REVIEW: Robbie Nevil, Wot's It To Ya - Best Of (Razor & Tie)
- Bob Gajarsky
The New York City-based label Razor and Tie has returned with another overlooked reissue in the form of Robbie Nevil's Wot's It To Ya - The Best of Robbie Nevil.
While Nevil's best known for his #2 hit reverse-crossover hit "C'est La Vie", music insiders knew Nevil's name long before that 1986 smash. As a songwriter for urban artists such as El DeBarge and the Pointer Sisters (see the U.S.A. For Africa compilation disc for Nevil's writing contribution), Robbie could always break down barriers between the world of rock and rhythm and blues.
In the course of his three album, five year career as a solo artist, Nevil generated seven chart hits, including the top 10 hits "Dominoes" and "Wot's It To Ya", and the funkified "Just Like You". Always underappreciated by the masses, Robbie's career hit the proverbial sophomore jinx with 1988's A Place Like This - and when his third and final album (_Day 1) failed to ignite the spark of his self-titled debut five years earlier, he was dropped by his EMI label.
Nevil hasn't completely disappeared from the music scene, as his co-writing credits on the soulful Kele Le Roc 1998 European hit "Little Bit Of Lovin'" will attest to. And for those fans who want to revisit the spark that surrounded Nevil's debut album more than ten years ago, Wot's It To Ya is the perfect place to go. TRACK LISTING: C'est La Vie, Dominoes, Wot's It To Ya, Time Waits For No One, Simple Life, Back To You, Look Who's Alone Tonight, Somebody Like You, Since When, Back On Holiday, Getting Better, Mary Lou, Just Like You, For Your Mind, Temptation, Tell Me Something Good
