Elusion

Elusion was a female R&B group from Atlanta, Georgia that consisted of two sets of identical twins: Tamica & Tonya Johnson and Michelle & Marie Harris. The group was described as a “post-Spice Girls all female urban soul combo.”

Tonya and Tamica grew up in a musical family where everyone sang. They moved to Atlanta at the age of 17. Tonya attended a culinary arts school and Tamica attended Georgia State University. While in Atlanta, the Johnson sisters met up with H.O.P. (which stands for Howcott, Officer and Parks) Productions.

Michelle and Marie were born to an African-American father and a Filipino mother. Raised on a farm in San Diego, California, the girls sang in church and later at weddings, clubs and restaurants. The Harris sisters traveled to Los Angeles where they recorded a few demos and joined a couple of music groups.

Elusion formed in 1996 when Tamica and Tonya came up with the group’s name to signify the “optical illusion” that they had represented.

The Johnson sisters were working in Los Angeles with producer Tina Antoine (who was a friend of producer John Howcott, who was working with the Harris sisters). After talking amongst each other, Michelle & Marie moved to Atlanta where they lived with Tamica & Tonya. In 1998, the group released their one and only album, “Think About It” on RCA Records. It’s unknown how or if the album ever charted.

The group’s debut single, “Reality” peaked at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #34 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.

The follow-up single from the album, “Medicine” didn’t chart and after that, it seemed as if Elusion had faded into obscurity.

Tamica Johnson provided vocals on K-Ci & JoJo’s 1999 album “It’s Real” on the songs “Momma’s Song” and “I Wanna Make Love To You.” Her sister, Tonya provided vocals only on “Momma’s Song.” As for Michelle and Marie Harris, it’s unknown what they are up to these days.

To see a video for “Reality,” go to:

 

To see a video for “Medicine,” go to:

Joya

Joya (born Joya Owens on March 12, 1970 in Detroit, Michigan) is an R&B singer from the ’90s.
In 1995, she released her debut album, “Here I Am” on A&M Records. It’s unknown how it charted, but it managed to sell more than 100,000 units in the United States.
The lead single from the album, “I Like What You’re Doing to Me” peaked at #46 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks, making it her highest chart appearance on the R&B chart to date.
The follow-up single, “Gettin’ Off On You” peaked at #67 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks. The single was packaged with a condom which emphasized the song’s racy, provocative lyrics. A promotional single from the album, “Love U All Ova” was released, but didn’t make the charts at all.

In 1997, Joya became involved in songwriting. She co-wrote the song, “Somehow” with Ronnie Henson from Uptown Records for Latin R&B group, Voices of Theory. After the success of the song, she wrote for almost every artist on the Uptown Records label.

In 1998, she toured with Mary J. Blige on her “Share My World Tour” and recorded on Mary’s live studio album, “The Tour.”
In 2001, Joya released her sophomore album, “Pages from the Book of Life: Chapter 1” independently, teaming up with Dan Evans and Dupre Kelly on the project. The album went on to sell over 10,000 copies to date. After the album’s release, she landed her first songwriting deal for Licensing and SYNC with LoveCat Music along with Dupre Kelly.
In 2012, she independently released an EP called “Jewel” which she executively produced and wrote herself.

These days, Joya writes for major TV networks, film and recording artists. She is also the founder of a music business service called the Friendship Society, and works as a songwriter & music publisher for Kobalt Music.

To see Joya’s official website, go to:
https://thisisjoyaofficial.com/home

To see the official website for the Friendship Society, go to:
https://www.thefriendshipsociety.com/

To see a video for “I Like What You’re Doing to Me,” go to:

To see a video for “Gettin’ Off On You,” go to:

To see a video for “Love U All Ova,” go to:

 

[updated on 11\21\2021]

Venus Starr

Venus Starr was a female R&B\soul singer from the early 80’s. Not much information is given about her, but she released only one single on the Philly World record label.

In 1983, she released the single, “Ms. Sassy, Frassy, Classy.” It’s unknown how or if the song ever charted and after that, it seemed as if Venus Starr has faded into obscurity.

To see a video for “Ms. Sassy, Frassy, Classy,” go to:

Sam Harris

Sam Harris (born Samuel Kent Harris on June 4, 1961 in Cushing, Oklahoma) is a pop singer and actor who first rose to fame in the 1980s.

