THE BEST IN BLACK MUSIC

THE BEST IN BLACK MUSIC

A THROUGH Z Who Did What & Why

Please forgive us as you read through this and notice a random omission or two...or three...or more. Breaking down Black Music into any sort of list is utterly impossible in terms of sheer number alone; what we've tried to do, then, is at least make mention of those artists who've been a little more than one-hit wonders, and simply hope for the best. Two qualificationsspace being what it is, we've had to make a decision to "cover," say, Leon Sylvers and the Sylvers through various mentions in other parts of the book, not this listing. You'll find a lot of that. Further, if you're wondering why we've covered the Four Tops both here and in Jim Feldman's Motown piece, it's because we feel the Tops are a little more important historically than, say, Barbara McNair. Hope you get the picture. —The Editors.

All entries by Carol Cooper, Dave DiMartino, Ann Marie Fazio, Jim Feldman, Laura Fissinger, Richard Grabel, Bill Holdship, David Keeps, John Morthland or Joe Wallis, Jr.

ASHFORD & SIMPSON: Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson are among the most important artists whose careers span the '60s, the '70s, and the first few years of the '80s, and they deserve a full feature. But space limitations being what they are, I have to make it brief. They began writing together in the mid-'60s, and their first hit was "Let's Go Get Stoned," recorded by Ray Charles. Signed as a writing-producing team by Motown, they worked with most of that label's acts, but they were best known for the hits they wrote, and in some instances produced, for Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell—"Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing," and "You're All I Need To Get By," to name three. They also were responsible for Diana Ross's first few records, including "Reach Out And Touch" and the apocalyptic reworking of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Simpson recorded two excellent but unnoticed solo albums for Motown in the early '70s, but Berry Gordy didn't encourage their artistic aspirations, so they left the label and signed with Warner Bros, in 1973. For Warners, they recorded nine albums—the three best were Send It, Is It Still Good To Ya, and Stay Free (which are the three that went gold)—and developed an intensely devoted following. Their records feature finely crafted pop-soul songs that express a passionate, almost religious faith in the power of love; their productions are dazzling, precise and up-to-date. Really the grown-up version of Marvin & Tammi, Ashford & Simpson were live-in lovers for years before they got married, and their romantic involvement is the key to their music. Onstage, they come off like an erotic-elegant modern equivalent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and the gospel fever in their delivery is overwhelming. In the past two years, they have released two more fine albums for Capitol, Street Opera and the current High Rise. In the last several years, they have somehow found the time to write and produce albums for, among others, Gladys Knight & The Pips and—again—Diana Ross (The Boss) and they wrote some of the songs for the movie version of The Wiz etc., etc., etc., etc. A class act indeed. J.F.

BAR-KAYS: The least thing that the Bar-Kays have is perseverance. The house band of the legendary Stax Records, they backed-up Otis Redding and recorded on their own, coming up with the Top 5 hit "Soul Finger" in 1967. Things were looking great when all but one of the band members died in a plane crash (the same one that killed Otis Redding). James Alexander, the then 1 7-year-old surviving Bar-Kay, was left with the task of re-forming the band. When he did, they successfully backed-up Stax stars like Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, and continuously recorded their own material. Then Stax went bankrupt. As bad as it may have seemed, this turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to the Bar-Kays. They signed with Mercury in 1976 and came out with Top 1 0 hits like "Shake Your Rump To The Funk" and "Too Hot To Stop," and gold albums Flying High On Your Love and Injoy. On last year's Propositions they still displayed their funky, freaky flair, proving that the band can withstand just about anything, including time and tragedy. A.M.F.

GEORGE BENSON: Guitarist Benson occasionally takes a bad rap for "selling out"—he's supposed to be a jazz guitarist, for Christ's sakes, what's he doing singing all the time? What some people conveniently forget, of course, is that Benson first recorded as a vocalist back in the '50s for Columbia and A&M before his guitar prowess eventually hushed him up. Aside from a few '60s jazz sessions for Columbia (not to mention a few appearances on some of Miles Davis's classic recordings of the time), Benson officially became top drawer when he signed to CTI Records and helped established their reputation as a slick (usually way too slick, but that's another matter) moneymaking enterprise, earning a Grammy nomination for White Rabbit, which contained not only the Jefferson Airplane tune but the weirdest-ever cover of Pink Floyd's "Cymbaline." Breezin', his biggie, is the largest selling "jazz'' album of all time. Since then, GB's been cranking them out regularly for Warner Brothers, selling LPs by the millions, earning Grammy awards and topping polls in every magazine but Dog World. Give Me The Night paired Benson with Quincy Jones,his most recent LP, containing "Inside Love," teamed him with ultra-hot producer Kashif. Interviews with the man himself depict a warmhearted family man who enjoys his work immensely. As do millions of others. D.D.

KURTIS BLOW: "The Breaks" was the second record (after "Rapper's Delight") to bring rap music to an international audience. It was the funk record of Summer 1980 for good reason—it had a compelling musical track and a rap with a wry and witty cataloging of life's hard knocks. And Blow was a genuine article, coming up out of obscure Harlem clubs, landing a deal when two producers, J.B. Moore and Robert Ford, walked in one night and hit him with the classic "Hey kid wanna make a record" line. Blow got side-tracked for awhile after "The Breaks," but this year he came back with "Party Time" and "125th Street," explosive slices of street life that rock and funk as hard as ever. He is also a production force behind two of this year's best rap records, "Games People Play" and "Sucker MC's. One of the originals and still one of the greatest. R.G. HAMILTON BOHANNON: There's a reason why, in the middle of a percussion break on the Tom Tom Club's "GeniusOf Love," Chris Frantz whispers "Bohannon" four times. This guy was one of the great mid-'70s arbiters of disco theory and practice. Working off in some lab of his own invention, he experimented successfully with a formula that pushed chanted vocals and repetitive beat to its limits. Bohannon sided early with the cause of dance music as functional background rather than emotional inspiration. Whether you praise him or damn him for this, you have to admit he was a visionary. And he's still doing it—last year's "Let's Start II Dance (Again)" works as well as this trick always did. R.G.

BROTHERS JOHNSON: The Brothers Johnson have been around so long, there's not much left to say about them. Yanked from clubland oblivion by Quincy in 1977, they've since sold well over five million albums. As virtual precursors to much of what's at the top of today's charts, the Johnsons remain decidedly in their own groove, much to the approval of their piles of fans. "It is really exciting as an artist," says Louis, "to see that what you felt emotionally while you are recording is in tune with the ears and souls of the public." The pocketbooks, too. J.W.J. PEABO BRYSON: Despite a mildly impressive string of gold and charttoppers and his acclaimed talent as a rich soul songwriter, this native South Carolinan just can't seem to make it "big" outside of his small cult following. (Would you take someone named Peabo seriously?) He got his professional start writing songs for a band called Moses Dillard And The Textile Display in the late '60s. This led to a producing/songwriting contract with Bang Records, which led to Bryson's first single, "Underground Music," recorded on a Bang off-shoot, Bullett. When Bullett bit the dust, Capitol Records picked up Bryson, a move affording him his first gold album, Reaching For The Sky. His next LP, Crosswinds, produced by Johnny Pate, also went gold, after spawning the Number One Soul hit "I'm So Into You" and the Top 30 title track. His attempts at duets, with Natalie Cole on We're The Best Of Friends and Roberta Flack on Live And More, lacked cohesion and, therefore, success. But Paradise and Turn Back The Hands Of Time, recorded between duets, were solid sellers, and Bryson remains selectively popular. A.M.F.

