Nancy Martinez - Lay It Down (1983), Not Just The Girl Next Door (1986), Unpredictable (1989) & Bird's In The House (1997) QUADRUPLE POST!!!!

I'm sure anyone who visits this blog is aware of the powerhouse vocal talent of Nancy Martinez.  Indeed, she has had a long and successful career in pop music, but she hasn't been in the spotlight for some time.  While I have seen a couple of her albums posted in other places on the internet, I haven't seen all of her English pop albums in one place, so I decided to feature them in my second quadruple post of the year!  There are plenty of places on the internet that discuss her career, but I'll still give a (not so) brief synopsis.  Nancy grew up Montreal and had an interest in music at a young age, thanks to her musical parents.  As a child she attended music school as a pianist and started taking vocal lessons.  In high school she moved from singing at small local gigs to recording jingles and performing background vocals for popular French-Canadian artists like Nathalie and René Simard.  During a session with disco artist Kat Mandu, Nancy was approached by the label to sign as a solo artist.  Nancy was initially uncomfortable with being in the spotlight and asked that they not use her real name.  She released two euro-disco singles in 1982, "I'm Gonna Get Your Love" as Jade, and "Can't Believe" as Nancy Martin (note that in the video clip of the "live" performance, a model is lip-synching, since Nancy did not want to appear in promotions for the single).  Both were international club hits, and Nancy released two more singles under the monikers the next year, "Who Cares" as Jade, and "Hold Your Horses Baby" as Nancy Martin.  With this success it was time to step into the spotlight, and Nancy signed an album deal with Matra Records using her real name.  She released her first single as Nancy Martinez, "So Excited", also in 1983.  Her album, Lay It Down, soon followed, as did her next single, "Take It Slowly".  Thanks to the production of successful Canadian disco/hiNRG producer Joe La Greca (who later produced the albums by Isle postees Natasha and Pobi), the tracks were successes in clubs.  She released two last, non-album singles in 1984 for Matra: "Number Two In Love" and the medley "Sunshine Reggae / La Vie En Rose", the former a remake of the Laid Back song, which was a duet with her then-husband Allen Harris, and the latter a remake of the Edith Piaf classic.  "Sunshine Reggae" became her biggest hit in Canada thus far.  It was time for Nancy to pursue international success now that she was more comfortable in the spotlight, and she signed with Atlantic Records for worldwide distribution.  This time working with hiNRG/freestyle producer Teneen Ali, she updated her sound, and her first single, "For Tonight", became a huge hit and an instant freestyle classic in 1986.  The song even hit #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the dance chart.  Her album Not Just The Girl Next Door followed, and her follow-up single, "Move Out", managed to hit #12 on the dance chart.  The third single, the much more traditional pop track "Crazy Love", failed to chart, however.  There were plans to release the freestyle song "It Happens All The Time", but the original group L.I.F.E. released it first.  And though the non-album Atlantic single "Can't Wait" hit #17 on the Billboard dance chart in 1987, her contract with Atlantic ended.  Luckily A&M sublabel Vendetta snatched her up, and again working with Teneen Ali, she crafted another dance album, Unpredictable, released in 1989.  Unfortunately none of the singles - the poppy "You've Got Me On Fire", the hiNRG "Save Your Love For Me", or the ballad "Everlasting" - found much success, though the remixed "(Fire) You've Got Me On Fire" was a minor dance hit.  No longer with Vendetta, Nancy decided to sign with Canadian label ISBA and record her first French album, the self-titled Nancy Martinez, released in 1990, which included the single "Tomber Sous Les Mots".  She released her second and last French album for ISBA, Pourquoi Tu Pars?, in 1993, which was produced by legendary Canadian rocker Aldo Nova, who had long admired her and even asked her to sing the demo of the song "I Love You", which would eventually be recorded by Céline Dion on her Falling Into You album (on which Nancy did prominent backing vocals on the song "Your Light" - and Isle fans will also be interested to know that she also did backing vocals in 1988 on Isle postee Sequal's track "Took Another Chance").  Her biggest French single was "La Maîtresse De Tes Rêve", which Isle fans will also be interested to know is a cover of Isle postee West End Girls' "Anything To Make You Mine".  Over the following years Nancy kept a much lower profile, occasionally doing guest vocals.  Then, in 1997, she returned with an independently released English album, Bird's In The House.  Though I adore Nancy's dance music past, this album is by far my fave, and it's very rare so I had to share.  She switched to pop-rock and was much more involved in the writing, and the album was produced by John Farley, who also worked with Isle postees Sonia Papp and Pobi.  The album is pure perfection from start to finish.  She released the singles "Jack", "Fire" and "I'm In Heat", and though none were major hits, it was great having her back in the spotlight.  She soon again faded from the public eye, but in 2000, Nancy returned to dance music with the Europe-only release "For The First Time".  Four years later she surprised everyone by switching direction again and releasing the jazz standards album Downtown, and also featured on the K-Maro hip-hop track "Crazy".  She followed it up the next year with Live At The House Of Jazz, and also released the reggae influenced French single "Laisse-moi Te Donner" and a duet with Denis Ducharme, "Wouldn't It Be Nice". In 2005 she returned to dance music as the featured vocalist on MC Mario's "Not Guilty".  Since then Nancy has kept busy doing guest vocals, performing locally, and teaching music and voice.  Luckily she finally emerged on Facebook, where you can keep up to date on her current goings-on and view amazing rare clips.  This bodes well for some new and amazing material from one of the best and most diverse voices in the business.

