It just hit me. They really need to do one on Luther Vandross. Mostly to have people like Marcus Miller and Nat Adderly Jr express their thoughts about writing and performing with him.

I just hope Fonzi doesn't dominate the interviews. I like him, but he is not the only person that was close to Luther.

daPrettyman said:

It just hit me. They really need to do one on Luther Vandross. Mostly to have people like Marcus Miller and Nat Adderly Jr express their thoughts about writing and performing with him.

I just hope Fonzi doesn't dominate the interviews. I like him, but he is not the only person that was close to Luther.

Freddy Jackson! (Mom would like that)

Lenny Williams ( she'd LOVE that)

Ready for the world

SWV

I want to see all the episodes they ever made too.

SimpleSoul said:

daPrettyman said:

It just hit me. They really need to do one on Luther Vandross. Mostly to have people like Marcus Miller and Nat Adderly Jr express their thoughts about writing and performing with him.

I just hope Fonzi doesn't dominate the interviews. I like him, but he is not the only person that was close to Luther.

Freddy Jackson! (Mom would like that)

Lenny Williams ( she'd LOVE that)

Ready for the world

SWV

I want to see all the episodes they ever made too.

Freddie's already done.

Timmy84 said:

SimpleSoul said:

Freddy Jackson! (Mom would like that)

Lenny Williams ( she'd LOVE that)

Ready for the world

SWV

I want to see all the episodes they ever made too.

Freddie's already done.

well damn where have i been

SimpleSoul said:

Timmy84 said:

Freddie's already done.

well damn where have i been

Well it was quite forgettable (the episode), you didn't miss much.

I vote these gentlemen...

The Mighty Dells

silverchild said:

I vote these gentlemen...

The Mighty Dells

Agreed.

SoulAlive said:

Junior would be a perfect choice.I always wondered what happened to that guy! "Mama Used To Say" is a classic jam after one final hit single in the late 80s,he just disappeared.I wanan hear his story.

-

Norman Giscombe Jr. might've been out the media spotlight for a while. I don't know... no videos?... no continuous promotion for his later work?... have no prove of that besides that the business can be fickle. Doesn't always say though that an artists vanished totally from the business, as he was still active. Few years back I heard him DJ-ing on the UK radio stream of Solar Radio. I've emailed him a few times when he had fun music quizes during his Solar shows. Cool brother. His solo work kept going until the mid 90s and he kept working for other artist in the years after. I think he possibly stopped on Solar Radio, as I could'nt spot his name anymore in the station's DJ list. During the time that he was active there in the 00s, he also had a single released.

-

Junior Giscombe

-

Junior

Force MD's

Club Nouveau

Five Star

Sugar Hill Gang

PrettyMan72 said:

Force MD's

Club Nouveau

Five Star

Sugar Hill Gang

I have a feeling they will be showcased. They have showed up in a few episodes showcasing other acts, so theirs may be coming up.

Some of the more obscure disco and soul groups like

The Barkays

Fatback Band

Bette Lavette

Blue Magic

The Elgins

The Undisputed Truth

The Fifth Dimension

Friends of Distinction

The Tavares

The Tramps

Odyssey

Boney M

Brick

New Birth

silverchild said:

I vote these gentlemen...

The Mighty Dells

That's a good one.

Adorecream said:

Some of the more obscure disco and soul groups like

The Barkays

Fatback Band

Bette Lavette

Blue Magic

The Elgins

The Undisputed Truth

The Fifth Dimension

Friends of Distinction

The Tavares

The Tramps

Odyssey

Boney M

Brick

New Birth

Bar-Kays were done a few years back.

SOme of those artist are too obscure, like the Elgins or Betty LeVette and I think the Tramps only had one album (with one hit.) If they do a One Hit Wonder special like they did the Disco special, they can be included (and the Floaters.)

Out of this group, New Birth and The Tavares are good picks.

