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V^l)2 CIjnilotte ^ost Thursday, August 17, 1989 ENTERTAINMENT With Lisa Collins _ Lee Hall Jackson Public Enemy Has Change Of Heart; Last month, Public En emy made headlines when leader Chuck D. announced that ine group was disbanding. This move, following charges of racism against the group for anU-Semltlc statements made by a group member. However, latest word has It that the group will resume full operations. In fact, the unit had continued to perform live even after the suspension announcement, but only to fulfill con tractual operations. Chuck D. who denounced the anti-Semitic statements by the group's minister of Information, "Prof. Griff," w^s said to have fired Griff. Yet while he may have missed some performances, "Prof. Griff' was recently cited on stage with the group. As of press time, a spokesman for CBS confirmed that the group was back together. Griff Included, adding that It was 'business as usual." "Everything is cool" were the words of director-actor Spike Lae to Radioscope's Lee Bailey with reference to his ongoing feud with Arsenlo Hall. Elven still the two - Hall and Lee - didn't appear to be warm to one another at the fourth annual Magic Johnson All-Star Classic. In fact, they coached opposite teams. Talk show Hall coached the blue team which Included Isiah Thomas, Domi nique Wilkins and Spud Webb. Spike Lee's white team Included Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Michael Cooper. Proceeds from the event will benefit the United Negro College Fund. Just days prior to the event Hall cancelled a scheduled second ap pearance by Lee on his syndicated talk show to end the whole mess, which began with Hall's response to Spike Lee calling him an "Uncle Tom." Hall gave no reasons for the cancellation....A handful of other celebs were on hand for Johnson's "Midsummer Night Magic," Including Sheiyl Lee Ralph, Robert Townsend and Mike Tyson, who caused quite a ruckus when he got Into a scuf fle with an overzealous fan. On The Home Front: Sources confirm that Nicole Mitchell, Eddie Murphy's current girlfriend Is Indeed pregnant, but the Rancho Cordova native Is not speaking all that openly about her pregnancy or Eddie, for that matter. And neither Is her family. The 27-year-old model recently purchased a house In the Sacre- mento area. As to the disclosure of another baby (in the recent Issue of a supermarket tabloid), with ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old Paulette MNeeley, Behind-The-Scenes could not get no com ment. Generations Celebrates lOOth episode: The cast and crew of Generations" was on hand in the Burbank studios for a cham pagne reception celebrating the 100th taping of daytime's new est serial. Said Joan Pringle, one of the leads: "It's a lot of fun and challenging, because we're breaking new ground In history. We're up against a lot of competition — shows that have been on a long time but that's all part of It. It's like a throw of the dice. I don't know what to expect. I tiy not to think about that. At this point the ratings don't mean very much. We're so young, and we're up against the number one show." Short Takes: Singer Maiy Wilson filed suit against Motown Records In Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that she Is owed a 50 percent Interest In the recent sale of masters and recordings by the Supremes. Motown reportedly sold the entire Supremes catalogue for $10 million or more. Michael Jacks.on is currently in the studio recording new tunes for a greatest-hits collection that Is slated to be In the stores by Thanksgiving. Jackson Is hoping the new material will add sparks to the specially priced multi-disc anthology. Next Week: A look at how blacks fared in the recent Emmy nominations and the latest on Lionel Richie. Byron Allen • Byron Allen’s Weekend Talk Show Set For September Debut They call Byron Allen fresh, fast and funny. They also call him one,^f the comedy world's brightest stars. And soon they'll call him host, when the one- hour talk/variety program — "The Byron Allen Show" -- pre mieres Saturday, Sept. 9, at 11:45 p.m. on WBTV, Channel 3. Allen, who starred on NBC's "Real People" for five years, will serve as executive producer, as well as host of the show, finally realizing his childhood fantasy. At the age of 14, Allen would sneak onto "The Tonight Show" set, where his mother was a tour guide, and sit behind Johnny Carson's desk. He made his TV debut on "The Tonight Show" at the