Intro

In this weeks news..... R&B superstar Ne-Yo is giving his British fans the chance to join in the fun on his tour bus as he performs across the U.K. later this year 2013. The Monster hitmaker is heading to Britain for a string of gigs, kicking off in Newcastle, England on 3 March 2013. He has teamed up with credit card giant Mastercard to give one lucky winner a behind-the-scenes concert experience, which includes riding on his tour bus and joining him onstage at one of his concerts. In a video to his devotees, he says, "My fans have put me here and I wanna put something back. So I'm gonna give one of you the opportunity to join me onstage at my next tour. "Thanks to Mastercard, you'll get to see what life is like on the road on a Ne-Yo tour. You can check out the tour bus, you can come to the soundcheck and watch the show."

Cissy & Whitney

Cissy Houston arrived at her trouble daughter's home in Georgia in 2005 (Whitney) after a call from her son Gary, who feared the star's drug issues were going to killer her. But she was left frightened by the chaotic scene she witnessed after she was let into the home, as strange images had been painted on the doors - and Houston's own face had been cut out of family portraits. Opening up about the incident in her tell-all book, Remembering Whitney, Cissy writes, "I flew to Atlanta and rang the door of the house she shared with her husband, Bobby Brown. "I knew if she was in half as bad a state as that house, she really was in trouble. I'd never seen any house that looked like this one, much less a multi-million dollar home. "I stood in shock. It was dirty and messy, but that wasn't it. The things I saw sent a chill through me. Somebody had spraypainted the walls and door with big glaring eyes and strange faces. Evil eyes, staring out like a threat. Who would do such a thing? It seemed crazy. "In another room there was a big framed photo of Nippy (Houston's nickname), Bobby and their daughter, Kriss - but someone had cut Nippy's head out. It was beyond disturbing, seeing by daughter's face cut out like that. It was frightening." Cissy returned to the home with local cops with a court order to take her daughter into rehab, and she believed her superstar daughter never forgave her for the intervention. She adds, "Because of the court order, Nippy had no choice. She stayed in rehab the whole four weeks... Eventually she stopped being angry at me and later told people I saved her life. But I'm not sure she ever forgave me. I think some part of her couldn't stand that I had made her reveal her worst side to me." The singer was found dead in a bathtub in her Beverly Hills hotel suite on 11 February, 2012. The book hits shelves on Tuesday (29Jan13). 

Alicia Keys rang in her 32nd birthday at a music awards show in Spain and left with a special present after accepting a career achievement prize. The Fallin' star, who turned 32 on Friday, marked her special day early on Thursday by attending the 40 Principales Awards in Madrid, Spain, where she was presented with the honor for best American artist/composer of the last decade.  Keys performed at the ceremony and while she was on stage, the crowd serenaded her with a rendition of Happy Birthday. The singer posted a picture of the special moment on her Twitter.com page, with the caption, "Awwww!!!! All these people just sang me Happy Birthday to help bring in my day!!! Such a beautiful memory to have of Madrid!! Thank u thank u Spain!!"  Other guests at the ceremony included French star David Guetta and pop singer Taylor Swift, who performed and picked up the prize for best international artist. She tweeted after the show, "Tonight was my first time at the 40 Principales Awards in Madrid and it was amazing! Thanks to the fans for the International Artist Award."(RNBNews/ContactNews) On to this weeks show...

Tracklist for Sunday 27th January 2013

Hour One
Anita Baker -  Sweet Love
Mongo Santamaria - Groovin' [welcome bed]
Evelyn 'Champagne' King - Kisses Don't Lie
Dina Carroll - So Close
Luther Vandross - She Loves Me Back
Joe - Love Don't Make No Sense
H-Town - A Thin Line Between Love And Hate
Jazz Samba Project - Waiting In Vain
Wornell Jones - Must Have Been Love
The Jones Girls - Who Can I Run To
Syleena Johnson - Chapter 3
Wish & Blue Lovett - Your Love

Hour Two
Intro x 3
1 Strung Out On Your Lovin' 2 Ribbon In The Sky 3 My Love's On The Way
Betty Wright - I Like Your Lovin'
Teddy Pendergrass - Believing In Love (remix)
Alex Lattimore - Rising To The Top
Dylan Janet Collins - Coul It Be
Teena Marie - I Need Your Lovin'
The SOS Band - No One Is Going To Love You
Diana Ross - It's My House
R-Kelly - Share My Love


Intro's Biography

 Clinton “Buddy” Wike, Jeff Sanders, Kermit Quinn and original member Kenny Greene, who passed in 2001 from complications due to AIDS.

