¡lack GO -GO MUSIC READY TO GO GLOBAL T. T.E.D. Label Signs Deal with Island. Film Planned None of the groups on T.T.E.D. has rates of any major city, and I attri- BY NELSON GEORGE less than nine pieces. Vocally, go -go bute much of that to the go -go NEW YORK Washington, D.C.'s relies on chants and what Kidd calls movement." polyrhythmic "go -go" music, once a "D.C. rap," which differs in phras- A screenplay which mixes go -go black underground dance phenome- ing from its New York counterpart. music with a thriller plot somewhat non, is about to receive major do- Kidd has come close to making similar to "Absence Of Malice" has mestic and international exposure deals with major labels before, he just been finished, with Blackwell via a distribution deal with Island says, but "while I was offered some and British filmmaker Jeremy Records and a proposed film docu- nice financial deals, I was never con- Thomas set to produce. Kidd antici- menting the scene. vinced they felt or understood the pates that the film, slated to begin The catalyst for this activity is movement that made the music. I've shooting this month, will be in the- D.C. -based entrepreneur Max Kidd, worked too hard to sell this music to atres this summer. whose T.T.E.D. Records has en- a company that didn't know what to Lip Gloss. Melba Moore dines with a few close friends to celebrate the release tered into an agreement with Island do with it." of her new Capitol album "Read My Lips." Sitting at the table are, from left, producer Keith Diamond, Moore, and Capitol's a &r vice president Don Grierson. for seven acts. Go -go's top bands, Last July, Kidd was contacted by The waiters are, from left, Capitol president Don Zimmermann, manager of Trouble Funk and EU (Experience Island founder Chris Blackwell ta!ort acquisition Andy Furman and a &r vice president Varnell Johnson. Unlimited), are signed directly to about go -go and, after Blackwell Island under a production deal with visited Washington to check out go- T.T.E.D.; their product will be dis- go first hand, negotiations began. tributed through WEA. Five other "He'd heard Trouble Funk and acts will remain under the T.T.E.D. Chuck Brown, and was hearing logo and will be distributed indepen- about Chuck's `I Need Money' in dently through 4th & B'Way Rec- Europe, where go -go has exploded," ords, an independent subsidiary of says Kidd.. Island. "He heard similarities between by Nelson George The latter acts are Chuck Brown reggae and go -go and saw you could & the Soul Searchers, whose "Bus- use the same marketing strategy tin' Loose" in the late '70s on the for both. The difference is that un- IT WOULD BE HARD TO ARGUE that the '80s so Right now LaLa is in the studio working on her solo MCA -distributed Source label was like when he was pushing reggae, far has been a great era for songwriters in the classic debut for Arista (her contribution to the "Beat Street the first national go -go hit; Mass go -go has already developed a fol- sense of the word. We have lots of talented musicians Vol. II" soundtrack, "Into The Night," became a mi- Extension; Yuggie, the only female lowing with black radio." and tons of technology that make our music sound nor East Coast hit) . She hopes the album will be out go-go band; Redd & the Boys; and "There has been so much nega- pretty. Technically, our records certainly sound better by June. Hot, Cold, Sweat. Redd & the Boys' tive stuff written about go -go both than ever. "Movin' & Groovin' " is the first re- here and in Europe, saying go -go In addition, the sense of rhythm, of groove, appar- SHORT STUFF: New Edition and Whodini, a plati- lease under the deal. causes violence and use of angel ent in music today is more sophisticated and complex num and gold act respectively, are on a 17 -date nation- Go -go is a high -energy style with dust, that I wanted to let people than ever before. Where once black music laid claim to al tour through the South. When one considers the percolating rhythms reminiscent of know what it is really about and a special quality of groove, now one can look at the sales of these two youth -appeal acts, this shapes up to African and other Third World mu- educate them about the music," pop chart, or the black singles chart for that matter, be one of the year's most lucrative packages ... Reg- sic. It relies heavily on Latin percus- Kidd says. "I'm trying to show that and see many records produced and conceived by gae artist Pablo Moses' second