DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Whoa, you know Tashan? That man was a fucking god in the UK during the 80's. That whole "Chasin' A Dream" album was an underground classic - "Read My Mind", "Got The Right Attitude" and "Thank You Father" are His shit was deep as fuck as well. There weren't too many people doing conscious soul music even then, much less now.
His later shit, like "For The Sake Of Love" and "Love Is Forever" is dope as well. I remember seeing him perform Whodini's "Yours For The Night" with Bambaataa at the Hacienda in Manchester in about 1984, and he was part of a Def Jam soul package tour which played a fantastic show in Manchester a year or so later with Alyson Williams, Oran "Juice" Jones and Chuck Stanley. Glad to hear he's still out there doing it - I'll keep an eye open for him over here in future, because I'd love to see him perform again.
Tashan was always one of my biggest inspirations. Poughkeepsie boy makes good. I remember just before he left to start touring with Whodini in the early 80's, he did a high school talent show and performed "Yours For a Night" and "Got The Right Attitude". Killed it! (A little trivia... he's also the guy singing on the hook for the Fat Boy's "Can You Feel It") But as much critical acclaim as he got - and he did get a lot - nobody paid him any mind here in the states. So he moved to England for a bit and did his third album there with the London Symphony Orchestra. We've done a lot of pretty good stuff over the years and never did anything with it, but I think at least one or two songs should end up making the album I'm doing for Antidote. I've got a great concert video he did here in PK in the early 90's and performed with a great band, full horn section, etc. It was like a Def Jam Soul reuinion cause you know he brought out Alyson, "Juice" and Chuck on stage with him.
I'll definitely check out that album, then!
Tashan deserved to sell more records than he did, I think. By the time he did his third record, the whole house/rave scene had a pretty strong grip on things over here, so it was that much harder for someone like him to make a breakthrough. He was enough of a cult artist for the label to stick by him, though, because they knew that, even though his shit wasn't exactly commercial and they probably wouldn't get a crossover pop hit, he'd still sell a decent number of records. I think that's why heads over here liked him; because he always stuck to his guns and made music he believed in, rather than follow the trends of the time.
Tashan deserved to sell more records than he did, I think. By the time he did his third record, the whole house/rave scene had a pretty strong grip on things over here, so it was that much harder for someone like him to make a breakthrough. He was enough of a cult artist for the label to stick by him, though, because they knew that, even though his shit wasn't exactly commercial and they probably wouldn't get a crossover pop hit, he'd still sell a decent number of records. I think that's why heads over here liked him; because he always stuck to his guns and made music he believed in, rather than follow the trends of the time.
Yup yup. He always talks about how Russell would tell him that no one was trying to hear motherfuckers sing about some Afrocentric soul, etc., etc. And OBR refused to push or promote On The Horizon, which essentially, was all about taking Public Enemy's thing and dipping it in the soul sauce. Then of course Arrested Development came along later that year and proved them all wrong. Also, a certain A&R chick had a habit of spending more time hooking up with her artists then trying to promote them.
Will downing is definitely American. Maybe Flordian(?), he used to be a barman at the Florida Yatch Club (although Yatch Soul was just a twinkle in a hipster's eye at the time). He did have a great voice and his first few sets were really strong - but after the early 90's I kind of let my "Soul" plate fall off the stick, as I was too busy keeping my other musical plates spinning. Dunno if he is still active? I am toying with the idea of doing the Southport weekender in November (IIRC?) so I'll ask Richard Searling about Will.
Mica - yes, still well connected with the BBC so although I don't think she has a deal, she can still sing and get heard on the radio. Another ex of Max Beesley!
Carleen Anderson - permanent UK resident now, senior tutor at an arts college over here (voice dept... doh!) and very keen equestrian, believe it or not. When she's not gigging or teaching, she's mucking out stables.
Jhelisa - Ollie Buckwell is getting some new product ready for his Dorado label and I believe Jhelisa is contributing to this. "Friendly Pressure" (the version with the spanish guitar) is fantastic.
Pamela - I agree, fantastic voice. Last thing I have with her on is a track by Platinum Doll (I can't remember the name; it's soulful jazzy house - could almost be an Incognito track).
Rick Astley - he didn't want the attention, ultimately. He did actually officially release a house tune a few years back that has a good Tiefschwarz remix.
