Before The Soul Show’s syndication, BHM was straightforward: pick a weekly theme of historical impact, do the research, present a one-off episode on local radio (at the time, WYEP Pittsburgh). For logistical reasons, themes are now more muted so that each episode can potentially played any time of year – it’s called evergreening. You hear the vibe, you know the meaning, but it’s not stated explicitly.
As always, I started developing themes in January. One of them was gonna be “Bass-iss,” a celebration of R&B’s bottom end, through legendary players and memorable bass lines. In 2026’s early weeks and months, though, there have been so many passings of stars that every BHM episode has been locked into the historical present.
So, this is what I wrote as this week’s promotional to the stations in the TSS universe:
On this episode of TSS, Mike honors Garland Green, Ebo Taylor, Steve Washington of the Ohio funk/rock powerhouse Slave, LeMonte McLemore of The 5th Dimension, and RRHOF inductee Billy “Bass” Nelson of Parliament Funkadelic. To add essential texture, Mike presents interview material from McCoo/Davis (5th) and from Billy himself.
As a bonus, there excerpts from a ‘26 call with Makaya McCraven on his Gil Scott-Heron project.
