By Paul Freeman [March 2011 Interview]

Not every music fan knows the name Dolores “La La” Brooks. But they should.

As a teen in the ‘60s, Brooks sang lead with one of the greatest of the girl groups, The Crystals. It’s her voice, as well as Phil Spector’s wall of sound, that sent such songs as “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me” zooming up the charts.

You can enjoy all the timeless Crystals hits on the new release “Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of The Crystals” (Phil Spector Records/EMI Music Publishing/Legacy).

The Brooklyn-born Brooks, second youngest of 11 children, began in gospel music. Then, at 13, she was whisked into the pop spotlight with The Crystals.

In 1966, she married the great jazz drummer Idris Muhammad. They had two sons and two daughters before separating in 1999.

Brooks also attained Broadway success. In 1968, she was featured in the original Broadway production of “Hair” and, in 1971, “Two Gentlemen of Verona.”

Still a vocal dynamo, Brooks continues to sing her rock ‘n’ roll classics. She was recently seen on PBS’ “My Music: Rock, Pop and Doo Wop.”

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
I saw on YouTube the performance you gave at the “Save Ray’s” benefit. And your voice still sounds so dynamic. What’s your secret? Do you have any kind of regimen?

LA LA BROOKS:
No, I really don’t. But I should... I’ve always been like if I rehearse, if I crack or whatever, I feel embarrassed, even when I’m by myself. But I just always go for it, let the emotion take me.

PCC:
Maybe that comes from the gospel roots?

BROOKS:
I did come out of gospel. I sang with my sister and my brother in a family group called The Little Gospel Tears. And the gospel thing helps a lot. We never had training or anything. It just comes natural. I think if I had training, I would lose some of the feeling.

Sometimes on stage, I’ll put the note down lower. I won’t push myself there. Some artists want to sing high and loud and do all kind of notes and stuff. I’m not that kind of artist. I want to feel it. And, if I go too high, it’s very difficult for me. So I stay where my voice should be, when my voice is tired.

PCC:
Coming from the gospel background, how did you make the transition to rock ‘n’ roll?

BROOKS:
Well, I still love gospel. That’s a feeling inside my soul. But when I switched to rock ‘n’ roll, I tried to still interpret certain notes and stuff that would make me feel good, as if I was still singing gospel.

For me, the only difference in rock ‘n’ roll, as I’ve gotten older, is the lyrics. But the feeling I have when I sing, it’s still that same feeling as if I’m singing gospel.

PCC:
So it’s just all about the emotion?

BROOKS:
Its all about emotion. If someone brings me a song, and goes crazy over the song and says it’s going to be a hit, if I’m not feeling that song, I don’t care what they say. I have to feel it in order to sing it. If I don’t feel the lyrics, don’t feel the melody, it’s very difficult for me to sing it. I have to feel it.

PCC:
The nickname, ‘La La,’ did that come in childhood?

BROOKS:
That did come in childhood. My sister, who was two years older than me, couldn’t pronounce Dolores. So she called me ‘La La.’ You know how kids are. And everyone called me La La. The only one who called me Dolores was my Dad. My brothers and sisters and Mom, they all called me La La.

PCC:
A perfect name for a singer.

BROOKS:
Yeah, I guess. [Sings] La la la la la la la. [Laughs]

PCC:
So how did Dee Dee Kenniebrew, of The Crystals, discover you singing at an after-school program?

BROOKS:
Well, I went to P.S. 73 and her mom was working at the school. So every day, I used to see Dee Dee Kenniebrew’s mom. In those days, your parents didn’t allow you - at least my Mom and Dad didn’t allow me - to be in the street, just roaming, doing nonsense. So I would go to an after-school program. There was recreation there. They would have dancing, games and all kinds of things.

When I went there, I heard this man playing a piano down the hallway. I just followed the sound. This guy named Leo was sitting there. I stood there and asked him if I could sing. He said, ‘Can you?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And then I started singing and, naturally, there was an echo in the hallways of the school.

And Dee Dee’s mom was in the office and she could hear this child singing and she followed my voice. She came in and I stopped, because I was shy. And she said, ‘Was that you singing?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘Oh, my God, what a beautiful voice.’ And then she started telling me about The Crystals. They’d just had one hit out, ‘There’s No Other (Like My Baby).’ And she asked if I’d like to join the group. And I said, ‘Yes, but you’ll have to speak with my Mom.’ And she did. When I started on the road with them, I was 13 and I had a guardian on the road with me.

