Trivia of the Week - The Water Discuss Touring with The Kids from Fame

The Waters Family: Oren, Luther, Maxine and Julia performed backing vocals on The Kids from Fame Albums and toured the World with the cast performing backing vocals at the concerts. In an Interview with Christian John Wikane on Popmatters they talked about The Kids from Fame:

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In the early 1980s, Fame was a huge TV show, perhaps more so in the UK than in the states. What do you recall about touring overseas with the "Kids from Fame"?

Julia: That was a huge tour. Remember when the Beatles came over here, they called it "Beatlemania"? That's how people reacted to Fame. People were going crazy when they saw the kids from Fame. They even went so far as rocking the buses, just trying to get to us. It was crowds of people. We had to have tons of bodyguards.

Luther: You're on the road with Neil Diamond, that's pretty big, but when you're on the road and people swarm the bus as you're driving down the street? It was an experience. When you go into the arena, and you go down into the catacombs, there might be a window that goes into the outside, and people are standing in the window, saying, "Please sign this!" They would throw their booklets in. We played the most humongous venues. We played venues where there was no way that people could see us. We're not talking the Staples Center or Madison Square Garden. We're talking the big sons of guns. And they were sold out all the time!

It must have been an interesting tour because they were younger ...
Julia:... so they were crazy and wild! [laughs] You know how young people are, but that was cool too. They would jump in the pool with their clothes on. They'd come in the hotel, and you'd hear all the noise and the laughter, having a good time.

Luther: The only other adult on the tour would have been Debbie Allen. They were young adults but to me, they were all just kids. They had a lot to learn. I was, for sure, a very grown man. I had been through some things. I was the 'Grown Up' form Fame!

Julia: Janet Jackson was on that tour. She was very young and her mom had to come with us. In fact, Maxine did the voice of Janet Jackson because a lot of times, we had to cover for them on the stage. Maxine would sing her part and Janet would mimic. She'd move her mouth, but it would be Maxine singing. I don't think many people knew that, but that was the reality of it.

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