Music you've never heard….'til now! A blog of rare, hardly-heard or remembered pop, hip-hop, R&B, freestyle, dance and country music from the '70s to the 2000s. From one-hit wonders to no-hit wonders, this blog has it all!!
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New Guys on the Block (not to be confused with New Kids on the Block) were a male R&B vocal group from New Jersey that were signed to Sugar Hill Records.
In 1984, they released their debut album, “The New Guys on the Block” which didn’t appear to make the charts at all.
Their first single, “On the Dance Floor” peaked at #63 on Billboard’s Black Singles chart in June of 1983, staying on the chart for 7 weeks.
Their follow-up singles “What I Wouldn’t Give” and “Ahh Dance” failed to chart and after that, it seems as if the New Guys on the Block have faded into obscurity.
New Choice were a female R&B\hip-hop group from Sacramento, California that consisted of members Angelique Williams, Baby D, Pinky Harris, Viqui Lazar, and Shavel Farris.
In 1986, the group released their debut single, “Love is So Confusing” on King IV Records. It’s unknown how or if the single ever charted.
In 1987, New Choice released their second single, “Cold Stupid” on RCA Records which peaked at #69 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart in September of 1987, staying on the chart for 10 weeks. The song was featured in the movie, “Penitentiary III.”
A year later, they released their debut album, “At Last” on Warner Bros. Records which didn’t appear to chart at all.
The first single from the album, “Funny Feeling” peaked at #83 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart in December of 1988, staying on the chart for 6 weeks.
The follow-up singles, the title song and “People Want Bass” failed to make the charts and after that, it seems as if the group has faded into obscurity.
Queen Mother Rage was a female hip-hop rapper from the 90’s. She was a former member of the Blackwatch Committee, which consisted of activists, writers, & musicians led by X-Clan frontman, Professor X.
After contributing to several of Professor X’s related albums in a small capacity, Queen Mother Rage released her only solo album, “Vanglorious Law” in 1991 on Cardiac Records. The album failed to make the charts at all.
Queen Mother Rage released three singles from the album: “Slipping into Darkness,” “Mental Erection,” and “Key Testimony” which also failed to make the charts at all either.
She planned to record a follow-up album in 1992, but when Cardiac Records folded, Queen Mother Rage abandoned the project and left the music business, fading into obscurity.
Marla Mar & The Good ‘N’ Plenty Cru (from Los Angeles, California) were a female hip-hop group from the 90’s. The group consisted of Marla, Tina Bright (who was “Good”) and Medina (who was “Plenty.”)
In 1992, they released their only album, “Woman Ta Woman” on Cardiac Records which failed to make the charts at all. There doesn’t appear to be any singles released from the album and after that, it seemed as if Marla Mar & The Good ‘N’ Plenty Cru have faded into obscurity.
Today, Marla is married with 5 children & resides in Atlanta, Tina resides in Los Angeles, and Medina resides in Saudi Arabia where she teaches English.
Nikki Kixx (born Nicole Franklin in Inglewood, California) was a female hip-hop rapper from the 90’s. Not much information is given about her, but she was signed to Scotti Bros. Records.
In 1992, she was featured on Marla Mar & The Good ‘N’ Plenty Cru’s album, “Woman Ta Woman” on the title song.
In 1994, Nikki released her only single, “What U Do 2 Me” which peaked at #84 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart in July of 1994, staying on the chart for 5 weeks.
After that, it seemed as if Nikki Kixx faded into obscurity, but she now goes under the name Nicole “Faithful” Franklin. In 2009, she released her first gospel album, “Taking it Back.”
Will King (born in Los Angeles, California) was a male R&B singer from the 80’s. Not much information is given about him, but he was signed to Next Experience Records.
In 1985, Will released his only album, “Backed Up Against the Wall” which didn’t chart nor did the title song.
Will’s only chart appearance was the follow-up single, “I’m Sorry” which peaked at #26 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart in May of 1985, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.
After that, it seems as if Will King has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from him since, but his album is available on iTunes.
Troy Johnson (born Troy Kent Johnson in California) is an R&B singer from the mid-’80s and ’90s.
At a young age, Troy became influenced in music, citing James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire and the Jacksons as his influences. When he was 13 years old, he got his first bass guitar.
