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ENTERTAINMENT
BRIEFS
For Lov of Magic
Inon:oftherm �mo­
ments of the evening Magic
lohman pteSeIltcd the Jackie
RobimonSpnAwardby AIsenio
HalL
/48Johmon� the award,
he surpmcd the 'ght of 1D
Lalcer Ieamrn8tes woo had rome k>
bewithhimmi joincdhimonstage.
� of tIDe woo came out WI6
Kareem Abdul Jabber.
Badcs he tallccd about til:
ore-co-ore benefit � agamst
"Dr. J", to be held February 28. at
� Taj Mahal in Atlantic ety.
"Partofourobjective", says Jab­
bar, "is k> help EaIVin's fi>uOOaIion
with some cash contributions.
When it (AIDS) k>ldasoolCbody
da;e to you, it really ta � dfrd
ofwalq �ammaking)'OUthink
what can I do. I wart ., do aomc-
� k> try to help my fiirnL"
LOG n Good
Halle Bmy gotmyvoee forbest
dft&ed, with her smamng red
dJe&s. � came with Q1ris�r
WtllianB. It WM repodCd � two
� married year. Thlse repor1S
were laa-denied (ASO\I'Ce te me
the wcddiJ8 WM r annuUcd).
At any raIe, they were sure
cmicd � om nigtL.Bcny wmo't
oolyone looking pd.
So k>o Natalie Q)Ie wOO
am felt great after winring 1htee
8W8I'(k. But it was tme than ttm
k> her. "I don't �" ys
NaIaUc, "bl my falmwonall ttm
many awmds d� m career. I
ad ttm he did win a Gramtny.
I'm oot even �y sure, but
getting mminatcd for all these
awards' � I believe he'd
be atBllUlely 1hrillcd about."
By1he way.
Qq irmoolDlable diffe�
Lou Ga;sctt' divo�1* wife of
bee yeatS. CyBti Jana GaIietL
Gos&eU was rot at the IJnI&c
Awards, but did pw in an ap­
�at�ACEAW8It& Am
� � at the ACE AWBItk
weaeImanml fiarreDavidBowie.
"Thi lbum giv
to expre my elf. Wh t m e it
different from my wor mem­
ber of Levert i it reflec my own
m turing, my own proce of grow­
ing ere tively." Gerald Levert, le d
ingerofhitm kers Levert (who've
racked up three gold lbum and
nine #1 R B hits in the p t five
years), i talking about Private Line
his first 010 venture on Atco/Ea 1-
We 1 Record.
The producer and co-writer of 11
eleven tracks on his sparkling debut
et, Gerald confe e that the ongs
contained on Private Line are
"more personal than on th Levert
albums. A lot of the tune are b ed
on my own experiences or the ex­
perience of tho e close to me."
The authenticity of th ubject
matter on Private Line is matched
only by the realness of Gerald'
inging. Raw, oulful and heartfelt,
Gerald' vocals throughout the
album are arguabl y. some of his best
on tape, capturing the kind of
spirited, pontaneous performance
that have been the focu of his
Show-stopping "live" appearances
with leVert.
Gerald explains that the infec­
tious, groove-laden title cut (and
first single), "Private Line," i all
about finding out where people are
coming from when they deal with
you.
THE PLAINTIVE "1 ust Be­
cause I'm Wrong," another song
from the he rt, i about a woman
who "had the tendency. to hold
things against me. If t w wrong,
I'd admit it and apologize, but she'd
still hold it against me."
The emotionally moving "Baby
Hold On To Me," featuring father
Eddie Levert (the legendary lead
singer of the O''Jays) is, says
Gerald, "very special to me because
we've wanted to sing together on a
record for qui te some time now, nd
the moment my Dad heard the track,
he knew it was the one for us to do."
Of the nasty 'n' funky "I Wanna Be
'Bad," Gerald chuckles, "it speaks
for itself!"
Aside from giving him the
ch nee to tretch out vocally,
Private Line love Gerald th
opportunity to try me new p­
pro ch to production. "I ot to do
omething th t' the ultim te for
me: I used 12-piec trin ection
on two ongs, 'lust A Little Some­
thing' nd 'Hurtin' For You.' I
grew up with th t whole Philly In­
tern lion I ound in th ·7 ,with
all my Dad' hit record. Tho e
record alway used full orche tra
and hom ections 0 it w real
thrill for me to be able to record that
way on the album," ays Gerald.
That the mu Ic on Ger Id
Levert's album i hone t and oul­
ful i hardly urpri ing given hi
early years growing up in Ohio, the
son of one of Black music' mo t
distinctive and renowned ingers.
"I alway wanted to sing, and early
on I definitely copied my Dad. But
I got eriou about inging a
career when I was around ten and I
got the chance to be on the road
with my Dad and The O'Jay when
they were playing big aren .
