Altitude - Private Parts (1991)

Altitude were an R&B threesome from the US. For the most part, like many artists on the Isle, they remain an enigma. Clearly they were formed at some point in the early 1990s, brought together from various US states: Terrah Smith from New York, Pamela Baker from Michigan, and Tamela Gibbs from California. They worked with a variety of producers on their album, some of whom had worked with artists like Karyn White and Shanice. Their most notable producer (for this blog at least) was previous Isle postee Bernadette Cooper, member of funk girl band Klymaxx, as well as producer of previous Isle postee Alisa Randolph. She produced two tracks, "Silly" and "One Man". The album, released on RCA sublabel Bahai Entertainment, was a mix of new jack swing, like the first single "Work It (Like A) 9 To 5", ballads and dance-funk. "Work It (Like A) 9 To 5" managed to creep into the top 40 of the Billboard R&B chart, while it's follow-up, Cooper's "Silly", only managed to reach #75 on that chart. Their third single, the ballad "If You Believe" didn't chart at all and it would appear the group disbanded soon after. While I can find no recent info on Pamela or Tamela, it seems that Terrah remained active in the entertainment industry as a songwriter, stage and television actress, and even a director, of videos, stage productions and films, such as Flip The Script. She also runs her own production company with her husband, Bennett Five Entertainment, Inc, and also runs the Youth Empowered Through Arts program in Los Angeles, which encourages children to pursue the arts. Clearly her time in Altitude was just a means to an even greater end.

Video for Work It (Like A) 9 To 5

Download Private Parts

1		In My Mind
2		I'm Ready
3		Private Parts
4		Silly
5		Someone Like You
6		Work It (Like A) 9 To 5
7		One Man
8		Vital Signs
9		I Can't Resist
10		If You Believe

Voices - Just The Beginning... (1992)

I am finally satisfying a years long request with the one and only album by Voices, an R&B pre-teen girl group that is best known for originally featuring television star twins Tia & Tamera Mowry. The group was formed in Los Angeles and though there were many other new jack swing girl groups at the time, they had a unique angle in that they were not yet in their teens. This had them being compared to male counterparts like the Jackson 5, New Edition and The Boys. Originally the group consisted of Monique Wilson, Arike Rice, and twins Tia & Tamera Mowry. They were signed to Zoo Entertainment and recorded the song "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!", as well as a video. Soon after, the twins' mother had a disagreement with their management and pulled them out of the group. They were replaced with sisters LaToya and LaPetra McMoore. The song became a modest hit, reaching #14 on the Billboard R&B chart and #72 on the Hot 100. They released an album and a second single, "M.M.D.R.N.F. (My Mama Didn't Raise No Fool)", and opened on tour for a multitude of popular R&B acts. Their second single stalled in the lower end of the R&B charts, however, and their third, "Cloudy With A Chance Of Tears" did even worse. With no major hits and label issues, the group broke up. A couple of years later the Mowry sisters appeared in their own sitcom, Sister, Sister, to great success. After the show ended in 1999, they both went to university and then returned to acting in various film and television shows, most recently their own reality show in 2011 on the Style Network. Arike Rice would reappear on the scene with her sister and cousin in 1999 as part of the R&B trio Before Dark. They would release one album, Daydreamin', and have a few minor R&B hits including one Hot 100 song, "Monica", which reached #77. Arike continues to record and has been a back-up dancer for the likes of Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Missy Elliott and Black Eyed Peas. Not much has been heard from Monique Wilson and her goings on, but she does have a Myspace page. LaToya McMoore, aka Josie G, ended up marrying Marc Gordon of R&B group Levert and has continued to pursue a solo career, and also has her own Myspace page. Her sister LaPetra, however, took a much different path by enlisting in the Army reserve as part of the Hawaiian National Guard, and served in Iraq. It always amazes me what some of these artists get up to in later years, especially when it's something noble and beneficial to society. (BTW, one must note the irony of the album title, since this was not 'just the beginning' but also the end... ;)

Video for Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Download Just The Beginning...

