Some
Shalamar fans gave up on the group when
Jody Watley and
Jeffrey Daniels left, but in fact, the
Howard Hewitt/
Micki Free/
Delisa Davis lineup did some appealing things in the mid-'80s (such as "Dancing in the Sheet" and "My Girl Loves Me"). It wasn't until
Hewitt was replaced by
Sidney Justin in 1987 that
Shalamar really became a lost cause. By the time
Wake Up was recorded in 1990, the trio was a disaster both creatively and commercially. New jack swing was quite the rage in 1990, and Solar obviously reasoned that
Shalamar should cater to that market. But sadly, the results are robotic and completely forgettable on such knee-jerk, automatic-pilot cuts as "Groove Talk," "Caution: This Love Is Hot" and the title song. The only worthwhile cut here is an unlikely remake of
the Beatles' "Come Together," which works pretty well in a new jack setting. But on the whole, this faceless and embarrassing CD has very little in common with the unforgettable
Shalamar of the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Of all the albums using
Shalamar's name,
Wake Up is the absolute worst.