White Lion

White Lion was a Hard Rock band of the 1980's and early 1990's. Their manager Mike Parente, also owned L’amour, a club in Brooklyn. The band was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish-born vocalist Mike Tramp (original name Michael Trampenau) and guitarist Vito Bratta who wrote most of the band`s songs. The bands members were: James Lomenzo, Greg D’Angelo, Mike Tramp, Vito Bratta.

White Lion was signed by Elektra records in 1983 and recorded their debut Fight To Survive. However, Elektra was unhappy with the final recording, and after refusing to release the album, terminated their contract.

The album Fight To Survive was eventually picked up by RCA and released in Japan in 1984. The small US independent label Grand Slamm records finally released Fight To Survive in the US on November 9, 1985. A few months later, Grand Slam records went bankrupt.

In early 1986, White Lion, with a fictitious “female” member, had a brief part in the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie The Money Pit.

The following year Atlantic released their second album Pride which brought success for them. Especially the single Wait which climbed to 8th place in the U.S. chart & real metal music listeners liked it too surprisingly. When the Children Cry was a bigger hit. It reached 3rd place. Atlantic released Fight to Survive worldwide too. The guys toured with the bands Frehley`s Comet, Kiss, AC/DC & Stryper.

In 1989 their next CD Big Game came out. That was a more successful album and it set up their place in the hard rock bands’ top-flight. Mike Tramp called their music “rock`n`roar”. That recording’s hit single was Radar Love, a classic originally recorded by Golden Earring.

1991 was the year when they made their best CD Mane attraction, according to Greg D`Angelo. It contained chart tune Lights & Thunder and a new version of their first album’s song Broken Heart.

In 1992 Greg D`Angelo & James Lomenzo had enough of Tramp`s continuous fighting with Bratta so they left the band. New members were bassist Tommy T. Bone Caradonna & drummer Jimmy De Grasso. Soon, in the autumn of the same year the band disbanded.

Greg & James have played in different groups after White Lion. Vito Bratta concentrated on classic guitar playing. Soon after disbanding Mike had a new band called Freak Of Nature with his Danish friend Oliver Steffanson. They made a few songs together and the demos with the band. Then Tramp & Steffanson had a fight when Staffanson went back to Denmark. The band recorded 2 albums during the years 1993-94. Later in year 1998 all their demos released too.

In year 1998 Mike made his first solo album Capricorn.

After 4 solo albums Mike formed Tramp’s White Lionin the year 2005 with young new musicians, with “Tramp’s” as part of the name to show it was only him from the original band. They recorded live album “Rockin’ the USA” and a studio album is planned as well.

Older White Lion`s demos were also released in the 2000`s as bonus tracks on their remastered albums and in one collection.

Till Death Do Us Part REVIEW THIS

The Journey of SADE

With her exotic beauty and steamy voice, Sade couldn't help but be a star. Taking the more sensuous elements of island beats, smooth jazz, and R&B, Sade scored major hits with the continental feel of "Smooth Operator" and the sultry stylization of "Your Love Is King." Her voice was often criticized for being thin, yet she made it work to her advantage with songs like the haunting "Jezebel," on which her delivery added the vulnerability necessary to the song. Sade sounded best when she stuck to the lower register, and there is nothing thin about her dynamic handling of her torch song "Is It a Crime." "The Sweetest Taboo" was one of her last great moments before years of mediocrity, chronicled here by the lifeless "Stronger Than Pride" and the limp "Nothing Can Come Between Us." "No Ordinary Love" was a return to form with the smoky richness back in her vocals and the urban/island feel of her first release. Best of Sade goes right up to her hit "Pearls," which, remixed, became a dance floor hit. The nicest surprise here is "Please Send Me Someone to Love," with Sade proving that although her range may be limited vocally, she doesn't suffer the same fate artistically.

When Sade first came on the recording scene in the '80s, her record company, Epic, made a point of printing "pronounced shar-day" after her name on the record labels of her releases. Soon enough the world would have no problem in correctly pronouncing her name. Born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, she was the daughter of an African father and an English mother.
After her mother returned to England, Sade grew up on the North End of London.

Developing a good singing voice in her teens, Sade worked part-time jobs in and outside of the music business. She listened to Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holliday. Sade studied fashion design at St. Martin's School of Art in London while also doing some modeling on the side.

Around 1980, she started singing harmony with a Latin funk group called Arriva. One of the more popular numbers that the group would perform was a Sade original co-written with bandmember Ray St. John, "Smooth Operator," that would later become Sade's first stateside hit. The following year she joined the eight-piece funk band Pride as a background singer. The band included future Sade band members guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman (a key player in '90s urban soul singer Maxwell's success) and bassist Paul Denman. The concept of the group was that there could shoot-offs. In essence, a few members within the main group Pride formed mini-groups that would be the opening act. Pride did a lot of shows around London, stirring up record company interest. Initially, the labels wanted to only sign Sade, while the group members wanted a deal for the whole band. After a year, the other band members told Sade, Matthewman, and Denman to go ahead and sign a deal. Adding keyboardist Andrew Hale, the group signed to the U.K. division of Epic Records.

Her debut album, Diamond Life (with overall production by Robin Millar), went Top Ten in the U.K. in late 1984. January 1985 saw the album released on CBS' Portrait label and by spring it went platinum off the strength of the Top Ten singles "Smooth Operator" and "Hang on to Your Love." Her second album, Promise (November 1985), featured "Never As Good As the First Time" and arguably her signature song, "The Sweetest Taboo," which stayed on the U.S. pop charts for six months. Sade was so popular that some radio stations reinstated the '70s practice of playing album tracks, adding "Is It a Crime" and "Tar Baby" to their play lists. In 1986, Sade won a Grammy for Best New Artist.

Sade's third album was 1988's Stronger Than Pride and featured her first number one soul single "Paradise," "Nothing Can Come Between Us," and "Keep Looking." A new Sade album didn't appear for four years. 1992's Love Deluxe continued the unbroken streak of multi-platinum Sade albums, spinning off the hits "No Ordinary Love," "Feel No Pain," and "Pearls." While the album's producer Mike Pela, Matthewman, Denman, and Hale have gone on to other projects. The new millennium did spark a new scene for Sade. She issued Lovers Rock in fall 2000 and incoporated more mainstream elements than ever before. Debut single "By Your Side" was also a hit among radio and adult-contemporary listerners. The following summer, Sade embarked on her first tour in more than a decade, selling out countless dates across America. In early 2002, she celebrated the success of the tour by releasing her first ever live album and DVD, Lovers Live. ~ Ed Hogan, All Music Guides.

No Ordinary Love by Sade Soundtrack Independent Proposal
Review this