- Frederick “Fast Freddy” Anderson became a Detroit cultural icon after appearing on the 1970s dance show “The Scene.”
- Anderson gained national attention in a 2000 GQ magazine feature that dubbed him “The Head to Toe Man” for his matching outfits.
- A new photo memoir titled “Detroit Style: The Fast Freddy Anderson Story” is set to be released on Dec. 1.
- Now 79, Anderson continues to be active in the community, teaching free dance and exercise classes for seniors in Detroit.
Before GQ magazine introduced him to the world in the fall of 2000 as “The Head to Toe Man” — because everything he wears matches, head to toe (and he never wears the same outfit twice).
And before Detroiters began to regard him as a fashion and cultural icon.
Frederick “Fast Freddy” Anderson was on his way to helping a Detroit TV station gain a sizable daily audience during the 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. hour. But first, an important discovery needed to take place at 3146 E. Jefferson Ave., the historic home of WGPR-TV 62.
“I wasn’t thinking about TV, I just got up and had some fun,” the now 79-year-old Anderson said as he reached deep into his memory bank to recall a day during the mid- to late-1970s, when he showed up for a taping of “The Scene” dance show hosted by Nat Morris on WGPR-TV to model clothes during an advertising segment, then found himself being asked to dance on the show because he couldn’t stop moving when the music was playing.
“These were mostly teenagers — 14, 15, 16, 17 years old — dancing on the show, and I was 35 years old then. But in those days I looked a lot younger and I had wavy hair with a thick mustache, so I kind of fit right in.
“And then there was a young lady, LaWanda (Gray-Anner), a schoolteacher who also worked with ‘The Scene,’ and I danced with her, and my suit matched with her dress. Afterwards, we got so many compliments with people calling into the station asking who I was, and the people said I fit in so well and properly. So, from that point on, the station started easing me into the show.”
Needless to say, the brain trust behind “The Scene” and WGPR-TV 62 were on to something as Anderson became a fixture on the popular show, which competed for ratings with the local 6 p.m. television newscasts aired by the major networks’ Detroit affiliates. In the process, Detroiters of all ages across the city became familiar with “Fast Freddy,” a nickname given to him by the owner of HPT Fashions (the same HPT Fashions that Anderson was modeling for when he made his first appearance on “The Scene”) because of Anderson’s ability to quickly change from one outfit to another at Detroit fashion shows.
Even long after Anderson’s wildly successful 10-year run on “The Scene” that made him a local icon came to an end, the legend of “Fast Freddy” continued to reach wider audiences, which was captured in the September 2000 issue of GQ magazine, where Anderson was profiled in a six-page spread.
“They called me ‘The Head to Toe Man’ because I dress up every day — if I’m not matching, I’m not attaching,” explained Anderson, who spoke on Nov. 17 as the morning turned to afternoon at the Dr. Lavonne M. Sheffield Bridge Center Library, where he was teaching a free dance/exercise class. “GQ magazine goes out across the world, and I believe at the time I might have been the only person to ever get a six-page color article in that book. And I was totally shocked myself.”
Other fascinating and even “shocking” facts about Anderson’s uniquely Detroit journey, such as how a child who faced a serious health challenge that threatened his mobility grew up to be a famous dancer, have been lovingly collected into a “photo memoir” compiled by Greta Anderson titled “Detroit Style: The Fast Freddy Anderson Story,” which is scheduled to be released on Dec. 1.
Like thousands of her fellow Detroiters, Greta Anderson, a University of Michigan-trained social scientist, says she became a fan of her cousin “Fast Freddy” while watching “The Scene” on TV from the den at her family’s home before dinner.
“Growing up in Detroit, it was like having a celebrity in the family,” recalled the 54-year-old Greta Anderson, who grew up in northwest Detroit on Hartwell Street near Vassar and began paying close attention to “The Scene” dancers around the time she was attending the former Beaubien Middle School. “When it was 6 o’clock, it was definitely time to rock. And having a family member who was one of the most popular dancers was always a conversation piece.”
Greta Anderson says the story she wrote with her charismatic cousin describes how Detroit has touched the entire Anderson family — and also how the Andersons have made their mark on Detroit.
But the action that took place Nov. 17 at the Bridge Center revealed that the Fast Freddy story is still evolving with each event he conducts, as a group of mostly seniors came together to receive nonstop motivation for nearly two hours during a class broken up into two parts: “Getting down, while sitting around,” chair exercises guided by a rapping Fast Freddy; and a hustle session, with a focus on the “Boots On The Ground” hustle.
Throughout both parts of the class, Fast Freddy’s rapping encouragement was supported by a special selection of pulsating music that created a vibe more akin to Detroit’s annual Movement electronic music festival. But this party was from a much cozier neighborhood space.
“Fast Freddy brings a lot of joy and happiness into this facility,” said Juanita Bedell, director of senior services for the Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO), which restored a former Detroit Public Library branch to create the Bridge Center at 9928 Grand River (off Livernois). “I don’t know how that man finds the energy, but he has it. And he brings that energy to a place that is like home for all of us.”
Bedell’s sentiment was echoed by 93-year-old Joyce Tucker.
“I enjoy his class. I like the rapping Freddy does along with the music,” said Tucker, whose enjoyment could be seen through the effort she put into the chair exercises before she created her own form of a workout during the hustle portion by walking laps around the area of the floor where the line dancing was taking place. “I think he’s a great instructor and this is a beautiful center that is being used well.”
Standing about an arm’s length away from Tucker as she spoke was Fast Freddy. It was one of the rare moments during the class when Anderson wasn’t physically moving. But there was no doubt his focus was on the people in front of him.
“It’s a joy to do what I do every day. And it’s an extension of a blessing given to me by God, because you don’t get too old to have a good time,” said Anderson, the host of a birthday party in Detroit for about 200 people the day before, who credits his work ethic to his father, who held two full-time factory jobs for 15 years after coming to Detroit from Shreveport, Louisiana. “I say I work for the seniors, but then I forget that I’m a senior myself. But all these people are my family as well.”
And the word “family” definitely applies to a woman who seemed to be smiling and joyful during every moment of both sessions on Nov. 17. This woman, Renee Lassiter, also is living proof that Fast Freddy’s charm can have a lasting impact.
“Fred was my first boyfriend. I met him when I was 17 years old, after my mother brought him (home) from church for dinner after a fashion show at the church because she was so intrigued with Fred’s modeling and dancing,” Lassiter, who not surprisingly occupied a seat near the front of the class during the chair-exercise portion, explained. “Fred and I have been friends since that time. In between that time, I married someone else and that other person passed. Two years after his death, my brother talked to Fred and told Fred where I was. Fred came to take me to dinner one night afterwards, and we have been back together for 23 years (after not seeing each other for 35 years).
“You think you have life figured out, because I wasn’t interested in getting married any more or being in a relationship. But I love that man right there, who I’m here with today. That’s my story.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
