Freddie Jackson

During the 1980s, Luther Vandross was the Soul crooner you chose when your urban love affair was going wrong; you played Freddie Jackson to keep it going right. They were equally soulful vocalists, but Jackson's silky skills avoid sun-streamed tragedy for bulb-lit romance. A consistent R&B chart-topper during the Reagan years, Jackson's creamy style has had a hard time surviving the conquest of R&B by harder-edged hip-hop. That's our problem, not Jackson's: pop culture reaps what it sows, and if you want undies flying instead of Uzis, Jackson's your man.