-- -- -_ -----
A po esm n for the
• United egro College Fund
nnounced that proceeds
from Prince' single "Money
· DoII't Mattu 2 Night" will be
· donated to the UNCF.
Additionally, plans for a
· sequel to Prince' uperhero
· comic book venture are in the
• works.
· Th
Un n or d
tory
Lutber Campbell i getting
· nasty in print. Hi newly-
• pubU hed autobiography i
• "A NAtty As They Want To
· Be: � U1tCeMored Story of
: Luthu Campbell of the 2 Live
· Crew." It detail Campbell's
• days a problem child up
through hi infamous rap ,
r.
9
Sultry pleading and moan-
ing is what's made Keith
Sweat a hit. The thirty-some­
thing, ex-Wan Street worker
has sold more than 4 million
copies of his debut album,
"Malee It Last Forever" and
close to four million of his
second release, "1'11 Give All
My Love To Ym.".
Despite his acclaim as one
of the original New Jack
swingers, Keith Sweat has
made a reputation for himself
with his crooming love bal­
lads. And now he holds the
undisputed title as the king of
the begging balladeers.
And, ohl How the ladies
love it! Keith will be the first
to tell you he's not too proud
to beg. In fact, it's what made
him tand out among the new
.crowd of male singers. For
• some, Keith's one-octave,
raspy, nasal vocals leave
something to be desired. But
the critics will agree, Keith's
captured the fall of R&.B
music-and that's what his
listeners are drawn to.
Now, Keith I 'keeping it
comin' with more moans and
groans, and a lot more oul.
Uke his last two albums, his
current "Keep It Comin'", is
full of songs dealing with
relationships. Keith says he
keep writing about it be­
cause he's quite fluent on the
topic. Keith's current single
"Why Me Baby" is already
making an impres ive stand
on the charts-c-giving the
crooner another hit to add to
the collection. There is
omeone special in Keith's
life right now, but he
wouldn't say who or how
serious it is. He did admit
that' be would like to ettle
�wn. Keith recently moved
to Atlanta to get away from it
all. But no matter where he
i, he's gonn keep it
comin-moaning, groaning,
moving and grooving an the
way to the top.
"
- compiled by K Bark.
- epeclal contributor:
RadioScope ... The Column
• •
Andl sle p
And I dream of the person I might
have been
There I am free again
Andlpeale
Like omeone who's been to the
highut peaks
And back again
Andlswear
']'JaQt my grass is greener than
anyone's
'Til I believe again
Then I wake
And the dreom fades away and I
focetMday
And I realize
Tliat there's got to be
some hero in me
When Jeffrey Gaine speaks
. about heroism on the opening track
of his new self-titled debut on
Chrysalis Records, he's inging
about life, and the bravery it takes
to live it day to day and the courage
needed to believe in your own
hopes and dreams. By working to
realize hi own dreams, he hopes in
orne way to show others that
heme are found not on ome di -
tant, illuminated tage, but right
within us all.
Jeffrey, now 26, was born, rai ed
and still lives in a suburb of
Pennsylvania's capital city, Harris­
burg. It w , according to Jeffrey,
"the kind of neighborhood where
people carved their hedge into
IhapeS. I w lucky - pare
lievcd in fett g thin gro
naturally, and consequently I
learned early on to appreciate the
beauty of things as they were, rather
than what I could make them into."
Jeffrey's childhood was filled
with free-spirited encounters.
"There was always someone ing­
ing or playing records. My whole
family loved music of one kind or
another. My cousins, for instance,
turned me on to artists such as
Donovan, Dylan and Zeppelin -
all those things residual hippies
were listening to. Amazingly, they
tuned an old, three-stringed toy
guitar of my sister's and were able
to play real songs. Right then I real­
ized music wasn't just something
on the radio or on records, it was a
reality. "
The arts, particularly music and
drawing, captured Jeffrey's im­
agination from the start, through his
interests were not always en­
couraged by those teachers so
sharply yet compassionately
, depicted in the song "Headmasters
Of Mine": "The first song I remem­
ber writing was interrupted by my
fourth grade teacher, who snatched
up my song and read it to the class
hoping this would humiliate me.
All it did was make me sad for
By GEORGE FERRIS
"It's going to be the mo t
controversial film of the decade,"
promises Denzel Washington,
talking about the upcoming film,
"MalcolmX. "
The movie, to be released at
Thanksgiving, stars Denzel in the
lead role of slain leader Malcolm X
and has already stirred its own fair
hare of controversy.
Two issues parking that
ever-desirble media attention are
money and personality.
The movie was to \:08t $28
million, but that figure has risen to
$33 million, a relatively cheap cost
as movie go. But the overrun
prompted Completion Bond
Company, which insures investors
against co t overrun, to take
control of the movie and inform
director Spike Lee that the film will
be no longer than two boUlS and 15
minutes, ccording to a report in the
children bein force-fed omeone
el e' morality by dul perpet t­
ing their own fe and i curitic.
