Mayomi - Mayomi (1995)

A couple of days ago a delightful friend of the Isle, Konstantin, sent me several albums off of my wantlist.  Thanks a TON for that, K! One I was looking most forward to was the only album by Japanese-Swedish rapper Mayomi.  And it does not disappoint. It was impossible to find anywhere when I first looked for it, but while researching Mayomi I saw that it was re-released in 2010 and several copies are now available on Amazon and eBay, and it's even on iTunes. Ah well, now you know where to go if you want high quality versions of your own.  I didn't find out much else about Mayomi, unfortunately.  I'm not even sure where I first heard about her, though it was likely due to her involvement on eurohouse act Melodie MC's track "Bomba Deng" from 1995.  Three years prior she and a friend appeared on the The World Rap Contest as Sista's Of Soul.  They didn't win, but ended up meeting Statikk, the producer behind Melodie MC and several other Swedish pop acts. He produced a track for them, "Make It Your Way", which was their only single before they broke up in 1993.  Mayomi went solo and released "Whatever I" the following year. Apparently it had moderate success, and with the track's producers, Collén & Webb, who were collaborators of Statikk's, she recorded her debut album for Virgin.  Three singles were released from the album in 1995 - "The Best A Man Can Get", "How Can I Get By" and the title track - and they met with some success as well.  But she only released one other single, "So In Love" in 2006, and hasn't been heard from since.  But if you enjoy other Europop rappers like Leila K, Leki, or Isle postee Daisy Dee, then you should get to know Mayomi.

Live performance of How Can I Get By

Live performance of I'm There

Download Mayomi

1	Commin' At Ya
2	I Am
3	Is This A Dream
4	How Can I Get By
5	I'm There
6	The Best A Man Can Get
7	Steppin' Out
8	Women Cry
9	Time Changes
10	Lullaby
11	Whatever I (Remix)

Legacy Of Sound - Holy Groove (1993) & Tour De Force (1995) DOUBLE POST!!

While Legacy Of Sound was a collective of sorts, it nucleus was producer Anders 'Bag' Bagge. Bagge joined forces with the mysterious "Snowman" and Gerry DeVeaux (not an official member of the group, BTW) to create a soulful and upbeat house sound, similar to American counterparts like Steve 'Silk' Hurley. They were considered among the forefathers of the 'happy house' sound. Appropriately enough their first single was entitled "Happy", and it was an instant dance hit internationally. It featured the vocals of fellow Swede Meja. Their second single "I Can't Let You Go" also featured Meja but wasn't near as popular, yet still they managed to get an international album release on RCA/BMG in 1993. The album featured Meja and James Gicho alternating on vocals. Gicho took the lead on their third single "Feel So Good", but it went largely ignored. They lost their international deal and DeVeaux and Gicho in the process, but managed to release another album in Europe on BMG/Ariola a couple years later (I didn't even realize this until I found this CD used a few years back). This time vocals were shared by Meja and Lori Perry, who was once a member of soul sister quartet Perri, and the sound remained mostly the same, with some more downbeat and eurohouse touches. But even though five singles were released - "Livin' & Learnin'", "Woman In Me" and "I Wanna Give You My Lovin'," all featuring Meja, and "Boy Don't Miss The Train" and "Wait (For Our Love To Find Us)" featuring Perry - none made any impact outside of their native Sweden and the collective disbanded. Perry continued to record as a solo artist, as did Gicho, though under the moniker of St. James he also found much greater success with another house act, SoundFactory, who had a huge hit with "Understand This Groove". After dropping some weight, Meja would have the most success as a solo artist, with the remixes of her song "All About The Money" burning up international dancefloors, and her featured duet with Ricky Martin, "Private Emotion", appearing on his hugely successful English debut album. She has maintained a successful career in Europe and Japan ever since. Gerry DeVeaux would also go on to a solo singing career, but had greater success as a producer, working with acts such as Kylie, Ultra Nate and, most notably, old friend Angie Stone. A fashion plate, he was also a judge on both Scandinavia's and Britain's Next Top Model. And the mysterious Snowman is no longer a mystery thanks to Kevin, as he happens to be music industry success Peter Swartling, a renowned record producer and talent scout who was a judge on the first four seasons of Swedish Idol. Anders Bagge was likely the greatest success story of all, however, as alone and as part of BAG & Arnthor, he was at the forefront of the pop resurgence in the new millennium, having produced acts like Robyn, Gina G, Ace Of Base, J Lo, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson and Madonna. He also replaced Swartling as a judge on Swedish Idol in 2008, along with his ex-wife Laila, whose solo album will definitely be making an appearance on the Isle in the future. ;)

Video for Happy

Download Holy Groove

1		Happy
2		I Can't Let You Go
3		Suddenly
4		When Is It Love
5		Feel So Good
6		Someone's Waitin'
7		Better Late Than Never
8		Where R U Now
9		Feel It In My Heart
10		Gimme Love
11		Takin' Me Higher
12		Feel So Good (Live Vibe)
13		Happy (Club Mix)

Video for Woman In Me

Video for Wait (For Our Love To Find Us)

