LAURENCE, PAUL - Haven't You Heard (Bonus Tracks Edition) (Sealed) (CD)

Paul Laurence's 1985 Debut Album - Expanded and available on CD for the 1st Time Ever. Re-Mastered From The Original Master Tapes. As a result of creating hits for others, Paul was given the chance to cut his own album in 1985, “Haven’t You Heard”. He enlisted Lillo as a background vocalist & got to work with the keyboards. The overall tone of the album not only reflected Paul’s excellent musicianship & mastery of the technology, the songs’ lyrics revealed a mindset to tell stories that were positive, uplifting and with a conscious. The single “Strung Out (Freebase)” was self-explanatory – a warning of the dangers of crack cocaine addiction (Paul wasn’t the only one who covered this territory – the late Isaac Hayes did so as well with 1986’s “Ike’s Rap/Hey Girl”). “She’s Not A Sleaze” featured Paul, Freddie & Lillo trading lead vocals about a girl who may dress in tight clothes & likes to tease – but she’s really a good girl (thank you, Lillo!). “You Hooked Me” is one of the album’s few ballads – this one with Paul in a very mellow mood. The uptempo “Good & Plenty” describes a love that is just like the candy. “Racism (Sucks!!)” gets right to the point – an issue that will sadly remain one of society’s greatest ills. “Haven’t You Heard” – another slow jam with just Paul on vocals & piano, keeping the song simple yet sweet. The mid-tempo “There Ain’t Nothin’ (Like Your Lovin’)” has a nice guitar lilt that accents the song quite nicely. “I’m Sensitive”, which closed out the original album release, deals with a man’s insecurities about love & a fear of being meek in a relationship. While “Haven’t You Heard” quickly became a fan favorite among those who followed Freddie, Lillo, Melba, Me’lisa & Kashif (who had his own record deal w/Arista), the album barely even charted whereas “She’s Not A Sleaze”, “Strung Out” & “You Hooked Me” peaked in the mid/upper-50's on the R&B singles listings. Being that Hush Productions controlled the marketing & promotion of their releases, Huggins & company knew that the money-makers were their singers and were satisfied with keeping Paul behind the scenes. A sad scenerio – especially since Paul’s own work was good enough to earn priority status alongside the hits he created for his colleagues