age of 18, becoming one of youngest comedians ever to ap pear on the show. Recently, Al len was the co-writer of CBS' "Case Closed" and has toured the largest showrooms around the countiy, opening for such acts as Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers and The Pointer Sisters. Designed specifically for the weekend late night audience. The Byron Allen Show" will feature as guests a cross sec tion* of the hottest names In television, film, music and comedy. Prince Rocks Royally With Score Warner Bros, took a huge gam ble on asking Prince to contrib ute music to the movie Batman. True, he is an excellent musi cian and the sinner/saint con flict In his music made him an obvious choice for this good vs. evil epic, but many of his critics and fans feel he has made too much music In too short a time. Prince has made 11 albums In 10 years, two of which are dou ble albums and two are movie soundtracks. To put that Into perspective, look at Michael Jackson's output. He has done only three albums during the same period and has sold mil lions more records. To make matters worse. Prince's last al bum, "Love Sexy," didn't earn him a gold record. That had not happened since his first album, "For You". But the movie Itself was a gam ble. Here was Warner Bros, spending an estimated $40 mil lion on a subject for a movie that had only limited appeal as a television series In the the mid '60s. Spending that much money meant every aspect of the movie had to be near perfect: casting, promotion and soundtrack. Prince, of course, was not bothered by any of this. Warner Bros, asked htm for four songs; he gave them nine In two weeks. Now there would be a sound track by Prince and the original score by Danny Elfman. To avoid a possible backlash. Prince's name does not appear on the front of the album's cov er. All that's there Is the movie's logo. And although he is listed as the writer and producer In small print on the back, the character: If a man is considered guilty/4 what goes on in his mind/Then gimme the electric chair /4 all my future crimes. Not In the movie. Reviews By WINFRED CROSS songs are credited to being sung by the movie's' characters. Credit these songs to Vicki Vale, the Joker or even that silly logo If you like, this Is a Prince album--a phenomenal Prince album. And Just as It's from the summer's biggest movie, this Is the summer's biggest and maybe best album. The album op>ens with "TTie Fu ture," a dark and sinister song used near the beginning of the movie. Sung as Batman, the song rolls along on Prince's per cussive synthesizers. The pace changes quickly with "Electric Chair," done as the Joker. This Is what Prince does best: vicious guitar solos with searing vocals. This Is full-tilt rock-funk.The lyrics point out the psychotic nature of the Prince then teams up with Sheena Easton as Bruce Wajme and Vicki Vale on "The Arms of Orion," a lilting ballad that does not appear in the movie. It Is a bit mlddle-of-the road for a Prince song, but the two sing It very well. The pace quickens again with "Part5anan". The Joker steals the show again with the album's funkiest offering. It's a great dance song and It's almost worth the $5 to see Jack Nicholson dance to It in the movie. "Vicki Waiting" as Bruce Wayne has a '60s sound to It, like something Sly Stone would have done. I like It but It's not in the movie. But "Trust" Is In the movie. An other dance song done as the Joker. At first, it doesn't sound like much of a song, almost like warmed over disco. But it does Its job by reminding you of the circus atmosphere the Joker has created In the streets of Gotham City. "Lemon Crush," Isn't In the movie and Isn't much of a song. In fact, the most Interesting thing about It Is the fact that Prince plays the role of Vlckl Vale Instead of Sheena Easton. It's nothing more than synthe sized dance music. The album's next song, "Scandalous," Is by far the best song offered here. Done as Bat man, It features Prince using his stratospheric falsetto over lush- ly arranged simulated strings. It's not used In the movie but should have been. The song Is one of the best r&b ballads of the year. It was co-wrltten with his , father, John L. Nelson. The album closes with "Batdance," the first single from the album. It Is not In the movie. It uses a medley of two other songs, "Electric Chair" and 'The Future." It also uses a bunch of, dialogue from the movie. It gets pretty hectic and busy but I like It just the same. The song Is sung as all