PCC:
Was that overwhelming at such an early age?

BROOKS:
Well, not really, because I went to private school and that was very structured. I also had a guardian, which was the mom of Patsy Wright [one of the founding members of The Crystals]. She would go on the road with me. So even though I was out there at a young age, we still had to obey. We came from an era where you listened to older people. So it wasn’t difficult.

The only difficult thing was, sometimes, when I’d work the Apollo, I’d have to work five shows. And that was difficult, as a child, because you get tired.

PCC:
What was the Apollo experience like? That must have been huge.

BROOKS:
Yeah, we got to work with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Little Anthony and The Imperials, James Brown, Aretha. So the experience of working with those artists was fascinating to me, as a child.

PCC:
The opening in The Crystals, was that when Myrna Girard had to take a leave, because she was pregnant?

BROOKS:
Yes, Myrna was pregnant. And she left completely. She never worked with us again. She may have been background, putting down tracks in New York with Phil, before he moved to California and started recording me. But she never returned to the group.

PCC:
So what was your first recording with the group?

BROOKS:
‘Uptown.’ So everything The Crystals are on, I’m on, except ‘There’s No Other (Like My Baby).’

PCC:
‘Uptown’ is such a terrific Mann & Weil song. Did you have an immediate sense that it was something special?

BROOKS:
Oh, yes. Phil picked great writers. He really did.

PCC:
Were you around when he had The Crystals record ‘Let’s Dance The Screw’?

BROOKS:
Yes, I was involved. [Sings] ‘Let’s do it... come on and do it.’ [Laughs] Crazy, crazy man.

PCC:
Did he explain why he wanted to record that song, which he apparently never intended to release?

BROOKS:
No, he didn’t explain. I think I did know. There was a story behind that, but I can’t really remember the story. I think he was mad at Lester Sill [Spector’s original partner in Philles Records] and it was his way of saying,’ Screw you.’ And Lester Sill was a sweetheart.

PCC:
Maybe he was just too sane for Phil.

BROOKS:
He was a little older than Phil. He was too sane for Phil. It’s true, it’s true.

PCC:
What was your impression of Phil?

BROOKS:
It’s difficult for me to say, because I was a kid and Phil treated me like a child. I’m not going to lie to you, I would see holsters on him and he would spin them around in the studio and guys would duck. Maybe they were ducking, because they knew it was loaded. But I didn’t think anything of it, because my brothers used to put on the holsters and twirl the gun around and try to put it in the pocket. So it was normal for me to see that kind of action from guys.

But as far as Phil in the studio, he just did his thing. He was selfish and very much controlling. I look back and I see it now. But as a kid, I just listened to what he told me to do, even if it was stressful. And I was stressed sometimes at the studio, because I was in there sometimes from noon until five o’clock in the morning. That’s a lot.

He was a perfectionist. I would be hearing 42 takes, 52 takes. I was like, ‘Oh, God, another take?’

PCC:
And you were still just in your early teens?

BROOKS:
Yeah, I had just turned 15.

PCC:
So how do you retain your energy, any sense of freshness, after so many takes?

BROOKS:
Well, sometimes, when he was recording with the guys, messing with musicians, Cher was in the studio and Cher and I would go out and get a hot dog or just walk around for a minute to take a break and then we’d come back.

PCC:
She sang on a lot of the Spector records, didn’t she?

BROOKS:
Yeah, she did. She sang a lot of background. She was dying to sing background. She used to just sit on the side, just waiting to run into the studio.

PCC:
Did you have an inkling that she might be moving to the spotlight someday?

BROOKS:
No, you know, it’s funny, because Cher was modeling and I remember going up the hill - you know in California, you have the high hills? - and Cher and I would go back to her apartment. And it was so darn small. She had like a bed and a couch and a little small kitchen. And the bed and the couch were in like this teeny, teeny living room. I’d sit on the bed and she’d sit on the couch. She was showing me photos of her modeling. She was trying to model then. I mean, she naturally loved music, too, and wanted to get on the mics, but she also was putting her hand into modeling. And they didn’t have any money then, I’ll tell you that much.

Cher and I went to look for an apartment. Sonny told her to go look for an apartment. And we went to find for this apartment. And when we were coming back, she said, ‘Oh, my God, Sonny is going to kill me. The apartment is $300 a month. I don’t think he can afford that.’ And I was like, ‘Wow!’ And we went to the studio and she said, ‘Sonny, it’s $300.’ And he said, ‘How are we going to afford that?’ But look at her now, right?

