Felton
Pilate, longtime lead vox for
Mercury/PolyGram's Con Funk Shun, steps
out with a fantastic solo LP entitled,
"Nothing But Love Spoken Here".
With his flare for the pop-AC flavored
bump and grind goodies, Pilate really
lets loose with this 10-song set of slow
to mid-tempo love anthems. Unlike many
R&B ballad offerings, it is more
about love than lust. The album title cut
is a riveting soul scorcher, a truelove
tale of sensuous melodic power. His
signature lush arrangements are
consistent song after song, but "In
Time" has a patient chorus of
flowing grandeur. "Leading
Different Lives", a melancholy story
about forlorn regrets, has movie-theme
quality. Pilate's silky falsetto is given
free reign and soars throughout - with a
delightful showing in "Keepin' You
To Your Promise" - originally penned
by Pilate for The Stylistics. They
recorded it as a Pilate/Preston Glass
co-production, but Pilate proves very
capable in his rendition as well. A Taste
Of Honey's Janice Marie Johnson duets
with him on "Only For
You" about that elusive quality,
devotion. Providing all the production,
songwriting, most of the vocals and
instrumental tracks, Pilate exquisitely
demonstrates his many talents in the
recording booth and at the mixing
console, too. On the whole, this LP is
truly a confession of love on many gone
good - gone mad levels - all intimate -
Nothing But...Love Spoken Here. Originally,
he exploded into the national spotlight
with Con Funk Shun on a formidable run of
ten huge records including one Platinum
and four consecutive Gold albums. Their
20 hit singles included 8 Top Ten R&B
Hits and one #1 R&B smash. Alongside
blistering dance workouts like
"Chase Me", "Ms.
Got-The-Body", and Ffun were their
quiet storm slow-jams for which Pilate is
noted. Classic faves such as,
"Straight From The Heart",
"(Let Me Put) Love On Your
Mind", "All Up To You",
and "Baby I'm Hooked (Right Into
Your Love)" whet the stage for this
new LP. These Pilate vocal hits remain on
radio play lists while Con Funk Shun
continues to churn out concert dates year
after year. Pilate and Con Funk Shun
continue to sparkle on TV events like
"Sinbad's HBO Soul Music
Special", "Motown Live"
and "Vibe". Recent releases
include "The Best Of Con Funk Shun
Vol.1&2", "Live For Ya
A**" - the Live LP, "The
Ballads Collection", and the
re-release of the Gold LP,
"Secrets" on CD.
Pilate is no less
well known for his production/writing
with rap phenom MC Hammer. The
Hammer-Pilate joint effort staggers the
imagination with sales from '89 to '92
alone of 30 million, including
"Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em",
the #2 all-time selling R&B LP. The
awards, such as Grammies, M-TV, American
Music, Billboard, and Soul Train, among
others, lauded on his mix-magic with
Hammer are too numerous to mention. He
also doubled as Musical Director for
Hammer's record breaking 250-date world
tour which included the Earth, Wind and
Fire horn section, and over 40 musicians,
singers, dancers, & rappers...Other
landmarks in Pilate's Capitol days
include his film and TV soundtrack work
such as his Oscar-nominated "Addams
Groove" (Addams Family Movie theme)
and Hammerman (Hammerman cartoon show).
Pilate also has production/writing
credits with the California State Lottery
radio and TV campaign slogan "I Feel
Like The Lucky One". His influence
reverbs on countless samples like the
D-Shot/Jive Records single,
"Huckleberry", featured on the
GOLD Columbia Pictures soundtrack,
"Booty Call" and the DOUBLE
PLATINUM "Gang Related"
soundtrack cut "A Change Is Gonna
Come", by J. Flexx. The recent
eponymous PLATINUM debut LP, Dru Hill,
with Pilate's re-vibed Con Funk Shun
classic, Love's Train, produced by Keith
Sweat demonstrates how his music has
crossed over to Generation Next.
"Love Therapy", is the title
track he produced/wrote on the new Lenny
Williams LP. Most recently, he produced a
cut, "Tell Me" on Evander
Hollyfield's Real Deal Records' new male
vocal act, Four Shades. True to his
calling, Pilate emotes love's many
facets, song after song, whether as
producer, writer or
artist. "Nothing But Love
Spoken Here" fits in the Pilate mold
and keeps on proving that his style and
message are, indeed, universal and
timeless....
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