play the first one and Best of that are on CD on a regular basis and would happily pay $250.00 to go see them in concert.

As for the show it definitely played later seasons on UK TV. I clearly remember Janet and Nia starting and a very obvious dip in quality.

There was one episode that taught me all about US immigration laws. Jesse was going to be deported as he was their illegally. Someone came up with a rule that said those with a special talent could stay. When immigration officials came to the school the students got him to sing a song (Badly) which showed off his world class talent and he was allowed to stay.

If only all those being deported by ICE at the moment had grown up in the 80's.
 
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And why have I only just discovered this thread? Why didn't I start it 10 years ago?

I still have all the albums on vinyl, play the first one and Best of that are on CD on a regular basis and would happily pay $250.00 to go see them in concert.

As for the show it definitely played later seasons on UK TV. I clearly remember Janet and Nia starting and a very obvious dip in quality.

There was one episode that taught me all about US immigration laws. Jesse was going to be deported as he was their illegally. Someone came up with a rule that said those with a special talent could stay. When immigration officials came to the school the students got him to sing a song (Badly) which showed off his world class talent and he was allowed to stay.

If only all those being deported by ICE at the moment had only grown up in the 80's.
I was obsessed with Fame in 82/83 but am quite sure it wasn't on the BBC as late as 87 - can you remember when they stopped showing it? This important question has bugged me for years!

I do remember them showing the Janet Jackson episodes.

I wish they would release the whole thing on DVD/BluRay in a big boxset with all the albums reissued too! I would love to see some of the later Janet/Billy Hufsey/Nia Peeples episodes.


 
I wonder if the concert goes well if they would consider doing some more dates??

They released the first two seasons on DVD and then... nothing.

Amazing story @Baby Clyde! As much as I would love to see this reunion, it's bittersweet that Gene Anthony Ray won't be there. He was such a magentic presence on screen.
 
They released Seasons 1 & 2 only in the end I think (Region 2 at least). I'm pretty sure S2 didn't sell much, but you could already see the cracks forming after the production team were sent on to other shows. There was one episode where they just randomly re-did The Wizard of Oz towards the end of it and I think even my trash-friendly viewing tendencies cringed at that one.

It still pisses all over Glee.
 
We spent the whole afternoon singing EVERYTHING with him.

It was at a Pride/Summer Rites festival in Brockwell Park sometime in the late 90's/early 00's.

I remember being on the phone but could hear @mump boy screaming at me. I waved him away as I was talking to someone when he grabbed me and marched me across the backstage area to Gene Anthony Ray. I immediately hung up the phone and had a total meltdown.

He was out childhood idol. We spent ages making him sing obscure Fame song like 'Come What May' with us.....



I think we remembered them better than he did. We made him call our mum and sing to her. We were munted! Rest of the day is a bit of a blur but it ended with us on the main stage singing backing vocals for Sybil with Michelle Collins.

One of the greatest days of my life obvs.

I'll just leave you all with this.

RIP LEROY.



All of this but he wasn't backstage, he was just milling about in the field. He was an absolute mess. Bumped into him again a couple of days later and he was even worse. It was all a bit sad but AMAZING as well
 
Great anecdote @Baby Clyde found it quite touching actually.

Come What May, You're The Real Music and Lay Back and Be Cool are my favourite Leroy songs.

Even though I preferred Danny and Bruno amongst the male cast members, Gene's talent and charisma were undeniable.

Although critics generally hold Fame the movie in higher regard than Fame the TV series due to the former's grittiness / realism, there was something about the TV series which stays with you throughout the years (especially the first 2 to 3 seasons).
 
Desdemona was my favourite Leroy song.

Remember the Starmaker video/scene where he's visibly all teared up? Sad times. The actor they were singing to had terminal cancer in addition to his character being fired.
 
Desdemona was my favourite Leroy song.

Remember the Starmaker video/scene where he's visibly all teared up? Sad times. The actor they were singing to had terminal cancer in addition to his character being fired.
I stll tear up at this scene now, knowing that the guy was ill in real life!
 
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