Tabu Records - Dina Andrews

Dina Andrews

The label languished in 1982, and Avant nearly lost his home in 1983 before discovering Dina R. Andrews, a young music executive who had worked for Dick Griffey's Solar Records. Andrews, who had just begun managing the duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (of the Time), met with Avant and, through her relationship with him, introduced Jam & Lewis, who produced their first recordings for Avant. Jam & Lewis went on to produce several other recordings for Avant under Dina Andrews Management.

The Time was hired to produce The SOS Band's fourth album for Tabu, On the Rise, which was certified gold on January 16, 1984. While recording in SOS's home stomping grounds in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 24, 1983, a freak snowstorm hit, grounding all flights from the city. The duo was scheduled to perform as a part of The Time in San Antonio at the Hemisfair Arena that night but couldn't get away. Prince, who owned and managed the Time, fired them on April 18, 1983. The duo stayed in Los Angeles and became songwriter-producers at Larrabee Studios in West Hollywood.

Working with Jam and Lewis gave Tabu a much-needed shot in the arm. They brought Cherelle and Alexander O'Neal (the original Time lead vocalist) to the label and both had done well; O'Neal released his self-titled album in 1985, and Cherelle's "Fragile" hit the American R&B charts in 1984. The SOS Band had more hits with "Just The Way You Like It" in 1984 and "Sands of Time" in 1986, the album of which was certified gold on April 6, 1987. So influential was the sound that Robert Palmer covered Cherelle's "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" in 1986 (again produced by Jam & Lewis), and Beats International covered the SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me" in 1990. In 1986, Cherelle and Alexander O'Neal dueted on "Saturday Love," which was a hit in the UK but caught on later with American radio. Other acts like Kid Fire and Demetrius Perry recorded on this label.