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October 3 ,1 9 9 0 The Portland Observer Page 5
i Portland Observer
ENTERTAINMENT
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HOWARD HEWITT: In The name of Family,
Caring, and for the Love of God.
[ J
Byline = Lisa Collins
A strong family started Hewitt off well, and he hasn't fumbled since
top R & B group Shalamar. He audi
tioned on a Saturday morning, singing
“ Feel the Fire” and was on a plane later
that evening to perform with the group
on television.
by Tony W ashington
There is an old southern tradi
tion that gives credit for a strong family
unity to the fam ilys’ closeness to the
church. O ur parents often tell us that
“ the more we pray together, the longer
we stay together” . For Howard Hewitt,
long tim e lead vocalist with Shalamar
and more lately appearing solo with the
wo years after gradu
ating from high school,
Howard moved to Los
Angeles, arriving at the L.A.
airport with $34.00 in his pock
ets. He chuckles when he re
calls, “ My only plan was to see
what I could get into.’’
T
J u st
as
th e
c o n tr o v e r sy
behind the rau n ch y 2 L ive
Stopped in Beverly H ills” , from the C rew is w in d in g dow n, th e
Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
release of N .W .A .'s latest "100
His first solo album in 1 9 8 6 ,1 M iles and R unning" is likely to
Com m it to Love, which featured “ Say heat things up all over again. O ne
A m en” , signaled a return to his deeply music review er wrote "Just D on't
felt gospel roots.
Bite It" (the lead single) might have
Howard speaks warmly o f his the m ost dem eaning lyrics about
relationship with the group Shalamar. women ever written. According to
“ It was like fam ily” , he states. “ We B a rry W h ite, m usic reflects the
society and the tim e o f the day.
"T he m ajo rity o f the w om en
_
or the next six years,
today," W hite said, "dress like sa
Hewitt led Shalamar
loon women. They not only look
through an unbroken like them, but they disrespect them
chain of hits...that propelled the selves like them . W hy does a
group into the top ten of the R & woman wear a dress so short that it
looks like it's her panties?," he
B charts.
says, leaning tow ards my tape re
had a lot o f fun together.” He speaks corder. "Let me warn you ladies,
even more warmly o f his reliance on there arc some men out there who
o u tsid e p ro d u c tio n ...F ro m B arry can't control their nature." And
Eastmond, Terry Coffey, Jon Nettlesby, while the state of today's youth is a
Matthew W ilder, Zane Byles, and Leon matter of concern to White, the de
Sylvcrs...which gave him “ more free voted father o f eight, it is not his
dom as an artist.” Part of the freedom favorite subject. " I 'm still ta l
revolved around the first song to be king a b o u t lo v e " , says W hite,
recorded on the album I Com m it to whose worldwide album sales ap
Love, “ Jesus.” Howard produced proach the 100 million mark. And
“ Jesus” himself and says “ for me, “ Jesus if the popularity of "Secret Garden"
is a very important song. The whole a smash hit collaboration o f Quincy
album says, ‘Lets get real with each Jones featuring W hite) or his own
other’. “ T here’s the question and then "W anna Do It Good To Ya" are any
the solution.”
indication, people are still lis
Foot note: The interview with
tening. "If people w eren’t making
The O bserver and Mr. Hew itt was one
love, I w ouldn't be making music
of the better interviews conducted with
about it." Fact is. W hite has been
entertainers in recent memory. He comes
m ost successful m aking m usic
across as a person of true sincerity deeply
about it. The title o f his latest a l
devoted to his fam ily, his fans, those
bum, "The Man Is Back", however
who work with him and m ost o f all, to
Jesus C h rist
W e extend congratulations to
Howard Hewitt, and wish him a world of
success in his endeavors.
L
nations top R & B groups, close family
ties are an everyday fact o f life.
Bom and raised in Akron, Ohio,
Hewitt began his career as a pre-teen
performing with his family gospel group,
the Hew itt Singers. He later joined the
gospel road circuit as a m ember o f the
Five Blind Boys, The Soul Stirrers, Mighty
Clouds o f Joy, and The Staple Singers.
At the age of 14, he began his shift
toward the secular, learning the bass and
performing with various Akron R & B
bands, while still in high school.
In 1976, two years after gradu-
• ating from high school, Howard moved
to Los Angeles, arriving at the L.A.
airport with $34.00 in his pockets. He
1 chuckles when he recalls, “ My only
plan was to see what I could get into.”
