(upbeat music playing)
Allee: Six weeks ago,
I'm sitting in my house
thinking no one knows me,
no one knows who I am.
Ooh, hoo
- Allee: When the phone rings.
- (phone ringing)
Allee: It's a friend.
He's just read
that the Russian government
singled me out
as the most dangerous person
in the world.
Reporter: The Russians call her
the most dangerous woman
in America.
(party blower honks)
This is the most
dangerous woman in America.
Dangerous person.
Ooh, hoo
Oh, my God. Well,
we knew that to begin with,
but I'm glad she got
the Pravda seal of approval.
The most dangerous
person in the world.
- (indistinct chatter over TV)
- Reporter 2: Allee Willis.
- (laughs)
- She was very proud.
Attention was never bad.
Reubens: I'm sure Allee
called up the LA Times
to get that article going.
Don't you think?
Yeah
Why do they call you that?
I wrote a song
called "Neutron Dance."
They mistranslated
as "Neutron b*mb."
(audience laughing)
Burning
Doin' the neutron dance
The song, "Neutron Dance,"
was really very much
about "You can change
your life, it's in your hands."
Someone could push
the button tomorrow
and we could all be up
in smoke, so do not sit here
and complain,
do something about your life.
- And...
- (audience cheering)
- Yeah.
- Now, see, there you go.
(audience cheering)
They just took that to mean,
you know, "Blow up the world."
Ooh, hoo
Ooh, hoo
We kinda left it
how she left it.
Smooch mark, which I look
at that and I say,
"Well, she was saving
that for something
because I end up seeing
these in other places."
Her house is kind
of like Graceland.
I mean, since her death,
nothing's been touched.
There's all kinds
of crazy stuff up along here
like for instance,
the spitball gum catcher.
(rustles)
Sean: Allee Willis' shoes.
Cyndi Lauper.
It's got to be Bob Dylan.
Random, old computer parts.
Feig: Warhol, at the end
of each year,
he would just sweep everything
off of his desk into a box.
And it seems like Allee
did the same thing. (chuckles)
Just a little closet
with just a couple things in it.
I thought it was crazy.
What is she going
to do with this?
Out the corner of my eye,
I saw this person
with these pants
that looked like the dots
on the end of Wonder Bread.
Somebody else might
look like a derelict,
but it worked for her.
I don't think people realized
how she touched their lives.
She was ahead of her time.
The acknowledgement
and validation,
it wasn't gonna come to her
so quickly or easily
in this lifetime.
Allee: My feeling was
I'm not gonna be
discovered artistically
until after I'm gone.
Reporter: Her name
may not be familiar to you.
Her music certainly will be.
Reporter 2: She sold
over 60 million records.
She's an Emmy, Tony
and Grammy winner.
Reporter 3:
She was an artist...
- Reporter 4: Art director...
- Reporter 5: Set designer...
Reporter 6: She had an early
presence on the internet.
Allee Willis.
My Andy Warhol
of my scene, of my time.
She's damn near
written half my memories.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome
Allee Willis to the show.
- Yeah!
- Yeah.
I'm the world's
best kept secret.
- Yeah!
- (host chuckles)
(soft music playing)
Andrae: She said, "I don't
feel that these projects
will be completed
while I'm alive,
so I want to do my best
to tell you all
what to do." Basically. (laughs)
Allee: I all of a sudden
became conscious
that someone actually
would read this
and I really should
be commenting to the person
reading this
'cause I've always known
that my final art piece would
be someone putting together
the trail I've left behind.
Sean: These are
the kinds of things
that we're digitizing.
My name is Allee Willis.
They have filmed
my life since 1978.
They had video cameras in 1978?
Yes, they did.
I was the original
reality show.
There's always filming here.
We're on the air.
Yeah! So, she trips out.
Hi, Hollywood.
What was interesting
is this was done
before everybody was doing it.
Mark: Her life was a movie.
I only hired the finest in crew.
And she was always
rewriting the script.
Host: Maybe
it makes sense now
because you have everything.
Allee: This room is my computer.
There's 1,000 terabytes here.
She would've loved
to have been sitting
in that chair
asking me about her.
Dream come true. No question.
I can practically
hear her talking,
telling people
who's directing it
and who's doing it
and who's in it.
- (chuckles)
- Oh, yeah.
All this is going on and Allee
is orchestrating
all of this from above.
Clapper: A mark.
Allee, I am talking about you
in your house.
Have you ever been happier?
You're gone. I'm in your house
doing a documentary about you.
(chuckles)
Ready to roll?
Stan: And you're probably
discovering things
as you go along the way
that she has given you
and this movie license
to find out parts of her
that for whatever reason,
didn't feel comfortable
or wasn't ready yet.
I think there was a lot
going on in here that...
nobody knew about.
The camera's rolling?
I've been under a lot
of pressure lately.
Pamela: Allee was an open book,
but everybody has
an intensely private side.
That's it.
Put it on pause.
Shut the camera.
I always knew that in the end,
I wouldn't let myself down
and chicken out
right before my death
and destroy everything.
I'm gonna shut you off.
She literally knew that
this would be the process.
Allee: Ta-dum!
Friend: Allee, honest to God.
Open up the light.
Allee: Wait a minute,
you've never...
You don't know
that this is here?
This is one of the greatest
spaces in the house.
You're gonna die.
My very first songs
through my first hits,
like, through the song
I'm writing today.
Every sheet of paper,
including background notes
and scratching things out.
Coffee stain.
- Friend: How many songs?
- Thousands.
Interviewer: Were you always
such a success?
I actually started
from scratch.
I started writing in 1972
in New York,
but I've moved
to California because
if I'm gonna starve to death,
I'm doing it in the sun.
Bruce:
Anybody who wanted
to make it in the
music business
had migrated out here.
And Allee lived in this
terribly ratty apartment...
(chuckles)
...on Hollywood Boulevard.
She already had beginnings
of her collections.
A world that was
Allee Willisville.
What we're here
for today is to look
at my postcard collection.
Can you come in and...
Satellites,
the whole shape is atomic.
There was an abandonment
of any kind
of accepted rules to style.
Everyone took chances.
That's what I like about it.
Everyone had guts and that's
what I wanna be doing.
All my friends
were songwriters,
my whole little clique,
we were basically
just starving together.
I was getting food stamps.
Even when it's bleak,
you do not feel
like a starving songwriter.
You're young,
you're in this clique of people
trying to do the same thing.
We are here to document
the album that hopefully
will build us house additions,
allow us to go to Tahiti
on the weekends and...
Do you remember
when you called me to tell me
that Daddy had had
a mild heart attack?
- Kent: Right.
- Allee: And he always asked me
how much money I had,
and I would never tell him.
That day when he asked me,
I told him, and I had 74 cents.
That was the last thing
that he said to you.
And so, I totally took that
to mean, you know...
I did cause the heart attack.
I certainly, you know,
was the trigger.
She was fearless.
Fearless 'cause she took
chances to do what she wanted.
Allee: My father only wanted me
to be a teacher
and get married.
(soft music playing)
I remember very well
when Allee was born. (chuckles)
There was a new,
little princess in the house.
She couldn't wait for Daddy
to come home
and dance around with her.
Allee: He had
an incredible personality.
Especially when he was
trying to impress you.
He lit up like a Christmas tree
or a Hanukkah bush.
My mom was a teacher.
I was the only one
of all my friends
who had a mom that worked.
I had a great relationship
with my mom.
Detroit in the '50s,
everything was wild.
Colors and cars.
It was such a golden city.
Spent every Saturday
at my dad's scrap yard.
Thrill of my life.
Just the different
things everywhere,
it didn't look like junk.
To me, they were all toys.
My father was always like,
"Why can't she be
more feminine?"
I was an outrageous tomboy.
And my dad would
always tell her,
"You should be wearing a dress."
Marlen: He wanted her to be
like the other little girls.
Allee was of a different mold.
All right, get a word,
like a four syllable word,
or two... A three syllable word.
Not like simple,
like, indulgence.
Something that you
have to do every time.
- Compulsion.
- Compulsion.
Allee: Beginning of 1978,
I was in LA on welfare.
Patti LaBelle heard some stuff
of mine, tracked me down,
flew me to San Francisco,
gave me money to do demos.
Little girls sleep at night
Safe inside their dreams
Is it a scheme
They think
They'll grow up into queens
All of her songs told stories.
I mean, it was like her lyrics
were just so emotional.
Come and hold me tight
Don't turn off the light
Just let your words
Embrace me
Like a father's loving arms
Protect me from the night
It will be all right
'Cause tonight
I'm just a little girl
Back in the day,
there weren't many
lady songwriters.
As women,
we were pushed back a bit.
Allee: So, I feel very blessed
that she's
where my break came from.
My career is a hundred percent.
Nothing's happening, nothing's
happening, nothing happening,
and then something so, like,
massive drops from the heavens.
(car horn honking)
When I first moved here in 1976
to work in the music business,
a friend told me
to call Allee Willis.
So, I called her
on the telephone,
and she said she'd come
and pick me up.
- (car horn honking)
- Carole: The automobile
was not your
run of the mill automobile,
nor was this girl
who picked me up
your run of the mill girl.
