Maybe we're not in the mood for message records right now. Even so, "Crack Killed Applejack" is a powerfully persuasive insight into the tragedy of American basketball star Len Bias, who, after a distinguished high school record, becomes addicted to crack, thereby ruining his life. It eventually killed him.

If you've been a funk lover for at least ten years, you will no doubt remember George and Louis as the two brothers who got you out on the dance floor with a string of hits for A&M that included "I'll Be Good To You", "Get The Funk Out My Face", "Ain't We Funkin' Now", "Stomp!" and "Light Up The Night".

BELIEVE me, it's just a matter of time before Glenn Jones breaks through and enters the proverbial winner's circle for life! I've been saying this for two years now and felt it was timely now that RCA has just released Glenn's third LP, entitled "Take It From Me".

It's not very often that a group hits the top spot on any chart with their first record but Levert (Sean and Gerald Levert and Marc Gordon) did just that last year with "(Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind" when the record, taken from their debut album entitled "Bloodline", became a black music No. 1. A little over a year later, with a solid stint on the road behind them, Levert are threatening to repeat their initial success with "Casanova", the insistent, hypnotic ditty produced by Reggie Calloway.

As his official Geffen Records' bio states, "John White sings with the authority and control of some of R&B's finest vocalists ..." and after listening to the gentleman's debut LP, "Night People", it would be tough to disagree.

Read the success story of Colonel Abrams trapped. It's an interview that Colonel Abrams gave for Blues and Soul magazine in 1985.

It's one of those times in Larry Blackmon's pretty long, fairly illustrious career when everything must seem to be happening so frustratingly slowly.

Last year saw his band Cameo consolidate ten years of powerful, consistent music with their biggest selling album to date, "Single Life" — not to mention their first hit singles in the U.K., "Single Life" and "She's Strange" — and it now seemed that, at last, Cameo were destined for true international recognition.

JUST in case there are still people who have yet to hear the news Shirley Jones is back in the fast lane and moving up through the gears like Nigel Man sell on a good day! The former The Jones Girls who, with sisters Brenda and Valerie, endeared themselves to a generation via their unique mellifluous soulful vocals as showcased on such classic tracks as "You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" and "Nights Over Egypt" was reaping instantaneous rewards following the release of her debut solo album "Always In The Mood" and the initial offshoot single "Do You Get Enough Love".

AFTER a long hiatus and a label change, Steve Arrington is back in the land of the recorded living! The ex-front man for Slave marks his switch from Atlantic/Cotillion to Manhattan with what most critics feel is his best and, even more importantly, his most commercial effort yet "jam Packed".

FINDING out that Atlantic Starr? whose music has marked them as a real staple in anyone's black music diet for the past 9 years ? have only ever had one gold album came as a shock to me when keyboardists Jonathan Lewis revealed that very information during the course of our recent interview, held in conjunction with the forthcoming release of the group's Warner Brothers' debut, "All In The Name Of Love". You could, as they say, have knocked me down with a pennyfeather ? or some kind of feather!

The phone rings at exactly 2:30pm on a sunny L.A. afternoon, and for any interview to begin precisely on time is, to say the least, unusual. On the other end of the line is Reginald McArthur, lead singer of The Controllers, the Alabama-based group whose recording career began in 1975 with the ever-soulful "Somebody's Gotta Win, Somebody's Gotta Lose".
Minutes later, we're joined by baritone Lenard Brown for a three-way conversation centred around the release of the quartet's first album for Capitol Records, appropriately entitled, "Just In Time".

Location: Just outside a hotel room in the Holiday Inn at Swiss Cottage. Wanda, the very beautiful female member of Raze, opens the door and greets me with a warm and glowing smile. This is going to be interesting, methinks, "Oh we'll be out in two minutes."