TV One's UnSung is well into its third season, and I must say that this is one of my favorite shows on TV One. I enjoyed the Rose Royce episode very much. (Was I alone in thinking at some point they were called Rolls Royce like the car?) However, last night's much anticipated episode about DC-homegirl Stacy Lattisaw was a bit of a yawn-fest if there ever was one. The verdict is still out on whether the episode was boring because 1) Lattisaw is gosh-darn down-to-earth, normal and was never really a controversial or highly exciting entertainer to begin with or 2) maybe there weren't too many people interviewed for her story that were hip to anything worth us really knowing. Who can say?
What I will do, though, is share my list of who I would like to see featured on the show with the hope that their story is thoroughly researched and curious minds like mine can be satiated with the details. It is always intriguing to learn what it was that made someone be so involved in the industry and then up and leave or place their career on the back burner. Peep my picks after the bounce.
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Irene Cara
Whether you loved her as CoCo in the movie Fame or first heard her voice on the Flashdance soundtrack, you were a true '80s baby if you were an Irene Cara groupie like me. Cara was Tatayana Ali-cute and the It-girl of the late '70s and early '80s, appearing in classics like the movie Sparkle, which inspired En Vogue's sexy red dresses in the video for "Giving Him Something He Can Feel." But then she all but disappeared until popping up in 2005 on NBC on the competition series Hit Me Baby One More Time with her band Hot Caramel. An UnSung episode about her would definitely be cool to watch.
Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal
If you don't know and love the song "Saturday Love," then you need to hand your Soul card back swiftly and surely. This song is classic Soul. But, what became of the two singers who performed this duet together and many other songs from the '80s? Alexander O'Neal's song "Fake" was probably one of my favorite songs from the decade. With that Minneapolis sound that was trademark of popular acts like The Time and Prince, Alexander was well on his way. What happened? Cherrelle also seemed like she was on the move. Her video to her song "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" will always be a fun flashback with its King Kong-based plot.
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Maxi Priest
With hits like "Close to You" in 1990 topping the charts, we just knew that Maxi Priest would be a name we would just be hearing about over and over again. This London-born crooner had the voice and energy that made the early '90s most known for upbeat talent. Now, though Maxi still performs professionally, we don't hear about him nearly as much as we should, and I would love to hear his story through UnSung. With recent reports in the last two years suggesting he might link up with the band UB40, it would be nice to get the lowdown on this talented brother who has performed songs with everyone from Roberta Flack to Shabba Ranks.
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Vanity 6
- Advertisement -Before there was Beyoncé's Sasha Fierce or Lil Kim's nasty theatrics, there was Vanity 6, selling hot sex on a platter laced with some of the illest Prince beats you could hope for. Yes, we all heard the stories about how lead singer Vanity is now a born again Christian somewhere, but aren't we curious as to just how in the hell that happened? Vanity 6 was the forbidden group I wasn't allowed to listen to and sing along with around my mom but who embodied young girl visions of what sexy was. Highly inappropriate for young children like me at the time, of course, the group had a mystique that definitely had some qualities later used by female acts to follow. Aren't you a bit curious to know the story on how this girl group even got started in the first place? And, most importantly, what are the other two ladies in the group--Brenda and Susan--doing? Now, THAT is the question.
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