Page AlO-The Chronicle, Thursda
arts & 1
Spotlight
Precocious
growing wi
j
Young groups-who attempt to ply
their musical trade with Motown have
some tough acts to follow.
After all, it must be pretty hard to
imnrect th<? fnllc a?
r - _ ?? ...? (Vino Ul IIIV. lautl llldl
discovered and nurtured the Jackson
Five (featuring a large-Afroed, pintsized
lead singer named Michael),
"Little" Stevie Wonder and a bony
group of teens who called themselves
the Primettes and later became the
Supremes.
But DeBarge has managed alright,
making its debut last year and promptly
striking gold with its second Motown
album, "All This Love."
With a third successful LPt HIn_A_
Special ~Way," Tnoving up the charts
El, Randy, Mark, James and Bunny
DeBarge, Grand Rapids, Mich., siblings
who could dance and sing before
they could barely talk, appear to be
much more than a one-shot hit.
If anything, DeBarge's success has
grown with DeBarge.
The new album, for instance, was
written solely by the group and produc-_
ed by 22-year-old El DeBarge, who
readily admits it wasn't ea^. "It was a
lot harder than I thought it would be,"
says El, who occasionally got a little
help from brother Bobby, who is not a
member of the group.
"I had to learn to be strict and stern.
The family had to learn to look at me
as El the producer, not El the brother.
If 1 made a decision, it was made on
the basis of what was best for the
album and my brothers and sister had
to learn not to take it personally. But if
1 had to do it all over again, I would.
We all pulled together and it was a
labor of love."
Pull together they did. El literally
challenged his family to write the best
music possible and each member rose
16 the occasion.
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Ask Yolonda
Her bo]
By YOLONDA GA YLES
Chronicle Columnist
Dear Yolonda: I'm 31, and I've been d
40, for four years. He has let his daught
*' band and their two children move into h
Since then, we've been arguing because
spend the night with him while they're ir
To me if"* embarrassing, particularly be<
kids.
My boyfriend thinks I'm acting childis
me I don't love him. To top it off, he's tol
we marry, he'll have a room added onto h
his daughter and her family. 1 haven't tol<
won't marry him under those circumstan
I really don't enjoy going to his hous
daughter has brought her furniture in, an<
of his out, I mean, the house now look
her's than his. Her dining room set is th<
y, December 15, 1983
eisure
DeBarges
th their music
But that hardly surprised fans and
critics who have watched the rise of
this talented family. Music is in their
blood. As Bunny once said, 44If your
last name was DeBarge in Grand
Rapids, you had to be into some type
of music."
Ten youngsters under one roof
means a house is never quiet. But 10
yuuugMcis stinging as soon as tney
could talk, playing any instrument they
could put their hands on, and making
up little songs to see who could outdo
whom could mean only one thing: constant
noise.
But the noise was channeled into a
creative vein by loving parents and
relatives who gave the young DeBarges
a sense of direction inIheir musicT
"So many people have believed in us
and helped us reach our goals that we
have to do our best at all times/* explains
Mark, who wrote "Stay With
Me." "We can't let anyone down -not
our friends, family or fans. When
our brothers Bobby and Tommy arrived
at Motown with a band called *
Switch, they told us they wouldn't
?forget the rest of the family back
home. And they didn't. Motown
believed in us and supported us and
now our fans are doing the same thing.
"How can you let people like that
down? The answer is you can't, so we
go out and do the best we can every
time whether it's writing or singing or
performing."
So far, all of the right ingredients appear
to be there: hot music, charming
good looks and a sincerity that reaches
out from the music and touches the
soul of the listener.
"We like to sing about love and
cnrpaH o little Ui< ?f :? 1 *
uii ui ii aiuunu, says
EI. "If we touch just one person's life I
with our music, well, that's what it's all
?? about?" 1
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perous around his waistline.
rfriend doesn't
kitchen is filled with
her appliances. Her
things are everywhere.
ating a guy,
er, her hus- Please help me with
lis house. some answers. I really
e I refuse to enjoy my friend's
1 the house. company, but the
:ause of the arguments are going
to break us up. I have
tolH him hr?*^ I
. , . . . Hint MV/r? 4 1VVI i
h, and tells . . . 4 f
. . .. and also that I refuse
d me that if . , 4 ,
r to go to a hotel every
is house for . u. , . . ,
. week. His daughter s
3 him, out I a slQb< and she won,t gjve 1
problems. What should I
e now. His
i thrown all
s more like Dear G.A.: Let's look a
rre, and the Most parents would step in
Television, Radio, Advice, Music
I
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Broadway Is My Beat:
Diana's rom
\y JOEY SASSO
yndicated Columnist
The latest casualty in the battle of the
ulge is none other than "A-Team" star Mr.
