“In memory of Static”

Earlier this week, Static Major (Steve Garrett) passed away.  I last saw Steve in December at the Goodtimers party (click on link to view photo album). He was a blessing to the music world, although most of his claim to fame was behind the scenes.  I was always proud of his group Playa because they represented Louisville.  I was especially proud of Steve because he represented my high school – Waggener High School.

I remember when I was a senior in college in North Carolina.  It was a random day and I was listening to the radio.  The DJ talked about this new group that was in the area that would be opening for Dru Hill.  The group was Playa.  I instantly dialed into the station and asked her if I could speak to them.  The DJ seemed pretty shocked that I even knew who they were.  I told her I went to middle and high school with two of them.  She asked the name of the high school and put me on hold.

A couple of minutes later she’s airing live and asks Playa what they know about Waggener High School.  Since they were on a North Carolina radio station, they seemed caught off guard by the question.  She then puts me into the conversation and we sit and talk live for a lengthy time on the radio about Louisville, them sneaking backstage at the Jodeci concert to be noticed and all of their success.  After we got off the air, they invited my friends and I to their concert that night.  We met them at the hotel, hung out with them for awhile, and then received the royal treatment at the concert.

Who would have imagined that Steve would also go on to write so many famous lyrics? Ginuwine’s “Pony” and “So Anxious”, Aaliyah’s “Try Again” and “More Than a Woman”, Destiny Child’s “Say My Name”, Truth Hurt’s “Addictive”, Brandy’s “Come As You Are”, Diddy’s “Tell Me” and Pretty Ricky’s “On the Hotline” and other songs never would have existed without the mastermind of Louisville’s own Steve (Static Major) Garrett.  I listened to B96.5 on the radio on Tuesday and they did an awesome tribute to him and played a great deal of his songs. I was supposed to leave work at 5:00 that, but stayed almost an hour over to keep listening because his hits kept playing.  We all want to leave our mark on this world and Steve did his thang!!