I refused to be disrespected. So, at 16, of course, I was a gentleman about it, but I told them and it cost me my job.

I learned to trust women's ears when it comes to hearing music a lot more than other men.

I have worked with a lot of different great people. One of the things my partner, my manager Judy Weinstein, instilled in [David] Morales and myself is that the quality goes in before the name goes home.

There are two people that probably influenced me more than anybody out of all the artists out here: that's Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

I am definitely in the right place doing the right thing. These are the rewards.

I used to tell myself when I was much younger that I didn't want to wake up one day and be 32 years old and still playing records. It's just not going to happen. Well, the joke is on me, because I'm 56 years old now.

I think women's ears are a lot more sensitive. Men are going to follow whatever appeals to women.