SYL JOHNSON: ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS

NYC PREMIERE Despite a couple of minor hits, soul singer Syl Johnson retired from the music industry in the 1980s, never quite having achieved the success he longed for. But with the dawn of hip hop came the unexpected, widespread embrace of his 1967 song “Different Strokes” – sampled by artists as diverse as Run-DMC, Michael Jackson, the Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, A$AP Rocky, Kid Rock, En Vogue, Usher and Kanye West, among many others – and new opportunities for the savvy performer emerged, as detailed in Rob Hatch-Miller’s lively chronicle of the ups and downs of Johnson’s career.