Will Downing(American) is having a GrwonNSexy show @ the Beacon theatre very soon. I could never get w/ his voice. Sounds like a bagel is stuck in his trachea.
Tashan's videos got played on local video shows but the local radio didnt play his stuff that at all. His look was suspect at the time. Kufi-down for real(in the videos at least. Dude was proto/quasi- neo-soul if i recall.I think New jack Swing was the dominant sound @ the time.
anyone feeling Lalomie Washburn? born in the US but most of her success was in Europe / the UK ... she passed away in 2004
I never knew she died. That's a real shame. She had a big underground hit in the early 90's over here with a song called "Try My Love".
'Try my love' was recorded with Ernie McKone (superb session bassist and the bass for the Galliano band) in his Muswell Hill 'Attic' studios. I recorded in the same studio one time, and almost all of the lyrics came from drawings and posters on the wall that Ernie and other artists had hung up in the vocal booth.
Tashan has worked with Dave Jarvis and Chris Bangs on their now defunct Dadhouse label. Nice soulful gospelly house cut or two.
And Rose Windross, the other voice of Soul II Soul was knocked down and killed by a car a few years back. She was running from a security guard having robbed a store.
And Mica Paris is killin' it on the gospel circuit.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
And Rose Windross, the other voice of Soul II Soul was knocked down and killed by a car a few years back. She was running from a security guard having robbed a store.
Nah, Rose is still alive. The girl who was killed was Do'Reen Waddell, who sang on "Feel Free", the second single.
Nah, Rose is still alive. The girl who was killed was Do'Reen Waddell, who sang on "Feel Free", the second single.
Really? I read that it was Rose? She has an amazing voice, and needs more work.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Nah, Rose is still alive. The girl who was killed was Do'Reen Waddell, who sang on "Feel Free", the second single.
Really? I read that it was Rose? She has an amazing voice, and needs more work.
She won't get it from Jazzie - as I recall, she was one of a number of ex-Soul II Soul alumni who took legal action against him for non-payment of session fees, etc. Courtney Pine was another.
Nah, Rose is still alive. The girl who was killed was Do'Reen Waddell, who sang on "Feel Free", the second single.
Really? I read that it was Rose? She has an amazing voice, and needs more work.
She won't get it from Jazzie - as I recall, she was one of a number of ex-Soul II Soul alumni who took legal action against him for non-payment of session fees, etc. Courtney Pine was another.
Rose Windross does lots of music with her brother Norris 'Da Boss' doesn't she?
See I haven't really enjoyed a Lewis Taylor album since Lewis II. I preferred the grittier sound he toyed around with in the earlier records compared to the more recent stuff. In fact I probably liked the b-sides of his first couple of releases as much as anything he's done.
'Try my love' was recorded with Ernie McKone (superb session bassist and the bass for the Galliano band) in his Muswell Hill 'Attic' studios. I recorded in the same studio one time, and almost all of the lyrics came from drawings and posters on the wall that Ernie and other artists had hung up in the vocal booth.
You can't mention Muswell Hill and Ernie without mentioning Push. It's the law in North London.
Ha, that's funny as I'm at this moment randomly listening to a JTQ's Love the Life with Noel doing the vocal honours with some panache. I went to the Jazz Cafe to see Lyn Collins and Martha High on their last show there (Lyn's last show anywhere, possibly) and Noel guested on one or two songs and wiggled around the stage a bit. He was a bit ropey. Think was start of last year some time.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
You can't mention Muswell Hill and Ernie without mentioning Push. It's the law in North London.
And Vivienne McKone who used to live downstairs from the studio.
Anyone know what happened to Noel McKoy?
I'm sure I heard some new Noel McKoy material when I was listening to Solar the other week. Sounded pretty good.
Vivienne McKone trivia (Viv Triv?): she plays the receptionist at the ad agency in that Bruce Robinson/Richard E. Grant movie "How To Get Ahead In Advertising".
I guess thats the way things go... I bet their circulation numbers have dropped huge since the net takeover. Too bad, I use to see it all over the place in this city.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Wot da don fukk?
I guess thats the way things go... I bet their circulation numbers have dropped huge since the net takeover. Too bad, I use to see it all over the place in this city.