And I thought,
"Well, this is the beginning
of something fabulous."
Allee: Carole Childs
in the late '70s
and '80s was without question
the most powerful female
in the music business.
Carole: I introduced her
to Earth, Wind & Fire
even though it seemed
rather strange.
They were gigantic.
Allee Willis was just
this girl songwriter.
It was incongruous.
To me it wasn't strange
and that's the key
to being an A&R person.
They took a chance on her,
but I thought, "This is gonna be
a wondrous experience."
Allee: Earth, Wind & Fire
was like at the top
of the charts then.
So, I am going on sheer nerve.
I'm getting this opportunity.
I can either be
incredibly scared
or I can go, "This is
an incredible experience
that most people don't get
and this is what
I want to go with."
She was really
different, you know?
Her style, her cars.
And her and Maurice,
she'd show him this lyric.
He said, "Let's change this,"
and he'd write something.
It's writing a book, you know,
when people sit down
and they work
on a script together.
It was just really a flow.
The song was a filler
because we were
in between albums.
So, we put a single out with
the greatest hits volume one.
(soft music playing)
Allee: And the record
was out in three weeks,
and my life changed.
("September"
by Earth, Wind & Fire plays)
Do you remember
The 21st night of September
Love was changin'
The minds of pretenders
While chasin'
The clouds away
Allee: It was
this outrageous break
that these people gave me.
Allee delivered.
She delivered in a big way.
Verdine: Allee says
she was lucky to meet us.
We were lucky to meet her too.
That was life-changing
for all of us.
It's the fifth
most successful song
in the history
of the music business.
Ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Luenell: Everybody sings
it when it comes on.
It just brings people together.
Every time I hear "September"
I go lose my mind.
Hey, yeah
Ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Allee: I learned
the biggest songwriting lesson
of my life.
Maurice would always say
the phrase "Ba-dee-ya"
and I argued
all the way through, like,
"Who's gonna know
what 'Ba-dee-ya' means?"
And Maurice finally,
he said, "Who the f*ck cares?"
And I learned never let
the lyric get in the way
of the groove.
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Allee: I asked Maurice
why I was chosen for that gig.
He said, "I had a vibe
that you were put here
as a communicator
and that messages
would come through you."
And that blew my mind.
The more I go through life,
I go, "Oh, my God.
That guy saw who I was,
decades before I realized it."
(projector whirring)
Interviewer: Do you think
growing up in Detroit
when Motown Records
was coming up
- had a big impact on you?
- Allee: Yes.
Like 12 Mack Trucks
hitting a flea.
(jazz music playing)
Allee: There is no question
I never would've
become a songwriter
had I not grown up there.
The first Motown single
I listened to was "Money"
by Barrett Strong,
and I went completely nuts.
The best things
In life are free
Allee: And that was
when my life changed.
- I need money
- That's what I want
That's what I want
Allee: I had other favorites.
"Bye Bye Baby" by Mary Wells.
You know you took my heart
- And you broke it apart
- Ooh
Allee: There were
very few female songwriters
in those days
and she wrote that song.
You gonna want
My love someday
Well, a bye-bye, baby
Allee: She had this
really gravelly voice.
I just had never, ever heard
anything like that.
Hey, bye-bye, baby
- Ooh
- You over here
Bye-bye, baby
Martha: For the confused
and frustrated today.
Allee: And there was
one DJ in particular,
Martha Jean, "The Queen."
And I would listen
to her religiously.
Radio announcer:
It's Super Soul hit!
Allee: And for me it was
my introduction to Black music.
And not just Motown,
but a lot of other stuff
that White people,
like, never heard.
Interviewer: Did you grow up
in a Jewish neighborhood?
Allee: Yeah,
a Jewish neighborhood.
The school was
half White Jewish, half Black,
and near the twain shall meet.
There was two Black stations
in Detroit,
and then there were
the White pop stations.
But I was always twisting
the dial down
to the Black stations.
I drove my father crazy.
We had constant radio battles.
We fought all the time.
Marlen: My dad became
a power in her life
because the situation
demanded it.
Had my mother lived,
his influence
would've not been that great.
(soft music playing)
Allee: My mom passed away
when I was 15, suddenly.
Marlen: It was a total shock.
Allee was alone at that time
because both my brother
and I were out of the house.
Allee: The first thing
I did when my mother died
was cut out recipes
and cook for my father.
But then he was never home.
My best friend at the time
was the only other
person I knew
that had lost a parent.
So, I introduced my father
to her mother three weeks
after my mom died.
My father started dating
right away
and got married right away.
She really had her
life turned upside down.
The house was sold,
things were thrown away.
Photographs, artwork,
we don't know
what happened to it.
She didn't even get
to take Casey, her dog.
And I cried in the night
When my mama died
No tears
In her old man's eyes
Marlen: My mother
was Allee's protector
and that protection was gone.
Mama's words rang
Loud and clear
Ain't no man worth it
Ain't no man worth it
Kent: The new wife
had two daughters
who were very
much unlike Allee.
Marlen: Girly-type people.
We all psychically
took after our father.
My dad really liked
the daughters.
Allee was replaced.
Allee: My home life
became very chaotic.
So, as soon as
I got home from school,
I would jump in the car
and drive around
and listen to the radio.
Motown literally
was my babysitter.
When I got my driver's license,
I lived at Motown,
outside, never went in.
I would sit on the lawn,
you could hear the music
coming through the walls
'cause it's just
this tiny, little house.
That music saved me.
When most kids go to college,
their fathers give them
a little love note
or at least good luck
in the future.
Here's what I got
from my father.
"Stay away
from Black culture. Dad."
Luenell: She showed me
the note her daddy wrote,
"Stay away from Black culture."
Right? Like calm down.
Michael: Even then,
she cataloged that.
She knew, "This is
a significant direction
in my life right now.
I'm being told not to be me."
(light piano music playing)
Allee: I was 22
when I wrote my
very first song,
and I was on a bus coming down
at Columbus Avenue
and I just started writing
and I had a complete lyric
by the time I was home.
But at the time, I had a job
at the biggest record company,
Columbia Records in New York.
I started as a secretary,
but I got promoted
to a junior copywriter,
which meant you were writing
the liner notes
on the back of the album.
And she would send out
these press releases
that were hilarious.
So, you could see a wit
behind all of this.
Allee: But what I really wanted
was to write my own songs.
I went and bought a piano
and I bought a big
reel-to-reel tape recorder,
and that's when I tried
to take lessons.
But as soon as they would
have you do the scales,
I would start hearing melodies.
Do, do, do
So, I just never could learn.
I can plunk out chords.
I hear every single note
in my head.
All right, this is it.
Ooh
I wrote ten songs
and I took them to my boss.
Didn't tell them who it was
because it was
a conflict of interest.
He loved them. Got a deal.
My first
and only album. Childstar.
I was so excited.
Oh, how, I don't know how
I loved you that way
- I don't know why
- I don't know why
I don't know why
I loved you that way
Carole: They were lovely,
simplistic songs,
and I thought this girl
has the gift of simplicity
because wonderful songs
have an ease to them.
She had that.
("I Have"
by Allee Willis plays)
I have a nose
That curves like air
And leads the way
To my mouth
That chews my thoughts
And talks my talk
Mm
The writing was wonderful,
but didn't really make a dent.
Marlen: Even though
it was not a big seller,
it was a triumph for her.
Allee: It actually
got great reviews,
but it had zero sales.
I'm proud of myself
for just staying with it.
I'm gonna do something else.
Bruce: She had her head c*ck
in another direction
by that time. I think that
she had already decided
that she was gonna stake
herself out as a writer.
Allee: My very first cover
was for Bonnie Raitt.
Which was 1974,
"Got You on My Mind."
I got you on my mind
Got you, got you on my mind
I got you on my mind
Got you on my mind
Allee: Four years later,
it just exploded.
(upbeat music playing)
Allee:
After "September" was out,
we were also writing
the whole I Am album.
That was mind blowing.
Podcast host: We can't ignore
that you wrote "In the Stone."
Allee: Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah
- Love
- Ah
- Written in the stone
It was a great, powerful record.
The last song to be recorded
was "Boogie Wonderland."
("Boogie Wonderland
by Earth, Wind & Fire plays)
Allee: And people always say,
"Oh, that song
makes me so happy."
And it's like, "Have you
listened to the lyric?"
The mirror stares you
In the face and says
Baby, uh, uh, it don't work
Allee: Someone whose life
was falling apart,
but would escape
into this world of dance.
- Dance
- Mm, dance
- Boogie Wonderland
- Yeah
Allee: That's one of
the most major influences
of Motown on me, that you
could take whatever problems
you may be experiencing
in your everyday life,
make it upbeat.
The music can lift you up.
It's just a way
of reaching people.
Hey, hey, dance
Allee: In 1979, the year
of Saturday Night Fever,
I sold more records than any
other artist but the Bee Gees.
This morning, one of
the most versatile songwriters
in the country.
- Reporter: Allee Willis.
- Reporter 2: Now, you may not
have heard of that name,
chances are
you will find her name
listed on one of your albums.
Reporter 3: Female songwriters
are few and far between.
Reporter 4: She has
written hundreds of songs.