PCC:
He was actually at a lot of the sessions, too, wasn’t he?

BROOKS:
Sonny was there every day. And Sonny was there every second with Phil. He was really Phil’s right-hand man, like a yes man, because, even when you’d find something wrong, you’d have to say ‘yes’ to Phil. That’s what Sonny did. But he was a sweetheart. He was a doll.

PCC:
I guess he learned a lot from Phil.

BROOKS:
Yeah, he took all that crap. And then came out with [Sings] ‘They say we’re young and we don’t know... I got you babe.’ I mean, he came out with great, great hits, just from being underneath Phil’s thumb and being sometimes abused.

PCC:
I guess everybody had to put up with that for the sake of the music?

BROOKS:
Exactly.

PCC:
You mentioned earlier that you were shy. I had read that Barbara Alston was shy and that was one of the reasons why she asked you to take the leads.

BROOKS:
Oh, that’s very true, uh-huh. But I just found that out maybe five or six years ago. Her legs used to twitch on stage. Barbara was very pretty and cute. I used to be doing background with Dee Dee and them and she used to start; [Sings the ‘There’s No Other Like My Baby’ intro] ‘There’s a story I want you to know...’ And her legs would be moving back and forth. And I used to watch her. And I thought she was trying to be sexy. And I said, ‘Barbara’s so cute, doing that.’

When I saw her a few years ago, I said, ‘Barbara, I remember you doing that with your leg and I used to think it was so sexy.’ And she said, ‘No, I was scared. I couldn’t stop them from shaking.’ And I said, ‘Really?’ And she said, ‘Yeah.’ And then the nerves got the best of her and then she said, she didn’t want to do the leads, so I would have to do like ‘There’s No Other Like My Baby,’ ‘Uptown,’ and then I took control of the lead.

She was afraid. And Barbara knew that I was a stronger singer. And she knew I was confident, because I was only 14, 13 years old. And a 13 or 14-year-old has so much confidence when they’re on stage. It’s like, you don’t give a damn about anything in the world. It’s like, ‘Whatever.’ And Barbara was 18 years old. So she had a brain. And she had more fear. I didn’t have that kind of fear, because I was so young and I wanted to just get out there.

It’s like when someone is trying to jump rope in the neighborhood and they try to go in and they get scared, because the rope was turning. I wasn’t afraid at all. I’d just jump in there. Barbara wasn’t like that.

PCC:
So being able to overcome your shyness and feel comfortable on stage, did that make you feel like this was what you were meant to do?

BROOKS:
I think it is. I was never shy on stage. I was shy from Phil’s lyrics sometimes, because they were so mature for me to sing. But as far as performance is concerned, I’m very comfortable. I’m nervous before I go on stage, but when I get on stage, I feel very comfortable.

PCC:
What’s an example of lyrics that made you feel awkward?

BROOKS:
Like the one ‘Woman In Love.’ I’m 15, talking about, [Sings] ‘I’m a woman, a woman in love... I’m a woman... with you... I said you, baby it’s you.’ I‘m thinking, ‘What?’ I mean, how many kids can sing that and not even have a boyfriend. You don’t know who you’re talking about.

PCC:
Great track, though. It’s nice to hear this previously unreleased version on the new ‘Very Best of...’ CD.

BROOKS:
Yeah, I love that song. I just love it.

PCC:
And what did you think when some records were released by Spector as The Crystals, when it wasn’t really the group singing?

BROOKS:
Well, all of us were upset about that. I mean, it’s normal, because we would never have allowed Phil to do something like that, to put Darlene Love’s voice under the Crystal name. But we found out later that it was very difficult for Phil to get a hit with Darlene’s name. And The Crystals’ name was so hot and so popular, so that was a way for him to get her more attention. And that was the worst thing for us. It really hurt us, personally, and sometimes when it came to people talking about it on the road. It was embarrassing.

But we got through it, because I was able to sing the song the way Darlene sang it. I was able to do ‘He’s Sure The Boy I Love.’ The only problem I have with that song is that I have a very Brooklyn accent and she had like a West Coast, almost country thing. So I had to practice. It was difficult for me to speak like that.

PCC:
What about ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’? Did you hear the version with Darlene’s lead before you sang the track that’s actually on the record?