Download Lay It Down

1	Take It Slowly
2	Lay It Down
3	We Got The Real Thing
4	So Excited
5	Right Here By My Side
6	The Love You Made Me Feel

Video for For Tonight

Live performance of Move Out

Download Not Just The Girl Next Door

1	For Tonight
2	Move Out
3	It Happens All The Time
4	I'll Be There
5	In The Heat Of The Night
6	Hurt Me Twice (Shame On You)
7	Crazy Love
8	Without You
9	Rhythm Of Your Heart

 
Download Unpredictable

1	You've Got Me On Fire
2	Save Your Love For Me
3	Unpredictable
4	Make A Move On Me
5	First Impression
6	Everlasting
7	I Will Make It Up
8	I Believe In You & Me
9	How Many Times
10	Got Something On My Mind

Video for Fire

Download Bird's In The House

1	I Can't Wait
2	It Ain't Right
3	Jack
4	Fire
5	Getting Over You
6	How Low Can You Go
7	Don't You Call Me Anymore
8	Looking For A Rainbow
9	I'm In Heat
10	Highway
11	Without You
12	Living In The Gray

Cardenia - Memory (1994)

I was just updating Cardenia's page on Last.fm and thought, why not share their one and only album with ya'll?  It is perfect for the blog, and I haven't featured any good, old-fashioned euro-house in some time.  Surprisingly, in this day and age, there is little info on the group online.  But it was one of many one-off side projects of the German production duo behind Masterboy, one of euro-house's biggest successes, so I guess there isn't much to tell anyway.  The vocalist for the group was Viola Engler (not entirely sure that she's the lady on the cover, however), who was assisted by rapper Wayne Dallaway.  The name of the album was perfect, as it was almost exclusively filled with remakes of popular HiNRG and synth-pop classics, thus great memories, though the first single, "Toccata", was based on the Bach composition. This was followed by single releases of remakes of  "Living On Video" by Trans-X (the vocals on this are different and are rumoured to be by Masterboy's vocalist Trixi Delgado), "Passion" by The Flirts and "Happy Station" by Fun Fun.  The rest of the album consisted of remakes of Vangelis' "Pulstar", Roni Griffith's "Desire", Valerie Dore's "The Night", Koto's "Visitors" and Laura Branigan's version of Raf's "Self Control", as well as a couple of originals.  Of course, I love euro-house AND HiNRG, and adore the originals of all of the songs, so this album provided amazing memories for me, and hopefully will for you too, or will at least introduce you to some great old songs.

Download Memory

1	Intro
2	Living On Video
3	Passion
4	Pulstar
5	Happy Station
6	Visitors
7	Desire
8	The Night
9	Self Control
10	Passion (Ragga Remix)
11	Living On Video (Hyper Space Mix)
12	Outro
13	Toccata
14	Let The Bass Control Your Mind
15	Trigger Baby

Sonia/Sonya Papp - Destiny (1990), Time (1993) & Love Me Tonight (1999) TRIPLE POST!!!

