> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.howardgray.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Adventures... #57: Never done before - URL: https://www.howardgray.net/adventures-57-never-done-before/ - Published: 2021-09-02T13:15:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-06T10:05:34.000Z - Description: How a little-known lounge singer became a cultural impresario, and why we should make more mini debuts - Author: Howard Gray - Tags: Adventures *Hello. I’m* [*Howard Gray*](https://www.howardgray.net/)*, and this is Adventures…: a monthly email digest offering you different lenses to better understand yourself, your work, and the world.* *Not yet a subscriber? You can [sign up (and also check out the full archive) here](https://www.howardgray.net/adventure).* *If you want to unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom. One and done, I’ll be out of your life.* *Still here? Lovely. Let’s get into it…* --- The 1960s were a time of profound change. Icons rose. Conflicts rumbled. Counterculture arrived, and a generational gap yawned open. Perhaps the 60s' most significant cultural moments occurred at the very end of the decade. There was the death of MLK. Humans landed on the Moon. Anti-heroes came to prominence on the silver screen. Era-defining music and art emerged. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/image-2.png) Image: Randy Dodson The late 60s was also a time for game-changing gatherings. You may be familiar with one of the biggest. It took place in New York State, and featured incredible artists from all over the musical map. Many of its crowd were experiencing such an event for the very first time. And the event itself was making its debut. Nothing like it had ever been done before. But this festival wasn’t taking place in Woodstock. It was happening in Harlem. ### The Impresario The man behind the Harlem Cultural Festival was also making his debut. Tony Lawrence was a club singer, promoter, and something of a professional raconteur. An active community member, he was persuasive, charismatic, and had the hustle to make things happen. But he’d never run a festival before. Despite Tony having the backing of NYC’s parks department, suppliers were skeptical about his festival idea. Civil unrest was brewing, and an economic boom was starting to slow. This felt like one risky concept. Yet somehow, Tony pulled it off. To ease suppliers’ financial concerns, he landed Maxwell House coffee as a sponsor. The likes of Stevie Wonder, BB King, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, and Sly & The Family Stone signed up to perform. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/image-3.png) And during that summer series, several hundred thousand people celebrated African American music and culture at Harlem’s Mount Morris Park. For even the big-name artists it was also something of a debut. The 5th Dimension were a hugely popular act with chart-topping hits, but many of the crowd who used radio as their main medium were in for a shock. This band with a crossover 'champagne soul' style were - to the surprise of many in the crowd - Black. For The 5th Dimension and their fans, taking the stage in Harlem was a breakthrough moment - a different kind of debut. Sly & The Family Stone sounded - and looked - like nothing done before. And the New York City mayor riffed alongside Tony on the main stage. Debuts upon debuts. But here’s the thing. Even though the whole event had been filmed and there were hundreds of stories to share, the media didn’t care one bit. While the story of the Harlem Cultural Festival stood strong in local folklore, it barely came into wider view. The 40 hours of footage from this incredible debut sat in a basement. For 50 years. It needed another debut to change it. Questlove, the shapeshifting drummer and defacto band leader of The Roots, picked up the trail and along with producer Robert Fyvolent transformed the footage into a feature-length documentary: [Summer of Soul](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Eg-vtSABE&ref=howardgray.net). Rolling Stone magazine called it *“an incredible, vital act of restoration — and reclamation".