Entertainment
Dece ber 23-29, 199
MICHIGAN CITIZE
,
Pa e U
oday
ps CO
roversy wi h ne
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Toda, "lIveil "A N« had per onal problem that
For "Ill": Four-man vocal he had to take care of. He
group, Today, bur t on the couldn't get around to u .
cene in 1989 wi th the num-
ber three mash, "Him Or
Me" and it's number one fol­
lowup, "Girl I Got My Eyes
011 You. "
The public's been anxious­
ly awaiting the retum of this
exciting quartet but a series
of backroom quabbles be­
tween super-producer Teddy
Riley-who discovered
Today-and his former
manager. Gene Griffin, kept
mu ic fan waiting.
Fact i • when Gene· and
Teddy' profe ional and per­
sonal relation hip hit the
kid earlier this year Today
got caught in the fallout and
when the du thad eurec,
they h d p l it from both
Teddy nd G nco
According to Today lead
singer Lee "Bubba"
Dra eford, and group mem­
ber Larry "Chief" Singletary;
jhe whole thin. wa Griffin's
fault. "One bad apple poiled
the whole bun h. We had a
plit with Gene. and Teddy
WE DIDN'T WA T to
pressure him. He had a lot of
legal tuff to do and he was
just tied up." One of the legal
problems Chief referred to
was a S 10 million fraud, e -
tortion and racketeering law-
uit Teddy filed against
Gene, claiming among other
things, that Gene had cheated
him out of royal tie and mer­
chandizing revenue.
However today, the wait is
finally over - Today has
released their second album.
"The New Formula", but they
had to cut out on their own to
do it. And even though
they're not wor ci ng with
Teddy Riley anymore, Today
is still jamming.
All four member of the
group can sing and ith each
album they plan to how off.
a Iittlc more of their talent.
What's more, the members of
Today say their "New For­
mula" album reflect their
per on litic better than their
<>.
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first album did. They've even
got a different look.
Tbe new album show
tbem kicking bac classy in
styli h GQ uits, a long way
from their first album cover
which depicted them in
baggy, blue and white sweat
shirts, leaping into the clouds
with big, boyish grins on
their faces.
"We had, the Mighty
Cloud of Joy suit , up in the
air," they said. "Everybody
thought e were a gospel
group, so it wa kind of hard
for people to establish in
their mind what kind of mu lc
we had, what kind of people'
wewere,"
SO FAR, TODAY'S "New
Formula" seem' to b work­
ing. Although it would have
been great to see wh t kind of
magic Teddy Riley could
have worked with them their
� econd time around, the e
four fella have definitely
found a groove wi th thei r
new' staff of writer and
producer . .
It's alway hame when
behind-the-scene politic
get in the way of the creative
process, but in the ca e of
Today the damage appear
minimal - Today. on the
tra k and throwin' down like
they 'nnw how.
From ti,e PP& T (People,
Places & Things) File: If you
think hand orne 26-year old
Rockwell: (Kennedy Gordy)
. on of Motown founder Berry
Gordy, who was riding high
in early 1984 with the huge
hit, "Somebody's Watching
M�", i finished with the
music bu ines think again
Fact i , he bclieves hi
four ycar abs nee from the
ADAMS
EST
CHILD
. DEVELOP ENT
FACILITY
• hriatlan
environm nt
• Hot meal
• Experlenc d,
Train d tatt
mu ic scene has enhanced hi
creativity and hope that will
show in hi . next
album ... You'd never gues it
from li tening to her sing, but
Black Box lead vocalist
Katrin Quinol does not speak
English.
Fact is, the statuesque ex­
model was born and rai ed in
Paris and has lived in Italy
since she wa 17, so while
she' fluent in French and
Italian, English is a foreign
language.
How then did he ignite an
international £rre with their
super-Charged debut in Ie,
"Everybody, Ev er yb ody "!
Well, be told u , through an
interpreter, that she had to
learn each one of the ong on
nable r
. 5:"'.111 group'
For A Per.ona' Loving puch
& Child Care You Can T u u
the group 's "Dreamland"
album syllable by syllable.
, From Our Feedback Lin
Over the pas t few weeks, 0 r
phone's bee ringing off the
hook with rumor that Big :
Daddy Kane has AIDS_ Let's
see if we. can clear this up
once and for all. Big Daddy
Kane does not have AIDS! He
was not on 20/20, "60
Minute ., or any other show
crying about how be got the
di ea e. Bobby Brown and
Heavy D. don't have AIDS
either.
If YOII hav an opinion on
any RadioS op story, just
call tbe Fe db ack Line at
(213) 257-2154.
J&J
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i g
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