LONG-HAIR SOUL

“ROBBIE NEVIL.” Robbie Nevil. Manhattan. Nevil’s debut album is the best soul record by a long-haired white guy who sounds a little like Michael Jackson since Scritti Politti’s “Cupid and Psyche ’85.”

It’s not quite on the same level, mind you--Nevil doesn’t show the same flair for little reinventions of form--but it moves regardless of the dance tempo, it’s full of potential hit singles, and it sounds like its maker has been exposed to more than one musical genre. The celebrative hit “C’est La Vie” is no one-shot wonder; Nevil puts his pouty voice to equally good effect on tracks as disparate as the seductive “Just a Little Closer” (a likely choice for the second Top 10 hit from the album) and “Back to You,” a lovely synth-ballad.

Nevil throws together rock and R&B; elements with considerable elegance and unassuming ease, even if the reputed reggae, heavy metal and punk influences seem pretty inaudible in the dance mix. Bet on him to be the least objectionable Grammy nominee for Best New Artist in 1988.