CAMEO: Been a few changes for Cameo along the way, and they've all paid off. So far. Founder and leader Larry Blackmon ('cause he's black, mon!) started them out as Players, whose 1975 tune, "Find My Way," was later retooled for the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack. Blackmon next organized Cameo, who started out as George Clinton-influenced funny funksters. Many hits followed through the years, until Larry decided to shake things up again. He scaled down the band from eleven to five members, retaining the original core of Tomi Jenkins, Nathan Leftenant, Greg Johnson, and Charlie Singleton, and toughened up what he considered to be a stagnating sound. "This band is going from a set-up offense, like in basketball, to a fast break game. We don't go for pandering to popular taste." What do you go for pandering to, we wonder.

J.W.J.

CHAMPAIGN: One-hit wonders?? Maybe, but what a hit! "Try Again" outswoons Lionel Richie, with melodic and lyrical persuasiveness unparalleled on '83s hit list. The rest of Modern Heart is far more confident and relaxed than the '81 debut, How 'Bout Us, but with nothing to follow up "Try Again"'s impact. At least the group story line is always interesting—black and white, boys and girls, working out of a prairie eternity called Champaign, Illinois—if groups like this keep doing their aesthetically unsegregated best, radio execs are going to start looking stupid clinging to their separate charts for black and white music. L.F.

RAY CHARLES: His influence has been so great—spanning R&B, jazz, pop, rock 'n' roll, and country & western—that encapsulating it all in one blurb would be futile. The blind "Genius" first achieved fame in the R&B market recording gospel-derived songs like "I Got A Woman" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So" for Atlantic in the mid-'50s. His big break was "What'd I Say," an improvised call-and-response jam, in '59. The single appealed to the new rock audience, and went to the pop Top 10. ABC got Charles soon afterwards with a lucrative contract, and he initially recorded some great blues-based singles for the label, including "Hit The Road, Jack" and the beautiful "Georgia On My Mind." In '62, he recorded the unconventional and groundbreaking Modern Sounds In Country & Western, producing the Number One hit single, "I Can't Stop Loving You," and introducing him to a whole new MOR audience, including white suburbanite moms & dads! He recorded some fine singles throughout the '60s— including "Busted" and "Let's Go Get Stoned''—but ended up in prison for a heroin habit at the end of the decade. He kicked the habit, reviveo his career (his latest C&W LP is excellent), and remains one of the biggest live draws in show biz. His songs have been covered and his cool singing style mimmicked by scores of soul and rock artists, ranging from Joe Cocker and Van Morrison to Stevie Wonder. B.H.

THE CHI-LITES: Taking their name from their hometown of Chicago, the Chi-Lites have scored numerous hit singles since they began recording on independent labels over two decades ago. Best known for their high falsetto lead vocals (supplied by Marshall Thompson), they undoubtedly influenced other groups who achieved bigger success, the Temptations among them. CBS Records recently released a Chi-Lites Greatest Hits package featuring some of their best material from the Brunswick label, including "Give More Power To The People" and "Have You Seen Her," two of their biggest and most recognizable. B.H. CON FUNK SHUN: C.F.S. have been at "it" since 1968, when they got their start as Project Soul, playing their high school in Vallejo, California. They later had moderate success backing up Stax hitmakers the Soul Children for awhile and appeared in the Wattstax film. Moving to Memphis in 1972, they adopted their present (stoopid) name and began developing the horn-based sound that was a major influence on '70s funk. Since then, they've racked up five gold albums and a slew of hit singles, quite a switch for bozos who actually went so far as to record a "soul" version of "Mr. Tambourine Man." Whew. J.W.J.

SAM COOKE: Starting as lead singer for the Soul Stirrers in 1951 (when he was 20), Cooke was the first to make gospel music's latent sexuality overt, and he then carried it over to the secular side when he went pop five years later. Though he suffered more than his share of schmaltzy, supper-club productions, he was at his absolute best on light, airy ballads like "You Send Me" and "Bring It On Home To Me," in which his crystalline voice and gospel roots prevailed. As he matured, in fact, Cooke became less pop, more purist, and he also developed business and production sense rare for artists of that era. He was killed in a Los Angeles motel room in 1964 under circumstances never adequately explained. "A Change Is Gonna Come," the song released shortly after his death, mirrored the evolution of both black music and the civil rights movement up till then; it cemented his reputation as the father of modern soul music. J.M.

DAZZ BAND: The Dazz Band have a problem. They may never make a record as great as "Let It Whip" again. Could they ever match that donkey-whomperin' rhythm track, those knowing knob lobs from co-writer, producer and occasional keyboardist Reggie Andrews? Well, guess that's the wages of perfection. Later hawg jams like "Party Right Here" and the dreaded "Bad Girl"/"Nice Girls" near-medley just don't cut the razzmatazz, Dazz. Better go talk to Cameo some more. J.W.J.

DRIFTERS: One of the most successful R&B vocal groups of all-time. The name's always been-more important than the individual members, as the Drifters have gone through numerous personnel changes. First incarnation was in '53 with former Domino Clyde McPhatter as lead vocalist and gritty VMoney Honey" a big R&B chartbuster. McPhatter left for a fairly successful solo career ("Lover Please") in '55, was replaced briefly by David Baughn, and then Johnny Moore, who was drafted into the army soon afterwards. In '58, manager George Treadwell took an entirely different group—the Five Crowns—and dubbed them the Drifters with Ben E. King as lead. This was where the Drifters' softer epic "teen" romance songs that are best remembered today—"There Goes My Baby," "Dance With Me," "Save The Last Dance For Me," "This Magic Moment" — began. King left for a solo career ("Spanish Harlem," "Stand By Me") in '60, replaced by Rudy Lewis (who died in '64) and Johnny Moore, who returned from the army. The hits continued—"Some Kind Of Wonderful," "Up On The Roof," "Under The Boardwalk," "On Broadway," etc.—all of which are genuine pop/rock/soul/R&B classics. Popularity faded with the British Invasion, although the group had a string of hit singles (albeit pale imitations of their classics) in England—with Moore still at the helm— throughout the '70s. B.H.

FATBACK: The guiding force of Fatback has always been drummer Bill Curtis, who actually started out as a piano pounder in the late '40s. After switching over to percussion in the mid-'50s, he played behind artists ranging from Clyde McPhatter to Arthur Prysock. "The name Fatback was given to me because of the way I played the drums," says the old-timer himself. "Today, I guess you'd call it funky, but in those days, down in New Orleans, they called it Fatback." Since putting together his own band, Curtis and Fatback have released a score of IPs and numerous smash singles like "Party Time," "Spanish Hustle," and "The Booty." Not just any booty, The Booty. "Fatback always plays music with a beat, and I've been playing this type of music for almost 30 years," he says. "I hope to continue for another 30." J.W.J.

