TV One begins a new season of "Unsung" (10 tonight), its series exploring the life and times and unheralded performers, and this season is one to get excited about.

It starts strong with a look at Deneice Williams, the multi-octave singer of such hits as "Silly" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy," convincingly making the case that Williams never got her due for her soaring pipes. After all, before Mariah Carey trilled her pop, R&B and gospel tunes, Niecy did it. (I'd put Minnie Riperton, a former "Unsung" subject, firmly in R&B, albeit alternative at times.)