Thanks to the magic of my friend from Discogs Tobysheldonla, I now have Sonia Papp's Destiny in digital form, the final third of my Sonia Papp album trilogy, and I can finally share her work with you all in my first ever triple post! I previously featured Sonia's first single, "Undercover Lover", on Lost Pop Treasures last year. Unfortunately I've been unable to find any more info on her since then. It's amazing to me that someone who released three albums over a decade has no internet presence whatsoever! The only thing I can say for sure is that she is from Quebec. The hi-NRG "Undercover Lover" was a club hit in Canada in 1988. It took two more years before her debut album was released, and it featured a housier remix of the track. For the album she changed the spelling of her first name from Sonia with an 'I' to Sonya with a 'Y' for some unknown reason. The majority of the album was straight up dance-pop, all produced by John Farley of Canadian disco group Hydro. Nothing more was heard from her until three years later when she released the single "The Mexican", a remake of the 1972 Babe Ruth classic, which was remade into a dance hit by John "Jellybean" Benitez in 1984 and to which Sonya's version is most similar. This was followed by the album Time. Though the album was this time produced by drummer Denis Lavigne of Canadian pop-rock group Paradox, it still contained mostly dance-pop tunes. The album also included a version of "Hasta La Vista", which previous postee Chantal recorded with the group Collage a couple of years earlier. While "The Mexican" saw some local success, the housey title track was the next single and it went unnoticed. I had thought that that was the end of Sonya's recording career until one day, over a decade later, I went into a second-hand CD store and found Love Me Tonight, which was released in 1999, clearly with no fanfare. She reverted back to Sonia with an 'I' for this album, perhaps to signal a reinvention of her sound. While I was surprised to find another album by Sonia, I was even more surprised to hear her new direction, full on rock-pop. It was the first album produced by Matthew Gerrard of Canadian rock group Regatta, who later on went to produce teen pop acts like Nick Carter, Hilary Duff, Raven-Symoné, Jo Jo and 'Hannah Montana'. It also features previous postee Sheree Jeacocke on backing vocals. Alas, this new direction proved no more successful than her previous work and Sonia once again disappeared from the spotlight. Which leaves us here, 13 years later, wondering where this Canadian treasure remains hidden. At least now we can all enjoy her music, and, as always, any info as to her current whereabouts would be greatly appreciated! :)Download Destiny
| 1 | Jamie | ||
| 2 | Destiny | ||
| 3 | Fire Of Love | ||
| 4 | Nobody's Fool | ||
| 5 | Undercover Lover | ||
| 6 | Rescue Me | ||
| 7 | I'll Make You Love Me | ||
| 8 | Heart To Heart | ||
| 9 | Show Me A Sign |
Download Time
| 1 | Time | ||
| 2 | The Mexican | ||
| 3 | Dance Yes, Talk No | ||
| 4 | Hasta La Vista | ||
| 5 | Chemistry | ||
| 6 | You've Got The World | ||
| 7 | Talk About It | ||
| 8 | My Heart Stands Alone | ||
| 9 | I've Been Waiting For This Chance | ||
| 10 | Heart Beat | ||
| 11 | Play The Field | ||
| 12 | The Mexican (Chico Mix) |
Download Love Me Tonight
| 1 | Take Me Down | ||
| 2 | Tell Me Why | ||
| 3 | Love Me Tonight | ||
| 4 | Heart To Heart | ||
| 5 | Dirty Old Sam | ||
| 6 | Without Your Love | ||
| 7 | Let Me Be Your Angel | ||
| 8 | Find A Way To Your Heart | ||
| 9 | My Heart Stands Alone | ||
| 10 | Fire Of Love |