Reporter 5: Recorded by
some of the top artists
in the industry today.
Allee: Superstars, Bob Dylan.
(upbeat music playing)
Bob: Well, this is great.
I feel more inspired.
I mean, I know you're
probably really busy.
Allee: Well, I'm busy,
but I definitely
want to do this.
James Brown.
Do it, whoo
- (laughs)
- Ed: That's beautiful.
Allee's friend: We're sitting
at the home of Allee Willis
and I see eight
fascinating feet.
Now, we're going to try
to match those feet
to the people who own them.
We have here,
the ever tasteful Little Two.
Such a star.
My publisher said,
"There's this girl who's...
She's getting a lot of hits.
She's really cool
and she's got 200 pairs
of saddle shoes."
Two hundred pairs
of saddle shoes?
I'm there.
This is my friend,
the famous singer,
Lauren Wood.
We need some light here.
And this person,
believe it or not,
has had several hit records
herself as a singer.
I wrote "Fallen", a huge hit
on the Pretty Woman soundtrack.
(chuckles)
I have fallen for you
Lauren: Allee seemed
so familiar to me,
like I had known her before.
And she was the first one
I ever co-wrote with
and it was really easy.
And we would never just
sit there and write a song.
All right, now
we're on the chorus.
Lauren: We would be eating,
driving around town,
videotaping something.
It was such a ride.
We just had a blast.
She was the one who said,
"So, what's going on here
with us?"
I'm thinking,
"She's a straight girl,
what does she mean?" (chuckles)
She knew I was g*y.
She said, "There's something
going on here."
I went, "Whoa!" (laughs)
Allee: Where are
these shoes from?
Are these like beautician shoes?
Lauren: She didn't want me
telling friends
that we were together.
So, people would ask,
"So, what have you been up to?
What are you doing?"
I would go, "I don't know.
I'm just around, doing nothing."
I will wait for you
It was hard
not telling my friends
because I'd have to just hem
and haw like, "What am I doing?
What have you been doing
for the past year?"
You don't seem to be clear
But I will stay with you
It's all that I can do
We would just hear rumors,
but she wasn't really open
and people were not open then.
Coming out was a big deal.
Fools dancing in the dark
In the industry then,
if you were a g*y woman,
whoa, it's like...
Stan: Allee was still
a songwriter that had
to sell herself and get
in there and sell her songs.
So, perception
of how people felt about you
was important back then.
Allee had this big,
booming voice
and it was kind of deep
and she always thought people
would think she's g*y.
Allee:
When Allee graduated college,
she started to wear pants
and T-shirts.
Allee: Before that I was like,
"What would
a college girl wear?"
Like, not expressive at all.
And then someone took me
to a thrift shop
and my life changed.
Kent: And my dad, he would say,
"Tell Allee to wear a dress."
He wanted her
not to be different.
Like, but that's who she was.
(soft music playing)
Allee: When I
was seven years old,
we were in Miami Beach,
that's where we used
to go for vacation.
And I was at the pool.
These two very
non-Jewish-looking blondes
walk in with the bodies.
First time I ever saw a bikini.
I remember thinking,
"Yeah, I'll never be them."
I had a whole body sensation,
like, I knew this is gonna stay
with me the rest of my life.
I constantly questioned
my femininity and I hated that.
I had a running
emotional struggle
which was "Am I acting
like a woman?"
Allee:
I had horrible experiences
on stage
when Childstar came out.
Host: The Allee Willis show.
Interviewer: Okay.
Allee: We have
to test this anyway.
Interviewer: Okay.
Allee:
Interviewer:
Allee:
Allee:
Interviewer:
Allee:
(audience cheering, applauding)
Allee: I know.
First time we're all onstage.
Audience member:
Sing it, Allee! Go ahead!
(Allee singing indistinctly)
Allee:
So, think about Allee
not feeling
she could be totally herself.
And what was that?
Did she know what it was?
Watchin' all the
other girls
As they do things right
Ah
Ooh
Allee: When you start
writing songs,
Michael: "How can I make it
part of me?"
That's it.
"How can I make this
part of me?"
(exhales) That's what
she was trying to do.
"How can I make this
part of me?
Not me part of it."
Just really hit me that
she was always trying
to make what happened
to her part of her.
Allee: I can't believe this,
I have to go through
this every day.
Most people just get dressed.
I have to stitch
my clothes together.
You think I should wear this?
Ed: Well you know,
it depends on
- how you want to look.
- Allee: Fabulous.
And if this doesn't say it.
It's the Allee Willis cut.
You get up in the morning
and you decide,
"I'd like to wear something."
What? Interesting, flamboyant?
Allee: I don't think there's
a look that I'm aiming for.
I think there's a look I have.
She had this
coat couture feeling about her.
Reporter: Clothing
she's designed herself.
She did brand herself,
but it was true for her.
Let's go
Lesley: She was who she was
from the very beginning.
Let's go, let's go,
Let's really go
One more round, girls
Come on.
Host: Away from the studio,
she spends her time at home
in a quiet neighborhood
in the San Fernando Valley.
She could pick a house anywhere,
but she picked the valley.
Bruce: The valley was,
there was standard jokes
of what's the difference
between syphilis and a condo
in the valley?
Well you can get rid
of syphilis.
Do, do, do, do,
Do, do, do, do, do
People, they wouldn't come.
You'd have to go meet
your friends somewhere else.
Reporter: Allee's house,
out of the '30s,
Modern style, deco.
William Kesling, the architect.
Allee: My house was built
as the party house
for MGM in 1937.
Julie: She loved the style
of it when it was built
and what happened there.
That wasn't how people picked
out houses, but she did.
Reporter:
And are you beginning
to get the picture
of Allee now?
She may work very successfully
in the 1980s,
but she lives in another time.
Bruce: She began
redoing that house.
It was awesome.
Cyndi: She wanted to make
the cement blue,
to make it do this, you know?
Like a river.
Allee: Okay,
that's the backyard.
I love this.
And then she painted it pink
as it should be.
(doorbell ringing)
Hi.
"You bought this house."
That's what she would
tell me, you know?
And I said, "Where's my bedroom,
Allee, where's my bedroom?"
More round, girls
Let the Boy Scouts hear you
One for your mother
And two for your teachers
And three for the pretty boys
In a row
One for the money
Charles: She's one of
the few people I know
that actually created her own
theme park inside and out.
So, you can't just have
a blank wall.
I mean, if you're gonna
put in a wall and a gate,
it's gotta be something special.
A radio, a TV tube.
I won these when I was seven
and Allee mounted them
in her wall.
- Allee: Yeah.
- Allee's friend: Thanks Allee.
She curated all the objects
in her house.
You know,
you went into her house
and there weren't things
that were there by accident.
You go to the bathroom,
you were endlessly entertained
by the items in the room,
in a little, tiny bathroom.
Absolutely meant
to brighten up your day,
everything is meant
to make you happy.
- Catch is...
- Allee's friend: Worst taste.
- Worst taste...
- But taking it seriously.
Yeah. And executing it
as if it were the...
- Zenith of perfection.
- Yeah.
- The zenith of perfection.
- I like it.
Study of human nature
at its core, I think.
Whoever made it had
just pure passion.
I'm very much fed
by what's around me
and having this stuff
does give me the strength
to go, "I gotta be me."
Mr. T puppet.
Now, is that not incredible?
Guest:
Guest 2:
Guest 3: Yeah.
- It's set the scene.
- Whoo!
My friend, Cassandra Peterson,
AKA Elvira called me
and said, "Oh, my God,
you have to meet this woman."
She has bowling ba*ls
sunk in her front lawn.
- (upbeat music playing)
- (laughs)
Reubens: Love at first sight.
We were just
so on the same page.
Allee:
Oh, God, that's incredible.
"To my darling Allee,
Merry Christmas.
Your sh*t is so together.
Keep clean."
It's just totally changed
the entire thing.
Allee drew all these incredibly
creative people to her.
We were all part of
that odd object collection.
Look who these people are!
Allee's house was ground zero
of all the beautiful freaks
- in the '80s.
- (upbeat music playing)
I don't wanna know
What's really going on
Siedah: Allee Willis' little,
"Oh, I'm just throwing
a little party,"
it was like a surprise party
no matter what it was.
Lauren:
The parties were art to her.
Not just to blow out candles
- and sing Happy Birthday.
- No, no, no.
They're all very
theme oriented.
There's always
homemade souvenirs.
Any games you play consist
of homemade stuff.
Mark: A little more humorous
and a little more ironic.
That's the side of LA
that you don't hear about a lot.
Allee: There are usually
about 300 people.
You can walk into
these parties,
not know anyone,
and have a great time.
I remember meeting
Angeline in the kitchen,
and I met Carrie Fisher,
Tab Hunter.
Mark: Timothy Leary,
Katie Sagal.
Jeff: Linda Ronstadt.
Got to smoke a joint
in the bathroom
- with Joni Mitchell.
- Come on now!
It wasn't all like pop stars
and rock stars.
You know,
you could be a welder,
but as long as you were
a fabulous vision welder,
- you know, you were there.
- (audience laughing)
I would go,
"Oh, Allee, this is too much."
"Just relax.
Everything's gonna be fine."
She helped you surrender
to whatever the scene was.
