Behind The Wall

By Jackie Wallace

Tony Green is a well-known musician, producer, and entrepreneur from Detroit Michigan. His love of music began at a young age, growing up watching his stepfather, the late jazz bassist, William Austin work on his dream. Tony's journey took a path of its own, from becoming the youngest member to join The Dramatics' Band, to working side by side with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Tony traveled the world as a touring musician before coming back home to Detroit to build his own empire called Hyped International Records LLC. The company owns a catalog with over 2000 songs. Tony is the cofounder of the first popular live stream in Detroit called Hyped Up Live Sessions and continues to produce artist from around the country. In his new book, Behind the Wall, Tony shares his story from a turbulent childhood to his experience working with members of Death Row Records. He openly shares his failures and successes, his big breaks, and his hard losses. Tony shares his lessons and his blessings in his new inspiring book. Tony has since been acknowledged for his contribution to music around the world. He has won many awards and is featured on more platinum records than he could have imagined. His story doesn't just resonate with musicians, but with anybody who has worked behind the scenes with little recognition, to help others, succeed in their dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie Wallace
• Release date: Jun 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201576516

Book preview

Cover photo credit: Kirk Donaldson

Table of Contents

❍  Behind the Wall

❍  Family Life

❍  The Funeral

❍  Life Without Roy

❍  Eternity to Roadwork  to The Dramatics

❍  Life on the Road

❍  Tony's 2x’s the  10,000 Hour Rule

❍  Songwriting

❍  Company Hierarchy

❍  You Don’t Really Know Someone Until

Money Is Involved

❍  All I Need Is Love

❍  A Fish with His Mouth Closed Never Gets Caught

❍  Life on the Hills—Hollywood Hills

❍  I Love the Lord

❍  Burnt Out, Doped  Out, Sexed Out

❍  Defeated and Deflated

❍  There Was Always Another Door

❍  Opportunity Is Everywhere When You

Don’t Have a Plan

❍  Where There Is a  Will There Is a Way

❍  Persistence Pays

❍  Green Is the New Gold  On Death Row

❍  Alter Ego Becomes  the Persona

❍  The Side Hustles

❍  Blue & Red Don’t  Make Green

❍  Suge Wants a Meeting

❍  You Gotta Know  When It’s Your Time

❍  Detroit: My Home City

❍  The Power of Yes

❍  The New Doctor

❍  CEO T. Money Green

❍  The Wall Comes  Tumbling Down

❍  Reigniting Connections

❍  Music Connects the Family

❍  I Am the Antidote

❍  A Bass Player Looks Back

❍  Pandemic 2020

❍  Behind the Wall

❍  Tony’s Take

❍  My Interview with  David Ruffin Jr.

❍  My Interview with  Nanci Fletcher

❍  My Interview with  Felix Washington

❍  My Interview  with Wron G

❍  My Interview with  Dr. Gail Soo Hoo

❍  My Interview with  Jocelyn Nicole Strickland

❍  My Interview with  Simone Bowden

❍  Short Bio’s

"People have no idea what the

fuck took place behind the scenes.

There is an invisible wall and

behind every wall lies a story."

— Tony Green

"Are you one of those people who

has helped many people

achieve a level of success only

to be forgotten of your role in their achievements?

Have you experienced the pain of not being remembered when you put in the grit and sweat for someone else? This book is for you. You are not alone. There are many of us, especially in the music business, but in all walks of life. We are quickly forgotten when the people we help get what they need and move on. But as painful as that can be, know one thing, the tide always turns."

— Tony Green

Chapter 1

Behind the Wall

Sixty years ago, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the country. Its economy was booming, jobs were plentiful, and it was a desirable spot to reside in. It grew, thrived and became a place that people wanted to move to rather than one people hoped to abandon. It was the king of the Midwest, second only to Chicago, and it was expanding every day.

The 1950s in Detroit, MI were an iconic time. It was an era of industry and freeway systems that saw the introduction of muscle cars. The local economy was booming, thanks to automotive companies like Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

To this day, Detroit is still recognized as an ideal location for manufacturing. It’s close to a wealth of natural resources like copper, coal, and iron, and it's accessible to both land and water. As such, entrepreneurs like Henry Ford took advantage of Detroit’s unique attributes and played a major role in redefining the city. Ford’s policy of high wages and international recruitment for his plants brought a newfound diversity to this city. Ford brought in artisans and laborers from all over the world, including England, Scotland, Lebanon, Mexico, and throughout the Midwest. Detroit rapidly grew into one of the most ethnically and racially diverse places in America. It is important to note that his company quickly became one of the largest private employers of African American workers.