'. The muscleman packed on a whopping 15
ounds during summer break.
And now ? as any "fool" should know --
e's dieting and exercising like crazy to shed
tie flab for the new season. He's also trying
d change his intellectual image. T told a
luster of fans recently that's he's willing
nd able to expound dn any topic, including
tie ins and outs of geopolitics, if somebody
/ould only ask.
Meanwhile, it's not so bad to be a fad.
4r. T's popularity might be a passing public
ancy, but, with the money he's raking in, he
oesn't have to worry about long-range sucess.
He has reportedly grossed $3 million
tiis year.
Observations in covering the night beat:
realize she's ei
time of need. \
good parent.
What
mk become his brii
Hpnt rvf hie /^oii
Huviu u i i 11.i u?u
either have to |
live with him, i
to find a new
Meanwhile,
elsewhere. Yo
your business
Yolonda
iim room and board, just
Dear Yolon*
G.A. with this very :
relationship b<
t this from another angle. When I entc
and aid their children in a and broken-hc
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awce w/Y/r Nasta
Dusky singing siren Diana Ross has launched
into a new romance with controversial
Rumanian tennis ace Illie Nastase. The couple
spend most of their time smooching in
the Drivacv of Diana's JJew Vnrlr anartmont
m ? -_ ? . - w ?? Wi r% illlVlli
and are seldom seen in public together.
Not that they are ashamed of each other.
Says one friend of the couple: "Diana
finds Illie very sweet and charming. Another
New York insider revealed: "He's nuts
about her." ...
Looks like Miss America is headed for
Broadway and Hollywood. Vanessa
Williams, the first black Miss America, says
she's been offered a role in David Merrick's
"42nd Street" Broadway musical next
season. Plus, "Pink Panther" director Blake
Edwards has indicated he wants Vanessa for
the title role in a film about the legendary
performer Josephine Baker.
Vanessa hasn't said OK to either project,
but she sure seems interested in the movie
ntitled to her pri
'ou can't blame your friend for being a ferent
I kn<
?ed to do, though, is make sure that he but I d
our side. Tell him that, once you still in
de, you want your own place, indepen- Abo
ighter and her family. That means he'll girl bat
put a time limit on the period that they a doub
or, once married, you and he will have Wha
place. to the
be willing to spend time with him anyone
ur point is valid: no need to parade how to
around other people.
Deai
Three-Way Affair ing out
answer
da: I fell in love about three years ago tell her
special girl, but she decided to end out If th
jcause of personal reasons. you'd i
red college two years ago, I was lonely Cot
;arted. Then I fell in love with a dif- P.O. B
r
*
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se ft back on
which Edwards plans to shoot in two years.
About Baker, Miss America says: "She
went through a lot in her life and I think it
would be a great challenge to me, as an ac
tress and singer, to play her life in the
movies." Williams, 20, says she's also
received other movie and stage offers as
well....
WMeDianaJtoss is waiting for her own
long-planned Josephine Baker project to go
into action, she's making plans to star in
"Tough Customer" as a numbers doll who
gets involved with gangster Dutch Schultz.
Shultz is also being brought back to life in
the beleaguered "The Cotton Club," which
will be released next year - as will at least six
other shoot-'em-up ganster movies.
Singer-songwriter-producer Lionel Richie,
34, still calls music a hobby, even though his
achievements have earned him amounts akin
to the gross national products of some small
nations.
vacy
girl.
3w the woman I date here at college loves me,
on't know if I love her the same. You see, I'm
love with the past girl.
ut six months ago, I received a letter from the
:k home saying she wants me hack, so, without
>t, I called her and got things back together,
it I want t ^ow is how can I break the news
college girl? I in the type who hates to hurt
I'm stuck with two girls, and don't know
> end it with one. C.P.
' C.P.4 You harm someone far more by draggthe
situation, or worse, saying nothing. The
is to sit down with your college girlfriend and
your true feelings.
e shoe were on your foot, that's exactly how
*ant it. Right?
a problem or gripe? Write Yoionda Gav/es,
ox 19112, Chicago, III. 606/9