Download Tour De Force

1		Interlude
2		Boy Don't Miss The Train
3		Wait (For Our Love To Find Us)
4		Woman In Me
5		If You Ever Turn Around
6		I Wanna Give You My Lovin'
7		I Got What You Need
8		Interlude - PT 2
9		Everybody
10		Black Rain
11		Am I Dreaming?
12		Keep Livin' & Learnin'
13		Bitchitude
14		Loving You

Starz!? - Party (2000)

I discovered this group when I bought a used copy of their single "Heaven's On Fire", hoping desperately it was a remake of the Kiss track, which blessedly it was! They were then known as just Star, and their image combined with one of my fave songs (no, I'm not joking) assured me that the song would be a cheesetastic classic! And I was not disappointed, especially since it was remixed into an awesome dance mix. I posted that single on Lost Pop Treasures HERE. Thanks to that post, the awesome Magnuna, who runs the equally awesome Norwegian Music blog, sent me their entire album, entitled Party. I didn't expect to ever hear anything else from them and only found out years after I bought the single that they changed their name to Starz!? (due to legal issues with their original name) and released an album (in Europe only). And thanks to Magnuna, here it is! I can't tell you much about the group themselves. I know that they are Swedish and consisted of four lovely and bizarrely dressed young ladies: Irene Nord, Mia Johnsson, Selma Yasitli and Lotta Josefsson. I did manage to find one site with info on them, but since I am not Swedish and any translation service I use doesn't properly translate the site, I couldn't tell you what it reveals. But HERE it is if you do know Swedish. ;) From the pics I gathered a couple of them also posed nude at one point... Anyway, it's about the music. If you've heard the original mix of "Heaven's On Fire", which was a hit in Sweden, then expect much more of the same. They are like a mix of the Spice Girls and Abba, if they sang in mostly growls and used A LOT of guitar. I'm guessing that was their gimmick to differentiate them from the million other girl groups at the time. They released a couple more singles, a remake of Sweet's "Wig Wam Bam" and the original "This Is My Life", and the album includes a cover of Skid Row's "I Remember You". Though Magnuna claimed to see them open for the Backstreet Boys, obviously their gimmick didn't work and they very quickly ceased to be. But thankfully they left perhaps one of the cheesiest pop-rock dance albums in their wake for us all to enjoy, or something like that. ;)

Video for Heaven's On Fire

Download Party

1		The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
2		This Is My Life
3		God Save Us
4		Fish Out Of Water
5		I Remember You
6		Hey You (What's Your Name)
7		Wig-Wam Bam
8		Girls They Like To Party
9		I Got The Look
10		Air
11		Heaven's On Fire
12		Score
13		God Damn It Move

Midi, Maxi & Efti - Midi, Maxi & Efti (1992)

Midi, Maxi & Efti were a very curious and very brief pop act from the early 1990s. It consisted of three 16 year old African girls, twin sisters Midi & Maxi Berhanu from Ethiopia and Freweyni "Efti" Teclehaimanot from Eritrea. Separately the twins and Efti moved to Sweden with their parents, and they lived and met in the same Stockholm suburb. Somehow they were discovered by Alexander Bard, then best known as the mastermind behind bizarre pop group Army Of Lovers. He and his partner in crime Anders Wollbeck (they would eventually form the group Vacuum together) decided to write and produce an album for the girls, even though they displayed no vocal talent whatsoever. LOL But with fellow Swede act Dr. Alban having success with his ragga-pop and Ace Of Base, also Swedes, getting ready to release their equally catchy (and soon to be popular) reggae-pop, the climate seemed right for just such an act, and the girls were cute to boot! The single "Bad Bad Boys" was released to limited success in Sweden. But that success was apparently enough to get the attention of Columbia Records in the US, who signed them immediately, as unlikely as that would seem. The track got some attention in North America thanks to it's inclusion on the Beavis & Butthead television show and the soundtrack for the movie Untamed Heart. Another single, "Masenko", was featured on the soundtrack for the Michael J. Fox film For Love Or Money. They released a third single, "Ragga Steady", but it, like their other singles and album, remained a novelty, and the girls soon broke up after a quick tour. All I can find of their whereabouts now is that Midi & Maxi live in England, and Efti is still in Sweden, getting ready to release a solo album! We can only hope!

Video for Bad Bad Boys (Version1)

Video for Bad Bad Boys (Version 2)

Video for Ragga Steady

Download Midi, Maxi & Efti

1		Ragga Steady
2		Poppadink Tribe
3		Masenko
4		Basement Boyfriend
5		I Got Riddim
6		Go Girlie Go
7		Culture Of Youth
8		Bad Bad Boys
9		Jamma On Da Savannah
10		You Can Make It
11		Sisterhood Of Africa
12		Ragga Steady Dub

La Camilla - Temper (1996)