- (upbeat music playing)
- (crowd cheering)
Carole: I remember once
she had a pajama party.
I went to the house
in a night gown.
Who does this?
I looked very glamorous
in those pajamas
- I'll have you know.
- (music concludes)
She wanted you to understand
that any fear
that you had was unnecessary.
Any self-consciousness
was unnecessary.
Feig: You very rarely meet
those people
who are, like, pushing you
to be your best
and to see the world
differently, and that was Allee.
(upbeat music playing)
Reporter:
This woman is writing a song,
but Allee Willis has had
some practice at it.
Allee: I have tried to make
my work pleasurable
and not to be
a very painful, tortured,
way to eke out a living,
you know, which it is
for a lot of songwriters.
I was a machine.
I would write five,
600 songs a year.
I mean, I was writing three,
four songs a day.
Well, I think we're sticking
to the words
and they don't mean
anything to the song.
There's no sense...
I kind of back myself
off into a corner,
writing very quickly
and in volume.
Reporter 2: This had people
calling her The Rock Doc.
Allee: And I would come in
and start fixing up
other people's songs.
You know we have a chorus,
no verse, a piece of a lyric.
We have chords,
we don't have a melody.
And go to E minor,
go to your new feel,
but in E minor.
And a lot of people
pretty much
just used me for lyrics.
They assume, "She's a woman,
she's gotta be the lyricist."
That drove me nuts.
When in fact melody's
a massive part of what I do.
A friend calls and says,
"I have this person
that I want you to meet,"
and I have this rule,
I never look up anybody
because then I
would get starstruck
and it's stupid
and I'm just ridiculous.
We sit down,
first three minutes,
we have an argument.
She says, "Here's the lyrics
and I want you
to create chords."
And I said, "Well, if I'm
creating chords, I'm writing,
which means I should
be credited as a writer."
She says,
"No, we're not doing that."
I was like, "Well, then
I'm not writing chords."
She went off,
"I've sold 16 million records!
I've worked with everybody
in the world! B flat.
You were sitting,
had me write these, E."
(imitates Allee ranting)
And she hands me this chart,
I play the chords,
perfectly written chords
to this music.
After that,
we were inseparable.
She could say, "Wait a minute,
no, the exact sound I want
is on this record from 1962."
She would then go
pull this thing up,
I'm like, "A sitar?"
Oh, man, that's the sound
I like to hear.
This is my recording studio
where I do all my demos in.
Of course,
or rent a wonder engineer.
And the first song's result
from that was "Neutron Dance."
Hello?
Did not wanna write the song.
Ah. God, I cannot believe it.
My publisher hooked me up
with someone
they had just signed,
but not until he came over
did they tell me
that he had never written
a song before.
So, when he walked in
- I put on a timer.
- (timer dinging)
Danny:
Do, do, do
- Yeah, that works.
- Danny: Keep that.
Songwriter:
The first thing is...
I'm just burning
Doin' the neutron dance
Allee: We finished the song
in 52 minutes.
Danny is out the door.
("Neutron Dance"
by The Pointer Sisters plays)
Reporter:
This is Allee Willis at work,
spinning out
the "Neutron Dance."
Doin' the neutron dance
Allee: My publisher
really liked the song,
got it to the Pointers.
I just remember being
a little scared of the song
because of that word neutron.
Allee, she had
a great sense of humor.
She just said,
"Just sing the damn song!"
Oh, I'm just burning
Doin' the neutron dance
Allee: Then I get a package
in the mail,
a cassette and a letter
from Jerry Bruckheimer.
They need a song
for an Eddie Murphy movie
that sounds like the song
that's on the cassette
and it's "Neutron Dance."
I knew they sent
to every writer in LA.
I got so sick of my friends
telling me
that they've ripped me off
that I called Danny up
and said, "Come over."
We stripped a "Neutron Dance"
demo down to the drums.
Ooh, hoo
Allee:
Used all the same sounds,
handed that song in.
Rejected. So, I ended up
with zero songs
until weeks before
Beverly Hills Cop opened.
Jerry Bruckheimer goes
into his garbage can
for a cassette to tape over,
comes across "Stir It Up."
Baby, stir it up
Allee: Loves the song,
gets Patti LaBelle to sing it.
Baby, stir it up
Got to break it up now
When I think about tomorrow
Ooh, I can't wait to
Allee: Never finds anything
to replace "Neutron Dance."
And so I ended up
with two songs,
and the movie opens up,
and that film,
it was a massive hit.
We were on tour
with Lionel Richie,
and Lionel came
to our dressing room
and said, "Beverly Hills Cop
has been released
and "Neutron Dance"
is going nuts.
And you gotta put it
in the show."
And I think it was
the first time I ever knew
what it felt like to have
a real hit song
because the minute
that intro started,
the audience rushed the stage
so fast and so hard
and so loud, I almost forgot
the words to the song.
I'm just burning
Doin' the neutron dance
Allee: I went to the Grammy's
with Paul Reubens.
I pulled up at her house
to pick her up in a limousine
and I had her song blasting.
I'm on fire, yeah, yeah
I'm on fire, yeah
Allee: It was the year
of "Pee-wee."
We were treated like royalty.
I felt like
an art piece myself.
The Grammy goes
to Beverly Hills Cop.
Allee Willis.
I wanna thank my publishers,
Ronnie Vance...
- (cheers)
- ...Kathy Carey, Unicity,
who were very responsible
for "Neutron Dance"
and "Stir It Up."
Also Richard Perry,
the Pointer Sisters,
and Patti LaBelle
who has supported me like
for the last 12 years.
Thanks.
(audience cheering)
There it is.
"National Academy
of Recording Arts & Sciences.
Allee Willis,
a songwriter." (laughs)
She never missed,
she never missed.
- Allee Willis.
- (audience cheering)
Allee: It was
an unbelievable year.
We're happy
that this lady is here,
a Grammy-winning
songwriter and artist.
Her songs have sold
over 50 million records.
- Welcome Allee Willis.
- (audience cheering)
All right, this is a Grammy.
Here's the myth exploded.
A, notice how this just
has double stick tape.
Now, come on, it's a Grammy.
(soft music playing)
Ed: Six minutes to one o'clock,
Sunday March 10th, 1985.
Ed: (laughs)
They're not here yet.
Allee: I called as soon
as my aunt walks in.
- Ed: Uh-huh.
- Allee: Immediately starts
telling me how well
all my cousins are doing.
I'll go, "Would you like
to see this gold record?"
She'll go, "Well, do you
know that Gail married..."
You know, and of course
they all married doctors.
Ed: Oh, did they?
So, are you the one
that's not married of the...
I am.
"Neutron Dance."
It sold four million copies.
I hate my aunts so much
at this point.
- (Ed chuckles)
- By the time they get here,
- it's 11 million.
- (Ed laughs)
And every time she tells me
about another one
of her f*cking daughters,
I'm gonna go,
"And this one sold 28 million."
Ed: So, how long has it been
since you've seen them?
(soft music playing)
(indistinct chatter)
Allee:
He only came to visit me once
and I played him stuff
in my studio.
He kept, like, kind of trying
to accentuate his headphones
that he had on
and finally I realized
he was wearing noise blockers,
just to annoy me.
Marlen:
Marlen: He was very generous
with other people,
his children, not so much.
Allee: Everything about me
appalled him.
You know,
when people ask my father
what his daughter does,
he used to say,
"Well, she collects junk."
My house.
His only comment
when he came was,
"I'll give you 22 dollars
a ton for it,"
'cause that's what he
would pay for the junk
in the scrap yard.
He was embarrassed
by the individuality.
And the more self-expressive
I got, drove him insane.
I think that was
one piece of why
a lot of Allee stayed hidden.
That voice was in her head
and the part of her not wanting
to be fully who she is.
Ed: g*y El Rancho Guest Ranch
in Gaylord, Michigan.
But I tell you, Allee,
this particular collection
of cards almost is trying
to make a point it would appear.
Every time
that we start the video,
you say something
that gets me upset
and you say it
when there's a little lull
and you make me very upset
when you do this.
What are you laughing at?
This is serious.
I don't know if I'm g*y.
I mean, I don't think I'm g*y.
Ed: I feel like
that we need some resolution
until I feel
that you are going to see...
You want me to say
that I'm g*y and I'm not g*y.
Ed: No, I don't. Allee.
Well, but what would you do?
Would you admit it to anyone?
And if I'm g*y,
I'll k*ll myself.
- I'll k*ll myself.
- Ed: Oh, my God, Allee.
Tim: She came up
at a time in our history
where it said that g*y people
were mentally ill.
People that came up
during that time,
you could lose your job,
you could lose where you live,
you could lose your family,
you could lose...
There was so much at stake.
(indistinct chatter)
I don't even remember
the breakup,
and we were still,
there was no fighting ever.
It just flowed out of the,
you know, relationship.
You know?
She wasn't quite ready
to deal with that much emotion.
And so it's easier
to shut the door.
("Ain't Got Nothin' For Me"
by Lauren Wood plays)
Close the door
Are you afraid to face
The facts you know are true
Who are you
That you can have
Your cake and eat it too
- (indistinct chatter)
- (camera shutter clicks)
- (song concludes)
- (sighs)
(camera shutter clicks)
Cyndi: It should go from...