Buddy and Kenny met as U. S. Army soldiers while being stationed in North Carolina and formed “Intro” (originally a rap group) along with another soldier named Nelson. During that time the group landed a music deal that Buddy felt unpleasant about. Soon after, Kenny was discharged from the service and moved back to Detroit, while Buddy deployed overseas to the Gulf War.

After Buddy returned to the states he soon reunited with Kenny. Buddy was then introduced to Jeff Sanders who replaced the former member Nelson and the group continued on in search for success. It was until one night the guys went to Club Red Zone located in New York and were discovered by the late Heavy D.

This led them to Eddie F who was the founder of Untouchables Entertainment Group who assisted "Intro" in signing a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1993. Soon after, Intro moved forward into fame and fortune within the music industry.

During Intro’s music career they composed the following songs for Mary J. Blige “Love Without A Limit”, “My Love”, "Reminisce” and “You Don’t Have To Worry” along with having a single on the platinum movie soundtrack “Jason’s Lyric”. Intro also recorded songs with Stevie Wonder, Johnny Gill and Terrance Trent Darby which are featured on the Curtis Mayfield’s tribute album.

Intro recently performed May of 2011 at The Paradise Theater located in Bronx New York at the SNS Productions “90’s Explosion Show” featuring Guy, Christopher Williams, Changing Faces and Horace Brown. Intro also just released their 3rd album and continues to tour around the world. The group will soon be touring U.S. international military installations to perform for the troops and families. Bookings 

Roy Ayers & Ubiquity

West

In this weeks news...Rapper Kanye West doesn't want his children to follow his footsteps as far as their career was concerned. He says he would prefer if they study seriously and launch a business career thereafter.West, 35, is to become a father for the first time with his partner Kim Kardashian."Kanye wants his son or daughter to be educated at a top US university such as Harvard or Yale before embarking on a career in business," a source told dailystar.co.uk."He doesn't want the child to become a pop star," added the source.West has even banned rap music in his house ahead of the birth. He believes listening to classical music will make his baby more intelligent.

While he may not want his toddler to become a rapper, it was earlier said West had booked a studio and was planning to record a track with Kim while she is pregnant, as a memento for when their child grows up."Kanye's really soppy. He wants Kim to lay down some vocals while she's carrying his child. He thinks it will be cool for his son or daughter to listen to the track when they're older," the source said.

Prince

Prince will become the third recipient of the Icon Award at this year's Billboard Music Awards, joining Stevie Wonder and Neil Diamond. Prince will be honoured with an Icon Award at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards. The ceremony is seen as one of the most prestigious in the world behind the Grammys, and it will honour the 'Purple Rain' pop star at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 19 May. Prince, 54, will mark the occasion with a rare live televised performance on the show, which will be produced by Don Mischer. The legendary musician will become only the third artist to be honoured with the award, joining inaugural winner Neil Diamond (2011) and last year's recipient Stevie Wonder. Before the 'Superstition' singer was presented, he was joined by Alicia Keys for a set featuring 'Higher Ground' and 'Overjoyed', and a  stripped-down version of 'Empire State of Mind', Alicia's hit with Jay-Z. At the event, Stevie paid tribute to the late Donna Summer, who died 17 May last year, and Bee Gees Robin Gibb, after news of his passing broke hours before the awards. At the time, he said: ''We live in a world with changes happening more rapidly. We won't see them ever again. ''That's a heartbreak. The blessing is we're able to feel the pain, which means we were able to feel some love from that person; feel the experiences the music gave us.''

Obama

President Obama has released the official playlist for his inauguration in an effort to hype up expectations for the star performers.The list, released via his Inauguration-focused Twitter account, include well-known group of Obama favorites like Beyonce, Stevie Wonder and Katy Perry, all of whom have attended multiple fundraisers for the President in the past, the Daily Mail reported.Newer acts like the band fun. and Far East Movement were also included, with their songs 'Carry On' and 'Turn Up The Love' singled out respectively.The list of Grammy Award-winning acts has already been publicized, Thursday was the first day that the President's tech-friendly staff have released a playlist using Spotify.All of the singers featured on the playlist- from James Taylor and Brad Paisley to Smokey Robinson and Nick Cannon- will perform in one of the two parties being held for 35,000 revelers. (info: ContactNews/RNBNews)

