AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nipsey Russell

Artist:Nipsey Russell

Song:What Would I Do If I Could Feel?

Album:The Wiz: Original Soundtrack

Julius "Nipsey" Russell was a comedian best known for his many TV appearances. He was a comic poet. He rarely appeared in films. And he made his only singing appearance as The Tin Man in the 1978 film of the Broadway musical The Wiz. He was born Sept. 15, 1918 in Atlanta. When he died, his birthdate was reported as 1924. But the Social Security Death Index confirms it as 1918. His mother gave him the nickname Nipsey. Russell served as a medic in the US Army during WWII. He started performing in nightclubs in the 50s. He was a straight man for comedian Mantan Moreland doing the "interruption" routine that Moreland did in Charlie Chan films. Spike Lee did a tribute to this in the 2000 film Bamboozled. After Russell appeared on a 1957 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, he appeared several times on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. He was a regular on the popular sitcom Car 54, Where Are You?. He was a co-host on ABC's The Les Crane Show. And he starred in the 1970 sitcom of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. After that he appeared regularly on The Dean Martin Show. And that led to The Wiz. Of course The Wiz was an all black Broadway musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Most of the songs were written by Charlie Smalls. Stephanie Mills played Dorothy, Stu Gilliam played The Scarecrow and Tiger Haynes played The Tin Man. The show was a big hit on Broadway. But when Motown bought the film rights to the show, they decided to turn it into an all star extravaganza. Of course their big mistake was casting Diana Ross as Dorothy as she was too old and her voice isn't good enough. But what did you expect? Quincy Jones composed the score and along with Ashford & Simpson added a couple of songs. The film was a big bomb. Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor co-starred. What Would I Do If I Could Feel? was one of two songs that Russell performed in the film. It's his only singing appearance. Russell had been a regular on game shows like To Tell the Truth and The Match Game and he returned to that. In the 90s, Russell appeared regularly on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. After an appearance on a 2003 episode of Hollywood Squares, Nipsey Russell died on Oct. 2, 2005 at age 87. Here's Nipsey Russell performing What Would I Do If I Could Feel? from the 1978 film The Wiz.