scriptgirl said:

Who the hell was that AJ Johnson woman with the busted weave?

She's an actress

What's she been in, "Lacefront PT II"?

scriptgirl said:

What's she been in, "Lacefront PT II"?

scriptgirl said:

What's she been in, "Lacefront PT II"?

I used to think AJ was kinda cute in House Party but she done

aged like a mutha. They had her pegged right to play Tyrese mama

in Baby Boy.

phunkdaddy said:

I used to think AJ was kinda cute in House Party but she done

aged like a mutha. They had her pegged right to play Tyrese mama

in Baby Boy.

AJ was a cutie back in her House Party & Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air days

Abdul said:

phunkdaddy said:

I used to think AJ was kinda cute in House Party but she done

aged like a mutha. They had her pegged right to play Tyrese mama

in Baby Boy.

AJ was a cutie back in her House Party & Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air days

I agreed, something happened between 1993 and 2000.

I got excited about this one. It answered all of my questions. I admit that when a group has too many changes, I fall off. What I did notice was an absence of instruments after awhile. I guess when it was determined that they should lose their funk, they lost their instruments as well. I always thought it was weird when a group was still being called a band and there isn't an instrument in sight.

Wonder if they played when they performed live?

yes i have a vested interest cause atlantic starr is from where i live ..GREENBURGH NY BABY!! the episode showed the street i live on, the projects right behind my house and my high school lol

david lewis i know and his family and i remember one time i saw him at the cleaners after being on soul train talking about he was from greenwhich ct ..i slapped him upside the head saying 'bitch u from GREENBURGH!" LOL

From looking at the special, I got the impression that while the Lewis brothers became the creative force behind the group, they were also the ones who fucked up and caused it to fall apart. They wanted the spotlight and the royalties and that caused the grew to lose many of it's original members and keep watering down their sound

What I felt was not cool about this episode was that they didn't talk about the members who left. Once they got to "As The Band Turns", it was no more mention of the other guys and their careers afterwards. Sharon Bryant's solo project got a brief mention but that's it. WTF?

scriptgirl said:

What's she been in, "Lacefront PT II"?

You've never seen House Party? Baby Boy? Inkwell?

I fell asleep last night and just now watched Unsung online after getting to work. Well glad I didn't waste time watching it last night. I feel like the epi was just okay. Looks like they were a superior band when they first started out with the horns and all. That part I never knew about. But soon after they start making some money, that's when the greed came in. And they are like "well we always encouraged everyone in the band to write" But everyone isn't born to write songs, some are born to play the horns. That was messed up how the band split, but that's how it goes I guess.

Now on to Barbara Weathers, dang, all those hits she sang on and she never really saw a dime from it? So where did all the money she earn go to? Studio time? Promotions? An expense account for costumes? I just don't get it.

And so then after Barbara left they sang much more cheesier songs (don't even know how they could've gotten more cheesier than "Secret Lovers" urgh) but didn't want to use the female leads they kept hiring and firing. That shit made no sense to me. So you are just hiring a female member to make it seem like they are leading songs where in when the sad customer who bought those albums listen to it, its them damn Lewis brothers (looking like Philip Michael Thomas clones) singing lead instead? That's false adverstising.

And why the hell did they interview AJ Johnson for this?

So which Unsung is coming on next week?

[Edited 1/17/12 4:53am]

missfee said:

I fell asleep last night and just now watched Unsung online after getting to work. Well glad I didn't waste time watching it last night. I feel like the epi was just okay. Looks like they were a superior band when they first started out with the horns and all. That part I never knew about. But soon after they start making some money, that's when the greed came in. And they are like "well we always encouraged everyone in the band to write" But everyone isn't born to write songs, some are born to play the horns. That was messed up how the band split, but that's how it goes I guess.

Now on to Barbara Weathers, dang, all those hits she sang on and she never really saw a dime from it? So where did all the money she earn go to? Studio time? Promotions? An expense account for costumes? I just don't get it.

And so then after Barbara left they sang much more cheesier songs (don't even know how they could've gotten more cheesier than "Secret Lovers" urgh) but didn't want to use the female leads they kept hiring and firing. That shit made no sense to me. So you are just hiring a female member to make it seem like they are leading songs where in when the sad customer who bought those albums listen to it, its them damn Lewis brothers (looking like Philip Michael Thomas clones) singing lead instead? That's false adverstising.

And why the hell did they interview AJ Johnson for this?

So which Unsung is coming on next week?

[Edited 1/17/12 4:53am]

I didn't get the connection either. Quite frankly, I want my 45 min. back. I dozed off too I'm looking forward to the Full Force ep. Considering their personalities, it should make for a entertaining show. (I hope). They've continued to do a lot of writing and producing throughout the years.

