Music Series Unsung Profiles R&B and Soul Greats



Singer Evelyn "Champagne" King

 My friend recently hipped me to this terrific documentary TV series called Unsung. It's similar to VH1's Behind the Music, except it focuses on old-school artists who were at their career peaks in the 1970s and '80s. The show profiles talented artists in the genres of R&B, funk, soul, disco and hip hop. Many artists profiled on the show were really popular back in the day, but have kind of fallen off the radar of late. So it's a good way to catch up on what they've been up to. Here's a list of some of the artists and bands who have been profiled on the show: Angela Winbush, Big Daddy Kane, Phyllis Hyman, George Clinton, Klymaxx, Sylvester, Billy Preston, The Bar-Kays, Bobby Womack, The Fat Boys, Evelyn "Champagne" King and Heatwave.

Unsung premiered on the American television channel TV One on November 27, 2008. I don't get TV One in my cable package, but fortunately episodes are available online. A lot of full episodes have been uploaded at Youtube. I recently watched an episode on '80s R&B songstress Stacy Lattisaw and thought it was topflight. The Unsung episodes are well-researched with plenty of eye-opening interviews from industry insiders, friends, family and fellow artists. The episodes also include tons of great performance footage. Each episode is an hour long, and they manage to pack a lot into those 60 minutes. Last year, the series won an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Information Series or Special."