Keith Smart

Many years ago, waaay back before the WFC (World Financial Crisis - act like ya know, fool) record labels used to regularly do extravagant (read: completely wasteful) things like fly a bunch of music journalists out to another city in order to promote the acts on the label's roster with imminent releases. In 1997 this meant Universal footing the bill to send a bunch of us down to the ATL so we could partake in activities like having brunch with Tracey Lee at Gladys Knight's restaurant (which would, in theory, inspire us to write extensively on the brilliance of Many Fazes; or perhaps the brilliance of Gladys Knight's chef's chicken and waffles' recipe). Or watching Diamond D and McGruff perform on the campus of Morehouse as groups of half-interested students traipsed to and from class (which strangely enough actually might have produced the desired effect since, if I recall correctly, McGruff's album subsequently got four mics in The Source).
On this particular trip I remember three particular things with varying degrees of fondness: 1) playing hooky from the publicist's schedule of events in order to attend a Braves-Mets game (gotta love being able to hit the walk-up window and score box seats), 2) playing hooky from publicist's schedule of events in order to go hit up the Red Beans & Rice record shop during its going out of business sale (and finding an OG of the William Portis record later comped on this), and 3) not playing hooky from the publicist's schedule of events and going to a local nightspot (appropriately enough called The Industry) where I got to shake hands with the establishment's owner, none other than Mr. Keith Sweat.
I know none of my colleagues at the time thought much of meeting the "S" in LSG. To them the guy was just some new jack swing has-been. But I was genuinely excited because I believed that Keith Sweat the R&B singer was the same Keith Sweat (né Keith Crier) that played bass in the Rhythm Makers - the 70s group responsible for the classic, relentless disco-funk vamp "Zone" and rare groove anthem "Soul On Your Side” - which would later become G.Q. (Never mind the obvious age differential, or photographic evidence to the contrary.) G.Q. was one of the coolest disco bands of its time, its talents no better exemplified by the way the quartet remade "Soul On Your Side" as "Disco Nights" - a track so classy it'd probably be one of those $300 12s if it was some promo-only obscurity and not a huge, commercially available single that still gets played at weddings and during lunch-hour throwback radio mixes. Here's a great live version of it from some random TV show:



Well it's a good thing I didn't try to strike up a convo with Keith in the greeting line about his pre-Teddy Riley days because I eventually figured out that he and the Keith from the Rhythm Makers/G.Q. were, and still are, entirely different people. That doesn't necessarily mar my appreciation of either "I Want Her" or G.Q. gems like this stellar album track Theo Parrish worked his magic on from his Ugly Edit series:

G.Q. "Is It Cool (Theo Parrish Edit") (Ugly Edits, 2005)

But I do feel strangely cheated by the experience of meeting the man - even though it's my own fault for not keeping my Keiths straight. Moral of the story: never do what the publicist wants you to.