Children houldn't be taught me
or be frighten d to feel. W y b c
then I knew I w nted to pe for
those ilenced."
In the pring of 1979, 13-ye r­
old Jeffrey traded in an old drum t
he had for new electric guitar.
Jeffrey explains, "I played drums a
bit, but once I decided to get a b nd
together I knew I wanted to sing and
thought I'd try coming out from be­
hind everyone. I pent countl
hours in b ements and g rages
working out covers and eventually
I got into bands relying he vHyon
my vocal."
Jeffrey's first "profe sional" gig
came in the early 'BO's when he and
a group of high school buddies were
hired by the owner of a strip bar.
"We were happy to be playing for
someone other than our shadows,"
he remembers. "We played covers
by The Clash, The Jam, Elvi Co­
tello, Joe Jackson and Gang Of
Four," Two other artists, John Len­
non and David Bowie, were special
influences. Their directne , in­
tegrity and daring were models for
Jefferey' own songwritting. Inter­
estingly, Lennon and Bowie al 0
sang about "heroes," both working
cl and just-for-one-day kinds.
JEFFREY CONTINUED
to. pi away t music In Harris­
burg, installing carpet by day and
playing whenever, however and
with whomever by night. "I learned
a lot," he says, "but soon I was just
treading water. I wanted to play for
some new faces. During the spring
of' 89 I had been given two choices:
go to New York and join 8 band as
a front man or go to Philadelphia
and start a solo gig with a manage­
ment team. The band was already
assured a deal with a major record
company, but I figured I'd be sell­
ing out all the people who liked
what I was about. So I continued by
myself and moved to Philly."
His songs and decided non-rstar
trip" stage demeanor won a strong
following in Philadelphia. "The
next thing I knew," Jeffrey laughs,
"I was playing the Bitter End in
New York and they were calling
gigs 'showcases." Do one more
quick cut and Jeffrey is signed to
Chrysalis and recording his label
debut with friends from old Harris­
burg bands. The album, produced
by Richard Gottehrer, "is not too
elaborate," according to Jeffrey.
. "People know me as a solo per­
former, so I figured I'd work a band
in slowly. For me, it's a comfort­
able transition."
The songs, set in a context of
Jeffery Gaines
, classic rock with delicate folk shad­
ings, speak for themselves. They
are both character sketches and
philosophical meditations, ex­
aminations of living in the world
fashioned with gentleness, clarity
and disarming honesty. It's
romance not in simple, storybook
terms but in the guise of "A Dark
Love Song." On crucial tracks like
"Hero In Me" and "Scares Me
More," Jeffrey confronts dead-on
the terrors and limits that come not
from the outside, but from inside a
person's head and heart.
ing to do with me. I'm completely
insignificant, and I like that. There
are too many individuals in music
now who think their name and
presence is more important than
what they do with it."
Jeffrey Gaines' self-titled debut
is a raw, unconventional, off -center
approach to "working things out"
for those who will see vulnerability
and truth as very necessary ele­
ments.
"I KNOW SO many people
who are down on their lives," Jef­
frey says gravely. i'They look at
their TV and say, 'Tell me about the
world of the Beautiful People -let
me see what the "real" people live
like.' What I try to express is what
most people try to cover up. And by
doing it and remaining sane and
honest and still playing a slow, I'm
hoping people will say 'Well, if he
can do it, I cando it too.' It's almost
like now what I'm doing has noth-
a
New York Times.
The film, which was shot in
Harlem, upstate New York, Egypt
and South Africa, is in the editing
proces . Recently, Lee showed
Warner Brothers executives a
four-hour version Lee reportedly
told the Warner bigwig that if
Oliver Stone .could IUD the movie
about John F. Kennedy for more
than three hours, be should have
equal 'time.
STUDIOS PREFER shorter
films, because they can show it
more times in a day, making more
money.
Malcolm X producer, Marvin
Worth, backed Lee up, saying if
Lee anted three hours, he would
get the three hours for the movie.
The movie i based on a
screo.nplay ntten more than 20
years ago by late writeJS James
Baldwin and Arnold Pede
Malcolm X's widow, Betty
Shabazz, served as consultant on
the film, as did Highland Parker
Paul Lee, historian specializing in
Malcolm X research.
Amiri Baraka, poet, took issue
with Spike Lee and the film last
summer, contributing to the
ongoing controversy urroundlng
the film.
Baran said the movie will be a
distortion o( Malcolm X's life "to
make middl�lass Negroes sleep
easier."
Baraka also criticized Lee's
"She's Goaa Have It" and "Do tM
Right Thing" for their depiction of
African Americans. Lee is part of a
"retrograde movement in this
country," according to Baraka.
Meanwhile, the public-Denzel
fans and Malcolm admirers alike
-await the movie' release.
Denzel W bingtoo