"Serious" by Donna Allen

Song#:  3020
Date:  02/14/1987
Debut:  93
Peak:  21
Weeks:  18
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  Floridian Donna Allen was first put in the spotlight as a cheerleader for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it was her time with the Tampa-based funk/soul group Trama that kickstarted her music career. The band would release one self-titled album in 1977 that featured Allen on lead vocals. After Trama split, Allen continued to sing with various bands before getting the opportunity to sign a record deal as a solo artist. She signed on with 21 Records and began work on a debut album that would be titled Perfect Timing. This track would be the LP's first single and it would take off to become a solid hit at R&B getting to #5. Its popularity would spread over to the Pop chart where it just missed out on the Top 20. A second single, "Satisfied," would do well at R&B reaching #14, but it failed to make the Pop chart. Her second album, 1988's Heaven on Earth, would do pretty well with three of its singles getting on the R&B chart including the #3 "Joy and Pain," a remake of a 1980 Maze track from their album of the same name. After that, her career cooled off and she spent time doing background vocals for other artist including Miami Sound Machine.

ReduxReview:  This slammin' track was a surprise for me back in the day. On occasion, there would be a song that made the Top 40 that for one reason or another I didn't get to hear. When that would happen, I would sometimes go to the record store and buy the single just to hear it. Sometimes I wouldn't like the tune, but other times I would. That's what happened with this one. I bought the 45 without knowing what it was and ended up liking it. Allen, who was a co-writer on the song, had some good attitude going and the production was solid. It sounded great on my stereo. This little jam has kind of gotten lost over the years. It was fun to hear it again.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  NBC's hit reality competition show The Voice is open to nearly everyone and that even includes former hit makers trying to revive their careers. Donna Allen was one of those hopefuls in the show's fifth season in 2013. Allen went on the show billed as just "Donna" and her past career wasn't initially a discussion point. She got a two-chair turn and ended up on Adam Levine's team. Unfortunately, in her first knock-out round she was defeated. However, she could at least take solace that the person who knocked her off the show, Tessanne Chin, would end up being that season's winner. An even more popular former hitmaker would nearly win the show. Country singer Billy Gilman, whose 2000 debut album sold over two million copies (and he was eleven years old at the time), would try out for the show in 2016. He got a four-chair turn and ended up on Adam Levine's team. Gilman would make it to the finals, but in the end was edged out by Sundance Head (son of another former hitmaker, Roy Head) for the win.

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