I think he is pretty unfairly overlooked. His voice is the definition of silky smooth and can he croon...

Uh.....not so much.

Really? Why?

scriptgirl said:

I agree with you entirely and been saying that for years!! He has such a great, souful voice and knows how to work it. He doesn't over sing the way most r&b singers do. I love his voice and feel he is seriously underrated.

I mean, you are right, he can SANG. But, one of the best R&B singers of all time? Not so much. I would probably say he was one of the most underrated, but that's as far as it goes.

I think he had the potential to be a major star but his solo material was a little boring.

his best recording for me was his collabo with Stanley Clark on "heaven sent" that track showcased how great a singer he was.

I agree with MissEmerldCity, underrated much
[Edited 1/21/10 3:45am]
[Edited 1/21/10 3:46am]

I am not sure I have heard that much of his solo stuff

Caramelpfe said:

I agree.His solo albums are less than spectacular.Many of his singles were boring.



that song is one of the few bright spots in his solo career.

scriptgirl said:

You're not missing much Much of his solo stuff is boring.I'd rather listen to the old Shalamar albums,where he was singing some excellent material.

Talented but among thee best? Not a chance.

SoulAlive said:

Yeah, agree. The solo material was way inferior to the Shalamar stuff. Post Shalamar, Hewitt "persona" never clicked with music buyers.... something about him rubbed me the wrong way. My assessment may be totally off base but that's my take.

The only song of his solo career that I like is "Say Amen". Other than that, he was dull as hell. Plus, it was the late 1980s and lots of people were following the adult contemporary route of a certain little miss goodie two shoes trying to get some of her success.

Seems like every time someone leaves a group and goes solo, their material is always weak....Lionel Richie, Michael Cooper, Jeffrey Osborne, Charlie Wilson, etc. Jody Watley is one of the very few that I can think of that came out strong on their own.
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[Edited 1/21/10 7:08am]

vainandy said:

How ironic when she was seen more less as window dressing in a Shalamar.

scriptgirl said:

I just really felt him as one of the best of all time. He can sing of course, but he's not rockin' my world or anything.

I like some of his songs I prefer him in shalamar

vainandy said:

He was definitely better with Shalamar but you of all people
how could you forget about Save Your Sex For Me and Strange Relationship.
Those songs were uptempo.


[Edited 1/21/10 9:04am]
[Edited 1/21/10 9:04am]

I love Howard. I never would say he has one of the best voices of "all time". I might say 80s, though. There are many that are better than him, but he can sing his ass off. When he went solo, he started keeping up with the trends at the time of the mid-tempo and romantic songs. I don't find that bad, but a lot of his material was lackluster. Here are my favorites he did:

I'm For Real
Stay
Say Amen
Once, Twice, Three Tiems
Heaven Sent You (with Stanley Clarke)
Show Me (which is probably my favorite from him)

I'm surprised no one mentioned "Allegiance" that Prince wrote for him.
[Edited 1/21/10 10:24am]

daPrettyman said:

That's what I was going to say. His best solo effort for me is "Show Me".

BlaqueKnight said:

He is, and one of the few artists from back in the day that can still actually sing.

I always thought he and Jeffrey Osborne were underrated. He's a great vocalist but was never given any recognition.

I got nothing but love for some Howard!!!

babybugz said:

In Shalamar to me he was definitely the star of the group. I like the stuff he did with Shalamar much more than his solo work that's for sure. I do personally think he has one of the best voices in R&B!

phunkdaddy said:

What album are those songs from. I don't recognize them.

Blauqueknight, what do you mean re the diff between having great songs and being a great singer?

I never bought any of his solo music so all I've heard is the songs that were played on the radio. I've never heard the song in that video but I don't like it. It has that late 1980s "trying to crossover" sound that I don't like.

Keeping up with trends is only good when trends are good and making the majority of your songs slow to midtempo is not good. I saw a documentary on Shalamar lately that really says it all about his solo career. He said when he first joined Shalamar, he wasn't happy because they were doing disco and he hated disco. Well, that explains his choices in his solo career because if someone hates disco, then they have no taste.

Howard is a great singer.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...3TtbbfYZpc

This is a terrific and impromptu duet with Lady T on a classic Smokey song. Check out her question to him when he sings "Mis-takes, You know I've made a few..." - cute as hell. They have a duet on her Congo Square album that I like quite a bit, as well.

Personally, I preferred him in Shalamar; Howard and Jody's voices set the stage for one another perfectly - that was magic right there. It's too bad he did not seem to appreciate her as much as he might have.

allsmutaside said:

[/b]

Agreed...I always felt it was a special chemistry...but hey....as per the Docu....they were thrown together..all young ambitions discarded....that never ends well. You don;t know what you go till it's gone. Was a fun time in R & B...miss it..regardless.