by Ben J. Brown Jr.

Ah yes… Friday nights were the best back in the 80’s. Detroit producer Zo! and multitalented emcee and vocalist Phonte (nicknamed on this project as Tigallo and Tay Pain) remember and love the music from back then. Everyone would stay up til midnight to catch the hottest (and sometimes controversial) music videos on shows like BET’s Midnight Love or Video Soul, TBS’s Night Tracks, NBC’s Friday Night Videos, or the call to order music video channel The Box. And back then, rock, pop, and soul videos all came on at the same time so the exposure to acts like Toto, A-Ha, Human League, Rude Boys, Level 42, Intro, and Joe Jackson. Yeah, I know… looking at that list of artists, most people would tend to say, “WHO?!??!” but once the song plays, so many people would light up and start singing along at least by the time the chorus comes in!

With this nostalgia at heart, Zo! and Phonte offer a hilarious but faithful project called Zo! and Tigallo Love the 80’s. Here they belt out updated yet true to the original spirit remakes of the following:

Africa – Toto

Take On Me – A-Ha

Steppin’ Out – Joe Jackson

Something About You – Level 42

I’m Only Human – Human League

Written All Over Your Face – Rude Boys with an outro feat. Come Inside by Intro

To help out with the harmonizing, Darien Brockington and Carlitta Durand (who commonly offer their vocals to Little Brother and Hall Of Justus projects) are featured to round out Phonte’s lead vocals.

What brings this project together in a fashion that becomes more of a respectful effort than a mocking effort is not only Phonte’s admirable lack of deviation from the tone and stylings of the original recordings but Zo!’s smooth and 80’s-like production. Still, Zo! manages to add a bit of updated percussion and a bit more funk to each track that will have the hardest B-boy light up and bob his head! Phonte also even adds a bit more to the end of Take On Me and I’m Only Human that oddly enough still fit into the spirit of the song. These additional excursions are still smoothed out and light hearted and add just enough to the song to keep the experience as timeless as the original. It’s fascinating just looking at the tracklist how well the songs come together as one project without seeming out of place. Even though when Written All Over Your Face comes on, more than a few people will fall out laughing with memories of Percy Miracles (another alter ego of Phonte’s)!

It is guaranteed that anyone who even vaguely remembers these songs will thoroughly enjoy these remakes as a light hearted but respectful offering. Even if you haven’t heard these songs before, the timeless spirit of these tunes will have many running to Google the song and hear the original as well. So, pop this CD in, laugh, love it, and then tell a friend to buy it!

Buy “Zo! and Tigallo Love the 80’s” from Fatbeats, Access Hiphop, Sandbox, and Underground Hiphop.

related post: Reminiscing with Zo and Tigallo

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm and is filed under New Music, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Or, if you wish, you can find all the posts Honey