ROBERTA FLACK: Roberta got her first real exposure to music at a Baptist church where unknowns like Sam Cooke and Mahalia Jackson used to perform. After several years of working as gourmet piano accompanist, an Atlantic Records exec caught one of her sets and signed her to the label shortly thereafter. Her first "big break" was Clint Eastwood's decision to include her version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in the soundtrack of his directorial debut, Play Misty For Me. Although the tune brings back serendipitously-paired slash-memories to certain film fans, it was a huge worldwide hit. Thanks a lot, Clint, and don't do us any more favors. Next smasharoonies were her duets with the late Donny Hathaway, including the sap deluxe of "You've Got A Friend," the second most sickening song ever written'. Nowhere left to go after that but downhill, and Flack's recording of Gimble and Fox's "Killing Me Softly With His Song"— about Don fucking McLean if you can imagine—will stand forever at #1 on this writer's survey of musical Barfus Maximus. J.W.J.

FOUR TOPS: Fifty bucks if you can name all Four Tops. Their hits, of course, come galloping to mind: "Reach Out (I'll Be There),"("Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) I Can't Help Myself"—they sure liked parentheses—"Standing In The Shadows Of Love" and, oh yeaaah, "Bernadette." The name of that magnificent lead wailer Levi Stubbs may ring a bell; most simply remember him as the most painfully emotive Motown singer ever. Levi led the Tops through their paces for over 25 years with no personnel changes, beginning as a classy quartet that mixed up R&B with smooth Mills Bros, stylings. Berry Gordy admired their polish and signed them to Motown as the male counterparts to those sequined Supremes. Their heyday ('65 & '66 chiefly) coincided with the dominance of the Holland-Dozier-Holland as the chief writers/arrangers/producers on the Motown assembly line. No voice fit better than Levi's, breathing all-consuming passion into those H-D-H monsters; like the Supremes, the structure of these hits wasn't R&B call-and-response, but pop styled call-and-repeat (check the verses of "Reach Out") blasted over a solid four-four. But where the Supremes' heartaches sounded joyous, the Four Tops invested their best numbers— especially "7 Rooms Of Gloom" with a morose, brooding intensity. At the center of the emotional storm, always, was Levi, the broken hearted man willing to risk his pride for love. When the H-D-H hit men exited, the Four Tops floundered, though they certainly could've done justice to the psychedelic funk producer Norman Whitfield concocted for the Temptations ("Ball Of Confusion," "Cloud 9"). The fearless Four soldiered on for ABC-Dunhill and cracked the charts with "Ain't No Woman" in 1974. Last year they followed Smokey and Marvin into the charts with the elegantly schmaltzy "I Believe In You And Me” (Casablanca). Still going strong, for the record, the Four Tops are: Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke' Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie” Benson. D.K.

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GAP BAN D: The heart of the Gap Band is comprised of the three Wilson brothers, Ronnie, Charles, and Robert. The sons of a Tulsa, Oklahoma minister, the boys were drafted into the performing arts at a tender age in Dad's church choir. Not raw, just tender. Even then, they were "inspired" to give their all. "Dad would give us one of his famous looks," Ronnie recalls, "warning us that if we didn't tear up the church house and have everybody shoutin' by the time he got up to speak, we were gonna get a whoppin'l" A probable lifetime of whoppin's and other religious persecution later, the trio decided to go it on their own. Their original name, Greenwood-Archer-Pine Street Band—after the main streets in Tulsa's black ghetto—proved a mite unwieldy and was acronymed into Gap Band. The lineup was pretty much finalized way back in the late '60s, when the Gappers devoured three members of another local act, Creative Sound Band. At the time, they took backup jobs with such prestigious Southwestern artists as D.J. Rogers and Leon and Mary Russel in order to put frozen pudding pops on the family table. Prestigious? Yuk, yuk. Today, they don't back up nobody, having sold a million jillion records worldwide. Only gaphand in the Gap Band is youngest brother Robert's sick fascination with European peep-plod and "the universal music of Yes." Paw, I think that young 'un needs another couple whoppin's. J.W.J.

GLORIA GAYNOR: Gloria Gaynor, who first hit with the disco-frisky, Motown-influenced "Honey Bee,” borrowed directly from Motown for her 1975 across-the-board smash, a galloping version of the Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye." The original Disco Queen, Gaynor was nonetheless a producer's tool, and her subsequent records were desultory and fairly unsuccessful. Then teamed with producers-writers Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, who brought Peaches & Herb back to the charts, Gaynor topped the charts worldwide—and in America earned a platinum single—with the blistering anthem, "I Will Survive." (Love Tracks, which includes "I Will Survive," is a pretty good mix of disco and soul.) Her follow-up records were again eminently forgettable, but after a couple more label switches, she may once again be headed for the top of the dance charts with another anthem, "I Am What I Am," from the Broadway musical, La Cage Aux Folles. J.F.

AL GREEN: The last of the great Southern soul singers, Green thrived through the first half of the '70s with a string of love songs that took soul's mating of the erotic and the spiritual about as far as it could go—then resolved his dilemma on 1977's "Belle" when he declared, "It's you that I want but it's Him that I need." After that, he opted for preaching (at his own church in Memphis) and singing gospel (which he still does today). He was always an erratic performer, full of self-destructive instincts that often carried over into his personal life and nervous energy that often backfired onstage. But when he hit a high note and stretched it, there was no denying the fact that Green was in a class by himself. Producer Willie Mitchell's update on classic Memphis soul was an apt foil for the early Green, while the singer's own productions later in his career left the music as appropriately fragmented as his life and psyche hod become.J.M. DONNY HATHAWAY: Oddly enough, most people remember this Howard University-trained producer/composer for his inspirational duets with Roberta Flack. But before his lifelong battle against manic depression ended in suicide in 1979, Hathaway had released several wide ranging albums on Atlantic which built on a background in jazz, classical composition, and Dr. Watts hymns. A list of the labels where Hathaway did yeoman work reads like a Who's Who of R&B: Curtom, Chess, Stax, Uni, Kapp and Atco. Producing and arranging for the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, Carla Thomas and the Staple Singers gave him the versatility of mood and tone which he carried into the best of his solo work, Extensions Of A Man, his most ambitious if not most successful project, extended this diversity in concept and execution; most notable in cuts like the Latinate "Valdez In The Country" and a Roaring '20s treatment of the Danny O'Keefe tune "Magdalena." C.C.

ISAAC HAYES: With David Porter, he wrote and produced countless Stax-Volt hits in the '60s, the apex being their staggering records with Sam & Dave. But in 1969, Hayes released Hot Buttered Soul, his second solo album, and one of the first in soul music to extend songs beyond (usually too far beyond, in fact) the three-minute limit. They featured pompous, baroque arrangements and his own growling voice, which was such that he was more tolerable when he was talking than when he was singing. Still, he became a symbol of the self-assuredly macho Southern black, songs like "Theme From Shaft" made him a huge influence on '70s black schlock, and he was buying his wardrobe in the chains department of the hardware store back when Mr. T was still a wee toddler playing with balls of string. J.M.

