A u g u st 25, 1999 Page 3 Focus , efore we’d even 'com pleted our ) first dem o for Blessid Union O f Souls, I was watching a rerun of M*A*S*H,” recalls Eliot Sloan, the band’s vocal ist, “and you know how Frank was always hitting on Hot Lips Hoolihan? Well, he was doing every­ thing he could to get her into his bunk, saying stuff like ‘I need you, Marga ret, I can't stand for us to be ap art.’ T h en he blurted out something like ‘Be with me tonight, Margaret. 1 need to feel the blessed union of our souls or I’m going to break out in hives.’ I was laughing,” says Sloan, “but I was also thinking ‘what a cool name for a band.’ And that’s where w e u n i th e name from." Once the band settled on a name and secured a deal with SBK Records, Blessid Union soon released its First single, “I Believe.” With a little luck, “I Believe" went to #1 and was the 4,h Union ballad will find their heart con tent by another one of the album s standouts, “Standing At The Edge Of The Earth." “Standing" came about when the band was contacted by people most played song of 1995. “Let Me Be I he One" followed, pushing the band s debut album HOME to Platinum sta tus. Blessid’s sophomore album which included the hit songs “I Wanna Be There” and “Light In Your Eyes” also fared surprisingly well at 400,000 units - considering that EMI Records closed their doors just Five weeks after the who needed a title track for the movie ARMAGEDDON The band went to work on “Standing At The Edge Of The Earth” immediately, but before they could even submit the demo, word album hit the streets. The five man band from Cincin nati who has survived the nail-biting trauma of the record label shuffle, being shifted from SBK to EMI and then on to Capitol, is now gearing up for their newly released album WALK ING OFF THE BUZZ on Push/V2 Records. This project aptly showcases the band’s range of talent and appeal and is certain to prove that this time, three really is a charm. I"' F _ & V — s li G r t n 'l I H lo c c in came down that the Aerosmith tune had been chosen for the movie. It was disappointment,” admits Sloan, “es­ pecially when our song fit so well and ARMAGEDDON turned out to be such an awesome movie. But the situ­ ation pushed us to write we would never have written, so it worked out anyway.” “I know it’s show business,” says Jeff Pence, lead guitarist, “and I guess we should make it sound more dra­ matic or romantic. But Blessid Union is just a rootsy, midwestem band. We know what we want to do. We want to keep playing rock’n’roll to work hard. S o that’s iust what we’re going to do.” The SOS Band was originally founded at the end of the 70's with eight members using the name Santa Monica' A relative introduced them to the TABU record label, which was interested but changed the band's name to S.O.S., Sounds Of Success’. During the next 10 years their association with such notables as Cherrell, Alexander O'Neal, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Leon Silvers and others resulted in a string of hits like Take your time (Do it right)', S O S ', 'Tell me if you still care and Just Be Good to me Sale! Sale! Sale! “ 14 Slinky "Hair M alibu Qold TMail Tolish & lipstick 9 X $1O95 'N'E'W African Tri de 'Wig&'Hair Two Shows - 6.30 and 10:00 pm - (First Show Is SOLD OUT!) Qare Center Roseland Theatre 707 TMT Tremont • Portland, G'R 97212 Tickets at all Fastixx Outlets - (503)-224-8499 Visit WWW OLDSCHOOLGROOVE COM for more information (503) 281-6525 Profile by Aestudio Fine Graphics and B E A N - 503-817-2070 VENUE CHANGE NW 6th & Burnside - Portland, OR