After his parents got divorced, he went through a rebellious phase as he became involved in drugs, hung out with the wrong people and was even arrested at one point.
By the time Troy was 18 years old, he became a Christian and began to pursue a music career. He was discovered in the bathroom of a celebrity basketball game hosted by producer Leon Sylvers and was later signed to a record deal with Motown Records.
In 1984, he was featured on the soundtrack to the film, “Blame It On Rio” with the track, “I Must Be Doing Something Right.”
In 1986, Troy released his debut studio album, “Getting A Grip On Love” which didn’t make the Billboard charts at all.
The lead single, “It’s You” peaked at #65 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 8 weeks.
The follow-up single from the album, “If You Got The Heart (I’ve Got The Love)” flopped on the charts.
By 1989, Troy was signed to RCA Records. During that same year, he released his sophomore album, “The Way It Is” which peaked at #87 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The title song peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 15 weeks, making it his highest chart appearance to date.
The second single, “Virgin Girl” peaked at #81 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks.
The last single released from the album, “Change” didn’t make any impact on the charts at all. In the ’90s, Troy experienced a spiritual awakening and switched to a gospel music career.
In 1993, he released his third studio album, “Plain and Simple” on the Word record label. In 1994, he released his fourth album, “I Will.”
By the late ’90s, Troy put his music career on hold to focus on his spiritual matters. In 2005 (eleven years after the release of his last album), he released his fifth self-titled album on his own record label, Sought After Entertainment.
The album featured a new version of “It’s You” which peaked at #40 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
Since then, nothing much has been heard from Troy and it seems as if he’s faded into obscurity.
To see a video for “I Must Be Doing Something Right”, go to:
To see a video for “It’s You”, go to:
To see a video for “If You’ve Got The Heart (I’ve Got The Love)”, go to:
To see a video for “The Way It Is”, go to:
To see a video for “Virgin Girl”, go to:
To see a video for “Change”, go to:
To see a video for “Plain and Simple”, go to:
To see a video for “I Will”, go to:
To see a video of “It’s You” (from his 2005 self-titled album), go to:
Jiggie Gee (born Regenia Anderson in Brooklyn, New York) is a female hip-hop rapper from the early 90’s. Not much information is given about her, but she was signed to Luke Records.
In 1991, she released her debut album, “Let the Rhythm Ride” which didn’t appear to make the charts at all.
Jiggie Gee released her only solo single, “I Need a Good Man” which peaked at #42 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart in July of 1991, staying on the chart for 10 weeks.
She was featured on Luke featuring 2 Live Crew’s 1993 single, “Christmas at Luke’s Sex Shop” along with Poison Clan & Home Team. After that, it seems as if Jiggie Gee has faded into obscurity.
Terri Dancer (born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) was a female R&B\dance singer & model from the 80’s. Not much information is given about her, but she was signed to the Reflections on Records label.
In 1986, she released the single, “Learn From the Burn” which managed to peak at #71 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart in February of 1986, staying on the chart for 6 weeks.
The follow-up single, “Can’t Stand the Pressure” failed to chart and after that, it seemed as if Terri Dancer has faded into obscurity.
Casserine (born Casserine Young on January 3, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York) was a female R&B singer from the 90’s. She began singing when she was 3 years old, graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in New York and even rejected an opera scholarship from Howard University to become a funk\R&B singer.
In 1994, she released her debut album, “Gotta Get to Know Me” on Warner Bros. Records which didn’t appear to chart at all. She worked with Cato and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins on her album.
The first single from the album, “Why Not Take All of Me” (featuring Cato) peaked at #33 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart and #33 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 19 weeks.
The follow-up single from the album, “We Gotta Run” (featuring rap group Da Bush Babees) peaked at #75 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 6 weeks.
Casserine’s debut album received mediocre reception because critics seemed to be unmoved by the musical content, but however, much of the lack of interest was attributed to her lack of development.
Despite that, the album impressed R&B singer Patti LaBelle enough to invite Casserine to duet with her at a performance at the Apollo Theatre. She was also featured on the 1995 single, “Freedom” from the “Panther” movie soundtrack along with other female R&B artists such as Jade, Aaliyah, and Brownstone.
After that, it seems as if Casserine has faded into obscurity; nothing much has been heard from her since the ’90s.
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