Colonel Abrams
| Colonel Abrams | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 25, 1949 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Origin | New York City, United States |
| Died | November 24, 2016 |
| Genres | R&B, soul, house, electronic, dance |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1976–2016 |
| Labels |
MCA Scotti Bros. Acid Jazz Strictly Rhythm |
Colonel Abrams (May 25, 1949 – November 24, 2016) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, dancer and actor.
Abrams was born in Detroit, Michigan. His family later moved to East 13 Street, in Manhattan's East Village.
From an early age, Abrams began playing the guitar and piano. He was in several early bands; among them Heavy Impact - in which he played both guitar and keyboards alongside Joe Wells (guitar), Lemar Washington (guitar), Marston "Buffy" Freeman (bass guitar), Ronald Simmons (drums), Harry Jones (trumpet), and Barbara Mills (saxophone). In 1976, he formed Conservative Manor, 94 East (the band featuring Prince on lead guitar).
He became popular on the New York underground scene via radio and club play, and had his first major hit in 1984 with "Music Is the Answer", on the independent label Streetwise. Other hits in the mid 1980s included "Leave the Message Behind the Door", "Trapped" (a top ten hit in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UK), "The Truth", "Speculation", "I'm Not Gonna Let You", and "Over and Over", establishing Abrams as a solo artist, initially in Europe and later in the US.
In 1985, he signed to Steven Machat's label and production company, AMI. Machat, who was collaborating and working with a British producer, Richard James Burgess, hired Burgess to produce Abrams' self-titled debut album. Machat then arranged for MCA Records to sign Abrams for worldwide releases. Burgess produced the songs "Trapped", "I'm Not Gonna Let You", and "Table for Two".
"Trapped" reached the top five in the UK Singles Chart and topped the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1985, followed by his self-titled album, which spent two weeks at number one the following year. An electronic remix of "Trapped" was later released in 1995 by Boards of Canada, under the pseudonym Hell Interface. A new version of "Trapped" ("Trapped 2006") was released in the UK.
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