90's R&B Super Group SWV returns with same soul, new album
Pop/R&B group SWV is releasing their first album in 14 years. "I Missed Us" hit stores 4/17, and the first single "Co-Sign" has just entered the top 10 at Urban AC radio and is still growing.The group talks exclusively with Urban Suburban Senior Correspondent Manny McDonnell Smith about the reasons behind the groups' split, getting back together, and why this was the right time to return.
by Manuel McDonnell Smith
“We’re moving forward, we’re getting things done, and preparing for a great future”. Despite the chilly wind that whipped across the Schuylkill that morning, and the hum of the buzzing traffic below, the assembled crowd of citizens, media, top politicians, and even a marching band quieted to hear the words he would use to mark this great occasion. “Welcome to the New South Street Bridge” Mayor Michael Nutter exclaimed in celebration of the opening of the brand new span, delivered not only on-time, but under budget. Projects like this are proof of a New Philadelphia, under new city leadership he explained, “Almost three years ago, I promised a new day” he boasted to cheers of an approving crowd. I wonder if he thought of me as he made that statement, because he had to have seen the police and paramedics just outside our door early that morning.
I’m Robert Lancaster, life-long Philadelphia Resident. As you all celebrated this “new day”, of Saturday, November 6, 2010, it was unfortunately, my last. Just before he dashed off to the bridge’s ribbon cutting ceremony, my relatives found me beaten, and dead in the second floor bedroom of my home on the 2300 block of North 50th Street, just a few steps down from the home of my neighbor, Mayor Michael Nutter.
“We’re moving on up, mooovin on up”, the theme song of The Jefferson’s used to say. Everyone thought the show was a joke, but that was exactly what I did. Life was never a joke for me, I worked hard, and hustled after graduating from West Philadelphia High School. Eventually, my wife Dee and I had enough to “move on up” to Wynnefield. Having the tiny shops of City Line Avenue just to the north, and the views of Belmont Plateau we’re not just enough for us, we purchased the best house on 2300 North 50th Street. A mixed-race block, it had been a long time home to the city’s elite citizens even before the Mayor’s family moved in. There were professors, doctors, judges, and even a Rabbi that lived on the block when we moved in. But even they loved our home, I didn’t invite them all inside, but all of their kids ran over to swim in our backyard pool during those blistering hot summers.
To hear them tell it, I let the house crumble. My neighbors were always about the “show”, they said this was one of the best blocks in the city, and they always wanted it to look like that. It wasn’t too long after I moved in that they began complaining about the cars that on the driveway, and sometimes on the street in front of the house.
Just the tiniest nick, or bit of rust, and people get ready to dump perfectly good vehicles. See, I was always good with my hands, mechanically inclined Old vehicles to them, I planned on fixing them back up, and probably selling’em. I did the same thing with the properties they said I owned in North Philly, “Slumlord” they liked to say, but I saw the potential. So every morning, I loaded into my white pickup, with the ladder on top, and made my rounds.
There were so many good memories in that home, that I could still see every time I walked in. Channel 6 interviewing my son on the lawn just before he graduated from Central High School, and hmmm…you should have seen Dee, making all the neighbors and the cameras marvel at the gown she had on that day. She was the Queen of our home, and wanted to make sure that everyone knew it. So even when the kids, and Dee got older, and moved down South, it
was too hard for me to leave all that I’d built up here. Sure, Philly was going through a rough patch, jobs were scarce, people were moving out to the suburbs, and a rising tide of crime was facing those of us that were left. Still, this was my city, I believed in it, and in fact, I voted in every election. The right vote, for the right person could turn it all around, and I wanted to see it.
With two daughters and a son, you know I couldn’t help but have more than a few grandchildren. And I loved them, as they did me. So although I had all of this stuff going on in Philly, I would go down to spend every holiday with them. And seeing Dee too, slowly visits of a few weeks at a time, turned into a few months at a time. I was getting to be an old man, and I couldn’t move as fast as I used to. Being untouched, and uncared for took its’ toll on my home. It wasn’t until the chimney fell down, bringing down the side wall and damaging my neighbors’ home that I knew how bad it was.
In a town like Philadelphia, you can’t help but to know people, especially after being here so long. It was slow, but I always had a contractor or two working on the property, trying to get it back into to shape. But eventually, as with most home repairs, there was always a disagreement. Maybe it was the quality of their work, or the fact that I would miss their pay dates due to my frequent trips down south. Some of them would be so angry that they would stalk outside my home, alerting my neighbors to the fact that there was a problem.
Growing up through the civil rights movement, I knew how important the right to vote was for our people. On that Tuesday, going through the crowd of TV Cameras waiting for the Mayor to come cast his ballot, I greeted my neighbors, as I always did on election days. With all of the back and forth trips to the South, you can understand why folks were not too bothered by the fact that they didn’t really see me the rest of that week.
The thing folks remember most about winter, is that the sun rises real late. It makes people rise later than usual. Not too long before 9 that morning, my nephew came looking for me. He didn’t expect to see what he found. A call to 9-1-1 was made expecting to save a life, but when paramedics arrived, they discovered that they needed to call the coroner.
Police say officially that the motive for my murder is unknown, but some speculate that an angry contractor was responsible for ending my life. Either way, detectives have just gotten around to releasing a wanted poster for 43 year old Edward Gause. Formerly of Philadelphia, he is known to also have an address in Baltimore, but has not been seen in this city since the incident. They’re asking anyone with information to reach out to the Homicide unit.
One of my closest neighbors told a reporter "I don't think a person deserves to die like that", and it’s true, no one does. Fact remains that it’s too late for me in this case, but you can do me a favor. Keep an eye on my neighbor for me. He pledged that there would be a new city, with new ways of doing things, new opportunities for its citizens, and safer streets. He fell short on that last promise to me. For you though, there’s still time to make sure that he holds true to all of them.
