Lo-Key?

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds is opening up in a must-see interview on tonight's "Oprah's Next Chapter." In his sit-down with Oprah, the award-winning recording artist and producer talks about everything from being humble and shying away from stardom to the crash course he believes new stars, including those who win "American Idol," are on in the music industry. "Pop culture today is so wishy-washy. It's I'm into you... now I'm not. And it's hard," Babyface tells Oprah. "You get beat up a lot quicker and a lot harder and everybody is not strong enough to go through that. American Idol kids, and those kind of shows, they don't get a chance to really work their craft." (singersroom)

The Delfonics were a soul band in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, known for popularizing the “Philadelphia sound.” Their sleek and smooth style heard on the hits “La-La (Means I Love You),” “Didn’t I (Below Your Mind This Time),” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love),” among others.
Last weeks “Unsung” chronicled The Delfonics’ rise to fame, and explained how their soulful sound even influenced The Jackson 5. link



Tracklisting for Sunday 24th. November 2013



Hour One
Astrud Gilberto/Stan Guest - The Girl From Ipanema
Aretha Franklin - People Get Ready
Mongo Santamaria - Groovin' [bed]

Big Bub - Zoom
Patti LaBelle - If Only You Knew
Angis Stone - Stay For A While
Jeff Redd - Down Low
The Whispers - So Good
Jaheim - Hush
Futures - Ain't Got Time Nothin'
Bromfield - Don't Cover Up Your Fleelings
Guy - Peace Of My Love

Hour Two
'Three-inna-Row': Lo-Key?
1 I Got A Thing 4 Ya 2 Tasty 3 Sweet On U
Donald Byrd - Lovin You
Dexter Wansell - Sweetest Pain
Detroit Spinners - Love is In Season
EWF - On Your Face
TS Monk - Can't Keep My Hands To Myself
Curtis Mayfield - Your So Good To Me
Teena Maria - Portuguese Love
Best Man - Ooh, Yeah

Low Key Biography:

Lo-Key? formed in Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting of singer Darron "D" Story, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andre "Dre" Shepard, bassist Tyrone "T-Bone" Yarbrough, producer/keyboardist Lance "L.A." Alexander, and rapper/singer Tony "Prof-T" Tolbert. The group honed their skills around the Minneapolis club circuit, where Alexander and Tolbert became in-house producers (called the B-Team) for Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' Flyte Tyme Productions. The group signed to Jam & Lewis' record label, Perspective Records, and released their debut album, Where Dey At?, on October 6, 1992. They had a hit with the single "I Got A Thang 4 Ya!" in 1992, which spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, and reached No. 27 on the Hot 100.[1] Arthur Jafa, director of photography for the independent film Daughters of the Dust (1991), directed the video for the single.[2]

Alexander and Tolbert also were hitmaking songwriters and producers in their own right. Among the hit songs they've produced for other artists were "Butta Love" by the group Next, "Love Makes No Sense" for Alexander O'Neal, "I Wish" for Shanice and "Strawberries" for Smooth. Tolbert continued to work with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, appearing as a songwriter and background vocalist on albums by Earth, Wind & Fire, Janet Jackson and Usher.

Dennis Taylor

Mr Coptic, Felix & Merry

Following the death of Felix Dexter, aged 52 on 18th October, this year, BBC2 will be running a special program tonight at 10 pm. He was born in Saint Kitts in the Caribbean and moved to London at the age of 7. He studied at University Collage there as a barrister before turning to a career in comedy. On Radio 4 he appeared in Down The Line and on television in  The Real McCoy and Citizen Khan (2011). He had been suffering with multiple Myeloma . More about his life at felixdexter.com. Or on PCRL history pages.

