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

Pretty In Pink - Wake Up (1991)

Thanks to a request on The Music Spectrum, I decided to finally do a post on Pretty In Pink. They were a teenage girl R&B girl group signed to Motown in the early 1990s, their moniker obviously inspired by the late 80s movie of the same name. Their signing likely had to do with the clout of the mom of one of their members, main singer and songwriter Indira Milini Khan, whose mother was soul diva Chaka Khan. The other members were Maurissa Tancharoen, Taniya Robinson, Tameika Chaney and Shey Sperry. The girls sound was primarily new jack swing, though some tracks hearkened back to late 80s pop-funk. Their first single was "All About You", and it managed to just squeak into the Billboard Hot 100 at #96. They toured with Chaka, who assisted in promoting them on shows like The Arsenio Hall Show. But in spite of Chaka's help, Motown did little to promote them and their second single, "Dreams", had little impact. The group disbanded soon after, and most of the members seem to have left the industry. However, Indira continued to write songs and record, doing back up vocals and appearing as a featured vocalist on Phil Good's "Bring Me Up" in 2007. She's also toured extensively, most notably with the Daughters Of Soul, an internationally touring collective of successful female soul singers that includes soul royalty like Nona Hendryx, Deniece Williams, Caron Wheeler and Joyce Kennedy, as well as other daughters of soul icons such as Lalah Hathaway and Syleena Johnson. And while Maurissa recorded little else other than the Lance De Sardi single "Waterslide" in 2002, she did go on to great success as a screenwriter and actress. She married the brother of prolific TV director and writer Joss Whedon and wrote and appeared in some of his television shows, most notably Dollhouse. She also co-wrote the internet musical sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and recently co-wrote for the television series Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena, a prequel to Spartacus: Blood And Sand, which went on hiatus when it's star Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately he died this week on September 11, leaving the series' future in question.

Video for All About You

Download Wake Up

1		Boys Do Lie
2		All About You
3		Girls Night Out
4		I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend
5		Kiss And Tell
6		Two Hearts, One Love
7		Home By Midnight
8		Boy Is Mine
9		Dreams
10		Wake Up Everybody
11		All About You (House Version)
12		Testin' My Love

Girls Can't Help It - Pure Wild (1983)

Here we have another treat from Robert, who noticed this on my want list and was gracious enough to send it my way. Thanks so much! This is not a proper album, as it only has five tracks, but I know that you all will love it so I had to share! It is the oldest entry on the Isle so far, dating way back to 1983. But the sound is timeless! Girl's Can't Help It were a British trio formed by producers Colin Campsie and George McFarlane. What makes this especially interesting, and perfect for the Isle, is that these producers make up the duo of Giant Steps, whose album was featured here some time ago! The group originally consisted of aspiring model/actresses Belinda (Billie) Adams, Katy Lynne and American Peggy Sue Fender (who at the time of formation was married to Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who would die the same year). They released the single "Baby Doll" on Virgin in 1982 and it was a minor dance hit internationally. This led to a deal with Sire Records for a mini-album. Katy Lynne and Peggy Sue left before the album was released and were replaced with aspiring model/actresses Jacqueline Bucknell and Samantha Spencer-Lane, who was formerly one of Hill's Angels on The Benny Hill Show. She was also part of pop trio Casablanca, who released one single, also in 1983, called "With Love". The album contained very funky synth-pop, much more similar to the sound of funk girl groups of the time like Mary Jane Girls and Vanity 6 than pop groups like Bananarama or The Belle Stars, which is what people expected them to sound like, being white British girls and all. Though the mini-album was well received by critics. the second single, "Rhythm Of The Jungle", went unnoticed and the girls were dropped and disbanded before making a full album. Samantha returned to The Benny Hill Show for a few episodes and continued acting in television and film. Jacqueline went on to be a 'hostess' on the British version of the game show The Price Is Right from 1984 to 1986. She also kept acting in television and film and in 2003 married British soap star Brian Capron, with whom she owns and operates a corporate entertainment company. As is often the case for artists on here, the whereabouts of Billie and Katy Lynne remain unknown. On an interesting side-note, in 1985 Campsie & McFarlane worked with British singer Haywoode and she recorded her own version (which they also produced) of the album track "Jelly Baby" for her album Arrival. ;)

