We Love the Eighties

We’re New Jack swingin’ at the JLKC, baby!

By Raina McLeod

published: March 06, 2008

It was the late Eighties when your high-top-faded, parachute-pants-rockin’ best friend popped a tape in the boombox and the sound that floated from the tinny speakers was both fresh and familiar. It fused Motown-ish harmonies with hip-hop beats and R&B grooves. You called it “bangin’,” but the real name for it was New Jack swing. Tonight at 8, three pioneers of the sound -- Keith Sweat, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Tony! Toni! Toné! -- will be hitting the stage at the James L. Knight Center and taking you on a trip down a musical memory lane for the Ladies Night Out Tour.

Sweat will bring his signature whine and implore you to “Make It Last Forever,” and Tony! Toni! Toné! will remind you of the weather in Southern California. Sure they’ve all had hits since their late-Eighties/early-Nineties heyday, but we’ll still be more than a little upset if BBD doesn’t advise us to “never trust a big butt and a smile.”
Fri., March 7, 8 p.m., 2008