Hahahaha! The town at the bottom of the list of "reviews" is the town in Cheshire where my family moved when we left Liverpool in the 70's! I'd forgotten that Winsford's become an established part of the soul all-nighter circuit in the North West of England. Never thought I'd see it on Soulstrut in a million years.
Never thought I'd see it on Soulstrut in a million years.
Posted by a Canuck no less...
Hey Doc,
Do you know who Steve Wren is?
Or anyone other UK dudes on the board know him???
I'm trying to remember a singer on one of the labels he was A&R for.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Never thought I'd see it on Soulstrut in a million years.
Posted by a Canuck no less...
Hey Doc,
Do you know who Steve Wren is?
Or anyone other UK dudes on the board know him???
I'm trying to remember a singer on one of the labels he was A&R for.
I don't know him, but I know of him. He's been around for years - he was an a&r for Jive/Zomba in the UK for a few years back in the late 80's/early 90's. He was a club DJ as well (could well still be), and I think he did/does some radio work too. I think he used to work in one of the West End record stores like Uptown or Release The Groove, although I might be confusing him with some other guy.
Never thought I'd see it on Soulstrut in a million years.
Posted by a Canuck no less...
Hey Doc,
Do you know who Steve Wren is?
Or anyone other UK dudes on the board know him???
I'm trying to remember a singer on one of the labels he was A&R for.
I don't know him, but I know of him. He's been around for years - he was an a&r for Jive/Zomba in the UK for a few years back in the late 80's/early 90's. He was a club DJ as well (could well still be), and I think he did/does some radio work too. I think he used to work in one of the West End record stores like Uptown or Release The Groove, although I might be confusing him with some other guy.
No, that's the feller. Steve does a regular show on Choice FM, a London urban station I used to do work for. He was involved in some Japanese dance label sometime after Jive but I can't remember the name. I want to say Avirex but those are the jackets with the gibberish on the back...
I don't know him, but I know of him. He's been around for years - he was an a&r for Jive/Zomba in the UK for a few years back in the late 80's/early 90's. He was a club DJ as well (could well still be), and I think he did/does some radio work too. I think he used to work in one of the West End record stores like Uptown or Release The Groove, although I might be confusing him with some other guy.
No, that's the feller. Steve does a regular show on Choice FM, a London urban station I used to do work for. He was involved in some Japanese dance label sometime after Jive but I can't remember the name. I want to say Avirex but those are the jackets with the gibberish on the back...
Yeah dudes...
Wrenie was one of the first people I met when I started to come to the UK doing records in the mid 90's.
And yeah, it was a Japanese label. He was trying to get them more into the soul/urban scene.
I remember one gurl on the label Elisha La'Verne. Did this one track I was really into. I wanna say it was this promo remix for a track called Say Yeh.
Comments
I'll definitely check out that album, then!
Tashan deserved to sell more records than he did, I think. By the time he did his third record, the whole house/rave scene had a pretty strong grip on things over here, so it was that much harder for someone like him to make a breakthrough. He was enough of a cult artist for the label to stick by him, though, because they knew that, even though his shit wasn't exactly commercial and they probably wouldn't get a crossover pop hit, he'd still sell a decent number of records. I think that's why heads over here liked him; because he always stuck to his guns and made music he believed in, rather than follow the trends of the time.
Yup yup. He always talks about how Russell would tell him that no one was trying to hear motherfuckers sing about some Afrocentric soul, etc., etc. And OBR refused to push or promote On The Horizon, which essentially, was all about taking Public Enemy's thing and dipping it in the soul sauce.
Then of course Arrested Development came along later that year and proved them all wrong.
Also, a certain A&R chick had a habit of spending more time hooking up with her artists then trying to promote them.
Tracy Waples or Faith Newman??? PM me if you don't want bust their shit.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
I never knew she died. That's a real shame. She had a big underground hit in the early 90's over here with a song called "Try My Love".
Mica - yes, still well connected with the BBC so although I don't think she has a deal, she can still sing and get heard on the radio. Another ex of Max Beesley!
Carleen Anderson - permanent UK resident now, senior tutor at an arts college over here (voice dept... doh!) and very keen equestrian, believe it or not. When she's not gigging or teaching, she's mucking out stables.