They fall like rain
Allee: It just keeps repeating.
Allee would share her end
of a relationship and mine,
and started writing this song
"Who Let In the Rain."
Who let in the rain
She starts saying,
"I envy lovers passing
by out on the street
'cause what they had,
I couldn't keep."
And I thought, "Oh."
And I was like...
'Cause you see
Black and white
And I see red
Then "I wonder
who let in the rain."
And I wonder
Who let in the rain
She was very lonely.
And I think that it was hard
for her to find a partner.
She built a life
to support her work.
I feel this way about life.
You can't stop
to get bogged down.
You know, for every problem,
there's got to be something
good going on in life.
And I think people,
it's up to the individual
to choose whether
they wanna be happy
or whether
they wanna be miserable.
And then from there on in,
it's your mind control.
After The Grammys,
I thought I was gonna
break through in my career.
I have a Grammy
for Best Soundtrack.
I can simulate
a whole orchestra.
I can play tin cans.
You know, I can do everything.
Ed:
What are you working on now?
Allee: Right now, I am...
God, what am I doing
right this second?
I wanted to be responsible
for the way
that the records came out.
I was really ready to produce.
You know, creativity is just
unbelievably important to me.
But at some point, you need
the creative control.
There's no question
that a male who had
half the credits I had
would've had
the opportunity to produce,
which was the next logical step
as a songwriter.
It was really rare for
a female artist to get credit,
let alone actually get
to be the producer.
Stephen:
It was such a boys' club.
People who have the chops
like Allee
were just not really encouraged.
I just want it as old and shitty
and funky-sounding as possible.
She had a really good grasp
of technology.
I mean,
we were really impressed,
and we'd never written
a song with anyone else.
Allee was immediately
a very good drum programmer.
(percussive music playing)
Neil: And she knew
how to do this trick
to make the snare sound
very sort of compressed.
She enabled us to make
a record that actually
is like nothing else
we've ever done,
"What Have I Done
To Deserve This."
What have I, what have I
What have I done
To deserve this
- What have I
- Since you...
It became a huge hit everywhere,
but particularly in America,
it was number two.
I've been wondering why
(upbeat music playing)
Allee:
I had very unorthodox ideas
about the way I wanted
to produce sounds.
We're recording your every move.
I charge for this.
Hi, Allee Willis.
We got together
to write this song,
and she decided the song
was gonna be called "Jigsaw."
When I sang the chorus
she said,
"Wait a minute, I have to...
I'll be right back."
She left, went to
the hardware store,
she bought a jigsaw.
- Worker: Okay, here we go.
- Allee: Okay.
Siedah: She recorded the jigsaw
and then proceeded
to put jigsaw sounds
in our "Jigsaw" song.
- Worker: Hold on.
- I'm playing, I'm playing!
- (upbeat music playing)
- Na, na, na, na
She was absolutely
a music producer.
One of the best.
But you could not be credited
as a female producer.
You can look at even today,
like one percent of producers
in the music industry are women.
Allee: You know guys
who were doing the same thing
just automatically
were bestowed.
After the I Am album,
David Foster became
a huge producer.
Interviewer: Did you guys
work together per se
or were you like
separate camps?
Allee: Some songs together,
but I wrote more
songs than him.
Just never got
the opportunities.
But I do feel that had
I been a man I would have.
Rip through my heart
Just like a jigsaw
Tear me apart
Just like I never mattered
The way you love me
As a songwriter, you're
very much behind the scenes.
It's really someone else's
interpretation of what you do.
And that's hard when you
are the person in the back
and all they want is
a tiny piece of what you do.
All I was doing
was writing music,
and I was so feeling
uncreative.
And that was when
I really realized
that if I didn't start kicking
myself in the butt
and finding something
that interested me,
that I was really
in danger of blowing
a major part of my life,
which was being creative.
So, I just started out
of total frustration,
I started to paint.
("Love You Like A Train"
by The Weather Girls plays)
No one knows my business
I am someone who needs
to constantly let things out.
Mark: She was
a promoter of change
and of people
not feeling trapped.
In my late teens,
I was Allee's art assistant.
I didn't know sh*t about art.
Allee: I don't think you need
to know where you're going,
you just need to have a vibe
for this path,
does it feel better and do it.
Is it gonna make me happy?
And nothing is a mistake.
Love me like a train
Pamela: The art was something
that she was dabbling in
and that it just became huge,
as big as the music.
When I come home
Come home, baby
Baby
Reporter: This is
Allee's garage turned studio.
The art constructed here
has hung in galleries
from London to Los Angeles.
Bruce: I wanted
to buy one of those.
First of all,
they were gigantic.
And second, I don't think
I have 30 grand. (laughs)
Julie: She got to use a lot
of the stuff she bought
that she had no way to use.
(chuckles)
This is a 1960s
Studebaker Headlight.
Not to mention furniture design.
Brilliant.
She just blanketed everybody
with how much there is.
She was willing to, like,
embrace everything.
And to have that much energy.
She had so much energy!
Pamela:
So, you say for one person
it's their life's work,
for her it's half day
on a Tuesday.
Reporter:
When she's not writing songs,
Willis' wacky touch can be
seen on video sets
from The Breakfast Club
to Debbie Harry.
We have
French Kissin' in the USA
created for
the Debbie Harry video by moi.
Jeff: As a production designer,
as an art director,
her design was incredible.
What's it to ya
You are the girl
In my dreams
She was just
an expl*si*n of creativity.
It's time for
Just Say Julie on MTV.
Heck yes!
Allee, you did a brilliant job.
- Allee: Thank you.
- Julie: I love it.
It looks great.
Even though she was working
in this medium of glitter
and '50s things,
she was really an artist.
Like, she was trying
to convey meaning in all this.
I feel, and Allee
felt the same way,
what we do should make
people happy.
Even if it makes them think
and takes 'em
to a serious place,
at the end of the day it should
make them feel more positive.
(crowd cheering)
I'm just reminded the joy
she got in so many things.
The two best toys.
Reubens: That she was
very uncensored about.
Allee: Paul!
- Put it down.
- It's big.
- This is a lighter.
- Put it down!
Allee was good
at facilitating happiness,
but at her core there was
always some sadness,
and from that sadness came this
and everything she did, really.
Lily:
The world she was presenting
was against
what she'd really experienced.
She was trying to make
something more joyful,
more flamboyant, more exciting.
Allee: I can't believe it.
I got an idea.
I thought, "Oh,
this is gonna be so cute."
Do you know what it's like
hand gluing 10,000
of these feathers?
Tim: Her drive and her ambition
is what moved her
to be so prolific.
And I wonder
if she knew her own value
and self-worth. I don't know.
Ed:
Tim: I think that she always
felt like she wasn't recognized
for everything that she did.
Charles: She really wanted
to stand out.
Like, how could you write
for all these people.
Earth, Wind & Fire
and then make sets,
and how could you do that
if you didn't have
an internal voice
that was pretty strong?
I think she wanted to be
out there being in front
and being crazy, but she didn't
have all the pieces of that,
how to do that.
Allee:
To stand in the spotlight
when you know somebody
could yell something at you,
and you could yell
many things at Allee.
Lesley: Well, there's the part
that wants to be loved
by millions.
She made a painting
and a collage that's on my wall.
It's huge, and it's called
Into the Hearts of Millions.
And that's what she wanted
for herself too.
She wanted fame
and I think the reason
why she chased fame is because
she thought fame was love,
and you know, looking for love.
(soft music playing)
Allee: I went to a therapist
who said to me,
"Do not get in
another relationship.
'cause the relationship
you need to develop
is with yourself."
I was basically living off
these music publishing deals
I had because I was reinventing
myself all the time.
("18 & Anxious (Demo)"
by Allee Willis plays)
Wild thing
I'm 18 and anxious
Allee: And I was heartbroken
that I just was miserable
being a songwriter.
You are basically a sl*ve
to the artist.
You can only push
your own idea or agenda so far
and then you're not gonna
end up on the record.
So, you don't enjoy the writing
anymore 'cause basically,
like, you're the attendant
in a restroom,
you're just making sure
fresh towels are there.
- It used to
- It used to
- Okay, but "It used to."
- You sing a little flat though.
Okay, but we know the thing.
- All right.
- But we're gonna sing.
And I went from writing
very quirky, unique songs,
to being a meat packager.
(both singing)
Allee: I was very frustrated,
it's gonna make me hate music
and I didn't want that
to happen at any cause.
We can rhyme with table,
but that's not a good rhyme
so f*ck that.
So, for a couple years
I just kind of walked around
miserable,
still writing at that volume,
but my heart not into it.
Get me the pad of paper!
Don't get in my way.
Can you get, like,
a tight up on this?
I don't need a documentary
right now. I need a helper.
She kind of was always
hanging on for dear life.
Not financially, necessarily,
but just like what's
the next thing going to be?
Allee: Hurry up, hurry up,
next color, hurry up.
Go, go, go.
It is. You're not reacting
'cause you're on camera.
You don't wanna show that...
I didn't even know
I was still on camera.
It just got out of hand.
