This week in class we were presented with the “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” music video by The Gap Band. Around the time period the song was released, the press spoke with the band questioning if the song had any relation to the Tulsa Massacre. The bands response explained that the song was an analogy about love. This song reminded me of a story my dad had told me years ago.

My dad is an attorney and he represented Charlie Wilson (lead singer) on drug charges. He was looking at prison time. Additionally, Charlie had a huge concert in Japan & obviously did not want to go to prison. My dad managed to get him on just probation, meaning no prison. Charlie was elated as no prisoner & he autographed a dummy bomb & a grenade that said “To Marky Mark: We dropped a bomb on them””.The dismantled grenade is still at my parents house. As a kid I would see it and would get frighted that it could be a real and would sometimes hide it to make sure the pin did not get removed.

Although the bands statement made it clear the song was not about the Tulsa Massacre, the brothers grew up in same area as the massacre in Greenwood, Archer & Pine. The greenwood district is where massacre occurred. This meant the song still took a deeper message to the fans and got people thinking. Later in life Charlie met his current wife in rehab. She led him to the Lord. He is still a successful R&B singer to this day. I think this is a cool story that my dad got to be apart of. I wonder how different Charlie’s life would have been if my dad wasn’t able to help him avoid prison.