* It was Questlove's first time directing. ### Release the Pressure Questlove debuted something high-stakes, high-risk. And Tony and the team behind the festival most certainly were. Our own debuts are unlikely to have that kind of gravity, but they can still feel exciting, scary, and overwhelming. Whether it’s a new job, project, company, or just a different way of presenting ourselves and our work - a debut is a first. In fact, by its nature, *any* kind of creative work is a debut. It's never been done before. We worry about our debuts being disappointing. About them not working. We get nervous about feeling like an imposter, a fraud, of not possessing the creativity or intellectual powers to stand up. We worry about negative responses - or perhaps more dispiritingly - no response at all. All our work may just disappear from view. Odds are there won’t be a Questlove on hand to bring it back to life. It could all be gone - lost in the basement of our soul. But however small they feel, our debuts matter. They move things forward. They move *us* forward. To ease the debut pressure, we can take a little inspiration from Tony and Questlove. Like them, we can also become impresarios. We may not be the flamboyant promoter or the multi-hypenate band leader, but we may surprise ourselves at how possible it is for us able to orchestrate and bring others together around something *never done before*. In fact, I bet there's a group of people out there eagerly awaiting your next debut - perhaps you just don’t know it yet. So, what’s your next debut? And who are you bringing along for the ride? Let me know. Just hit reply. Howard --- # Two debuts... and a cease & desist ### Say hello to my little friend ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/37EA685A-9DAC-436B-87BA-F09D8E7E0C10-copy-2.jpg) Baby Kai made his world debut on 28th July 2021\. It’s been a whirlwind. I'll aim to share some thoughts on fatherhood month 1 in next month's digest. --- ### A new and improved Howard Gray Well, the [website version](https://www.howardgray.net/) at least. There are now over 500 articles on my website, but they’ve not been easy to discover and navigate. Until now. Everything has been retagged and brought together into one place: blog posts, podcasts, weird little video skits, and all 57 editions of this newsletter. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-14.30.27.png) I’ve also created some [series](https://www.howardgray.net/blog/) around particular themes. [Building your own business?](https://www.howardgray.net/from-zero/) Want to better [understand yourself](https://www.howardgray.net/mind-the-gap/)? Curious to find out about all the stuff [I’ve messed up](https://www.howardgray.net/battle-scars/) along the way? It’s all there. [**Check it out >**](https://www.howardgray.net/) --- ### RIP Career Fuel A few weeks ago I received a copyright infringement notice on ‘Career Fuel’ (!) - a tag I used to reference all the career navigation bits I share here and on my website. As I don’t have the time, money or energy to get litigated, its goodbye to The Section Formerly Known As Career Fuel. So, while every edition of this newsletter will continue to start with a riff inspired by pop culture, the links and ideas that follow are gonna be reconstructed a bit. For now, here they are with a slightly looser filing system. Hopefully I don’t get sued. --- # Bits from the Bureau... ### Creative Careers [**Hollywood shadows**](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/03/21/hollywood-shadows?ref=howardgray.net): The story of how two psychologists help screenwriters to get unblocked. I discovered this via a Tim Ferriss podcast with a hedge fund manager (random), and picked up their book ‘The Tools’. It’s very good. So much so, I’ve been reading it aloud to Jacinta during Kai's late-night feeds. [**Jonah Hill gets serious (ish)**](https://www.gq.com/story/jonah-hill-fall-2021-gq-style-cover?ref=howardgray.net): This is excellent. A deep dive into creative arts, power, self awareness, and acceptance. A good reminder we all have chapters, but the previous one doesn't have to dictate what's next. And by strange coincidence, Jonah Hill's therapist is the co-author of the aforementioned book. [**The real CEO of 'Succession'**](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/30/the-real-ceo-of-succession?ref=howardgray.net): A long-form profile of Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession, Peep Show, and other skewering satires. I can't watch more than two episodes of Succession on the spin without feeling I need therapy. ### Media, Tech, Innovation **[Storyweaving with AI](https://blog.webaverse.com/storyweaving-with-ai?ref=howardgray.net)**: This is a really cool breakdown of how Hollywood (and other industries) could become disrupted through automated, decentralized storytelling. It may need a few reads to fully grasp it, but it's worthwhile. [**MLK x Fortnite**](https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/celebrate-mlk-time-studios-presents-march-through-time-in-fortnite?ref=howardgray.net): Speaking of MLK, here's a project by Time Studios - you can experience Martin Luther King's most famous speech within Fortnite. There's a lot to like here, but I can't help but wonder how effective it's actually going to be... [**A brief history of Netflix personalization**](https://gibsonbiddle.