the main characters. Maybe Warner Bros, didn't gamble after all. They probably figured his Royal Badness could come up with some good stuff if he got the Inspiration. Call the movie what you will, an5hhlng that Inspires Prince to write like this has to be good. Ross Makes Hits With Motown Again Diana Ross spent 10 years with RCA records making some dreadful music. Yes, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love," and "Swept Away" were OK albums. And "Muscles," "Missing You" and "Dirty Looks" were decent sin gles. But the bulk of her work was just plain awful. Ross, however, has never been a quitter. She Is now reunited with Motown records, not only as an artist, but as partial own er. 'Workln' Overtime," her first album since being back with the company that made her famous, shows the lady still has some life left tn her career. Without question, this Is her best work In years. This album has everything that her past work has lacked: consistency good songs and, most Importantly, good singing. Credit that to the album's pro ducer, Nile Rodgers. He, along with Bernard Eklwards, pr^uced Ross's biggest selling album, "Diana," In 1980. Again, Ross and Rodgers are a great combi nation. Rodgers leads Ross through some very wicked dance tunes such as the title song, "Paradise" and "Bottom Line" (possibly the most r&b sounding song this woman has ever done) with ease. The sound Is clear, the production slick and Ross's voice hasn't soimded this good in a looooong time. Her voice Is especially pleas ing on 'This House," a very lovely ballad that showcases the sweetness In her voice. Ross has never had a strong , soulful voice, just very ,very pretty. That's why the ballad 'We Stand Together" doesn't work. The sweetness isn't there. Rod gers must have thought this song needed some good old gos pel-like vocals. So he must have told her to "just sing your heart out, honey." The re sults are almost disastrous. Ross Is not that kind of singer. She ends up screaming at the top of her lungs somewhere left of pitch. Certainly, this Is a case where less would have been a lot more. Still, If you forget that song, this Is a great 3bum. Diana Ross has always been one of my favorite singers. I bought ■ Ni'SNv I all of the junk she made In the early '80s just because It was her. It's good to hear good work coming from her again. L hope It's another long career with Motown. Jacksons Need More Michael, Fewer Producers The Jacksons, now down to Randy, Tito, Jackie and Jer maine, have released their first album since 1984's 'Victory." It is also the first on which Mi chael Jackson does not sing lead on most of the material. In fact, he appears briefly on only one song. And that is one of the two factors that keep "2300 Jackson Street," named for the street on which they grew up, from being a great album: too many produc ers and not enough Michael. Yeah, I know, Michael Jack- son Is the biggest name In music and has proven he needs to be a solo artist. But let's face It, when you think of the Jacksons, you think of Michael, then the rest. By no means Is this a bad al bum. In certain spots Its quite good. But there are five different sets of producers for this project. That takes away from the al bum's consistency. And without Michael leading, the Jacksons come off sounding like any of the current vocal groups, de pending on the production team. On "Nothin' (That Compares To You)," produced by LA and Baby- face, they sound like the Mac Band. On "She," produced by Teddy Riley, they could easily be mistaken for Today. There's nothing wrong with either song, or any of the others for that matter, but when you hear them you don't think of the Jacksons. The bright spots on this album come from the writing and the singing of Jermaine. He partici pated In the 'Victory" album and tour but now he is a permanent member of the group again. He Is In fine voice thrpughout this al bum. His voice Is especially fine on "Marla," which he wrote and produced. It has a pulsating dance beat and features Spanish guitar and a harmonica solo by War's Lee Oskar. Jermaine sing ing Is almost flawless. But the brightest spot Is the title song that features the entire Jackson family. Including Mi chael. Sure, it's a little corny, but It brings back memories of when they were the Jackson Five. And those are good memo ries. ' See JACKSONS on page 9a.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 17, 1989, edition 1
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