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

Curtie And The Boombox - Black Kisses (1985)

I have had this album on cassette and vinyl forever, but aside from the first single, "Let's Talk It Over In The Ladies' Room", I never gave it much of a listen. I decided to rip the vinyl for ya'll, and I was amazed at just how fun and danceable the rest of the album is. It's now one of my faves! From what I can gather from the bit of info available on the web (most not in English), the act was formed by Dutch producer Peter Koelewijn. After he met Curtie Fortune, who came from a small island in the Caribbean, he decided to form a group around her, obviously enchanted by her Caribbean accent. He enlisted fellow Caribbeans Judith Landry and "the Wilson sisters" to be 'the Boombox' (essentially her back-up singers), a name he saw on a small recording device in the studio. Along with Dutch engineer Albert Boekholt he produced their first single, "Let's Talk It Over In The Ladies' Room", released on RCA in 1984. It was an upbeat, Caribbean flavoured pop song similar in style to groups like Boney M. or Luv'. It was a small hit in the Netherlands and the success led to the recording of their next single, "Black Kisses (Never Make You Blue)", a more italo disco flavoured track released in 1985. The song made it into the top 20 in the Netherlands, and it soon got attention worldwide, with it's biggest claim to fame being that it made it into the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching #81. This created a demand for an album, which had already been in the works for the past year and a half. By the time the song hit in the US the Wilson sisters had left and were replaced by Dutch singers Patricia Balrak and Denise van der Hek, who was previously the lead singer for another Dutch girl group, Risqué. Though Curtie was still the main lead singer, each of the other ladies was given a song apiece on which to sing lead. The album contained other songs with the Caribbean vibe, like the single "A Bachelor's Bed (Is A Dangerous Place)", but also incorporated songs with Hi NRG and italo disco elements similar to The Flirts or Fun Fun. Overall it's a surprisingly diverse album and a lot of fun, but neither of the other two singles, the aforementioned "A Bachelor's Bed..." and "Chinchilla", caught on with audiences in the US or anywhere else, for that matter. Curtie soon left the group, along with producer Koelewijn. The remaining three ladies made one last attempt and released the new single "Killing Love", as simply Boom Box, on the Injection Disco Dance label, but the song went unnoticed and they split. All of the ladies apparently kept busy as session singers after that, and Denise was briefly one half of pop duo Chess. Patricia Balrak has continued to sing, but now primarily in gospel music, as her Myspace page will attest. No sign of what Denise van der Hek and Judith Landry have been up to recently, but I did find unfortunate news about Curtie Fortune: she passed away on March 5, 2003. A tribute page has been set up for her by Peter Koelewijn. But perhaps the best tribute to her is listening to this wonderful, upbeat 'lost' pop gem that she was the focus of.

Video for Black Kisses

Download Black Kisses

1		Black Kisses (Never Make You Blue)
2		Chinchilla
3		Shocking
4		My Book Of Love
5		Let's Talk It Over In The Ladies' Room
6		A Bachelor's Bed (Is A Dangerous Place)
7		Help Me To Help You
8		Hoochie Coochie Boogie
9		Slowstarter

Gigi On The Beach - Gigi On The Beach (1989)

Sorry I've been so lax in posting lately, but I've been quite busy, especially now with Christmas on the horizon. But as an early Christmas gift to you all I just had to pop in and offer you this gem. I have never heard of Gigi On The Beach before, but I noticed a brief entry on them on the Rare And Obscure Music blog and fell in love with the cover alone! I HAD to have the CD, and magically the album was available on Amazon for 17 cents!! It just arrived yesterday and I had to take a moment out of my busy schedule to share it with y'all because I know you'll adore it. The only details that the CD itself offers is that it consists of three members: Terri Smith Young, Paula Gallo and Beth Barrett (the cover is misleading as it features two pics of each lady. ;) It was produced by brothers Ed and John Palermo, whose biggest claim to fame was co-producing and co-writing the minor 1984 dance hit "Summer In The Street" for Carrie Lucas (which Gigi On The Beach remake here, and was also one of Isle postee Kim Esty's bigger 'hits'.) Two singles were released from the album to little fanfare: the upbeat "Friday Night In The U.S.A." and the freestylish "Bitch Me Out". The rest of the album is pure dance pop and even includes a remake of the Beatles' "Please Please Me". Anyone who likes any of the other dance pop albums circa 1989 featured on this blog should love this! A search for this group on the internet yields next to nothing (like where that odd group name comes from!) and though there are various women with the same name as this group's members, it's hard to determine if they are indeed the same ladies. As D-Listed would say, this is a case for Detective La Toya! LOL!

UPDATE: Member Paula Gallo found this post and wrote! Here's what she had to say. Thanks for visiting and writing Paula! We're honoured and glad you approve!!!

