10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE August 25, 2000
eveningsout
Good intentions don't do enough for AIDS benefit disc
Positive
Paul Lockwood
Endurance Records
Reviewed by Anthony Glassman
In the music business, it is not uncommon for backup singers to go on to solo careers, or for actors to release records and singers to try
POSITIVE
their hands at acting. Think, if you must, of Judy Garland, who was known both for her singing and her acting.
Paul Lockwood, however, is a horse of an entirely different color. In addition to releasing his first solo album after years of working as a backup singer and acting, he has also written a screenplay that was a semifinalist at the Sundance script compe-
tition. Some of the songs on his album Positive will appear on the soundtrack for the independent film Edifice, going into production soon based on Lockwood's screenplay.
The most important thing about Positive is the cause. Lockwood recorded the CD to raise both awareness and funds for AIDS
service organizations. Endurance Records, the company that put the record out, is a new independent label "that spotlights artists
underrepresented in the mainstream,” says their press material, and part of their proceeds will go to the gay and lesbian community, animal rights, or the environment, based on the wishes of the artist.
Lockwood, who recently moved to Pittsburgh from New York, is donating a portion of the proceeds of this release, available at http:// www.cdbaby.com, to the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Children's Hope Foundation, and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.
Now, having gotten the background out of the way, let's discuss the album itself.
It's not all that good.
Imagine, if you will, a mix of the vocal stylings of Boy George, Barry Manilow, and George Michael, only without the suave, self-assured sophistication of any of the three, with a mix of music that recalls the mid-'80s and some of Anita Baker's and Cameo's cheesier songs.
That pretty much sums up most of this album. There is a track, "Out to Get You," that sounds like Tracy Chapman had decided against releasing it, and so she gave it
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to Lockwood. The problem is, his voice just can't carry a Chicago-style blues song. It's too high, not nearly bitter and rough enough for the blues.
Some of the songs aren't all that bad. "Found a Cure," for instance, is a fairly passable piece of dance trash. “Bring it Up, Bring it Out" has music that sounds like it was sampled from an old Janet Jackson song, with a cutesy late-'80s R&B dance vibe going on.
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Paul Lockwood
The main problem here is that everything sounds like you heard it before, and you get the feeling that it was done better the last time you heard it. If we want someone who sounds like Boy George and George Michael, we can always buy Boy George and George Michael.
If you like Barry Manilow getting kind of edgy, though, this record is definitely for you. Let's face it, it's for a good cause.
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