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THURSDAY, May 22, 1997.,
Jackson
.delivers
remix CD
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Michael Jackson
Blood On The Dance
Floor: History In The
Mix
Michael Jackson,
' executive producer
i Epic
j ☆☆☆
; T7'
I; ans of Michael will proba-
: bly buy this remix album even-
; tually, but I doubt that many
; will stand in line to do so. It’s
I not bad, but most of this stuff
j has been available on various
I CD singles.
I Not that some of these remix-
I es lack energy. Frankie
I Knuckles gets big props for
I turning “You Are Not Alone”
^ into a string-drenched house
; jam. Kudos also go out to
j Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
j for turning the originally so-so
I “Scream” into the too-funky
I “Scream Louder.” Wyclef Jean’s
I (of Fugees fame) reworking of
I “2 Bad” is also worth the
^ jremix.
But lots of the remixes fall
»• flat. Whose bright idea was it
*• not to use the Notorious
J B.I.G.’s rap on “This Time
f- Around?” The light-weight
J music doesn’t help much either.
“Stranger In Moscow” works,
J! but the lush original is much
♦; better. And despite a much
•; needed work-over, “History”
still rambles.
I- There are five new songs, the
I'most noteworthy of which are
the 'Teddy Riley co-penned title
I', song and “Ghosts.” Both songs
'(kind of keep Jackson near his
r&b base.,“Morplune” does not.
The music is harsh and metal-
lie sounding. The lyrics, as best
>jl can figure, are about a drug
I-i addict. But what was the need
Jjfor Jackson to say “Yoim dog’s a
bitch, baby?” Mike, please.
I also have to question
'I Jackson’s decision to ignore the
stuff Babyface has written for
jhim. I’m told there are a num-
l-jber of unreleased songs, includ-
"ing “Fleart On The Line” which
Iwas used in Spike Lee’s “Get
^On The Bus.” I hope the songs
^make his next album. He needs
Jthem.
^ Various Artists
? .„AnJ Then There was
^ Bass
' Tony Mercedes,
” executive producer
; Tony Mercedes
: Records
j ☆☆☆
' By now nearly everyone in
.America has heard
l“MyBabyDaddy,” the annoying,
“but oh so catchy novelty song
” about paternity. It’s part of this
;...And 'Then 'There was Bass
; collection from Tony Mercedes
^records, which is now distrib-
'uted by Arista’s LaFace
;!Records. Who’d a thunk it.
' 'There’s other stuff that’s as
catchy but not quite as annoy
ing. Dana Harris does a nice
•job of turning Shirley
^Murdock’s “As We Lay” into a
Idance song. J.T. Money featur-
ying Verb’s “Make A Playa Rich”
ids booty music at its best.
;Wlfl^ is what you can say
jabout the rest of this CD.
jMindless? Sure, but boring it
‘.See SOUNDS on page 6B
Franklin brings ‘Tour of Life’ to Charlotte
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
When Kirk Franklin hits the
stage with his “Tour of Life”
May 30, he’ll have a lot to
shout about. He’s alive.
He didn’t have to be. Franklin
was involved in a near-fatal
accident late last year which
forced the cancellation of his
tour. While leaving the stage,
Franklin fell into an orchestra
pit. He lay in a pool of his own
blood before being rushed to a
hospital. He spent days in a
coma. His doctors, wife and
fans waited cautiously, not
knowing whether he would live
or die.
But as Franklin testifies, God
pulled him through. Franklin
hasn’t looked back since. His
recovery seemed quick. If you
saw him on the Stellar awards
accepting one of several for his
Fred Hammond and Radical For Christ
Whatcha Lookin’ 4? CD, you
would never have known he
was ever near death. Franklin
went into a shouting frenzy
which brought the audience to
its feet.