BROOKS:
No, because there’s no such thing as an original with Darlene. Darlene didn’t do ‘Da Doo Ron Ron.’ There’s no record with Darlene doing ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ on it. They would do a demo... with a dog or cat or whatever. So when Darlene says that she did a record, there’s no such thing. And if she did, could she please bring it to the front door? It’s not true. I think she took that and ran with it, because I was in Europe. I left off the scene. People don’t know the history. They don’t read the history of who did what. And she did ‘He’s a Rebel’ and ‘He’s Sure The Boy I Love’ and then she started saying she did ‘Da Doo Ron Ron,’ that she put down a track. But even if I put down a track of ‘Be My Baby’ or whatever, it’s like a demo, it’s not used. I was the original one on ‘Da Doo Ron Ron.’

Darlene was never even thought about, because Phil and Jack Nitzsche were telling me that they would never have put her on ‘Da Doo Ron Ron,’ because it was wrong for them to put it out under The Crystals when he did ‘He’s A Rebel.’ He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Plus, Darlene’s voice was too old. She has a great voice, don’t get me wrong. But Phil didn’t want that older sound on ‘Da Do Ron Ron.’ He wanted a younger sound. And I was the perfect one to give that younger sound, because I was 15.

PCC:
What do you remember about Jack Nitzsche?

BROOKS:
Oh, my God, I saw Jack Nitzsche a week before he passed away. I was like in my fifties. I went to the Mayflower Hotel to visit him. He’d been looking for me for five years, but I was in Europe. I wa living in Vienna. He finally found me when I came back to the States, I came to see him at the Mayflower Hotel. And he was talking about, Phil was a piece of crap. And that he didn’t pay him. And without him doing all the arrangements, there would be no Phil. So I had to listen to all the stories about Phil. And we were going to go into the studio and record. But that week, he passed away, which was devastating to me.

PCC:
What do remember about the ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ sessions? What was that whole process like for you?

BROOKS:
It drove me crazy, because it was, take one, take two, next thing I knew, we were on take 42. It wasn’t me, as much as he wanted to be a perfectionist with the cymbals and the drums and all the instruments. So those guys went over ’Da Doo Ron Ron’ 42 takes. So many takes they were doing.

PCC:
What was your experience like, working with The Wrecking Crew?

BROOKS:
They were very cool. I mean, Phil would work them to the bone. But they knew Phil was a perfectionist, who would not let them leave, if it was not right. They just said, ‘Well, Phil makes the hits, so we might as well just stay here and deal with it.’

He was funny in the studio. He wasn’t always crazy. Very curious, too. He had a few things going on in his head and in his personality.

PCC:
And what about ‘Then He Kissed Me’? What do you remember most about that session?

BROOKS:
You know, it’s funny, at first I didn’t like ‘Then He Kissed Me.’ I love it now. But at first, I didn’t like the melody, because I wanted to always do something fast. And it wasn’t as fast as songs like ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Girls Can Tell’ and ‘Heartbreaker.’ Those songs were a little bit faster. ‘Then He Kissed Me’ had to grow on me. Of course, it’s a classic now.

PCC:
When you heard the final mixes of the records, did they surprise you?

BROOKS:
Yeah, they did. The only thing that used to bother me is that, when we’d be in the studio, with the big speakers around, you could hear your voice, naturally, much better than on the record. And then when you hear the record and sometimes Phil sort of compacted it to be in the background a little bit. That used to disturb me. It was because I sing so strong and so hard, to have all those musicians cover me up, I would have been too much.

PCC:
What about translating it to live performance? With these records having such huge production, what was that process like?

BROOKS:
When I performed them live, I loved it - ‘Then He Kissed Me,’ ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ - because then I could really get my vocals across. The girls’ background voices were balanced. The instruments were balanced. Nothing’s overpowering me. So it gives me that sense of power within myself, when I’m doing it live.

PCC:
Did The Crystals do those Dick Clark types of tours, those Caravans of Stars?

BROOKS:
Yeah, we did. We did a lot of those Dick Clark tours.

PCC:
Was there camaraderie amongst all the groups? What do you recall from those experiences?

BROOKS:
Well, most of us got along. Diana Ross was special, because she was Diana Ross, so she was a little bit more over the top sometimes. Sometimes it would bother me, because I was a teenager and she was three or four years older than me. But I used to love the way she dressed and the way she did her eyes and stuff, when she went on stage, because it looked so womanly. But most of us got along. We didn’t have too much trouble.