NONA HENDRYX: Nona Hendryx developed her creative skills as the songwriting member of the space-age soul trio Labelle (originally the girl-group Patti Labelle And The Blue-belles). After Labelle broke up, Hendryx released an aggressively rocking, self-titled solo album in 1977, and since then she has continued to defy categorization. She has appeared on albums by diverse artists, most notably Talking Heads, and she has had a rock-dance hit, "Do What Ya Wanna Do," with the Cage and a more broad-based, angular dance hit, "Busting Out," with the experimental funk/rock/minimal/whatever band, Material. She also put together her own band', the jazz-rock (etc.) -Zero Cool, but her current performing group, Propaganda, is somewhat funkier and more accessible. Her current album, Nona, which she produced with Material, has elements from all of her ventures. Hendryx has a lot of important things to say about the realities of love and society's narrow conventions, and her assertive vocals suggest a simmering passion. J.F.

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LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY: It's very doubtful that Loleatta Hollaway will ever make it big, because her singing is only an excuse for her to let loose with her unconnected, ecstatic screams. That's what she does— she screams—and better than anybody else, including Aretha. Hard-core disco fans generally consider Holloway to be the true Disco Queen. "Hit And Run" and "I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I'm Right On Time)"—what a title!—have been disco staples for years, but Holloway's big break came when she screamed out "Strong enough to walk on through the night" at the end of Dan Hartman's lengthy "Relight My Fire." To return the favor, in 1980 he wrote and produced Holloway's "Love Sensation," which is, quite simply, the greatest disco record ever. That's not just my opinion. It's a fact. J.F.

THELMA HOUSTON: Thelma Houston has a voice as rich as chicory coffee; she is also a ferocious belter, second only to Aretha Franklin. Her debut album, Sunshower (1969), was a lush pop masterpiece, written and produced by Jimmy Webb (of Richard Harris, Fifth Dimension, and Glen Campbell fame). The album went nowhere but did become a collector's item, which was recently reissued by Motown, who she recorded for between 1972 and 1980. In 1977, Houston had her one big hit, an inspired cover of Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes' "Don't Leave Me This Way." An exhortatory disco-soul synthesis, it hit # 1 on the pop, R&B, and disco charts,even disco-haters liked this record. Unfortunately, Houston got labeled a disco singer, and Motown kept trying to recreate the magic of her hit, not to mention mismatching her with Jerry Butler for a couple of albums. Her only interesting recordings since then have been the suite of songs written by Webb on one side of her first RCA album, Breakwater Cot, and a couple of cuts on her second RCA disc, including a grand version of "Don't Make Me Over" which once again proves that Thelma Houston is an excellent dramatic singer. Houston the pop-soul belter should find producers who will come up with first-rate material suited to her talent (say, Ashford & Simpson), while Houston the stylish should tackle some Gershwin and Harold Arlen songs. J.F.

AL HUDSON: Born in Detroit, Al's been locally known for some years but reached national "prominence" with the Soul Partners and then One Way, who made several LPs for MCA. Solo Hudson hits were "My Number One Need" and "Love Is"; One Way hits include "Spreading Love" and "You Can Do It," and more. Nowadays it's just plain ol' Al Hudson. Another Detroiter made good—prolific, but not always predictable. D.D.

HUES CORPORATION: "Rock The Boat" paraded its beautifulness shamelessly, but you forgave it and fell in love anyway. The vocal blending was too perfect, the gospel/soul rhythmic push too comforting, to resist. After that, nothing much. This year "Rock The Boat" was covered by a Dutch disco producer trading under the name of Forrest, and it's a pretty fair "modernization" that bogs down in the extended instrumental break, but for the real tease to please go to the original. R.G.

IMAGINATION: One of the most successful groups in their native England in the last few years, Imagination have had seven—that's right, seven—major hits off their first two excellent albums, Body Talk and In The Heat Of The Night. And most of the other songs were hits elsewhere around the world. Leee (that's right, three e's) John, Errol Kennedy, and Ashley Ingram, with producers Tony Swain and Steve Jolley (who produced Spandau Ballet's latest), have created a truly unique blend of erotic and sweet soul, pop, and rock, all anchored to a disco bottom; their songs are wrapped in a hypnotic, spaced-out aural atmosphere that doesn't block out their emotional core. Imagination is best known in America for the incendiary "Changes" and the subtly rhythmic "Just An Illusion"—both club and radio hits. They have become legend for their outrageous, sexually provocative stage act, toppling all commonly held images of male sexuality. The most important act to emerge from disco since Donna Summer. J.F.

JANET JACKSON: Although 16-year-old Janet is the youngest member of the Jackson family, she's an entertainment vet with nearly a decade of experience. Known primarily as the young TV actress who played Penny in Good Times and is currently seen on DiffTent Strokes, it was her timely performance of "Magic Is Working" on Strokes last year that signaled the kaboom of a career in music as well. Her initials are J.J. Are yours?

J.W.J.

MILLIE JACKSON: Millie was one of the few women keeping Southern soul sounds alive through the disco and funk of the '70s. She did it via a series of hilarious (Caught Up and Still Caught Up in particular) albums exploring combat in the erogenous zone. Her favorite theme has been man, woman and other woman, and her best-known songs are marked by X-rated monologs that proved to be a forefunner to rap. While much of her work is too raunchy for airplay, she is at heart a moralist and a one-man woman. J.M.

JUNIOR: This guy seems to want it all—funk, punk, even heavy metal. After last year's smash-on-impact first single "Mama Used To Say," the British singer must've thought he could do just about anything. So he used members of Kool & The Gang, the Gap Band and Haircut 100 on his second album, Inside Looking Out, and came up with—a big disappointment. He'll be teaming up again with Bob Carter, who produced his first single and who's presided over Britfunk stars Linx and Central Line, for a new LP, hoping the magic will return. In case that doesn't work out, he's got plans for a songwriting stint with Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott. But for the ultimate safety net, rumor has it he's been consulting with Beethoven, via a medium, for advice on his forthcoming symphony. A.M.F. KASHIF: The hottest producer in town or the proper way to spell a sneeze? This is the guy who's pretty much defined how black pop sounds on the radio circa 1983, due largely to his massive success producing Evelyn ''Champaigne'' King's most recent biggies, "Love Come Down" and "Betcha She Don't Love You," not to mention revitalizing the career of Melba Moore. A former member of B.T. Express, Kash is coming into his own through his productions and his debut LP, which sounds great on the radio (natch) but not quite up to snuff with King's stuff. And let's not forget what the man's done for George Benson—"Inside Love" was Benson's best tune in years. Cor^idering his own success with "I Just Gotta Have You" and "Help Yourself To My Love," the man is, with Leon Sylvers, currently providing the best "sound" '83's got. D.D.

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CHAKA KHAN: As lead vocalist with the slick funk-rock-soul band, Rufus, Chaka Khan showed off her powerful, agile voice on such hits as "Tell Me Something Good," "Do You Love What You Feel," "Sweet Thing,” and "Once You Get Started." She can scream with the best of 'em, and then suddenly twist her voice into a sleazy twang, and then express a jazzy sensibility. Her free-form voice is a volatile instrument onstage, where she can either drive people wild with her leaps and changes or go off the deep end completely and lose the songs along the way. She has put out four solo albums to date, and the best cuts, Ashford & Simpson's "I'm Every Woman" and "Clouds," "I Know You, I Live You" (which she co-penned), and "Tearin' It Up," have t>ecome hard-core disco classics. She also had a major hit, covering Michael Jackson's first record, the ballad "Got To Be There." But he never hit the big note the way she did. And now she's back on the charts with her last recording with Rufus, the slow, sleaze-hour dbnce number, "Ain't Nobody.' J.F. KIDDO: Kiddo basically is Donnie Sterling and Parliament/Funkadelic vet Michael Hampton. Sterling, who admits to having been influenced in equal parts by James Brown, Sly Stone, Kraftwerk, and the Yardbirds, was originally "discovered" by a P-Funk roadie and soon after became a wage slave of the Clinton empire. After their respective tours of duty with the A-Dog, Sterling and Hampton formed their own group, Sterling Silver, which evolved into the Kiddo we all know and luv. One of the earlier practitioners of Prince/Clintonoid synth hoodoo, Kiddo are decidedly up to their own dirty business these days, with a sound Donnie describes as "new wave edged." J.W.J.

GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Knight won first prize on TV's Ted Mack Amateur Hour at the age of 8, singing a Nat King Cole song. The Pips began as and remain a family unit, including Gladys's older brother Merald and two cousins. The group recorded for several minor labels, and hit the Top 10 in '61 with a cover of "Every Beat Of My Heart." They were already soul stars when Berry Gordy signed them for Motown in '66, but following a string of wellreceived singles, the act hit enormously big in '67 with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," also a huge success for Marvin Gaye. After several singles in the same vein, Knight began moving more towards ballads, and when the group left Motown for Buddah in '73, they had a mammoth hit with "Midnight Train To Georgia." Containing almost every soul ballad cliche in the book, the song almost sounded like a parody, but it was brilliant nonetheless. Knight also scored big in '75 with a live soul reading of "The Way We Were" that out-emoted Streisand's version. After a brief split between Knight and the Pips, they signed with Columbia in '80. Their debut LP for the label was written and produced by Ashford & Simpson (Curtis Mayfield once wrote and produced an earlier LP for the group), and Knight recently charted with her biggest hit in years—the Leon Sylvers Ill-produced "Save The Overtime For Me." B.H.

KOOL AND THE GANG: As teenagers, bassist Ronald "Kool" Bell and his gang began honing their funky stuff in tough New Jersey bars. By the early '70s, when they had their first hits, they had tightened up into a distinctive soul groove that hit you with a blast of power and perked your ears with a swinging jazzy edge. Funk purists will say that nothing they've done beats the classics of this period—"Funky Stuff," "Jungle Boogie," "Hollywood Swinging," all collected on Greatest Hits!—and they are right. But commercially the band really took off in '79 with Ladies' Night, when they opted for a mellowed-out, "sophisticated" sound. Recently the pendulum has swung slightly back the other way, with songs like "Get Down On It" from Something Special boasting some of the hardness and looseness that first made Kool cool. The band is on a platinum streak, but artistically seems torn betwen the need for a polished, adult veneer and the desire to funk out. R.G.

LABELLE: Patti Labelle And The Blue-belles (Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash) were an underrated and overlooked girl-group of the early and mid-'60s, partly because they didn't have a major record company backing them. But they did score one memorable hit, "I Sold My Heart To The Junkman" in 1962. (And they gave impassioned live performances; I caught them opening for the Stones in '65.) As Labelle, they defined the term "space-age soul"; their celebrated concert at New York's Metropolitan Opera House and all of their performances were highly theatrical; wearing wild costumes, they were apt to descend "from the heavens." Nona Hendryx wrote much of the group's hard-hitting material, but the group's centerpiece was Patti Labelle, whose vocal flights were inspired. The group's biggest hit by far was the classic dance number, "Lady Marmalade," which included the direct come-on, "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?" Since Labelle broke up, Patti Labelle has put out several albums that mingle gospel belting, impassioned ballads, and insistent dance tunes. Hearing her sing her self-penned "You Are My Friend" is a pretty religious experience. And last year, she starred in a production of the gospel musical, Your Arms Too Short To Box With God with Al Green. Sarah Dash has also released a few albums; in 1978, she had a disco smash with the sizzling "Sinner Man," and this year, she returned to form with the Labelle-reminiscent, "Low Down Dirty Rhythm." (Turn back a few pages for Nona Hendryx.) J.F.

STACY LATTISAW: This year's album is called Sixteen, and she's talking about her age, bub, so stop leering. Her blend of teen vulnerability, teen boldness, and teen giggling makes her an '80s descendant of Carla Thomas and Barbara Lewis, but rather than wistful ballads, Stacy goes for uptempo stomps and novelty songs. But make no mistake about it— while the Go-Go's and their ilk are about girl group, Stacy Lattisaw is girl group itself. J.M.

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CURTIS MAYFIELD: He spans several generations of black music, from the formative soul ballads ("For Your Precious Love" by the Impressions featuring Jerry Butler and "Gypsy Woman" by the Impressions) of the late '50s and early '60s to the bleak, disillusioned street anthems ("Superfly," "Freddie's Dead") he cut as a solo artist in the early '70s. In between were a number of inspirational hits ("Keep On Pushing," "People Get Ready," "We're A Winner") as leader of the Impressions. Whether with the group or on his own, Mayfield's records were marked by his ethereal tenor vocals and his terse, biting guitar. As a producer (mostly for Okeh) and artist, he was the architect of the rhythmically sparse but elegant Chicago soul sound of the '60s. J.M.

NEW EDITION: Someone once called New Edition's "Candy Girl" the best Jackson Five record never made, and that just about says it all. From out of Boston's Roxbury district, these five teenagers scored with the massive hit that brothers Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun, the song's writers, cheerfully admit was "inspired" by the Jacksons' "ABC." Didn't much matter, though, because a whole new generation of kids was out there that didn't remember the tune, and kiddie groups are always good for a laugh every decade. The LP's more of the same, and "Popcorn Love" is the next single. Though more the stooges of producers Starr & Jonzun than anything else, they might be around for awhile if the assembly line holds up. D.D.

ODYSSEY: The self-titled debut album (1 977) by the vocal trio Odyssey reflected a sophisticated New York sensiblity similar to that displayed by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band—which makes sense, since Sandy Linzer, who produced the Dr. Buzzard debut LP, co-wrote'and produced Odyssey, as well as the group's next two albums. "Native New Yorker," from Odyssey, ranks as a major New York anthem, balancing the romance and the reality of the city, but on the whole, Odyssey emphasized elegant, lightly sensuous dance rhythms—as opposed to Dr. Buzzard's eclecticism and street-smarts—in part due to the fact that Odyssey is not a self-contained unit, and because lead singer Lillian Lopez's vocals are as satiny as they are savvy. Much more popular around the world than in the U.S. of A., the group has scored a few sizable disco and/or black hits in recent years, its latest being the dreamlike "Inside Out," a 1982 club hit from their fifth and latest album, Happy Together. Highly recommended: Odyssey, Hang Together, I Got The Melody, the "Inside Out" 12-inch. J.F.

OHIO PLAYERS: Slave, Junie Morrison, Lakeside, the Players—for some reason Ohio (especially Cleveland) has been a hotbed of soul. The Players have been known as much for their notorious album covers as for their music, which ain't right. The covers cast a bald naked woman in, variously, fire, honey, or not much at all. But the records, at least the good songs, were as naughty and low-down as the covers promised. Always too much filler, but the hits, in the mid-'70s, were one of the few things keeping the spirit of defiance, mischief and all-around badness in black music alive on the radio. Beware the various repackaging of their earlier stuff on Westbound, and also beware their later stuff on Arista. By '79 they were not just recycling a formula (that's what they'd always done), but had also run out of gas. R.G.

