Classics: Oliver Cheatham – S O S (Extended) (Champion Records)
“I need to find my baby. I’m sendin’ on an S O S” OMG! Bringin’ me back to the very first time I heard Oliver Cheatham singin’. I was hangin’ on that night with my girlie in a club where a friend of mine was spinnin’. I remember I couldn’t help myself sendin’ him an S O S to give me the info about the piece of music he was playin’. It wasn’t the aforementioned actually, but the classic ‘Get Down Saturday Night’. A firing gem co-written by Kevin McCord and produced by Al Perkins of the One Way fame. Thus leavin’ me with the absolute necessity to get it as soon as I could. Which I did a couple of days after while grabbing a copy of the album – ‘Saturday Night’ – it’s taken from.
To be honest, I didn’t quite understand why nor how Cheatham didn’t manage to capitalize more on the hype than that. Even though the release of the blowing ‘S O S.’, three years later, got me the feeling for some time he was on his way to do so. With thanks to its post-production work by the likes of John Morales and mixing work by the latter alongside Sergio Munzibai. The whole brilliantly showcasing once more Cheatham‘s exceptional vocal abilities.
Alas, ‘S O S’ never happened to be followed by some encore in the series.
What’s the value of your vinyl record?
Oliver Cheatham sadly died on Nov 29, 2013 in Detroit, MI, following a heart attack in his sleep. He was 65.