1		Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
2		Wait For The Beeeep (Interlude)
3		Library Card
4		M.M.D.R.N.F. (My Mama Didn't Raise No Fool)
5		Cloudy With A Chance Of Tears
6		Always
7		We Are Voices
8		I'll Wipe All Your Tears Away
9		The Love You Save
10		Studio Chatter (Interlude)
11		Love Lives Right Next Door
12		Blessed (The Praise Song)
13		Just The Beginning...

Secret Life - Sole Purpose (1995)

The British group Secret Life began as producer/pianist Andy Throup and producer/guitarist Jim Di Salvo. They released the instrumental dance single "Spanish Lullabye" in 1991 on their own label. They soon added two more members, producer Charlton Antenbring and vocalist Paul Bryant. Together in 1992 they released the single "As Always" on indie Cowboy Records, a house remake of the Stevie Wonder classic. It climbed the UK charts to #45. Di Salvo left the group soon after and recorded throughout the rest of the 90s as part of dub-reggae acts Juggler (with Jason Carty), Bong Brothers and Salvo Jets. In 1993 the remaining members then released an original, the soulful "Love So Strong". It would be their biggest British hit, reaching #38 on the charts. This success led to their signing to Pulse-8 in the UK and Critique in the US for an eight album deal. With the label change, Antenbring left the group. Now a duo, they released two more house singles in 1994, "She Holds The Key" and "I Want You", both of which made it into the bottom end of the UK top 100, as well as a remixed version of "Love So Strong". Their only album debuted the following year and "Love So Strong" returned to the UK top 40 reaching one spot higher at #37, in large part due to new house remixes, most notably by Brothers In Rhythm. No other singles were released from the album, but in 1996 they released two more stand alone singles, "Vehicle" and "Love Love Love". Unfortunately Pulse-8 went bankrupt soon after and folded, preventing any other singles or albums from being released. Throup is said to have changed his name to Andrew Grainger and moved to the US to concentrate on being a lounge pianist. Bryant contributed guest vocals on a few tracks by other artists and is since believed to have left the music industry.

Download Sole Purpose

1		Love So Strong (Single Version)
2		I Want You
3		Got To Have Your Love
4		Borrowed Time
5		Sweet Inspiration
6		She Holds The Key
7		As Always
8		Fantasy
9		Again & Again
10		46 Chromosomes
11		Love So Strong (Album Version)
12		Lullaby

Jannetta - Breathless (1988) & Mark On My Heart (1991) DOUBLE POST!!

Well, the shut-down of Megaupload is a bummer, but I'm not going to let that get me down. So I'm doing another post already! I realized when posting the last post that the amazing Tobysheldonla also sent me two albums by Jannetta some time ago, and I totally forgot to share them on here! Thanks again T! I featured Jannetta's single "Mark On My Heart" on Lost Pop Treasures in 2010, but only linked to her bio there. In more detail, Patti Jannetta grew up in Toronto, where she became part of the touring cast of Jesus Christ Superstar. From that experience she released a self-titled album (using her full name Patti Jannetta) in 1981 on a small label, Janta (that album is almost impossible to get ahold of now). A couple singles were released to moderate success in her hometown. She toured the world to promote the album, to little success, and then fell into the background. It wasn't until 1988 that she re-emerged on the music scene simply as Jannetta, reinventing herself as a dance-pop diva. She released the album Breathless on the better known Trilogy label, and two singles, "Name Of The Game" and "Party Girl", the second of which became a minor club hit in Canada and for which she was nominated for a Juno. I mentioned on Lost Pop Treasures that her performance of the track on the local dance show Electric Circus is forever burned into my memory, as at the time anyone from off of the street was allowed to dance on the show, and the dancers surrounding her were simply hilarious. I have that performance on a videotape somewhere and one day hope to upload it to Youtube. Anyway, she again toured around the world and this time got a lot more love. After extensive touring, she managed to record a second album for Trilogy in 1991. Three singles were released, including the mid-tempo "I Know You'll Wait" and the ballad "Even Though You're Gone". The title track, "Mark On My Heart" was a club hit a couple years after the album's release. She toured with previous Isle postee Manee throughout Europe and Manee's native Thailand, and apparently a documentary on Manee entitled Superstar was filmed, with Jannetta appearing in it. She also did backing vocals on Manee's album. In 1993 she co-wrote the song "Tell Me You Love Me" for another Isle postee, Carol Medina, and was presented a Canadian Diamond record for one million units sold. Since then she has put her music career on the backburner, becoming a steadfast volunteer for various causes and holding several different positions in the music industry. She has been Director of Canadian Music Week, President of The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Music and the Arts, and Artistic Director of The Mississauga Waterfront Festival. She also still occasionally performs with The Patti Jannetta Band and as a guest vocalist for legendary Canadian country artist Ronnie Hawkins.