O'JAYS: When Motown went Hollywood in the '70s, the heavyweight title of Soul City went up for grabs, and the Philadelphia sound muscled right in. The O'Jays took the long route from Canton, Ohio to the studios of Gamble and Huff, a 15-year trek from their first audition with Decca (1958) to the colossal success of "Love Train" on Philadelphia International (1973). Along the way they inked with more labels than you have in your wardrobe and shed two members, emerging as a trio: William Powell, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams. From '72 to '74, the O'Jays were a muscular roar in a vacuum of soul/funk, propulsive dance grooves layered with gospelized ranting and falsetto swoops plus political perspective, in aggressive classics like the immaculately frantic "Back Stabbers," the call-to-brotherhood of "Love Train" and their critique of capitalism, "For The Love Of Money." Their potency has never faltered; they've taken their message music to South Africa, and recently popped back into the charts with "Put Your Hands Together." Try to convince me that the early '70s were musically dead, I'll give you the O'Jays' "992 Arguments."

D.K.

JEFFREY OSBORNE: After 10 years with popular poops LTD, Jeffrey Osborne struck out on his own in 1982, with a self-titled debut album that produced both radio chow and critical whoopee. So he does nothing but keep making the same safe hits over and over again, right? Wrongo, Bernie! "It's important for me to grow with every record," the increasingly taller musician insists. "I'm not the kind of person who's content to sit back while not trying to develop."* His follow-up Stay With Me Tonight, demonstrates his fondness for challenge. "More varied and accomplished than the first one," as he describes it, Stay features some surprises both in style and content. "I had to grow," says the artiste himself. Yeah, they all say that. J.W.J.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS: Teddy Pendergrass began his recording career as the drummer in Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes. When the group reorganized and signed with Philadelphia International in 1971, he became the lead vocalist, and his gruff, insistent baritone was the group's signature on such major dance hits as "Wake Up Everybody," "Bad Luck," "The Love I Lost, " and the original "Don't Leave Me This Way," as well as on ballads such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now." He went solo in 1 977 and immediately became the pre-eminent black sex symbol in pop music. I think his best single was his first release, the assertive "I Don't Love You Anymore." But he had big hits with such cartoon come-ons as Close The Door" and "Turn Off The Lights." He also teamed up with Stephanie Mills, and their intense teamwork paid off on "Feel The Fire" and Two Hearts." Last year, Pendergrass was in a major car accident, and his career was put on hold, but although he is still partially paralyzed, he recently signed a new recording contract and is in the studio, with Luther Vandross as his producer. J.F.

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POINTER SISTERS: From their introduction to the public eye about 10 years ago with the famous "Yes We Can Can," Bonnie, Ruth, Anita and June Pointer have had steady, if slow, success. At the beginning of their career, they perpetuated a nostalgic image, dressing and singing like remakes of the Andrews Sisters. It soon became evident, however, that they could do more with their smooth, well-harmonized vocals. They've recorded songs written by artists ranging in styles from Bruce Springsteen to Ian Hunter to Steely Dan's Becker and Fagen to Bob Seger, and even won a Grammy for Best Country Song with Bonnie and Anita's "Fairy Tales, in 1975. After Bonnie left, in 1978, to pursue a solo career with Motown, the remaining Pointers left Atlantic and joined their first producer, Richard Perry, on his newly formed Planet label. There they recorded hit singles "Fire," "Slowhand," "He's So Shy," "Should I Do It," and the recent "I'm So Excited." A.M.F.

RAY, GOODMAN & BROWN: As the Moments, Harry Ray, Al Goodman & Billy Brown comprised one of the many successful tightharmony, sweet soul groups of the early '70s, and they earned a gold record for-the nifty ballad, "Love On A Two-Way Street." Since they didn't legally own the rights to their group name, they became Ray, Goodman & Brown when they signed with Polydor in 1979, and immediately scored another million-seller with the gentle, if undistinguished, "Special Lady., Since then, they have released a few innocuous albums, and it doesn't really matter that Harry Ray recently left the group and was replaced by Kevin Owens, whose middle name, by chance (?), is Ray. J.F.

MINNIE RIPERTON: The remarkable Minnie Riperton, who died in 1 979, had a five-and-a-half octave range that first came to the public's attention when she was a member of the highly unconventional pop'-souland-a-bit-of-jazz group, Rotary Connection, in the late '60s. In 1 970, she recorded an exquisite solo album, Come To My Garden, produced and written by Rotary Connection's (and early Earth, Wind & Fire's) master-mind, the legendary Chorles Stepney. On Come To My Garden, Stepney treated Riperton's voice like a Stradivarius, and the results were breathtak-ing. In 1975, Riperton (who wrote most of her material with her husband, Richard Rudolph) had her one big hit, the springtime-fresh "Lovin' You," from her album, Perfect Angel, produced-though he wouldn't admit it-by Stevie Wonder. Four more fine albums followed, including the posthumously produced (around her vocals) Love Lives Forever. J.F.

GIL SCOTT-HERON: Born and raised in Chicago, Scott-Heron begar his career in a literary vein, writing novels, poetry and articles on bloc! politics. He moved to New York, went to college in Pennsylvania, where he met bassist Brian Jackson, his frequent collaborator. Scott-Heron begar playing keyboards and, hooking up with Jackson, began setting his highly political poetry to a jazz/funk fusion with soulful deep vocals that recol a young Lou Rawls. Their initial releases were on an independent lobe before Scott-Heron signed with Arista. Jackson went his own way in 1980, and Scott-Heron continues to record, recently adding reggae to some ol his newer compositions, and dealing with important social/political issues. His subjects have included South African apartheid, angel dust and a vicious attack against the Reagan administration. B.H.

SISTER SLEDGE: In 74 they had a hit with "Mama Never Told Me,' but the four sisters—Debbie, Kim, Kathie and Joni—probably reached thei height of fame with the We Are Family LP, produced by Nile Rodgers anc Bernard Edwards. The title track was a smash, and it looked like thei careers were rejuvenated, but then the follow-up, the also Chic-producec Love Somebody Today, didn't have the same hit on it. Narada Michae Walden produced the next bomb, and the gals self-produced themselve: soon after. What they need is another massive single to make themselve: lots more money. Soon. D.D.

SLAVE: Steve Arrington left for a solo career last year and Slave releas ed an album that indicates he probably was their guiding light. It's a shame, and perhaps they'll recoup, because Slave always seemed like a true group rather than a one-man show. They have their faults, expecially c tendency towards cosmic portentiousness. But their great moment was the 81 single Snap Shot," and it was great—such a self-assured, sexy record. R.G.

