'The Resurrected Tour' - Alexander O'Neal 2018 Tour (Preview)

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March 16, 2018

‘The Resurrected Tour’ – Alexander O’Neal 2018 Tour (Preview)

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Alexander O’Neal has always professed a fondness for the UK. In fact, the American R&B singer moved to Manchester last year and apparently enjoys Northern friendliness and overcast weather. This April he will be commencing on ‘The Resurrected Tour’, performing at venues across the UK. The House That Soul Built will be in attendance at his final stop at the magnificent London Palladium.

Born in Mississippi, O’Neal was discovered by the late Prince and recruited as a member of the band ‘the Time’. Leaving before the band was signed by Warner Bros, O’Neal went on to sign with Tabu Records to build a solo career. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he spawned R&B hits such as ‘Criticize’, ‘Never Knew Love Like This’ (with label-mate Cherrelle), and ‘Fake’. All Music describe O’Neal as having a ‘tough voice… [with] the same grain and range of Otis Redding’.

In advance of the tour, The House That Soul Built have broken down our five favourite Alexander O’Neal songs. Sound off in the comments with your own suggestions!

If You Were Here Tonight

Written by Monte Moir and released by O’Neal as the second single from his eponymous debut album, ‘If You Were Here Tonight’ is a quintessential slice of 1980s quiet-storm. The lyrics are fairly nondescript: O’Neal laments that the woman he loves is not with him. However, it is O’Neal’s passionate vocal delivery combined with the admittedly kitschy production that makes ‘If You Were Here Tonight’ so compelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIsOQR3NBCQ

Sunshine

Another quiet-storm slow burner, written by the Grammy Award-winning song writing duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. ‘She touched me with a smile that glows / I can’t go a day without my sunshine’, O’Neal waxes with delicate and buttery vocals. The ambient groove of the song is entrancing.

Criticize

Written by O’Neil and Garry George ‘Jellybean’ Johnson, ‘Criticize’ is a synth-laden, boogie-funk classic. Backed by Lisa Keith’s airy vocals, O’Neil chastises an assumedly former lover for her constant negative energy: ‘I’m fed up ’cause all you want to do is criticize’. From the 1987 album Hearsay, ‘Criticize’ remains O’Neal’s highest performing single in the UK (it reached #4).

Fake

Another uptempo track from Hearsay, ‘Fake’ has a more aggressive edge compared to ‘Criticize’. Though similarly funky and rollicking, the lyrics and O’Neil’s delivery have more bite as he decries the duplicity of a brief love affair. ‘If women could be counterfeit / Then you’d be it’, O’Neil snarls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf-bY0nOTvE

All True Man

From his 1991 album of the same name, ‘All True Man’ combines O’Neal’s skills as a crooning balladeer with the danceability and groove of his uptempo recordings. With deliciously 1990s sentiment, O’Neal explains that he is ‘strong, but sensitive’. He promises both sexual and emotional satisfaction and unyielding commitment. It is perhaps the male response to Aretha Franklin’s ‘Do Right Woman, Do Right Man’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL-mAlmPipM

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The Resurrected Tour is presented by the MRJ Group by arrangement with SJ Media. Tickets can be bought here.

Tour Dates