Jermaine Stewart - The Word Is Out (1984)

Four years before he hit big in America with the chaste smash "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off," ex-Shalamar backing singer Jermaine Stewart debuted with a set of songs that probably should have brought him widespread success sooner. Crisply produced by Peter Collins, and with a bit of songwriting help on "In Love Again," by Culture Club's Mikey Craig (Stewart had added backing vocals to the group's Colour By Numbers album the year before), The Word Is Out is a winning combination of pop smarts and electro-dance grooves; it was an R&B hit, but also includes several tunes with crossover potential. The title track, with its crunching, big-beat chorus, is one, and the sleek, sexy club cut, "I Like It," is another, while the lack of a backbeat is probably all that kept the brilliant piano ballad "Brilliance" from breaking through. Sometimes Stewart's nods to the hit parade are a bit too overt: the pumping beat and squealing rock guitar of "Get Over It" crowd Shalamar's "Dancing In The Sheets" a bit, and "Debbie," with its twangy hook, has a definite "Footloose" feel. But Stewart's energy and warmth make it impossible to dislike any of these ten skillful songs, and later fans who missed this early chapter in his development are in for a pleasant surprise on first listening.