"I happen to google my group "Gigi on the Beach" to see what would come up and I find this blog. I recently had the record framed for memories to hang on my wall. Yes, we do indeed exist. I am Paula Gallo, the one featured on top of the cover with the pink hat on. The name was thought of by John and Ed Palermo. No reason, but the funny thing is, Gigi was my Mother's nick name (Gloria Gallo). I dedicate that album to her memory. Thanks for bringing our Gigi on the Beach back for people to enjoy. Paula Gallo"

UPDATE #2:  As we await memories from member Terri, who also wrote earlier this year, producer John Palermo just wrote to fill us in on the origins of Gigi On The Beach!  Thanks so much, John!  Glad you visitied us and helped solve the mystery! :)

"Hi everyone. John Palermo here and I'll fill you in on the origin of Gigi on the Beach. My brother Ed and I had written songs for numerous artists, from Graham Nash to Menudo. I came up with the idea to create a fictitious girl group and try to get a record deal. So the name was just pulled out of the air and I sent tapes and bios to a lot of record labels. One of the tapes somehow fell into the hands of Casey Kasim, who called me to say he loved the 'group' and was going to give it to the president of CBS/Scotti Bros. Records. The president (Johnny Musso - super nice guy) called and I fessed up that there wasn't a group, but that I could put one together. Fortunately, he laughed. And he gave me a budget. We auditioned about 75 girls and decided on three. The record was recorded in my NYC apartment. As I understand it, this was CBS' final record with Scotti Bros. and we got caught in that gap where CBS was on their way out and didn't want to put any cash into promotion for Scotti. The girls were great to work with and it was a lot of fun. Terri and Paula are incredibly talented and just a pleasure to know. Ed Palermo has a 20-piece band known for playing the music of Frank Zappa, and I own a CD/DVD duplication business in NYC called DupeCoop - located in the apartment where we recorded Gigi on the Beach. Ed & I have also written for movies (Amelia and The Mummy: Tomb of the Emperor Dragon) and TV since Gigi."

UPDATE #3:   Terri has finally wrote back with her recollections.  Thanks a ton, Terri!!!

"Hi! it is Terri! I just spoke to John actually. We actually live close to each other! My introduction to the group was funny because I was doing a wedding band at the time. The bass player and I were talking and he thought I would be good for Gigi. He recorded my vocal on a cassette player at the wedding. I spoke to John and they actually had a blonde singer they chose. I called back and said that I would love to do some back ups if they needed it because I had never recorded before. I got a call later that week and they said the other girl refused the contract and they wanted me to do it. I was very excited and was ready to go. My biggest challenge was that I had an 8 month old baby and needed to get back in shape. (he is now 25) so I worked my ass off for that cover shoot! My hair was longer when I went in to shoot the cover and they actually cut it right there on the spot! They wanted it to be more Gidget like. Our make up artist was Debbie Mazar, the now actress! We had a ball! More stories to come...getting frisked at the clubs with our outfits sewn together!! Hailing a cab with those outfits!!! lol"

Download Gigi On The Beach

1		Friday Night In The U.S.A.
2		Bitch Me Out
3		Will You Marry Me?
4		Summer In The Street
5		Johnny
6		Please Please Me
7		You're My Kind
8		Modern Jitterbug
9		Treasured Love
10		Crying In The Rain

Denise Lopez - Truth In Disguise (1988) & Every Dog Has Her Day!!! (1990) DOUBLE POST!!

