JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
Alexander O'Neal
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O'Neal was born in Natchez, Mississippi, but moved to Minneapolis when he was 20. He joined a group called "The Mystics" and played the local coverband circuit. O'Neal spent a short time in a group "Enterprise" before being recruited into Flyte Tyme, a band that included Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Monte Moir. Later signed by Prince to the Warner Bros. label with their name changed to The Time, a disagreement with Prince led to O'Neal leaving the band and being replaced as lead singer by Morris Day. Allmusic profiler John Floyd asserts that O'Neal was ousted for "looking 'too black'".
O'Neal immediately formed a rock and roll band called Alexander and recorded a 12" single, "Playroom", for a Chicago-based independent label. Three years later, in 1984, O'Neal signed a deal with Clarence Avant's Tabu Records. He did some backing vocals for other artists on the same label, including The SOS Band and Cherrelle.
O'Neal released his self-titled debut album in 1985. It included three singles that reached the top twenty of the R&B Singles Chart. He also scored his first R&B top ten single with "Saturday Love", a duet with Cherrelle. The song peaked at #2. It also reached the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #6. In 1987, he released the album titled Hearsay. It yielded the #25 pop and #1 R&B single "Fake". The song also peaked at #7 on the dance chart. The follow up, "Criticize", peaked at #4 R&B and #70 pop. It also peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart. The third single, "Never Knew Love Like This", another duet with Cherelle, peaked at #2 R&B and #28 pop.
In 1991, he released his third album, All True Man. The album's title single reached #5 on the R&B chart and #45 on the pop chart. In 1992, his first greatest hits album, This Thing Called Love: The Greatest Hits of Alexander O'Neal, was a top ten album in the UK. In 1993, his final album with the Tabu label, Love Makes No Sense, was released. It was the first album made without production from Jam and Lewis. In 1995, another greatest hits compilation, The Best of Alexander O'Neal, was released.
In 1996, his first album with One World Records, Lovers Again, was released. In 2001, he released an album with Eagle Records, Saga of a Married Man. The album was produced by former Prince drummer, Bobby Z. In 2005, he recorded his first live album, Alexander O'Neal Live at Hammersmith Apollo. It is a collection of many of his songs from throughout his career.
O'Neal participated on the reality British reality singing contest show Just the Two of Us in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he released Alex Loves, his first studio album in six years. In 2008, O'Neal took part in a Wife Swap UK special, swapping his wife Cynthia with broadcaster and TV personality Jilly Goolden.
-- LyricFreaks
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1985 Alexander O'Neal | |||
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01. A Broken Heart Can Mend 02. If You Were Here Tonight 03. Do You Wanna Like I Do 04. Look At Us Now |
05. Medley: Innocent/Alex900 06. What's Missing 07. You Were Meant To Be My Lady | ||
1986 Hearsay | |||
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01. Intro 02. (what can I say)To Make You Love Me 03. Hearsay 04. The Lovers 05. Fake 06. Criticize |
07. Intro 08. Never Knew Love Like This 09. Sunshine 10. Crying Overtime 11. When The Party's Over | ||
1988 My Gift To You | |||
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01. My Gift To You 02. Sleigh Ride 03. Our First Christmas 04. Remember Why (it's Christmas) 05. The Little Drummer Boy |
06. The Christmas Song 07. This Christmas 08. Winter Wonderland 09. Thank You For A Good Year 10. Remember Why It's Christmas (reprise) | ||
1991 All True Man | |||
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01. Time Is Running Out 02. The Yoke (G. U. O. T. R.) 03. Every Time I Get Up 04. Somebody Changed Your Mind 05. Midnight Run 06. Used |
07. All True Man 08. Sentimental 09. What Is This Thing Called Love 10. The Morning After 11. Hang On 12. Shame | ||
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1993 Love Makes No Sense | |||
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01. In The Middle 02. If U Let It 03. Aphrodisia 04. Love Makes No Sense 05. Home Is Where The Heart Is |
06. Change Of Heart 07. Lady 08. All That Matters To Me 09. Since I've Been Loving You 10. Your Precious Love | ||
1997 Lovers Again | |||
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01. Do You Right 02. Let's Get Together 03. Lovers Again 04. Can You Stand The Rain 05. Baby, Come To Me 06. No One But You 07. Body Talking |
08. More Than My Heart 09. Sleepin' 10. Carry On 11. Sneakin' 12. Our Love 13. Grind | ||
2002 Saga Of A Married Man | |||
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01. He Said She Said 02. You're Gonna Miss Me 03. I'm There 04. My Baby's Gone 05. It Don't Matter 06. It's OK |
07. What You See Is What You Get 08. Married Man 09. What Is A Man? 10. Last Night 11. Happy Home | ||
2005 Live! At The Hammersmith | |||
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01. Innocent 02. Hearsay 03. What Can I say To Make You Love Me 04. A Broken Heart Can Mend 05. The Lovers 06. All True Man 07. Sentimental |
08. Shame On Me 09. Sunshine 10. Criticize 11. Bedscene 12. If You Were Here Tonight 13. Fake 14. What Is This Thing Called Love | ||
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2008 Alex Loves | |||
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01. Secret Lovers 02. A Million Love Songs 03. Right Here Waiting 04. Unbreak My Heart 05. Your Song 06. Saturday Love 07. If You Were Here Tonight 08. What You Won't Do For Love |
09. When A Man Loves A Woman 10. Babe 11. Always And Forever 12. You're The First, The Last, My Everything 13. Cherish 14. I'll Make Love To You 15. We're On Our Way | ||
2010 Five Questions: The New Journey | |||
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01. My House 02. I'm Back 03. Minnesota Shuffle 04. I Found True Love 05. I Can't Wait 06. You Make Me Smile |
07. Love Don't Love Nobody 08. It's Your Night Tonight 09. Love Won't Let Me Wait 10. 5 Questions 11. First Time | ||