When he was 15 years old, Sam left Oklahoma to pursue a career in theater. He completed high school through correspondence courses and briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he received the Frank Sinatra Pop Singing Award.

In 1983, he earned his first taste of success as the grand champion of the popular television series, “Star Search” and became best known on the show for his winning rendition of the song, “Over the Rainbow.” His success of “Star Search” earned him a record deal with Motown Records.
In 1984, Sam released his self-titled debut album which peaked at #35 on the Billboard 200, making it his highest charting album to date.
The lead single, “Sugar Don’t Bite” reached the Top 40, peaking at #36 on the Billboad Hot 100, staying on the chart for 14 weeks, becoming his highest charting single to date.
His version of “Over the Rainbow” was released as a single in Australia and managed to peak on the music charts at #65.
Another single from the album, “Hearts on Fire” was released, but didn’t chart at all. During that same year, he co-created the WTBS sitcom series, “Down to Earth” which ran for four years and 104 episodes.
In 1986, Sam released his sophomore album, “Sam-I-Am” which peaked at #69 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The lead single from the album, “I’d Do It All Again” peaked at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 9 weeks.
The follow-up singles from the album: “Forever For You” and “The Bells” didn’t appear to make any impact on the charts at all.

In the ’90s, Sam began performing on stage in musicals such as “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Grease” (in which he was nominated for a Drama Desk nomination) and “The Life” (where he received a Drama League Award as well as Tony, Outer Critic’s Circle and Drama Desk nominations).
During that decade, he released the albums: “Standard Time” (in 1994), “Different Stages” (also in 1994) and “Revival” (in 1999 which peaked at #47 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart).

Sam also starred in one-man shows that he has written himself such as “Hard Copy”, “Different Hats” and “SAM” (which was critically acclaimed).
In the early 2000s, he released the albums: “On This Night” (which was released in 2001 peaked at #49 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart) and “Always” (which didn’t chart at all).

In 2008, he released the single, “War on War” which became an Internet phenomenon with music videos made by the general public. In April of that same year, he and his partner, Danny Jacobsen adopted their son, Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobsen and got married in November.

In 2009, he released the album, “Free.” His single, “Change is On the Way” was written to support the Barack Obama presidential campaign; at the time of the election, it was heard on numerous TV shows and behind Internet videos. In 2010, he wrote and released the single “My Reclamation” which has become an anthem for marriage equality.

In the years since, Sam has been involved in various productions & projects on stage, film and television.

He has toured extensively in concert and played to sold-out audiences at major venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Universal Ampitheater in Los Angeles, California and London’s West End. He has performed with the Boston Pops symphony and appeared on various talk shows such as Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil & “The View.”

In 2014, Sam wrote a collection of autobiographical essays and stories called “HAM: Slices of a Life” which was published by Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books and received critical praise. He subsequently adapted the book into an Off-off Broadway solo performance called “HAM: A Musical Memoir.” In July of 2020, he released his latest book, “The Substance of All Things.”

To see Sam Harris’ official website, go to:
https://samharris.com/

To see a video of Sam performing “Over the Rainbow” on “Star Search”, go to:

To see a video for “Sugar Don’t Bite,” go to:

To see a video for “Hearts on Fire,” go to:

To see a video for “I’d Do It All Again,” go to:

To see a video for “Forever For You,” go to:

To see a video for “The Bells,” go to:

To see a video for “War on War,” go to:

To see a video for “Change is On The Way,” go to:

To see a video for “My Reclamation,” go to:

 

[updated on 11\30\2021]

Ashanti

Ashanti (not to be confused with R&B singer, Ashanti Douglas) were a female R&B trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota that consisted of Letitia Calhoun and Davidra & Tammy Collins. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to Scotti Bros. Records.

In 1994, they released their first single, “Something’s Wrong (Bump N’ Grind)” (which was an answer to R. Kelly’s 1993 song, “Bump N’ Grind”) which peaked at #68 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 7 weeks.

After that, it seemed as if Ashanti had faded into obscurity. Not much has been heard from them since the ’90s.

To see a video for “Something’s Wrong (Bump ‘N Grind),” go to:

 

To see a video for “U Know I Will” (from the “Something’s Wrong” single), go to:

Vybe

Vybe was a female R&B group from the 90’s that consisted of members Stacey Daniels, Tanya Robinson, Pam Olivia and Debbie Mitchell.