Sharon performed at a benefit concert in 2009

The Benefit Concert, What an Amazing Night

After experiencing a weekend of meditation at Omega last fall, which included three talks by Bhante Wimala, my son Jamie and I were extremely moved. We were especially inspired by Bhante's projects around the world, presented to us in an hour-long documentary. As the documentary came to a close, I turned to Jamie and told him our next concert in Westport auditorium had to benefit Bhante's work.

I am happy to report that the concert occurred on March 21st and was everything we hoped it would be. It was an amazing night made up of my family of four, and a group of eleven other close friends (all talented professional musician/singers), performing a benefit concert for Triple Gem Society to support Bhante Wimala's humanitarian projects.

Bhante Wimala opened the concert with guided meditation and a short talk, followed by a video (edited and prepared for by Jamie) presenting Bhante's wonderful humanitarian projects, the very projects that had initially inspired us to host the event. For the next two hours we played two sets of joyous music, filling the concert hall with an indescribable feeling of community and love.

After such a beautiful night, it was impossible not to leave touched and inspired. Days after that special evening we are still feeling the joyful energy of the night. The experience was so valuable that I highly encourage anyone to host a similar benefit for Bhante's projects.

Not only was the event spiritually and emotionally inspiring, but it was also financially beneficial for Bhante's humanitarian projects. I am thrilled to report that we raised approximately $14,000 from the event, having a very generous anonymous donor double the $7,000 brought in by the concert itself. I would also like to thank all of the volunteers and musicians/singers whose energy and efforts made this event not only a great success but also a fun filled joyous evening.

Bhante Wimala Bhante Wimala

I had no idea "Secret Lovers" was such a hated song by Atlantic Starr fans. I think in order to truly appreciate "Secret Lovers", you probably have to identify with it, which I do 100%. But, I liked it years before I lived the lyrics. I do agree, however, that "Always" song was kinda cheesy. I think the best song on that particular album was the title track "All In The Name Of Love" and I really dug "One Lover At A Time". After Barbara left, I lost interest in the group. I think I remember them releasing a tune called "My First Love" or something like that, but, by that time, for me they had lost all appeal.

I think Maurice White did some production for the group ("Armed And Dangerous") and on Barbara's first solo album.

[Edited 1/17/12 7:51am]

Abdul said:

SoulAlive said:

I think you're forgetting about all those other great slow jams that Atlantic Starr had in the early 80s: "Send For Me","Am I Dreaming","Let's Get Closer","Love Me Down","More And More",etc.

These songs are sexy and soulful,unlike some of the pop stuff that came later (such as the awful "Secret Lovers")

I've never understood the hate for this cut, it's one of Atlantic Starr's best songs IMO

Plus it's a song that alot of us can identify with, honestly how many of us either have been in or know somebody who's been in that situation? I know I do

Hell, the majority of men I've slept with have been "Secret Lovers" (on their part, not mine, because I don't give a damn what anybody thinks of me) so I can fully understand the lyrics. However, like I always say, lyrics don't mean shit to me if the instruments and melody sounds like shit because that's what makes a song a "song" instead of just a "story". The "sound" of the song sounds like pure adult contemporary crossover which is a sound that I hate with a passion.

Timmy84 said:

phunkdaddy said:

I agree with you on that Timmy. I like the music to Silver Shadow. I kinda like Cool Calm Collected with David singing lead on it from Barbara's era too. Ironically the band was trying

to shake it's reputation as a ballad band with the As The Band Turns album by releasing

Freakaristic and Cool Calm Collected as the 1st two singles but the ballads however cheesy were well written and you could not stop the firestorm from radio stations across the nation

requesting Secret Lover. The band tried to get funky with Freakaristic but i still thought

that was cheesy too and probably the cheesiest funk tune i've ever heard.

lol yeah I think this was when R&B radio was transitioning away from funk-oriented songs to mid-tempo songs and ballads (and no Andy, your favorite punching bag had nothing to do with that ). So I could see why people wanted more of their ballads.

The hell she didn't!

It wasn't R&B radio itself transitioning away from the funk oriented songs because they were still playing them all the way up until the 1990s. There were just fewer and fewer artists releasing them during the late 1980s because they saw they could make much more money making the kind of music that a certain little miss goodie two shoes was making.

phunkdaddy said:

Timmy84 said:

I just figured that David left because of arguments because we know how family are sometimes but it seems he left amicably which was a bummer.

Are you and Andy gonna go get that new Atlantic Starr album coming in 2012?

Don't hold your breath. Hell, I won't be buying a new album from full fledged funk artists (other than Prince) because they sell out to the current sound every time they make a new album so I sure as hell wouldn't be buying a new album from what became a full fledged "adult contemporary" group before the 80s were even over. They were even horrible back then so I can just imagine what their new music would sound like.

vainandy said:

phunkdaddy said:

Are you and Andy gonna go get that new Atlantic Starr album coming in 2012?

