Column

Back in the day: August 1988 (Issue 516)

Hah this edition brought back instant memories because I once again had chance to chinwag with my pal Jaki Graham. As usual much of what we talked about was unsuitable for publication – y’know gals’ talk – but my editor always seemed pleased with what I delivered to him. We were in one of the offices in EMI House and she’d travelled to London on the train with a half finished sandwich meal for the return journey later that day! Happy days!

Let’s hit the news headlines – Earth Wind & Fire were due to tour here in October, with CBS releasing the new single System Of Survival to coincide with the visit …..Channel 4 TV was set to launch a four part series concentrating on the lives and times of US black female entertainers. The first of the series was devoted to the early 1990s and on to the Roaring Twenties, the heyday of Harlem’s Cotton Club and black musicals elsewhere in New York where, among others, artists like Josephine Baker made their debut. The second programme covered the Depression Years of the 1930s when Lady Day lulled America into a dreamy fantasy, while the third opened in the 1940s and included an extensive interview with Lena Horne. The last focused on girl groups during the Sixties like The Shirelles, The Crystals, Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, and so on, onto the disco phenomenon and new style stars like The Pointer Sisters and Sisters Sledge (wow!)……

Sexy Minded was the debut single from Skyy on Atlantic. Founder and mentor, Randy Miller was still taking care of business and the single was extracted from the pending Start Of A Romance album…… Congrats were sent to Freddie Jackson’s longtime collaborator/producer/songwriter Paul Laurence on his marriage to dancer Lisa Ruffin who portrayed Joanna in Kool & The Gang’s video of the hit single, and also the object of George Clinton’s desires in Do Fries Go With That Shake…….Five Star released a new album Rock The World comprising ten new tracks including their single Another Weekend……..Atlantic Starr’s featured vocalist left the group for solo chores with Warner Brothers. Stevie Wonder was rumoured to be keen to work with her. Meanwhile, the original Atlantic Starr songstress, Sharon Bryant, was putting finishing touches to her Wing/Polygram debut……..

Herb Alpert combined orchestral music and Latin jazz on his new album Under A Spanish Moon on A&M Records. The new album was the follow-up to 1987’s Keep Your Eye On Me which spawned the title track and Diamonds as hit singles…..Mica Paris was the guest singles reviewer. Of Barbara Lynn’s You Make Me So Hot she said “This is unbelievably wicked, and that bass line makes my lower spine and things quiver in anticipation!” While of Mr Lee’s Pump Up London Mira commented “I hate it but I suppose it’ll do some business in the acid clubs..” and about Schoolly’s Smoke Some Kill - “Oh isn’t this just too boring for words.” …The Best Selling UK Soul Single was I Need You (B.V.S.M.P.) followed by Superfly (S-Express) and Hustle (To The Music) (The Funky Worm), while the Best Selling Albums were A Salt With A Deadly Pepa (Salt ‘N’ Pepa), Bad (Michael Jackson) and Follow The Leader (Eric B & Rakim)…..

In Motown Trackin’ a number of subjects were covered like Motown’s trimmed artist roster, the sale of the company, the closure of Martha Reeves’ fan club, Lionel Richie’s wife Brenda being arrested for having a go at him after catching him with another lady, and expressing my thanks over readers’ interest in my Motown:The History book….. Mark Webster saw Prince at Wembley Arena and gushed “…this show was simply stunning, a flowing, visually and aurally stimulating piece of musical theatre that saw Prince and his cohorts zoom their way through a series of staged routines and raucous songs that was unprecedented in its presentation”…..

Centre spread was devoted to David Nathan’s interview with Jeffrey Osborne, while the magazine’s front showed Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Spinderella and Hurby Luv Bug…..And among the many advertisements, there was one for a lucky five readers to win tickets for Michael Jackson’s concert in the Milton Keynes Bowl during September…. And Ruby Turner’s new outing was Sings The Motown Songbook from which her version of Stevie’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) was the first single….. (What a super album that was too!)

That’s it. Til next time…
SHARON DAVIS