T he P ortland O bserver • J uly 19, 1995
P age B3
|Llortlauh (Obscruer
ENTERTAINMENT
“ M y album is all about what
young guys and g irls deal with, in
love, sex, and relationships,” says
T o n y Thom pson, know n to m usic
fans as the voice behind a slew o f hit
tunes by the p o p /R & B team H i-
Five. “The songs are a little more
mature than the ones I did with the
group ...but that’s because I ’m a lit­
tle older now, and I ’ve had a chance
to experience some th ings m yself..
Sexsational isth e title o fT o n y ’s
im pressive solo debut album on G i­
ant Records and he explains, “ A lot
o f the songs deal with sex - safe sex,
that is ! I guess from m y time with
the group. I ’ve dealt with people
thinking o f me as a sex sym bol, but
now I want to take it to another
level.”
The sensual grove o f tunes like
“ M ake Me Sw eat” produced by A I
B. Sure! and M aurice Pearl, the
standout “ Handle O ur Bu sin ess”
produced by Jerom e Jefferson and
D ave H ollister, or the nice-but-nas-
ty “ Sla ve ” (written and produced by
Jo d e c i’s D eVante S w in g ) are fine
exam ples. “ I W anna L o v e L ik e
That,” the album ’s first single, was
written for T o n y by Babyface and
features rem ix and extra production
work by Ted dy R ile y . The song is a
fresh breath o f romance, as is T o n y ’s
h ip re v iv a lo fSte vie W onder’s 1969
classic “ M y Cherie A m o ur.”
T o n y ’s step out into the solo
league'com es on the heels o f four
years o f hitm aking with H i-F iv e . He
became a part o f the group in 1989,
after producer V incent B e ll heard
him sing New E d itio n ’s “ Is T h is
The E n d ” over the phone and, w ith­
in months, T o n y was sign in g his
first record deal as lead singer with
T oiuj
Thompson
the group.
The road to that turning point on
his m usical jou rney began when the
W aco, Texas-bo rn , O klahom a city-
raised T o n y began sin gin g solos in
the local church cho ir (under the
direction o f his mother) at the age o f
eight. He says, “ N ew Edition inspired
me but I also listened to The Ja c k ­
son’s, M arvin G aye, Stevie W onder
and D onny Hathaw ay, and I started
sin gin g in local talent show s...m usic
was alw ays a part o f m y life...”
It was at one such show that
n a tio n a lly-kn o w n lo cal m usician
W i 11 iam W alton heard T o n y and rec­
ommended him to New Y o rk pro­
ducer B e ll. A fter com pleting a demo
with R o derick C la rk , Russell N eal,
M arcus Sanders and To rian o Easley
-- “guys I had known form W aco, not
as singers more as guys I ’d play
sports w ith,” T o n y notes -- H i-F iv e
became a reality, sign in g with Jiv e
Records in 1990.
The gro u p ’s career immediate
ly took oft' with the release o f the
N o I Pop and R & B smash "I I ike
The W ay (T h e K issing G am e),” pro
duced by T e d d y R ile y , H i-F iv e ’
self-titled m u lti-m illio n se llin g de
but included several more hits, in
e lu d in g “ I C a n ’t W ait A n o th e r
M inute” and "Just Another G irl
friend.”
The 1992 fo llow -up C D Keep
It C o in ’ On featured more hits (S h e ’
P la yin g Hard T o G e t,” a top five
pop single, and "Q uality T im e ") and
in 1993, Faith ful, H i- F iv e ’s third
album on Jiv e Records was released
N o w w ith S e x s a tio n a l, h is
much-anticipated solo debut, T o n y ’ s
ready for a w hole set o f new chal­
lenges. W o rkin g with producers like
Joe (on "B re a k It D o w n ” ), and The
Characters (on “C o m e O ve r” with
its late n ig h t ’ in tim a te fe e l,
“G oodbye E y e s” and “ M y Cherie
A m o u r” ) w as, T o n y s says, “ Real
cool. Everyone made me feel real
com fortable and every body was
down to earth. M akin g the album
was a great experience...”
