"Tina Cherry" by Georgio

Song#:  3243
Date:  08/29/1987
Debut:  96
Peak:  96
Weeks:   2
Genre:  R&B, Dance, Funk



Pop Bits:  Georgio came close to being a part of the Prince stable of artists, but ended up out on his own. Still, he retained his own Prince-like Minneapolis sound and it helped his first single, "Sexappeal," get to #16 R&B/#58 Pop/#8 Dance. The song was from his Motown debut album of the same name as was this follow-up single. Overall, it would be his best effort at R&B and Dance reaching #5 and #1, respectively. However, it just didn't excite a more mainstream audience and it spent a very brief two weeks near the bottom of the Pop chart.

ReduxReview:  C'mon. This is just cribbing from Prince. The title sounds like a name Prince would have used in a song or anointed one of his "discoveries" while some of the arrangement and Georgio's vocal delivery are out of the Purple One's playbook. Of course I'm only basing this on what I've read, but I think Georgio had a pretty major ego and after whatever went down with the Prince camp, he decided to try and out-Prince Prince. It kinda worked with "Sexappeal" and this track making some waves, but imitation can only take you so far and indeed Georgio's career was short-lived. Many artists would latch on to the Minneapolis sound and push out some good tunes with their own flair, but this track, even more so than "Sexappeal," tread on Prince's territory a bit too much. It got very close to the rip-off stage that I just discussed on the previous post for Force M.D.'s "Love Is a House," but is somewhat saved because Georgio didn't try to rewrite a Prince tune. He just created something that sounded like one. It's kind of too bad because I think Georgio was talented. He wrote, played and produced most all of his LP (like Prince), but I don't think he ever really found his own style.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Georgio would later marry actress Kelly Jo Minter in 1992. Minter has steadily worked on TV and film since her first guest role in a 1983 episode of the show Fame. Two years later, she appeared in the hit film Mask with Cher and Eric Stoltz. She got the role of Lorrie, the prostitute hired by Cher's character for her son (Stoltz). Minter also appeared in other hit films like The Lost Boys, New Jack City, Doc Hollywood, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. The couple had four children and as of this posting they are still married.

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