The inauguration playlist in full:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)- Stevie Wonder
I Was Here - Beyonce
Mi Gente - Marc Anthony
Carry On - Fun.
New Day - Alicia Keys
Mud On The Tires - Brad Paisley
Turn Up The Love - Far East Movement
Edge of Glory- Glee Cast Version
Your Smiling Face - James Taylor
Ordinary People - John Legend
Firework - Katy Perry
Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
My Mic featuring Biz Markie - Nick Cannon
Something Special - Usher
Higher And Higher - Walt Whitman
Get Ready - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
Future - Mindless Behavior (ANI)

Impressive...Don't forget you can catch myself and my recent studio guests, The Notebenders at  the Symphony Hall this Saturday (full details, bottom of the page) ..Onto this weeks show...


Sunday  20th January 2013 Playlist
Hour One
Leon Ware - Rockin' You Eternally
Dionne  Warwick - So Amazing
Boney James - Sweet Thing [welcome bed]
Gerald Levert - String, Strings
Dexter Wansel feat: Jones Girls - The Sweetest Pain
Jerry Woo - Help Yourself
The Whispers - Is It Good To You
Bobby Womack - How Could You Break My Heart
Patti Austin -  Your Too Much Apart Of Me
Gerald Levert - Greater Later
Magic Lady - Misty Eyed
John Legend - Stay With You

Hour Two
'Three-Ina-Row' - Roy Ayers & Ubiquity
1 - For Real 2 - Everybody Loves The Sunshine 3 - Love Will Bring Us Back Together
Womack & Womack - Tear Drops
Ben E. King - Street Tough
LJ Reynolds - Key To The World
Yarborough & Peoples - Special
80's Ladies - Turned On To You (Roy Ayers produced)
Randy Crawford - Endlessly
Yvonne Elliman - Love Me
The Jacksons - Blues Away
Maze feat: Frankie Beverly - While I'm Alone


Roy Ayers & Ubiquity Biography

Born 10 September 1940, Los Angeles, California, USA. A popular jazz vibraphonist and vocalist, Ayers reached the peak of his commercial popularity during the mid-70s and early 80s, crossing over into the mainstream charts. He is also justly celebrated as an important influence on the latter decade's acid-jazz movement.

Ayers played piano as a child and took an interest in the vibes after meeting Lionel Hampton. In high school he formed his first group, the Latin Lyrics, and in the early 60s began working professionally with flautist/saxophonist Curtis Amy. Ayers' first album under his own name was West Coast Vibes on United Artists Records, a 1963 recording session which featured Amy. He also worked with Chico Hamilton, Hampton Hawes and Herbie Mann, with whom he first gained prominence between 1966 and 1970. After recording three albums for Atlantic Records in the late 60s, Ayers formed Roy Ayers Ubiquity and signed to Polydor Records, incorporating funk and R&B styles into his jazz. Using a number of prominent sidemen such as Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Sonny Fortune, George Benson and Billy Cobham, Ubiquity's albums helped to popularize the jazz funk crossover style. The group reached the R&B charts with several albums and singles during this period, including the Top 20 disco-influenced R&B hit "Running Away". The album track "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" remains a perennial club favorite into the new millennium.

Ayers dropped the Ubiquity group name in 1978 and continued to have chart success with both his solo albums and singles into the late 80s. After touring Africa, Ayers recorded Africa, Center Of The World with Fela Kuti and also set up the Uno Melodic Records label with the Nigerian musician. He switched to Columbia Records in 1984 but released records less frequently as the 80s came to a close, concentrating on composing and producing for other artists. Since the late 80s, Ayers and the resurrected Ubiquity have enjoyed a successful collaboration with Ronnie Scott's jazz club in Soho, London, acting as the official house band. In 1993, Ayers guested on the first installment of Guru's Jazzmatazz project, a self-styled "experimental fusion of hip-hop and jazz'. Two years later Ayers secured a contract with RCA Records and the Groovetown label, for whom he recorded 1995's well-received Nast‚. He has subsequently appeared on albums by Masters At Work (1997"s sublime Nuyorican Soul project), Erykah Badu and Eric Ben‚t, and re-established his own record label under the name AFI CDs.

 SYMPHONY HALL SAT 27th. JAN 

Join Mr Merry and The Notebenders Big Band

In The Foyer Lounge

Kick Off 1.30pm

Free admittance for all!