T o n y , m an age r Jo n a th an
Kin loch , and A & R executive Jeffrey
Bowens spent a good deal o f time
going over songs for Sexsational and
the result is an album that showcases
T o n y's strong vocal skills. Whether
he’s grooving on “ I Kn o w ” (co-w rit­
ten by Mary J. B lige and produced by
Sean “ P uffy” Com bs) or given his all
on the standout “ Dance With Me”
with its decidedly old school feel,’
Tony Thompson lays it all out on his
Giant Records debut. Start to finish,
the m u s ii’s on...and Tony? Sim ply,
Sexsational!
the sw ayin g " A ll I H ave ” ), w hich the
guys vo ca lly finesse like old pros.
“ W alk A w a y ” and “O ne More T r y ”
are both harm ony-laden wonders,
w hile “ W hat’s It L ik e ” is a good, old-
fashioned m elodic, m id-tem po po ck­
et groove. “ Sunshine” is a sparse,
thoughtful opus, contrasted by the
funky “ Peach C o b b le r” -- whose sen­
sual double lyrics are quite tame com ­
pared to both the urgent “ B rin g Y o u r
B o d y ” an the dow nright provocative
but gro o vin g “ Bone.” O f course, at
the center o f all this great m usic are
the m agnificent voices o f U .N .V .
Five-Day 1995 Miler Genuine Draft
Waterfront Blues Festival R a is­
es A Record $161,000 And 69,500
Pounds O f Food Fo r O regon Food
Bank
Oregon Food B ank received a
record amount o f donated funds and
food - $ 16 1,000 and 69,500 pounds
o f food - at the 1995 M i Her Genuine
Draft Waterfront Blues Festival June
3 0-J u ly 4 Last year, the fest i va I ra ised
$ 125,000 and 45,000 p o un dso f food.
T h is year’s dollar total includes
$12,000 raised by the Oregon Pot­
ters A sso ciatio n , whose members
do nated and s o ld h u n d re d s o f
handcrafted, sp ecially priced bow ls
and other ceram ic dishes in a project
called “ Em pty B o w ls.” People who
bought bowls received vouchers for
free soup at several participating res­
taurants. A ll proceeds were donated
to Oregon Food Bank Last year, the
Em pty Bo w ls project raised $8.500
for the food bank.
“ We are gratified by the success
Som e things just sound better
in Spanish. For instance, take John
“ M ilo ” Pro and O ctaviano S ilv a ,
a.k.a. S F Spanish Fly, a torrid new
L.atino duo from San Francisco. R a p ­
idly clim b in g charts and m elting
hearts even before the premiere o f
their first album. S F Spanish F ly has
already elevated b ilin gual pop m u­
sic to an unprecedented level. N ow ,
with the success o f their hit single
“ D a d d y’s Hom e,” and with their
debut Upstairs/W arner Bros. C D
An ything Y o u W ant ready for re­
lease, the buzz on S F Spanish F ly is
reaching a fevered pitch.
Together less than three years,
S F Spanish F ly reflects the savory
cross-current o f cultures im pacting
Am erican m usic today. Som e Latin ,
some reggae, some freesty le, and a
lot o f dance and R & B to a long w ay
in shaping the singular style o f S F
Spanish Fly. Y e t more than any­
thing, the d istin c tly im peccable
blend o f voices between O ctaviano
and M ilo makes for one o f the most
exciting young male duos in years.
For proof, look no further than
their debut album, A n yth in g Y o u
IFMO
INTERNATIONAL FREELANCE
MODELS ORGANIZATION
Models Needed
Models Organization
• Fresh Faces...Figu res.. Images.
• N o Restrictions to A g e .Sex...Race.
• M ay Q u a lify for International Screen Test
• N o Experience Required!
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GO
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o f this com m unity event, which had
the support o f thousands o f people,”
said Rachel B risto l Little , Oregon
Food B a n k ’s executive director. “ W'e
are grateful to those who donated
time, food, money and talent to the
O regon Food B ank through the M ill­
er Genuine Draft Waterfront Blues
Festival. Everyone involved -- from
sta ff to sponsors to volunteers to
festival goers - has helped make
sure that thousands o f hungry fam i­
lies in Oregon and C la rk County,
W ashington, w ill receive badly need­
ed, nutritious food.”
