Song#: 3811
Date: 02/25/1989
Debut: 93
Peak: 78
Weeks: 5
Genre: R&B
Pop Bits: Kiara was a Detroit duo made up of John Winston and Gregory Charley. The pair worked up their first single, "Quiet Guy," in 1985. Written by Charley and produced by the pair, it was initially on their own label, but was then issued out by the NYC label Warlock Records (it was the label's first single). The indie track was able to make a dent in the R&B chart at #88. That minor success helped to get the attention of Arista Records who would end up signing the duo. Work began on a debut album that would be titled To Change And/Or Make a Difference and once finished, the opening track "The Best of Me" would be pushed out as a single. It would do well at R&B getting to #6. The hit would help the album initially reach #30 at R&B. Then this next single, which featured singer Shanice Wilson, would be issued out. It would do even better at R&B nearly topping the chart at #2. It was then able to cross over to Pop where it stayed for a few weeks. The hit sent the album to a new peak of #23 at R&B, but it would fail to reach the Pop chart. A third single, "Every Little Time," would get to #10 R&B while a new version of "Quite Guy" recorded for the album would reach #79 R&B.
ReduxReview: This song, written by Cameo member Charlie Singleton, was a good late 90s R&B ballad. The vocals were quite good, especially from Shanice, and the production was spot-on for the era. Sadly it just couldn't find enough support to make it a more mainstream pop hit. Had it done better at Pop, I'm sure it would have been able to make the AC chart. Alas, it would just be a big hit at R&B and it would be Kiara's top moment on the chart. Shanice, or course, would go on to score two Pop Top 10s and three R&B Top 10s in the 90s including the #1 "I Love Your Smile."
ReduxRating: 6/10
Trivia: The duo's second album, 1990's Civilized Rogue, wouldn't do quite as well topping out at #53 R&B, but it did spawn the #10 R&B hit "You're Right About That." However, it seems that the results were not what Arista was looking for and the duo was left off of their roster. They would rally for a 1994 indie album titled Condition of the Heart, but it didn't generate a lot of attention After that it seems the duo called it a day. Gregory Charley would continue on as a songwriter. His tunes would get picked up by Gerald Levert, Regina Belle, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. Some of those were co-writes with his Kiara partner John Winston. It seems at some point, John Winston left the music biz and moved back to Detroit. He became an educator at a local school and an author of a young adult origin series IA: Invisible Assassin. There are currently three books in the IA series.
_________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment