Regina Belle Displays Diva Diversity On New Mca Set

Since she made her debut as a solo artist in 1987 with the album "All By Myself," Grammy winner Regina Belle has steadily crafted a style that merges the old school with the new. Over the years, Belle has maintained her position in the spotlight as a song stylist, intertwining a soulful spirit, heartfelt emotion, and technical proficiency. Yet somewhere along the way her musical vision, as well as her image, got slightly altered.
With the June 9 release of "Believe In Me"‹her fifth album and her first for MCA Records‹Belle is poised for a dynamic return to form.
"It feels so good to be making the kind of music I truly want to make," she says. "I am all about variety, which is something my first two albums really explored. By the third album, I was getting more dictation from my label in terms of the direction I should go in. And quite honestly, I'm not the kind of artist who can work that way. I know where I can go and where I fit in, more so than anybody else.
"Even at a young age, I was a seasoned singer," she adds. "So I could fit into many musical genres. I've realized that we just have to find a way where it works for me and my audience. And I don't think that was a formula my former label was using."
During her tenure at Columbia, Belle says, she was pigeonholed as an AC artist. At MCA, she says, the atmosphere is quite different. In fact, the label‹whose diva roster includes Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, and Chant Moore‹left the singer alone in the studio.
"They let Regina be Regina," says Belle. "I exercised everything about myself. I was able to create things that I hadn't been able to create in such a long time."
At press time, a Columbia spokesman was unavailable for comment.
On past recordings, Belle worked with such name producers as Nick Martinelli, Michael J. Powell, Narada Michael Walden, and Walter Afanasieff. For "Believe In Me," she enlisted such fresh faces as her brother Bernard Belle ("I Gotch U"); Martinelli prot g Greg Charley ("I've Had Enough" and "Never Should Have Let You Go"); and Erik "E-Smooth" Hicks, who produced eight songs on the album, including the upbeat first single, "Don't Let Go," one of four songs for which Belle penned the lyrics.
"While I have worked with some great producers in the past, Erik let me create on my own and do things myself," Belle says. "Honestly, it took a lot for him to trust me, because he didn't know anything about my writing ability. I feel great about being able to write with somebody who has a formula for what I've always wanted to do but [was] never given the chance. This sure feels good."
Although not released commercially as a single, "Don't Let Go" was serviced to radio April 27 and received early play from WILD Boston, Houston's KMJQ, KJMS Memphis, and WZHT Montgomery, Ala.
Still, Rajeeyah Shabaz, music director at WVEE Atlanta, is somewhat skeptical. "I like 'Don't Let Go.' It's a feel-good midtempo track, great for summer," she says. "And it's really different for Regina, since she comes from a more balladeer-style background. However, because I'm an urban contemporary-mainstream station, I don't quite know where to position the song. Regina's base is still adult contemporary. My challenge is how to effectively position Regina alongside artists like Mya and Next."
One self-confessed Belle fan‹Sonia Askew, urban music buyer for Camelot Music in North Canton, Ohio‹has similar thoughts.
"While I've only heard 'Don't Let Go,' I feel that the label is trying to re-establish the singer," Askew says. "This song is much hipper and more upbeat than Regina's past work, which will definitely help in introducing her to a new and younger crowd. I just hope the tried-and-true Regina fans aren't too surprised. MCA will need an out-of-the-box marketing plan that is aggressive and focused so that new consumers, as well as established fans, are made aware of the project. Also, it will greatly help to get her out on the road with a younger female artist, somebody like a Mary J. Blige."
The vocally gifted Belle has always had a penchant for exploring a wide range of musical territory. Her upbringing included singing along to such soulful artists as Shirley Caesar, the Emotions, Donny Hathaway, Knight, and Billie Holiday.
While a student at Rutgers University, Belle performed at many venues in New York's Greenwich Village. At one such performance, she was spotted by New York radio personality Vaughn Harper (of WBLS fame), who suggested she work with the Manhattans. Belle was soon on the road with the group, opening for Dionne Warwick, Knight, and LaBelle. In 1986, Belle's mellifluous voice appeared on the Manhattans' "Back To Basics" album.
One year later, she made her mark as a solo artist with the critically acclaimed "All By Myself," which spawned the hit singles "Show Me The Way" and the Holiday-hued "So Many Tears." This was followed in 1989 by "Stay With Me," certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Several years later, Belle scored a major coup with a track from her "Passion" album.
"Who knew that 'A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme),' would go on to win four Grammy Awards?" says the singer of her duet with Peabo Bryson. "Peabo and I sure didn't. But it sure made us happy."
In 1995, Belle released "Reachin' Back," a collection of songs that found the singer revisiting some of black music's golden moments. " 'Reachin' Back' kept her wedged in that mature audience because she wasn't singing old school, but old favorites, and there's a big difference," says Marilyn Batchelor, MCA's national director of marketing.
"Many people take for granted‹especially those who have appreciated her music over the years‹that everybody knows Regina and her music," adds Batchelor. "Just because an artist has sold over 1 million records doesn't mean that people know who the artist is. But the truth is, there are more people who know her songs than know the woman behind them. Our job is to bring her back, on an intimate level, into the forefront of retail, the media, and radio." MCA will be courting older fans as well as pursuing younger ones.
"There is a wealth of flavor on this album," says Batchelor. "The title track is a straight-up R&B ballad, while "Baby Love" has a funky hip-hop-flavored vibe that is very lounge-y, which should work with the college audience we'll definitely be going after."