Warren Mills - Warren Mills (1985)

Warren Mills is an artist whose music I've heard mentioned in various places, but that I'd never actually heard. Then I saw the LP in a used record store and figured, since the price was right, it was time to explore his work, as it was said to be quite funky. Well, I was definitely not disappointed when I finally put it on. It is an awesome electro-funk album that still sounds fresh today, IMO. There is very little info on Warren on the internet, but I managed to find out some details. He was born in Zambia, and someone claims on Youtube that his real name is Warren Milstead. He was signed to Jive Records as a preteen, and was compared to a young Michael Jackson. Certainly he had the vocal chops. He is the nephew of singer Alton Edwards, who had a hit single in 1982 in the UK with "I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)". And, according to different sources, he is either the brother or cousin of singer Rozalla, who had a huge hit in the early 1990's with "Everybody's Free". (I asked Rozalla about this on her Facebook page, but she not only didn't answer but deleted my post!) Whatever the case, in 1984 he released a remake of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles' "Mickey's Monkey" which made a minor dent in the UK charts but did not appear on the album. His next single, "Sunshine", would be his biggest success, climbing to #74 in UK charts. He released three other singles: "Don't Tell Me 'Bout Your Boyfriend", "Tell Me What You Want" and "Flame In The Fire", which he performed in the 1985 movie Rappin'. But none of these hit in the UK or anywhere else and Warren faded from view. (ProMills has pointed out that Aaron Carter did a remake of "Tell Me What You Want" in 2000.) It's very unfortunate, as he was a talented singer and the songs were extremely catchy. The album reminds me of Shanice Wilson's debut, Discovery, very funky and danceable. It helps that he had a host of Jive's top producers on hand, many of whom also worked with Samantha Fox, which gives it a pop edge. Billy Ocean also produced a couple of tracks. It all comes together nicely, and Warren really should have been bigger. He is now married with three daughters and living again in Zambia, and reportedly also still dabbles in music. Should you be interested, you can try to 'friend' him on Facebook, although it seems he may no longer be interested in discussing his early music career, though he really should be proud of it.

Video for Sunshine

Video clip from Rappin' of Warren performing Flame In The Fire

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1		Sunshine
2		Tell Me What You Want
3		Choosey Girl
4		Don't Tell Me 'Bout Your Boyfriend
5		Flame In The Fire
6		Biochemistry
7		You Thrill Me (I Like It Like This)
8		It's Peculiar
9		I Turn To You