NATURAL SELECTION
Natural Selection was a U.S. pop group, best known for their 1991 hit "Do Anything", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Emotions" by Mariah Carey.[1] It also peaked at number ten on the Australian ARIA Charts in 1999
The duo was started by Elliot Erickson ...Their hit single "Do Anything" was first picked up independently by KDWB'FM station in Minneapolis Mn.
"Do Anything" was written and recorded on a 4-track recorder in Minnesota. The song sat unfinished until Erickson began working on it again in 1989. The rap was originally recorded by Ingrid Chavez, a friend of the duo who improvised the rap in the studio. In 1990, the version with Chavez doing the raps was a local hit on Minnesota's WLOL-FM, where Erickson worked as a remix engineer. Once Natural Selection was signed to a recording contract, Chavez's raps were re-recorded by Niki Haris Madonna's best friend/background vocalist and dancer.... because Chavez was by then under contract with Paisley Park Records.[2]
Their self-titled debut (and lone) album was released in November 1991.[2] Erickson and Thomas produced the album themselves and later to be joined by musicians Keith Brown, John Swan, Shaun Ware, and Dan Knight.
ALEXANDER O'NEAL
In a music career spanning more than 40 years, O'Neal is an accomplished R&B and soul singer. O'Neal came to prominence in the middle of the 1980s as a solo artist, releasing fourteen singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s. His solo singles, sometimes dealing with lost love include "If You Were Here Tonight", "Fake", "Criticize", "The Lovers", "(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me", "The Christmas Song", "All True Man", "Love Makes No Sense" and "In the Middle". He is also known for duets with fellow R&B singer and Tabu labelmate Cherrellesuch as "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This". AllMusic has described O'Neal as having a "tough voice [that] has the same grain and range as that of Otis Redding
In 1981 O'Neal was signed by Prince to the Warner Bros. label and the band name was changed to the Time. Following a disagreement with Prince, O'Neal left the band and was replaced as lead singer by Morris Day.[citation needed]
O'Neal subsequently formed an R&B band called Alexander and recorded a couple 12" singles, "Do You Dare/Playroom" and "Attitude" for a Chicago area independent label, based in Merrillville, Indiana, called Erect Records.[citation needed]
In 1984 O'Neal signed a deal with Clarence Avant's Tabu Records.[2] He did some backing vocals for other artists on the same label, including The S.O.S. Band and Cherrell
WILD PAIR / MAZARATI
The Wild Pair, whose real names are Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn, was a singing duo and voice actors who were primarily known for their 1989 hit duet with Paula Abdul, "Opposites Attract" (in the video they were credited as MC Skat Kat). They have also provided background vocals on her other hits, "Forever Your Girl" and "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me."
"Opposites Attract" was an international hit. In the U.S., it peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song was featured on three of Abdul's albums, Forever Your Girl, Shut Up and Dance: Mixes, and the 2000 release Greatest Hits.
"Opposites Attract" was not the Wild Pair's only hit. In 1992, singer Stacy Earl released her single "Romeo & Juliet" which was a duet with The Wild Pair. The song reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
DeShazer (also known as Tony Christian) and Gunn had previously been members of the band Mazarati, who were proteges of Prince and Brownmark