The Brief: At the outset, the Calloway brothers break away from Midnight Star appeared to be a wildly successful move as the duo racked up a #2 hit on the Billboard and Cash Box pop charts and #5 on the R&B charts. That great start quickly fizzled out and their “solo” career went downhill from [...]
The Brief: The last appearance on Billboard’s Hot 100 that Midnight Star made was in 1986 with this single, “Midas Touch”. It was from the LP ‘Headlines’ which was the last album from the group with Reggie and Vincent Calloway as members. The song just missed the Top 40 in the US but did reach [...]
The A Side: Games (Extended Version) 8:50 The B Side: Games (Radio) 6:08 Games (Instrumental) 6:10 The Brief: In 1986 Howard Hewett left Shalamar to pursue a solo career. Sidney Justin came in to replace him and the group put together their ninth studio album with the help of L.A. Reid & Babyface, Jerry Peters, [...]
Posted in FWV, Shalamar 
Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Babyface, John Gass, LA Reid, R&B, SOLAR Records 
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The A Side: Snake In The Grass (Extended Version) 8:17 Snake In The Grass (12″ Radio Version) 5:29 The B Side: Snake In The Grass (Dub Version) 5:19 Snake In The Grass (LP Version) 4:22 The Brief: Midnight Star’s first album without the Calloway brothers reached #96 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on the [...]
The A Side: Don’t Rock The Boat (Extended Version) 7:12 Don’t Rock The Boat (Bass-a-pella) 2:31 The B Side: Don’t Rock The Boat (Radio Edit) 5:13 Don’t Rock The Boat (Dub Version) 5:10 The Brief: The Calloway brothers had left the band by the late ’80s, moving on to form their own group, Calloway. The [...]
The A Side: Engine No. 9 (Vocal/Extended Remix) 6:48 The B Side: Engine No. 9 (Edit Of Remix) 3:48 Engine No. 9 (Dub Version) 6:59 The Brief: Midnight Star came together in 1976 at Kentucky State University when trumpeter Reggie Calloway, vocalist Belinda Lipscomb, guitarist/vocalist Melvin Gentry, bassist Kenneth Gant, multi-instrumentalist Bill Simmons, keyboard player/vocalist [...]
The A Side: Relationship 5:28 The B Side: Relationship (Instrumental Version) 5:53 Homewrecker 6:20 The Brief: Lakeside teamed up with Brownmark, former bassist for Prince, to record the song “Relationship”. The song was written by Brownmark and he co-produced the song with long-time Lakeside band member Stephen Shockley. The Billboard Charts: Chart Debuted Debut Pos. [...]
Posted in FWV, Lakeside Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Jon Gass, MPLS, R&B, SOLAR Records, Stephen Shockley 2 Comments »
The A Side: Raid 6:54 The B Side: The Urban Man 4:25 The Brief: Lakeside were recording artists on Dick Griffey’s Solar Records label and released their 7th studio album in 1983 entitled ‘Untouchables’. The album reached #42 on the Billboard 200 and went to #10 on the Top R&B Albums charts. The single “Raid” [...]
The A Side: Can U-Dance (radio vers.) 4:33 Can U-Dance (instr. version) 5:09 The B Side: Can U-Dance (club dub) 6:59 Dry Your Eyes 4:45 The Brief: The third album from The Deele, 1987’s ‘Eyes Of A Stranger’, was the best seller of their career spawning the monster single “Two Occasions” and this dance-funk number [...]
Posted in FWV, The Deele Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Babyface, Jon Gass, LA Reid, R&B, SOLAR Records 2 Comments »