Billy Ocean & The Roots On The Tonight Show

’80’s pop star Billy Ocean was a guest on The Tonight Show last night and he performed “Suddenly” and “Carribean Queen” with The Roots from his collection of hit songs.



Throwback: Billy Ocean-Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)

[youtube]Yydrh3vPFeo[/youtube]

Billy Ocean entered the music scene in 1976 with his first self-titled album on GTO Records. The relationship produced four successful singles for the UK by way of Trinidad singer. “Love Really Hurts Without You,” “Love On Delivery,” “Stop Me (If You’ve Heard It All Before)” and “Red Light Spells Danger” were all important in establishing his audience at home in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Four years passed before he released his second album City Limit. “Are You Ready” and “Stay The Night” from that album were well-known club records. By 1981 Ocean had moved to Epic Records and Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) was his third full-length project. Inner Feelings was his last recording for Epic in 1982 and then he signed to Jive. Suddenly came out in 1984 and it ushered in platinum sales and gave him a presence in the mainstream particularly with MTV audiences. “Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)” became an international hit and its lyrics were changed according to the market where it was heard. “Loverboy” and “Suddenly” also upheld the album’s chart reception and established Ocean as an icon of ’80’s pop. Love Zone, which was the 1986 follow-up to Suddenly, underscored Ocean’s newfound pop status with “When The Going Gets Tough The Tough Get Going” when it did well Billboard-wise and was on the “Jewel Of The Nile” soundtrack. “Love Zone” the single and “They’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” were the other hits to make it to R&B and pop radio. Tear Down These Walls was Ocean’s seventh album and it was another platinum seller thanks to the songs “Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car” and “The Colour Of Love.” Unknown to most is that Teddy Riley was a producer on Tear Down These Walls. The following year a greatest hits package came out and in 1993 he recorded Time To Move On, his last album on Jive and it was recorded with R. Kelly. “Caribbean Queen” was re-released in 2004 to mark its 29th anniversary and will.i.am did a remix of the song in 2005. Ocean’s most recent release is 2009’s Because I Love You.



Live From Daryl’s House With Guests Maxi Priest And Billy Ocean

NEW YORK, April 12, 2010—The 29th edition of Live From Daryl’s House is a bittersweet affair, as it marks the final live performance by Daryl Hall and John Oates with their longtime musical director T-Bone Wolk, who passed away on Feb. 27 from a heart attack at the age of 58. The show, which took place Jan. 30, climaxed the week-long Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay, with special guests including reggae legend Maxi Priest and R&B star Billy Ocean. Daryl had previously filmed an episode of the groundbreaking web series on the island featuring Toots and the Maytals, which aired in February, and this show, featuring seven of the songs from their festival set, will be available for viewing starting April 15 at www.lfdh.com.

Here’s a link to the current episode’s promo: http://www.youtube.com/user/LiveFromDarylsHouse?feature=mhw5#p/u/0/N3D_dwkfUFA

T-Bone Wolk was the co-producer/musical director and bassist/guitarist for Daryl Hall and John Oates for nearly 30 years, starting with their 1981 album, Private Eyes. He was also the co-producer for many H&O albums, as well as Daryl Hall solo albums. The next installment of Live From Daryl’s House, marking a milestone 30th episode in the series, will be a musical tribute to his memory.

Commented Daryl: “The show marked the last time John and I played a full concert with T-Bone, so it takes on a very special meaning for us. T-Bone will truly be missed, not just as a musician, but as a brother and a great friend.”

The seven-song set, part of the band’s longer performance—which will eventually be available on DVD—includes Daryl Hall and John Oates classics “Maneater,” “Say It Isn’t So” and “One on One,” along with a rare performance of Abandoned Luncheonette’s “Las Vegas Turnaround [The Stewardess Song],” as well as their cover of the late Teddy Pendergrass’ “Love TKO,” a hit for the duo’s hometown Philly International label. Before the concert, Daryl and John met reggae legend Maxi Priest and Billy Ocean backstage and planned the impromptu jam, as the pair joined them on-stage to perform Ocean’s hit, “Caribbean Queen” and a rousing version of the O’Jays’ “Love Train” for the delighted crowd.

On June 11, look for Daryl to perform with former Live From Daryl’s House guests Chromeo at Bonnaroo, where he’ll be taking the web-show experience to the live masses at the famed Tennessee festival.

Past episodes of Live From Daryl’s House have featured a mix of well-known performers like Smokey Robinson, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, Toots Hibbert, Nick Lowe, K.T. Tunstall, Todd Rundgren, Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, Finger Eleven’s James Black and Rick Jackett, the Bacon Brothers and country star Jimmy Wayne, along with newcomers such as Philly soul singer Mutlu, Canadian techno-rockers Chromeo, pop-rock phenom Eric Hutchinson, Cash Money rocker Kevin Rudolf, Wind-up Records’ Chicago rockers Company of Thieves, Bay Area singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson, Charlottesville, VA’s rising Parachute, Chicago rock band Plain White T’s, Boston bluesman Eli “Paperboy” Reed and highly touted tunesmith Diane Birch.

Daryl started the free monthly web-show in late 2007 after having the idea of “playing with my friends and putting it up on the Internet,” and the show has since garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, SPIN, Daily Variety, CNN, BBC, Yahoo! Music and influential blogger Bob Lefsetz, who have cited Live From Daryl’s House as a perfect example of a veteran artist reinventing himself in the digital age by collaborating with both established colleagues and newer performers.