Don Cheadle / Miles Davis

Don Cheadle has been pushing to make a film about Mile Davis’ life for a few years, and now it looks like his dreams will come to fruition. BiFrost Pictures has agreed to finance and produce the film. Don Cheadle will star in the lead role as Davis and serve as director, the Associated Press reports. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Steven Baigelman. The film, which begins production in June 2014, won’t be taking on the life of a traditional biopic. Instead, it will zero in on the period when Davis retired from music to his return to the craft in 1979. The Davis family as well as Herbie Hancock will be collaborating in the production of the film. Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have already been casted as a writer for Rolling Stone and Davis’ former wife, Frances, respectively. Cheadle makes his directorial debut with this project. (theboombox)

Sunday's tracklisting fo 17th November 2013

Hour One

? - So Good
? - Love Sweet Sensation
Gabor Szabo/Bobby Womack - Breezin' (bed)
Luther Vandross - My Sensitivity
Marc Sadane - On-way Love Affair
Chevelle Franklyn - Spirit Fixed (rmx)
R Kelly - Just Like That
Robyn Thicke - Love After War
Carrie Lucas - Hello Stranger
Lauryn Hill - So Much Things To Say
Deniece Williams - Cause You Love Me Baby
Jaheim - Hush

Hour Two
Three-Inna-Row: Dennis Taylor: (2 feat: Beverlie Brown)
1 Could Be You 2 Bad As You 3 Rock U Good

Melba Moore Hard Not To Like You
Micia Paris - Six Street
Rupert Holmes - Pina Colada Song
Wornell Jones - Must Have Been Love
I-Level - In The Sand
Jodeci Get On Up
Teddy Pendergrass - Believe
Glen Goldsmith - Dreamin'
Kashif - I Just Gotta Have You

Dennis Taylor Biography:

Dennis Taylor (born in Brooklyn, New York) is a soul singer and performer, best known in the UK.

As a child, Dennis was singing as part of a church choir in Brooklyn at the age of 7, but later moved to Virginia, and signed up to the US Air Force at 18, with whom he served for six years. Taylor then returned to New York, and following his earlier success in a talent competition, was able to secure a minor recording contract, although he failed to garner any wide-scale success. His biggest break came when he was asked to perform backing vocals on the Robin S hit Gonna Raise The Child in the early 1990s.

It wasn't until the year 2000 that he recorded his first album, 'Enough is Enough' at the Homeboy Studios in New Jersey, working with producers Fred McFarlane and Darryl James, a DJ well known for his mixes on New York radio station WRKS. The album was received favourably, particularly among UK soul critics. Taylor performed his first UK concert at the Jazz Café in London, a gig that was partially responsible for the artist securing a contract with UK-based record label Dome in 2001. Dennis was well received by the UK audience who particularly loved his songs 'Enough is Enough' and 'Out of Control'. His second album 'Unconditional' also won over reviewers, and owed its success in part to the heavy airplay of singles Steppin' and It's Over on the London radio station 102.2 Jazz FM (and then jazzfm.com which relaunched as Jazz FM). A subsequent UK tour followed.

Taylor also duetted with soul performer Beverlei Brown on her album 'Next To You', collaborating on the song Could Be You.

Taylor's most recent album, 'In The Mood', was released in 2003 and included the Sam Dees-penned duet Am I Dreaming?, recorded with Wincey Terry. He continues to sporadically tour the UK. (Wiki)

Deborah Cox

In the news this week...(first off many thanks to Marcus B for covering my show in my absence)...Mary J. Blige has been tapped to perform during the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Slated to perform December 11 in Oslo, Norway, the Grammy-winning queen of hip-hop/soul joins James Blunt, Envy and Zara Larsson, who will also perform at Norway's Spektrum Arena. The concert will be broadcast in the U.S. via AXS TV. In total, it will be aired in over 100 countries worldwide. In related news, Mary J. Blige released "A Mary Christmas" on October 15 via Verve. The set includes Holiday favorites like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Christmas Song." Blige is joined by a number of A-list guests, starting with Barbra Streisand, who duets with Blige on 'When You Wish Upon A Star,' along with Jessie J on 'Do You Hear What I Hear' The Clark Sisters join Blige on 'The First Noel' and 'Noche de Paz,' is a Spanish collaboration with Mark Anthony. "A Mary Christmas" is available now.  (themusicroom)

New record from Prince, and he is a musical and marketing genius. He has been able to stay in tuned with not what the people want, but with what they need. We need an icon that can add humor (Dave Chappelle cover), amazing music (Prince's extraordinary music & sound) with pure beauty (lead actress/dancer in video). The teaser for "Breakfast Can Wait" gives you that good old throwback feeling when you waited for videos to premiere back in the day. Check it out and let us know if you have the same feeling. (The musicroom)

