Alfonzo Jones
Lest we be forget--distracted, perhaps, by all the discussion of BAD25--on this date 30 years ago, Michael Jackson's landmark Thriller album was released and would go on to change the face of pop culture. Around the same time, a young afro'd man by the name of Alfonzo Jones released his debut self-titled album. The similiarities between the two albums don't stop at their album covers. Take one listen to Alfonzo, especially the album's single "Change The World," and you'll immediately notice how much Jones sounds--at times eerily--like Michael Jackson.
Jones obviously studied Jackson's vocal technique as you can frequently hear similar phrasing and vocal riffs (down to MJ's trademarked "HOO!"), but Jackson would probably never have added songs like "Your Booty Makes Me Moody" or "I Wanna Give You My Love Til You Scream" to his repertoire. Not that "Booty" or "Scream" are awful songs, they just would have seemed awkward coming from the King Of Pop.
We've been unable to track down a firm release date for the album, but all signs are pointing to somewhere between October and December of 1982. Considering that Thriller was released towards the end of that range, we gotta wonder: Who bit who's album cover?
Information on Jones, who released Alfonzo on LARC Records out of California (whose other releases ironically include Latoya Jackson's boogie classic "Betcha Gonna Need My Lovin"), is incredibly scarce on the web. We know that he was raised in South Central Los Angeles in the 1970s and was discovered by Motown producer Clay McMurray. We were also able to find that he released a second album in 1988 called Champion Of Love, which flirts with the then-still-fresh New Jack Swing sound. But other than that? Nada...
If anyone out there knows where Alfonzo is and how we can get in touch with him, hit us up! We have questions (and concerns)...