In 1995, they released their self-titled debut album on Island Records which peaked at #63 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.

The first single, “Take it To the Front” peaked at #12 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and #42 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 18 weeks.

The second single and their biggest hit to date, “Warm Summer Daze” peaked at #81 on the Billboard Hot 100, #24 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart, #34 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles chart and #46 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 9 weeks.

The group was featured on the 1995 “Panther” movie soundtrack on the song, “Freedom” which featured various female R&B and hip-hop artists. After that, it seemed as if Vybe had faded into obscurity.

Pam Olivia provided background vocals for Lil’ Mo, Val Watson, and Tamia. She also has a composer credit on the 2003 album, “Urban Renewal: Featuring the Songs of Phil Collins.”

Stacey Daniels (now Stacey Dove Daniels) and her family are members of the Mountain View Church in Temecula, California. She is involved in various projects for the church. She even wrote Whitney Houston and Deborah Cox’s song, “Same Script, Different Cast.”

Debbie Mitchell (now Debra Mitchell Adams) is a Christian/gospel music singer. It’s unknown what Tanya Robinson is up to these days.

To see a video for “Warm Summer Daze,” go to:

To see a video for “Take It to the Front,” go to:

 

Rare & Obscure Music 3rd Year Anniversary

Thursday April 7th marked the 3rd year anniversary of the “Rare & Obscure Music” blog. For the past 3 years now, I have received a lot of praise, positive comments and reception. I really appreciate it.

Even though the “Rare & Obscure Music” blog has now moved to WordPress.com, I am still dedicated to posting rare, obscure, and unknown music for all to see.

Thank you very much for all the positive feedback, comments, and praise.

Evelyn Thomas

Evelyn Thomas (born Ellen Lucille Thomas in August of 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is a dance music singer from the late ’70s and ’80s.

In 1975, Evelyn was discovered by British music producer Ian Levine, who was visiting the United States searching for new talent for his new record company, Voltafine Production Company. Impressed with her talent, Ian cut some tracks for her and was able to secure her a record deal with 20th Century Records.
In 1976, she released her debut single, “Weak Spot” which peaked at #26 on the U.K. Singles chart. The success of the song led to Evelyn touring and performing on “Top of the Pops” along with singers Barbara Pennington and L.J. Johnson.
Her follow-up single, “Doomsday” peaked at #41 on the U.K. Singles chart. Afterwards, Evelyn, Barbara and L.J. returned to Chicago where they toured the Northern soul clubs together as the Chicago Soul Revue.

She released the singles: “Love’s Not Just an Illusion” (in 1976) and “My Head’s In The Stars” (in 1977) which didn’t make the charts.
Later on, Evelyn signed a new record deal with Casablanca Records. In 1978, she released her debut studio album, “I Wanna Make It On My Own”; however, her record label didn’t do much to promote it.
By 1979, she signed another record deal with the AVI Records label where she released the single, “Have A Little Faith in Me\No Time to Turn Around”. The single didn’t chart, but it prompted the record label to release it into an LP called “Have a Little Faith in Me”.

Evelyn recorded three new songs, but due to the backlash of disco music at the end of the ’70s, they were never released and her career stalled by the beginning of the 1980s.
By 1984, Ian Lavine had re-established himself as a producer and invited Evelyn to London, England to record a new track called “High Energy”.

The song became a number-one dance hit in West Germany and in the United States, topping Billboard’s Dance\Disco Top 80 chart for a week in September of that same year, staying on the chart for 15 weeks. It also peaked at #5 on the U.K. Singles chart and #85 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Despite the song’s success, Evelyn never got paid for it nor did the song’s co-writer, Fiachra Trench. The only person who got paid from the song was Ian Levine.

During 1984, the word “High Energy” had become a term for DJ’s in the United States and Europe, mostly in the gay clubs where DJ’s who preferred to play records with a certain BPM (or Beats Per Minute) threshold had found many mainstream songs lagging in tempo. The term became abbreviated into “Hi-NRG”.
During that same year, Evelyn released her third studio album, “High Energy” on the Ariola record label. The follow-up single from the album, “Masquerade” received heavy airplay in Europe and managed to peak at #60 on the U.K. Singles chart.
The last single, “Heartless” peaked at #95 on the U.K. Singles chart and #84 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 4 weeks.
In 1985, Evelyn released the single, “Sorry Wrong Number” flopped on the music charts, peaking at #100 on the U.K. Singles chart.
During that same year, she released the single, “Cold Shoulder” which peaked at #81 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it her last appearance on the chart to date.
In 1986, Evelyn released her fourth and last studio album to date, “Standing At The Crossroads” on the Record Shack Records label. The album didn’t make the charts at all.
Her next single, a cover version of Diana Ross & The Supremes’ 1967 song, “Reflections” peaked at #18 on Billbobard’s Hot Dance\Disco Club Play chart (along with “Sorry Wrong Number”), staying on the chart for 8 weeks.
The fourth single from the album, “How Many Hearts?” peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Hot Dance\Disco Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 9 weeks.

