When I was a kid, I would fantasise about being in a make-believe family where I was the only son, but I had two older sisters and a Mom. (I already had a Mum and I was very happy with her, so somehow having a Mom got around that one.) Gloria from Desmond’s was my sister. Hilary from Fresh Prince of Bel Air was my other sister. But perhaps most importantly I had Clair Hanks Huxtable from The Cosby Show as my Mom. She was sassy, sexy, always had the best advice, totally ruled the house and had a KILLER wardrobe.

My love for Clair Huxtable or rather Phylicia Rashad was only cemented two years ago when I discovered her alias – Phylicia Allen. Under this name she had married the Policeman out of The Village People AND recorded a disco concept album about the life and times of queer icon, Josephine Baker.

If you don’t know Baker, she was dubbed the ‘Black Pearl’ and was a triple-threat who had a famous show in Paris at the Théâtre du Champs-Élysées, where she danced practically nude except for her dress made of artificial bananas and accompanied by her pet cheetah. She married four times, was bi-sexual, was good friends with Princess Grace of Monaco, spoke at the side of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement, was recruited as an “honourable correspondent” by the French during World War II. She even adopted twelve children from different areas around the world, dubbing them The Rainbow Tribe.

So there was a wealth of stuff to sing about. But getting back to Phylicia, she recorded the album which was mostly written by her Village People husband and the group’s producer.

The album talks about Josephine’s career more than anything. It skips on her political side, although the songs ‘Colours’ and ‘Don’t Cry Mommy’ hint at where she was coming from. But listening to it now, it’s an album which focussed on the more fun aspect of her career – shocking for a Disco album.

But for whatever reason Phylicia recorded it at the time, she’s now taken to Mariah Carey levels of shade. She simply claims to not know it and that she ever recorded it. Um, okay….maybe she just doesn’t want to admit to this horrendous episode of lip-syncing.