Alexander O'Neal

I always liked singer Alexander O'Neal. He has a great voice and sung some stone jams in the 1980s as one of the many acts benefiting from Prince's Minneapolis Sound.

But O'Neal seemed a little more worldly than the other performers in the Purple One's extended family. First off, he had the sound of a 1960s soul singer (and his best material never quite put his voice to its fullest use) and he was already past 30 when be broke big. In videos, he appeared little raffish; a little roguish....like the brother had lived some before he found himself before a mike.

So the Soul Closet shuts this week with a look at Alexander O'Neal. Above, her turns up on Cherelle's "Innocent" from 1985. And below, a personal fave--both video and song: "Fake" from 1987.



And we close out with "Criticize" from 1987. And, man, if I ruled the world, Alexander would show up in an episode of "Mad Men"--dressed the way he is in this video--eyeballing Joan in the elevator while stroking his chin, and daring anybody to say anything.