The last two singles released from the album, the title song and “Tightrope” failed to make the charts at all.
In 1987, Evelyn released three singles: “No Win Situation” (which topped the U.K.’s Hi-NRG music chart), “Summer On The Beach” and “High Voltage”; neither of the singles made any music charts at all.
Between 1988 and 1989, she released the singles, “Once in a Lifetime”, “Sleaze” and “This is Madness” before seemingly fading into obscurity during the early ’90s.
In 1994, she was featured on Groove Box’s song, “One World”. In 1997, she appeared on music act Redemption’s song, “Tell The World” which managed to peak at #43 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 5 weeks.

In May of 2008, Evelyn participated in the major RTL Disco Tour, performing throughout France. While in Europe, she began working on a comeback, completing several new tracks in different countries and teaming up with Ian Levine for the first time in 20 years.
During that same year, she released the single, “Stick To The Plan” on the Night Dance Records label. In 2009, she and singer Carol Jiani released the single, “Are You Man Enough”. She followed up with the single, “Infidelity”.

These days (according to research), Evelyn has her own entertainment company called Eljopan Entertainment where she promotes up and coming singers. She also occasionally appears on 80’s music shows for interviews and performances.

To see a video for “High Energy”, go to:

To see a video for “Weak Spot”, go to:

To see a video for “Doomsday”, go to:

To see a video for “Love’s Not Just an Illusion”, go to:

To see a video for “My Head’s in the Stars”, go to:

To see a video for “Have a Little Faith in Me”, go to:

To see a video for “Masquerade”, go to:

To see a video for “Heartless”, go to:

To see a video for “Sorry Wrong Number”, go to:

To see a video for “Cold Shoulder”, go to:

To see a video for “Reflections”, go to:

To see a video for “How Many Hearts?”, go to:

To see a video for “Standing At The Crossroads”, go to:

To see a video for “Tightrope”, go to:

To see a video for “No Win Situation”, go to:

To see a video for “Summer On The Beach”, go to:

To see a video for “High Voltage”, go to:

To see a video for “Only Once in a Lifetime”, go to:

To see a video for “Sleaze”, go to:

To see a video for “This Is Madness”, go to:

To see a video for “One World” (with Groove Box), go to:

To see a video for “Stick to the Plan”, go to:

To see a video for “Are You Man Enough” (with Carol Jiani), go to:

To see a video for “Infidelity”, go to:

 

Ivette Carrion

Ivette Carrion is a freestyle\dance music singer from the late ’80s. Not much background information is given about this artist, but she was signed to the Dial Records label.

In 1988, she released her only single, “Let Me Be” which didn’t chart at all. Afterwards, it seems as if Ivette has faded into obscurity; nothing much has been heard from this artist since the ’80s.

To see a video for “Let Me Be,” go to:

Sasha

Sasha was a freestyle\dance music singer from the late ’80s. Not much background information is given about this artist, but she was signed to the MusicWorks Records label during the ’80s.
In 1987, she released her debut single, “So Good For You”. The song didn’t make any music charts, but it was featured on various freestyle music compliation albums.
Sasha followed up with the singles: “Falling For Your Love” in 1988 and “Open Up My Heart To You (Don’t Hurt Me)” in 1989; neither of the singles made the charts at all.
In 1992, she released her last single, “Do What You Say\I’ll Never Be The Same Again” on the RJ Records label which failed to chart at all.

Afterwards, it seemed as if Sasha faded into obscurity; however, according to a comment posted back in 2016, she is now deceased due to unknown causes.

To see a video for “So Good For You”, go to:

To see a video for “Falling For Your Love”, go to:

To see a video for “Open Up My Heart To You (Don’t Hurt Me)”, go to:

To see a video for “Do What You Say”, go to: