If you ever played Hangman, you know that coming up with a clever word to stump your opponents is a major part of the game. Just as a review, the game is similar to Wheel of Fortune in that the participants are trying to discover what word was presented by the other player. The difference between Wheel of Fortune and Hangman is that each time an incorrect letter is chosen, another part of the hanged man is added until after approximately six misses, the depiction of the hanged man is complete and the game is over. My favorite two words that seemed to stump the players were always “y-a-c-h-t” and “r-h-y-t-h-m.”
“Rhythm” is a great word not only just for Hangman but for many areas of life: dancing, singing, Catholic birth control, etc. But as Thomas “Cookie” Marsh explains in our book Black and White Like You and Me,
I learned to play basketball by the rhythm of Motown.
In fact, Marsh’s first Coach Kennedy told him and Frank Clark, another Boys Club participant, that they looked like ballerinas because they were so fluid and rhythmic playing basketball. At first, those boys were insulted, but when Coach explained what he meant, they understood and agreed.
The beats provided by the legendary Funk Brothers including Bob Babbitt and, of course, James Jamerson are ingrained in all Motown lovers. Just the first few notes of a song make the piece easily recognizable.
How about these: bom-ba-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-ba-bom-bom-ba-bom? Or bom-ba-bom-ba bom-ba; bom-ba-bom-ba-bom-ba? (answer at end, but try to figure them out)
Co-authoring a book with Detroit, Michigan as its setting wouldn’t be complete without adding a song based on a Motown classic recorded by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and the Pips. This song was so good that two recording artists just had to cover it each in their unique style. You guessed it – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”
Black and White Like You and Me
ba-bom-bom
and White Like You and Me
bom-ba-bom-bom
Well, I guess you’re wond’ring how it be
That you are so much like me?
But knowing you more and more
I understand you better than before.
It took me by surprise
That your race is
Not just black and white faces
Black and White Like You and Me
Bom-ba-bom-bom
Black and White Like You and Me!!
When I coach shooting in basketball, I would try to instill in the player the sense of rhythm needed to be a fluid shooter. I insisted that the player say out loud, “ one, two, up and through.” Do you hear the similarity between the rhythm of those words and the beginning of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”? I am sure Thomas Marsh had many rhythms going through his mind as he improved in all areas of the game. Can’t you just hear the variety of rhythms when someone is dribbling a basketball? The sound of the ball hitting the floor sometimes fast, sometimes slowly seems similar to a drum or a bass guitar.
R-H-Y-T-H-M: our lives would be empty without it. Well, at least you would lose at Hangman without it!
That earlier beat was the beginning of the classic, “My Girl.”
