Colonel Abrams

[4] He became popular on the New York underground scene via radio and club play, and had his first major hit in 1984 with "Music Is the Answer", on the independent label Streetwise.

[5] Other hits in the mid-1980s included "Leave the Message Behind the Door", "Trapped" (a top ten hit in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UK),[5] "The Truth", "Speculation", "I'm Not Gonna Let You", and "Over and Over", establishing Abrams as a solo artist, initially in Europe and later in the US.

A crowdfunding campaign was launched in 2015, via GoFundMe, in order to help Abrams, as he was homeless, suffering from diabetes, and in poor health.

[9] Marshall Jefferson, who had begun his own effort to crowdfund an album, encouraged others to donate to Abrams instead, stating: As most of you may or may not know, a lot of recording artists don’t have medical coverage or benefits ... Those of us who have listened to his awesome music and know of his plight, have banded together to try to help him through this rough patch.

[11] Numerous music industry luminaries paid tribute, including Tony Tune Herbert,[4] Joey Negro, Dave Pearce, and Swizz Beatz.