Come One Come All

Karyn White

In the news this week .....Halle Berry is being honoured at the BET HONOURS 2013 tonight (12.01.13). The 'Cloud Atlas' star is just one of high profile stars that will be celebrated at the prestigious event in Washington, DC, where Alicia Keys is performing along with a host of other R&B and soul stars.
The 'Girl On Fire' singer is appearing alongside Erykah Badu, Wayne Brady, Brandy, Mint, Jimmy Jam, Ledisi, the SOS Band and Terry Lewis at the event in the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.
Halle's prestigious honour comes after a difficult few months for the Oscar winning actress.
Her fiance Olivier Martinez was involved in a physical fight with the father of her daughter Nahla, four, Gabriel Aubry in November. The 46-year-old recently resolved her custody battle with the 36-year-old Canadian model and spent Christmas in Paris with her French actor boyfriend. This year's honorees also include music executive and entrepreneur Clarence Avant known to many as the 'Godfather of Black Music', spiritual educator T.D. Jakes, ten-time GRAMMY award winner and international music icon Chaka Khan who will be celebrating 40 years in music and entertainment and four-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie.
Hosted by actress Gabrielle Union, this year's star-studded show will recorded tonight but will be broadcast on February 11, during Black History Month.

Two men who hacked Sony Entertainment's servers and downloaded thousands of songs, including some unreleased material from Michael Jackson, have escape jail today (Jan 12) after a court hearing in the Leicester, UK. The two men, James McCormick, 26, and James Marks, 27, met online before eventually collaborating together to break into Sony's vast musical database and helping themselves to the spoils, which also included Elvis Presley and Beyoncé as well as MJ. They were arrested in May 2011, after Sony identified the security breach, but not before helping themselves to over 7000 songs, as well as artwork and videos. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) said that the two had also conspired to sell the files on after they had been stolen, after chat-logs recovered from the pair's computers offered some rather incriminating evidence for the prosecutors to consider. (contactnews.com)

On to this weeks show...


Playlist for Sunday 12th January 2012

Hour One
Isley-Jasper-Isley - For The Love Of You
Shirley Jones - Do You get Enough Love
Gerald Albright - Tyring 2 Find Away (welcome bed)
Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes -You Know How To Make Me feel
Kenny G - Hi, How You Doing
Millie Jackson - Wanna Be Your Lover
CeCe Rogers - I Think (I Love You)
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
Lisa Stansfield - When Are You Coming Back?
Soul II Soul - Missing You
R-Kelly - Single Ladies (Remix)

Hour Two
'Three-Ina-Row' = Karyn White
1 - Love Saw 2 - Sista Sista 3 - Slow Down
Miles Jay - Start Over Again
The Vibrations - Shake It Up
Sylvia St. James - If You Let Me Love You
Archie Bell & The Drells - Don't let Love Get You Down
Lattimore - Sweet Vibrations
Jean Carne - My Love Don't Come Easy
The Jacksons - Give It Up
Randy Brown - We Oughta Be Doing It
Joanna Gardner - Pick Up The Pieces


 Karyn White Biography

White was born in Los Angeles to Vivian and Clarence White. She is the youngest of five children. She sang in a church choir and worked as a backing singer, then sang on Jeff Lorber's single "Facts of Love" before signing to Warner Bros. Records.

White married Terry Lewis in 1992 and together they had a daughter, Ashley Nicole and adopted son Brandon. Lewis brought to the marriage children Trey and Chloe. They eventually divorced in 1999, and she later married producer/musician Bobby G[citation needed].
Music career

White's self-titled debut album Karyn White was released in 1988. It was produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface and achieved platinum status. Karyn White contained the hit singles "The Way You Love Me", "Secret Rendezvous" (#6 in the U.S., her biggest hit at the time), "Superwoman" and "Love Saw It" a duet with Babyface. White was nominated in the Best R&B/Urban Contemporary New Artist category for the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards.She was also nominated for two Grammy Awards.