This is an album I just HAD to share here, even though I found it elsewhere... It is posted on the Alcazarland blog and it's a must have, and no doubt will be highly pleasing to many of you! It was never officially released and is quite hard to find. La Camilla (Henemark) was formerly the exotic front-woman for Swedish kitch-pop group Army Of Lovers. After leaving due to disagreements with the other members (though she would record with them again many years later), she embarked on a solo career. She released the single "Everytime You Lie", which was a minor hit (and does not appear on the album). But the follow-ups "I'm Not In The Mood For Lovers" (obviously a sly slight to her former band) and "The Witch In Me" did not perform well, and the album was not released. But it's a HOT album, very house influenced. La Camilla isn't a singer so much as a speaker, with her exotic and smoky low voice purring dramatically a la Grace Jones. The fact that she doesn't really sing may have contributed to her lack of success as a solo star, but for fans of this blog, it is heaven! For more info on the lady, there are two Myspace pages dedicated to her that will fill you in on the details. Enjoy, and thanks a ton to Alcazarland for posting!

Video for Everytime You Lie

Download Temper

1		I'm Not In The Mood For Lovers
2		Liar
3		JB Baby
4		Free Your Mind
5		The Witch In Me
6		U.S. People
7		Queen Bitch Day
8		Tango Life
9		Caballeros
10		Silencio
11		Dissidents
12		Twin Souls

DaYeene - United Soul Power (1990) & Prime Time (1992) DOUBLE POST!!

DaYeene are Swedish sisters Diane and Jeanette Söderholm, muses of super-producer StoneBridge. He produced this delightful album early in his career, and it is surprisingly their only album so far (at least the only one released in North America), despite the fact that they have worked with him and recorded successful singles for years since. The music is a mix of pop, soul, funk, reggae and house. It's a lot of fun, and made all the better by the sisters' vocals, which are very reminiscent, in my opinion, of pop goddesses Mel & Kim. A few singles were released off of this album - the reggae-lite "Big Bad World" and "Dizzy Morning", the hip-housey "We're On This Case" and a fun interpretation of the Beatles' "Drive My Car". All achieved some success in the Netherlands, but next to none anywhere else. In 1992 they released a second album, Prime Time, in Sweden only. It had a much housier vibe than their first, which indicated the direction StoneBridge was to go with his own music, and is equally as good. They released several singles, including "Alright", Good Thing", "Around The World" and "Your Love", and all achieved local success. In the following years they released many other tracks, again with the assistance of StoneBridge and his cohorts. All are fantastic. They were also featured with Titiyo on the brilliant track "Viva La Vogue" by Army Of Lovers, and on a couple tracks off of StoneBridge's fab album Can't Get Enough. Jeanette also kept busy over the years as a background singer for the likes of Ace Of Base, Robyn and Britney Spears. In 2010 they resurfaced with StoneBridge on the dance hit "The Morning After" and appeared on other tracks on the album of the same name. Perhaps this means that they'll get another chance to impress the world with an album of pop perfection! They have the talent and support, so what's taking so long?

Download United Soul Power

1		Believe
2		Big Bad World
3		I Found You
4		D.D.D. (Dead Drearie Dearie) (Second Version)
5		Dizzy Morning
6		Drive My Car
7		Go To Work
8		Solution
9		The B-Side
10		United Soul Power
11		Karma Is The Sign
12		We're On This Case
13		I'm Coming
14		United Soul Power (Clean Mix)
15		D.D.D. (Dead Drearie Dearie) (Original Version)
16		I Found You (Dance Hall Git Down Edit)

Download Prime Time

1		Prime Time (The K Mix)
2		Alright
3		Good Thing
4		Freedom
5		Your Love
6		Love The Reggae Bad
7		To Be Yourself
8		Around The World
9		Who's Gonna Take You Back
10		Danger Lovin'
11		Love The Reggae Bad (Yellow Cab Mix)
12		D'Yall's Gonna Rock The Place (Moronic Dub Edit)
13		Prime Time (The Original Big Bass Dub)

Tekla - Somebody Else (1999)

What's in a name? In the case of Tekla, it seems her name almost defines her music. Released on Nettwerk Records in 1999, this album is sort of techno-folk, following very closely in the footsteps of Madonna' acoustic-electro moments on her Ray Of Light and Music albums. In fact, the title track (a semi-successful dance "hit") sounds like a Madonna left-over, a "Ray Of Light" companion piece with Tekla even sounding like Madge in places. The rest of the album follows it's lead, with mostly mid-tempo techno-lite tracks. Tekla's voice is very Nordic (indeed, she released two albums in Swedish before this), which means melodic and Abba-esque. She's like a tamer version of fellow former Nettwerk signee Bertine Zetlitz. Unfortunately, like Bertine, Tekla garnered little attention in North America, but unlike Bertine, she also seems to have faded into obscurity even in her homeland. Nothing much can be found about her now, a shame as she was one potential pop-star who showed promise.

(For the maxi-single of "Somebody Else", please visit my sister blog HERE.)

Download Somebody Else

1		Somebody Else
2		Like No One Else
3		One Day
4		Two Persons
5		Wasted
6		Hide Behind My Pride
7		Run Over By A Car
8		Better Than Reality
9		Even Cactuses Bloom
10		Always Running
11		So It's Over Now
12		Somebody Else (Precision Edit Mix)