Everyone was having such a good
time and I heard all the girl
screaming and that wit!"
IN 1985, the group Levert
(fe turing Gerald, younger brother
Sean, and grade chool buddy Marc
Gordon) recorded their first album,
I Get Hot. While the album didn't
take off on a major level, it did
erve as Levert's introduction to
the Atlantic Recording Corpora­
tion.
In 1987' follow-up gold LP,
TM Big Throwdown, yielding the
major Pop/R&B mash
"Casanova" and Levert began to
tour on a regular basi , drawing.
rave reviews and building a loyal
audience co i-to-coast. A year
later, Just Coolin' and its hit title
track kept the momentum going.
In between hi work with the
group, 6erald also too time from
his busy schedule to produce a
number of major artist.
In 1990, Levert relea ed the
now-gold Rope A Dope album.
Gerald's venture as a solo artist w
a natural progres ion.
,
Gerald Levert has no need to be
nervous. Private Line is not only a
sparkling showcase for his many
GERALD LEVERT
. I
I
.
..
.
....
talents, but a more intimate, per­
sonal musical experience that. rein­
forces his tatus as one of the
leaders among the growing new
breed of .90s R&B vocali tao •
y
RandY'sentenced
to psychological
help
Rmty . .ladam was aJblCCd
k>30days injailfi>r�bWwife.
Wl* injail, � had k> wxIeIgo
inIensive�.
�judgeinhisCBwasq\.l)tcd
sayq Ihat Rmty � rmre
�k>gical help dlm purisb­
nai.
As tix' lis illns, � k>
repo � OOspitalizcd in
� b'menIBl cmudon.
iz Markie
banned
Biz Marlde's video "ToiJetStool
RIfT' been bamed fJan MIV,
BET ant Video J\irbox.
� video stows � rappez t- .
q on a Dlet "waiq for my
howe \)�."
Aax>� k> Biz, � rap W$
inClIed k> be fumy. He added he
wasn't tryiIw k> be otIemive. � a
part f1 the porootion, tlx: media
ItlCdved tiriy thltsqWt�
when )W lift � lid .. weI1,
we IDpe it' water.
PARAMUS, NJ -Representing 20 with six'l hits, including two from
plus successful years of R&B his- newcomers The Rude Boys, who'
tory, leVert and The O'Jays have smash "Writien All Over Your
been nominated for Outstanding Face" from their LP RUtk A waken­
Vocal Group of the year t the ingcapturingBlllboard' Top R�B
NAACP' Image Awards. Kicking Single Of The Year, the LP scoring
off the new year in style, th O'Jays in tbe Top R&B Album category.
will also be inducted into the. Image Gerald' solo LP, Private Line, The
Awards' Hall Of Fame, witha med- O'Jay Emotionally Yours and
ley of their hits being performed by Levert's Rope A Dope Style haYe
Levert as a 'tribute. all yielded solid charrsucce this
LeVert, The O'Jays and the year as well, bringing Trevel into
Rude Boys, have recently com- the forefront of R&B' hitmake .
pleted a seven month long US tour Recently appearing on Live wjth
that also marked Gerald's first olos Regis and Kathy Lee, the father and
performance, his debut single son team of Eddie and Gerald Le­
"Private Line" hitting ilIon Vert has emerged a one of the
Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart. harde t working R&B frontmen of
According to USA Today, Gerald's ·91. With several tentative LP'
vocal talent and emotional planned for Trevel in the new year,
delivery " ... rival(s) (hi ) contern- '92 will without a doubt be loaded
porary Johnny Gill." Performance with their pecial blend of musical
from Levert, The Rude Boy and soul. As Gerald, who was voted
The O'Jays were equally excit- one of Billboard's top 25 R&B
lng, de cribed by the Los Angeles producers, says regarding Trevel'
Times " ... delivering plenty of future musical plans, they will
cl ,p ion and emotion ... " in '" ... try to keep it �arthy nd oulful."
their re pective ets. With the leVert family at the helm,
Trevel Productions, the m nage- it without a doubt will be.
ment, arti t development and
production, company foI11¥d by the
LeVert family has chalked up 1991
Johnny Gill makes acting debut
Popular rhythm & blues singer Johnny Gill. former
member New Edition. makes hiS acting debut on the hit
comedy "Family Matters" February 7 (8:00·*8:30 PM. PT)·.
In this episode. Laura (Kelhc Shanygne Wllhams) tells
Steve (Jaleel White) that she'lI give hun a kiss If he
arranges for her to meet all-time favorite singer - -- Johnny
Gill. Though Laura is fully confident that such meeting
will not take place. Urkel qUickly tracks down the Singer
and makes him an offer hl' can', rf'fw;f'