It was the traveling that made it hardship. Sometimes you’d have to drive 500 miles on this bus that was so hot. That was difficult. Then you had the racism to deal with, which was very difficult for me, as a teenager, very difficult.

PCC:
Where did you run into it?

BROOKS:
It was during the Dick Clark tours, in the South. They weren’t serving us, because we were black. We were on like a black-and-white tour, because Bobby Rydell, Dion and the Belmonts, Bobby Vinton, all of them were on tour with us. And they were allowed to go in the restaurants and we weren’t, so it was sort of like devastating to me, as a teenager, because I didn’t understand it. It was hurtful.

But Dick Clark was such a sweetheart. When we went into a town, where black people couldn’t go, then Dick Clark would make everybody stay on the bus and he’d have his assistant take a paper and write down what everybody wanted, sandwiches and hamburgers and stuff. And the guy would just go out and get a big box. And then he’d bring them back and we’d eat on the bus, because he felt bad about it.

We weren’t allowed to stay in the Sheraton Hotels at that time, so when Dick Clark would bring us into a town in the South, they would stay at the Sheraton and we would stay in like a black motel. And then we’d have to climb down the ditch, because the motel was in the ditch. And then, the next day, when Dick Clark would be coming to pick us up, to take us to the next destination for the job, we’d have to climb up the hill with our suitcases and stuff, to meet them on the highway, when they’d bring the bus around, from the Sheraton Hotel. So it was difficult. It wasn’t as people have it today. It was very, very hurtful and difficult. But you learn to get over it. And you learn that life goes on and that not everybody had prejudice in them.

PCC:
You were really pioneering, in terms of having black and white performers on stage together.

BROOKS:
Yeah, definitely. I toured with Sam Cooke and they were white on one side of the theater, black on the other. And they didn’t have the kind of mics they have now. I’d have to pick up these big mics, as a young girl, and try to sing to one side of the audience. And then the other side. It was not easy.

It was difficult, because, I was a teenager from New York. I did not understand. I wasn’t raised in the South. And I’m talking about a child’s mind, trying to figure out why am I different? Why are they not liking me?

I remember going into New Orleans and it was really devastating. I was playing the Dick Clark tour then. And I was in New Orleans, on Canal Street, and I went into a shop. I wanted to get a white blouse and some short, Bermuda pants. And when I went in there, the lady said to me, ‘You can’t try this blouse on.’ And I couldn’t understand, because I’d come from the North, where I’d been allowed to go into the dressing rooms. And I asked her why. She said, ‘You’re not from here, are you?’ She had a Southern accent. I said ‘No.’ She said, ‘Oh, I knew you weren’t, because you would have known that, if you tried that on in a dressing room, and the white people see you, they wouldn’t want to put it on, because it touched your body.’ And I remember giving the blouse back. I asked her, ‘How are you supposed to know if it fits?’ She said, ‘Take it back to where you’re staying at your hotel and then, if it fits, you can keep it, or, if it doesn’t fit, bring it back.’ I remember handing it to her and walking down the street and I was crying, because I didn’t understand it.

PCC:
It’s impossible to understand that kind of mentality. What about the excitement of doing TV shows like ‘Shivaree’ and, in London, ‘Ready Steady Go!’?

BROOKS:
It was cool. I loved doing the television shows.

PCC:
And they’d have all different styles of artists on the same show.

BROOKS:
I remember one time I was on a show in England with Dusty Springfield, Dave Clark 5, all those guys.

PCC:
Towards the end of your working with Phil Spector, did you notice he was preoccupied with Ronnie and The Ronettes?

BROOKS:
No, I think it seemed like that to Dee Dee and the older girls. But it didn’t seem like that to me. I didn’t pay that too much attention.

PCC:
And what led to your leaving The Crystals?

BROOKS:
Well, I did Broadway. I was in the original cast of ‘Hair’ with Diane Keaton. She was in my dressing room. Melba Moore. And I was singing ‘Aquarius’ in ‘Hair.’ Then I did the original cast of ‘Two Gentlemen From Verona’ with Raul Julia and Clifton Davis. So I started doing Broadway.

PCC:
Having grown up in New York, had that been a dream, to appear on Broadway?

BROOKS:
Yeah, I think it was. I had gone to see ‘Hair’ about three months before it went to Broadway and I was amazed. The anti-war story. And ‘Aquarius.’ I loved all the songs. Oh, my God, it was such a beautiful play for me. So I stayed with that for a year-and-a-half, almost two years. I did ‘Aquarius.’ I did ‘What A Piece of Work Is Man,’ I did all different parts. It was the greatest experience any young performer could have.

PCC:
And it really revolutionized Broadway musicals.

BROOKS:
Exactly. And it really spoke the truth. It spoke the truth about war.

PCC:
And later, working with artists like Neville Brothers, Bobby Womack, Isaac Hayes, were those rewarding experiences?

BROOKS:
Yeah. I loved working with Bobby. I worked with Bobby when I was young. I met Bobby when I was 15. He’s like a brother. We’re like sister and brother. And when I was in Vienna - I lived in Vienna for eight years - I was on BMG. And they wanted me to call a friend of mine that was famous. And I called Bobby. And Bobby and I put out, [Sings] ‘Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby...’ And in New Orleans, we did a whole album, in nine days, in New Orleans, live, with The Neville Brothers - Aaron, Cyril, Arthur, Charles - all the brothers. It was great working with them.

PCC:
Were you part of the reunion of The Crystals, in the early ‘70s, for the rock ‘n’ roll revival shows?

BROOKS:
Yeah.

PCC:
Did that mean a lot to you, seeing that audiences still enjoyed the great hits?

BROOKS:
Yeah. I was in a Broadway show then, but they naturally needed me to do that with them. And I had someone understudy me in the Broadway play. And so I did it with Dee Dee and them and it was great, seeing them and doing those songs again. Definitely.

PCC:
What about hearing the songs like ‘Then He Kissed Me’ turning up in hit movies and TV shows? Was that gratifying?

BROOKS:
Yeah, that was gratifying. Not as gratifying as if you were getting paid for it. I mean, that would be more gratifying.

PCC:
Aren’t there royalties for that usage?

BROOKS:
Well, I didn’t see them. Maybe I’ll see them tomorrow or another day to come. But Phil capitalized on everything that we’ve done.

PCC:
Moving to England in the ‘80s, what prompted that?

BROOKS:
Well, because my husband had a business partner there at the time.

PCC:
And then on to Vienna?

BROOKS:
Then on to Vienna. I had my own radio show in Vienna. I did a show called ‘Come On, Everybody.’ And played music on Sundays, from two to four.

PCC:
Cool. And now you’re back in New York, in the East Village?

BROOKS:
Yeah, I’m in the East Village. A real cool place.

PCC:
And you have grandchildren?

BROOKS:
I have four kids and five grandkids.

PCC:
Was it tough to balance career and raising kids?

BROOKS:
Well, I stopped for a while, to raise them.

PCC:
And now you’re back performing again?

BROOKS:
Yes, I’m now back performing again on stage.

PCC:
So what’s been the greatest source of pride for you, over the course of the career?

BROOKS:
I think being able to keep grounded. I’m very much into putting everything into perspective. I‘m not a diva kind of person. I don’t trip in my head, thinking I’m better, because I’m in show business. I’m very grounded. And that’s the happiness for me, to be grounded and not just mixed up. If I didn’t sing tomorrow or today or whatever - I love the fans, I love show business - but I’m able to sleep at night without saying, ‘Oh, I must be on stage’ or ‘I must have somebody clap for me.’

I think being in show business gave me more self-esteem, sure, naturally, because you’re out there in front and people are clapping for you. But it also gave me a balance. When it’s over, it’s over and you’re no better than anybody else.

You can live a life in show business, just as long as you don’t have to live it in show business. So I think I’m grounded and that’s what makes me more proud of myself, that I didn’t let it take me in a different direction. I never drank. I didn’t take drugs. I didn’t go into any kind of negative side of the business. So I’m really, really happy that I was raised by good parents and I took the right road.

PCC:
So are you content, having accomplished so much? Or are there still goals you’re yearning to achieve in your career?

BROOKS:
I’m content. Naturally, you want to grow as an artist, as far as songs and singing and performing. I’d love to be on a television show, something like ‘The View,’ because I love debating and I love bouncing off another person’s energy. I love politics. I love to challenge people with that and speak my mind and hear what they have to say, in speaking their mind. So I’d love to do television like ‘The View,’ because I like when they bounce off each other and they argue and they try to make their point. I love things like that.

PCC:
And what about future recording?

BROOKS:
I'd love to record again. I’d love to do that. I’d like to record a song that would be in a great movie. I’d love to record, because I have the voice for it still... And then I could be a baker. Bake cookies. I’m an all-around girl. [Laughs]