I mean this in the kindest way,
but a word for Allee
I think is "excess."
So, a lot of things would
start out in one way
and then they would turn
and they would get excessive.
Host: Now, last year,
you gave a birthday party.
People said, "What can
Allee do to top herself?"
So, this year...
Yeah, all year long
all I've been hearing is,
"How you gonna top last year?"
Okay, Allee Willis invites you
to the Smock It To Me,
Art Can Taste Bad in
Any Medium Party."
- (exciting music playing)
- Allee: Okay.
She invited all these people
over and it turned out
to be an
ABC Television special.
I don't think she told
a lot of people,
but they showed up
and there was trucks
and a camera crew and all that.
It was quite a spectacle.
Charles: And they all got mad
because she didn't say,
"You're gonna be filmed
for television."
Does anybody think this is fair?
Party goer: No!
Allee: They took footage
of stars in a place
where it had always
been safe for them
to let it all hang out.
And now it looked like
I was taking advantage
for this stupid TV show
that got yanked
after the pilot.
That was the first time
my parties went Hollywood,
it was the last.
(indistinct chatter)
- All right. Get some rest.
- Hope you feel better.
Ed: Allee, Goodnight Allee.
(soft music playing)
Allee: Hey, babe.
Hey, Rapper.
That event led to a total
mind f*ck on my part
because I was at a place
in my life
where I was in a completely
stalled state.
I didn't know, "Am I over?
Am I dead? Am I broke?"
I, without question,
don't think this
would be hitting me this hard
if I was in a relationship.
- Ed: Absolutely.
- Without question.
Forty years old,
who is going to wanna be
- with a 40-year-old bag.
- Ed: Yeah, but that, nah.
Allee: (sighs)
You know, didn't understand
where I was going.
I did not wanna be
a songwriter anymore.
I was so frustrated and someone
showed me a CD-ROM.
(modem dialing)
Reporter: Imagine if you will,
sitting down
to your morning coffee,
turning on your home computer
to read the day's newspaper.
Reporter 2: On a worldwide
system called the internet.
She started telling me
about, like, the internet,
the World Wide Web.
We had no idea
what she was talking about.
Nobody had computers.
Ed: I just want
to get the computer.
Allee: All right,
get it quickly.
Mark: People were like, "Why?
Why would you want
to put a video
on this thing called
the internet
when I can just turn on the TV?"
It's supposed to make
our lives simpler,
but how can it
if we don't understand it?
Allee: I was so interested
in social communities
and I was a party thrower.
It just felt to me
instinctually
like there's something here.
But you know, it's the future.
If they really believe in me,
my ideas can be explored.
We're gonna create
this fictional community
called Willisville,
inhabited by these fictional
characters in cyberspace.
I prototyped it
throughout the '90s.
Mark Cuban became my CEO.
Mark: We got connected.
This was not even
internet days yet.
Honestly,
I didn't know commercially
if it would go anywhere.
But I knew Allee was a genius
and I knew
I was gonna learn a lot.
What is that?
It was like the perfect
integration of art,
music, and technology.
I thought it was so genius.
- Allee: Prudence.
- What?
I met Allee through Paul,
and I think she thought
I was some big business mocker
'cause I was working
for a production company
in San Francisco.
She had this big idea
for Willisville.
She could think of nothing else
and would just like go on
and on and on and on
to the point where sometimes
I would, like, nod off.
'Cause she puts such
an emphasis on work
and Willisville and how
everything was gonna work
to really the point, like,
I'm going,
"Is this a relationship
or what is this?"
Allee: Did you have a good day
here in Willisville?
She was so much,
"Come here, go away."
And then it was "Come here."
Six months later I moved to LA.
Allee: All right,
I gotta say something.
Among the best footage
I've ever had.
- No.
- I'm here.
Prudence: Between the two of us,
it was like we had both
arrived somewhere.
Paul, he knew right away.
Let's just say the cat got out
of the bag at a certain point.
I met Prudence
in the very first season
of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
She was creating
the opening sequence.
(quirky music playing)
As an artist, Prudence
has such an amazing eye.
Prudence:
I didn't do normal TV shows,
like, Pee-wee
was not a normal TV show.
I modeled Penny after me.
Sort of like that, I guess.
And Liquid Television
was not a normal TV show.
Even the Peter Gabriel videos
were whacked.
Peter Gabriel's
"Big Time" video.
Did another Peter Gabriel
video called "Steam."
Stand back
Prudence:
Won a Grammy for that.
She did all those
incredible MTV bumpers.
Prudence: I think I have
a little of the future
in me anyway.
So, Willisville,
it wasn't that hard to see.
Mark:
Willisville was a lifestyle.
The characters,
they represented
real things in her life.
They weren't, you know,
just imaginary friends
that came out of nowhere.
There was a personal
connection.
Allee:
It's them really intimately
- dancing with each other.
- (Bystander laughing)
Prudence: The whole idea
was to pitch it, to get it
to go somewhere,
to get it to be something.
I remember we flew up
to Silicon Valley,
she had presentations
and everything, all made up.
She didn't pull any punches,
and I would just sit there
and just marvel at her.
I've been building
and designing Willisville,
which is a radically
new approach
to interactive
entertainment transactions
and communications
on the internet.
(funky music playing)
Intel gave her,
like 100,000 dollars
or 200,000 dollars.
It was insane.
She closed that deal.
It wasn't me.
(audience applauding)
Allee: All right,
my little friend. (chuckles)
Ready?
On the weekends,
we weren't in business,
we were in the other business.
(chuckles)
Allee: All right, move closer
to the picture.
I was attempting to do
an artistic shot.
I had this much drawer space
she had made,
and two hangers in the shower,
and I'm thinking... (chuckles)
..."I'm gonna have
to get my own house."
I think we had overnights
every night.
We would swim
before bed and it was great.
We would just, like, float
in the pool
till you're completely a prune.
We were obsessed
with the photographing people's
lawn sculptures. (chuckles)
It wasn't romance,
it was like connection
- piled up with a bunch of fun.
- (indistinct chatter)
Prudence:
Allee had more relationships
with women than I had.
I was married to a man
for like ten years almost.
I didn't even have
my first g*y relationship
till I was about 40.
And I was completely,
like, torn up about it
because I'd grown up
in a heterosexual family.
And when you've been
a heterosexual all of your life
and then you switch over,
it's like...
It is not comfortable.
So, I understood,
like, when Allee was saying,
"We can't be affectionate
with each other
because people
are a little bit h*m*,
and maybe I don't want
to come out to them."
I was willing to do whatever.
Allee: My sweets.
Interviewer:
- (cameraman chuckles)
- Yeah.
I really wanted to get
out of my publishing deal
'cause I was so deep
into the internet.
And my publisher said,
"There's this TV show
coming out.
No one thinks
it's gonna be a hit.
Write this,
you're out of your deal."
And I remember her just
swearing up and down about it
and hating the whole thing.
Allee: Okay, that's it.
And then it was like gold.
("I'll Be There for You"
by The Rembrandts plays)
Allee: It was an instant hit.
The song blew up.
I'll be there for you
'Cause you're there for me
That just set the tone
for that show,
and for a generation still.
With Allee, that was always
the point you needed
to connect with people.
Allee:
Announcer: Pickles Willis.
(soft music playing)
Announcer: Excellent!
Allee:
- (audience laughing)
- Allee:
Allee:
Interviewer:
Allee:
Prudence:
Allee:
You know, where I've made
mistakes in my career
is I was always too early.
This is insane.
These are the pictures
right from the very beginning.
Oh, my God.
If you took all of this
and just changed the technology
to Metaverse and multiverse,
this is groundbreaking.
That's how far ahead
of its time it was.
This is a multiverse
business plan, right?
Allee: When they kept saying
that Willisville
was ten years off
from being able to be done,
I realized, Intel,
they just basically needed me
in there to do demos
for all these technologies
that they had invested in,
and I could art direct them,
I could add music.
That was not my
interest at all.
My interest was
a social network.
Prudence: We were offered jobs
at Microsoft.
And Allee goes, "I can never
not see the sun for that long."
(chuckles) We would've been
f*cking millionaires
had we gone and done that.
In hindsight, I was disappointed
I didn't do more,
but I was in a stage of my life
where I was trying to do
what I was going to do.
I kind of left Allee behind.
She was fine with that, but...
yeah, in hindsight,
it's just a shame.
Prudence:
I was getting too broke.
So, I went to work for Disney
and I know she was upset.
It was hard. It was difficult.
Willisville was never launched.
It never went
past the prototype phase.
I don't think Willisville
was a failure either.
And I would tell her,
"It's just ahead of the time.
We don't have
the culture that wants
what we have right now."
Audience member:
Prudence: The future
never happens soon enough.
Willisville would've hit
right now.
It would be perfect
for the Metaverse.
Allee always thought
it was around the corner.
Next year, next month.
You don't know.
Allee: So, in 1997,
when everyone
was first entering
the dot com bubble,
I burst it and walked out.
(somber music playing)
Prudence: She wanted more
for herself professionally,
and it became the main thing
that she was chasing,
and not, "Well, look,
we have a good life.
I mean,
look what we get to do."
She was like, "Who am I?
What am I doing?"
We didn't meet on that at all.