But Franklin has a way of
doing that. Since his self-titled
debut CD, he’s mesmerized
Franklin
audiences with his energetic
live performances. Young folks
can’t seem to get enough of
him. His “Why We Sing”
became a staple of black radio
in 1995. It was never released
as a single, but strong air play
made it a Top 20 hit.
Franklin’s album was the
first gospel debut ever to sell a'
million copies. His sophomore "'
effort Whatcha Lookin’ 4 i^'
gold, heading for platinum. It ,,
spent months at the top of
Billboard’s gospel chart and i#*
currently No. 2 behind “Th^
See TOUR on Page 6B
Hailey brothers pause from Jodeci for first solo CD
By Mark Pengrass
THE CHARLOTTE POST
After three double platinum
albums, five Billboard awards,
three Soul 'Train awards, sever
al American Music award and
Grammy Award nomina
tions...where is Jodeci?
Rumor has it that they have
broken up. Not! Rumor has it
that they are living in
Charlotte. Wrong!
Rumors say K-Ci and JoJo
Hailey have completed a new
album to be released next
month. Right!
The Monroe natives decided
to take their show on the road
with their new album on the
MCA label titled Love
Always.
With the first single “You
Bring Me Up” hitting the air
waves, the album gives the
Haileys a chance to highlight
their vocal talents as well as
production skills.
“It only took us month to
complete the project,” K-Ci
said during a phone interview
from a video shoot in
California. “Our record compa
ny took the initiative and time
to search for all the right pro
ducers and the best songs suit
able for us. They put 100 per
cent of their time in this project
to make sure it will be a suc
cess and I must admit ...It’s
On.”
Love Always is filled with a
diverse array of ballads and up
tempo tunes that allows the
Haileys to display versatility
as vocalists, writers, and pro
ducers. Despite the long list of
established songwriter/produc
ers such as Babyface, Mtume,
Jeff Redd and Jodeci’s Devante
(Swing), K-Ci and JoJo’s tradi
tional gospel flavor and soulful
harmonies stand out on every.
'The Haileys co-wrote and/or
produced seven of the tracks on
the albmn. They credit this
effort to their inspirational
partnership and family atmos
phere in the studio. “There was
no plan...most of the time, we’d
just put the track up and start
singing. JoJo has an excellent
ear for harmonies and my
thing is funk,” K-Ci said. “Put
that together and you’ve got
the Hailey brothers’ sound.”
Since 1991, when the
r&b/hip-hop audience was
introduced to the brothers,
their fans supported their
unique voices, their street dri
ven hip-hop grooves and bed
room ballads. However, the
Haileys were not alone in their
previous endeavors. Since
then, they have been looking
forward to the opportimity to
attempt new projects.
“I’m not gonna say it wasn’t
kinda scary at first,” JoJo said.
“You’ve got MCA looking at you
saying “We know you can do it,’
but we were asking ourselves
that same I know
what people warn musically,
because I am one of the people.
So when K-Ci started writing
the song ‘Last Night’s Letter,’
that inspired me...and I said
‘let’s do this.’”
K-Ci and JoJo are traveling
the coimtiy on a promotional
tour to introduce the new
album. With a mature sound
and sincere lyrics, the Haileys
anticipate acquiring an older
audience as well as their cur
rent fans. K-Ci & JoJo’s
remake of Jeffrey Osborne’s
classic hit “Love Ballad” has
already opened eyes of‘70s r&b
lovers.
“I had the opportunity to
meet Mr. Osborne while in New
York City and he complimented
me on performing his song,” K-
Ci said. “Mr. Osborne told me
his wife heard me perform the
song at a concert in L.A. and
immediately called him to let
hiio^cnow how much she
Rn^P|d it. The next day,
Jeffrey Osborne himself called
to congratulate me on the
remake.”
Despite the pessimism on
performing yet another cover
song on this album, the classic
selection was performed under
the production of
producer/songwriter Mtume. It
is apparent that K-Ci and JoJo
possess the talents to creative
ly enhance songs from various
eras and give them a ‘90s fla
vor.
