By the spring of 1986, Freestyle was exploding
in New York clubs. New York radio however, was not impressed. Nor were
radio stations around the country. With the exception of HOT 105 in
Miami, and Power 106 in Los Angeles, who made the first singles by TKA,
Nayobe, and Expose #1 hits in South Florida and Southern California
respectively, radio station program directors ignored Freestyle.
Power 106 (KPWR) and Hot 105 (WQHT) were
pioneers of a new type of station that were starting up in early 1986 -
crossover radio. These were CHR stations that leaned heavily toward
Dance music. The target audience for Power 106 and Hot 105 was the large
English-speaking Latin population of these two cities. The success of
those stations brought attention to the large hole left in New York
radio when WKTU signed off the air three years earlier. On August 13,
1986, WAPW, a fledgling CHR station in New York, changed its call
letters to WQHT and switched its format to that of its sister station in
L.A. (Power 106). WQHT (Hot 103) began playing much of the hits by TKA,
Sweet Sensation, and Expose in the same rotation as Pop superstars like
Michael Jackson and Madonna. Freestyle tracks like TKA's "One Way
Love" and Sweet Sensation's "Hooked On You" received new
life and the success of these tracks as well as the just- released
"Show Me" by the Cover Girls helped get them added to stations
around the country. Freestyle was now getting national attention.
Despite the renewed interest in the older
Freestyle tracks, these artists were already releasing their follow-up
singles. In the fall of 1986, Sweet Sensation released "Victim of
Love" and TKA released "Come Get My Love," a raw, more
club-oriented and less pop sounding record than "One Way
Love." It set the tone for a new crop of Freestyle records produced
by Mickey Garcia and Elvin Molina that were released in late 1986 and
early 1987, including "I Won't Stop Loving You" by C-Bank and
Judy Torres' follow-up single "Come Into My Arms." Both of
these tracks became huge hits in a new club called Heartthrob, which
opened up in the old building that had housed the Funhouse. The owners
of Heartthrob were able to convince Little Louie' Vega to leave the
Devil's Nest to play at the new club. At around the same time a new
club, 1018, opened a half a mile away and directly competed with
Heartthrob, often outbidding each other for the exclusive performances
of Freestyle artists. The demand for Freestyle was so great that both
clubs prospered and the artists wound up performing at both clubs, often
on the same night.
In early 1987, Sa-Fire also released her
follow-up single, "Let Me Be The One." Like "Come Get My
Love," this song was a departure from the sound of her first
single. It proved to be a welcome one as the song outperformed its
predecessor in chart performance and sales.
The Cover Girls second single "Spring
Love," again a departure for them, didn't fare as well. They were,
however, able to bounce back in a major way with their third single.
"Because Of You." The song, produced by Louie Vega and Robert
Clivilles and written by David Cole before the latter two went on to
become mega-producers with C&C Music Factory, became perhaps the
favorite Cover Girl song of all. It reached #24 on the Pop charts and
top 10 on the Dance charts in the spring of 1987 and propelled their
debut album to nearly gold status.
"Like A Child" was the second single
from Noel. "Silent Morning" was a tough act to follow, and
although it did not match the success of "Silent Morning," it
set the pace for his successful self-titled debut album. Joyce Simms,
although not Hispanic, was enjoying the distinction of having the first
Freestyle record to cross over into the R&B market with the classic
"(You Are My) All and All." It was also one of the first
Freestyle records to crack the European market.Although Freestyle was
still in its early stages, it was fast becoming dance music for the 80s.
By the summer of 1987, WQHT (Hot 103) was on
top of the ratings in New York, and it was their heavy emphasis on Dance
music, especially Freestyle, that got them there. The success of Hot 103
broke down the walls for Freestyle at the mainstream station WHTZ
(Z-100) in New York, which was one of the most influential Top 40
stations in the country at the time. When Z-100 started playing the
biggest Freestyle hits happening on Hot 103, other mainstream stations
around the country followed. Power 96 in Miami, whose playlist was
loaded with the latest Freestyle tracks, rose to the top of the ratings
in Miami, as did Power 106 in Los Angeles, following the same formula.
Soon after, another city - Chicago - came on
board. Through the exposure of club D.J.'s and a college station called
WCRX at Columbia College, Freestyle began making noise in the Windy
City. Clubs like the Riviera and venues like the Navy Pier Ballroom
began throwing Freestyle jams with performances by Sa-Fire, TKA, and the
Cover Girls.
In June of 1987, TKA released their third
straight hit single, "Scars Of Love," the title track from
their first album. The album would go on to become a Freestyle classic,
spawning six hit singles. The fourth single, "Tears May Fall,"
was played as an instrumental on a bootleg tape in clubs for over a year
before it was released in November 1987. This streak of hit singles
earned them their title "Kings of Freestyle."
The fight for the title of "Queens of
Freestyle" was more competitive. The Cover Girls' third single was
the ballad "Promise Me," another hit for them. "Inside
Outside," their fourth and final single from the hugely successful
"Show Me" album brought them back to the clubs in a big way
and continued their hit streak. But the abundance of female artists in
Freestyle as well as the fact that the Cover Girls would be taking time
off to record their second album, left the door wide open for someone to
step in and swipe their title.
India, whose real name is Linda Bell Caballero,
made brief appearances with TKA in their early shows. Although she never
sang on any of their singles, she did record a version of "Dancing
on the Fire" with TKA and performed it at a few of their shows.
When India decided to record on her own, she took the idea to remake
Jellybean's "Dancing on the Fire" with her. Jellybean,
reproduced the track (without TKA) and released it as her first single.
Nayobe, along with India, was one of the most
gifted female vocalists in Freestyle. She proved this with her slamming
performance on her fourth single, "Second Chance for Love."
Corina began her successful career in Freestyle
with the song "Out of Control," which was also the first hit
to producer Carlos Berrios. Tina B., then the wife of producer Arthur
Baker, returned to the music scene with "January February."
Tina had a big hit a couple of years earlier with "Honey to a
Bee," an electro-hip-hop classic.
Debbie Harry, formerly of the 70's and 80's new
wave band Blondie, who is probably as far from a Freestyle artist as you
can get, came up with one of the biggest cult-classic Freestyle records
ever with "In Love With Love," thanks to the additional
production and remix by two also unlikely Freestylers, Justin Strauss
and Murray Elias. They took an otherwise tired pop dance record and
turned it into a moody yet slammin' Freestyle club jam.
Another big Freestyle club record that came
from an unlikely source was "Arabian Nights" by the Latin
Rascals. The track was taken from the "Bach to the Future"
album, an album of classical pieces set to dance music. The song was
originally an instrumental, but when the track received extensive club
play, the Latin Rascals re-recorded the song with vocals and released
it, making it the first song recorded by the Latin Rascals as artists.
They had already made a name for themselves as one of the busiest
producers and remixing teams in Freestyle, producing cuts for the Cover
Girls, Sa-Fire and TKA among others.
This period in Freestyle saw many artists
developing their own style and sound, although most of the hits were
being produced and performed by the same handful of people who
originated the sound of Freestyle. The floodgates, however, would open
in the coming year, as many artists and labels jumped on the Freestyle
bandwagon.
CLICK
TO PART 3
Written
by Joey Gardner.
Reproduced with permission of Tommy Boy Music & Timber! Records.
Related Story: A
freestyle Music Perspective. |
