"One Way Love" by TKA

Song#:  2749
Date:  06/07/1986
Debut:  86
Peak:  75
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Freestyle, Dance, R&B



Pop Bits:  This trio of singers happened to be at the right place at the right time and were discovered. The group was performing at a sweet sixteen party and in attendance was record producer/manager that liked what he heard. He helped the trio get signed to Tommy Boy Records. They began recording songs and to get the ball rolling, the label pushed out this debut single. It ended up being popular in clubs and reached #8 on the Dance chart. It then was able to reach #56 at R&B while spending a couple of months in the bottom quarter of the Pop chart. It was a good start, so the label released another track later in '86 titled "Come Get My Love." Like their previous single, it was a club hit that also got to the #8 spot. A full album was then called for and the trio's debut LP, Scars of Love, would come out in October of '87. Four more singles would be released from the album and all of them got inside the Dance Top 30 including one more Top 10 - the #6 "Tears May Fall." The album would peak at #135 early in '88, nearly two years after this first single was released. It was a long, but fruitful introduction for the trio.

ReduxReview:  Freestyle had been popular in the clubs for a few years and it was just beginning to leak over into the mainstream right about the time these guys came along. The genre would break wider in 1987 with hits like "Come Go with Me" by Exposé, so the timing was good for TKA. Indeed they did well at Dance, but as in the case of this song I don't think the material was strong enough to get pop listeners involved. While the rhythm and production are fine, the verse and bridge are forgettable. The chorus is fine, but it speeds by at a pace that would make it difficult for folks to sing along. The trio was on the right track. They just needed better songs.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) The band's name simply came from the first letters in each members' name - Tony Oritz, Kayel Sharpe, and Aby Cruz. Cruz would end up leaving the group after the first album was released. Oddly, his replacement would still fit in with the trio's name - Angel Vasquez.  2) Their debut album featured a cover tune titled "Someone in the Dark." The song was written by Rod Temperton with Marilyn and Alan Bergman. It was originally recorded by Michael Jackson for the special edition version of the soundtrack to the classic film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It featured Jackson narrating the story of E.T. over the original John Williams score. In addition, he recorded the new song "Someone in the Dark" for the package. The album would end up winning a Grammy for Best Recording for Children. The LP was on MCA Records and agreements with Jackson's label, Epic, stated the new song could not be released as a single. Still, MCA printed and released promo singles of the song to radio stations which violated the agreement. Lawsuits followed that made sure the song would never be issued as a single. Because of this, the promo single of the song quickly became a rare collector's item. The disc has sold for around $1,500 previously and some sites still list it for sale for as much as $1,200. The song itself was made available years later as part of a special edition of Thriller and on Jackson's Ultimate Collection.

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