Alligator album "Ten- sion and very little on electronics, go -go is good for D.C. This city has white performers that are as rhythmically captivating sion" has a striking anti -nuke cover and a title track and is practiced by large ensembles. one of the lowest juvenile crime as anything coming out of the black music community. that is just as strident on the same subject ... Jeff Just look at the irony of the fact that the hottest black Lorber will be touring this spring, with Audrey producer in the business today, Nile Rodgers, makes Wheeler, the fine singer heard on his current single records with as much of a rock as an r &b feel -if not "Step By Step," providing vocals. The song was co- Session Ace Phillinganes more. written by Lorber with Anita Pointer of the Pointer All of which brings us to the budding career of a Sisters ... Lillo Thomas has been tapped as opening act for Eddie Murphy's national tour. The Capitol art- Takes His Own Solo `Pulse' ist's new single, "Settle Down" from his "All Of You" LaLa's approach: album, is on the black singles chart ... Three Solar tribute material. "Pulse" features acts hit the road March 6 on a "Planetary Invasion" BY STEVE IVORY new songs from Donald Fagen, pop craftsmanship tour, with Midnight Star headlining for Shalamar LOS ANGELES For a decade, Jackie Jackson and Michael Jack- and Klymaxx. Midnight Star's "Planetary Invasion" Greg Phillinganes has been an inte- son, who co -wrote the album's first album, already gold, may just have the staying power gral part of the West Coast studio single, "Behind The Mask." young lady named LaLa, a songwriter who in the last of "No Parking On The Dance Floor." Solar has al- session scene. As a keyboardist and This is Phillinganes' second al- year and a half has made a real impact due to the pure ready pulled two strong singles from it. arranger, he has worked with a bum. His first, "Significant Gains," pop craftsmanship of her work. "Stoned Love," pro- Publicist Beverly Paige, who handles Melba who's who of artists and producers, also on Planet, was released in 1981 duced with Kashif for his first solo album (she still Moore, Lillo Thomas and Marlon Jackson, has including Burt Bacharach, Aretha and flopped. But that didn't discour- produces most of her work with him), definitely bore opened new offices at 231 W. 58th St., New York, N.Y. Franklin, the Jacksons, Johnny Ma- age Phillinganes from taking anoth- his stamp. But three love songs -"Living For Your 10019; (212) 541 -7022 ... The seventh annual black this, Diana Ross and Stevie Won- er stab at a solo recording. Love," recorded by Melba Moore, "Show Me," record- college radio convention will be held in Atlanta on der -whose band, Wonderlove, "I was a little disappointed by its ed by Glen Jones, and Whitney Houston's "You Give April 5 and 6. The convention chairman is Lo Jelks. Phillinganes joined for a four -year sales, but it didn't make me want to Good Love " -suggest a distinctive style, a vulnerabil- For more info, call (404) 523 -6136 ... Norby Walters stint in 1975. throw in the towel," he says. "I ity, that makes LaLa's career worth watching. has landed worldwide agency representation for New More recently, Phillinganes has knew being an artist meant having A big part of what makes these songs, and some of Edition, Teena Marie and the Fat Boys ... "Sing, served as the virtual house to sing, and Richard allowed me to LaLa's other work (like the Moore -Lillo Thomas duet Mahalia, Sing," the musical about Mahalia Jackson keyboardist for all of Quincy Jones' produce that first project. Maybe "All Of You "), so interesting is that she is a woman, starring Jennifer Holliday, is now in Washington. It productions, including albums by that was a mistake, but he's always making her mark in a male-dominated field. "It helps will subsequently appear in Cleveland, Baltimore and Jones, James Ingram and Patti Aus- given me lots of room." to be a woman," she suggests, "because your input is Atlanta between now and April 16. The show is also tin; Michael Jackson's monumental Although Phillinganes has had coming from such a different place than that of a man. slated to play Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, "Thriller "; and, most recently, experience as both a writer and pro - I find that in my songs I can be more sensitive than New Orleans and Houston ... Alexander O'Neal's Jones' production of the ambitious ducer-he co -wrote "Love Will Find many men.