■ 20 February 2012 | 4:04 PM
Make It like It Was: The Authentic Soul of Regina Belle
Regina Belle breezed in at an awkward time. She was 20-something in the late ’80s, when she started her recording career. That big silvery voice of hers – redolent with gospel, urban blues and ribbons of jazz – recalled a bygone era, when sisters moved the crowd with few distractions.
Regina debuted in 1987, and urban-pop was noisy and busy. Whitney Houston (rest in peace, Miss Nippy) was a gospel bird in a glittery neon cage built by Clive Davis. Anita Baker gave us Sarah Vaughan affectations while stiffly rocking from side to side, like a black female Joe Cocker. Janet Jackson declared control and broke out in militaristic dance moves, pouting as though somebody had stolen her bag of Skittles.
Bombast and artifice dominated. Then came Regina: a chick from Jersey, with large come-hither eyes and a wide mouth. She was pretty but overdone on the cover of her debut, All By Myself. The Treasure Troll doll hair was unflattering, but the music inside was promising. Her handlers over at Columbia Records pushed her in a direction that made sense.
With that seasoned voice, which had been honed in the Baptist church and jazz bands, Regina was no coy ingénue. She couldn’t sell virginity or that toxic, asinine idea of American wholesomeness that garnered Whitney instant superstar status. Regina was classy but definitely had a little “’hood” in her. Her sound and presence also radiated warmth. She never gave off an icy, though appealing, aloofness that made Sade a sensation.
She also was no fashion-plate dancer, so Jody Watley had nothing to worry about. Where did Regina fit? Perhaps somewhere between Anita Baker and Phyllis Hyman, with whom Regina toured. But Regina was more accessible than the former and more consistent than the latter.
All by Myself was a slow burn but eventually received strong support on adult urban stations, where the singles “Show Me the Way” and “So Many Tears” got regular spins. Regina peaked two years later, with 1989’s Stay with Me. I remember this album, whose cover featured a soft-focused shot of Regina, held tilted, hair slicked back. I’ve always been something of an old soul, and at age 12, I was in love with her voice. Stay with Me boasted two chart-toppers: “Baby Come to Me,” a steamy ballad originally offered to Anita; and “Make It like It Was,” a charming ballad and a bid for pop relevance.
The album, her finest, showcased Regina’s formidable skills on the microphone. She stretched notes like taffy, sailed into her resonant upper register and plunged to the bottom without forsaking the majestic beauty of her voice. Undercurrents of citified blues gave her sound an attractive earthiness.
Stay with Me topped Billboard’s R&B chart at a time when unabashed urban soul was on life support. Neo-soul was still about a decade away, and pop radio largely ignored acts like Regina and others who packed arenas on summer Budweiser Superfest tours.
Regina followed up with another gold album, 1993’s Passion, which illuminated her jazz leanings in a smart contemporary R&B context. It spawned the hit mother-to-child power ballad, “If I Could" and the sensuous “Quiet Time” featuring Barry White stalled. Her last Columbia album, 1995’s Reachin’ Back, was a covers project and a misstep. Regina’s a gifted vocalist but she brought nothing new to indelible songs like “You Make Me Feel Brand New” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.” However, her intimate version of “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” was gorgeous.
Between 1998 and 2008, Regina released four albums on three different labels. Believe in Me, her only release on MCA, was strong but got lost in the shuffle. Lazy Afternoon, a mix of originals and pop and jazz covers from 2004, is among her best sets, produced by George Duke with wondrous background vocals by the mighty Perri Sisters.
Unable to find a comfortable spot in the hip hop-dominated world of modern R&B, Regina returned to church on 2008’s Love Forever Shines, her gospel debut. Like her contemporary, the underrated Shirley Murdock, Regina found a more age-appropriate realm in gospel. She’s a mother five and married to John Battle, a former NBA player and a pastor in Atlanta.
Regina’s sound was almost too real for the artificially flavored pop-tart ’80s, but she managed to garner respect, two gold albums and a Grammy. With a voice like that, she didn’t need any flash.
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