O ctober 5, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age B 2
« 7 / Ó
-Portland (©bseruer
ENTERTAIPiMEríT
"The basis for this album was
simple: it was about trusting my 'g u t’
feelings. It w asn’t about over-sing
ing but about doing what was natural.
Although there was no overall lyrical
theme, the songs really addressed
women’s needs, songs that women in
particular can em brace.”
Make Him Do Right, Karyn
W hite’s third W arner Bros, album,
does indeed focus on sentim ents and
feelings that women of the Nineties
will easily identify with. Check out
the upbeat, no-nonsense first single
“Hungah For Your Love,” one of the
songs Karyn co-wrote and co-pro-
duced for the album - “a sensual tune
that I wrote when I was singing in the
shower! I wanted to do something
that was in the vein o f a Donna Sum
mer '7 0 ’s kind of tune...although we
don't push the same kind o f buttons
as much as she did!”
R eflectin g the a lb u m 's d iv e r
sity, the b e a u tifu l b a lla d , “ I ’d
R ather Be A lo n g ,” a c u t K aryn
c o -p ro d u c e d w ith F ly te T y m e
P ro d u c tio n s’ J e lly b e a n Jo h n so n ,
c o n tra sts w ith the p ro p u ls iv e ,
in siste n t “W e a k n e ss.”
And. in the tradition o f her 1991
classic “Superwom an,” there’s title
track “Make Him Do Right,” a soul
ful, straight-ahead piece (written and
p ro d u c e d by h itm a k e r D ary l
Simmons) that Karyn notes, “is about
how we women want to be treated.
It’s like, if you can ’t make a man do
right, what you can do is raise your
own level of self-respect. The lyrics
are telling women that it’s better to
be alone than to be mistreated or
disrespected. T here’s one line, 'i f he
don’t want to get married, then he
can’t be no man of m ine,’ and I’m a
good example o f that viewpoint my-
The Selecter
The reactivated Selecter have
been busy for over three years now,
touring extensively throughout Eu
rope and America in support o f their
of their live reunion LP, O ut in the
Streets. Their most recent outing was
the much lauded all-star ska tour,
Skavoovie, which barnstorm ed the
U S. in late 1993. At that time. The
Selecter released a C D -single con
taining three vision o f the ska-stan
dard “M adness,” recorded with guest
star/ska legend Prince Buster.
The current summer/fall tour of
America is in support of the brand
new LP of patented Selecter ska,
entitled The Happy Album. It’s the
band’s first collection of all new songs
since 1981. The record features many
new favorites made popular via the
Skavoovie tour, such as “California
Screaming” (already getting heavy
play via W ayne Jobson at the world-
famous KROQ in Los A ngeles),
“ N e u ro tic a ,” and “ W hip T hem
Down.” It also features a fine remake
of Toots and the M aytals “Sweet and
Dandy.”
Form ed in 1979, T he S e le c te r
sp e a rh e a d e d the T w o T o n e /S k a
M o v e m e n t in the U K L ed by
v o c a list P au lin e B lack , the band
sco red a n u m b er o f hit sin g le s,
such as “T h ree M in u te H e ro ,”
“ On M y R a d io ,” “ T he W hisper,”
and “Too Much Pressure." The hits
led to the albums, most notably Too
Much Pressure and Celebrate the
Bullet. In addition, they had four
<Llie
c a ll 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 3 3
a
UNUSUAL
CASSETTES S RECORDS
COMPACT DiSCS
POSTERS
Music
Millennium
DJANGO
u n SW STARK
PORTLAND, OR 97205
227-4381 • FAX 248-9538
V,'E BUY AND SELL
ALL TYPES OF MUS1CJ
Store
503-331-1718
3415 NE Broadway
Portland, OR 97212
T h e re a c tiv a te d S e le c te r.
A fterafew U .K . w arm -updates. The
Selector toured A merica fo ra month
of sold-out appearances. In October
of 91, they em barked on a 60-date
tour of Britain and Europe, resulting
in their live album Out in the Streets
released by Triple X. The LP fea
tured all o f the group's well-known
hits, including "On My Radio," plus
"Train to Skaville,” and a ska-ed up
version of the "Jam es Bond Theme."
sexy superstar singer/songwriter/pro-
ducer R Kelly, is experiencing in
credible chart success, w ith two singles
in the Top 25 on the Pop and R&B
charts. Hits from the album keep com
ing from the gold lead single “Back
and Forth." a mellow party record, to
the romantic Isley Brothers remake
"At Your Best (You Are Love)." C ur
rently her album reigns at number 5
and 25 on Billboard's R&B and Pop
charts. In keeping with the album's
title, the admitted teenager refuses to
divulge her exact age in interviews,
however it is clearly under the legal
drinking age, forcing her to cancel her
scheduled performances on the Kelly-
headlined Budweiser Superfest
32nd & E.
Burnside
231-8926
, Zy///
SB
songs featured on the Dance Craze
soundtrack -- both the film and the
soundtrack were hits worldwide.
The band split-up in 1981. V o
calist Pauline Black stated making
television appearances and eventu
ally had her own BBC show. Black
on Black. Ten years later, in June of
1991, Pauline reformed the band,
recruiting former Bad Manners mem
bers Martin Steward and Nick Welsh.
"W hen I recorded 'S uperw om an,’ I
was singing about my own mother,
but now I understand even better
what it really means." Karyn smiles,
“The changes in my life have cer
tainly affected how I relate to my
music. During my pregnancy, I had
time to think and do some soul-search
ing. I come to this album with a lot of
ideas for lyrics and m elodies.”
la t t ò O D hsevU ev
23rd & NW
Johnson
248-0163
L ivi M usic
Friday &
Saturday
-Midnight
S-P
zfp
Wednesday
Session
featuring Louisiana style
cuisine a t its finest
At Bourbon Stneet we're proud to offer the finest ribs,
freshest seafood, delicious fettucmi and blackened
Y ö 'V
self!”
Karyn is referring to her mar
riage to master producer Terry Lewis,
who (with partner Jimmy Jam), co
produced seven tracks on Make Him
Do Right. She says, “My marriage
and the birth o f my daughter Ashley
have been like the opening of a whole
new beautiful chapter in my life.”
Reflecting on the past, she adds,
A D V E R T I S E IN
COLLECTOR'S
RECORDS
Aaliyah’s Number Is One Million
Age is proving a double edged
sword for Jive recording artist Aaliyah
(ah-lec-yah). While meaningless in
catapulting her debut disc “Age Ain't
Nothing But a Number" to sales of
over I million (certified platinum),
it’s held her back from performing on
the Budweiser Superfest.
Aaliyah, t^e youthful protege of
S in g e r - Songw riter, K aryn W hite
15900 Boones Ferry Road
in Lake Grove. Oregon
636-00I7
-"'Z -
PRESENTS
~\C|HT W ty
\
CISCO'S & PANCHO S
'
9:00 P.M. -OCTOBER 31st
107 N.W. 5th (DOWNTOWN PTLD.)
$5.00 COVER CHARGE AT THE DOOR
COME SPOOK WITH US