The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 13 Nov 2011 10:27 PM PST Did the hands of time turn back? Was Go West really in town last week? IT is rare that any journalist gets a chance to interview someone again after an 18-year break but when it happens, it is almost like meeting a long-lost friend. That's how it seemed when Go West showed up in Kuala Lumpur last week for a one-off concert at the Hard Rock Café (HRC). Their last visit to Malaysia, back in 1993, had coincidentally also culminated in a showcase performance at the HRC on May 15, 1993. It was a whirlwind tour organised by the record label to promote their latest album then, Indian Summer, which spawned three huge hits, namely King Of Wishful Thinking, Faithful and What You Won't Do for Love. That album ended up being their biggest-selling album ever. Shocking though as it may seem, just six months later, the news arrived that the duo had broken up! Lead vocalist Peter Cox and guitarist-vocalist Richard Drummie had decided to part ways following a hugely successful album and massive world tour. What happened guys? "We just grew tired. We had known each other since we were 16. That album (Indian Summer) in the early 1990s saw us living together throughout the whole production process," Drummie said, careful to add that there was no bad blood over their going separate ways. "We were both staying in the United States at the time, so I came back to England and decided to start a family, but Peter stayed on to work on his music." Both kept in touch during that time, and Cox says he enjoyed exploring other opportunities in the US. "I stayed on in California and started making a lot of records and going on various tours," he said, adding that his first self-titled solo album came out a few years later. Talking to the guys, nothing has much changed from almost two decades ago. Cox is the same quiet person, with the more serious demeanour. It just takes Drummie's casual laid-back, chatty and more jovial nature to cajole a reaction out of Cox. Drummie earned his keep in Britain by setting up his own studio, and continuing to write, perform as well as produce songs and albums for various artistes, including Robbie Williams. It took seven long years before the duo finally teamed up again in the year 2000. "John Glover, our manager, kept calling us over the years, saying that the fans were asking for us. But we were not too keen on a reunion. He never gave up though. To be fair, it may never have worked until John eventually got the one thing which had been missing in my music career – playing at Wembley Stadium," Drummie said. "My kids had never really seen me perform. So, it was a dream come true for me to have my kids watch me on the greatest stage in England," he explained, adding that it was also a great feeling sharing the stage with some of the hottest acts from the 80s, including Paul Young and Kim Wilde. Cox was convinced to return and everything just fell into place for Go West to tour again, albeit as a retro group. This new status allows them to pick and choose their gigs without any added pressure from a record label. As Cox declares: "We are no more about selling lots of records. This (live gigs) is just what we want to do now." Go West has been a regular at the Rewind Festival, an annual festival featuring 80s stars such as Nik Kershaw, Human League, ABC, which draws more than 40,000 people every year. But Cox, 56, and Drummie, 52, have always essentially been about making music, and with that they decided to record a new album, without any label backing, and came out with Future Now, in 2008. The bug caught on and they quickly produced three separate live albums. They are now in the midst of compiling a three-part album aptly called 3D. Aside from new songs, the CDs also feature remakes of their earliest hits – We Close Our Eyes and Call Me. Their manager, Glover, adds that the boys were proud that after listening to the original recordings from 1984 and their latest recordings, one can hardly tell the difference. "We re-recorded these two songs so that we could own them, instead of the recording label, and offer them for any possible reuse, as will be the case in a movie that starts filming next year in Britain," Glover explained about the movie Grid Iron UK, a true story set in 1985 about an Englishman's passion for American football, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. "The film is financed by Pierce Brosnan, while Tony Hadley (of Spandau Ballet fame) makes an appearance," Glover said, adding that We Close Our Eyes will feature in the movie's soundtrack. Back to the duo's performance at HRC last week – it was as entertaining as it was 18 years ago and the crowd of mostly 40-somethings were singing along to the popular Go West staples besides a Smokey Robinson classic, Tracks Of My Tears, which the duo had included in their 1993 greatest hits album, Aces And Kings. Ending the show to rapturous applause, the duo pleased the crowd further by stating they would be back in April 2012 to perform with their full band in a concert held in conjunction with the Sepang F1 Grand Prix. The Go West performance was part of Hard Rock Café Kuala Lumpur's 20th anniversary celebrations. Fans of retro music are invited every Sunday to listen to live music performed by The Strollers, with classics from the 1960s and 70s. