“Little Richard scared my grandmother in 1957. I was eleven years old, and on my way to her house for dinner with my parents and had just shoplifted a record in the five-and-dime. Mom and dad hadn’t even noticed. Easy pickings – the 45 of “Lucille” on the Specialty label. My favourite tune. I felt happily defiant in the backseat of the car with the sharp edge of the single jabbing my stomach beneath the sweater. Once inside Mama’s, I made a beeline to her out-of-date hi-fi and let it roll. “Lu-CILLE! You won’t do your sister’s will!” came blaring through the house like a rabid pack of dogs. It was as if a Martian had landed. My grandmother stopped in her tracks, face ashen, beyond comprehension. The antiques rattled. My parents looked stunned. In one magical moment, every fear of my white family had been laid bare: an uninvited, screaming, flamboyant black man was in the living room. Even Dr Spock hadn’t warned them about this.”
/ From the book Role Models (2010) by John Waters /
Happy heavenly birthday to Mr Show Business Personified … the Georgia Peach … the Bronze Liberace … his Royal Highness, the divine Little Richard (né Richard Wayne Penniman, 5 December 1932 - 9 May 2020)! We’ll never see Little Richard’s like again. My favourite song by his will always be “Directly from My Heart” (1959). Oh, and “The Girl Can’t Help It” (1958) of course!