INTERVIEW
Alexander O'Neal
80s/90s Forever Festival
Garons Park
Southend on Sea
Sunday 26th August 2018
Alexander O'Neal
80s/90s Forever Festival
Garons Park
Southend on Sea
Sunday 26th August 2018
Alexander O’Neal first came to the attention of R&B and soul fans in the UK in 1985 when his hit song and chart smash, ‘Saturday Love, with Cherelle, first hit the radio waves and lit up the dance floors of clubs across the country. He’d previously had solo singles with ‘If You Were Here Tonight’ and ‘A Broken Heart Can Mend’ followed by a stream of hits that included, ‘Never Knew Love Like This’, ‘Fake’ and probably his most popular dance floor classic, ‘Criticize’ which is always a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Originally signed by the late legend, Prince, and although not a permanent fixture in the charts over the last decade or so, O'Neal has never stopped performing and gigging, especially in the UK, and makes no bones about how much he loves his British fans.
Alexander will be heading to Southend's Garons Park for the 80s/90s Festival this bank holiday weekend. I was lucky to be able to chat to him just before his last visit to Southend with his Resurrection Tour. Here's what he had to say.
“I like Southend, you know, I like Essex period. I always enjoy performing for my fans here in the UK and in England, so it’s really great,” he tells me. In fact, he likes being in the UK so much he is currently residing in Manchester.
“The pace here is a lot like Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota in the United States, so we really get on good Manchester and I. It’s been working out well, so far.”
Originally signed by the late legend, Prince, and although not a permanent fixture in the charts over the last decade or so, O'Neal has never stopped performing and gigging, especially in the UK, and makes no bones about how much he loves his British fans.
Alexander will be heading to Southend's Garons Park for the 80s/90s Festival this bank holiday weekend. I was lucky to be able to chat to him just before his last visit to Southend with his Resurrection Tour. Here's what he had to say.
“I like Southend, you know, I like Essex period. I always enjoy performing for my fans here in the UK and in England, so it’s really great,” he tells me. In fact, he likes being in the UK so much he is currently residing in Manchester.
“The pace here is a lot like Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota in the United States, so we really get on good Manchester and I. It’s been working out well, so far.”
Alexander has been making music for over thirty years now and I wonder what keeps his fans so loyal. “You know, they seem to appreciate nostalgia, they have great appreciation for R&B music,” he tells me, “and the one thing I love about the fans in England is that they grew up with you and they grow older with you. They still keep coming out and often that’s what keeps me excited.”
To mark the thirty years since his hit album, Hearsay, was released he has recently released Hearsay 30, re-recording the whole album in his new home of Manchester and I assume he will be playing some of the songs from this album on tour.
“Actually, I'm gonna be performing as many songs from what I’ve recorded as I can. Well, as much as I can,” he laughs. “I try to pretty much put my show together with my fans in mind, so all of the songs I've become popular for like The Lovers and also some of the songs that weren’t singles - I’ll be playing those songs and some new stuff too. I’m excited for this tour, it’s really gonna be great.”
Of all of his albums, I ask Alexander why Hearsay in particular was the one he wanted to re-record and he explains, “Well, you know, I’ve never actually heard of anybody who recorded an album 30 years ago and re-recorded it 30 years later; but it was put to me by my management team and it was a challenge for me.”
He admits that he was apprehensive at first about doing it as there were bound to be people who would judge one project against the other but he is confident that it stands on its own merit.
“They’re different projects but with Hearsay 30, one of things that intrigued me the most about doing it was the fact that I'd be working with the band. I worked with a great group of guys out of Manchester called Mamma Freedom and we put this album together and it had that live band feel. We put a couple of different twists on certain things but basically the whole feel of it is of being in the studio with a band with live horns; with live musicians; and that’s a wonderful, great feeling.”
It certainly proved a hit with Music Republic Magazine who gave it a heady 5 out of 5 stars in their review.
It’s been a pretty busy time for 64 year old Alexander who has not only re-recorded the Hearsay 30 album but has also taken time out to write his autobiography which I tell him I couldn’t put down and he seems genuinely pleased to hear that I’ve read it.
“The one thing I can honestly say is that everything in that book is true. There was not one ‘false’. Everything in that book is true…everything. Not some of it, all of it.”
I believe him. All True Man really is an incredibly honest and frank story of a fatherless black man growing up in the Deep South of America which highlights the racial hatred he saw every day. I was surprised to learn of his addiction to cocaine and the violent relationships he had with girlfriends and wives, which took him years to overcome. I suggest that he has really opened his heart to his fans in this book and he agrees.
