What's happening, gheorghies!!
A few of young among the gheorgherati were old enough to watch "What's Happening!!" in its original incarnation. Rob, the Daves, Danimal, the KQs, and Shlara, most likely. Others caught it via syndication. You know, as a rerun.
Rerun! Fred Berry was the actor who played Freddy "Rerun" Stubbs for each of the three seasons that "What's Happening!!" ran. The ubiquitous red beret and suspenders he donned added to his portly frame and mischievous activity. He'd bellow, "What's happenin, Raj?" to his buddy Roger upon entering the scene, while, Dwayne would arrive with a "Hey HEY hey" that leave people onscreen and off hi-fiving. A fun watch that still amuses -- especially the quick barbs from Raj's sister Dee. Yacht Rock enthusiasts love the Doobies episode.
Fred Berry also played Rerun in the redux "What's Happening Now!!" from the mid-1980s. But didn't do a whole lot else. Easy to see how he fell into typecasting hell.
Fred Berry
Meanwhile, another blast from the past was on the radio the other day. If I said to you, "Aw, Mickey, you're so fine," I trust that you all would know how to finish it.
Toni Basil! Her lone pop hit (I do not consider this piece of early 80's cheese shiz to be a hit, despite it charting), "Mickey" was actually a cover. A British glam-pop group named Racey released a song called "Kitty" in 1979. Toni and friends renamed it and added the cheerleader chant with which I opened this paragraph -- then put out a video with a whole cheerleader theme. Apparently the cheer uniform she wears is hers from back at Las Vegas High school, Class of '61. (She's 36 there.)
Toni Basil, some of you may know, had made an appearance much earlier in her career as one of Wyatt and Billy's Mardi Gras party pals. One who sheds all her clothes. When in Rome...
Toni Basil
Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy, we were recently discussing fine films unavailable for streaming these days. One old classic that can't be watched via any streaming platform at the moment takes us back to 1984, one of those apex years in music history. This film captured a pop culture nugget from the era and feature-filmed the hell out of it -- not once, but twice! In the second film they boogied so hard, it was like a booga-loo. A rather electric one at that.
Breakin'! This cult classic featured an array of break and other kinds of dancers, but its main male character was Ozone. With Turbo and Kelly, he took the art to new levels on the streets of Venice Beach. Ozone was played by Adolfo Quiñones, a dancer who went professionally by Shabba Doo. He danced in Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" (with Turbo), and he choreographed and danced in Lionel Richie's video for "All Night Long (also with Turbo)."
Supposedly, Quiñones appeared in the film Tango & Cash. but I have not yet confirmed that with the Teej.
Adolfo Quiñones / Shabba Doo
Welp, there you go. Three people with nothing in common.
Oh, wait.
Except...
Ah, yes. From 1973 until 1976, each of these people -- Fred Berry, Toni Basil, and Shabba Doo, were in a dance group called The Lockers!
The Lockers
Check it out! They called themselves that because another founding Locker, Don "Campbellock" Campbell, developed the art of locking. You know, like popping and locking?! Like the founding principles of breakdancing?!
The Lockers began as a collection of "Soul Train" dancers. They did their thing in the early 70's with some serious acrobatics, fluidity, and yep, locking. Major crowd-pleasers. This one from '76 is the best but it won't embed, so watch another below.
When Don Cornelius wouldn't pay them to stay on the show, they decided to do did their things on TV programs. Fred Berry went by "Mr. Penguin" for obvious reasons, and Toni Basil was the only female, the only Caucasian. They played on Carson, the Carol Burnett Show, and yes, even What's Happening!!
They even were featured on the 3rd-ever episode of SNL: Watch here.
And then came the commercials! If you watch just one, watch this Schlitz Malt Liquor ad. So good.
Apparently Mykelti Williamson (Bubba Blue from Forrest Gump) was an alternate member of The Lockers back then.
Most of them are gone now. Fred Berry passed first, in 2003. Greg "Campbellock Jr" Pope in 2010, Don "Campbellock" Campbell and Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones in 2020. Bill "Slim the Robot" Williams and Leo "Fluky Luke" Williamson are still around, as is Toni Basil, who's 81 now.
But once upon a time, they were somethin'. The Lockers.
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