There were over a hundred automobile companies that launched in Detroit in the early 1900s. Even though Ford was perhaps the most influential and well-known, each one played a part in forming the backbone of the city’s community and identity. The auto industry shaped Detroit into a cultural icon: The Motor City.

Of the 1.8 million people who called Detroit home, roughly one in six of those individuals were employed in the manufacturing industry. The Motor City wasn’t just a name; it was a defining part of the city’s culture and character. Detroit became a place of grit, toughness, courage, innovation and creativity.

Out of all the economic prosperity that Detroit was experiencing surged a rich music culture that helped to shape the city for years to come. The 50s welcomed the golden era of jazz music and began to see the blossoming of R&B as a real musical genre. The music scene in Detroit was an ever-changing symphony, shifting from blues to rock and roll around that time. It eventually became the birthplace of the Motown Sound.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records. His efforts were monumental in the journey to racial integration in popular music. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing for years, his company produced a type of music that became synonymous with Detroit: The Motown Sound. The Motor City was a cultural icon of industrial development, and Motown was its soundtrack. While Motown Records really took off in the 1960s, it was born out of Detroit’s innovative music scene in the 1950s.

In the midst of this helter-skelter medley of music, motors, industry and culture, our story began.

Edward Tony Green was born in Detroit on September 22nd, 1956, and he would later grow to embody Detroit’s culture and sound in his own way.

Chapter 2

Family Life

Tony was born to Roy and Rene’ Green. His father was in the army and fought in Vietnam, so he was not around for much of Tony’s childhood. When he was allowed time to visit, Roy and Rene’s incompatibility soon became apparent. Though they appeared to be a model of stability at his birth, the picture-perfect family didn’t last. His parents were only married for two years, divorcing not long after his birth, thus resulting in a turbulent home life for Tony. However, they both cared for their son.

A couple of years after the divorce was finalized, they both remarried other people. While they would say this was all for the best, in reality, it turned out to be the beginning of even more chaos and distress for Tony.

Rene’ remarried William (Will) Austin, a local jazz musician. Like Roy, Will was also enlisted in the Air Force for a regular period of about three years. He was working at Selfridge Air Force Base in Harrison Township Michigan and that was where he first met Rene’. Will had never been married and Rene’ was separated from Roy but had not preceded with divorce filings due to the lack of money at the time of their meeting. She would take Tony to the medical facility at the base where he would get his medical care for free because of Roy’s job. Will was immediately attracted to Rene’ but she was preoccupied with being a single mother and didn’t pay attention to his gestures. After a second encounter, Will invited her to come watch him and his band perform at a local jazz club in Detroit. Rene’ was hesitant to go but eventually decided to chance it. Will was smitten. He could not keep his eyes off Rene’ while he was performing and while it made her feel a little awkward, it was attention she craved. That night was the beginning of their lifetime together. Will helped Rene’ financially to proceed with divorcing Roy. Once that was done, things moved quickly between them. Although he was an accomplished bassist, he didn’t make much of a living from it. Music for him was more of a hobby, but his influence on his stepson’s life through music would prove to be the foundation of Tony’s future.

Roy remarried a woman named Ruth, who was once Rene’s best friend. Ruth had gained the title of stepmother, but she didn't resemble family to Tony. Her harshness and cruelty were staples of her identity.

Luckily for Tony, his mother and stepfather took on the duty of raising him. Their family later grew after his mom welcomed three other children; William Austin III, Steven, and the youngest, a girl they named Lynn.

Of his half-siblings, Tony connected best with his brother Steven, who went by the nickname Ricky, short for Ricardo which was his middle name. Ricky was autistic and needed special attention from their parents. However, Billy, William III’s nickname, was always getting in trouble and by default was getting most of the attention from their parents. Lynn was the baby and the only girl, so naturally she got a lot of attention as well. As a result, there wasn’t really much left to go around for Tony, so as time went on, he became more independent and detached from his mother.