Maybe not worldwide, but the Fatback Band have quite a steady following in the UK. Every now and then they perform over there for a show or a festival. I think within the US and UK soul charts they were recognised as a solid group. Around Cameo's "Word Up" era, a release called "Mine All Mine" by side project Ca$hflow was inspired by Fatback's track "I Found Lovin".

Odyssey did ok in the soul charts with "Native New Yorker" and "Inside Out" (sort of follow up to Slave's "Watching You", including some same musicians).

After the Trammps' "Disco Inferno" smash, at least that song was an alltime stapled classic at ongoing disco parties through recent decades.

Boney M's exposure also had at least a longer run than Frank Farian's "Milli Vanilli", and BM appeared much on tv/radio shows during their hey dayz, especially in Europe.

I'd like to see some docu-specials on:

The Weather Girls

Esther Phillips

Nina Simone

Jody Watley

Taste of Honey

Lipps, Inc.

Jon B.

Sharon Redd

Mavis Staples (and the Staple Singers)

Nona Hendryx

Tata Vega

Terence Trent D'Arby

Miguel Brown

Jocelyn Brown

Karen Young

Irene Cara

Boney M.

Salt-n-Pepa

Mel & Kim

Cheryl Lynn

Anita Ward

Thelma Houston

Billy Ocean

There. That's some you probably hadn't thought of...

I hope.

Shango said:

SoulAlive said:

Junior would be a perfect choice.I always wondered what happened to that guy! "Mama Used To Say" is a classic jam after one final hit single in the late 80s,he just disappeared.I wanan hear his story.

-

Norman Giscombe Jr. might've been out the media spotlight for a while. I don't know... no videos?... no continuous promotion for his later work?... have no prove of that besides that the business can be fickle. Doesn't always say though that an artists vanished totally from the business, as he was still active. Few years back I heard him DJ-ing on the UK radio stream of Solar Radio. I've emailed him a few times when he had fun music quizes during his Solar shows. Cool brother. His solo work kept going until the mid 90s and he kept working for other artist in the years after. I think he possibly stopped on Solar Radio, as I could'nt spot his name anymore in the station's DJ list. During the time that he was active there in the 00s, he also had a single released.

-

Junior Giscombe

-

Junior

cool info,thanks

who else thinks that O'Bryan would be a good choice for an Unsung episode?

SoulAlive said: cool info,thanks

-

Welcome and cheers! Yeah, it was also fun to mail with him and hear his shows Laidback dude.

-

SoulAlive said:

who else thinks that O'Bryan would be a good choice for an Unsung episode?

-

It was good to hear that the late Don Cornelius gave room to have O'Bryan's Soul Train theme for some years on the show, however, not everybody might've always been aware that it was actually a Burnette groove? As well as his albums from which some songs had exposure, such as "I'm Freaky", "Still Waters", "You And I" + his video singles "Tenderoni", "Breakin' Together" and "Lovelite", although the naughty scenes in the last two mentioned clips likely were too controversial for video shows on prime time tv lol.

-

That's also the first time I see a front cover for another compilation. "The Best Of..." is one which I saw for years online. It surprises me that another comp is pressed. I've noticed that unofficial cd pressings of his albums are sold online, and maybe a company such as Funky Town Grooves could try to reprint them with bonus tracks/unreleased work.

-

[Edited 4/21/13 0:44am]

^^^Several years ago,I heard that they were gonna remaster his four albums and package it together on 2 CDs.There was a thread here about it.Not sure if it was ever released.

some songs had exposure, such as "I'm Freaky", "Still Waters", "You And I" + his video singles "Tenderoni", "Breakin' Together" and "Lovelite", although the naughty scenes in the last two mentioned clips likely were too controversial for video shows on prime time tv lol.

-

I didn't know that there were any controversy regarding some of his videos, but like you mentioned, that was in regard to airing at prime time. I definitely remember seeing the video for Lovelite on the tv show Friday Night Videos which aired late in the evening. I think O'Bryan would be be a good choice for a future ep. A few more suggestions: Patti Austin, Martha Wash, Change and Kleeer (who had to pass up a chance to produce a future star named Madonna).