 She became the first female artist to have their first three solo releases hit #1 on the R&B charts. White left Warner Bros. Records in 1999, and dropped out of the music public eye for many years to start a family. White resides in Rocklin, California, a suburb of Sacramento, and runs a successful interior design and real estate business. In 2006 she recorded a new album, titled Sista Sista; which was slated for release in 2006, but was shelved. Two tracks, "All I Do" and "Disconnected", were later released on the best of compilation album, Superwoman: The Best of Karyn White. She was also slated to appear on the Soul Train Music Awards in 2009 as a tribute to Babyface Edmonds. However, this performance was canceled when Edmonds and Reid withdrew from the Soul Train ceremony, declining the honor. Currently, White plans to release her first album after a seventeen-year break, Carpe Diem, in 2012. (extract from Wiki)

 SYMPHONY HALL SAT 27th. JAN 

Join Mr Merry and The Notebenders Big Band

In The Foyer Lounge

Kick Off 1.30pm

Free admittance for all!

Come One Come All

Marques Houston

R Kelly

In this weeks news.....R&B star R. Kelly has released a song in tribute to the victims of last month's (Dec12) Connecticut massacre and vowed to donate the proceeds to the devastated families. Suspected gunman Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on 14 December (12), killing 26 people before allegedly turning the weapon on himself. The singer was deeply shocked by the death of 20 young children and six adults so he wrote a moving ballad to express his sadness. Kelly recorded the song, titled I know You're Hurting, with a children's gospel choir and vowed to give the proceeds to those affected by the shooting. The song, which is available via digital retailer iTunes, features the lyrics: "I know you're hurting/ I hear you crying, but come tomorrow, there's a place you can go/ Find the blue skies/ Hear the choir sing/ Feel the power of a miracle".

CD & DVD sales are down. Digital downloads of films, music and video games have reached one billion pounds for the first time, official industry figures have confirmed.The Entertainment Retailers Association said that a quarter of the entertainment market is now digital.Although overall sales rose by 11.4 per cent from 2011, hitting 1.03 billion pounds, sales of CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray and video games fell by 17.6 per cent, the Telegraph reports.

Kim Kardashian, Kanye West will not have to provide evidence of their baby's

Kim & Kan

Paternity. According to California state law, a couple must be living together, or "cohabiting," for the state to automatically recognize a woman's husband as her baby's father.

"California law is clear that when a child is born to a married couple the presumption of fatherhood is in favor of the husband, but that assumes they are living together, cohabitating in legal terms," attorney and founder of Men's Family Law, David T. Pisarra told The Huffington Post. "Since Kim and Kris are separated the presumption of Kris as the father would not apply. I imagine that when baby Kimye is born, Kim will name Kanye as the father and he will sign a Declaration of Paternity just like thousands of other unmarried couples do to protect the rights of the baby to have both loving parents in his/her life forever."

There you have it, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West will not have to provide "clear and convincing evidence" that the rapper is the father of the reality star's baby. (Huffington post)

Anyway on to my playlist for this week....


Sunday 6th January 2012 tracklisting: (adds/news free)

Hour One
Barry White - Early Years
Etta James -  At Last
Gerald Albright - So Amazing [welcome bed]
Bobby Valentino feat:Raphael Saadiq  - Just Me And You
Ryan Leslie - Just Rescue U
Luther Vandross - Wait For Me
Hill St Soul - Strickly A Vibe Thing
Jamie Foxx - Sexy
Joe - Closer
Smooth - Do Ya
Solo - Keep It Right Here

Hour Two
'Three-Inna-Row': Marques Houston:
1 - Always And Forever 2 - Cancel  3 - Wonderful
J.T. Taylor - Feel The Need
Five Star - Surely
Matt Covington - We Got One
Whispers - I'm Cruising In
Whispers - Is It Good To You?
C-Nario - Body Fusion
L.J. Reynolds -  Say You Will
Betty Wright/Joss Stone - Whisper In The Wind
Alex Lattimore - Rising To The Top

Marques Houston Biography

Houston

Marques Barrett Houston (born August 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, rapper, and actor. A member of the R&B singing group Immature/IMx until 1992-2002,2010–Present, he went solo in 2003. Born in Los Angeles, California to Michael and Carolyn, Houston lost his mother to lymphoma in 1997. Houston became a founding member of the R&B group Immature, known from 1999 as IMx. The group included Jerome "Romeo" Jones and Don "Half Pint" Santos (later replaced by Kelton "LDB" Kessee), with Chris Stokes acting as their manager. At this period Houston went by the nickname "Batman".  In 1999 the group underwent a name change but continued on to release two albums under the name IMx: Introducing IMx (1999) and IMx (2001). The group also branched out into film (such as House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute) and television (such as A Different World) before disbanding in 2002.n 2003, Houston began pursuing a solo career. Houston has since released five solo albums. (Wiki)