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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchives‘A CHOO-CHOO TRAIN, RUNNING DOWN THE TRACK'

‘A CHOO-CHOO TRAIN, RUNNING DOWN THE TRACK'

The Tom Joyner Show has been described as a "Choo-choo train, running down the track."
There is no doubting the childish glee of talent and audience, nor the huge momentum of the product. To attend a show is to become caught up in the movement, the rhythm, the excitement; and go along for the ride.
Not since the days of Hurricane Marilyn when Frenchman's Reef acted as the Disaster Field Office for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, and the Virgin Islands National Guard; has there been so much traffic. To come late to a Tom Joyner Show at the Reef could result in a half-mile walk from the nearest parking space.
Tom Joyner, Jay Anthony Brown, Sybil Wilkes, Ms. Dupree, and Myra J worked from the stage at one end of the fully extended Frenchman's Reef Grand Ballroom. "Worked from" is the operative phrase. While no one was stable, fixed, whatever; Joyner and especially Brown literally worked the entire room.
And what a room. According to a Frenchman's Reef official, the Grand Ballroom has a 1,200 person capacity, and filled to capacity it was. Extremely polite, but wary security guards worked with Frenchman's Reef personnel to maintain emergency isles and doorways; but it was hard labor.
Super model Tyson B. made the scene along with DougE Fresh. Tyson was immediately caught up in the movement ending with a crowd inspired demand to exhibit his famous torso. Needless to say, the crowd was most satisfied.
Hand DougE Fresh a microphone and you get a one-man band. He started out with a rhythm section and accelerated into a full production number. His act reminded one of old time radio and the sound effects man, updated to the funk scene.
Christian comic Jonathan Slocum dropped by to join in the fun and was almost immediately eclipsed by the weekend's head liner Sinbad. Fortunately Slocum and JA Brown did have an opportunity to get it on for a couple numbers which were obviously close to the audience's soul.
A recurring Sinbad theme is the opportunity for blacks to exercise their versatility in the economic marketplace. He quickly rapped on not only black credit cards and computer ownership, but also on the Brotherhood for Ski and the Brotherhood for Scuba which got a round of applause from several members of those organizations in the audience. It was nice to see Sinbad's parents were in his company on the stage. According to the ‘Bad, his mother is responsible for elevating a poor white boy riding a bicycle in the neighborhood when she gave him her recipe for fried chicken and he went National with Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Joyner announced next Friday's show would be live at the Funky Good Time Festival sponsored by Southwest Airlines. After surfing the web we finally found out where. Going to the source, www.tjms.com we found a chat in the "Express Yourself" page which indicated there is a Sky Show in Dallas on the 5th and a Funky Good Time Concert. Evidently those in the Dallas area next weekend are in for a treat.

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