He joined a show group as lead vocalist,
played California hot spots and touring
Europe.
In 1979 Howard received an offer to the
For the next six years, Hewitt
led Shalamar through an unbroken chain
o f hits, including the certificd-gold al
bums Big Fun, Three For Love, Friends,
and others that propelled the group into
the top ten of the R & B charts.
By 1983, original Shalamar
members Jeffery Daniels and Jody Wadey
had left the group. ‘ ‘Instead o fjust going
out o n m y o w n ,” Howard recalls, “ I felt
there was still som ething I needed to do
with Shalam ar.” W ith Howard at the
Helm, a re-form ed Shalam ar recorded
the group’s final album Heartbreak and
the single “ Dancing in the Sheets” -
which wound up in the multi-platinum
Footloose soundtrack. In 1985, Howard
picked up a Gram m y for “ D on’t Get
the P ortland observer
Z
?
O n T he Hom e F ro n t: A law yer
for Sammy D avis' widt^w, said
reports that A ltovise and son,
Manny, were broke and near having
their home confiscated by the IRS,
couldn't be further from the truth,
pointing out that D avis left an
estate worth $6-8 m illion. As to
A ltovise,--w ell, she is quite busy
m ulling over prospective book,
movie and documentary offers about
her life with the late, great Sammy
Davis....Actress Debbie Morgan (of
"A ll My C h ild re n " and now
"Generations" fame) has said she
w ill e n d h e r m a r r ia g e to
a c to r C h a r le s D u tto n , c u r
rently appearing on Broadw ay in
"The Piano Lesson". The two were
wed last New Y ear's E ve...C on
gratulations to actor Keith David,
who ties the knot with 25-year old
Margit Edwards next week in New
York. David is presently co-starring
in "Men At Work". His next film,
"M arked For D eath" (sta rrin g
Steven Seigal) is slated for release
on October 5, about the time he’s
due back from his honeymoon.
T h in g s a r e now
fo r M ary W ells:
lo o k in g up
N ews o f her
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LIP TO LIP
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Sent.-Oct
You’ve just about given up!
You’ve tried the dating scene: night clubs, bars, social lounges.
All the prospects just were not what you were looking for in a
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Please send me more information and a membership packet. I don’t want to let this
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The concert was sched
uled for October third at
the Arlene Schnitzer Con
cert Hall, but has been
canceled due to travel
difficulties.
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MAZE
Concert
Canceled
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SAY YOU SAW IT IN
throat cancer and m oney problem s
have prom pted contributions from
throughout the entertain m en t in
d u stry .
D iana R o ss d o n a te d
$15,000; Rod S te w a r t- $ 10,000.
Bruce S pringsteen--$10,000; and
the T em ptauons-S 5,000. A dditio
nally, Berry Gordy has now pledged
his support. That's aside from the
contributions coming in from those
o f you a c ro ss the n a tio n . A t
present. W ells is m ostly m outhing
her words as she recuperates from a
tracheotomy. In the m eantim e, for
m er S uprem e M ary W ilso n is
putting together a benefit concert.
A lready c o m m itted are S tev ie
W onder and Dionne W arwick. The
47-year old singer now resides with
her four-year old d au g h te r (the
product of a union between she and
Curtis W om ack, brother of Bobby
W om ack) in a hotel n e a r the
hospital. The tw o split w hen her
throat went bad and finances soured.
With all that has happened, W ilson
finds herself on the front lines of
the war against cigarette sm oking
(which doctors say is at the root of
her ills) and p o llu tio n .
Ju st
recently. W ells (who sports a tube
in her throat) started a six-w eek
radiation treatment plan. If all goes
w ell, she may be able to avoid
having her lamyx removed. So let's
keep her in our p ra y e rs ....S h o rt
T a k e : Sad to report the r e c e n t
p a s s in g o f a c to r R a y m o n d
S t. J a c q u e s . The official cause
o f death was cancer...N ext w eek:
S u p e rfly m a k e s a c o m e b a c k .
m ight be a little m isleading, as
W hite insists he's never gone any
w here. Fact is, at least in Los
A ngeles, for a w hile it seem ed
W hite was getting more press for
his efforts to end gang violence.
W hatever the case, with all he has
to say, let's hope he's back to stay.
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