“Well, I think that’s what an autobiographical book should be. It should be ‘tell-all’, ‘open-your-heart’. Look, my life has pretty much been an open book. I don’t have anything to try to exonerate myself with, or from, or anything at this point in my life. Anybody who doesn’t know Alexander O’Neal, you know, they need to get a ticket and get in line,” he jokes.
I confess to Alexander that I had no idea of some of the things he’d got up to in the past and that reading some of the stuff in the book was actually a bit of a shock for me.
“I’ve been pretty synonymous for people knowing that with Alexander O’Neal, what you see is what you get. You get the same Alex all day every day, you know. And so I live my life like that, therefore, the book wasn’t hard for me to finish. I’ve been procrastinating and been wanting to do a book about my life for quite some time and I finally got a chance to complete it and put it behind me now. I was very pleased with the outcome.”
Alexander gave himself ten years to become a success and if he hadn’t made it in the music business, he truly believes that he would be driving trucks across America right now. When he did make it into the US charts in the mid eighties, he was in the company of the likes of Luther Vandross, (who shared his record label, Epic), George Benson and Al Jarreau. I ask Alex if there was ever any rivalry between the singers.
“There’s always a rivalry,” he laughs, “it’s called friendly competition. We all wanna do well and we all wanna have the top of the status - everybody wants to be number 1, everybody wants a number 1 record.”
To mark the thirty years since his hit album, Hearsay, was released he has recently released Hearsay 30, re-recording the whole album in his new home of Manchester and I assume he will be playing some of the songs from this album on tour.
“Actually, I'm gonna be performing as many songs from what I’ve recorded as I can. Well, as much as I can,” he laughs. “I try to pretty much put my show together with my fans in mind, so all of the songs I've become popular for like The Lovers and also some of the songs that weren’t singles - I’ll be playing those songs and some new stuff too. I’m excited for this tour, it’s really gonna be great.”
Of all of his albums, I ask Alexander why Hearsay in particular was the one he wanted to re-record and he explains, “Well, you know, I’ve never actually heard of anybody who recorded an album 30 years ago and re-recorded it 30 years later; but it was put to me by my management team and it was a challenge for me.”
He admits that he was apprehensive at first about doing it as there were bound to be people who would judge one project against the other but he is confident that it stands on its own merit.
“They’re different projects but with Hearsay 30, one of things that intrigued me the most about doing it was the fact that I'd be working with the band. I worked with a great group of guys out of Manchester called Mamma Freedom and we put this album together and it had that live band feel. We put a couple of different twists on certain things but basically the whole feel of it is of being in the studio with a band with live horns; with live musicians; and that’s a wonderful, great feeling.”
It certainly proved a hit with Music Republic Magazine who gave it a heady 5 out of 5 stars in their review.
It’s been a pretty busy time for 64 year old Alexander who has not only re-recorded the Hearsay 30 album but has also taken time out to write his autobiography which I tell him I couldn’t put down and he seems genuinely pleased to hear that I’ve read it.
“The one thing I can honestly say is that everything in that book is true. There was not one ‘false’. Everything in that book is true…everything. Not some of it, all of it.”
I believe him. All True Man really is an incredibly honest and frank story of a fatherless black man growing up in the Deep South of America which highlights the racial hatred he saw every day. I was surprised to learn of his addiction to cocaine and the violent relationships he had with girlfriends and wives, which took him years to overcome. I suggest that he has really opened his heart to his fans in this book and he agrees.
“Well, I think that’s what an autobiographical book should be. It should be ‘tell-all’, ‘open-your-heart’. Look, my life has pretty much been an open book. I don’t have anything to try to exonerate myself with, or from, or anything at this point in my life. Anybody who doesn’t know Alexander O’Neal, you know, they need to get a ticket and get in line,” he jokes.
I confess to Alexander that I had no idea of some of the things he’d got up to in the past and that reading some of the stuff in the book was actually a bit of a shock for me.
“I’ve been pretty synonymous for people knowing that with Alexander O’Neal, what you see is what you get. You get the same Alex all day every day, you know. And so I live my life like that, therefore, the book wasn’t hard for me to finish. I’ve been procrastinating and been wanting to do a book about my life for quite some time and I finally got a chance to complete it and put it behind me now. I was very pleased with the outcome.”
Alexander gave himself ten years to become a success and if he hadn’t made it in the music business, he truly believes that he would be driving trucks across America right now. When he did make it into the US charts in the mid eighties, he was in the company of the likes of Luther Vandross, (who shared his record label, Epic), George Benson and Al Jarreau. I ask Alex if there was ever any rivalry between the singers.
“There’s always a rivalry,” he laughs, “it’s called friendly competition. We all wanna do well and we all wanna have the top of the status - everybody wants to be number 1, everybody wants a number 1 record.”