Download Pure Wild

1		Rhythm Of The Jungle
2		Jelly Baby
3		X Marks The Spot
4		Girls Can't Help It
5		Baby Doll

Around The Way - Smooth Is The Way (1993)

Thanks to the always helpful Robert, another release from my wantlist has been satisfied!! Thanks Robert! This is yet another album I only had on cassette and was curious to hear again. There isn't much info on the history of Around The Way before or after their formation. The members of the group were singer Ileana "Lena" Fraticelli, singer Kashu "Kash" Myles (aka Cashew Miles) and rapper Michael Anthony Bertot. Ileana had previously been part of the freestyle trio Solid, who released one single, "Loving You", in 1988. Kashu had been part of the ska group The Toasters as lead vocalist for a couple of albums. Somehow the three got together in New York and hooked up with a bunch of freestyle music's heaviest hitters, including Tony Moran (previously of freestyle group The Latin Rascals), Kenny Diaz, Little Louie Vega and Frankie Cutlass, all of whom produced tracks on their album. It seems they were involved in the same scene as rapper K7 (formerly known as Kayel from freestyle group TKA), who'd had great success with his single "Come Baby Come" (and which Kashu did backing vocals on). Kayel was a hip hop artist who had strong roots in freestyle music, and Around The Way were likely eager to capitalize on his success by mining similar territory. They were an R&B/hip hop group consisting of primarily freestyle artists and producers. It wasn't a huge stretch, as freestyle had strong elements of hip hop, thus its often being coined as 'Latin hip-hop'. Around The Way were far from freestyle, however, and were more new jack swing, though with a far poppier element than most of their contemporaries in the genre. They signed a deal with Atlantic Records and their first single, "Really Into You", managed to hit #89 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, "Way Back When", failed to chart, and it seems likely they were dropped by Atlantic due to their lack of mass success. Since then Ileana has done backing vocals, Michael has written and guested on some freestyle tracks (check out his Youtube channel), and Kashu has had some acting gigs. Their current activities are unknown. Though I have spent some time searching, unfortunately I don't have hours to scour the internet to find out any more details on their current goings on, so as always, if anyone knows anything, please let us know!

Download Smooth Is The Way

1		Really Into You
2		September
3		Groove Me
4		Let It Be You
5		Check One, Check Two
6		Way Back When
7		You
8		Smooth Is The Way
9		The Truth
10		Give It Up

Carrie McDowell - Carrie McDowell (1987)

After much effort and perseverance, Adriana has provided us with an item that has been on my wantlist for some time, Carrie McDowell's debut album! This is another album that I only had on cassette and wanted desperately to feature on the Isle, but the CD was not easy to find, as Adriana can attest. ;) But she makes wishes come true! Thanks a ton Adriana! (And thanks to Robert as well, who coincidentally sent me this album the same day, but from the vinyl. I appreciate the effort, Robert!) Carrie was born in Iowa in the 1960s. She first showed off her vocal talents at the age of 8 on the local talent show 'Bill Riley's Talent Sprouts'. She then toured with an all-kid band, Love Train. This led to an appearance on 'The Tonight Show', which led to appearances with entertainment legends like George Burns, Danny Thomas and Jerry Lewis. With a new band, she also opened for the likes of Stevie Wonder and Liberace. In 1976, at the age of 13, she released a single with her versions of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Sing, Sing, Sing". Despite her success, her mother wanted her to concentrate on her education and pulled her from the spotlight to attend school. She wouldn't return to the music scene until she was 18, moving to New York and then Los Angeles, where her powerful demo got her signed to Motown Records. This was quite a coup, as there were very few white artists signed to Motown up to that point. Her album was primarily produced by legendary Motown artist and producer Willie Hutch, with assistance from other popular Motown producers. It was part funk/dance tracks and part ballads, which adequately featured her strong vocals. The first single release was "Casual Sex". Though the title was suggestive, the song failed to attract much attention. It was promptly remixed with a dancier vibe by Bruce Forest and retitled "Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex" (though the song was against promiscuity, the original title made it seem it was promoting it). The song became a minor Billboard Dance and R&B hit. (To download the original version and the B-side of the single, "Prove It", go to Lost Pop Treasures HERE.) Though another song, the ballad "When A Woman Loves A Man", was released as a promo single, the lack of proper promotion and the failure of her first single to cross over to the pop charts, which was Motown's hope, led to Carrie being dropped from the label. During her time with Motown Carrie had met guitarist Michael Hodge, and the two married in 1989. They moved to Nashville in 1991 and began recording as Two Hearts. They released two country-laced gospel albums, Stand Your Ground in 1992 and Give 'Em The Word in 1993. They continued to tour the world, often performing at charity events, and in 2008 the couple released a Christmas album as Michael & Carrie Hodge. Carrie finally released another solo album as Carrie Hodge in 2010 titled Never Forget, but the album consisted of tracks taken from the Two Hearts records. Since then, Carrie has been said to be working on new gospel and R&B records as well as an autobiography, so expect to hear more from her soon.

