I first took notice of Kim Esty in the 1980s on the Toronto dance show Electric Circus (where I also discovered fellow Canadian divas and previous postees Pobi and Michelle Blade), where she performed her local club hit "Come On". Kim was very prolific in the late 80s and early 90s, releasing several singles that would appear on the Canadian dance charts, with assistance from top Canadian producers like Barry Harris (of Kon Kan and Thunderpuss fame) and Vincent Degiorgio, the king of Canadian HiNRG music. She was especially popular in the days of the eurohouse craze, with her original songs like "Make You Mine" and "I Dream Of Happiness" and her remakes of dance hits like Stacey Q's "Two Of Hearts", Carrie Lucas' "Summer In The Street" and Connie's "Funky Little Beat". But she gained the most notice when she hooked up with the Boomtang Boys in 1999 and released the song "Squeezetoy", a cutesy Aqua-esque pop song that became a local hit. Other songs with Boomtang, like "Pictures" and a remake of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" were equally as popular in Canada, but they all only gained limited international exposure. In 2003 she finally released this, her only solo album so far, on her own label. It contains several re-recordings of her past singles and newer material, and covers all pop genres. With the success of the cutesy "Squeezetoy" she also created her own pop "group", Kartoon Kids, whose music was aimed at the pre-teen audience. Esty is a beloved Canadian presence and she will no doubt continue to release much more pop music in the future. In fact, she recently released her "Best Of" which includes several of the songs here. There is good reason that she's considered Canada's Madonna.Video for Squeezetoy
Video for Pictures
Video for Dancing With Myself
Download Variety Show
| 1 | Prelude... | |
| 2 | Fame | |
| 3 | Dedicated To You | |
| 4 | American Boys | |
| 5 | Book Of Life | |
| 6 | Maybe | |
| 7 | Think About The Children | |
| 8 | You Got Me Movin' | |
| 9 | Make You Mine | |
| 10 | Gigolo | |
| 11 | One More Night | |
| 12 | Dancin' With Myself | |
| 13 | Squeezetoy | |
| 14 | Pictures | |
| 15 | Summer In The Street | |
| 16 | Gigolo (STG Mix) | |
| 17 | Dedicated To You (STG Mix) | |
| 18 | Teddy Bear | |
| 19 | You Got Me Movin' (Widelife Radio) | |
| 20 | You Got Me Movin' (Widelife Mixshow) |
AAAAAHHHHHH!!!
ReplyDeleteI just interview Kim two weeks ago, and we're buddies now!
She is the sweetest lady ever!
Wow, what did you interview her for???
ReplyDeleteFor my radio show. It was in reference to her appearance on the new Hydra Productions CD, but we talked about her entire career. When I edit it down for airplay I'll send you an MP3 of it!
ReplyDeletethanks for posting this!! "Summer in the street" is one of my all time favorite songs!
ReplyDeletei highly disagree with your comment of her being Canada's answer to Madonna!
ReplyDeleteto my recollection, through all my years of being an obsessive euro fanatic, i only heard of her after growing out of it and squeeze toy being propelled into the charts (mainly because it's canadian content, otherwise those annoying & tackily produced tracks wouldn't have been played so much).
i never even heard her remakes of two of hearts or connie's funky lil beat.
anyways, my point is i disagree with your view of kim being a prolific canadian icon.
I really meant her voice, music style and years of service. ;) She certainly never achieved even a taste of Madonna's success!
ReplyDeleteThe link does not work ... could u fix it? please>?
ReplyDeleteIt has been reupped.
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