Jhelisa - Ollie Buckwell is getting some new product ready for his Dorado label and I believe Jhelisa is contributing to this. "Friendly Pressure" (the version with the spanish guitar) is fantastic.
Pamela - I agree, fantastic voice. Last thing I have with her on is a track by Platinum Doll (I can't remember the name; it's soulful jazzy house - could almost be an Incognito track).
Rick Astley - he didn't want the attention, ultimately. He did actually officially release a house tune a few years back that has a good Tiefschwarz remix.
Any non-ayo love for Stephen Dante and Don-E?
I could never get w/ his voice. Sounds like a bagel is stuck in his trachea.
Tashan's videos got played on local video shows but the local radio didnt play his stuff that at all. His look was suspect at the time. Kufi-down for real(in the videos at least. Dude was proto/quasi- neo-soul if i recall.I think New jack Swing was the dominant sound @ the time.
'Try my love' was recorded with Ernie McKone (superb session bassist and the bass for the Galliano band) in his Muswell Hill 'Attic' studios. I recorded in the same studio one time, and almost all of the lyrics came from drawings and posters on the wall that Ernie and other artists had hung up in the vocal booth.
Tashan has worked with Dave Jarvis and Chris Bangs on their now defunct Dadhouse label. Nice soulful gospelly house cut or two.
And Rose Windross, the other voice of Soul II Soul was knocked down and killed by a car a few years back. She was running from a security guard having robbed a store.
And Mica Paris is killin' it on the gospel circuit.
Nah, Rose is still alive. The girl who was killed was Do'Reen Waddell, who sang on "Feel Free", the second single.
Really? I read that it was Rose? She has an amazing voice, and needs more work.
She won't get it from Jazzie - as I recall, she was one of a number of ex-Soul II Soul alumni who took legal action against him for non-payment of session fees, etc. Courtney Pine was another.
Rose Windross does lots of music with her brother Norris 'Da Boss' doesn't she?
See I haven't really enjoyed a Lewis Taylor album since Lewis II. I preferred the grittier sound he toyed around with in the earlier records compared to the more recent stuff. In fact I probably liked the b-sides of his first couple of releases as much as anything he's done.
You can't mention Muswell Hill and Ernie without mentioning Push. It's the law in North London.
And Vivienne McKone who used to live downstairs from the studio.
Anyone know what happened to Noel McKoy?
I'm sure I heard some new Noel McKoy material when I was listening to Solar the other week. Sounded pretty good.
Vivienne McKone trivia (Viv Triv?): she plays the receptionist at the ad agency in that Bruce Robinson/Richard E. Grant movie "How To Get Ahead In Advertising".
Whats happened with Blues & Soul? I use to see it around everywhere. It was my link to what was happening over there.
That and my mate Ronnie Herel.
They not print'em anylonger???
I guess thats the way things go... I bet their circulation numbers have dropped huge since the net takeover. Too bad, I use to see it all over the place in this city.
Hahahaha! The town at the bottom of the list of "reviews" is the town in Cheshire where my family moved when we left Liverpool in the 70's! I'd forgotten that Winsford's become an established part of the soul all-nighter circuit in the North West of England. Never thought I'd see it on Soulstrut in a million years.
Posted by a Canuck no less...
Hey Doc,
Do you know who Steve Wren is?
Or anyone other UK dudes on the board know him???
I'm trying to remember a singer on one of the labels he was A&R for.
I don't know him, but I know of him. He's been around for years - he was an a&r for Jive/Zomba in the UK for a few years back in the late 80's/early 90's. He was a club DJ as well (could well still be), and I think he did/does some radio work too. I think he used to work in one of the West End record stores like Uptown or Release The Groove, although I might be confusing him with some other guy.
No, that's the feller. Steve does a regular show on Choice FM, a London urban station I used to do work for. He was involved in some Japanese dance label sometime after Jive but I can't remember the name. I want to say Avirex but those are the jackets with the gibberish on the back...
Yeah dudes...
Wrenie was one of the first people I met when I started to come to the UK doing records in the mid 90's.
And yeah, it was a Japanese label. He was trying to get them more into the soul/urban scene.
I remember one gurl on the label Elisha La'Verne. Did this one track I was really into. I wanna say it was this promo remix for a track called Say Yeh.
Wren was a top quality guy. Hope he's well.