“I’ve enjoyed a lot of great times within my career; saw a lot of chart success, so yeah of course it was competitive but in a friendly kind of a way because you were only going as far as your record company were going to take you anyway.” A little dig there, perhaps?
Alexander is clearly a dedicated musician and I put it to him that he’s never really been away from the music scene and his adoring fans, to which he admits that he still gets a buzz to be performing.
“I’ve always spent a lot of time here over the years. In America your audience is only as big as your last hit record. Here, the fans grew up with you and they grow older with you and they stay with you. They still come out to the shows, they still buy your music and I don’t know why that is but the R&B music here in the UK is alive and well, especially old school R&B. I’m just grateful to be here and to be performing my biggest hits.”
So what’s his secret, considering how much he has put his body through with his past shennanigans?
“Oh just trying to keep going. Just having respect for what I do. Just trying to be the best person I can be each and every day. That’s a chore in itself. If I can accomplish that then the rest of it will have to take care of itself.”
What does he think the secret of longevity is in the music industry?
He laughs, "I don’t know if it’s a secret, my dear - just to keep going. You just do what you do. You know a lot of times the music industry is one thing but life is another, so you gotta get the secret in life and that's that they both go hand in hand. Music is what I do, it’s my job and everybody knows I’m a working class artist, so I enjoy performing and I love being on stage. I think it’s keeping a buzz and keeping the excitement within what you do, is one of the biggest secrets. Still enjoy it and have fun with it.”
For anyone starting out in the music industry today Alexander’s advice would be to get your priorities in perspective.
Alexander is clearly a dedicated musician and I put it to him that he’s never really been away from the music scene and his adoring fans, to which he admits that he still gets a buzz to be performing.
“I’ve always spent a lot of time here over the years. In America your audience is only as big as your last hit record. Here, the fans grew up with you and they grow older with you and they stay with you. They still come out to the shows, they still buy your music and I don’t know why that is but the R&B music here in the UK is alive and well, especially old school R&B. I’m just grateful to be here and to be performing my biggest hits.”
So what’s his secret, considering how much he has put his body through with his past shennanigans?
“Oh just trying to keep going. Just having respect for what I do. Just trying to be the best person I can be each and every day. That’s a chore in itself. If I can accomplish that then the rest of it will have to take care of itself.”
What does he think the secret of longevity is in the music industry?
He laughs, "I don’t know if it’s a secret, my dear - just to keep going. You just do what you do. You know a lot of times the music industry is one thing but life is another, so you gotta get the secret in life and that's that they both go hand in hand. Music is what I do, it’s my job and everybody knows I’m a working class artist, so I enjoy performing and I love being on stage. I think it’s keeping a buzz and keeping the excitement within what you do, is one of the biggest secrets. Still enjoy it and have fun with it.”
For anyone starting out in the music industry today Alexander’s advice would be to get your priorities in perspective.
“First of all you’ve got to determine; do you have the stuff that it takes to be in the limelight, to be that type of star? Do you got the gift, do you got talent? Don’t play with yourself - deal with the real first of all. Get your priorities into perspective and if you do, then go for it.”
He continues, “Everybody’s got something that they do well and it doesn’t have to be music. It could be something else. You might be dreaming of a career in music when the door is open for you in some other area.”
Our interview is sadly coming to an end and so I ask Alexander what he would most like to be remembered for. He replies, his voice softer than before, “Just being a good guy, a good person. Trying to be the best person I can be. If I can accomplish those kinds of things……" he trails off. "I like the music industry, I like everything I’ve received from the industry but it’s not my whole life, it’s not my whole world. When you get to my age in life, sometimes other things are much more important than music.”
“I’ll tell people in a minute, I don’t care nothing about a whole bunch of money that means nothing to me. What I do care about is a lack of a whole bunch of money,” laughing, “Nah, I’m just messing!”
Interview: Kim Tobin
For tickets and more info on 80s/90s Forever go to: www.80s90sforever.com
He continues, “Everybody’s got something that they do well and it doesn’t have to be music. It could be something else. You might be dreaming of a career in music when the door is open for you in some other area.”
Our interview is sadly coming to an end and so I ask Alexander what he would most like to be remembered for. He replies, his voice softer than before, “Just being a good guy, a good person. Trying to be the best person I can be. If I can accomplish those kinds of things……" he trails off. "I like the music industry, I like everything I’ve received from the industry but it’s not my whole life, it’s not my whole world. When you get to my age in life, sometimes other things are much more important than music.”
“I’ll tell people in a minute, I don’t care nothing about a whole bunch of money that means nothing to me. What I do care about is a lack of a whole bunch of money,” laughing, “Nah, I’m just messing!”
Interview: Kim Tobin
For tickets and more info on 80s/90s Forever go to: www.80s90sforever.com