SoulAlive said:

^^^Several years ago,I heard that they were gonna remaster his four albums and package it together on 2 CDs.There was a thread here about it.Not sure if it was ever released.

-

Thanks for reminding! Yeah, Now that you've mentioned about it, I somewhat can remember reading about that project.

-

UnderMySun said:

I didn't know that there were any controversy regarding some of his videos, but like you mentioned, that was in regard to airing at prime time. I definitely remember seeing the video for Lovelite on the tv show Friday Night Videos which aired late in the evening. I think O'Bryan would be be a good choice for a future ep. A few more suggestions: Patti Austin, Martha Wash, Change and Kleeer (who had to pass up a chance to produce a future star named Madonna).

-

Yeah, that's why I cautiously assumed that there likely was some sort of censoring for them in the tv shows. I've also seen 2 different versions of "Lovelite" though. One with the nude models and the other without. So maybe that censored version appeared on broadcast? Maybe not lol.

-

Good further suggestions of artists. Madonna also hipped Kleeer to the drum machine (not sure if was a Linn or a Roland), and those beats could be heard on their albums "Intimate Connection" and "Seeekret". Again in the UK, Kleeer was welcomed as heroes when the group toured there during the mid 80s. The soul related demographic in the UK was (and still is) a serious scene.

-

:stoopid spelling edit:

[Edited 4/21/13 7:51am]

NSFW---here is the R-rated version of O'Bryan's "Lovelite" video... Back in the day,this version was only shown on the Playboy Channel

SoulAlive said:

NSFW---here is the R-rated version of O'Bryan's "Lovelite" video... Back in the day,this version was only shown on the Playboy Channel

Betty Wright, Donna Washington, Rhonda Clark, B.B.& Q. Band, Bar Kays, Ebonee Webb, Starpoint, Freda Payne and the droves of other incredible talents who totally missed the boat (somehow.)

whitechocolatebrotha said:

Betty Wright, Donna Washington, Rhonda Clark, B.B.& Q. Band, Bar Kays, Ebonee Webb, Starpoint, Freda Payne and the droves of other incredible talents who totally missed the boat (somehow.)

Betty Wright DEFINITELY needs to be on the Unsung radar. "Tonight Is The Night" is probably one of the most influential tracks of the 80s and 90s. Don't even mention how she is a trailblazer in the music industry. She owns her own label. She has been on her own since the 80s. Not only did she do independent projects, she managed to have HITS doing it. Definitely one for Unsung.

The Bar Kays have already been featured.

Nobody should be on the series EVER again until they change the name of the show to "Sing out Loud"...or "Life's a Melody"....They won't listen to me and I know what I'm talking about.

... or "Out Of The Limelight"

-

There's always the thought that when an artist isn't visible in the media, that they're automatically have vanished totally. Puzzling, as in the digital age, the info about artists' current activities can be a few clicks away.

Graycap23 said:

The Time

The Dazz band

Michael Henderson

Rahsaan Patterson

Marcus Miller

YESSSS! Good ones! I would love to see one on the Dazz Band, I remember buying one of their first 45 records when they were still known as Kinsman Dazz; I think I was 8

The Time and Henderson could be interesting also.

but- Marcus Miller might be considered too much of a jazz dude for this series even though he has had his hands deep into r&b...Still he is so hugely respected and celebrated amongst his peers and contemporaries, I can't see him being on Unsung. and with him constantly out there touring, doing collabos, scoring films, he always has buzz about him, though it's generally kind of restricted to musician circles and serious publications about jazz or bass players.

[Edited 4/22/13 6:42am]

Ready for the World and the Dazz Band for sure!

SoulAlive said:

who else thinks that O'Bryan would be a good choice for an Unsung episode?

TOTALLY! He WAS unsung, Soul!