Georgio's 1987 hit album "Sexappeal"
You remember Georgio? Of course not. Even if you were listening to R&B or dance music in the late Eighties, this guy was probably the blippiest of blips on your radar screen. Nevertheless, I’m here to give the guy some long-belated props. For what, you might ask? Well, for a brief moment, this dude released some of the pumpin’est dance music of the day. I was way too young to get into clubs at that point, but I was blessed to have relatives in their mid-late twenties who went out dancing damn near every weekend, and Georgio’s “Sexappeal” album was on heavy rotation when they were getting ready to hit the clubs.
Before I hit you with the one-two punch of Georgio’s videos for “Sexappeal” and “Tina Cherry”, I’ve gotta say:
a) this guy worked the multi-cultural look that was popular in those days quite well (his last name was Allentini, which suggests to me that he’s 1/2 black, 1/2 Italian)
b) He was signed to Motown, which was purgatory for artists in the mid-late Eighties. Something tells me he would have been much more popular on another label. Motown had nada at the time. Stevie, Lionel and Rick were on their way down commercially, and Georgio, Vanity and El DeBarge never really got off the way they should have.
c) How the hell did “Tina Cherry” get on the radio? Listen to the lyrics! And this was a Top 5 R&B hit! That shit’s kinda risque even for 2010! And why is he digging on Tina Cherry if she’s “very hairy”. Unless of course, Georgio was some kinda freak who was into hairy broads.
d) For a dude who was all about the lay-deez, don’t you think he comes off a little…uh, sweet? Just saying. He’s giving us a lot of Prince in these two videos, but he’s also giving us a little bit of Jermaine Stewart. At any rate, dude’s married and has a kid-but he *is* from the San Francisco area. And wasn’t everyone a little bit androgynous back then?
e) Either way, sistas must have been crying into their relaxer back in those days. Brother had some *good* hair.
I’ve gotta give props to my buddy Pete who hooked me up with the entire “Sexappeal” album. Now I can relive all my memories of pubescent confusion with the original soundtrack!
Let’s take it back to ’86 and ’87. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…Georgio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-tU_afSNok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8I58EtRMNk