IF THEY aren't already, pretty soon Akron, Ohio based Heat Records will
become known as a company adept at turning out stunning ballads what
with first the superb album from Frederick, then the fine just The Two
Of Us single from Johnston Brown & Janice Dowlen and now a
consistent follow-up to Ivy's debut LP in 1984 with "Ivy II".
HOW time flies! Do you realise that it's been two years since the last
Mtume album, "You, Me And He"? On the other hand it probably has taken
the gifted one that amount of time to really create his just-released
"Theater Of The Mind" concept album ? a veritable musical masterpiece!
"Not quite," he smiles. "But it took more than seven months of working
fifteen-sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. In fact, it got to the
point where I built myself a little apartment above the studio!
AFTER a long hiatus and a label change, Steve Arrington is
back in the land of the recorded living! The ex-front man for
Slave marks his
switch from Atlantic/Cotillion to Manhattan with what most critics feel
is his best and, even more importantly, his most commercial effort yet
"jam Packed".
IF
predictions were my line, Motown's newest signing Stacy Lattisaw could,
in time, become a serious threat to the likes of Teena Marie and Janet
Jackson. She was, to all intents and purposes, quite a surprising
addition to the Motown family because prior to this, very little had
been heard about the nineteen year old singer. With "Nail It To The
Wall" showing healthy signs of becoming a hit, Stacy's debut album
"Take Me All The Way" is set for UK release next month - and what a
stunner that is too! However, before getting to that, a few facts and
figures.