"U know, I just don't feel well enough for this interview. I mean ... my eyes are streaming, my head's spinning and my stomach is churning ? you're just not gonna get much of an interview out of me unless we talk about flu!"

{safm} Charlie Wilson{/safm}, Gap Band vocalist, is not a very happy man at the moment. First of all, he's got the flu which he'd been trying to sleep off until he was dragged out of bed for our chat. Then it's only hours before they're on stage for theii one and only promotional performance here ? the Christmas Radio London Soul Night Out in Leicester Square. How is Charlie going to perform when he looks like death warmed up at the hotel?


U know, I just don't feel well enough for this interview. I mean ... my eyes are streaming, my head's spinning and my stomach is churning ? you're just not gonna get much of an interview out of me unless we talk about flu!"

{safm} Charlie Wilson{/safm}, Gap Band vocalist, is not a very happy man at the moment. First of all, he's got the flu which he'd been trying to sleep off until he was dragged out of bed for our chat. Then it's only hours before they're on stage for theii one and only promotional performance here ? the Christmas Radio London Soul Night Out in Leicester Square. How is Charlie going to perform when he looks like death warmed up at the hotel?

Additionally he's getting mighty wound up because every time we start talking somebody from the entourage interrupts to ask where the group's cowboy hats are for a photo session with The Star.

The very fact that there are photo sessions and interviews to do with the national newspapers and that mainstream pop magazines are as interested in the Wilson brothers on the back of the considerable success of "Big Fun" as they were at the time of "Oops Upside Your Head" a few years back has taken the Gap Band by complete surprise.

Since the days of that novelty pop hit and its immediate follow-up, the classic "Burn Rubber On Me", the group, who coined their name from an acronym of the 3 main streets in their home town of Tulsa (Greenwood, Archer and Pine), have released magic singles such as "Outstanding" and "Someday" without quite equalling earlier commercial success ... until now. "It's unbelievable. We never thought "Big Fun" would take off as it has particularly as we've been quiet recently. We really are VERY grateful and that is sincere", enthuses Charlie forgetting his ailments and warming up to the conversation.

THIS brings us most conveniently to what brother Robert has loosely termed as 'a few growing pains' ? the story behind the delay between "Gap Band 7" and the current album "VIII".

"No comment", comes the reply. There's an embarrassing silence until Charlie leans forward. "It's just a sticky situation. It'll cause more problems by talking about it so I prefer just to sweep it under the carpet and concentrate on the future ? you know what I'm saying?"

Initially very coy on the matter, towards the end Charlie does go into further detail ? there was an unspecified drugs problem, bad management deals that failed to reward the brothers for their success and, on Charlie's part at least, a general disillusionment with the music business ... but we'll return to that aspect later. For the moment I'm just keen to change the subject. What about the constant comparisons between you and Stevie vocally?

"Well it is true that we have a similar tone in our voice but I actually got my voice from my mother ? she taught me how to sing and how to control my voice and she was born well before Stevie Wonder! Also when I played trumpet, I mimicked whatever riffs I played which developed my vocal style.

"But me and Stevie are really good friends ? in fact probably my favourite song that we've performed was when he worked on "Someday" ? not only because of the chance of working with a genius but also because of the lyrics. It can mean a lot of things but it is particularly relevant to the worldwide drugs problem. Drugs have ruined many people ? athletes, musicians, all types of people. And youths look at drugs as some kind of cool thing ... but they ain't! To be free from the desire is a great feeling!"

What's Stevie like to work with? "Well the man is a genius, like I say, and he's always fooling around both in and out of the studio. But he's so busy that he has no sense of time ? he'll phone up and say 'meet you in the studio in 2 hours' and he won't get there for a few days! But he really is great fun to be with."

CHARLIE also guested on the last Zapp single "Computer Love" with Shirley Murdock ? a project that he really enjoyed and that he was in on right from the beginning.

"It all started when Zapp and the Gap Band were on tour together. {safm}Roger Troutman{/safm} called me into his dressing room and said "/ wanna play you something Charlie. I wanna do a ballad but I've never done one before so I don't know how ? it's kind of scary". But he only had 4 bars ? you know, the 'shoo-bee doo bop' chorus.

"I said it's good but there's not much there! So he asked me into the studio to help.out ? there were no set lyrics so I just improvised and did it complete on the second take! It was 6am in the morning and we came off-stage from a concert only hours before!"

I ventured that his phrasing was at its best on the track. "Yes, I'd agree and the best thing was that is was spontaneous. Unfortunately when it got big as a single in the US my vocals were taken off for contractual reasons and it lost momentum, otherwise I think it would have been a big hit."

His choice as a possible artist that he'd like to work with will surprise B&S readers ... Bruce Springsteen!
"When we did the Sun City single and video we hung out a lot together and like he knew EVERY word to all our songs! So it'd be nice to work with someone with a wide taste in music."

NOW they are back in business as a group with "Big Fun" and the album "VIII". The advanced tape copy sent to Praed Towers includes a magical remix of "Going In Circles" and is the stand-out track on the tape. Unfortunately it doesn't appear on the import copies in the shop-Nevertheless it is still a very strong album, best cuts being "I Owe It To Myself, and "Don't Take It Away", but it is a set that is very downtempo with the exception of "Get Loose, Get Funky" and "Bop B Da B Da Da" (possibly the new single). Why the mellow sound?

"Well it's like a two-pronged attack because we've already done the next album, entitled "Straight From The Heart". That's more R&B, more like "Burn Rubber" or anything like 'Gap III' or 'Gap IV. We've got our enthusiasm back ... we just went into the studio without material and did it from scratch.

"My brother Ronnie produced it as he did our fifth album. The change in LP title is to show that we're for real and that we can do a lot more than count!" nightclub in Central London and went up to the deejay and asked whether the record was popular and he told me there was a 'special' reaction to it. So he plays the record and I'm crossing everything I've got hoping that they'll dance to it ... but they all SIT DOWN to it! I was dying until they started to move and do this rowing boat thing ... what a relief!

"Anyway, I went on the dancefloor and they taught me the dance ? it was wild!"
When asked a fairly standard question about the music business, Charlie's buoyancy disappears. "You know, I've been good to the record business ? I really have ? but it hasn't been good to ME . . . except for the fame maybe. Going further, the big bad thing about it is that there is no artistic control ? there's always too much interference and too many hangers-on. But I don't want to go into details .. . besides, I can see you understand what I'm saying."

MOVING on to a related subject brother Ronnie briefly complains about the lack of financial return that the group has received for their considerable success. "It's not the greed for money ... it's just that we've done the hard work for which other people have been rewarded.

"Other acts with far less success have been given a lot more back than the Gap Band ? that can lead to bitterness."
But, as Charlie says, the stale period is over and they've caught their second wind. A tour is definite.

"The first time we were over, it was overwhelming ? everyone knew all the songs. It was like playing back in Tulsa! We can't wait to come back and the band has got ants in its pants just thinking about it! We're also trying to bring the whole light system over to add to the show ? to hell with the cost!"
Ronnie wants the group to do a gospel album, and there are also plans for Charlie to record a solo set.

"Well I've talked about a solo LP for a long time but it will happen someday, I promise. This has never been revealed but when I recorded the vocals for "Big Fun", it was for my : solo album but somebody i changed their mind. That's what I mean when I talk about no artistic control.

"Still, we're back and firing as a group and that means everything to us. I hope to thank your readers for their support."
Charlie Wilson is one of the nicest artists I have had the pleasure of talking to. It is black music that has gained from the triumphant musical return by him and his brothers. Oh, and by the way ... Charlie says thank you. (Alistair Kirkwood B&S)