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-netflix-personalization-1f2debf010a1?ref=howardgray.net): A deep dive geek out on how Netflix has conitnued to prevent you from sleeping or doing other more valuable things with your life. [**Tree of Life**](https://www.onezoom.org/life.html/@=304358?img=best%5Fany&anim=flight&ref=howardgray.net#x1622,y784,w0.4623): Explore a history of... well, everything. This data viz allows you to learn about just about every species that's on the planet. The UI is a little clunky but it's a pretty incredible resource. [**Nestflix**](https://nestflix.fun/?ref=howardgray.net): A wiki dressed up as a streaming platform that nests fictional films and tv shows inside real movies and tv shows. Meta. ### Slices of Life [**One man's quest to become a Wikipedia Olympian**](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/01/olympics-wikipedia-guy-fraser-tokyo?ref=howardgray.net): Speaking of wikis, Guy Fraser went on a mission to ensure there were Wikipedia pages for all the 11,656 athletes at this year's Olympics. [**Sounds of the Underground**](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/13/arts/subway-train-sounds.html?ref=howardgray.net): I'm a bit of a transport geek, so naturally I was very into this interactive exploration of the jingles used on subway systems around the world. --- # Jukebox *A selection of music from the Front (now), the Middle (the forgotten recent past), and the Back (way back in the time)* ### Front: [Josh Upton - Learning to Fly](https://open.spotify.com/album/6XHRCyFRXumDW4DnLTPMEw?si=nJZWlV61SyCX5iXl715r2Q&dl%5Fbranch=1&nd=1&ref=howardgray.net) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/JoshUpton_artwork.jpg) Some debuts come fast, others burn slowly. Here’s the debut EP from my good friend, collaborator, and esteemed hype man Josh Upton. Given this month’s theme, I’m especially delighted to share it with you here. ### Middle: [Balearic Mike - Sketches from an island](https://soundcloud.com/international-feel/balearic-interpretations-vol-1?ref=howardgray.net) No trips to Ibiza for me this year, so I've taken solace in some of Balearic Mike's blissed-out DJ mixes. Here's one of his very best, for the International Feel label. ### Back: [Lee “Scratch” Perry: Roast Fish, Collie Weed, and Corn Bread](https://open.spotify.com/album/2xNZuibPWnInThJvZ0r22B?si=PdI-bja0Q828sIcUC0yogA&dl%5Fbranch=1&ref=howardgray.net) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/09/image-1.png) It’s always bittersweet featuring the recently deceased in this section. Here’s one of the earlier albums from an incredibly prolific, one of a kind artist. Perhaps Keith Richards summed him up best: "*the Salvador Dali of music*." *Note: Last month's edition featured Afghan producer Farhot. What a difference a month makes. [Here’s the album again in case you missed it >](https://farhot.bandcamp.com/album/kabul-fire-vol-2?ref=howardgray.net)* --- # Footnotes *Other things I’ve been up to this past month.* - **Speaking**: About storytelling at CMX Summit. I don’t like tooting my own horn but I gotta say - it went well. If you're curious, there's more on [my speaking work here >](https://www.howardgray.net/speaking/) - **Strategising**: Bringing some projects closer together, and [sharing a monthly update with some trusted fellow travelers](https://twitter.com/HowardGray/status/1432401154852499459?ref=howardgray.net) - **Handling**: baby poo, pee, vomit, and a lot of laundry - **Diving**: back into blockchain. The first wave of NFT mania earlier this year left me cold, but I sense some more interesting use cases are emerging - **Reading**: about writing, courtesy of Stephen King's wonderful "On Writing" (I had no idea that among his 60 (!) bestsellers is what became *The Shawshank Redemption*) --- ### Thanks for reading... If you want to support what I’m doing, I’d be delighted for you to join the conversation. Reply to the e-mail or ping me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/howardgray?ref=howardgray.net) or [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardgray83?ref=howardgray.net) and tell me what resonated or what you’d add/remove/modify. If you want to work together, I'd love to hear from you. [Head here to get started >](https://www.howardgray.net/work-with-me/) --- *Adventures…* is brought to you from the desk of Howard Gray: founder of [Wavetable](http://www.wavetable.net/?ref=howardgray.net), connoisseur of breakfasts, changer of diapers.