British born soul singer Keni Stevens is the son of a U.S. serviceman and began his career working in a record shop selling deleted catalogues of classic soul and lovers rock/reggae. Keni first move into music came in the mid 70’s when he joined as lead singer for the group “Raw Energyâ€. “Raw Energy†members included Alan Cooke (now a British actor starring in “London Bridgeâ€) and Peter Hinds (who went on to play keyboards for 80’s Brit funk band ‘Light of the World’) on keyboards. “Raw Energy†were signed to Conflict Records but disbanded after 18 months of playing gigs up and down the country.Keni was taken on as A&R man for Conflict Records and being responsible for releasing lovers rock/ rock steady/ reggae classics by artists such as Gregory Isaacs in the UK. Keni also worked as a session singer with artists including Eddy Grant before signing to the Elite label as a solo artist in 1985.Keni released initially two singles on Elite Records “Night Moves†and “All Day All Night†in 1985 which were well received by the soul crowd and getting picked up by specialist UK radio. This led to much interest in Keni Stevens, who was initially mistaken for being a new US artist. A few majors showed interest at the time, and Polygram Records offered Keni a 2.5 million pound record deal. Keni tells that he declined the offer as he felt he would be restricted by the major and would have to compromise his sound and style to fit the record label, as well as losing his self production.Keni sticking with Elite Records started recording his debut album “Blue Moodsâ€. Keni described the sessions as being long stretches in the studio and even doing a full 30 hour recording sessions some days. The initial thoughts of the record label were that the album sounded to mellow for the UK market as at the time UK soul was a more upbeat affair with acts like Loose Ends and Junior breaking the UK charts. Keni states at the time he was determined to release the album with or without the label’s backing. To test the water “Too much too Soon†and “Cannot Live Without Your Love†were released as 12inch singles (Too much too soon†on Elite Records and “Cannot Live Without Your Love†on the newly formed Jam Today label ran by Andy Sojka (the man responsible for producing and releasing Level 42's initial singles). To the label’s surprise Keni was proven right, and so paved the way for the release of the classic “Blue Moods†album on the Jam Today label in 1987.The songs on the “Blue Moods†album were a very passionate affair and soon found its way on top of most DJ playlists. “Cannot live without your love†was featured on many top soul compilations at the time i.e. “Upfront 6†(out on Serious Records), and “Spend the Night†on “Slow Jams 3†(out on Street Sounds).The “Blue Moods†albums sold over 150,000 copies in the UK alone and over a million worldwide. Which was not bad start for a UK Indie Soul album at the time. The album established Keni Stevens on the soul scene in the UK and the loyal European soul market. Keni also appeared on a few television shows to promote the album such as the now infamous UK 80’s show “Solid Soulâ€.Keni Stevens did go on to release two other classic albums “You†and “Living on the Edge†in the late 80's on the Debut Records label before disappearing in soul history, until now that is.
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