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 13 Nov 2011 10:26 PM PST After 20 years, Boyz II Men have not reached the end of the road in their music career. IN 1991, Boyz II Men arrived on the pop music scene with their own brand of R&B that peppered Motown-like harmonies with New Jack Swing, a genre that fused R&B, hip hop and pop music. The following year their wrenching ballad End Of The Road sent the Philadelphia natives to international superstardom, andlast month, the band released Twenty, a double-disc album of new and revisited material commemorating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony. Twenty reunites Wanya Morris, 38, Nathan Morris, 40, and Shawn Stockman, 39, with End Of The Road producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. Their latest single, One Up For Love, was produced by Edmonds. "There's a song for every person, a song for each day," said Wanya Morris, the youngest Boyz II Men. "It's autumn so the leaves are changing and it gives me a So Amazing vibe," he added, referencing a new mid-tempo track produced by the hitmaking duo Tim & Bob. "Tomorrow, if I'm feeling more romantic," Wanya continued, "I may want to listen to something like Slowly," which is the album's slinky ballad that also was produced by Tim & Bob. The 20-song collection is comprised of 12 new original tracks and eight newly-recorded versions of classics like Motownphilly, I'll Make Love to You, and On Bended Knee. "When we first did the songs they were just given to us and we went into the studio and got it done," explained Nathan Morris. "But now we've been singing them for so long and even experienced some of the stuff that we've been singing about ... we're able to express them a lot better." The group marvels at how far they – and the record industry overall – has changed in 20 years. "When we came out there wasn't even an Internet! No Internet!" said Wanya. "Everything is digital now and it's easier to get your talent out fast." But Wanya is careful not to discount celebrities like Justin Bieber whose career was launched on YouTube. Bieber, who was born the same year that Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love To You was a hit, counts the group among his influences, and he and Boyz II Men recorded a song together for the teen star's upcoming Christmas album. "(It) was the perfect avenue for us to do something different because it's the type of record that doesn't matter how old you are or who you are, it doesn't matter, as long as the song sounds great," said Wanya. While many Boyz II Men-inspired acts such as 98 Degrees have come and gone in the last two decades, Wanya attributes his group's longevity to their homegrown bonds. The trio met while students at The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. "Most of the time you have solo artistes that come together to form a group, and they're often contrived by a record label or a manager – just four or five guys who look like models or TV stars," said Wanya. "Boyz II Men, we came together through music." To be sure, there have been differences among the group over the years. Originally a quartet, the group saw the exit of original member Michael McCary in 2003. Although health issues were cited at the time, Nathan says now that McCrary "kind of got lazy" and that "it wasn't an amicable separation." Now, the band struggles with being called legends because, they say, there is much more music to come. "Legendary status is usually reached at the end of your career. We're just beginning a new chapter in ours," said Wanya. "We hope that title is still representative of who we are when we put out the record 'Forty'!" – Reuters Boyz II Men's Twenty is released by Universal Music Malaysia Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Justin Timberlake keeps date for Marine Corps Ball Posted: 13 Nov 2011 07:26 PM PST LOS ANGELES: Justin Timberlake's date with a Marine combat instructor on Saturday night was "one of the most moving evenings" of his life, the singer-turned-actor said on his website. Keeping his promise to Corporal Kelsey De Santis, Timberlake donned formal wear to escort her to the Instructor Battalion Marine Corps Ball in Richmond, Virginia. In a post on his website Sunday, Timberlake noted that he was "almost brought to tears" during a video tribute to Marines. De Santis, who practices mixed martial arts, invited Timberlake to the event via a YouTube video in July. She was inspired to reach out to him after he publicly encouraged Mila Kunis, his "Friends with Benefits" co-star, to accept a similar invitation from a serviceman. "You want to call out my girl Mila?" De Santis said to Timberlake in her video. "Well, I'm going to call you out and ask you to come to the Marine Corps ball with me on Nov. 12." She added, "If you can't go, all I have to say is, cry me a river." Timberlake said in his post that he and De Santis had ample time to chat before the evening's ceremony, and that she spoke of her training in mixed martial arts "with a passion, a discipline, and a respect." He was struck by her concern with his comfort at the ball. "I have to tell you, it's not every day that I meet a 23-year-old girl and she's more worried about if I'm having fun or if I'm comfortable!" Timberlake wrote. "It hit me all of a sudden that these were the type of people that look after us and our freedom... Last night changed my life and I will never forget it." A military wife who attended Saturday's event at the Richmond Convention Center told local news station WTVR that Timberlake "posed for pictures and seemed like a normal guy." Kunis, meanwhile, will attend a Marine Corps Ball with Sergeant Scott Moore on Nov. 18 in Greenville, North Carolina. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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