Now, I had to pose this question to the Org.

What did you really think of Vanessa Williams' music career?

She got off to a good start with her debut on tracks such as "The Right Stuff" and "Dreamin'" and even followed it up with a platinum-plus sophomore LP The Comfort Zone with strong standout singles such as "Runnin' Back To You," "Work To Do" and the eternal wedding song "Save The Best For Last." She even did a worthy reworking of Angela Bofill's "Still In Love."

Great stuff kept coming like "Betcha Never" with Babyface and "The Sweetest Days." I lost interest in her lately, but she did have a decent career for someone who was former Miss America.

i may be wrong about this, but honestly i don't think i've ever had one thought creep into my head concerning Vanessa Williams' music career. nor her acting career. nor her modelling career. nor her zit-cream huckster career. nor her Radio Shack spokesperson career. i have enjoyed some of her songs, but i don't believe she's ever done anything to rise to the level that would actually provoke a thought about it.

that song she did for the "pocahontas" soundtrack was great

she should have stayed a dance diva....with the occasional awesome slow jam...her first two albums were perfect...


then she went all on us and became a celine dion bore.....


and everybody lost interest in her.

interesting that her film career wasnt bigger. probably more to do with age...heck, angela bassett doesnt seem to be getting work either so i dont fault her for that...

She's very pretty. I love save the best for last and dreamin. I also like the song she did for pocahontas.

JANFAN4L said:

Don't forget about Happiness (Vanessa's final hit single).
[Edited 5/24/05 21:51pm]

The only song that I liked by her was Runnin' Back To You.

TonyVanDam said:

JANFAN4L said:

Well to be honest with you, I can't hate on her b/c she has a good voice. She had some cool club bangers and slow jams in late 80's and early 90's . But, I think her major problem was her last marriage/divorce to that younger basketball player(cheating muthafucka). It really took a toll on her. Shit, you know its bad when she writes a tell all but and does an interview on Howard Stern.

JANFAN4L said:

I preferred her porn career.

Shapeshifter said:

[Edited 5/25/05 2:53am]

Anyone that's funky enough to work with George Clinton is OK with me. She co-sang on "Do Fries Go With Shake?" and a few others w George. George said "Vanessa was funky enough to go on her own, so she went out and got her own deal".

i like her proactiv career better....shes all "you're worried about your face....ive been there. i was miss america and a model i suffered so much"

SPYZFAN1 said:

That's right Spy. you're on it. Ms. Leg's got to give you an Org Funk Pass w/your Bad Self!
[Edited 5/25/05 3:34am]

Shapeshifter said:

laurarichardson said:

Oh give over! People will always remember the porn over the music, every time, whoever it is!

I mean, look at Tiffany nowadays

SPYZFAN1 said:

Didn't know she sang with king george .Hell,I respect her for that at least.

TonyVanDam said:

"Happiness" was a jam. Loved that Nu Shooz sample. Sadly, the Next LP, from which the track was featured, was garbage.

Xavier23 said:

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

LOL @ "that song" from Pocahontas.

Say it with me, folks: "Colors of the Wind."

MsLegs said:

Yep. She does have a good voice. It's versatile enough to be used in a variety of different forms (jazz, house, R&B, dance, etc.)

I agree with sosgemini, she could've rivaled Jody Watley, Karyn White and others if she would've kept up the dance jams and stopped with the snooze-infused K-mart shopper melodies.

.
[Edited 5/25/05 8:26am]

Vanessa's fine. She's very happy with what she's doing now. She said it was a natural progression that her music moved into the direction of an Adult Contemporary 'smooth jazz' artist and she's fine with that and thankful for the fans that stuck with her.

She's been working with the same band for 10 years and they do all genres at performances--she still jams to hits like Work to Do, etc and still dances.

Her Broadway career has been successful and she has a large following, particularly in NY where she often performs at Carnegie Hall. She's recently been added to the cast of South Beach, a show coming on TV this summer/fall. She's also talked candidly about her husband (she still loves him, they're still married, divorce pending but not because of the alleged incident) and there's even a song co-written by him on her last album, Everlasting Love.
[Edited 5/25/05 8:25am]

Slash said:

I'm too young to actually remember the scandal (and I won't say "porn," because the woman was only taking nude photos), so I always thought of her as the former Miss America and that was it.

Besides, her work FAR outshines that scandal. She LONGGGGG overcame that and has had a remarkable career.

JANFAN4L said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

And let's not forget her duet with Meshell Ndegeocello, "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly."

JANFAN4L said:

She has overcome the scandal, but people will always remember the photos. And I think they probably could be considered porn...if I'm recalling correctly, her face was in the muff.

laurarichardson said:

I dunno. Race is definitely an issue, because she was the first black Miss America. But as far as people recalling the scandal because she was black? I don't think so. People are forever bringing up that damn Sex book scandal by Madonna and holding it over her head. Had it happened to her these days, it would likely be a different story. It seems a sex scandal is a way to get your foot in the door. Vanessa had to overcome that, and she did quite successfully.

va vaness va va vaness..va vaness va va vaness...va vaness va va vaness..va vaness va va vaness... va vaness va va vaness va vanessa with the singing career..

She's beautiful. Did Prince ever try to get with her?

The two songs of her's that I really like are "The Right Stuff" and "Running Back To You", which I have. The rest of what I heard on the radio, I didn't care for.

I saw Vanessa the night she won the Miss America pageant. To be honest, I really wasn't paying much attention and didn't know she was black until I saw it in the newspaper the next day. She was definately, and still is, a very beautiful woman.

With her being the very first black Miss America, I think they were determined to dig around long enough to find some dirt. I don't think the magazine layout should have mattered one bit. Beauty is beauty, fuck the wholesome image thing. She got the last laugh though, because the scandal was the best thing that ever happened to her. Very few other Miss Americas go on to be stars.

i had done a remix of "the comfort zone" a long time ago.Vanessa's music career was pretty tight. till she got kinda sappy

vainandy said:

Yep. And pretty much she's the ONLY Miss America people remember. I can't even tell you who the Miss America was last year. I don't even know.