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ThonMUy, July 24, m* - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page IB
amm
mmm ean Answered
By Loretta Manago
Poet Managing Editor
Who can resist when destiny
calls? We may put her off, stall
her or even avert her path. Butin
the end the price she demands is
paid. Just ask Billy Ocean.
' For years, he was destined for
a career hi music, although
circumstances and complica
tions sought to postpone the
success and fame that so
desperately wanted to be in
cluded in Ocean’s life.
Hie gift for music had shown
itself in Ocean’s life since he was
very young. To filLlhat urge to
create and share those musical
creations with the world, Ocean
made the club the Bluecoat Boy
in Trinidad, his second home.
But that was not enough.
Ocean later affiliated himself
with a local group called.
Shades of Midnight, later known
as The Go And Dry Ice. His first
release with writer-producer
Ben Findon, “On The Run,”
landed him a three year contract
and a deal with GTO Records.
And just when things were
going well for Ocean GTO was
sold to CBS Records who did
little or nothing with Ocean’s
career. Ignored was the fact that
Findon and Ocean really hit the
target with their second release,
“Love Really Hurts Without
You,” which was a hit hi
Britain and in the V&. “Love On
Delivery” and “Stop Me (If
You've Heard It All Before)*'
also made the U.K. top 20.
When the single, “Nights
(Feel Like Getting Down)*'
became a hit and the American
market began to open up for
Ocean, the worst began to -
happen. Ocean's second and last
album for CBS, “Inner Feel
ings.” was quietly released and
never heard from araln.
None of these obstacles were
enough to thwart destiny's
ultimate aim. Soon, a new deal
came Into the picture and that
path to the top reopened for
Billy Ocean ^
.Grammy winner
Ocean. Ocean signed .with Jive
Records and began to collabo
rate with Trinidad native, Keith
Diamond. ■
Now almost, three years ago
Ocean and Diamond began work
ing on material for "Suddenly.”
With the a I bora completed, what
happened afterwards was more
than even Ocean imagined.
Its first single, "Caribbean
Queen (No Mare love On The
Run)" was an immediate
American smash, going all the
way to number one and making
Ocean the first British black
singer to reach that position.
Then gradually, “Suddenly”
became a sort of greatest hits
album, as the title track,
“Loverboy,” and “Mystery
Lady” all climbed the charts. By
early ’85 the album had passed
platinum and Billy was •
awarded a Grammy Award for
Best Male R&B Vocal Perfor
mance for the album’s first
release.
Ocean entered ’86 with another
American smash hit to his name,
“When The Going Gets Tough,
The Tough Get Going,” from the
soundtrack of “The Jewel Of
The Nile.” Produced by Barry
Eastmond, Wayne Braithwaite,
and Ocean, the second lp,
“Love Zone,” the solid founda
tion upon which “Suddenly”
perched Ocean on is more stable
than ever.
Black Church Has
God’s Blueprint
For Freedom
Of the 30 million African
Americans in the United States,
20 million belong to approxi
mately 60,000 Black churcn cong
regations across the country. It
is clearly Black America’s oldest
and most powerful institution.
And a majority of all Black
Christians are Baptists.
Progressive National Baptist
Convention President Dr. Mar
shall Shephard of Olivet Baptist
Church m Philadelphia along
with Dr. Virgil Wood of Pond
Street Baptist Church in Provi
dlnce and distinguished biblical
scholar Dr. Gardner Taylor of
Concord Baptist Church New
York, will loin a live studio
audience of Convention support
ers to discuss their upcoming
agenda and the role of the Black
Cnorch in solving the problems
confronting Black America.