A question about Midnight Star ...

[BobbyNunn]

this group is strange i think... When you hear their songs, they are so different each others. Some are very funky "Midas Touch" somes others completely talk box like zapp songs "electricity" , some are half organic voices half talk box "scientific love" "freak a zoid".Some sound like early old school break beats " No parking on the dancefloor".
What is striking is the fact that for each song i'm under the impression it's not the same group or the same artist!!!

PS: excuse my poor english lol

What do you think about that?

[buckaroo]

:lol:
Hiya there, like that name of yours. And your language looks priddy good to me too.

I can see where you're coming from. Midnight Star's output was certainly eclectic. They'd release something like "Operator" which really sounds like some of the electro that was around, and then they'd come up with some cool ballard like "Curious". There was a definite Zapp influnce in their music, and whether or not the late Roger Troutman was involved in their production is a mystery to me. I'll have to look at the LPs I have sometime. I do know that Reggie Calloway and his brother formed the group Calloway in the '90s, and had quite a big hit with "I wanna be rich" in the US during the early part of the '90s

[zeca azevedo]

Hi Bobby,

how's everything in FRANCE? I've spend a few days in PARIS in 1997, aaahhhh, those days... :D

About MIDNIGHT STAR, well, in fact a lot of black music groups did the same thing, jumped from one "sound" to another from album to album. Why? Money, cash, of course: the guys were in need of a hit and they did everything they could to sell records. That is the main reason, I think.

I heard NO PARKIN'... recently and I was kinda disappointed with its "electro" sound. My favorite album by MIDNIGHT STAR still is STANDING TOGETHER.

Peace,

zeca azevedo, "magnificent emperor of Chongas Mongas and future king of the world" :lol:

[K-Bee]

Well Midnight Star wasn't that different from the other groups of the period. Jumping on the electro/vocoder/sci-fi sounding bandwagon was the way to go if bands were looking for a hit in the early to mid 80s. Both Cameo and Bar-kays did that too. Everybody seemed to have an almost child-like fascination with the new MIDI synth technologies of the day.

Midnight Star did keep their nine-member lineup though, as opposed to a lot of other funk bands. Most chose to narrow things down to trios or quartets and ditching their horn sections in the process.

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by K-Bee

Well Midnight Star wasn't that different from the other groups of the period. Jumping on the electro/vocoder/sci-fi sounding bandwagon was the way to go if bands were looking for a hit in the early to mid 80s. Both Cameo and Bar-kays did that too. Everybody seemed to have an almost child-like fascination with the new MIDI synth technologies of the day.

Midnight Star did keep their nine-member lineup though, as opposed to a lot of other funk bands. Most chose to narrow things down to trios or quartets and ditching their horn sections in the process.

Luckily Midnight Star started in the '80s, and I was somewhat a fan. NO PARKING ON THE DANCE FLOOR was an R&B classic over here in the states.

After the LP with OPERATOR I pretty much lost interest....

[K-Bee]

Yeah the "Planetary Invasion" 1984 LP has a fair amount of cheese on it...."Body Snatchers" and the title track in particular. I still love it though....i'm a sucker for those old drum machines. The LP also has "Curious" on it.....IMHO the best song they ever did.

[buckaroo]

Originally Posted by efunk_adelic

After the LP with OPERATOR I pretty much lost interest....

:lol:
You probably didn't like the 'Midas Touch' and 'Headlines' days then.

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by buckaroo

:lol:
You probably didn't like the 'Midas Touch' and 'Headlines' days then.

ooooops!!!! buckaroo.... I didn't do my homework.... that marked the year '86 ... by '87 I was out of the clubs (as a DJ) and did not buy as much music as previous years.... MIDAS TOUCH and HEADLINES were top shelf in my eyes back then... :D

[BobbyNunn]

"MIDAS TOUCH" is their biggest succes! You can hear this song in all discos all over the world, it's a classic.

i'm addicted with "freak a zoid" when she says " i'll be your freak a zoid come on and wind me up tu tu lululu ..."

[K-Bee]

Most people did forget everything about Midnight Star after their Headlines LP. Whether it was because of the Calloway brothers leaving the band or something else, I honestly don't know.
However their two following sets "midnight Star" (1988) & "Work it Out" (1990) are not as bad as one would think. Especially slower songs like "Love Song" and "Heartbeat" are worth mentioning.
Midnight Star also released a set entitled "15 Avenue" in 2002 but I haven't heard much of it.