Al Johnson

Sadly we recently lost a superb soul singer in Al Johnson. While never long in the spotlight, he quietly created some very memorable Soul music for himself and others over a more than forty year career, and developed a small but loyal following over that period as a top notch songwriter, singer and musician.
Johnson first scored as the lead singer of the Unifics, a group formed at Howard University in Washington, D.C. which had a big hit with "The Court of Love."  After another minor hit, "The Beginning of My End," the group split and Johnson began a long string as a session musician, songwriter, arranger and producer. He then went solo with two albums including the much loved 'Back For More' after witch he concentrated on producing others, he'll be missed. (soultracks/editor)

Today of course is Remembrance Sunday and 1 minute silence was observed by Newstyle Radio at 11 am today to remember all the deaths of WWI and II and more recent conflicts. There were plenty Caribbean Women serving in WW2. When we think of the British Armed Forces, there is often a tendency to think exclusively of men.  In the past this has been largely due to the majority of Armed forces being made of almost entirely of men. However, WW2 saw plenty of Women sign up to the British Armed Forces.  The exact numbers of Caribbean women serving in the British Armed forces can be difficult to pin down to an exact number.  However, Richard Smith, writing in the Oxford Companion to Black British History.  Read more

This weeks playlist for Sunday 10th November 2013



Hour One
Wendell B - When Love Don't Make No Sense
Eddie Holman - It's All In The Game
George Howard - No, No (bed)
Maze/Frankie Beverly - Call On Me
Gwen Guthrie - Sweet Bitter Love
Babyface - This Is 4 The Lover In U
Phil Perry - You Send Me
Zhane - Request Line
Jeniquea - Making Love
Harold Melvin/Bluenotes - I Really Love You
Plush - We Got The Love
Aretha Franklin - Giving Him Something He Can Feel

Hour Two
'Three-Inna-Row': Deborah Cox
1Could Have Been You 2 One Wish 3 Sound Of His Tears

The Manhattans - Crazy
Michael Wycof - Lockin Up To You
Sinai - Get Up On The Floor
The Staple Singers - Love Me, Love Me, Love Me
Maze/Frankie Beverly - Before I Let Go
James Brown - Cold Sweat
Alex Lattimore - Rising To The Top (inst)
Melba Moore - Standing Right Here


Deborah Cox Biography:
Born 13 July 1973, Toronto, Canada. R&B singer Cox was signed by Arista Records' famed president Clive Davis, previously responsible for discovering names such as Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin and TLC. Davis' reputation in the industry meant that he was able to unite Cox with some of American R&B's finest producers.
  Her debut album was recorded with the aid of Keith Thomas (Vanessa Williams, Amy Grant), Keith Crouch, Darryl Simmons and Dallas Austin. Cox had begun singing in her childhood and turned professional at the age of 12, playing small Toronto clubs before attending a performing arts school.
  She first met her songwriting partner Lascelles Stephens when she was 18, forging a productive creative relationship. A demo recorded together served to alert Davis to Cox's presence, and within months she had moved to Los Angeles and signed with Arista. Before the recording of her debut album was complete she had toured Canada with Celine Dion and performed at showcases in Europe and Asia. Her first single, "Sentimental", was released in October 1995. The second single, "Who Do U Love?", sold over half a million copies. As a self-proclaimed R&B diva, her material falls equally between up-tempo/swingbeat numbers and slickly produced ballads.
  While she is clearly a more able vocalist than many of her peers, sometimes that attribute is lost in her conservative choice of material. Her eagerly anticipated sophomore set, One Wish, helped to establish the singer as a recording star. Justifying the praise heaped on the album, the old school ballad "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" topped the R&B charts for a record-breaking 14 weeks, and climbed to number 2 on the Hot 100 in January 1999. She enjoyed another US Top 10 hit in October with "We Can't Be Friends".

Discography:
Deborah Cox (Vaz/Arista 1995)***, One Wish (Arista 1998)****, The Morning After (J 2002)***.