Download Breathless

1		Name Of The Game
2		Mirror Of The Heart
3		Secrets In Your Room
4		Party Girl
5		California Night
6		Movin' To The Beat
7		Fire In Your Eyes
8		Just Another Heartbeat
9		Trust Someone

Download Mark On My Heart

1		Sunday Gone
2		Even Though You're Gone
3		Dancin'
4		I've Got News For You
5		Back In Time
6		Mark On My Heart
7		Star Crossed
8		I Know You'll Wait
9		Storm Warning
10		Something Foolish

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

No Secrets - No Secrets (2002)

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you all had an amazing holiday! Sorry for my lack of posts yet again, but it was a very busy month for me. Since I happen to have a few moments free, I thought I'd do a quick post to satiate you all for a bit. ;) No Secrets was a teen girl group formed in 2000 in Los Angeles. Carly Lewis was the step-daughter of British musician Adrian Gurvitz, who helped her realize her dream of pop stardom by recruiting the rest of the girls: Hawaiian cousins Jade Ryusaki and Erin Tanner, and friends Angel Faith and Jessica Fried. The teen pop boom that spawned several other groups featured on the Isle (such as Innosense, Nobody's Angel, Sugar Jones, Boy-N-Girlz United and Velvet Empire) was still in full swing, and they were signed to the label that had the most success with teen pop, Jive. They made their first appearance in the Aaron Carter video "Oh Aaron" in 2001 and also did backing vocals on his album of the same name. Then they released their version of Kim Wilde's 80's classic "Kids In America", which appeared on the Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius soundtrack. A year later they released their self-titled album and the single "That's What Girls Do", which also ended up on The Hot Chick soundtrack. The song was not a hit, though the album managed to hit #136 on the Billboard Album chart. The same year they also did a remake of The Little Mermaid's "Kiss The Girl" for the Disneymania series and their track "Little Angel Of Mine" appeared on the soundtrack for Stuart Little 2. But apparently there were disagreements within the group, and the other girls recorded a version of Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again" in 2003 without Angel Faith, prompting her to leave the group. The remaining girls released one last video the same year, for the song "Once Upon Another Dream" which appeared both on Disneymania 2 and the Sleeping Beauty DVD release, and then split up, no doubt foreseeing the imminent end of the teen pop craze. While Carly Lewis and Jade Ryusaki appear to have left the entertainment industry for a more 'normal life', the three other members have carried on singing. Angel Faith went on to release a solo album in 2004 as simply Angel, entitled Believe In Angels...Believe In Me, and released several singles including "Just The Way I Am" and the dance hit "How Can I Lie". Jessica Fried renamed herself Jessi Malay and has released several singles including "Booty Bangs" in 2007, "Cinematic" in 2008, and "Like You" and "Role Play" in 2011. And Erin Tanner renamed herself Nicki Foxx and recorded some independent singles like "Wild & Stupid" in 2008, but has mostly been working as a 'glamour' model since.