Don't hold your breath. Hell, I won't be buying a new album from full fledged funk artists (other than Prince) because they sell out to the current sound every time they make a new album so I sure as hell wouldn't be buying a new album from what became a full fledged "adult contemporary" group before the 80s were even over. They were even horrible back then so I can just imagine what their new music would sound like.

Probably will be recorded in autotune.

missfee said:

vainandy said:

Don't hold your breath. Hell, I won't be buying a new album from full fledged funk artists (other than Prince) because they sell out to the current sound every time they make a new album so I sure as hell wouldn't be buying a new album from what became a full fledged "adult contemporary" group before the 80s were even over. They were even horrible back then so I can just imagine what their new music would sound like.

Probably will be recorded in autotune.

Timmy84 said:

scriptgirl said:

Who the hell was that AJ Johnson woman with the busted weave?

That's the girl from "House Party" and "Baby Boy".

She was in A LOT of 80s r&b videos also. I think she was a choreographer also.

daPrettyman said:

Timmy84 said:

That's the girl from "House Party" and "Baby Boy".

She was in A LOT of 80s r&b videos also. I think she was a choreographer also.

Wasn't she in one of Atlantic Starr videos? I see they put her in because she was a fan.

bboy87 said:

From looking at the special, I got the impression that while the Lewis brothers became the creative force behind the group, they were also the ones who fucked up and caused it to fall apart. They wanted the spotlight and the royalties and that caused the grew to lose many of it's original members and keep watering down their sound

What I felt was not cool about this episode was that they didn't talk about the members who left. Once they got to "As The Band Turns", it was no more mention of the other guys and their careers afterwards. Sharon Bryant's solo project got a brief mention but that's it. WTF?

They had a video of Sharon talking about her video "Foolish Heart" on TV One's site.

daPrettyman said:

bboy87 said:

From looking at the special, I got the impression that while the Lewis brothers became the creative force behind the group, they were also the ones who fucked up and caused it to fall apart. They wanted the spotlight and the royalties and that caused the grew to lose many of it's original members and keep watering down their sound

What I felt was not cool about this episode was that they didn't talk about the members who left. Once they got to "As The Band Turns", it was no more mention of the other guys and their careers afterwards. Sharon Bryant's solo project got a brief mention but that's it. WTF?

They had a video of Sharon talking about her video "Foolish Heart" on TV One's site.

Yeah and she mentioned Denzel in it.

I wonder why they didn't point out that the song "Love Crazy" was a top 10 r&b hit? They also overlooked "Unconditional" from the same project. The "Love Crazy" project did a hell of a lot better than "We're Moving Up," but they didn't make it seem that way.

daPrettyman said:

I wonder why they didn't point out that the song "Love Crazy" was a top 10 r&b hit? They also overlooked "Unconditional" from the same project. The "Love Crazy" project did a hell of a lot better than "We're Moving Up," but they didn't make it seem that way.

Unsung has always been a bit inaccurate and sometimes rushing throughout the biographies of their subjects.

vainandy said:

Abdul said:

I've never understood the hate for this cut, it's one of Atlantic Starr's best songs IMO

Plus it's a song that alot of us can identify with, honestly how many of us either have been in or know somebody who's been in that situation? I know I do

Hell, the majority of men I've slept with have been "Secret Lovers" (on their part, not mine, because I don't give a damn what anybody thinks of me) so I can fully understand the lyrics. However, like I always say, lyrics don't mean shit to me if the instruments and melody sounds like shit because that's what makes a song a "song" instead of just a "story". The "sound" of the song sounds like pure adult contemporary crossover which is a sound that I hate with a passion.

I agree,it's the sound/production of "Secret Lovers" that sucks It was their first real 'pop' song and for me,it was hard to accept this type of sound from the same band that gave us "Let's Get Closer" just a few years earlier.

Timmy84 said:

daPrettyman said:

I wonder why they didn't point out that the song "Love Crazy" was a top 10 r&b hit? They also overlooked "Unconditional" from the same project. The "Love Crazy" project did a hell of a lot better than "We're Moving Up," but they didn't make it seem that way.

Unsung has always been a bit inaccurate and sometimes rushing throughout the biographies of their subjects.

Considering they show about 25 minutes worth of commercials, some things are bound to be left out.

Harlepolis said:

1sotrue said:

Looking forward to this episode but I wonder if they interview Sharon Bryant as well. I guess the better question to ask is who was the better lead singer for the group Sharon or Barbara?

I have to go with Barbara Weather.

Miss Bryant, in a heartbeat.

YES!!! She has such a creamy alto delivery! Happy New Year!