Bristol Little said 69,500 pounds
o f food w ill feed about 5,200 people
for four days. The donated food w ill
be distributed to Portland-area food
banks. The cash donations w ill en­
able O regon Food B ank to acquire
and distribute at least 1.3 m illion
pounds o f food to more than 650
O regon Food Bank network agen­
cies in Oregon and Southwest W ash-
Want. Produced by M ilo and Ja zzy
Jim , the album was written m ostly by
M ilo and O ctaviano, with a few cla s­
sic covers added, including a C a rib ­
b e a n -fla v o r e d re m a ke o f the
Sh o n d clls’ ‘6 0 ’s hit “C rim so n and
C lo v e r,” “ When We Get m arried,”
and both Spanish and E n glish ver­
sions o f another ‘6 0 ’s im m ortal,
“ D ad d y’s Hom e.” Sun g a cappella,
the song showcases the band's flair
for artful vocal arrangements, and
has already broken into the national
Hot 100 as an independently distrib­
uted single.
ington
B risto l Little thanked sponsor­
ing businesses; Event Services, Inc.,
o f Portland, w hich organized the fes­
tival; the talented m usicians in more
than 45 blues and gospel groups who
performed in what has become one
o f the largest blues festivals on the
West Coast; and more than 300 O re ­
gon Food B an k board members, staff
and volunteers who collected food
and money, packed and moved food
boxes, w orked at various booths and
performed other activities support­
ing the event.
M a jo r sp o n so rs w ere C o lu m ­
b ia D is t r ib u t in g , In c ., M ille r
B r e w in g C o m p a n y , K G O N R a ­
d io and So u th w e st A ir lin e s , A C ­
C E S S C r e d it U n io n s and R a y -
B a n S u n g la s s e s . O th e r sp o n so rs
in c lu d e d P o rtla n d A re a P lym o u th
D e a le rs , M u sic M ille n iu m , C a s ­
cad e B lu e s A s s o c ia t io n and D o v e
B a rs .
O th e r s o n g s in c lu d e the
uptempo Latin freestyle track “Tre a­
sure O f M y Heart," the sumptuous
R & B b a llad “ A ll I N e e d ,” the
reggae-influenced “ L e t ’s Get T o ­
gether,” and the soulful title track,
“ A n ything Y o u W ant.” B lu rrin g the
lines between E n glish and Spanish,
the two often alternate languages in
the verses o f a song.
Y e t whatever the style or lan­
guage, one word says it a ll about S F
Spanish F ly: “ C aliente!” (In case
y o u ’re w ondering, that’s Spanish for
“ hot!” ).
o
D
m
Call Ken Groves at 287-3232
U .N .V .’sSom ething’s G o in ’ On
was one o f the surprise success sto­
ries o f l9 9 3 -‘94 the gro up 's maver-
ick/W am er Bros. Num ber I R & B
single, “ So m eth in g’s G o in ’ O n ,”
qu ickly established U .N .V . as d is­
tinctive newcomers am ong a slew o f
young male vocal groups with their
close-to-gold debut album.
N ow com es U . N . V . ’s lo n g -
awaited second album . U niversal
N ubian V oices. One thing is imme­
diately clear; therm ’s no sophomore
jin x here. The new album pairs sing-
er/songwriters John “J - S k i” Powe,
Shawn Powe, John “ J .C .” C la y and
Dem etrius Peete (aka Peete) with
some o f pop and R & B ’s finest hit-
makers. The result is a collection
sure to satisfy old fans and attract a
legion o f new ones.
“ So In Lo v e W ith Y o u ,” the
album ’s lead single and video, pro­
duced by hitm eister D a v id Foster
(W hitney Houston, A ll 4 One, M icha­
el Jackson), is an instant classic love
anthem that was released sim ulta­
neously in two configurations-fosters
tender pop version, and a tantalizing,
sou I ful urban re-m i x by The M i xologist
and U .N .V .’s J .C . A ffe ctio n ate ly
dubbed “The W edding So ng” by fans,
both versions o f the ballad seem to
evoke feelings o f love and together­
ness whenever they are played.
O n U niversal N ubian V o ices,
the m usic speaks for itself. A m ong
the gems are soulful ballads (such as
The Gershwins’
OPENS
T O N ic m ^
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19
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