Tony lived with Rene’, Will, and his half-siblings on Seven Mile Road in Detroit. Will worked incredibly hard to provide for his family. However, it was a continual challenge to make ends meet. He worked a full-time day job for an auto parts store, and he played his bass every evening for additional cash. Tony’s mother, on the other hand, was a professional bowler and she was focused entirely on improving her game and winning championships. Rene’ would often take the kids with her and let them bowl on their own while she practiced winning, which she often did. Most of her championships resulted in gaining trophies, but occasionally she would win money.

Tony’s life with Rene’ and Will wasn’t easy by any means, but it was good. He was loved and cared for and that was enough to hold the pieces of their family together. His relationship with his biological father, on the other hand, was a little more complicated. Roy was still serving in the military throughout Tony’s childhood and was often away. Their relationship was one of empty agreeability. They got along, but the depth of their relationship did not surpass surface level.

Roy made Tony a priority as much as he could, but he wasn’t able to offer much in the way of emotional connection. He would check in on him as often as possible, but the love he showed his son was almost entirely materialistic. He would shower Tony with gifts at every opportunity possible. His way of loving his son was through distance and gifts. It was a relationship of absent love and purchased affection.

The inherent problem, however, wasn’t with Roy at all. It was with his new wife, Ruth. While she had once been a friend to Rene’, she showed no love to Tony. The term step-monster seemed more than fitting for a woman of her reputation. As Roy was often traveling or working, the care of Tony fell upon Ruth whenever he was visiting.

Ruth was an abusive woman, both physically and verbally, but the cruelty was consistently concealed from the public eye. Their home became a place of dread for young Tony. No matter how cautious he was with his behavior, he always ended up doing something wrong, which would result in an attack from Ruth. The abuse began with spanking him every time he did something wrong. His fear got the best of him, and he began to pee his pants whenever he was around her. That angered Ruth and she soon started spanking him with whatever objects she could find. The household she ran was one of fear and intimidation, which was a harsh environment for a child. But Tony was scared to tell anyone about his stepmother, knowing the things she was capable of. And so, she kept a strong control of him.

Although things were far from ideal in Roy and Ruth’s household, they were still Tony’s family, and their relationship was at least consistent. But one day when Tony was 5 years old, the family dynamic changed.

His father called him with big news. They would be adopting a little girl from Vietnam and Tony was going to be a big brother. While a little confused by the announcement, he was excited to be a big brother. Also, this would mean that the situation at home would improve. Surely, Ruth would be kinder to a new little girl in their home.

Roy brought the girl back with him from Vietnam. He and Ruth named her Angela, their little angel. On the surface, things seemed fine. Tony didn’t understand why they’d grown their family, but he was happy about it. Ruth seemed welcoming to Angela.

It wasn’t until much later that Tony found out the truth about this adoption. His mother had some less-than-savory comments regarding the adoption, and Ruth was not too pleased about it either. While they did their best to hide this from outsiders, it turned out that Ruth hadn’t been consulted in the decision to adopt at all. It was sprung on her without her knowledge or consent. Therefore, she wasn’t a loving mother figure; she wasn’t a loving anything. It came as no surprise that Angela soon became a victim of her wrath as well.

Tony was much older before he finally understood the circumstances of his sister’s adoption, and the real reason Ruth was so displeased by it. Angela wasn’t adopted at all. She was Roy’s biological daughter: a child he had had with a Vietnamese woman while serving. Ruth showed no kindness to either of them. Angela was brought from one hell to another, caught in the middle of a chaotic custody arrangement.

Angela became Roy and Ruth’s child, and she never learned the truth about her birth mother. No one except Roy ever even knew her name. The only mother figure Angela grew up knowing was the abusive monster she lived with, a far cry from the loving mother of the picture books she and Tony read as children.

While it’s hard to blame circumstances for the way someone turns out, it seemed to Tony that Angela’s adult life was shaped by her childhood with Ruth. As an adult, she ended up living on the streets of Detroit and spent her days battling a drug addiction that threatened to overtake her.

This was not the life her father wanted for her. Unlike Ruth, Roy was a kind individual. He loved his kids, but he was not around enough to prevent the violence and anger that ruled their home life. He didn’t