We'd walk into a room,
"This is Prudence,
she's a Grammy,
Emmy nom," you know,
whatever outside
accomplishments I had made.
That used to drive me nuts.
And I would say,
"Show me who you love
and I'll tell you who you are."
She goes, "Show me what you do
or what you accomplished
in the world,
and I'll tell you who you are."
But it's so...
You know, we really,
like, butt heads
on that all the time.
Allee: Prudence.
Prudence: She didn't
feel comfortable being out.
Michael: Allee's romantic
relationships were off camera
and that's rare.
Allee lived through
a bunch of girlfriends with me.
She'd always,
"Okay, this one's good,
that one's not good,"
but never the other way.
It didn't work the other way.
Mark:
Of course I knew they were,
I mean, you know, they were...
They weren't
really demonstrative.
Prudence:
It was not like she was saying,
"Well, this is my girlfriend."
It was, "Prudence is coming
to dinner with us."
I mean, that was it. (chuckles)
Tim: I didn't realize
they were as secret
as she was
because it was just clear to me,
but I think that she was
still being just careful.
Contradiction, you know?
Because she wasn't
a contradiction.
There's lots of people,
you'd go like,
"Wow, they're just like
a walking contradiction."
She wasn't that at all,
you know?
She was like walking around
in the world going,
"Here I am. This is what...
You got it, you get it?
If you don't, you don't."
You know?
But yeah, that was
a big contradiction,
I think, for her.
Allee: Come on, let's go.
Prudence: I was never allowed
to meet her father.
I'm sure there was
a fear of rejection.
As far as Detroit knew,
I didn't exist.
She would show up alone
at bar mitzvahs or weddings.
She probably didn't push it
as hard as she should.
It's a roll of the dice,
whether your family
will go with you.
So, that was... It just...
It didn't come up.
It's a two-way road
to give a feeling
like whosever in your life,
we love you
and they're welcome.
- Bystander:
- Allee:
(somber music playing)
I think you have
to have gone through
the difficulty yourself
to understand.
Allee: Ready?
I think I'm more hurt by being
number two to art
and whatever creative effort
she's making,
than I was about being told
when I could be affectionate
or not affectionate.
I would say the all-in,
intensive, creative thing.
"I can't go out
to dinner tonight.
I can't do this.
I wanna do this."
She was really clear about,
"I need this time to write,"
or "I need this time to paint."
That hurt me.
I think it's just
from all the noise.
- Ed: Yeah, I had no idea.
- Allee: Yeah.
I don't have a clear idea
about what is coming next
or what my goal, you know,
what the goal of anything is.
(soft music playing)
Michael: There's a quote
that Van Gogh has.
He says, "Art is 'I am seeking,'
not 'I have found.'"
Because he thought
if you found something
that it was no longer art.
So, the idea that Allee
was constantly seeking
is what made her so alive.
It's so frustrating too.
Allee: A lot
of the background noise of life
is this tripping and stumbling
and groveling
towards this outcome
you think at the time
is so incredibly important.
And it's not
the good kind of noise,
it's the jabbering crap,
the loud, messy,
pessimistic doom and gloom
saboteur who screams,
"You can't do this.
You'll never get there."
Where is "there"?
Julie: A lot of people feel
that way in show business,
like that there's this plateau
you're supposed to hit.
She thought there was,
like, a place of arrival.
I don't think there is.
Other people would perceive her
as a giant success.
I don't know if she did.
Allee: I just had that happen
with a song called
"You're The Best,"
which was from The Karate Kid.
- Interviewer 5: Yeah!
- Allee: That was huge.
("You're The Best"
by Joe "Bean" Esposito plays)
You're the best around
Nothing's gonna ever
Keep you down
Allee: Well, I didn't know
it was huge
'cause it only got to 20,
so to me, it was a failure.
It's a constant struggle
to maintain belief in yourself.
But the beauty of her was
how gentle and fragile she was.
Prudence: Every breath
was a creative idea,
and yet she was always fighting
with she wasn't enough.
Andrae: The real Allee,
and she would hate
if I said this,
I'm gonna say it,
the Allee that
a lot a lot of us
were privileged to know,
her actual Alta,
like her as this child,
she had to put
this wall up, protections,
in the way that she dressed,
in the cars that she drove,
in the house that she lived in,
so that she could always
have this safe space
for who she actually was.
Prudence: She was always afraid
she was gonna lose her house.
"I'm gonna lose my car,
I'm gonna lose everything."
Pamela: And you would think
that she would be
so financially solvent.
I was surprised by it
because I thought,
"Oh, she's set for life."
Julie: Songwriting is a really
screwball way of making money.
People that do these giant hits
and then they had
a publishing deal with somebody,
so they didn't make any money.
Prudence: That whole
Friends theme song...
Filmer:
Once it started to be a big hit,
all of a sudden,
the producers wanted
a percentage of it.
Allee wrote it
with Michael Skloff.
Initially it was just split
between the two of them,
but then once
it's the number one hit,
next thing you know,
the producers want
a piece of it.
And it's like, why?
"Oh, we gave notes."
And I said, "Allee,
you should get a lawyer."
And Allee's going,
"I can't afford a lawyer."
I went, "Allee,
I'll pay for the lawyer."
She goes, "No, no,
I don't wanna do this.
They're big people."
I mean, she just ate it.
Mark: I asked her something
to the effect of,
"Why don't you just write
some more hit songs?
That's how you can make
all the other stuff easier."
It was almost like
she liked that stress.
You know?
It was like it was protective
'cause if I'm
financially successful,
maybe I won't be me.
Prudence: The struggle
was what kept her going.
It defined
what she needed to do,
it helped guide her.
Allee: The most fertile ground
for growth is when
the whole thing falls apart
because no one's
paying attention
to you anymore,
no one thinks you can do it,
they've given up on you,
and that is the time
to put the pedal to the metal,
and really go crazy.
You gotta take little Alta
and you gotta put
her on a chair
you gotta say, "I love you,
but you're not
steering the car."
- Stephen: Two, three, four.
- (cheerful music playing)
Allee had called Stephen Bray
and I to work
on one of her internet shows.
That was intimate,
the way that connected.
Brenda: We're sitting
in this very room, writing,
and one day, I looked up
at the universe and said,
"We need something bigger."
(chuckles)
There was such magic
in the room.
Allee: Scott Sanders
had actually called me in 1998,
said he got the rights to do
The Color Purple.
I thought, "Great.
He's gonna ask me."
He's asking Allee like,
"What are some of the writers
I should hire for
Color Purple?"
You know, and Allee's jaw is
on the floor. But she recovers
and she mentioned a few people.
And then for two years,
he's like, "Is there
somebody else
you would recommend who could
write The Color Purple?"
Allee: He gives me the name
of 50 songwriters,
- none of which were me.
- (chuckles)
She said, "Listen, I have been
biting my tongue.
You have never asked me
to write music.
Do I need to remind you
that I wrote
"Boogie Wonderland"
and "September"?
I said, "I know, Allee, I know,
but you haven't worked
in the theater before
and you're not Black."
She said, "Well, come over.
Brenda Russell
and Stephen Bray and I
are working on a song."
Allee: And I asked if we could
compete together as a team.
And he said, "Okay,
but no special favors."
And it's like, I am not
expecting special favors.
We gave him
such an air of confidence.
We had no clue.
As soon as he left,
we just ran out the back door
to the bookstore.
Brenda: We just learned
what are the rules,
what did the audience expect?
Allee being Allee said, "Okay,
let's make it
really earthy and rootsy."
(percussive music playing)
- Allee: I like that one.
- Brenda: Yeah.
Oh, listen.
Oh, wait, the wagon wheel.
- Good morning, Miss Willis.
- Allee: Oh,
- good morning to you, mister!
- Just fine.
Wear my shirt
Wear my hat
Wear you put
My britches down
We were up against
serious heavyweights.
They were all very famous.
They all had way better chances
than we had.
We worked for two and a half
months on a spec song,
which is a huge amount of time
for something like that.
We sent it to Scott
and we just crossed
our fingers. (chuckles)
I get a CD, I put it in my car,
and just went for a drive
on the Montauk Highway.
("Shug Avery Comin' to Town"
by Allee Willis plays)
Shug Avery Shug
Bring down this town
Fire and brimstone
Raining down
Oh
I had to pull off the side
of the road.
"They did it.
Oh my... This is it."
Heat up this town
I called Alice Walker
and I played it for her.
She said, "I was just dancing.
I love it."
She back in town
Allee: I am looking at this
as my supreme challenge.
Alice:
Alice Walker is a magical,
mystical being.
Allee: She said, "My ancestors
- will be contacting you."
- Brenda: Yes. Yes.
She says, "They will guide you."
And there is a no question
that there were times
where things would just come.
Brenda: Allee would stand
in the middle of the room,
all right,
take a Valium... (chuckles)
...because she would have
some brilliant ideas.
- Whoa!
- Yeah! (laughs) That's great!
Allee:
Before we were gonna open,
we were at a rehearsal studio
and Gail King came
and immediately
started weeping.
And then she went out
into the hallway
and we heard her on the phone
with Oprah going,
"You have to get involved."
Come on up here
and gather around.