Video for Kids In America

Performance of I Know What I Want

Performance of It's Alright

Download No Secrets

1		That's What Girls Do
2		On The Floor
3		Skin Deep
4		Kids In America
5		It's Alright
6		I'll Remember You
7		Here I Am
8		Hot
9		I Know What I Want
10		What Are You Waiting For?
11		No Secrets

Belinda Metz - The Minx (1982)

Luckily our system is down today at work so I finally have a moment to add another post! Last week I found a rarity that I've been looking for for some time, Belinda Metz's debut LP The Minx, and I managed to rip it (while doing extensive housecleaning) for your listening pleasure. Belinda was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1960. Though she began her career in the entertainment industry as a dancer, she soon moved on to music and signed a deal with Toronto label Quantum Records. Working with local producers she created a very rock-oriented debut album and released the single "Trouble (At The End Of The Line)". She toured the album extensively across Canada over the next couple of years, generating local buzz. Then in 1985 she entered Talent Quest '85, a talent competition sponsored by cigarette company Craven "A" that was designed to find young talent that would appeal to their desired demographic of 18 to 24 year-olds, and whose music and tours Craven "A" could sponsor and thus advertise through. Belinda was one of two acts chosen and she signed a deal with popular Canadian label Attic Records. She was fortunate enough to be teamed up with with respected Canadian producer David Tyson, who is best known for later producing Alannah Myles and Amanda Marshall. Like fellow Canadian singers and Isle postees Cindy Valentine and Sheree Jeacocke, she softened her rock edge for her second album and recorded songs that were much more pop, hoping to appeal to a wider audience. And she did, with her first single "What About Me" becoming a huge radio hit in Canada and earning her award nominations. Her album Electric Splash was released soon after (and you can download it at my affiliate blog The Music Spectrum or on iTunes). She released a second single, "Subway Dances", but soon after was involved in a near fatal car accident, which derailed her promising pop music career. She slowly healed through intensive physiotherapy and when she reemerged in the entertainment industry, she chose to focus on acting, which she had already casually dabbled in, and voice work. She has since been a familiar voice in Canadian television commercials and a familiar face on Canadian television, with her highest profile acting gigs being a four year stint in the mid-1990s on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and a two year stint from 1999 to 2001 on Disney Channel's So Weird. She has continued to appear on television and has also finally revisited her love of music, independently recording a ton of new tracks in several different genres. Feel free to take a listen at her Myspace page.

Download The Minx

1		Trouble (At The End Of The Line)
2		Bad Little Baby Boy
3		Saturday Night
4		Anything Less Than Love
5		Midnight Cruiser
6		Niteclub Sanitarium
7		Cold-Blooded Red Hot Love
8		Give Me A Home
9		Baby, It's Love

Boston Dawn - Something Serious (1991)

Here is another album recommended by Seth. He was going to send me a link to download, but once I got a listen to Boston Dawn, I knew I had to have the CD itself and ordered it immediately! Thanks for the recommendation Seth! And for the first time in awhile, I'm featuring an artist who has next to no info available on the internet. I do know that her full name is Dawn Deegan, and I can only assume that she was from Boston. LOL Other than that, I have no idea how her career began and what happened after this album failed to ignite the charts. I can tell you that she is now, like a few other Isle postees, a real estate agent in Florida. At some point she got a record deal with California indie label Outpost Entertainment Company. She released her first single, "We Can Have It All", under her real name in 1988. Though it had little impact on the charts, she managed to release a second single the following year, "I Hope She Breaks Your Heart", using the catchier name Boston Dawn (oddly the song was her only single not included on her album. You can download it HERE). Both songs were freestyle, and the second single had a bit more chart impact locally. For her third single she released "Playtoy". The song was more R&B flavoured, and oddly was recorded by another artist the same year for the same label and with the same production crew and musicians. Mexican singer Carmin had a minor hit with "Playtoy" on the Billboard R&B charts and was the first Mexican woman to do so. Boston Dawn's version went unnoticed, but she released yet another single in 1990, "Something Serious", which was much more mainstream dance-pop. Finally an album was released the following year on another Californian indie label, American Sound Recordings. Only one further single was released, a slowed down remake of the Shirelles' "Soldier Boy", which was a tribute to the soldiers fighting the Gulf War. After that it appears Boston Dawn gave up on the pursuit of a career in music, wisely moving to an occupation that was much more profitable.