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THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA: The Sound Of Philadelphia was once commemorated by a group called MFSB in an instrumental called "TSOP," and Elton John may have had it on his mind when he sang "Philadelphia Freedom." But generally Philly Soul refers to the mid-'70s product of writers/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, often aided by composer/arranger Thom Bell and released on their own Philadelphia International label. At the time, soul purists criticized Gamble-Huff for sweetening the music too much, trying to make it too sophisticated, but their best productions have stood the test of time. Huff had a way with hooks, Gamble wrote lyrics that ranged from striking to pretentious, and the team had a way of finding exquisite singers and matching them with expert instrumental arrangements. Teddy Pendergrass, later marketed as a sex symbol, started as the voice behind Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes on songs like "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Bad Luck." McFadden and Whitehead hit with "Ain't No Stopping Us Now." The Trammps, famous for "Disco Inferno" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, were actually drawn from the personnel of the Philadelphia International house band. The most representative Gamble-Huff vehicle was the O'Jays. "Back Stabbers," "For The Love Of Money," "Love Train," "Livin' For The Weekend"—these were hard soul songs that said something, but most of the O'Jays albums were overblown affairs. The Whispers, the Philly Devotions, the Ebonies and the Three Degrees ("When Will I See You Again") were also Gamble-Huff groups. Altogether, an impressive legacy.

R.G.

SPINNERS: The career of the Spinners traces back to the mid-'50s, when they toured and recorded as Harvey And The Moonglows, replacing the original Moonglows. Marvin Gaye was a member at one time of a forerunner of the group. Motown had one hit with them in 1970, but in the mid70s, with Atlantic the label and Phillipe Wynne the lead singer, the Spinners had one magic moment after another and came to personify the best of the black pop/soul tradition. On hit after hit—"I'll Be Around," "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love,'' "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)," "Mighty Love"— Wynne played the upright, responsible lover, pouring out his heart. The combination of positive self-image, Wynne's rich voice and Thom Bell's carefully orchestrated productions was unbeatable. In '77 Wynne left—he made some cameo appearances with George Clinton's Funkadelic—and without him the group's perennial wholesomeness has lapsed into blandness. But they can still be counted on to uphold that showbiz tradition— sharp suits, sharp steps and an orchestra that knows its cues. That, for a lot of people,’is entertainment. R.G.

STYLISTICS: From their humble beginning as the combination of two groups from Philly (the Percussions and the Monarchs), the Stylistics went on to be some of the biggest pop and soul stars of the '70s. Witness 1 7 hits between 1972-1 977, 1 2 of which were consecutive Top lOers. Their first single, "You're A Big Girl Now," recorded on the Avco label, found its way to the top of the soul chart in 1971. After that came "You're My Everything," "Betcha By Golly, Wow," "I'm Stone In Love With You," "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "You'll Never Get To Heaven," to name a few. Vocals are the group's strongest point, supplied by the smooth sound of Russel Tompkins, Jr. and the raw edge of Airrion Love's voice. They haven't done much chart-wise in the past few years, but their recent signing with Philadelphia International and reunion with producer Thom Bell, their main man from 1971 's "Everything" to 1974's "Brand New," should prove fruitful. A.M.F.

SLY STONE: From their first hit, 1968's "Dance To The Music," it was clear that Sly And The Family Stone were into "a whole new thing" (that phrase became the title of their debut album). The group was racially and sexually mixed, and combined the exaltation and disciplined timing of soul with the instrumental interplay of improvisational rock. This amazing music seemed to jump right off the record, but holding it together at the bottom was a lickety-split rhythm figure that marked the birth of modern funk. Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) was a former Bay Area DJ and producer with a taste for white music, and his songs ("Everyday People," "I Want To Take You Higher," "Hot Fun In The Summertime") captured the idealism and optimism of hippies and hopeful ghetto-dwellers alike. That all turned sour in a welter of drugs and bad business, and Sly responded with the vicious, defiant, wasted There's A Riot Go in' On (1971), an album which blew off most of his white fans (including this one) entirely, though today it sounds frighteningly prescient. But even Sly couldn't bear up under that kind of heat; subsequent albums have ranged from listless to listenable retread, and his problems with the law seem to take up as much time as his music does. George Clinton, one of his best friends, has suggested that Sly won't be productive again until his business affairs are straightened out once and for all, but one suspects he'll need spiritual as well as financial incentives, and there's no telling where they might come from. But his path-breaking early work remains undiminished. J.M.

SYLVESTER: Long before Harvey Fierstein made male drag queens the toast of Broadway and America's middle class, a black beauty with great taste in lipstick was carving out a recording career for himself. He always did well with gays and disco freaks, who loved him even though his singing was inconsistent in quality and his choice of material often inconceivable (Neil Young to "My Country Tis Of Thee" to Ben E. King). Things got better after "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," and with 1982's All I Need, Sylvester turned into a vocalist who just happened to be a tranvestite, instead of the reverse. You have to admire a decade of tenacity in the face of smeared eyeliner and public disgust, and you have to dance to "Do You Wanna Funk," "Don't Stop," or the new wavish blow-out "Hard Up." Dress is optional. L.F.

SYREETA: Like countless other black musicians, Syreeta got her start at Motown. She, like several before her, started as a secretary, but only after persistently bugging Brian Hojland of Holland-Dozier-Holland. She also sang back-up for the company, and in 1968 recorded the Ashford & Simpson song "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" under the name Rita Wright. The single never really made it big, but after another two-and-a-half years of typing and taking dictation, Syreeta met Stevie Wonder. After she recorded his "Win Your Love," the two began writing togethei and eventually married. Well, their marriage did about as well as their songs did (though they are still "good friends"). She also recorded with Billy Preston on albums It's My Pleasure, Billy Preston & Syreeta and the soundtrack from the film Fast Break, and hit singles "It Will Come In Time" and "With You I'm Born Again." A.M.F.

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TAVARES: Meet the Tavares brothers.Ralph, Pooch, Chubby, Butch and Tiny. No, they're not a Big Time Wrestling team. They're a successful pop group whose finest hour may have been an appearance in Saturday Night Fever. That's not all this black Portuguese fraternity has done, however. Since 1962, they've performed in clubs all over the country and even toured with Lola Falana in Italy before their first big record contract with Capitol in 1973. Johnny Bristol oversaw their first album, Check It Out, which featured the Top Five title track; since then they've been playing musical producers, coming out with #1 R&B hit "It Only Takes A Minute" under Lambert and Potter (of Four Tops fame), the gold album Sky High and # 1 R&B hit "Whodunnit" under Freddie Perren, and hit single "Never Knew Love Like This Before" under Bobby Martin. Tavares then switched to RCA and recorded Supercharged, Love Uprisings, New Directions and the recent Words And Music. But despite all the success this musical hopscotch has brought them, will they ever be forgiven for their performance of 'More Than A Woman" in the disco epic? A.M.F.

TEMPTATIONS: In late '63, Berry Gordy hooked up lead vocalists David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and the rest of the group with young Smokey Robinson, who wrote and produced "The Way You Do The Things You Do," a Top 20 hit in March '64. It was a full year before another Robinsonpenned Temptations single, "My Girl," went to the top of the charts, and began their ride as one of Motown's most successful male vocal groups. Norman Whitfield took over as writer/producer in '66, and the sound became harder with a string of hits, including "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and the beautiful ballad "I Wish It Would Rain." Ruffin left in '68, replaced by Dennis Edwards, formerly of Contours/"Do You Love Me" fame. Whitfield and Barrett Strong moved the group into their "psychedelic" soul/social consciousness period, with classics like "Cloud Nine," "Runaway Child," "Psychedelic Shack" and "Ball Of Confusion." In '72, they had their first platinum single with a return-to-roots ballad, "Just My Imagination." Original members Kendricks and Paul Williams departed the same year. Replaced by Damon Harris and Richard Street, the group hit with two more masterworks—"Superstar" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"—before theirdecline began. They left Motown in '77, but returned in 1980. Last year, the original members reformed for a much ballyhooed LP and tour, the latter of which at least proved a lot of the old magic is still there, going beyond mere nostalgia.

