Joss Stone

In the news this week... Jermaine Jackson's name change approved. Michael Jackson's older brother filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court in November (12), requesting to legally alter his surname to Jacksun for "artistic reasons". A decision was postponed until this year and on Friday (22Feb13), a judge approved his petition, according to Tmz.com. The 58 year old was not present for the hearing as he is currently on tour in Europe with his brothers as The Jackson's. They will be appearing at the N.I.A. in Birmingham on Tuesday 26th. February, tickets are £50.00 each

photo c/o Bill Randle

Damon Harris dies. The singer passed away at the Joseph Richey Hospice in Baltimore, Maryland last Monday (18Feb13) after a 14-year battle with prostate cancer. Harris joined the hit R&B group The Temptations  in 1971, aged 21, following the departure of original member Eddie Kendricks, and sang lead vocals on some of the band's biggest tracks, including Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are), Take a Look Around, Masterpiece and Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, which won The Temptations three Grammy Awards. He left the band in 1975, and went on to release several disco songs with his group Impact before retiring from music. After he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the 1990s, he set up the The Damon Harris Cancer Foundation in 2001 to raise awareness of the disease among African-American men. On Bill Randle's home page is a interview/show he made in 1992 for PCRL radio.

Cleotha Staples, the eldest sibling in the influential gospel/soul group The Staple Singers, has died. She was 78. Staples died Thursday at her Chicago home after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the past decade, said family friend and music publicist Bill Carpenter. The family's music career had its roots with Roebuck "Pops" Staples, a manual laborer who strummed a $10 guitar while teaching his children gospel songs to keep them entertained in the evenings. They sang in church one Sunday morning in 1948, and three encores and a heavy church offering basket convinced Pops that music was in the family's future. The Staple Singers was born.

Rihanna's house broken into. What is it with Rihanna and random incidents these days? First she has a bottle thrown at her by a fan angry about her reconciliation with Chris Brown, and now someone is arrested for trying to break into her house. TMZ reports that neighbors spotted a man angling around RiRi's home in the Pacific Palisades and apprehended him.

According to law enforcement sources, the unidentified man told police that another person gave him instructions -- via email, no less -- on how to break into her house.

"Prince Charles said, 'Do drop off your new album when it's finished!' Will do Omar said!" It looks like this could just be Brighton based UK soul star Omar's year - having been recently signed by leading independent label Freestyle and now awarded an O.B.E for his contribution to the cultural life of the United Kingdom (thoroughly deserved) to boot! ...Life surely can't get much better ...or can it? With 20 years of music to his name and a seventh album "The Man" on the horizon, 2013 is set to mark both personal and creative milestones in the career of this master of the soul groove. With past collaborations coming thick and fast from a plethora of quality musical adversaries, inc; Stevie Wonder, Angie Stone, Common, Estelle, JC Bentley, Zed Bias, Rodney P, Ashman and Canitbe to name a few - we can't wait to hear who will be next on this esteemed list. Last word from the man himself... "To all my fans I say a big thank you! I’m a person that likes to do things differently and without your reassurance that I’m doing something right I’d just be some nutta making up beats and grooves in his mum’s basement! As long as I have music to put fire in my belly, I will keep on keeping on.” (Blues&Soul)


This Weeks Playlist Sunday 24th February 2013

Hour One
Marvin Gaye - After The Dance
Whitney Houston - For The Love Of You
Euge Groove - Sneak A Peak [welcome bed]
Mike Winans - You Deserve A Break
Shirley Brown - This Used To Be Your House

Charlie Wilson - I Still Have You
Plush - We've Got The Love
The Impressions - Minstrel & Queen
R-Kelly - Single ladies (feeling single rmx)
Antroine Dunn - I Just Want To Say
The Isley Brothers - I Once Had Your Love
The William Brothers - Still Here

Hour Two
Joss Stone - Three-in-a-row (trk3 with Betty Wright)
1 Jet Lag 2  Super Duper Love 3 Whisper In The Wind
Leroy Hutson - Paradise
Gray & Hanks - How Can You Live Without Love
Phyliss Hyman - You Know How To Love Me
Thelma Houston - Saturday Nite, Sunday Morning
RJ's Latest Arival - Please Stay
Charlie Wilson - There Goes My Baby
Case And Joe - Faded Pictures
Mary J Blige - Before I Let Go
Maze - Before I Let Go

Joss Stone Biography

Born Joscelyn Eve Stoker, 11 April 1987, Dover, Kent, England. This precociously talented white soul singer made a notable impact with her 2003 debut album, The Soul Sessions, released when she was only 16 years old. Stone grew up in the rural village of Ashill, Devon. She began singing in her early teens, making her first public performance at Uffculme Comprehensive School with a version of Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite". In 2001, Stone won a local audition to perform on a junior version of the BBC talent show Star For A Night. Her appearance on Junior Star For A Night (singing Donna Summer's "On The Radio") helped launch a career in music, with the teenage singer hiring a management team that brought her to the attention of London-based production team the Boiler House Boys. The latter passed the word on to US record company executive Steve Greenberg who flew Stone to New York for an audition, following which he signed the 14-year old singer to his S-Curve label. Greenberg introduced Stone to veteran soul artist Betty Wright, with the original intention being to co-write an album of contemporary material. The direction of the album took a different turn when Greenberg and Wright suggested bringing in some well-known names from the 70s soul scene, including keyboard players Latimore and Timmy Thomas, and guitarist Little Beaver.

Mainly produced at the Hit Factory in Miami by Greenberg, the album evolved as a "live in the studio" set-up which saw Stone tackling a wide range of classic soul and pop material, including Carla Thomas' "I've Fallen In Love With You", Harlan Howard's "The Chokin' Kind", John Sebastian's "I Had A Dream", Aretha Franklin's "All The King's Horses", and the Isley Brothers' "For The Love Of You". Two further tracks were cut in New York with Mike Mangini, while a cover version of the White Stripes' "Fell In Love With A Girl" (retitled "Fell In Love With A Boy") was recorded in Philadelphia with the Roots' ?uestlove.

Released in September 2003, The Soul Sessions earned rapturous acclaim from critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Stone's raw, passionate singing was trumpeted as a welcome antidote to both the glut of reality television stars and the overly slick style of much contemporary R&Born The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in July 2004, and though it failed to win the attendant publicity helped raise expectations for the singer's new album. Stone co-wrote all the material on Mind, Body & Soul, on which she dabbled in a number of musical styles including pop and reggae. Predictably enough, the singer sounded most at ease on retro soul numbers such as "Right To Be Wrong" and "Spoiled". The album topped the UK charts and broke into the US Top 20. (music.us/photo:contactnews)