When asked ‘where Jodeci
has been hiding, K-Ci said: “We
haven’t been hiding. We had
three consecutive multi-million
selling albums, toured
throughout the U.S. and
abroad, taped 'TV shows, sched
uled interviews and thought it
was time for a break, not a
break-up.”
Devante is writing £md pro
ducing and has found success.
He co-wrote and produced ‘It’s
on Tonight’ with Montell
Jordan. Mr. Dalvin is doing the
executive thing with his
record/production company. In
a year or two, Jodeci will
return to the studio to work on
the fourth album.
K-Ci, a graduate of Forest
Hills High School and JoJo a
graduate of East Union High
School, frequently visit
Charlotte to see family and
friends.
Although they live in New
York City, the Haileys say they
“love Charlotte and all our peo-
«ple there. We want to thank
you for all the support over the
years...even when we were
singing gospel as Cedric & the
Hailey Brothers.”
With over 12 years in the
business of music, the Haileys
have spent half their lives sur
rounded with music.
K-Ci and Jo-Jo recently fin
ished taping the video for the
first single which will feature
West Coast rapper Snoop
Doggy Dogg and BET VJ/model
Brett Walker. 'They are also
scheduled to begin taping the
video for the second single
‘Don’t Rush’ with Lazy Bone of
the rap group Bone 'Thugs N
PHOTO/TREISIQ S TAYLOR
K-CI and JoJo Halley
Harmony. The Haileys hope to
shoot a video here in Charlotte
one day.
“We’ve been asking the record
company to let us shoot a video
in Charlotte to show our city
we still have love for them,” K-
Ci said. “Just like the Panthers
and the Hornets, we want to
represent by showing our
hometown in a video.”
Just as the interview was
completed, the phone rang
again with a return call from
the Haileys. They said they'
admired a sign in Marshvill^'
acknowleging Grammy Award
winning country singer Randy,
'Travis on Highway 74. With
the rags to riches story from;,
the Haileys and their celebrity
status, K-Ci & JoJo feel they,^
should be supported by their_
hometown fans and given a"
sign and/or mural in the Queen
City to honor their success. “W^
love Charlotte...so show us hoQ'
much you love us.” ,
Cosby ponders future of his CBS show and life without his son
By Frazier Moore
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - Bill Cosby is
talking whipped cream.
“...A vat of whipped cream,”
he proposes, “with a paint
brush in it where you just slap
it on him.” By “him” Cosby
means Hilton Lucas, the char
acter he plays on his CBS sit
com.
He is standing in cavernous
Stage E at Kaufman Astoria
Studios in Queens, consulting
with executive producer
Norman Steinberg.
It’s the end of a long
rehearsal, the day before tap
ing the season’s 25th and final
episode (and the day before the
Los Angeles police announce
the capture of the man they
say killed Cosby’s son in
January, a tragedy that has
hung over the show and
haunted its star the two
months since).
But at the moment, Cosby is
consumed with just one thing:
fixing the script’s slapstick
finale. How to stage it remains
somewhat uncertain.
“Uncertain” could describe
“Cosby” overall. Extremely
high-profile (as if any 'TV show
Cosby did could be otherwise).
his new sitcom knocked
nobody’s socks off in its fresh
man season.
Even some of those present
on Stage E this March after
noon concede the vexing truth:
A series built around televi
sion’s most identifiable star
continues to suffer an identity
crisis.
“... 'The tag is, he has been
kind enough,” riffs Cosby, still
fs
sketching out the episode’s',
finale in his free-form, almost^,
be-bop style of expressing'i
ideas, “the tag for this is,
yTmow, he’s been kind enough.,
to let the kid - you know whab-
I mean? And Tm sitting there
and I have to take it, y’under-i’
stand? OK?” .d
“OK,” says Steinberg, whoii
really does understand. 'Then')’
y.
See COSBY Page 7B