UPDATE: Adriana pointed out that in 1989 Carrie had two more upbeat funk/dance songs on a compilation called Arcade, "New Start" and "Why Did He Break My Heart". You can download the songs off of iTunes HERE. And DJ Digital found a page that includes a new pic of Carrie along with some streaming songs: "Almost Like Being In Love", "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (I don't think it is the version she recorded as a child, but I could be wrong). Visit the page HERE. Thanks guys!

Video for Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex

Download Carrie McDowell

1		Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex (Part 1)
2		Secret Fire
3		When A Woman Loves A Man
4		Just Dance
5		It's The Power Of Your Love (Growing On Me)
6		Fly (White Bird Fly)
7		The Tracks Of My Tears
8		I'm Here For You
9		Up The Down Side Of Love

FMT Featuring Camilla - So Into You (1992)

Thanks to the extreme generousity of Isle fan Robert G., I can offer you another album off of my want list. This is another gem I had only on cassette and had trouble locating the CD for, but Robert just bought and ripped it for me and I had to share with you immediately. Thanks a million, Robert! FMT was essentially Frank Meyer-Thurn, a German songwriter, musician and producer, and his wife, singer and songwriter Camilla Hüther. After working in the band McScrooge in the late 1970s, Meyer-Thurn met Camilla in Mannheim and they formed the new wave group Camilla Motor (originally known as Camilla Motor & Die Sexzylinder). They released two German albums, Camilla Motor in 1981 and Ein Neues Glück in 1982. They married in 1984, and carried on working together throughout the 1980s, writing, producing and performing with and as part of European dance acts such as Rewind, Crack Express, Amati and Private Blue. These were all single releases on smaller labels but they soon got a deal with a major label, EMI Electrola. As FMT, they mellowed out their sound, which had been primarily HiNRG and italo-disco, and explored house, hip hop, 70s psychedelic rock and soul. The closest comparison to their sound would be DNA's hit remix of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner", which was clearly an influence. In fact, their first single was a remake of Leonard Cohen's moody "Suzanne", an obvious tribute to the singer. The single was successful in Europe and was followed by a remake of Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover". The success of both singles caught the eye of Capitol Records in North America, and an album was issued. The lead-off single was a remake of Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You". While also a hit in Europe, it failed to generate interest in North America. The FMT project was dropped, with none of their original tracks having been released, including a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. But the two carried on, producing, writing, remixing and performing throughout the 1990's and 2000's under different aliases - Camilla as Jean Bronte, and Frank as FMT Posse, John Ritt, and Zed Lovedust, among others. Unfortunately Frank died in January 2009, and Camilla (who is not the woman pictured on the cover, BTW) is missing in action...

Download So Into You

1		50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
2		Jimi & Janis (A Tribute!)
3		Oasis
4		I Want U, Baby
5		No Better Lover
6		Suzanne
7		So Into You
8		Crank It Up
9		U Can Touch Me Anywhere
10		I Want U, Baby (Humpty Dumpty Remix)