Denise Lopez is an artist who is custom made for the Isle, but though I have had her albums forever, I never featured her because I assumed that she'd be back in the spotlight and on to bigger and better things. My dear friend Bomitoni did a post on her almost five years (!!!) ago on Milk Carton Pop Stars, and he could find little info about her. However, that was a long time ago and since then so many 'lost' artists have resurfaced on the internet, especially on Myspace and Facebook. Since Denise was a powerhouse vocalist and had three Billboard Top 100 'hits', I naturally assumed that she would reemerge and at least have her own Myspace page, especially given the glut of lesser freestyle divas popping up there as the years passed. (She does have a Myspace fan page and a Facebook fan page, however. And don't get her confused with the Swedish artist with the same name. ;) Then, in 2008 and out of nowhere, her last single, "Don't You Wanna Be Mine", was remixed by Bimbo Jones and released to become a huge dance hit. Though you would think that would bring Denise once again into the spotlight, nothing came of it. And she remains an enigma even still. The little info I can gather indicates that she was born in Queens, New York. She released a few dance singles on indie labels in the mid-80s, including the awesome electro track "Best Of Me", as Neecy Dee, and "Love Patrol", as part of an act of the same name. In 1987, with assistance from hot electro and HiNRG producers and remixers John Morales and Sergio Munzibai, she managed to get a HiNRG single released on RCA Victor, "If You Feel It". It was a club hit and got her an album deal with A&M Records. Her next single, the freestyle-ish "Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right)" was a huge club smash and reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her next single was a rerelease of "If You Feel It", and though it managed to make it into the Hot 100 to #96 and almost made it to the top 20 on the dance charts, it was considered a disappointment. The third single, "Too Much Too Late", fared even worse. At the time I thought that this was where Denise's story ended. But years later I was trolling delete bins in Florida and delightedly came across her second album on A&M, which I never knew existed! I must say that I was a bit disappointed at first listen, however. Though John Morales was back on production, the freestyle and HiNRG elements that I loved on her first album were replaced with a much more pop/funk sound, thanks to assistance from producers (who have also worked with other Isle postees) Oliver Leiber (Stacy Earl, Alta Dustin, Bobby Z, Elisa Fiorillo) and David Z (also Bobby Z and Elisa Fiorillo, as well as Tyka Nelson and Terri Nunn). Over the years the album has grown on me, but I guess the slight change of sound didn't impress people at the time, as it didn't do very well. "Don't You Wanna Be Mine" did make it into the Hot 100, but no single followed. And then Denise truly did fade into obscurity. Until the rerelease of "Don't You Wanna Be Mine" in 2008, that is, which even updated the original music video. Apparently the Clivilles and Cole remix of the original was an underground hit in the UK in the early 1990s, and there were fans who demanded an update. But I remember at the time reading an article that claimed that Denise had nothing to do with the rerelease and was barely even made aware of it, and didn't make much, if anything, off of it. And clearly she wasn't interested in riding on the attention it got her. She apparently now either lives in New York or LA and continues to make musical appearances every now and again. Denise, we want you back! Yours is a voice that cannot be denied! We DO feel it!

Video for Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right)

Download Truth In Disguise

1		Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right)
2		Tell Me What It Is
3		Stop The Fight
4		I Wanna Fall In Love With You
5		Truth In Disguise
6		If You Feel It
7		Causa U
8		Too Much Too Late
9		Power Of Suggestion

Video for Don't You Wanna Be Mine

Video for 2008 rerelease of Don't You Wanna Be Mine

Download Every Dog Has Her Day!!!

1		Don't You Wanna Be Mine
2		Communicate
3		Causa U
4		Land Of The Living
5		Love Come Down
6		It's Just My Heart That's Breakin'
7		Loving You A To Z
8		I Want U 2 Know
9		Layin' Down The Law
10		Everlasting Love

Eria Fachin - My Name Is Eria Fachin (1988)

Thankfully last week I slipped into a record store and slipped out with an album I've wanted to feature for some time, and all for a dollar! This is my first vinyl rip for this blog as well (UPDATE - My friend Max sent me a CD rip of the album, so I've posted that instead as the sound is much clearer. ;). Eria Fachin is another artist that there is very little info available for, though she did indeed have a 'hit'. From what I have been able to find out, I can tell you that she was born in Hamilton, Ontario. She attended college there and also dabbled in singing. She did gigs with the McMaster Jazz Band across Canada in the early 1980s, one of which you can watch HERE. Her strong clear voice was indeed perfect for jazz, but when she emerged in 1986 with her first single (though there are rumours of an earlier single), she was in full-on dance diva mode. "Savin' Myself" was produced by Canadian hi-NRG producer extraordinaire Vincent Degiorgio, and was released on his indie Power label. The upbeat song quickly became a hit in Canadian dance clubs, and soon spread to clubs across the world. The song was so successful for Eria that it prompted American label Critique to sign her, and it even peaked in the Billboard Hot 100 at #50. It is to this day considered one of the classic hi-NRG songs. This success led to an album. Though DJs were clamoring for her hi-NRG take on The Supremes' "I Hear A Symphony" to be released as a single, instead the freestyle-ish "Your Love Just Came Too Late" was released as a follow-up. Though it had success in some clubs, it was a departure from her hit and likely confused potential fans. "I Hear A Symphony" was finally released, and it too was a hit in clubs, but by then a larger audience was out of her grasp. Not much was heard from Eria over the next while, and this was likely due to the fact that she was diagnosed with cancer and had to deal with treatment and recovery. She did manage to record another song, the title track to the Kiefer Sutherland movie (and notorious bomb - it wasn't released until 2000) "Woman Wanted". She was said to be recording a new album as well, but sadly her disease got the best of her and she passed away in 1996. Such a shame, as hers was a voice that was sure to capture the spotlight once again. Thankfully we have this fun and upbeat album to remember her fondly by. (For another great live performance from 1986 that showcases her true talent, go HERE.)