&.H.

FONZI THORNTON: As perhaps the single most important musical artist of this, or any other, century. Fonzi T. is still just good ol', downhome, irresistable Fonzi! After numerous years as a backup singer for everybody from Melba "Less Is" Moore to Joe Frazier, Fonzo rounded up a bunch of large names to appear on his Kashif-produced debut LP, including Luther Vandross, Nile Rogers, Bernie Edwards, Dennis Coffey and Ray Chew. Names, ho hum. Current ambition is "to bring some of that Motown pizzazz back with my act.'' What does the musical titan have to say about the help of his pals? "It's amazing to have worked so many years with the best people." After listening to the record, you too will be amazed.

J.W.J.

JUNIOR WALKER: One of the greatest R&B tenor saxophonists, he did nearly as much for the instrument as did King Curtis. Junior Walker & The All Stars were Motown's sole instrumental hitmakers (although his gritty vocals were occasionally featured), playing music that was rough and dirty, containing none of the smoothness that was generally Motown's trademark. His biggest charfbuster was the great "Shotgun," followed by "Road Runner” and "Shake And Finger Pop." He had minor hits throughout the late '60s and early '70s, and sometimes recorded instrumental versions of other Motown hits, Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You" being a case in point. He still tours internationally with the All Stars, and there was renewed interest in him two years ago when he soloed on Foreigner's terrible "Urgent." (I later saw him play an instrumental version of the song live in concert that actually made it sound pretty.) And my band opened for him once! B.H.

WAR: War first came to prominence as a backing band for Eric Burdon in 1969, when Burdon was seeking to move into the psychedelic era, and War provided him with a suitably funky and eerie backdrop. But on its own, the group drew on its Long Beach, California roots as black kids ■growing up poor in a sunny white paradise, with all the conflict of striving and disappointment that implies. When they laid back they could getrather sleepy, but when they poured it on—"The Cisco Kid," "Why Can't We Be Friends"—they made their point sharply. Onstage they are still grooveoriented, pan-cultural and very hot. R.G.

DIONNE WARWICK: Perhaps the dominant female vocalist of the '60s, Dionne has the wispy voice of a girl group singer, but her songs and themes were all woman. Working with the sophisticated writerproducer team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, she ran up a seeminglyendless string of makeout hits ("Don't Make Me Over," "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "Walk On By," "Make It Easy On Yoruself," "Wishin' and Hopin'," "What The World Needs Now Is Love," "Do You Know The Way To San Jose," "I Say A Little Prayer For You," "Trains, Boats And Planes”) that effectively walked the line between soul and MOR. But since leaving Bacharach-David more than a decade ago, she's wandered rudderless in the latter. J.M.

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WHISPERS: Nicholas Caldwell, the Whispers' chief songwriter, was almost a Temptation. He passed a 76 audition for the Motown superstars, but decided to move in another direction. Joined by twin brothers Wallace and Walter Scott from Fort Worth, Texas, and L.A. singers Marcus Liton and Leaveil Third Degree, the quintet has racked up numerous top singles, including the raw "In The Raw,” the lovely "It's A Love Thing,” and this author's personal fave, "And The Beat Goes On.” These days the Whispers try to balance their occasionally sappy ballads with upbeat, funky dance tracks, and are doing better than ever. And to clarify things for you, Wallace Scott and Walter Scott are not both called Wally Scott. One Wally is called Scotty Scott and one Wally is not. J.W.J. BARRY WHITE: A massive artist in both senses of the word, Barry White named an album I've Got So Much To Give and he wasn't kidding. His sound, defined by cascades of strings and a talking/singing approach that Isaac Hayes "pioneered” earlier, was perhaps the ultimate make-out music of the '70s. With a string of hits like "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up,” "Can't Get Enough" and many more, White established a sound that caried him through times when inspiration was clearly lacking. Love Unlimited and the Love Unlimited Orchestra were all part of his masterplan to take over the world—but, unfortunately, the big man spread himself too thin. His last album, Dedicated, was filled with God, Mom and Americana and was actually pretty neat, but for all intents the cliche that White unwittingly became (....000/7, baby....turn out the lights...come over here...love me now...) has made him not quite as relevant to the '80s as he was back then. Empires can crumble. D.D.

JACKIE WILSON: Another of soul music's key transitional figures, Wilson began his career in Detroit in 1953 when he replaced Clyde McPhatter as lead singer of Billy Ward And The Dominoes. He went solo in 1957, racking up his first Top Ten record the next year with "Lonely Teardrops' (co-written by Berry Gordy Jr.) and continuing through the '60s with "Baby Workout,” "Doggin' Around” and finally, in 1967, the epochal "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher And Higher).” Along the way he recorded standards, ballads, pop, blues and gospel, even an album of Count Basie material. Understandably, then, his best work was not always his most commercial, but he had as much range as anybody in pop music, and he was one of the truly galvanizing live artists of his era. During a 1 975 oldies show he suffered an onstage heart attack while singing "Lonely Teardrops” (with its hook line of "My heart is crying, crying.”), and has remained in a coma ever since. J.M.

BETTY WRIGHT: Betty has never been one to waste time. Signed at age 11 by Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke, she had her first hit ("Paralyzed”) when she was just a prat of 13. Biggest achievement in Betty's young career was taking the honors as Only Black, Only American, and Youngest Performer at the Spanish Fiesta in Venezuela, not to mention the muchcoveted Only Performer To Sing In Both Spanish And English Award. After pulling back briefly to complete her education, she cleaned up with "Clean Up Woman” in 1978. Now a hopeless senile 30-year-old, she's still a do-Wright woman. Haw. J.W.J.

YARBROUGH AND PEOPLES: Cavin Y. and Alisa P. had been making music together for a long time—since they were preschoolers—before being discovered by the Gap Band. They even went to the same piano teacher and sung together in the church choir. Then the Gap Band walked into the Dallas club where they were performing...and the rest is history. Gap's producer Lonnie Simmons took the duo to L.A. where they recorded the gold single "Don't Stop The Music,” featured on the gold album The Two Of Us. Then Total Experience/PolyGram used their writing, composing and arranging talents on projects of the Gap Band and Robert "Goodie” Whitfield. They've released the LP Heartbeats, featuring the single of the same name. A.M.F.

ZAPP: Group mastermind Roger Troutman is an old Dayton, Ohio, buddy of Bootsy Collins, and Zapp broke in a couple years back as part of George Clinton's P-Funk axis, which Troutman has since deserted. Though he hasn't the vision of his mentors, he knows his way around a groove; if there is such a thing as solid background funk, Troutman and Zapp are its foremost practicioners. But one still has to harbor doubts about a funkrock guitarist who pledges as much allegiance to Wes Montgomery as he does to Jimi Hendrix. This is indeed the case with Roger, who makes solo albums in addition to those with the group. J.M.