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FREESTYLE: GREATEST BEATS - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL.2

By the spring of 1986, Freestyle was exploding in New York clubs. New York radio however, was not impressed. Nor were radio stations around the country. With the exception of Hot 105 in Miami, and Power 106 in Los Angeles, who made the first singles by TKA, Nayobe and Exposé #1 hits in the South Florida and Southern California respectively, radio station program directors ignored Freestyle.Power 106 (KPWR) and Hot 105 (WQHT) were pioneers of a new type of station that were starting up in early 1986 -crossover radio. These were CHR stations that leaned heavily toward Dance music. The target audience for Power 106 and Hot 105 was the large English-speaking Latin population of these two cities. The sucess of those stations brought attention to the large hole left in New York radio when WKTU signed off the air 3 years earlier. On August 13 ,1986, WAPW, a fledgling CHR station in New York, changed its call letters to WQHT and swithced its format to that of its sister station in L.A. (Power 106). WQHT (Hot 103) began playing much of the hits by TKA, Sweet Sensation, and Exposé in the same rotation as Pop superstars like Michael Jackson and Madonna. Freestyle tracks like TKA's "One Way Love" and Sweet Sensation's "Hooked On You" received new life and the success of these tracks as well as the just-released "Show Me" by the Cover Girls helped get them added to stations around the country. Freestyle was now getting national attention. Despite the renewed interest in the older Freestyle tracks, these artist were already releasing their follow-up singles. In the fall of 1986, Sweet Sensation released "Victim Of Love" and TKA released "Come Get My Love," a raw, more club-oriented and less pop sounding record than "One Way Love." It set the tone for a new crop of Freestyle records produced by Mickey Garcia and Elvin Molina that were released in late 1986 and early 1987, including "I Won't Stop Loving You" by C-Bank and Judy Torres' follow-up single "Come Into My Arms." Both of these tracks became huge hits in a new club called Heartthrob which opened up in the old building that had housed the Funhouse. The owners of Heartthrob were able to convince "Little Louie" Vega to leave the Devil's Nest to play at the new club. At around the same time a new club, 1018, opened a half a mile away and directly competed with Heartthrob, often outbidding each other for the exclusive performances of Freestyle artists. The demand for Freestyle was so great that both clubs prospered and the artists wound up performing at both clubs, often on the same night. In early 1987, Sa-Fire also released her follow-up single, "Let Me Be The One." Like "Come Get My Love," this song was a departure from the sound of her first single. It proved to be a welcome one as the song outperformed its predecessor in chart perfomance and sales. The Cover Girls' second single "Spring Love," again a departure for them, didn't fare as well. They were, however, able to bounce back in a major way with their third single "Because Of You." The song produced by Louie Vega and Robert Clivillés and written by David Cole before the latter two went on to become mega-producers with C&C Music Factory, became perhaps the favorite Cover Girl song of all. It reached #24 on the Pop charts and top 10 on the Dance charts in the spring of 1987 and propelled their debut album to nearly gold status. "Like A Child" was the second single from noel. "Silent Morning" was a tough act to follow, and although it did not match the success of "Silent Morning," it set the pace for his successful self-titled debut album. Joyce Simms, although not hispanic, was enjoying the distinction of having the Freestyle record to cross over into the R&B market with the classic "(You Are My) All And All." It was also one of the first Freestyle records to crack the European market. Although Freestyle was still in its early stages, it was fast becoming dance music for the '80's.