What Fresh Hell is This quotes this item in the June 14. 1980 issue of Billboard Magazine about Black Russian: “Actually from the U.S.S.R., Black Russian is a pop trio which makes crystalline pop/r&b that comes across as a more r&b-oriented ABBA. Natasha Kapustin has an excellent soaring voice. ‘Leave Me Now’ really gives her room to show off her vocal strength. The production is exceptionally clean with Vladimir Shneider’s keyboard and the synthesizers of Serge [Kapustin] and Natasha Kapustin lending a cushy sheen. The album is evenly divided between uptempo dance cuts and moody ballads. Best cuts: ‘Mystified’, ‘Leave Me Now’, ‘Emptiness’, ‘New York City’, ‘Love’s Enough’.”
Actually the song that has been running through my head most of the times I played Black Russian is “’Cause I Love You”. Black Russian are professionals who put their heart and soul into this album. The music stacks up well with the other albums of that era, and truly, “Mystified” should have been a hit single. As with most of the UARB’s and UARA’s that I write about, I love the whole album, and it is difficult for me to single out particular songs. My personal favorite though would have to be “Leave Me Now”, a plaintive ballad that is as compelling as any that I can remember from the 1980’s.
Two singles were released from the Black Russian album, “Leave Me Now” and “Mystified”. In addition to the U.S., the album was released in Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, France, and Spain; and the “Mystified” single was also released in those European counties. According to a blog post that I saw, Black Russian made an appearance on the Dinah Shore Show.
Despite the novelty of being able to hear Russian music and the thawing of relations with the Soviet Union – “Détente” had begun around 1969 – sales of the album and singles alike were poor. I have long since given up trying to figure out why some songs are hits, and others are not.
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Black Russian had some assistance with the lyrics, perhaps because English is not their native language; they hardly spoke the language at all at the time that they defected. Lyricists who lent a hand include Allee Willis, who co-wrote the lyrics for their beautiful first single “Leave Me Now”. Willis has had a long career as a writer, songwriter, set designer, and artist. Her musical credits are as wide-ranging as can be imagined; together with Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell, Allee Willis wrote the music for the 2005 Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on the 1982 novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and the 1985 movie, The Color Purple that was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Rae Dawn Chong. Allee Willis was also one of the writers of the song by the Rembrandts, “I’ll be There for You” that was the theme song for the massively popular sitcom Friends and one of the best selling TV theme songs of all time. Willis won a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Soundtrack for Beverly Hills Cop.
From Wikipedia: “[Allee Willis]’s songs have sold over 50,000,000 records, including ‘September’ and ‘Boogie Wonderland’ by Earth, Wind and Fire, ‘Neutron Dance’ by the Pointer Sisters, ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ by Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield, and ‘Lead Me On’ by Maxine Nightingale. Willis has collaborated with hundreds of leading artists and composers from all fields of music, including Bob Dylan, Patti LaBelle, James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Deniece Williams, and Motown legend Lamont Dozier.”
(April 2015/1)
