By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Andru Donalds, 'one of the most famous Jamaicans you have never heard of although that may be about to change'. - Contributed
Today The Gleaner completes a two-part interview with Andru Donalds, a Jamaican who has experienced considerable success as a performer abroad, yet is practically unknown here in Jamaica. Part I was carried yesterday in The Sunday Gleaner.
WHEN THE Sunday Gleaner left off yesterday, Andru Donald's biggest international hit to date, Mishale, had just been introduced. Mishale was a contradiction in terms for the singer. Here, he had just released his first album after a long period of struggle and his lead-off single is making waves worldwide, hitting number one in countries all over and reaching as high as number four in the United States. Yet the song's success would also serve against the self-titled album's growth.
Why did you not release a second single from Andru Donalds? The Gleaner asked.
"Why no second single? We were going around to the radio stations but people were still playing Mishale, it was still on their playlists and it got more requests than Trying To Tell You (the second single). Playlists are funny things..." he replied.
"The next album was done live in the studio. Just me and some musicians and we did everything there." The album, Damned If I Don't "... never got to see the light of day. EMI (the owner of Capitol Records) shut down and the album was never released. Some of the singles were released elsewhere, Loving You went to number one in Brazil, Beautiful Friday went top 10 there as well... Matt Damon heard Somebody's Baby (a cover of the Rick Springfield pop classic) and liked it, he asked if he could use it in Good Will Hunting (it was)," Donalds told The Gleaner.
This was around 1998. "I got discouraged, I had a great record, then shappens."
Then lightning struck in the same place. "I got lucky again. I got a call from my manager, saying that Michael Cretu was looking for me." Michael Cretu is better known as Enigma, the producer/performer who has sold tens of millions of albums, with hits such as Sadeness Part I, Return To Innocence and Modern Crusaders to his credit. He had heard Mishale and immediately went about tracking Donalds down. "I got the call from him, he sent a ticket, soon I was on a private jet to Ibiza (a small island of the coast of Spain, known as the party capital of the world), I auditioned and he said O.K., I want you to sing with Enigma. Cretu actually stopped the Enigma record, called Virgin and asked them to switch me over to his label with Virgin (Germany). I ended up with two contracts, one solo and one with Enigma," Donalds explained. The Enigma Four project, The Screen Behind The Mirror, was put on hold while the two, with Cretu's co-producer Jens Gad, walked on Donalds' next album, Snow Under My Skin, which spawned another hit in the form of a cover of Air Supply's All Out Of Love, which went top 10 in Europe, Scandinavia and South America. The evidence of the same are on the walls of his childhood home, where this interview is taking place. There are two plaques marking the attainment of gold status for the single in two different countries. The others are for the most part in Germany, where Donalds now spends most of his time.
When asked why the album and single were not marketed in the United States and Great Britain, Donalds replied, "Once something is coming out of Germany it is difficult... Michael does his own thing. He believes that once a record is good it will sell... he's a testament to his own success. You can have success all over the world without being a star in America or Britain..."
Work on 2000's The Screen Behind The Mirror followed, with Donalds contributing to two and a half (one was a duet) songs on the five-million selling album, including lead vocals on the fascinating Modern Crusaders. Another work with Cretu and Gads, Let's Talk About It was next in 2001. The album has a hauntingly beautiful and lushly produced cover of Gino Vanelli's Hurts To Be In Love as one of its 12 tracks.
Andru Donalds is now here in Jamaica working on his next album with legendary Grammy-winning producers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. "He (Michael Cretu) wanted me to do a ballad record, I wanted to go back to my roots, me, personally, I don't like to stay in one area, if I was in it for the money maybe... but I'm not in it for the money, I'm in it for the creativity... of course, I can say that because I've had a few hits... (smiles again).
"When you look at what Sly and Robbie have done with No Doubt, I love the way Sly approaches the groove, it's heavy... hopefully the album will be finished before Spring and released by Summer (after being asked about collaborations) I did a track with Calibe, I did one with General Degree (he then put a demo version of the song on the CD player and to say that the grooves are heavy is an understatement)."
Moving away from his music, The Gleaner asked Andru Donalds about his waist-length dreadlocks, which at the time were largely unkempt. "...from mi a yute, mi used to just love long hair in general, as a black man the only way you can have long hair is if you 'locked', it was something that went with rock and roll, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin... the kind of look I grew up seeing," he explained.
During a performance at Carlos' Café in December, called 'Coming In From The Cold', Donalds shocked a few members of the audience and had others smiling behind their hands with some graphic descriptions of what he would like to be done to him sexually, acts which are decidedly out of the 'accepted' Jamaican norm. "I like to touch buttons, I like to see how people react. Jamaicans have something of a double standard, they are afraid to express their sexuality. Me, I'm not, I don't give a damn...
"It's like that song by that girl (Khia, who has the very suggestive song My Neck, My Back). It is played and everybody dances but...
"I can't be conservative, I lived most of my life abroad, Madrid, Amsterdam, New York, London, I'm too free-spirited.
"I do understand the Jamaican mentality, people are worried about their peers... once you get to Jamaica you're conservative again... It happens to me too. If, say, I'm watching porn I keep it turned down because you don't want the neighbours to hear, but if I was in New York, I wouldn't give a damn," he grins.
Over the past year or two there have been pitched battles between famous recording artistes such as Courtney Love and the Dixie Chicks and record companies about contracts which have been likened to legalised slavery and the payment of royalties. The Gleaner asked Andru Donalds if he has been affected by the same. "Royalties? Everyone has those problems, no artiste is going to go through and not have problems. It's the people with power, they give you opportunities and then they say 'We ah tek this' and yuh jus' haffi chill. Certain people will give you chances so yuh jus' leave it alone," he explained with a shrug.
"I've been doing well, I can't complain. It's how you invest, how you manage your money, whether you smoke it off, drink it off, girl it out... I have not done that, I've been smart enough to invest."
When asked about his views on the local music scene, Donalds said "The problem with reggae is the emphasis on singles, no one is pumping money into albums Shaggy is an exception."
About his love life? "(Laughing) Mi love woman yuh know, so it's difficult, especially if you're never really in one place, so it's really difficult to be in a serious relationship and I'm pretty selfish when it comes to what I'm doing and it's difficult for any woman to play second fiddle... besides I'm pretty irresponsible I like to travel, mi nuh like to be in one place too long, I like to travel, it's funny, but it seems that this 'settling down' thing is a thing of the past..."
The Gleaner closed the interview by asking Andru Donalds if anything had been left out. He said; "Well, my (only) sister died in 1991 - a mishap at the hospital. It affects me but as time goes on it gets a little easier. Andrew McIntyre and I wrote a song called Sister (on the unreleased Damned If I Don't)," on which Donalds plaintively asks Oh sister/Why did you have to go? and Didn't want to say goodbye/Didn't know you're next in line. One of the things said in the liner notes for 2001's Let's Talk About It is Lydia my darling, save some of the cotton candy in the sky for me, so when I join you, we can party!!
Andru Donalds. One of the most famous Jamaicans you have never heard of although that may be about to change.