Download My Name Is Eria Fachin

1		Savin' Myself
2		Only A Hope
3		Everytime
4		Get You Out Of My Heart
5		Innocence Falls Away
6		Eria's Aria / I Hear A Symphony
7		Your Love Just Came Too Late
8		Dontcha Know
9		Remember Me
10		You're So Sexy
11		Let Somebody Love You

Bardeux - Bold As Love (1988) & Shangri-La (1989) DOUBLE POST!!

I'm sure that most fans of the Isle know of the dynamic duo Bardeux. They epitomize the essence of this blog, pop tarts who lingered in the lower regions of many charts, yet they managed a bigger profile than many of their contemporaries. Of course, it helped that they followed the success of Stacey Q, whose writers and producers wrote and produced both of their albums. The first album is pure Stacey, a Hi-NRG masterpiece. Though they began as Acacia (Stacy Smith) and Tairrie B. (Theresa Beth), releasing their first single "Three Time Lover" to dance chart success, Tairrie soon bitterly left the group. Her interests lied in entirely different music, and she would go on to work with hip hop maestro Easy E and release the unsuccessful gangsta-rap album Power Of A Woman in 1990. (Likely to be featured here in the future. ;) On the track "Ruthless Bitch" she disses Acacia, the group, their styles and their producer Jon St. James. (It was this song that made me realize that she was indeed the same Tairrie B!) After that failed, she ended up fronting the nu-metal-ish band Manhole (later renamed Tura Satana after the lead actress in movie classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Then she moved on to even harder music fronting My Ruin (personally, I'm a huge fan of all of her incarnations). Anyway, I digress. She was replaced by Jaz (Lisa Teaney) and they released their first album, Bold As Love, with the fabulous single "Magic Carpet Ride" reaching the Billboard Hot 100 and much higher on the dance chart. The next single, the moody, whispery "When We Kiss", which was considered their response to LL Cool J's "I Need Love", hit the Billboard Top 40, and was their greatest success. The singles "Bleeding Heart" and "Hold Me Hold Me" followed, to diminishing returns. With the Hi-NRG sound quickly becoming passé, St. James looked for new inspiration, and he found it in house and funk music, a sound which suited them equally as well, IMO. Jaz departed the group for reasons unknown (though my guess is that they needed a singer with more soul to compliment their new sound - and she hasn't been heard from since), and soul sister Melanie Taylor was her replacement. The single "I Love To Bass" became their next Billboard Top 100 charter and a dance sensation, thanks mostly to remixes by David Morales, and the album soon followed. The next single was "Thumbs Up", which also hit the dance charts. The third single "Shangri-La", however, barely made it onto the dance chart, and the group apparently ran their course. The only other Bardeux track since was "Be My Man", which appeared on a Thump Records compilation in 1994 and 'featured' Acacia. Melanie went on to work extensively with Bette Midler as a "Harlette" and has continued doing backing vocals and making pop-jazz music independently (her website). Acacia has been much more elusive. Thanks to the brilliant Bomitoni and his recent fab interview with Stacey Q, we do know that the two are still friends and Acacia is alive and well, but alas no music seems forthcoming. However, the early Bardeux sound has made a huge resurgence in recent years thanks to acts like Sally Shapiro and Annie, and Stacey Q is on the cusp of what is sure to be a brilliant come-back, so is a rebirth of Bardeux really that preposterous to imagine? Keep your fingers and toes crossed!!!

Video for Magic Carpet Ride

Video for When We Kiss

Video for Bleeding Heart

Download Bold As Love

1		Magic Carpet Ride
2		Three Time Lover
3		Caution
4		Bleeding Heart
5		You're My Only Kind Of Lover
6		Hold Me, Hold Me
7		Dancing In The Wind
8		Sex Machine
9		When We Kiss

Video for I Love The Bass

Video for Thumbs Up

Download Shangri-La

1		Nervous
2		Now Or Never
3		Thumbs Up
4		Just Say The Word
5		You Can Rock My Body
6		I Love To Bass
7		One Last Kiss
8		Shangri-La
9		Now I've Got Your Number
10		Hardline