Download Something Serious

1		Something Serious
2		Soldier Boy
3		Playtoy
4		Guardian Angel
5		You Kill Me
6		City Soul
7		We Can Have It All
8		I Freak For You
9		I Like Music
10		Something Serious (Edit)

Natasha - Russian Revolution (1993)

Thanks to the generousity of yet another Isle admirer, Seth, I have another item from my wantlist that I can finally share with you. (He has shared some more gems with me that will likely see themselves on here in the future. Thank you SO much again Seth!) Clearly I still haven't found much time to post lately but I just had to take a moment to share Natasha's only album. I have the cassette but bought it many years after I had switched over to CDs so I have only listened to it once or twice. At the time I wasn't impressed, but hearing it again now I think it's a trashy delight! I did some poking around yesterday to update her page on Discogs, and I found out a few things. Her full name is Natasha Alexandrovna, and she was born in Russia in 1966. After becoming a member of the Olympic swimming team at 15, she moved from Russia to Italy and then commuted to New York thanks to a contract with the John Casablancas modeling agency. After some success as a model, she decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career, and in 1987/88 recorded a couple singles for French-Canadian Hi-NRG/Freestyle label Sizzle Records, the same label responsible for Shari's "Sugar Sugar", Hi-Tyme's "Fly Robin Fly" and Yasmine's "Toda La Vida", which have all been posted on Lost Pop Treasures. Like those tracks, the singles "Be Gentle With My Heart" and "You Give Me New Vibrations" were produced by Teneen Ali. "Be Gentle With My Heart" became a minor freestyle hit. The second single didn't get near as much attention and that seemed the end of Natasha. But five years later she hooked up with Canadian label Ha! Ha! Productions and released her only album. (There has been debate as to whether the Natasha that sang "Be Gentle With My Heart" is the same Natasha, but if you compare the vocals on that single to this album, there is no doubt that it is the same woman. Also, the teams that worked on both projects had several people in common and originated in Quebec, and the labels were also Quebec based.) On the album she hooked up with producer Joe La Greca, a well known figure on the Canadian dance music scene and a colleague of Teneen Ali's (and also the producer of the album by previous Isle postee Pobi, who was also on the same label). Several songs were co-written by Canadian disco legends Cussy Nicodemo, of Fussy Cussy, and Denis Lepage, of Lime. The album is pure pop dance, utilizing Latin, freestyle and house elements (and a few of the songs were recycled from the album Je T'aime by Boy Girl, which was released on the label a couple years earlier and was also produced by La Greca. I'd love to get my hands on it!). Though a couple of singles were released - "Dark Eyes", a dance remake of the traditional Russian song "Ochi Chornya", and "Lust In Love-U-ssion" - their success was minimal. Despite a media push in the US, where she was dubbed the "Russian Madonna" and was also a spokesmodel for a Russian vodka, her music was overshadowed by her provocative image and photo shoots, and she was dropped. She did manage to release one more non-album single in 1994, however, the euro-house "Peace In Da World". After that it appears that she stayed in Los Angeles and stuck with modeling and acting for awhile, and eventually became the Marketing Director for La Coupe Lintermans Hair Salon in Beverly Hills, where she likely now remains.

Download Russian Revolution

1		Dark Eyes
2		Stop Messing Around
3		Dancin' All Through The Night
4		I'm Falling Apart
5		My Mind Is Set On You
6		Can't Live Without Your Love
7		Lust In Love-U-ssion
8		Turn Me On
9		What Can I Do