(crowd cheering)
Allee: So all of a sudden,
Oprah was in.
You will find
that all things purple
are also all things divine.
So, to find amazing things
happen to you when you are
connected to the energy
and spirit of this work.
("I'm Here"
by Fantasia Barrino plays)
I'm gonna
Take a deep breath, hey
Brenda: You know they told us
when we wrote
The Color Purple,
"Black people won't come,
because you know, Black people
don't go to Broadway."
And we're like... (chuckles)
..."Little do they know,"
because we knew
Black people don't come
to see Oklahoma. Okay?
They come to see
something soulful,
and that's what we gave them.
It was amazing.
Black people everywhere.
It was a very mixed audience,
but a lot of Black people came.
Allee: It was a hit.
Prudence: And they were
nominated for 11 Tonys.
The night before the Tonys,
Oprah, she said,
"I just need to warn you
that the movie Color Purple
was nominated for so many things
and we didn't win one thing.
And I need to prepare you
for that."
And everybody was like...
The nominees
for the best original score,
music and or lyrics written
for the theater are,
The Color Purple.
Music and lyrics
by Brenda Russell,
Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.
- (audience applauding)
- The Tony goes to
The Drowsy Chaperone,
music and lyrics...
Prudence: LaChanze was the only
one who won a Tony.
Allee: In retrospect, that had
a huge impact on Broadway.
It got Broadway to think,
"Well, maybe the Black people
do go." (chuckles)
They started making
more musicals
with Black people,
successful musicals.
Allee: And then
Theater Director John Doyle,
known for totally
reconceiving shows,
does a production
of The Color Purple.
I'm gonna
Take a deep breath
Allee: It came back to Broadway
with an unbelievable cast
and the show exploded.
Straight in the eye
And the Tony goes to...
- The Color Purple.
- (audience cheering)
Scott: To Brenda and Allee
and Marsha and Stephen,
thank you
for your beautiful music
and your powerful words.
When Allee won a Tony Award,
she felt it big,
like she had achieved it.
Brenda: Alice Walker wanted us
to play up the
love relationship
between Celie and Shug
because that was something
she missed in Spielberg's movie.
Stephen: We really wanted
to do justice to that story.
And it was one
of the first times
there's a l*sbian
love song on Broadway.
"I'm Here," Celie pronounces
herself beautiful in that song.
And it's through the strength
of her relationship with Shug
that she comes
to accept herself
exactly as she is.
I don't need you
To love me
I don't need you
To love
Allee: I realized that as long
as I can remain open,
extraordinary stuff
passes through me.
And then I think
one of the gifts
of being a songwriter
is that you can put things
into a universal language
that everyone gets.
Brenda:
Yes.
("I'm Here"
by Cynthia Erivo plays)
I believe
I have inside of me
Everything that I need
To live a bountiful life
And all the love
alive in me
I'll stand as tall
As the tallest tree
And I'm thankful
For every day that I'm given
Both the easy and hard one
I'm living
But most of all
I'm thankful for
Loving who I really am
Julie: I saw her change
and get happier.
She was like less trying
to make other things work.
She was like, "I guess when
people fall in love and they go,
'This is my life now,
I'm gonna enjoy this.'"
I saw that happening
to her more.
It was almost
like she didn't see who she was.
I think I helped that.
I helped her see who I loved.
Later times, you know,
when I was writing novels
and I went, "I just wanna write
this afternoon."
She would go, "Oh, my sweets.
The tables
have really turned." (chuckles)
Brenda: I envied them actually
because they were there
for each other all the time.
And that's a beautiful thing
to have in your life.
They found each other.
Lucky! (chuckles)
It doesn't happen for everyone.
Prudence: We would joke
that we were like
terrible lesbians.
Michael:
Is that even a label for them?
Is that a label for anyone now?
What some people think
is closeted is now current.
You don't have to define
yourself as any one thing.
We're still stuck
in the sexual preference world,
and it's now evolved
into people who just refuse
to be labeled
or packaged in a certain way.
She's Allee Willis.
You're also receiving
another huge honor next month,
induction into the Songwriter's
Hall of Fame
- in New York.
- Wow.
- Yes.
- That's amazing.
That I'm really excited about.
Host: You are getting inducted
into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame.
- Allee: Yes.
- Host: Can I ask,
- what took so long?
- Allee: Exactly.
And when I got it, I was
so excited I couldn't stand it.
(audience cheering)
Announcer: Welcome to
the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
It blew my mind to see her
because I went
to the ladies room
and she was in there
and I started singing
"Little Girls."
It will be all right
'Cause tonight
I'm just your little
Girl
Please tell me you are videoing.
- Oh!
- (Patti chuckles)
Announcer: Please welcome
to the stage Allee Willis.
Allee: I have been asked
about the status of women
in the music industry
because I'm the woman this year.
- And well...
- (audience laughing)
I know that's debatable
sometimes, but...
When I was coming up,
it was really the first era
of a lot of incredible
female songwriters.
But we weren't getting
the opportunity to produce.
I really started thinking
about how, at the time,
mentally painful it was
that the girls
were not getting the chances
that the boys were.
So, I just wanna say we're here.
We've always been here.
So, wipe off the seats
'cause here we come.
- Thank you!
- (audience cheering)
Prudence: She was getting
recognition and having fun.
- (camera shutters clicking)
- Holy moly!
The biggest
never say never moment
was when I finally
got it together
to perform on stage,
37 years later.
Announcer:
Ladies and gentleman,
- please welcome Allee Willis!
- (audience applauding)
Prudence: And it was something
she was called to do.
Allee: The best comedy
is made from traumatic things.
My father passed away in 2002.
The very last thing
I said to him,
"I just got the gig to write
The Color Purple!"
- (audience cheering)
- He was gone within the hour.
(audience laughing)
She was in full life force
in front of all these people.
Allee: This has been
an incredible year.
I can feel it going, "Ooh."
It was Christmas Eve.
She called me and said
she was at the hospital,
you know, and I said,
"Well, should I come?
Should I come? Should I come?"
(sniffles)
And she said,
"No, no, no. I'll tell you.
You know, I'll see you
when I get home."
Then the next call I got
was from Prudence.
You know, who said,
you know, "Come now."
(soft music playing)
It was the worst Christmas ever.
Reporter: Allee Willis
has died at the age of 72.
Reporter 2:
Willis suffered a heart attack.
The songwriter's partner
describing the death
as a total shock.
("Missing Something Special"
by Allee Willis plays)
If you never
Loved a blue bird
Or tried to catch a robin
You're missing
Something special that I had
We were together
28 years. (sniffles)
It wasn't long enough.
She had backups for everything,
but she didn't have
a backup Allee.
Wish I was young again
'Cause I missing
Something special that I had
Reporter: Tributes pouring in.
Reporter 2: The music world
is mourning the loss
of Allee Willis.
Reporter 3: Genius.
How does all those
hits come out of one person.
Reporter 4: Willis brought
a lot of joy to the world.
I don't think she's done
delivering to the world
what she has to offer.
Her mission to inspire people
to do what they want to do,
not what society
tells 'em to do.
Andrae: She always wanted
to document her life
in such a way
that invited other people in
to know their own brilliance
and creativity.
Had your parents thinking
Baby, you are one of a kind
She is the most
dangerous person,
but in a good way.
My message is live life
as a creative process.
If you have a weakness,
turn it into a hook.
(audience cheering, applauding)
I don't like the idea
of living in a world
that Allee's not still in.
But that's the great thing
about artists
who just create tons of stuff.
They are there.
They do not leave the stage.
They just walk
to the back of the theater
and let the audience focus
on what they did.
Luenell: That's the mark
of a true, excellent person
using their time on Earth
to make some kind of impression
that will last forever.
So, that's my girl.
- Good night!
- (audience cheering)
(saxophone music playing)
You gotta be kidding.
He's playing "September."
I wrote that song.
I wrote "September."
- You wrote "September"?
- I swear to you on...
I can't even believe...
("September"
by Earth, Wind & Fire plays)
Do you remember
The 21st night of September
Love was changin'
The minds of pretenders
While chasin'
The clouds away
Our hearts were ringin'
In the key that our souls
Were singin'
As we danced in the night
Remember
How the stars stole
The night away, oh, yeah
Hey, hey, hey
Ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Ba-dee-ya
Dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya
Never was a cloudy day
Ba-du-da, ba-du-da,
ba-du-da, ba-du
Ba-du-da, ba-du-da,
ba-du-da, ba-du
Ba-du-da, ba-du-da,
ba-du-da, ba-du
My thoughts are with you
Holdin' hands
With your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love
Remember
How we knew
Love was here to stay
Now December
Found the love that we shared
In September
Only blue talk and love
Remember
- True love we share today
- Hey, hey, hey
Ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Ba-dee-ya
Dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya
Never was a cloudy day
And we'll say ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Ba-dee-ya
Dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya
Golden dreams
Were shiny days
The bells was ringin'
Oh, oh
Our souls were singin'
Do you remember
Never a cloudy day
No
There was a ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Ba-dee-ya
Dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya
Never was a cloudy day
There was a ba-dee-ya
Say, do you remember
Ba-dee-ya
Dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya
Golden dreams
Were shiny days
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register